Mining – India
1. The Revenge Of The Reddy Republic
2. It's all mine: Koda & Co made Rs 3.6 crore a day
3. Orissa to inspect iron ore mines for violations
4. Top leaders behind scam: BJP
5. Investors meet on Development of Mineral Resource
6. 'WCL has made our lives hell'
7. ONGC bags four national safety awards in oil mines category
8. State Govt remains silent spectator
9. Little hope for improvement of mine labourers' condition
Mining – International
10. 3 Colombians die in anti-personnel mine blasts
11. 4mn sq m of mined areas cleared in Wanni: Lankan PM
12. First Uranium streaming deal eases balance sheet
13. China’s Daye Nonferrous to Double Capacity, Invest in Mines
14. Southern Copper Says Water Disputes in Peru May Delay Mines
15. Innovative Technology needed in mining sector in SA
Other News
16. How India hopes to lead the world
17. One killed in clash between NREGA workers
18. THE HONEST LEFTIST
19. - K. Balagopal was the conscience of Andhra society
20. Gram Sabha Needs Orientation On Climate Change
21. Too little, too late?
Mining – India
CURRENT AFFAIRS up close
The Revenge Of The Reddy Republic
The mining baron-brothers flex their muscles in Bellary, forcing a red-faced BJP to its knees, reports SANJANA
Flying high Janardhan Reddy is piloting the revolt against CM Yeddyurappa
Photo: GAGANDEEP
BELLARY, A dusty town 270 km from Karnataka’s capital Bengaluru, has over the years transformed into a power centre of the rich and powerful. Famous for its iron ore mines and mining barons, a meeting called in the town may yet result in a change of guard in the state. On October 25, at a meeting called by Gali Janardhan Reddy, a mining baron and Karnataka’s Minister for Tourism and Infrastructure, mine owners rejected a decision taken by the chief minister of the state, BS Yeddyurappa. He had gone too far, they resolved. Within three days of that meeting, the Bharatiya Janata Party rushed its senior leader and in charge for Karnataka, Arun Jaitley, to the state. The BJP’s first ever government in Karnataka was in trouble 18 months after it took charge.
In an effort to raise money for the flood victims in the state, the chief minister decided to impose a cess of Rs 1,000 on every lorry transporting iron ore – a decision that was vociferously condemned by Janardhan Reddy and his brothers as the cess would adversely affect their mining empire. Unwilling to withdraw the cess (and bow down to the Reddys’ demands), Yeddyurappa pressed and obtained the required Cabinet approval. Hours after the cabinet decision, Janardhan Reddy and his brothers announced a decision of their own. Rallying all the mine owners of Bellary, they announced a Rs 500 crore housing project for the flood-hit victims in north Karnataka – independent of the government’s own rehabilitation plans for the flood affected. Two days later, as the crises worsened, the Reddys rounded up BJP legislators close to them and shifted them to posh resorts in Hyderabad and Goa – out of the Chief Minister’s and Jaitley’s reach. Even as discussions to resolve the crisis continue with the BJP’s central leadership in New Delhi, the question being asked is who are the Reddy brothers? And how did Janardhan Reddy come to occupy such a central position in the state’s politics?
There are a lot of stories one can tell about 42-year-old Gali Janardhan Reddy and his family. A man who owed debtors Rs 200 crore when his finance company collapsed in 1998. Ten years later, in 2008, the same man admitted that he and his wife alone have assets worth Rs 115 crore; with business turnovers of over Rs 2,000 crore. At last count, he and his brothers owned four helicopters besides an undisclosed number of aeroplanes. A number of luxury cars line the Reddy homes. In May 2009, the family spent an estimated Rs 20 crore on a wedding. The helicopters owned by the family ferried over 10,000 guests to the wedding even as 500 airconditioners helped them forget outside temperatures of 42 degree Celsius. A month later, the brothers donated a Rs 42 crore diamond-studded crown to a temple deity.
Power pack Janaradhan and Karunakar greet their brother Somashekhar
Photo: KPN
But it would be limiting to sketch Janardhan as a protagonist in a rags-to-riches story. If the last week alone is any indication, Janardhan Reddy has emerged to be a shrewd political strategist who is well on his way to establishing a Reddy Republic.
The second of three brothers, Janardhan Reddy is a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council – a position he has held since June 2006. His eldest brother Karunakar Reddy and the younger one Somashekhar are both members of the Legislative Assembly. B Sriramulu, another legislator from the area is very close to the family and is considered to be a Reddy brother. Of the four Reddy brothers then, three hold key portfolios in the current Yeddyurappa government while the fourth, Somashekhar is the chairman of a powerful statewide milk federation. Add to the family’s kitty, a Member of Parliament (Sriramulu’s sister J Shantha was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bellary), and two other members of Legislative Assembly. Impressive political growth for a family that first shot into the limelight for its trysts with senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj during her election campaign against Sonia Gandhi in Bellary in 1999. Within the family, there is easy acknowledgement of the fact that two people responsible for this growth are Janardhan and Sriramulu.
