Mining – India
1. Vigilance crackdown on Unchabali mines
2. ‘Pay 50 pc profit from mining sector to Govt’
3. Sesa Goa to raise up to Rs 6,000 cr
4. Iron ore mining may be allowed over 100 sq km
5. Mining contractors threaten stir
6. Vigilance raid continue in Orissa mining scam case
7. Three killed, two hurt in quarry blasts
8. ‘Mining needs full mechanisation’
Mining – International
9. CHR asked to probe alleged abusive acts of mining firm
10. Rusina Mining receives European Nickel’s crusher at Acoje project
11. China calls off investment in Australian miner
12. Foreign mining investors put off by regulation - Heritage Gold
Other News
13. SBI plans ‘Business Correspondent’ model for all GPs
14. Climate change threatens rare species in Mekong – WWF
15. UN warns climate change risks worse than previously predicted
16. Draft model Real Estate (regulation of development) Act released on Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation website for comments from state governments, stakeholders and experts
Mining – India
Vigilance crackdown on Unchabali mines
Express News Service
First Published : 25 Sep 2009 03:58:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 25 Sep 2009 09:50:11 AM IST
BHUBANESWAR: Vigilance sleuths today raided the Unchabali iron and manganese mines at Joda in Keonjhar district in connection with multi-crore mining scam.
Application for the mine was submitted in the name of Indrani Patnaik in 1999. Surface right was granted to the applicant in 2008. The raid was conducted in the presence of geologists, mining and revenue officials at Unchabali Mahaparbat near Joda. The mine area is spread over 106 hectares.
SP, Vigilance, Debdutt Patnaik told this paper that around four lakh tonne iron ore has been extracted from the mine out of which 3.5 lakh tonne was transported out. The value of the ore illegally mined and transported is estimated at Rs 50 crore. He said the Forest Department officials have been contacted to find out whether mining has been done from the forest land in the mine area. Besides, it would also be ascertained as to why mines adjacent to this one were not leased out in the last 10 years.
The Vigilance sleuths found that mining was carried out illegally from the mines during the last one year after the mine owner got the surface rights. The SP said simultaneous raids were also conducted in the offices of Triveni Movers Private Limited, engaged by the mine owner for extraction of ore and Patnaik Mineral Private Limited at Joda.
Patnaik said records pertaining to the case were seized by the Vigilance from the office of the Director of Mines, Bhubaneswar, Collector, Keonjhar and divisional forest officer (DFO), Keonjhar. This is the fifth mining case taken up by the vigilance for inquiry into the multi-crore scam.
Meanwhile, Vigilance today arrested Bijay Kumar Sahu, mining officer, Baripada, in connection with the Kasiabeda mining scam. He was remanded in judicial custody at Balasore till October 6.
Disproportionate assets cases were also filed against two officials, Madan Mohan Biswal, Deputy Director Mines and Dilip Kumar Beura, Forest Range Officer, Joda, by the Vigilance. These two officials were arrested by the Vigilance in the Ram Bahadur Thakur Limited (RBTL) case and have been placed under suspension.
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Vigilance+crackdown+on+Unchabali+mines&artid=pV2g2tzNVpk=&SectionID=mvKkT3vj5ZA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=nUFeEOBkuKw=&SEO=
‘Pay 50 pc profit from mining sector to Govt’
Express News Service
First Published : 24 Sep 2009 04:56:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 24 Sep 2009 05:11:27 PM IST
BHUBANESWAR: Samruddha Odisha (SO) has demanded that minimum 50 per cent profit from the mining sector be paid to the State Government for implementation of development programmes.
In a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, president of the party Jatish Chandra Mohanty said an expert committee comprising representatives from the government, mining, industry and academia should decide the cost and profit in a transparent manner as per global market mechanism.
Mohanty demanded that preference should be given to State and Central public sector undertakings (PSUs) in allotting mining leases. Displaced persons from the mining projects should be provided five per cent profit of the company every year.
Stating that balanced exploitation of mineral resources with long-term perspectives should be ensured, Mohanty demanded that except for strategic minerals all controls concerning other minerals, including coal, must vest with the State Government.
He demanded a mineral development board to oversee the above provisions. Experts and social activists should constitute the board, he said.
