Mining – India 1
1. India diamond units face shortage of roughs 1
2. Under Koda’s watch, aide invested in 5 mines abroad: I-T 2
3. More Pimpalgaons possible 4
4. Mining scam: Naveen rejects BJP’s demand for CBI 5
5. Meghalaya keeps uranium mining plan in abeyance 6
6. Diamantaires now face challenge from mining companies 7
7. ntellectuals want CM to stick like a barnacle 9
8. Vedanta Resources to invest Rs 40,135 crore 10
Mining – International 12
9. Aurizon Mines has golden touch 12
10. Revenue jumps as production of precious metal rises dramatically 12
11. Groups plan e-mail campaign to protest W.Va. mine 13
12. Stevens Says Mine Boom to Widen Australia’s Current Account Gap 13
13. Lake Shore Gold and West Timmins Mining Complete Business Combination 16
14. Mining equipment fleet secured for Copper Mountain Project 19
Other News 19
15. Features,Functions and Preparatory steps of National Ganga River Basin Authority 19
16. Water Quality criteria for designated best use classification of CPCB 22
17. Effective Interdepartmental Coordination to Control Wildlife Crimes 23
18. Maoist Martyrdom Vs State Barbarism 23
19. Rs 24 lakh looted 30
Mining – India
India diamond units face shortage of roughs
2009-11-06 04:00:00
SURAT (Commodity Online): Surat, the biggest diamond polishing centre in the world in India, is facing a peculiar problem of shortage of diamond roughs.
Reason for this is that diamond mining companies are holding back rough diamond supply in an attempt to maintain price levels. The rough prices have registered hike of almost 30 per cent since March 2009.
Surat has been recovering from the recession impact during the past few months with new orders from China and other nations flooding the Surat diamond units
However, now most of the diamond mining companies, including De Beers, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Alrosa, decreased the rough diamond production following the economic downturn in 2008. In the first quarter of 2009, De Beers alone had reported a 90 per cent cut in rough diamond production.
This led to shortage of rough diamonds and with demand outstripping the supply, the diamantaires are finding it tough to adjust to the volatility in the prices of rough diamonds.
Market observers expressed concern over the prices of rough diamonds that increased consistently since March 2009 even as polished diamonds prices remained unchanged.
The rough diamonds brought from Russia’s Alrosa mine at equally high levels have dispelled expectations that the Russian supplier may dump stockpiled goods in the market at discounted rates.
Since March 2009, the De Beers Diamond Trading Company (DTC) raised the prices of rough diamonds between 5 and 10 per cent. DTC’s Indian sightholders noted that the smaller rough that are supplied to the Indian market was most affected, while prices on other rough increased between 3 per cent to 7 per cent.
http://www.commodityonline.com/news/India-diamond-units-face-shortage-of-roughs-22680-3-1.html
Under Koda’s watch, aide invested in 5 mines abroad: I-T
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Manoj PrasadTags : Madhu Koda, Mines, JharkhandPosted: Friday , Nov 06, 2009 at 0948 hrsRanchi:
Former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda is being shifted from the ICU of Apollo Hospital in Ranchi.
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As the Enforcement Directorate closed in on former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda — the Jharkhand High Court on Thursday directed the state to produce a progress report on November 12 on the Vigilance probe into the disproportionate assets case against Koda and some of his former cabinet colleagues — investigations by the Income Tax department have uncovered that during his less than two-year stint as CM, his close associate Sanjay Kumar Choudhary invested in five mines abroad.
Documents seized by the Income Tax during searches last Saturday show that Choudhary — he was found carrying Rs 6.14 lakh in Indian and foreign currencies in his bags at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport terminal on September 17 last year — had invested in three mines in South Africa (gold, uranium and coal), a coal mine in Liberia and another coal mine “near Thailand”.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/whip-him-in-public/538021/
More Pimpalgaons possible
TNN 6 November 2009, 05:55am IST
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NAGPUR: There may be more Pimpalgaons waiting to happen at many places in Vidarbha. Initial investigations by the Directorate General of Mines
Safety (DGMS) show that the overburden dump at the mine was on a black cotton soil base. Black cotton soil is very soft and also retains water due to which it expands and contracts with seasons. Experts are surmising that water seeping into the base may have led to the soil turning unstable leading to heaving of the earth.
Huge overburden dumps are common in coal and other mines in Vidarbha. And huge tracts of Vidarbha have black cotton soil. So this could be the common problem. Overburden is the rubble removed from top to reach the mineral underneath. The dump goes on piling up as the mines go deeper.
The soil beneath the dump must have begun to flow on acquiring water and, not having any space sideways, it made an upward thrust making the dump fall, said the Deputy Director General of Mines Safety (DDGMS) Rajiv Guha. A large number of WCL mines are in this tract. The entire Wardha valley which includes mines in Wardha, Chandrapur, Majri and Wani has black cotton soil. Other areas like Pench Kanhan and Pathakheda, where too WCL has mines have normal agriculture soil, said Guha.
Guha, who admitted that such mine dumps have an inherent risk of sliding, said that the process of identifying more such risky dumps and come up with a technical solution to prevent such mishaps was now on. Each mine can have 3-4 overburden dumps. The process of soil moving happens slowly over a period of time and cannot be predicted as to when an accident can occur. A team of the Central Mine and Fuel Research Institute (CMFRI) has also visited the site and a report is expected to be released within a week, Guha added.
A source pointed out that nature of black cotton soil has been known for a long time and WCL and DGMS experts should have come up with a technical solution long ago. As mining companies chase steep production targets the overburden dumps grow higher each day. Availability of adequate land for spreading the overbuden is also a problem. The source added that other safety measures were also overlooked.
DGMS officials also complain of being understaffed which hampers proper inspection of the sites.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/More-Pimpalgaons-possible/articleshow/5201029.cms
Mining scam: Naveen rejects BJP’s demand for CBI
Express News Service
First Published : 06 Nov 2009 03:44:00 AM IST
BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today rejected the demand for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the multi-crore mining scam. It was made by the BJP national team.
Naveen said the State Vigilance is very much on the job and the progress of the inquiry is good. Dismissing the allegation made by the BJP that the investigation was ‘political’ in nature, Naveen on his return from Delhi today termed the allegation as a political game.
The BJP team had demanded a probe by the CBI on the grounds that the State Vigilance cannot inquire into the involvement of senior BJD leaders in the scam. The team led by Balbir K Punj visited mines areas of Keonjhar district to make an on-the-spot assessment of the scam.