REDDY MOUNTED A REVOLT AGAINST THE CM, LEADING THE MINING LOBBY TO REJECT THE NEW CESS ON TRANSPORTATION OF IRON ORE
As a political strategist, there is no doubting Janardhan’s abilities. Months after the BJP formed its first government in the South with the support of independent legislators, the party launched Operation Lotus to wean away legislators from other political parties into the BJP. The legislators were offered cash incentives, offers of ministerial berths and key positions in various government corporations. In a conversation with TEHELKA at the time, Janardhan did not dispute the allegation that the Reddy brothers were behind Operation Lotus – “We asked them and they answered positively. And God had has given us enough. We are only sharing what we have,” said Janardhan. Rumours at the time pegged the amount paid to legislators who walked over to the BJP at a few crore rupees each. Today as internal power struggles grip the party, three of the eight entrants under the BJP’s Operation Lotus have thrown their lot with the Reddy brothers. An investment that has paid off at the time of crisis.
It isn’t the idea of entrenched political influence in Karnataka alone that strengthens the idea of a Reddy fiefdom. It also emerges from the casual disregard the Reddys have displayed for nationally established boundaries between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Anantapur, the droughtprone Andhra Pradesh district that borders the Reddys’ home district of Bellary in Karnataka is stamped heavily by the Reddys’ presence. Their mining corporation, Obalapuram Mining Company (OMC) holds iron ore mining leases in Anantapur. In the past two weeks alone, the Divisional Forest Officer in Anantapur has issued five notices to the Reddy brothers for illegally mining across the border in Karnataka despite holding leases in Andhra Pradesh. The notices talk in detail of how the Reddys shifted the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh state border by destroying the boundary markers — an observation upheld by the Karnataka and Andhra High Courts as well. In the latest notice issued on November 1 the liabilities are clearly mentioned. If convicted, Janardhan Reddy alone is liable to pay a penalty of Rs 1,000 crore for mining without a valid permit and an imprisonment term of six months. The Reddys have never responded to any of the notices sent to them on the issue.
IN 2006 REDDY DECLARED BELLARY OUT OF BOUNDS TO THE THEN CHIEF MINISTER. ‘BELLARY BELONGS TO US,’ IS HIS PROCLAMATION IN 2009
AN AIDE of the family, Kanti Reddy, told TEHELKA that the courts should consider the concern the brothers have for the people of Anantapur before indicting them for illegal activities. The brothers have provided employment to thousands of families there even as they spend all their money and energy for the upliftment of people in Karnataka, he said. It seems a simple logic – how do boundaries drawn years ago matter if there was no injustice done to people across them? Ask Janardhan about the illegality of mining across states, or of encroaching on someone else’s property and the response is a clipped no. It is a matter for the courts, says Janardhan. The only other comment he will offer is that the Reddys have been unfairly targeted by people blinded by jealousy.
Besides mining corporations, the Reddys also own the Rs 25,000 crore Brahmani Steel plant in Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh. Amidst much controversy, late chief minister YS Rajashekhar Reddy had alloted 10,675 acres to the Reddy brothers to set up the steel corporation apart from the 3,500 acres for building a second airport in the district.
Perhaps what clinches the idea of a Reddy Republic are the stories about Janardhan’s public declarations on Bellary. A month after he was elected a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council he declared the district out of bounds for the then chief minister. Three years later in 2009, the council heard another declaration – Bellary belongs to us.
The ongoing discussions in Delhi between the Reddy brothers and the central BJP leadership then has many implications – it will determine the price a state has to pay for its Cabinet deciding to impose cess in Bellary without the Reddys’ consent.
WRITER’S EMAIL
sanjana@tehelka.com
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 45, Dated November 14, 2009
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main43.asp?filename=Ne141109the_revenge.asp
It's all mine: Koda & Co made Rs 3.6 crore a day
SONALI DAS AND SACHIN PARASHAR , TOI Crest 7 November 2009, 11:33am IST
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An unlikely threesome has spawned one of India's biggest political scams - a window grille-fixer-turned-CM and his two buddies, one who started
off selling milk door-to-door and the other selling chewing tobacco. TOI-Crest brings you the riveting story of how a Rs 4,000-crore empire was built on loot from Jharkhand's ore-rich mines in just three years....
If you divide the money allegedly made by Jharkhand leader Madhu Koda (39) and his two buddies, Binod Sinha (39) and Sanjay Choudhary (41) by the number of days Koda was in office as chief minister and as minister of mines in the BJP-led Arjun Munda government, it comes to a jaw-dropping Rs 3.6 crore a day. And this isn't a figure being trotted out by Koda's rivals. This is the official estimate of probe agencies on the basis of the riches they have been able to uncover so far to draw the contours of a massive political scam.
In a land where public money is looted routinely by politicians and swindles are a dime a dozen, the Madhu Koda drama unfolding in one of India's most backward, even if mineral-rich, states should not have generated more than cursory interest. However, the sheer scale of it all has left even the most cynical gaping. Five money-counting machines found in Koda's house worked at a breathless pace to sift through bundles of currency notes with which the gang of three bought hotels in Thailand, mines in Liberia, companies in Dubai, and much else in Indonesia, Laos and Malaysia.