As per the assessment made by the SO, more than Rs 50,000 crore profit is cornered by a few individuals from mining. Such a huge amount of money can be utilised to eradicate poverty and unemployment, he said, adding that the funds can also utilised for creation of vital infrastructure in the State.
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=‘Pay+50+pc+profit+from+mining+sector+to+Govt’&artid=qmdvZ6LgcVk=&SectionID=mvKkT3vj5ZA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=nUFeEOBkuKw=&SEO=
PTI
Sesa Goa to raise up to Rs 6,000 cr
2009-09-25 11:50:56
Mumbai: Domestic mining firm Sesa Goa on Friday said it will raise funds to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore through the issue of various securities in domestic as well as overseas markets.
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The company plans to raise the said amount through the issue of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCB), qualified institutional placements, global depository receipts, warrants or any other securities. A shareholders meeting would be held on October 20, to consider the fund raising of up to Rs 6,000 crore and an FCCBs issue of $500 million, Sesa Goa informed the BSE.
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Regarding the $500 million (over Rs 2,400 crore) FCCB issue, the company said it has fixed the conversion price of its FCCBs at Rs 346.88 a piece. The proceeds from the FCCB offering would be used to expand the mining operations and to further develop its pig iron and metallurgical coke operations.
The proceeds would be used in accordance with the external commercial borrowing regulations of the Reserve Bank of India, Sesa Goa said, adding that "the proceeds are intended to be used for financing the growth plans, including a rise in the mining capacity through organic and inorganic routes."
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The board has also approved a capital expenditure plan of Rs 605 crore ($125 million) for increasing the capacity of its Pig Iron plant along with expansion of Met Coke Plant and setting up a Waste Heat Recovery Power Plant.
http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?a=jjzlOTfcegd&title=Sesa_Goa_to_raise_up_to_Rs_6,000_cr
Iron ore mining may be allowed over 100 sq km
25 Sep 2009, 0210 hrs IST, Subhash Narayan, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: The government is considering to increase maximum area for iron ore mining from 25 sq km to 100 sq km to ensure enough supply of raw
materials to steel companies, an official in the steel ministry said requesting anonymity.
“A proposal of steel ministry in this regard is being considered by the mines ministry which will be included in the proposed new Mines and Minerals (scientific development and regulation) or MMDR Bill,” he said.
The new legislation will replace the existing MMDR Act and operationalise the National Mineral Policy which has already been announced by the government. The government is likely to place the new legislation for Parliamentary approval during the winter session, the official said.
In its comments steel ministry has suggested that the maximum area for mining iron ore should be linked to other major minerals where 100 sq km of land is provided for mining. It has said that changes is important as major investment is likely in iron and steel making in the country for building infrastructure and present restriction of 25 sq km would be hindrance.
Iron ore is the key raw material used for steel making. While India is surplus in iron ore production at present, various estimates by government and non-government agencies have suggested that this situation may soon turn to deficit if government did not promote scientific mining and identify and preserve ore resources for future use.
“The increase in area for mining iron ore would also remove ambiguity created in present regulations. There are several manganese bearing areas where even iron ore occurs and government gives lease for mining both the minerals. However, area restriction for iron ore also impacts manganese mining,” said a senior official of private sector steel company who also wished not to be identified.
Mining areas in overseas countries are much larger than it is existing in India. Countries like Australia, Brazil are able to extract more iron ore due to scientific mining that is possible on large tracks of mineral bearing land. Area restriction often hampers ore production in India and acts as a disincentive for making investment towards scientific mining.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods-/-svs/metals-mining/Iron-ore-mining-may-be-allowed-over-100-sq-km/articleshow/5053345.cms
Mining contractors threaten stir
Express News Service
First Published : 25 Sep 2009 04:07:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 25 Sep 2009 09:48:23 AM IST
TALCHER: MCL Mining Contractors’ Association has threatened to withdraw its services from October 1 unless its three main grievances are redressed by this month-end.
The contractors are engaged in key mining works like surface mining operation, over burden removal, coal transportation and wagon loading works of the company in both Talcher and IB valley.
The main demands are reimbursement of service tax levied on the contractors after flaoting of tender, payment of escalation in wages and payment of escalation charge of tyres, lubricants and spare parts of the vehicles engaged in various mining and transportation works.