On the issue of bad law and order in Bhubaneswar and incidents in the jail during the last several days including the killing of a warder, Naveen said stringent action will be taken.
While the number of suicides by the farmers has gone up during last week, Naveen said the State Government had initiated a number of measures in rainfed areas. It had also expedited completion of several irrigation projects to make farmers less dependent on rainfall.
The Chief Minister met chairman of the Thirteenth Finance Commission Vijay L Kelkar while at Delhi demanding Rs 525 crore for three additional sectors _ strengthening of power distribution, setting up of anganwadi centres and 500 hostels for Scheduled Tribe students.
He also met Union Minister for Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy and demanded inclusion of Cuttack in the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission.
He attended the meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to review the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Mining+scam:+Naveen+rejects+BJP’s+demand+for+CBI&artid=zsSFmgTDh|M=&SectionID=mvKkT3vj5ZA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=nUFeEOBkuKw=&SEO=
Meghalaya keeps uranium mining plan in abeyance
Supratim Dey / Kolkata/ Guwahati November 06, 2009, 0:01 IST
A seven-member panel to take final decision.
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- Uranium mining keeps Meghalaya on toes
Ending two months of bickering between the state government and the anti-uranium mining groups in Meghalaya, which later took violent turns, the state government has taken the decision to put on hold the “pre-project developmental works”, to be undertaken by Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) in uranium rich areas of West Khasi Hills, and form an expert committee to delve deep into the matter.
The decision was taken after a meeting between chief minister of Meghalaya DD Lapang, the warring Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) and Coordination Committee of Social Organisations (CCSO), a forum of anti-uranium mining groups, in Shillong yesterday.
Government sources informed that the joint committee would be constituted soon and would have seven members, including experts and members from anti-uranium groups like the KSU. The committee would look into the pros and cons of uranium mining and concerns expressed by the anti-mining groups, and would submit its report in three months.
Since September, the state has been on boil as KSU took to the streets with a long-drawn agitation programme to protest the government’s August 24 decision to lease out 422 hectares of land in West Khasi Hills to UCIL to undertake “pre-project development works,” eventually compelling the state government to invite KSU for talks.
According to KSU, the “pre-project developmental works” were in reality “structural activities” by UCIL to start uranium mining in connivance with the state government and the Centre.
The latest move of the state government appears to have gone down well with the KSU, as its president, Samuel Jyrwa told Business Standard that they were “happy” that the “pre-project development works” had been put on hold and that an expert committee would be constituted.
Jyrwa said that KSU had put on hold its agitation programmes till the expert committee, of which it would be a part, submitted its report.
When asked what would be KSU’s stand in case the report of the expert committee favoured uranium mining, Jyrwa said, “We will be in the expert committee and we will argue our differences out in due course.”
KSU is opposed to uranium mining proposal on the ground that it would degrade environment and precipitate health hazards in the mining and adjoining areas.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/meghalaya-keeps-uranium-mining-plan-in-abeyance/375429/
Diamantaires now face challenge from mining companies
Melvyn Thomas, TNN 4 November 2009, 10:29pm IST
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SURAT: When the world's largest diamond cutting and polishing centre in Surat is showing signs of revival due to growing demand for polished
stones in domestic and emerging markets such as Hong Kong, China and UAE, the real challenge that the diamantaires now face is from diamond mining companies.
The mining companies are holding back rough diamond supply in an attempt to maintain price levels. The rough prices have registered hike of almost 30 per cent since March 2009.
Most of the diamond mining companies including De Beers, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Alrosa had decreased the rough diamond production following the economic downturn in 2008. In the first quarter of 2009, De Beers alone had reported a 90 per cent cut in rough diamond production.
This led to shortage of rough diamonds and with demand outstripping the supply, the diamantaires are finding it tough to adjust to the volatility in the prices of rough diamonds.
Market observers expressed concern over the prices of rough diamonds that increased consistently since March 2009 even as polished diamonds prices remained unchanged.
The rough diamonds brought from Russia's Alrosa mine at equally high levels have dispelled expectations that the Russian supplier may dump stockpiled goods in the market at discounted rates.
Since March 2009, the De Beers Diamond Trading Company (DTC) raised the prices of rough diamonds between 5 and 10 per cent. DTC's Indian sightholders noted that the smaller rough that are supplied to the Indian market was most affected, while prices on other rough increased between 3 per cent to 7 per cent.
"The volatility in rough diamond prices is hurting Surat diamantaires when the industry is looking up due to increased demand for polished goods from Asian markets," said Rohit Mehta, president, Surat Diamond Association (SDA).
He said the price increase by diamond mining companies was unnecessary. Either prices of polished diamond have to go up or that of the rough have to return to a realistic level.
"Manufacturers want to buy but can't afford high rough prices as polished markets stagnate. We are facing a real challenge as we know that the demand for polished diamond is increasing, but we are not in a position to match the price gap between rough and polished stones," said Bharat Gosai, a leading manufacturer.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/Diamantaires-now-face-challenge-from-mining-companies/articleshow/5197442.cms
ntellectuals want CM to stick like a barnacle
Senthalir S & Srikanth Hunasavadi / DNA
Friday, November 6, 2009 9:56 IST
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Banglore: As the crisis in the state BJP only seems to be deepening, intellectuals and progressive thinkers have suggested that the chief minister not yield to the rebels' demand, and instead demanded that Yeddyurappa drop Karunakara Reddy, Janardhana Reddy and B Sriramulu from the cabinet.
Litterateur UR Ananthamurthy said that Yeddyurappa should take a tough stand and remove the Reddy brothers from the government. "The Reddy brothers should not be kept on moral grounds and there is no need for them to stay when they are talking bad of the leadership. If he yields to the pressure then it would imply that he is supporting illegal activities. He will earn great respect if he sticks to his guns," he said.
Underlining the need for a stable government, Ananthamurthy added: "People would lose faith in the electoral system if the government topples. But this doesn't mean that the chief minister compromises with the Reddy brothers to save the government."
He added, "The Reddy brothers were strong and Yeddyurappa had made use of them. Then the Reddys became stronger with the chief minister's support. With the money they earned from mining activities, they bought many legislators. But they can't buy us."
He added that to check defections, the law should be amended, emphasising that if an elected representative of a constituency resigns, he should be banned from contesting from that constituency for another five years.