In all, the scam is said to be worth Rs 4,000 crore. In a stunning disclosure, a senior income-tax official told Crest that over Rs 1,450 crore was sent out to Dubai through hawala (the earlier figure was placed at Rs 500-600 crore). When asked about this, CBI director (investigations) Ujjwal Chaudhary didn't deny the amount: "It does seem to be around that figure. But a number of things have to be verified. We still have to question a number of people. Some are cooperating but others are not."
Within days of taking office as CM in September 2006, Koda renegotiated and signed mining MoUs worth Rs 1,98, 362 crore (or nearly two lakh crore rupees!) with as many as 44 firms. Soon, his associates were buying up real estate and property in Jharkhand, Delhi and abroad, transferring hundreds of crores overseas by hawala, spawning as many as 25 companies in less than two years to give a new meaning to "India Shining!" and create an empire that could match some of India's biggest business houses.
There are some who still regard Koda & Co as "poor simple boys" who went astray after learning the ropes from political wheeler-dealers of parties like the BJP, the RJD and the JMM with whom Koda had cohabited at some time or the other. The three were - so to say - boys in a candy shop, stuffing their mouths in fear of the goodies suddenly disappearing. "Koda is basically a simple rustic gone awry," says Saryu Rai, the BJP's "Chanakya" in Jharkhand, at whose feet Koda is said to have learnt the art and craft of politics.
This somewhat sympathetic view doesn't quite do justice to Koda's cunning, his extreme care while signing on files, his "inclusive" political style (like giving video cameras to all ruling party MLAs and cash "rewards" of Rs 20,000-40 ,000 to them every month), his exclusive lifestyle (wearing designer jeans, shopping in Gurgaon malls, holidaying in Thailand), or the sheer sophistication of his entire operation that involved not just his cronies, Sinha and Chaudhary , but hawala operators in Mumbai, fixers in Thailand, con men in Liberia and financiers in Dubai, and possibly political gurus from other parties.
The Koda saga has its origins in a very unlikely setting - a small village, Patahatu, tucked away in the extreme southern corner of Jharkhand where mineral riches abound, as do pervasive ignorance and extreme poverty. Koda's father, Rasik, was a labourer in Gua, attached to his one-acre land and the local brew haria. He wanted son Madhu to become a daroga (police sub-inspector), but the son had other ideas. He was interested in politics, studied in Zila School, Chaibasa, did his graduation by correspondence, joined the RSS and then the All Jharkhand Students Union, worked his way up under the kind gaze of BJP stalwart Babulal Marandi, won two elections (one even after the BJP denied him a ticket) to emerge as destiny's own political child of Jharkhand.
With the help of three other independents - Kamlesh Singh, Enos Ekka and Harinarayan Rai - he made and broke governments. In 2000, he won the Jaganathpur assembly seat and joined the Marandi government as panchayati raj minister. In 2005, he won the same seat as an independent and when the BJP fell short of a majority, he supported the Arjun Munda government for a price - the mines portfolio. There he found his real calling. Coming from the ore-rich region, Koda knew the business inside out. It's said he sometimes challenged the district mines officers on the size of reserves in each mine.
In September 2006, Koda and the three independents withdrew support from Arjun Munda to topple his government . And then before you could spell "political uncertainty", Madhu Koda had emerged as a consensus candidate to head the next government with the help of the Congress, the JMM, the RJD, the Forward Bloc and another tiny group. All this happened within days, showing that even while he was Munda's mines minister, Koda was playing footsie with all others - the trademark of his "inclusive" political style that kept tongues sealed while he allegedly made money hand over fist.
Koda's friendship with Binod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary also blossomed around this time. Sinha was a dudhwalla , selling milk door to door in Chaibasa. And Chaudhary sold chewing tobacco (khaini). Both, of course, grew out of their humble origins to write remarkable rags-toriches stories by diversifying into tractors (Sinha is involved in a Rs 3 crore tractors scam too), sewing machines, cement, and goods to below-poverty-line families. In Koda's company, they swelled to become jet-setting magnates , fixing mining deals, buying and selling property, and running hotels.
In fact, so thick were the three that Ranchi buzzed with chatter about their friendship. It was said that after the last official left chief minister Koda's residence at night, Sinha and Chaudhary would drop by and stay well after midnight. The "unholy nexus" grew was raised in the assembly in 2007. Koda didn't bat an eyelid, admitting, "Yes, they are my friends." It's a friendship he doesn't disown even now. From Ranchi's Apollo hospital, where Koda has been admitted, he told Crest: "I was friends with Sinha and Chaudhary and have been to foreign countries with them, but I don't know about their investments or money laundering." The duo are now absconding.
The CBI, of course, doesn't believe him. Nor do people like Vinod Singh, the CPI(ML) MLA, who have seen Koda more closely. "His rise both in politics and in terms of financial gains has been phenomenal," he said. "And he didn't have to struggle much to amass this huge wealth after he was shown the way by his political gurus in the BJP, the JMM and the RJD."