Secretary of the association S.K.Satpathy told a press conference yesterday that unlike in other central public sector undertakings, the mining contractors are harassed in MCL. Satpathy further said service tax, which is not mentioned in the tender, was levied by government in 2002 during the pendency of the contract. It should be borne by the principal employer but MCL has refused to do it even though other Coal India Limited (CIL) companies have been reimbursing it to their contractors, he said.
Similarly, he said in case of escalation of wages of workers, price hike of diesel, lubricant, tyres and other required materials, MCL has refused to pay the hiked amount violating all norms.
He said notice inviting tenders are one-sided and framed to burden the contractors with penalties. The association president Narendra Singh Malhotra and vice-president Sawai Singh Sekhawat also addressed the media.
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Mining+contractors+threaten+stir&artid=PSIuAKZKoj0=&SectionID=mvKkT3vj5ZA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=nUFeEOBkuKw=&SEO=
Vigilance raid continue in Orissa mining scam case
24 Sep 2009, 2023 hrs IST, Nageshwar Patnaik, ET Bureau
BHUBANESWAR: The Naveen Patnaik government in the state, which itself faces the charges of ‘patronising’ and ‘shielding’ the accused, continues
to employ its vigilance wing to net the ‘small fishes’ allegedly to avoid the public attention and salvage is dented image.
After the media exposure of a sleuth of number of scams relating to illegal exploitation transportation of mineral resources, the state government, which had earlier arrested seven officials of the state mines department – on Wednesday registered cases of irregularities and favour against three more senior officials and two mineral traders after day-long vigilance raids on their houses and offices unearthed huge booty.
The three officials against whom cases were lodged by the state vigilance department include suspended deputy director of mines (Baripada zone) Lalmohan Soren, suspended police inspector PCSahoo and mining officer Bijay Kumar Sahoo.
The mineral traders against whom cases have been registered are Kasiabedha iron ore mines lessee Basant Kumar Das and Pratap Kumar Das, manager of Jay Jagannath Movers. The vigilance has leveled charges of criminal conspiracy and illegal lifting of minerals from Kasiabedha mines.
According to vigilance department director general Anup Patnaik, the accused had facilitated illegal transportation of huge quantity of iron ore from Kasiabedha and some other mines that deprived the state of nearly Rs 10 crore revenue.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party national secretary Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday blamed both the Union and state governments for illegal mining and transportation of mineral resources.
“Both the Union and state governments have connived to loot Orissa’s mineral resources to make easy money. They have been ignoring our demand for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as it would expose their real face,” Mr Pradhan said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Vigilance-raid-continue-in-Orissa-mining-scam-case/articleshow/5052230.cms
Three killed, two hurt in quarry blasts
TNN 25 September 2009, 07:07am IST
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DUMKA: Three people, including a truck driver, were killed while two others sustained splinter injuries following simultaneous blasts in three
adjoining stone mining units in the Shikaripara block of the district on Thursday.
According to reports, the impact of the blasts was so intense that heavy boulders fell on a truck parked at one of the stone mining units, damaging it severely. The truck driver, who was inside the vehicle, died on the spot.
Two of the deceased persons have been identified as Vishnu Mirdha and Kalitus while the identity of the driver and the injured persons has not been ascertained as yet. The injured are undergoing treatment at Rampurhat in West Bengal.
Confirming the incident, Dumka SP Arun Kumar Singh said that the police are investigating the case. An FIR has been lodged in this regard, he added.
Sources said that one of the stone mining units belongs to one Hari Babu, who runs the unit in partnership with others. Deceased Vishnu Mirdha is the son-in-law of Shibu Mirdha, one of the partners of the said unit, the sources said, adding that the owners of the mining unit initially tried to bury the bodies to hush up the matter but the mine labourers prevented them from doing so.
The incident has caused large-scale resentment among labourers engaged in stone mining in the Shikaripara block of the district. The labourers claimed that the stone mine owners violate safety norms with impunity.
The sources claimed that similar incidents had occurred in the past as well but the mine owners settled the matter by paying nominal compensation to the deceased's family members.