Reiterating his stand on nationalising mining in Bellary, Ananthamurthy said that the Reddy brothers should be punished for the illegal mining activities. "They have earned crores of rupees from mining and the government was run with that money. Tribals are also being affected by this," he said.
Lingadevaru Halemane, SG Siddaramaiah, HM Marulasiddaiah, BS Lingadevaru, P Shesadri and BT Lalitha Nayak supported Ananthamurthy's opinion.
The Progressive Organizations' Federation has also threatened to start a people's movement against the government if the BJP does not resolve the issue at the earliest. "When BJP formed the government in the state, Yeddyurappa used the Reddy brothers to strengthen his stand. Now, they are demanding their rights. It is not a good political development. It is a question of Yeddyurappa's prestige; he should not compromise with the Reddy brothers and should continue as CM. Otherwise people should exercise their right to recall," said Karunada Sene president Agni Sridhara.
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha president Kodihalli Chandrashekar said, "It is very unfortunate that the flood victims are suffering on one side, while some MLAs are enjoying themselves at resorts. The BJP should either resolve the issue immediately or all of them should resign. If the issue is not resolved by Monday, we will start an agitation against the government in Raichur from November 9."
"The state will not pardon the BJP ministers and MLA's. They should sort out the differences or brace up for a people's movement," said Sarvodaya party leader Indudhar Honnapur.
http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_intellectuals-want-cm-to-stick-like-a-barnacle_1307822
Vedanta Resources to invest Rs 40,135 crore
Nevin John / Mumbai November 6, 2009, 0:24 IST
Will use money to up metals capacity, power generation.
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London-listed Vedanta Resources, controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal, will invest another Rs 40,135 crore towards building its capacity in aluminium, zinc, copper, iron ore and power in India. With the revival in market conditions, the company has also decided to begin construction of its power project in Punjab, which was on hold after the financial downturn. The first of its major projects completed would be the 500 kilo-tonne per annum (ktpa) aluminium smelter and associated captive power plant at Jharsuguda in Orissa by the end of this financial year. The investment of Rs 9,900 crore for the project has been almost completed. Except a power plant, all the remaining projects would be completed by 2012.
With the improved market conditions and significant Indian GDP growth, the company has reviewed its capital expenditure plan and decided to reactivate its 1,980 Mw Talwandi Sabo commercial power project, put on hold last year, said the company in its business review report. The cost of the project, scheduled to commission by 2014, would be Rs 10,000 crore. Vedanta has reported a 46.2 per cent decline in profit at $188.2 million for the six-month period ended September, impacted mainly by weak metal prices. Its total revenue fell 25.6 per cent to $2.9 billion.
Chief Executive M S Mehta said, on a conference call, that no financial provisions were needed to cover the fraud probe into its iron ore unit. Sesa Goa, India’s biggest iron ore exporter, said on October 29 that it was under investigation by India’s Serious Fraud Investigation Office for financial and other irregularities, sparking a slide in its shares. But the probe related to issues in 2003, four years before Vedanta bought its 51 percent stake in Sesa, Mehta said.
Shares of Vedanta, which have outperformed the UK mining index by 40 percent this year, dropped 3.7 per cent to 2,205 pence at 1.22 pm London time, compared to a two percent fall in the mining index as metals prices fell. However, the shares of its subsidiary, Sterlite Industries, gained 2.16 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and closed at Rs 786.70. Another group company, Hindustan Zinc, has risen 0.41 per cent to Rs 900.65 a share, while Sesa Goa gained 0.6 per cent to Rs 298 on Thursday.
Vedanta controls the Konkola Copper Mines in Zambia and Copper Mines of Tasmania, in addition to the controlling stakes in unlisted entities such as Bharat Aluminium Company, Madras Aluminium Company, Vedanta Aluminium and Sterlite Energy. Of this, Sterlite Energy, the power generator, has recently filed regulatory applications for a Rs 5,100 crore initial public offering.
Until September, the company had spent Rs 35,800 crore for its expansion, with a mix of debt and equity. The gross debt stood at Rs 32,539 crore, up from Rs 24,000 crore in March, following new convertible debt of Rs 5,880 crore raised in July, and other smaller debts raised at subsidiary levels to fund the capex requirements.
Despite its higher debt component, analysts noted the company’s cash reserve of Rs 28,000 crore reduces the risks and ensures higher leverage. Besides, the company has already tied for the major chunk of an additional Rs 40,000 crore required for completing projects in the pipeline, added the analysts.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/vedanta-resources-to-invest-rs-40135-crore/375528/
Mining – International
Aurizon Mines has golden touch
Revenue jumps as production of precious metal rises dramatically
THE GAZETTENOVEMBER 6, 2009 4:03 AM
Aurizon Mines Ltd., owner of the Casa Berardi gold mine near Senneterre in northwestern Quebec, said yesterday third-quarter production was up sharply to 43,650 ounces from 40,228 ounces a year earlier, boosting revenue to $44.2 million from $35.5 million.
The company has paid down the debt incurred for reopening and redeveloping the mine, formerly controlled by Inco, and "we're in a strong position to build future growth," said CEO David Hall. It also has two development properties in Quebec.
Quarterly earnings were $8.2 million, or five cents a share, up from $7.1 million, or five cents a share, a year earlier. Average realized gold price was $929 U.S. per ounce; total production cost was $604 an ounce.
Aurizon has been working hard to add reserves at Casa Berardi, running a multi-drill exploration program with success. It spent $4.3 million on mine exploration and development and on infrastructure in the latest quarter, and plans to spend more in the current quarter.
Nine months' earnings were $26.8 million, or 17 cents a share, up from $9 million, or six cents a share, a year earlier. Aurizon had $108 million of cash at Sept. 30.
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/todays-paper/Aurizon+Mines+golden+touch/2190296/story.html
Groups plan e-mail campaign to protest W.Va. mine
(AP) – 14 hours ago
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Several groups say they will expand their protest against an Massey Energy mine in southern West Virginia through e-mail.
The groups, which include The Sierra Club, Alliance for Appalachia and Greenpeace, say they will send more than 500,000 e-mails to individuals Thursday and Friday to press their campaign to halt Massey's mining operation on Coal River Mountain.
The groups say the mountain should be preserved as a wind farm and not mined for its coal reserves.
They want President Barack Obama and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to step in a stop the mining.