Still, Koda's money-grubbing ways didn't raise any special outrage in Jharkhand, partly because of the generosity with which he shared the spoils, and partly because of his understated personality, which only once in a while erupted in outrageous flamboyance. Like when he went down on his knees to get back his childhood flame and wife, Gita, in 2006 after she had eloped with an engineer four months after their marriage in January 2004. Gita melted, Ranchi cheered and somewhere Koda got humanized as a loving, even if somewhat shady, young man.
Things might have carried on swimmingly well for Koda & Co but for a PIL that triggered the larger investigation now on.
Koda's father, Rasik, however, still maintains that his boy is a "simple man" like him and he will eventually emerge clean. Journalists who covered Madhu's wedding recall Rasik selling haria to the guests. When asked why he was charging money from wedding guests, he said, "Well, it's mine. This haria has made Madhu a minister. It has wonderful qualities." Recent pictures show Rasik in a short dhoti carrying twigs on his head, not quite the person who would realize that his brew alone wouldn't give son Madhu the requisite high.
It might, though, if it came wrapped in wads of notes.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Its-all-mine-Koda-Co-made-Rs-36-crore-a-day-/articleshow/5206140.cms
Orissa to inspect iron ore mines for violations
Sat Nov 7, 2009 11:30am IST
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By Jatindra Dash
BHUBANESWAR (Reuters) - The Orissa government will inspect several iron ore mines, a government official said, in a crackdown on firms involved in illegal mining or violating environment rules.
Since July, the government has inspected seven mines and registered criminal cases against eight mine operators and officials of the forest and mine department, Anup Kumar Patnaik, director of the state vigilance department told Reuters.
"In a week or so we will be able to lodge some more criminal cases. Further raids can also take place," Patnaik said.
He said some mine operators were digging up ores and were transporting them without having necessary clearances, and some officials were abetting them.
Orissa produced about 70 million tonnes of iron ore in 2008/09 out of India's total production of 222 million tonnes, data from Federation of Indian Mineral Industries shows.
Iron ore exporters in Orissa said the raids had left mine owners cautious and many had scaled down operations with the result, supplies from the region had shrunk just when China's demand was picking up.
Patnaik said the mines had not been asked to shut production.
Editing by Sanjeev Miglani;ruchira.singh@thomsonreuters.com
http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-43766820091107
Top leaders behind scam: BJP
Express News Service
First Published : 07 Nov 2009 04:10:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 07 Nov 2009 10:12:06 AM IST
BHUBANESWAR: The BJP’s fact-finding team on Friday demanded a CBI probe into the multi-crore mining scam and cancellation of MoU signed with Vedanta Resources for establishment of a university near Puri.
Led by Rajya Sabha member Balbir Punj, the team visited about half a dozen mines in Keonjhar district on Thursday and found rampant illegal mining even after the exposure of the scam.
``As soon as the team arrives at a mine, several persons working there run away,’’ Punj told mediapersons here. Trucks, dumpers and other machineries lying unused near different mines only point to the fact that mining was stopped because of the team’s visit. The members, Punj said, found conclusive evidence of illegal mining and excavation from forest areas. Describing the ongoing Vigilance probe as an eyewash, the team maintained that a scam of such a magnitude could not have continued for so many years without the protection and cooperation of top persons in the Government.
Chandan Mitra, former Rajya Sabha member, was critical of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. ``All roads of corruption lead towards Naveen Nivas’’, he quipped. The illegal mining is handled by higherups in the Government and is continuing in a brazen manner even after the scam was exposed by the BJP in the Assembly, he said.
Mitra said that corporate houses, such as Ram Bahadur Thakur Limited, Essels Mining, Rungtas and several other companies are involved in large-scale illegal mining and transportation of minerals from Orissa. On Vedanta university, Punj alleged that the State Government has given away prime agricultural land for it. There is no merit in handing over fertile land to industrial houses. It is an excuse to hand over land to land sharks for real estate business.
The land, the team charged, has been given to Vedanta at a throwaway price of Rs 2 lakh per acre when the price in the area is Rs 16 lakh per acre. On the farmers’ suicide, he said the party will raise the issue in Parliament. The team will submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding Central intervention. Leader of BJP Legislature Party (BJPLP) K V Singhdeo alleged that mineral rich land has also been given for the proposed university. Only the Atomic Energy department can decide how the land can be utilised, he said.
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Top+leaders+behind+scam:+BJP&artid=ukL5JRMgh0o=&SectionID=mvKkT3vj5ZA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=nUFeEOBkuKw=&SEO=
Investors meet on Development of Mineral Resource
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Trishnali Neog 06 November, 2009 11:59:00
To encourage investment in exploration and exploitation of minerals for the development of mineral based industry in the North Eastern States an "Investors Meet and Conference on Development of Mineral Resource and Mineral Based Industry in North East Region" has been organized on November 6-7 at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre, Guwahati.The Investors Meet and Conferance is being organized by Ministry of Mines and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region(DONER) in association with Governments of North Eastern States and Federation of Industry and Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER) and Federation of Indian Mineral Industry.