Meanwhile, the role of the district mining department has come under the scanner for its failure to ensure proper safety norms in the stone mining units in the district.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/ranchi/Three-killed-two-hurt-in-quarry-blasts/articleshow/5052598.cms
Industry
‘Mining needs full mechanisation’
TIRUCHIRAPALLI: Only total mechanisation of mining activities in India would ensure increased production in the next nine years and achieve national economic growth plan targets, a top mining official said.
“The major challenge facing the mining sector in India is to deploy total mechanisation in the mining sector, be it open cast mining or underground operations. The present types of activity cannot envisage growth and survival of the sector,'' S J Sibal, Director General, Mines Safety, told PTI. He said production of coal, the major thrust area in mining, would have to be increased from about 493 million tonnes annually at present to 1,200 million tonnes by 2020 to achieve the required economic growth ra te.
Mr Sibal pointed out that mines are now bigger and deeper, requiring major issues to be handled like strata control, management of underground gas emission and control over hot and humid weather inside mines. Full automation is the need of the hour to ha ndle these issues, he said.
India has already taken the initiative by deploying 'long wall mechanization' in coal mines, which avoids blasting. Already five units were in place in major mines, with five more to be commissioned in two years. The technology and equipment would be fro m China, Germany, USA, Poland and Russia, he said. Another step taken by the Directorate was to gradually withdraw manual loading, as per the decision of the National Mine Safety Conversion 2007, which stated it should be in place within five years .With this, manual mobilization of coal stocks from pit-heads in baskets would be a thing of the past, he said.
Mr Sibal said mechanization, however, was also leading to ecological issues, with more open cast mining leading to slow stability and constraints. He said the major issue facing the Labour Ministry was surveillance of occupational health hazards. So it h ad been decided to conduct periodical medical tests for workers once in three years, instead of once every five years, as at present. - PTI
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/03251403.htm
Mining – International
CHR asked to probe alleged abusive acts of mining firm
By ELLALYN B. DE VERA
September 25, 2009, 6:40pm
An association representing indigenous peoples (IPs) in Nueva Vizcaya called on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate alleged incidents of residents of Dipidio town being harassed by security men of mining firms.
The Didipio Earth Savers Multi-Purpose Association (DESAMA), a local organization composed of Ifugaos, asked CHR chairperson Leila De Lima to investigate the alleged illegal search of their houses by security personnel of mining firm OceanaGold Philippines operating in Didipio.
In a petition submitted to the CHR last Thursday, DESAMA reiterated its call to the national government to protect the IPs and reprimand the mining firm “for its notorious business conduct in dealing with the indigenous residents of Didipio.”
“Homes of Ifugaos known for their anti-mining sentiments were searched without warrants by security personnel of a mining company,” DESAMA said in a press statement.
The group claimed the illegal search came after a security guard of OceanaGold was shot dead last Sunday by still unidentified assailants
It said the security personnel searched the houses of indigenous peoples in the vicinity of the crime.
It said Alex Simungo, a member of the DESAMA, and his brother-in-law, who are living nearby the place of incident, were accused of the crime.
“The security forces were also reportedly considering to include as suspects the owners of the four houses they demolished in July and August without any court order and relocation for the victims,” DESAMA said.
The group noted that in July 2008, the Regional Trial Court of Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the demolition activities of OceanaGold saying that “the demolition was tainted with irregularity and contrary to law.”
The group also claimed that OceanaGold’s demolition activities, which started in December, 2007, “were also marred with shooting incidents inflicting injuries to lives and property of Didipio residents.”
It said the CHR earlier committed to investigate the spate of violence in Didipio town in July, 2008.
The group renewed its call last Thursday for the investigation of continuing mining activities and reports of abusive security personnel.
DESAMA’s call was echoed by partner organization Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center -- Kasama sa Kalikasan/ Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KsK/FoE Phils), a legal research and policy advocacy institution focusing on issues and concerns of indigenous peoples.
“The unabated harassment and violations perpetuated by the mining company and its security forces in our village needs to be stopped so that we can live peacefully again,” DESAMA village official Carmen Ananayo said.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/222208/chr-asked-probe-alleged-abusive-acts-mining-firm
Rusina Mining receives European Nickel’s crusher at Acoje project
25 September 2009
Rusina Mining, the Australian mining group behind the Acoje nickel-chromite project in the Philippines, has moved on to the next stage of constructing its heap leach pad and pilot plant on the site.