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin has said he won't interfere because Massey has valid state permits to mine the mountain.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hHSDkjB2yPczYz0cgf-o4ISstouwD9BPJHO01
Stevens Says Mine Boom to Widen Australia’s Current Account Gap
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By Jacob Greber and Rob Fenner
Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Australia’s current account deficit may be “considerably” larger in coming years as foreigners fund the bulk of a resources boom fueled by China’s demand for iron ore, coal and gas, central bank Governor Glenn Stevens said.
Stevens this week became the first policy maker in the world to raise borrowing costs twice this year, citing a rebound in consumer confidence and strengthening exports, which rose in September by the most in almost a year. Investment in mining will climb to a record A$50 billion ($45 billion) by fiscal 2013, economic forecaster BIS Shrapnel said yesterday.
Larger current account deficits mean a “good deal of the risk” of funding new mines will be shared with foreign investors, Stevens told business leaders at a Melbourne Institute dinner late yesterday. “Why would Australians alone take on all the risks of these massive projects?”
Wider current account deficits could drive the nation’s currency toward parity with the U.S. dollar, according to Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc analystGreg Gibbs in Sydney.
Citigroup Inc., Calyon, Barclays Capital and National Australia Bank Ltd. forecast the Australian currency will trade at 1 U.S. dollar next year, implying an additional 10 percent gain. Hedge funds and other large traders last month had more bets than at any time since July 15, 2008, that the rally will continue, data from the Washington-based Commodity Futures Trading Commission show.
“The Australian dollar may need to rise until the deficit is back to around previous peaks of 6 percent to 7 percent” of gross domestic product, Gibbs said yesterday.
‘Considerably Larger’
The Australian dollar traded at 90.76 U.S. cents at 8:55 p.m. yesterday in Sydney from 90.54 cents just before the speech was released. The currency has gained 29 percent this year.
Stevens said the current account shortfall could be “considerably larger for some years” than the 4 percent to 5 percent of GDP “seen on average for the past generation.”
“These trends will take some explaining, not least to foreign and international organizations, many of which have a more traditional view of current account positions,” he added.
The current account is the broadest measure of trade because it includes investment flows as well as goods and services shipments. A deficit represents money Australia has to borrow overseas to pay for the goods and services it imports, and to finance investment not covered by local savings.
The shortfall widened in the second quarter to A$13.3 billion, the most in more than a year, a report showed Sept. 1. Figures for the third quarter will be published Dec. 12.
Deficit ‘Manageable’
Temporarily larger deficits should be manageable and sustainable provided they provide “a relatively modest amount of currency mismatch, and a rise in investment as opposed to a reduction in saving,” Stevens said.
“That seems to be the likely shape of things,” he added.
Resources companies are revisiting plans to boost spending after being forced to shut mines and shelve projects because of the worst global recession since World War II.
Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-largest mining company, last week announced it will double capital expenditure in 2010 amid a rebound in prices for commodities.
Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc in September agreed to proceed with their A$43 billion Gorgon Gas venture off northwestern Australia. Construction on the nation’s largest resources project will continue until 2014, when the first ship is expected to leave carrying liquefied natural gas.
Foreign Investment
“Even if a number of the proposed projects do not go ahead, the ratio of mining investment to GDP for Australia, which is already very high, will probably go higher still over the next several years,” Stevens said.
“The financial capital to fund this build-up will mostly come from abroad,” he added.
Australia’s third largest foreign investor, after the U.S. and U.K., is probably China, according to Patrick Colmer, director of the Canberra-based Foreign Investment Review Board. The board has processed about 90 proposed investments from China valued at about A$34 billion in the past 18 months, he said in September.
China is boosting spending on oil and mining acquisitions by at least half this year to take advantage of lower valuations after prices slumped. State-owned Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. agreed to buy Australia’s Felix Resources Ltd. for about A$3.5 billion in August.
Baosteel Group Corp., China’s largest steelmaker, received approval from Australia’s foreign investment regulator last month to buy a 15 percent stake in Aquila Resources Ltd. for A$285 million.
Economic Rebound
Stevens yesterday also said the nation’s economy is emerging from the global recession with less spare capacity than in previous slumps, as well as faster population growth. The central bank, which in August scrapped a prediction the economy would shrink, will publish revised forecasts for GDP and inflation at 11:30 a.m. in Sydney.
Signs of an economic rebound, including consumer confidence at a two-year high, and an 8.4 percent jump in house prices in the six months through Sept. 30, prompted the Governor to raise the overnight cash rate target this week by a quarter point for a second month to 3.5 percent.
Fourteen of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg this week say Stevens will raise the rate again on Dec. 1, the first time in history the central bank would have boosted borrowing costs at three successive meetings.
Investors are betting there is a 60 percent chance Stevens will raise the rate by a quarter point, according to Bloomberg calculations based on interbank futures on the Sydney Futures Exchange at 4:30 p.m. yesterday.
Faster Recovery
“After a big recession, it usually takes some years for well-above-trend growth in demand to use up spare capacity created by the recession,” Stevens said yesterday. “This time that process will not take as long.”
Australia’s jobless rate unexpectedly fell in September for the first time in five months, declining to 5.7 percent from 5.8 percent. A report yesterday showed exports jumped in September by the most in 11 months, gaining 5 percent on increased shipments of coal and gold.
The jump in exports adds to evidence that Australia’s economy is growing faster and generating more jobs than Treasurer Wayne Swan and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd forecast six months ago. The government this week raised its growth forecast for the year ending June 30, 2010, to 1.5 percent. They previously predicted a 0.5 percent contraction.
‘Mildest’ Downturn
That growth has been helped by A$20 billion in government cash handouts to consumers and Stevens’s record interest-rate cuts between September 2008 and April, when he slashed the benchmark rate by 4.25 percentage points to a half-century low of 3 percent.
“On the best reading of all the available information, this appears to have been one of the mildest downturns we have had,” Stevens said.
Managing the economic rebound to ensure it’s “long and stable, and relatively free of serious imbalances,” includes “unwinding temporary measures as appropriate,” he added.
To contact the reporters for this story: Jacob Greber in Sydney atjgreber@bloomberg.netRobert Fenner in Melbourne rfenner@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 5, 2009 08:01 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aJrKTyjw5KxQ
Nov 06, 2009 03:30 ET
Lake Shore Gold and West Timmins Mining Complete Business Combination
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Nov. 6, 2009) - Lake Shore Gold Corp. (TSX:LSG) ("Lake Shore Gold") and West Timmins Mining Inc. (TSX:WTM) ("West Timmins") today jointly announced that the companies have completed the business combination originally announced August 27, 2009. Under terms contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, Lake Shore Gold has acquired all of the outstanding common shares of West Timmins with West Timmins shareholders receiving 0.73 of a Lake Shore Gold common share for each common share of West Timmins. Lake Shore Gold is issuing approximately 104 million common shares through the transaction.