In the inaugural session, Mr Ravi Capoor, Commissioner and Secretary Geology and Mining Government of Assam delivered the welcome address.Mrs Santha Sheela Nair, Secretary Ministry of Mines Government of India lightend the lamp.Shri Bijoy Krishna Handique, Hon'ble Minister of Mines and DONER, Government of India was the Chief Guest of the Meeting and Shri Tarun Gogoi ,Hon'ble Chief Minister of Assam was the Guest of Honour.The meet is being attended by the participants from Government of India, North Eastern Council, Governments of NER States and Sikkim and invitees from the Mineral Industry, Financial Institutions, Private entrepreneurs and NGOs. This important meet has provided an opprtunity to the Government of North Eastern Sates to highlight the available mineral resources, the opportunities, the infrastructure available and fiscal incentives offered for setting up mineral based industry and prospective investors.
http://www.assamtimes.org/hot-news/3550.html
'WCL has made our lives hell'
TNN 7 November 2009, 05:39am IST
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NAGPUR: Even as Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) helps the nation by extracting huge quantities of coal, villagers near Wani perceive the company
as their enemy number one, with their quality of their life deteriorating sharply ever since WCL began mining in the area.
Residents of Aheri, Besa Borgaon, Nilapur, Bramni, Kolra, Pimpri and Borgaon villages, which lie near the mines coming under the Wani North division of WCL say that mining activities have affected their health, income and peace of mind.
Vinayak Hepat of Besa said that since the mining activities started the water level had gone down sharply in the area creating a severe drinking water scarcity. "The WCL staff lives in their townships and is least bothered about us. They won't care even if we die of thirst," he said.
If Hepat is angry with WCL due to scarcity of water, Ajay Dethe, whose farm is located near Bhalar township of WCL, is facing problems due to excess water. "WCL has been dumping earth in the nullah adjoining my farm since 2001. Now it is totally blocked and every monsoon my field becomes flooded like a swamp, I cannot sow any crop. I have been writing letters to everyone, but in vain."
Mahim Sheikh of Wani, who regularly comes to these villages for business, said that the sound of blasting is so loud that it is affecting the hearing of most villagers. "I challenge any city slicker to stay in these villages for just one day. When they undertake blasting, the earth shakes with such an intensity that you feel that the day of deliverance has arrived."
Yavatmal Zilla Parishad member Vijay Pidurkar said that while WCL wanted the villagers' lands for mining, it was always reluctant to help them. He charged that WCL's social welfare activities are a sham and this is causing the strong discontent among residents of the area. "When WCL acquired land belonging to Borgaon residents it was supposed to appoint a nodal officer so that the landless labourers of these villages could form a cooperative society, which would then bid for WCL works up to Rs 4 crore. However, ten years have passed but WCL has not appointed the officer. The labourers of Borgaon are illiterate and hence the cooperative society is in cold storage. WCL has done this to protect its contractors, who continue to get lucrative contracts," he says.
Pidurkar also points out, "WCL officers are well aware that transportation of coal by truck to Wani town is badly affecting the crops in the region. However, they are doing nothing to develop the railway line to Wani North area, which was planned way back in 1984. They have also ignored recommendations of NEERI to develop a rope way."
Further slamming WCL, Pidurkar said that the mining company was reluctant to pay compensation to farmers whose crops have been damaged due to coal dust. "In 2004, we had launched an agitation to demand compensation for 239 farmers in Wani North area. However, five years later the WCL board has sanctioned just Rs 80 lakh as community development fund for five affected villages. Where does the question of community development arise? We are demanding compensation for our crops."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/WCL-has-made-our-lives-hell/articleshow/5205504.cms
ONGC bags four national safety awards in oil mines category
Saturday, 07 Nov 2009
ONGC has bagged four National Safety Awards in Oil Mines Category for year 2007. This is fourth consecutive years that ONGC has bagged these awards, instituted by the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Gov of India to motivate, appreciate and recognize the extraordinary performance in the area of mines safety. These awards were given away by the vice president of India in New Delhi on October 23rd 2009. These awards are based on Longest Accident Free Period and Lowest Injury Frequency Rate and were judged by jury of Director General of Mines Safety, Management Representatives and Trade Union representatives.
Mr M Hamid Ansari Hon'ble vice president of India conferring Winners Award to Mr Anil Johari executive director asset manager of ONGC, Ahmedabad Asset on October 23rd 2009. These awards are based on longest accident free period and lowest injury frequency rate and were judged by a jury comprising of Director General of Mines Safety Management Representatives and Trade Union representatives. The installations of ONGC in Assam, Tripura, Gujarat, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh secured the awards under various categories.