Rusina’s 40% partner on the project, European Nickel, has delivered a rolls crusher from its Caldag operation in Turkey which is now being assembled. Once it is up and running, approximately 3,000 tonnes of laterite ore will be crushed, agglomerated and stacked on the trial leach pad. Leaching is start shortly before Christmas.
An important part of the part of the new processing facility will be to showcase the clean, safe and environmentally friendly nature of the process to the government and local stakeholders.
Rusina added that the Acoje Test Centre, a full scale laboratory that has now been in operation at Acoje since the beginning of the year, was continuing to make significant inroads into further enhancing the economics of the project.
Last week Rusina completed a 5.25p share placing to raise around £3.0 million.
http://www.smallcapnews.co.uk/article/Rusina_Mining_receives_European_Nickels_crusher_at_Acoje_project/7726.aspx
China calls off investment in Australian miner
Associated Press, 09.25.09, 01:58 AM EDT
SYDNEY -- An Australian miner says a Chinese company has called off a multimillion-dollar investment after a government panel barred it from acquiring a majority stake.
Lynas Corp.'s announcement Thursday was a setback for Chinese efforts to acquire mining and other resource assets and came as an official said Australia wants to limit ownership of resource industries by foreign state-owned companies.
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Lynas said China Nonferrous Metals Corp. pulled out of a planned investment after the Foreign Investment Review Board said its stake would be limited to less than 50 percent and it had to reduce the number of board seats it would receive. Lynas mines rare earths - exotic metals that are used in high-tech and clean energy products.
Chinese mining companies have invested billions in Australian mining and metals companies but the deals have stirred opposition from some Australian lawmakers who say state-owned foreign companies should not be allowed to control key resources.
Lynas says its deposit of rare earths at Mount Weld in the state of Western Australia is the world's richest. Rare earths include dysprosium, terbium, thulium, lutetium and yttrium and are used in magnets, computer disk drives and other products.
CNMC was to have invested 252 million Australian dollars ($218 million) in Lynas, the Australian company said earlier. Lynas said it was lining up alternative financing to ensure it had adequate working capital.
Meanwhile, the investment board's director, Patrick Colmer, said Thursday it would prefer that foreign state-owned companies limit their stakes in major Australian mining assets to 15 percent, according to The Age and Australian Financial Review newspapers.
Australia's government has required changes in other planned Chinese investments in mining on national security grounds.
On Thursday, the Australian defense minister said his ministry vetoed a Chinese investment in a magnetite mine in the Woomera missile testing range in the Outback. It was the second time this year the government has blocked Chinese investment in the area.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/25/2696047.htm
Foreign mining investors put off by regulation - Heritage Gold
Andrea Deuchrass | Friday September 25 2009 - 02:08pm
Trans-Tasman listed mining company Heritage Gold (ASX: HTM | NZX: HGD) is struggling to raise up to $5 million capital for its project at the historic Talisman gold mine in the Coromandel and has turned to projects with better investment prospects in Papua New Guinea, Chile and Australia.
Located on Department of Conservation (DOC) land in the Karangahake Gorge near Waihi, the project (including the Talisman and Dominion Knoll exploration prospects) has an estimated commercial value based on a potential 1 million ounce resource.
A mining permit application was filed with the Ministry of Economic Development (MED) around a year ago and the company said it was confident of achieving it by the end of the year.
It hoped to then apply for resource consent on a non-notified basis for the under ground project.
At the company’s AGM this morning, chairman Geoff Hill told shareholders that overseas groups were reluctant to consider New Zealand as a mining and resource friendly environment.
He said Chinese groups had expressed interest and the price of gold in New Zealand dollars was helping, but regulation posed a barrier.
“Memories of past regulatory intransigence and a very lengthy process to get mining to continue to influence overseas investors’ attitudes. The new government has stated its intent to fast track processes in the resources sector. We hope these essential changes occur soon.”
Heritage Gold has a portfolio of gold, base metal and uranium tenements in Australia and New Zealand. The 133-year-old Talisman mine has produced more than 28 tonnes of gold and 85 tonnes of silver.