Tony Makuch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lake Shore Gold, commented: "We are pleased to welcome the shareholders of West Timmins to Lake Shore Gold. Completing the transaction has created the next major, wholly owned gold mining complex in Timmins, the Timmins West Gold Mine Complex (the "Complex"), comprised of approximately 130 square kilometers of highly prospective property along the Timmins gold structure west of the Mattagami River Fault. The discoveries at the Timmins Mine and Thunder Creek confirm the exploration potential of this large land package. The many surface showings and historic drill results from the other properties within the Complex highlight the potential for additional gold discoveries and resource development throughout the land package.
"Very importantly, consolidating Thunder Creek with the Timmins Mine and accessing it using our existing infrastructure will allow us to accelerate Thunder Creek's development and achieve significant synergies. We are currently preparing to commence an underground advanced exploration program at Thunder Creek, including drifting across to the high-grade Thunder Creek gold mineralization from the 200 Level and 650 Level at the Timmins Mine. An extensive underground and surface diamond drilling program will be ongoing throughout the next year, and will support underground development on ore grade mineralization. Our goal by the end of 2010 will be to have completed a National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate for Thunder Creek and to have commenced processing advanced exploration ore from the property."
"We are very pleased to see the closing of the business combination with Lake Shore Gold," said Darin Wagner, former President and CEO of West Timmins. "The overwhelming support from our shareholders for this transaction indicates that they recognize the inherent value in combining the assets under one banner and we all look forward to the months ahead as Lake Shore Gold drives aggressively forward on the production and exploration fronts."
Closing of the transaction follows a vote by West Timmins Mining shareholders on Wednesday, November 4, 2009, in which approximately 98% of votes cast were in favour of the business combination. Court approval of the plan of arrangement was received yesterday, Thursday, November 5, 2009. Shares of West Timmins are anticipated to be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday, November 11, 2009.
Through the Business Combination Agreement, Lake Shore Gold has acquired West Timmins' 40% interest in the Thunder Creek property as well as approximately 120 square kilometres of additional highly prospective exploration property in close proximity to Thunder Creek and the Company's Timmins Mine. Among these additional properties are the Thorne Property, which hosts a 400,000 ounce, near surface inferred gold resource and which has returned recent encouraging drill results from several mineralized zones, and the 144 Property, which covers 4.0 kilometres of the same volcanic/ultramafic, intrusive/sedimentary contact which hosts the Timmins and Thunder Creek deposits. In addition, the transaction also provides Lake Shore Gold with 100% ownership of the high-grade Lluvia de Oro gold-silver and polymetallic Montana de Oro projects in Mexico.
About Lake Shore Gold
Lake Shore Gold is a rapidly growing mining company with large land positions on the west and east-sides of the Timmins gold mining camp. The Company is currently carrying out an underground advanced exploration program at its 100%-owned Timmins Mine project, where it has both a shaft and a ramp. The Bell Creek Mill, located on the east side of Timmins, has been refurbished to a capacity of 1,500 tonnes per day. The Company is also making progress with an underground advanced exploration program at its Bell Creek Complex, including the Bell Creek Mine, Schumacher and Vogel properties, which have the potential to become the Company's second mining project in the Timmins Camp. In addition, Lake Shore Gold is pursuing a number of other highly prospective exploration properties in Timmins and other parts of Northern Ontario and Quebec, and owns a large land position in Mexico. The Company's common shares trade on the TSX under the symbol LSG.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release relating to the Business Combination transaction between Lake Shore Gold and West Timmins, as well as Lake Shore Gold's operating and development plans, general exploration activities and business strategy are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of securities legislation. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements represent management's best judgment based on current facts and assumptions that management considers reasonable, including that operating and capital plans will not be disrupted by issues such as mechanical failure, unavailability of parts, labour disturbances, interruption in transportation or utilities, or adverse weather conditions, that there are no material unanticipated variations in budgeted costs, that contractors will complete projects according to schedule, and that actual mineralization on properties will not be less than identified mineral reserves. The Company makes no representation that reasonable business people in possession of the same information would reach the same conclusions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In particular, fluctuations in the price of gold or in currency markets could prevent the Company from achieving its targets. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. More information about risks and uncertainties affecting the Company and its business is available in Lake Shore Gold's most recent Annual Information Form and other regulatory filings which are posted on sedar atwww.sedar.com.
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Lake-Shore-Gold-Corp-TSX-LSG-1072258.html
Mining equipment fleet secured for Copper Mountain Project
Friday, Nov 06, 2009
Copper Mountain Mining Corporation announces that the mobile mining equipment fleet for the Copper Mountain Project has been ordered with deliveries to match the mining plan. The Company has placed orders through SMS Equipment for more than $70 million worth of Komatsu mobile mining equipment to be delivered in stages over the next 18 months. Preproduction mining is scheduled to start in June 2010.
The equipment package includes 2 Komatsu PC8000 Electric Hydraulic Front Shovels with 42 m(3) buckets, 13 - 240 Ton Komatsu 830E-AC Electric Drive Trucks, 1 Komatsu WA1200 Front End Loader, 2 Komatsu D375A Track Dozers, and 1 Komatsu WD600 Wheel Dozer.
Mr. O'Rourke, Chief Executive Officer of the Company stated: "We are extremely happy with the commitment that the Company has received from SMS Equipment and Komatsu in making this transaction work, and are looking forward to a long term relationship that will help the mine maintain favourable costs and high productivity."
Mill foundations work at the Copper Mountain Project is progressing well and concrete will continue to be poured through December 2009 to complete the building foundations in preparation for the erection of the building steel in the spring of 2010.