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/11/07/MTE5MjQ0/ONGC_bags_four_national_safety_awards_in_oil_mines_category.html
State Govt remains silent spectator
NM Satheesh
First Published : 07 Nov 2009 04:52:02 AM IST
HYDERABAD: Even as illegal mining by the Obulapuram Mining Company is kicking up clouds of controversy in two States, the AP Government has chosen, by and large, to remain a silent spectator.
Its role has been confined to merely ``reviewing the situation’’ and while it has directed the officials to ``act’’, in the absence of specific instructions the officials of the department concerned have been able to do nothing beyond whistling in the dark.
The irregularities by OMC, headed by G Janardhan Reddy, tourism minister in the Karnataka government, have continued for the last one month, despite various political parties urging the State to act against the company.
The Telugu Desam Party has submitted memoranda to the Chief Minister and the Mining department secretary in this regard.
Meanwhile, Divisional Forest Officer of Ananthapur Kallol Biswas, who issued five notices to the company, was called by forest department higher-ups to the capital. They are reportedly verifying the notices given by him, and their ``context’’ and ``contents’’ -- an exercise seemingly leading nowhere.
A review meeting held by Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy recently directed the forest department to take ``action’’.
However, till Friday, no specific action to be taken either by the mines department or the forest department was proposed by the government.
OMC is carrying on mining activities in 140 hectares in the D Hirehall mandal of Ananthapur district, and its rival, the Bellary Mining Company, has charged it with encroachment.
The case is being heard in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has asked the Central Empowered Committee to look into the issue and make suitable recommendations.
From then onward, the State Government has taken little interest in the matter.
However, a survey was conducted by the revenue, forest, mines and Survey of Land Records departments in May this year and a report was submitted to the government. It said it was the Bellary Mining Company which had encroached on the OMC.
The issue took a weird turn last month when DFO Kallol Biswas served notice on OMC alleging that it had encroached on the BMC area -- a contention contrary to the findings of the May report.
This created a situation in which the government seemed to be questioning the credibility of its own report.
Meanwhile, an official of the mining department stated that only an ``impartial’’ survey could resolve the dispute.
But for this again, the Revenue, Forest, Mining and Survey of Land Records departments have to take up a joint survey. And the order has to come from the chief minister.
So far, Rosaiah has not ordered any resurvey.
All of which appears to suggest that the government is allowing the OMC to carry on unhindered in its activities for now.
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=State+Govt+remains+silent+spectator&artid=RBTkoYG3y9I=&SectionID=e7uPP4|pSiw=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=EH8HilNJ2uYAot5nzqumeA==&SEO=
Little hope for improvement of mine labourers' condition
Ajay Parmar, TNN 7 November 2009, 06:53am IST
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JODHPUR: Thanaram is aware of his fate but it is his compulsion that keeps him on this path, which is nothing less than a disastrous end. He has
been losing his health and now after spending 18 years in the sandstone quarries of Jodhpur, this 35-year-old man is just a frail structure of bones looking much older than his age. This is not the only case.
All those working as mine labourers have the same story to tell but have no hope for escape as they know that they are slowly moving towards an untimely death, courtesy silicosis or silicotuberculosis, the incurable disease that affects these workers.
According to an estimate, there are about 28 lakh workers in the mines across the state who are in the same situation as Thanaram, inching towards death. Unfortunately, there is no record of who have already died, as government doesn't have any record of these labourers, which from no angle, appears to be compassionate about the distraught lot. This is despite the fact that the industry gives an annual revenue running into millions of rupees.
According to Rana Sengupta, head of the Mine Labour Protection Campaign, an organisation fighting for the rights of these labourers, "Unfortunately neither the mine owners nor the state government is concerned about this pitiable state of the labourers, who have accepted it as their destiny."
There is nothing by which they can claim compensation for the physical harm. Neither for those who have died due to the silicosis nor for those who have fallen victims and are finding it difficult to continue working. But they are left with no choice but to continue, rues Sengupta.
But Gujarat brings a ray of hope, where recently about 100 labourers of a glass unit were given compensation after the court's intervention. It also directed the government to consider those affected with the disease at par regardless of the amount of damage to their health.
Jagdish Patel, coordinator of the Asian Network of Rights of Occupational Accident Victims, said 15 cases of the stone-crushing workers are pending in the high court in Gujarat. "We hope we will be able to get justice for all these workers who are exposed to this deadly disease," said Patel.
He said, "We had to fight a long battle to get the disease recognised as Silcosis, which at least is not the case with Rajasthan, where the doctors are declaring the disease to be silicosis."
Sengupta expresses hope that this decision of the Gujarat court will work as a precedent for the mine workers of Rajasthan by resorting to the Worksmen Compensation Act (1923), as the mining does come into the purview of the ESI.
He laments that the Central labour department is supposed to safeguard the interest of these workers by keeping a record of all the workers but according to the department sources, they do not have the details of the mine leases, which is interestingly the subject of the state government. So, a total lack of coordination and a habit of trading responsibilities ultimately gives a sense of escapism to the mine owners and is disheartening for the poor labourers.