It was initially targeted for further exploration in 2004, when Heritage raised $1.22 million from Australian investors to develop it, claiming that it could contain up to 5.8 tonnes of gold and 22.6 tonnes of silver.
Mr Hill said as a New Zealand explorer, Heritage Gold attracted little interest in mining orientated markets such as Australia and Canada. “In New Zealand the lack of interest in mining shares is also a limitation.”
Capital of between $4 million and $5 million was needed, he said. “This is a significant amount for a small company – it’s big company territory.”
The company was actively seeking participation in “regions which seem to be able to attract investor interest” including several gold projects in Papua New Guinea, Chile and Australia.
Otherwise, it may be forced to seek other various fund raising options, including turning to shareholders.
One shareholder asked if the company’s financial structure would hold up long enough, but directors said the company was not about to disappear.
“We’ve been hanging out for a joint-venture but we do have fall-back plans in place and we will go to market if we have to, but we don’t want to dilute value for our shareholders.”
The shareholder said it could not get more diluted.
Another shareholder asked if offshore projects were a distraction, but Mr Hill said the projects already had established resource, with a similar style of deposit to the Coromandel and investor interest.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/foreign-mining-investors-put-regulation-heritage-gold-says-111829
Other News
SBI plans ‘Business Correspondent’ model for all GPs
Posted by Bin Du | 24 September 2009, 4:01 am
To reach out to the people in the unbanked rural areas, the State Bank of India (SBI), the largest public sector bank, plans to cover all the Gram Panchayats (Gps) of Orissa under ‘Business Correspondence Model’. This is being done in line with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines on financial inclusion.
Under the plan, open ‘Banking Outposts’ will be opened in 6234 Gram Panchayats (GPs) of the state in joint initiative of SBI and the Orissa government. SBI has roped in the Mumbai based Zero Mass Foundation (ZMF) as Business Correspondent for the scheme.
The Zero Mass Foundation (ZMF) will work as a BC to deliver financial services, including National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) wage payments, in the rural areas. ZMF will recruit and train people at the customer service points to enrol customers and provide banking services in the villages. Orissa will be the first state in the country where all the GPs will be connected by one bank throughBusiness Correspondent model.
The financial inclusion dream of providing all households with bank accounts is expected to be realised by this initiative.
“Orissa will be the first state in the country where all the Gram Panchayats will be connected by the State Bank of India through banking outposts”, Shiva Kumar, chief general manager (CGM), SBI, Orissa circle, told Business Standard. The bank will enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state Panchayatiraj department on Tuesday in this regard. SBI, which has 616 branches in Orissa, wants to reach out to the people in the rural areas. While the BC model will initially be used for making payments to the beneficiaries under NREGS, the state government will use this set up for implem\entation of other social benefit schemes like old age pension.
Since opening up of branches in all locations is not possible, the bank will vigourously peruse this model for reaching out to all villages in the state. It will expand the system even to cover the poor people who are working outside the state to make payments to their families residing in the state, Kumar added. –Business Standard
http://zikkir.com/business/5731
Climate change threatens rare species in Mekong – WWF
Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:05pm IST
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Climate change is threatening 163 rare species discovered only last year in the Greater Mekong region, conservation group WWF said on Friday.
Events such as frequent droughts and floods plus a rise in sea levels spell danger for species in what WWF called in a report "one of the world's last biological frontiers", a region spanning Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China's Yunnan province.
"Forecasts for the Greater Mekong region show that climate change will dramatically alter ecosystems," Geoffrey Blate, WWF's regional climate change coordinator, told Reuters.
"Species most at risk are those with the least physiological tolerance to changes in temperature and precipitation, and those species with narrow or very restricted habitats."
Among the rare new species identified as vulnerable in the "Close Encounters" report are a bird that would rather walk than fly, a frog with fangs and a leopard-striped gecko with orange eyes.
Their habitats and the food they need for survival are often already restricted and climate change is expected to worsen the situation, according to the WWF.
It said many would not be able to adapt to climate change, "potentially resulting in massive extinctions".
With a diverse geography and climate zones, the Mekong is home to over 320 million people and numerous rare species, including the deer-like saola and the world's largest huntsman spider with a leg span of 30 cm (12 inches).