About Copper Mountain Mining Corporation:
Copper Mountain is a Canadian resource company managed by an experienced team of professionals with a solid track record of exploration and development success. The Company's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "CUM". Copper Mountain owns 75% and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation owns 25% of the Copper Mountain Project. The 18,000 acre mine site is located 15 km south of the town of Princeton in southern British Columbia. The Copper Mountain Project is a past producer of 1.7 billion pounds of Copper that closed in 1996, and therefore, there is significant developed infrastructure on site that the Company can build upon. The Copper Mountain Project has a current resource of approximately 5 billion pounds of copper and it is Copper Mountain's goal to develop the Copper Mountain Project as a mid tier copper and precious metal mine to produce approximately 100 million pounds of copper per year by mid 2011.
http://www.yourminingnews.com/news_item.php?newsID=41479
Other News
Features,Functions and Preparatory steps of National Ganga River Basin Authority
14:35 IST
Backgrounder
Features,Functions and Preparatory steps of National Ganga River Basin Authority
Key Features of the New Approach of NGRBA
• River Basin will be the unit of planning and management. This is an internationally accepted strategy for integrated management of rivers. Accordingly, a new institutional mechanism in the form of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) will spearhead river conservation efforts at the national level. Implementation will be by the State Agencies and Urban Local Bodies.
• The minimum ecological flows for the entire Ganga will be determined through modeling exercises. NGRBA will take appropriate measures in cooperation with the States to regulate water abstraction for marinating minimum ecological flows in the river.
• Attention would also be paid to the restoration of living parts of the river ecosystem for its holistic treatment to enable conservation of species like dolphin, turtles, fishes and other native and endangered species in their river.
Key Functions of the NGRBA
• The NGRBA would be responsible for addressing the problem of pollution in Ganga in a holistic and comprehensive manner. This will include water quality minimum ecological flows, sustainable access and other issues relevant to river ecology and management.
• The NGRBA will not only be regulatory body but will also have developmental role in terms of planning & monitoring of the river conservation activities and ensuring that necessary resources are available.
• The NGRBA would work for maintaining the water quality of the river Ganga upto the acceptable standards. The pollution abetment activities will be taken up through the existing implementation mechanisms in the States and also through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) at the pollution hotspots.
• The NGRBA will ensure minimum ecological flow in the Ganga by regulating water abstraction and by promoting water storage projects.
• The NGRBA will plan and monitoring programmes for clanging of Ganga and its tributaries. To begin with, it will concentrate on Ganga main stem.
• The NGRBA would draw upon professional expertise within and outside the Government for advise on techno-economic issues.
• The technical and administrative support to NGRBA shall be provided by the Ministry of Environment & Forests.
‘Preparatory steps’ after setting up National Ganga River Basin Authority
1. River Basin Management Plan: a notice inviting Expression of Interest to start the process of selecting an appropriate agency to prepare the Ganga River Basin Management Plan has been issued. This has been prepared taking into account inputs received from the Central pollution control Board and the Central Water Commission on the scope of work to be included in the Plan. 30 proposals have been received from leading consultants. The Consultant will be finalized shortly after two stage selection process.
2. Status Paper: the Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, IIT, Roorkee has been asked to prepare a Status Paper on Ganga which includes the experience of the Ganga Action Plan and the present water quality. It is being finalized. The Status paper will be presented in the first meeting of meeting of the NGRBA.
3. Priority Action plan for pollution hotspots: one of the priority functions of the Authority is to implementation river conservation works at pollution hotspots. These activities should commence even as the comprehensive basin management plan is under preparation. MoEF has requested the concerned State Governments to prepare action plans for comprehensively tackling the problem of pollution in the Ganga at the hotspots locations, such as Hardiwar, Varansani, Ahmadabad, Kanpur, Patna and Howrah. These plans are awaited.
4. SPVs as mode of implementation: the process of consolations with State Government and Urban Local Bodies has been started to discuss he feasibility of having SPVs in the river clearing sector and to evolve the necessary modalities viz. Contractual arrangements, concessions agreements, etc. A meeting was organized on 16th June 2009 with the representatives of the State Governments and the Heads of the Urban Local Bodies as a brainstorming session to begin the process of identifying appropriate locations and the types of river conservation infrastructure where SPVs would be feasible. A presentation was made by IL&FS. State Governments & ULBs have been requested to formulate proposals for implementing this concept on a pilot basis.
5. GIS Mapping: The National Information Centre (NIC0 has been entrusted with the work of GIS based mapping of the entire Ganga Basin. This work has already commenced. This will help the users to view and update maps and tabular data relating to pollution abetment works, water quality etc. and analyze the data for monitoring and effective decision making.
6. Memoranda of Agreement with States: the National Institute of Urban Affairs has prepared a modal Memorandum of Agreement which would link flow of funds to achievement of milestones such as measurable improvements in water quality indicators, implementation of pre determined reform measures and provision s for O&M.
7. Compendium of Technologies: A Compendium of the treatment technologies available in India and aboard is being prepared by IIT, Kanpur. This can serve as a store house for the NGRBA and would help the State Governments and the local authorities in choosing the appropriate technologies depending upon the totality of local circumstances. The compendium would be presented in the first meeting of NGRBA.
8. The States have to be at the forefront of implementation of the river conservation programme. The Authority, therefore, provides for the State Governments to constitute State River Conservation Authorities under the chairmanship of their Chief Ministers. However, certain States may want the States Authorities to be constituted under the Environment (Protection) Act in which case the notification will have to be issued by the Central Government. A model notification in this regard has been circulated to the State Governments for their consideration.
KP
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=53898
Water Quality criteria for designated best use classification of CPCB
________________________________________
13:58 IST
Factsheet
Water Quality criteria for designated best use classification of CPCB
In any stretch of river, the use damaging the highest quality of water is taken as the designated best use. The water quality criterion for each of the designated best use given by CPCB is as under:
Class Designated Best Use Water Quality Criteria
Class A Drinking water source without Dissolved Oxygen-6.0 mg/1 or more
conventional treatment but Biochemical Oxygen Demand -2.0 mg/1 or less
after disinfection Total Coliform - 50 MPN/100 ml
Class B Outdoor bathing Dissolved Oxygen-5 mg/1 or more. Biochemical
Oxygen Demand-3 mg/1 or less. Fecal
Coliform -500 MPN/ 100 ml (desirable), 2500
MPN/100 ml (maximum permissible )
Class C Drinkign water source with Dissolved Oxygen -4mg/I or more Biochemical
conventional treatment followed Oxgen Demand-3 mg/1 or less, Total
Coliform -5000 MPN/100 ml
Class D Propagation of Wildlife and Dissolved Oxygen-4 mg/1 or more
Fisheris Free ammonia-1.2mg/1
Class E Irrigation, Industrial Cooling and Electrical Conductivity - 2,250 mhos/cu. Sodium
Contolled Waste Disposal Absorpotion Ratio26 or less, Boron-2mg/1
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=53897
Effective Interdepartmental Coordination to Control Wildlife Crimes
________________________________________
14:46 IST
The Special Coordination Committee on wildlife crime control to sensitize field personnel to control crimes against wildlife in the country. The committee which met yesterday reviewed the prevailing situation of wildlife crime, especially against the tiger and explored ways and means for effective interdepartmental coordination. The field personnel of various agencies will be sensitized through wildlife related training modules, apart from joint patrols by forest /wildlife authorities in sensitive wildlife areas along the border. It was also decided to share data on professional poachers and their modus operandi and to consider designating nodal officers in each agency for effective interchange.