In the absence of a record, it is difficult for the labourers to prove which owner they have worked for. But according to Sengupta, here the occupational history can be a significant tool for the court, which can, in absence of a consolidated and accountable mechanism, can fix the responsibility of government for both giving the compensation to the victims of the disease and ensuring that mine owners adopt adequate measures in their mine to reduce the possibility of the labourers catching this deadly disease.
A ray of hope has also come from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which has also taken a note of this grave picture of silicosis and has recently constituted a national task force. The force will keep a watch on industries of such hazardous nature comprising all the states in pursuance of the recommendations drawn following a meeting with the ministry of labour, health, industries and others.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Little-hope-for-improvement-of-mine-labourers-condition/articleshow/5204843.cms
Mining – International
3 Colombians die in anti-personnel mine blasts
(AP) – 9 hours ago
BOGOTA — Colombian officials say three adults have been killed and two children wounded in two related anti-personnel mine blasts in the country's northwest.
The top security official in the town of Dabeiba, Wesly Uran, says two brothers aged 9 and 10 were wounded Thursday night when they set off a mine. The boys' father, mother and uncle died in a second blast as they went to aid the youngsters.
Uran says the mines were on a forest path a three-hour walk from the town center, apparently placed by leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Colombia's government says land mines killed 88 people and wounded 403 in the first nine months of this year.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7Ux9zv9Tdkij7LkMO0pTZv6ZiFgD9BQB95G2
Home » South Asia
4mn sq m of mined areas cleared in Wanni: Lankan PM
Updated on Saturday, November 07, 2009, 14:37 ISTTags:Lankan PM, mined areas, Wanni
Colombo: Sri Lankan security forces have managed to clear LTTE planted land-mines in an area of four million square metres in the Wanni, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake has said.
Wickremanayake, who was speaking yesterday on a motion for extension of the Emergency by another month in Parliament said, "it was estimated that about 1.5 million "death traps" including land-mines had been buried in the Northern Province".
The Premier said it was estimated that these death traps had been laid in an area of 500 square kilometres in Jaffna, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya.
He observed that there were certain elements who are attempting to "demoralise us when we stood as a sovereign nation", the state owned Daily News reported.
"Those elements who attempted to paralyse us in the economic, social and political aspects or at least to tarnish the image of the country which seemed to have intensified presently."
The Prime Minister said the world seemed to have divided into two camps - "one that respected the sovereignty of a nation and the other that attempted to be puritans by violating human rights
of other nations", the Newspaper reported.
Bureau Report
http://www.zeenews.com/news576911.html
First Uranium streaming deal eases balance sheet
Posted: November 06, 2009, 3:15 PM by Peter Koven
Uranium, Mining, gold, Gold Wheaton, First Uranium
Back in August, analyst Edward Sterck of BMO Capital Markets raised concerns about a possible funding gap at First Uranium Corp. He now believes the company is in much better shape after it announced a US$50-million gold stream transaction on Friday with Gold Wheaton Gold Corp.
Under the terms of the deal, First Uranium gets the cash and Gold Wheaton gets to buy 7% of the gold production from Ezulwini mine in South Africa at a discounted price (most likely US$400 an ounce).
The US$50-million in cash, along with a US$20-million credit facility from South African miner Simmer & Jack Mines Ltd., gives First Uranium US$70-million of liquidity to play with. Mr. Sterck wrote in a note that the money should help First Uranium close the US$60-million funding gap he calculated for it in fiscal 2010.
He is already looking ahead to fiscal 2011, when he thinks the company may need more money.
"On current forecasts, BMO Research anticipates that First Uranium may need to raise an additional US$70-million in fiscal 2011 for development activities; however, recent news of the regulatory authorities revoking the licence for the [Mine Waste Solutions] tailings facility could negatively impact future production," he wrote.
Mr. Sterck called the deal with Gold Wheaton "reasonably priced" for both parties. He maintained an "underperform" rating on First Uranium's shares due to its "ongoing failure to deliver to expectations." His price target is $3.00 a share, or 0.7 times his net present value estimate. He also made slight reductions to his earnings targets to account for the gold deliveries to Gold Wheaton.
Peter Koven
Read more: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/tradingdesk/archive/2009/11/06/first-uranium-streaming-deal-eases-balance-sheet.aspx#ixzz0WAOf1lEm
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http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/tradingdesk/archive/2009/11/06/first-uranium-streaming-deal-eases-balance-sheet.aspx
China’s Daye Nonferrous to Double Capacity, Invest in Mines
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By Bloomberg News
Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- China’s Daye Nonferrous Metals Co., which is seeking a domestic initial public offering as early as next year, is aiming to double its copper output from about 250,000 metric tons by 2015, a company executive said.
The Huangshi, Hubei province-based company is also looking to invest in copper mines in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan so as to diversify its sources of raw materials, Zhang Xupeng, deputy director of the investment department, said in an interview today.
Daye Nonferrous is China’s fifth-largest copper smelter based on last year’s output, according to Bloomberg data.