(Editing by Alan Raybould)
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-42700420090925
UN warns climate change risks worse than previously predicted
NEWS - AFRICA NEWS
Nairobi, Kenya - The effects of the global climate change is worse than previously predicted and could affect millions of people living on the earth in more drastic terms than previously thought, a new UN report said here on Thursday.
'The pace and scale of climate change may now be outstripping even the most so bering predictions of the last report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC),' the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) said Thursday.
In its report that underlines concern by scientists that the planet is now committed to some damaging and irreversible impacts as a result of the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, the UN agency warned that sources of clean water were getting diminished.
The UNEP report, entitled 'Climate Change Science Compendium 2009', warns th at losses from glaciers, ice-sheets and the Polar Regions appear to be happening faster than anticipated.
It said the Greenland ice sheet for example, was recently seen melting some 60 per cent higher than the previous record of 1998.
Science points to some events, thought likely to occur in longer-term time horizons, as already happening or set to happen far sooner than had previously been thought.
The report warns that the effects of climate change could soon lead to losses of tropical and temperate mountain glaciers affecting perhaps 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the human population in terms of drinking water, irrigation and hydro-power.
It further notes that shifts in the hydrological cycle resulting in the disappearance of regional climates could lead to losses of ecosystems, species and the spread of drylands northwards and southwards away from the equator.
'An analysis of the very latest, peer-reviewed, science indicates that many predictions at the upper end of the IPCC's forecasts are becoming ever more likely,' UNEP said.
Researchers have become increasingly concerned about ocean acidification linked with the absorption of carbon dioxide in seawater and the impact on shellfish and coral reefs.
Water that can corrode a shell-making substance called aragonite is already welling up along the California coast decades earlier than existing models predict.
Some scientists are now warning that sea levels could rise by up to two metres by 2100 and five to 10 times that over following centuries.
There is also growing concern among some scientists that thresholds or tipping points may now be reached in a matter of years or a few decades, including dramatic changes to the Indian sub-continent's monsoon, the Sahara and West Africa mon soons, and climate systems affecting a critical ecosystem like the Amazon rainforest.
Recent science suggests that it may still possible to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. However, this will only happen if there is immediate, cohesive and decisive action to both cut emissions and assist vulnerable count r ies adapt.
The report, compiled in association with scientists around the world, comes with less than 80 days to the crucial UN climate convention meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In a foreword to the document, United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, who this week hosted heads of state in New York, wrote, â?This Climate Change Science Compendium is a wake-up call. The time for hesitation is over.
'We need the world to realize, once and for all, that the time to act is now a nd we must work together to address this monumental challenge. This is the moral challenge of our generation.'
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said,' The Compendium can never replace the painstaking rigour of an IPCC process -- as hining example of how the United Nations can provide a path to consensus among the sometimes differing views of more than 190 nations'.
'However, scientific knowledge on climate change and forecasting of the likely impacts has been advancing rapidly since the landmark 2007 IPCC report,' he ad ded.
Nairobi - 24/09/2009
http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/un-warns-climate-change-risks-worse-than-previously-predicted-2009092535457.html
Draft model Real Estate (regulation of development) Act released on Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation website for comments from state governments, stakeholders and experts
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16:7 IST
The ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has prepared a draft model Real Estate (regulation of development) Act and released it on its official websitewww.mhupa.gov.in inviting comments from state governments, stakeholders and experts within 45 days.
The draft act aims to establish a Regulatory Authority and an Appellate Tribunal to regulate, control and promote planned and healthy development and construction, sale, transfer and management of colonies, residential buildings, apartments and other similar properties, and to host and maintain a website containing all project details, with a view to protecting, on the one hand the public interest in relation to the conduct and integrity of promoters and other persons engaged in the development of such colonies and to facilitating on the other the smooth and speedy construction and maintenance of such colonies, residential buildings, apartments and properties and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The draft has seven different chapters which deal with regulation of development of colonies and promotion of construction, sale and transfer of residential buildings, apartments and other similar properties, role of promoter, Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Appellate Tribunal, Offences and Penalties and Miscellaneous items such as court jurisdiction etc.
www.pib.nic.in
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