After the formation of the Bureau, it was expanded to include various Central Police Organizations, Coast Guard and enforcement agencies deployed at the exit points of the country apart from representatives of various important Ministries like Defence, Home, and Railways. The committee has a mandate to promote effective inter-departmental coordination, sharing of information, capacity building and sensitization towards wildlife protection issues.
KP
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=53900
Maoist Martyrdom Vs State Barbarism
By Satya Sagar
05 November, 2009
Countercurrents.org
Is Maoism in India really the only response to poverty and lack of development? Is an armed rebellion the only way to change the way the Indian State operates? Will such a movement lead to a better future for underprivileged people in this country? Are other forms of mass democratic struggles an alternative option at all?
These are the questions that haunted me as I sat through a public hearing on drought at Daltonganj in Jharkhand’s Palamu district late October this year. Questions that are not new and have been debated repeatedly within the various strands of the Indian left movement for several decades now, with no clear answers as yet.
While I mused, there was this young woman standing on the stage, slowly edging towards the mike, patiently waiting for her turn to speak. She need not have said anything at all. Her emaciated, frail frame, the harassed look on her face and the tears silently welling up in her sunken eyes had already conveyed to us this was another tale of unmitigated tragedy.
Barely in her early twenties, she had been diagnosed with tuberculosis a few months ago. Her husband was already on his deathbed due to the same affliction as there was no public health center near her village. Treatment in town was obviously unaffordable. The drought raging in the district, reported to be the worst in over half a century, would end up wiping out her entire family she explained in a quiet, matter of fact tone.
As we sat there, the small ‘jury’ of three or four of us who had come from Delhi and Ranchi to listen to the woes of Palamu’s villagers felt much, much smaller. For her horror story was only one out of some 3000 similar ones of neglect, deprivation and outright desperation that tensely waited to be recalled that early winter afternoon.
The old man who never got his old age pension, the abandoned widow on the verge of starvation, the landless worker who slogged for wages that never arrived, the child born with a deformed hip a decade ago and still hobbling his way through childhood. This contrasted with the fact that thousands of crores of rupees had been allocated for employment guarantee schemes, subsidised rations, public health and infrastructure schemes – all siphoned off somewhere between the Indian capital New Delhi and the state capital Ranchi. Stolen by a kleptocracy that dares to call itself the ‘elected’ representatives of the Indian people.
And yet, poverty and lack of development are not the only reasons why the Naxals or Maoists, the MCC or whatever you want to call them thrive in Palamu. It is also the lack of respect and dignity that the dalits and adivasis of these parts have suffered for centuries, their abject humiliation by the ‘upper castes’ continuing without redress in Independent India.
Many, many moons ago when the first movements for justice started in this district they were led by the Communist Party of India, the Socialists, the Gandhians. Struggles against feudal practices like the ‘right to the first night’, which forced the brides of Dalit men to spend the first fortnight after marriage as concubines of upper-caste landlords- a ‘custom’ enforced at gun-point. Or against the practice of bonded labour whereby generations of families slaved for their ‘creditors’, the interest on their loans accumulating faster than the rivers of sweat they were able to shed.
In the seventies, when these popular struggles died down due to changing priorities or exhaustion or corruption or whatever of these organisations the Naxals had moved into this vaccum- with their guns. So somehow it is not just the failure of the Indian state to deliver the basic needs of the people we are talking about here but the inability of our mass, democratic movements to maintain a consistent long-term presence too.
Do the Maoists have popular support? Among the landless, the poor, the ‘lower castes’, the adivasis the answer obviously would be yes as in the initial years their interventions did help wipe out the worst of feudal excesses. Most of their cadres come from these oppressed sections of society though the occasional ‘upper caste’ youth too have joined.
Have their actions led to an overall improvement in the lives of the people? Well, yes and no. Yes, because as mentioned their activities have boosted the morale of the poor and the oppressed. No, because a high morale is all very well but a highly nutritious meal or a functioning high school would be still better and these are still elusive.
The Maoists with simple Newtonian logic had achieved the first step of doing away with the fear of feudal oppression. Greater the inertia of an object, greater the force required to move it. Shoot a few really bad, ‘upper-caste’ warlords in the area and this has the force-multiplier effect of, at least for a short while, moving mountains of unaccounted power.
The next several steps of organising people, winning all the basic things they crave for- food, water, healthcare, escape from poverty and so on has proved far more difficult for the Maoists. In other words, the details of day-to-day life are missing from their strategy. There is only so much martyrdom and bloodshed any population can take.
It is also true though, once the gun has been taken up by the oppressed, the State weighs in heavily on the side of the local oppressors. The latter themselves escalate the levels of violence and it becomes impossible to do anything in the open. No more public meetings, no rallies, no discussions and debates among the people, no mass organisations. In other words none of those basic ingredients required to build a future, participative people’s democracy.
At the same time, the underground- that dark and dangerous space so tantalising from a safe distance to angst-ridden, urban radicals- is fraught with enough problems of its own. The constant hiding, the secrecy and suspicion bordering on paranoia, the inability to communicate with comrades or carry out political education of cadre, the costly lapses and subsequent losses- all leading to the near negation of the movement’s original objectives.
Every now and then a creative Maoist cadre somewhere will try to do something different at the local level like run schools, crackdown on social evils, mobilise people for militant struggles that don’t involve the use of arms These struggles, wherever they have occurred, have always been hugely popular with the people. Those in power, who had complained about the violence of the Maoists, would now worry about their non-violent methods and at some point of time step in with their jackboots to crush the experiment.
Unfortunately, I suspect, the Maoist leadership too sees these experiments as ideologically soft, reformist or even worse as too ‘Gandhian’ and doesn’t really believe in them in any way. It occasionally allows them to happen with the idea that ‘deviants’ within their fold can always be brought back to the ‘correct path’ one way or the other. The lives of the people, after all, can really change for the better only when the ‘New Democratic Revolution’ happens.
In the worldview of the Maoist ideologues the physics of the armed struggle will some day square the grand mathematical equation of social injustice on one side with the predations of capitalism and imperialism on the other. Their solutions are alarmingly final ones, all derived from the dead abstractions of physics and mathematics, whether they correspond with the living biological needs of the faceless ‘people’ and ‘masses’ or not.
Nobody knows what this ‘New Democratic Revolution’ really means, how many hands and feet it has or whether it prefers sugar and milk with its coffee or not. Or for that matter, why the Dalits and Adivasis of India should fight for this particular model of the future and not something else. The indigenous people of the Indian subcontinent for example may be better off fighting for complete autonomy from the rest of India instead of taking on the burden of carrying out the entire ‘Indian revolution’. And if the Dalits and Adivasis should take up the gun why not poor Muslims, many of whose social and economic indicators are even worse? Also if this Revolution does happen some day, why should it be confined to the borders of India – why not South Asia as a whole or even beyond?
Again, nobody even knows when this Revolution is supposed to happen or be finally declared ‘successful’ but it is believed passionately that nothing but the gun can lead the people of India to this utopia. As one of the Maoist ideologues caught by the police recently in Jharkhand reportedly told the media with frightening clarity, ‘the bloodshed will stop only when the Revolution is over”. He did not bother to set a timeframe- they could be fighting for the next 200 years for all we know- all their martyrs looking nice on wall posters in the meanwhile. Will there be anyone out there left to recognise the ‘victory’ when it finally comes?
I personally do believe in the right of the masses to wield the gun if need be. When faced with a violent ruling class, it is an ugly but understandable premise. Mao was right when he said ‘power flows from the barrel of a gun’. The problem is about all the things he did not mention and that do not flow from guns – like water, food, medicines, peace or ultimately for that matter, even guarantees of justice and democracy. Making a fetish of armed struggle to the neglect of every other way of operating is not serious politics at all and rather indicative of the nihilist mindset behind such strategies- ‘jalaa do, mitaa do, yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye tho kya hei’.
The Indian State too on its part is appropriately barbaric in everything it does, making each wild accusation and conspiracy theory of the Maoists seem like a profound, well-studied thesis. Rs. 470 crores is the sum given by the Central Government for Jharkhand’s anti-Naxalite operations- to be spent on more arms for the police and more uniforms for the unemployed youth who go on to become the Indian police. If that sum were spent sincerely on the kind of people queuing up to complain at the Daltonganj public hearing there may have been no need for either the Naxal or the noxious cop.
Instead the State builds schools in the Naxal dominated areas and fills them with policemen- there are 3000 schools right now in Jharkhand full of Cobras and Scorpions or similar species lower down the evolutionary order. It is clueless about who is really a Maoist and who is not so it ends up blindly lashing out at some innocent folk within the reach of its very short and clumsy arms.
Again, the State, for all its prattle about ‘rule of law’, also does nothing to encourage any form of peaceful resistance either. Mahendra Singh of the CPI(ML) Liberation, the brave and only MLA in the Jharkhand Assembly exposing corruption in high places, was gunned down in broad daylight in early 2005. An investigation by an official committee has implicated a senior police officer, who continues to rise up the hierarchy instead of being booked for murder!
Just a year and half ago Lalit Mehta, a bright young engineer and certainly no Maoist, was shot dead in Palamu district as he exposed corruption and organised social audits of the NREGA or employment guarantee scheme. His killers, local politically connected mafia, have not yet been apprehended and may never be. All this obviously sends out a chilling message to anyone who wants to follow Lalit’s path of ‘unarmed’ activism.
The truth is that those who run the Indian State and sections of the Indian population who benefit from its policies really don’t give a damn for the people the Naxals or other left forces are trying to mobilise. The Dalits, Adivasis and the poor in general can all shrivel up and die for all they care. Whether these folks want it or not they will be subjected to a perverse development process that involves driving nails through their flesh and laying rail lines across their bones so that a small minority of Indians can have their ‘infrastructure’ and feel like a ‘superpower’. If they choose to fight back they will be crushed like flies- the endless legions of unemployed Indian youth from around the country marshalled in uniforms for this genocide.
That is precisely why when the masked Maoist leader Kishenji openly mocks the Indian State on prime time television and invites it to battle he should be careful, for he may get exactly what he wishes. The State would like nothing better than a war against its own citizens, as it becomes another opportunity to make lots of money, replenish its arsenal, demolish whatever little democratic space is left in the country and rollback all resistance to its skewed policies for decades to come. A war, for which the Maoists too, despite all their bravado, are simply not prepared well enough.
Both the Maoist leadership and the Indian State it seems are keen on playing with each other only one game called ’revolution and counter-revolution’, which ends only when either of the two players ceases to exist forever.
One thing is very clear though. If a new game is to emerge forcefully on the Indian stage soon, far greater number of Indian citizens need to get down to the task of solving the problems of poverty, oppression and injustice than involved currently. The situation today, more than ever before, calls for the building of many, many more creative mass movements to establish the rights of the people than out there right now.
As the late K.Balagopal pointed out so insightfully in a piece on violence versus non-violence in the Economic and Political Weekly a few years ago, neither method has really made much difference to the course of Indian state policies since Independence. In other words, there is simply not enough happening to bring about change given the scale of the country’s various problems.
There is no point though in blaming either the Indian State or the Maoists, both of whom will continue to do only what they know best. While Indian democracy is too important to be left to ‘elected’ politicians Maoist martyrdom by itself will also never be enough to change the Indian State.
It is for the rest of India to decide whether they are going to be mere spectators, pliant players or makers of a different destiny for themselves and their society.
Satya Sagar is a writer, journalist and videomaker based in New Delhi. He can be contacted at sagarnama@gmail.com
http://www.countercurrents.org/sagar051109.htm
Rs 24 lakh looted
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Kohima, November 05 2009: Three unidentified armed robbers snatched away cash amounting to Rs.24 lakhs from the possession of NREGA Secretary of Pangti village, under Wokha district of Nagaland on Wednesday.
Official sources confirming the incident on Thursday said that the cash was meant for Pangti village for developmental activities through NREGA.
The NREGA Secretary of the village was on way to his native village Pangti while armed miscreants stopped the vehicle (Tata Sumo)at gunpoint and snatched the cash.
The unidentified armed robbers came in a grey van, sources said adding that they are yet to be identified.
http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=Snipp10..061109.nov09
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