-- Xiao Yu. Editor: Richard Dobson
To contact the Bloomberg News staff on this story: Yu Xiao in Beijing atyxiao@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 7, 2009 01:17 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=abZoHn4r.p3Q
Southern Copper Says Water Disputes in Peru May Delay Mines
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By Alex Emery
Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Mine projects in Peru will continue to face delays because of disputes over water until a new law takes effect that gives companies more say in how the resource is managed, Southern Copper Corp.Legal Manager Guido Bocchio said.
The new law approved in March hasn’t been implemented yet because farm groups are seeking greater influence over regional water councils, Bocchio said Nov. 4 in an interview at Southern’s offices in Lima. The law may take effect in January, he said.
Companies such as Southern, Anglo American Plc and Cia. De Minas Buenaventura SA face opposition from farm groups worried that new copper mines will take up water needed for agriculture. Peru is the world’s largest silver producer, third largest in copper, zinc and tin, and ranked fifth in gold.
“Peru’s mining boom has had a setback in terms of legislation,” he said. “This uncertainty hurts business.”
Villagers in September passed a referendum opposing Phoenix-based Southern Copper’s $934 million Tia Maria project, which is scheduled to produce 120,000 tons of copper a year by mid-2011. London-based Anglo American has been unable to develop its $3 billion Quellaveco project since 1992 because of disputes over water rights with local communities.
To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Emery in Lima ataemery1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: November 6, 2009 10:01 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aTH2bI.X9UUA
Innovative Technology needed in mining sector in SA
Saturday, 07 Nov 2009
According to Mr Derek Hanekom Science and Technology Deputy Minister more imaginative and innovative technology is key to the long-term profitability and sustainability of the mining industry.
He said that "While pick axes and spades still occupy an honored position in mining, we now look to more innovative technologies to provide the mechanisms that will reveal, unearth and retrieve the riches in the ground beneath our feet."
Mr Hanekom said to a very large extent, the mining sector has driven the technological development of South Africa over the last century, with advances achieved mostly through government and industry supported research program.
Mr Hanekom said most of these research facilities have closed over the past 30 years as have many similar research facilities around the world. As a result, the current South African expenditure on research and development in the mining sector is minimal.
He said that the department's Ten Year Innovation Plan sees the increase of human capital as a key action and driver in a planned transition from a resource based economy to a knowledge based economy.
He added that "Technology tells us that there are vast untapped resources in our country. Common sense tells us to do whatever it takes to tap these resources. Pragmatism tells us to respond to these challenges by investing in technological solutions and human capital development. That is what we are doing."
The Centre for Mining Innovation at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research is currently looking at geophysical techniques that can provide valuable geological and rock engineering information ahead of mining, making mining operations more cost-effective and safe.
Part of this research includes borehole radar systems for South African gold and platinum mines. Other projects aim to facilitate data acquisition and underground control through the introduction of standards, including wireless sensor networks, to quantify the operations and the environment in which people are working in.
(Sourced from news.mining.com)
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/11/07/MTE5MzUz/Innovative_Technology_needed_in_mining_sector_in_SA.html
Other News
How India hopes to lead the world
Policymakers are working on energy norms and a range of incentives for 714 of India’s most energy-intensive installations across nine sectors
amar Halarnkar
New Delhi: As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talked with the European Union (EU) officials on Friday in the Capital to seek common ground on climate change, India is going ahead with its own plans to pare domestic emissions, incentivize companies to save energy and lead the way for the world.
Positive note: Minister of state for environment Jairam Ramesh. Harikrishna Katragadda / Mint
“Let us take on aggressive commitments domestically,” environment minister Jairam Ramesh told the Hindustan Times. “Let us negotiate from a position of strength because we have a good story to tell the world.”
Some strands of the story are being woven together by a raft of experts and agencies trying to implement ambitious and potentially profitable plans to keep India’s carbon emissions under check, independent of international commitments.
Policymakers are working on energy norms and a range of incentives for 714 of India’s most energy-intensive installations across nine sectors.
“Our goal is to ensure each tonne of energy, cement, steel uses less energy than the previous tonne,” said Ajay Mathur, director general of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and an Indian climate negotiator.
The aim is to make energy efficiency profitable.
“We’ll have a national registry for energy-efficiency certificates, which will have a one-year tenure,” said Pramod Deo, chairman of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. “They will work like shares, or carbon credits. They should be available from April 2010.”
Only after amendments to the Energy Conservation Act are passed by Parliament will it be clear if these carbon credits will be traded at a physical exchange or online.
Given the political heat over perceived kowtowing to the West, these efficiency measures will likely not be offered for international verification.
Singh, reiterating that India was not yet ready to quantify targets, spoke of its efforts, which stretch beyond energy efficiency to growing more forests as carbon sinks. “We have a very ambitious national plan to combat climate change,” he said after the 10th India-EU summit in New Delhi.
“We have acknowledged there are ambitious plans in India,” said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrick Reinfeldt. “But we need action from everyone.” Sweden now holds the rotating EU presidency.
In many sectors such as steel and power—where emissions per unit are reducing—India already has some of the world’s most efficient units.
“What’s interesting is how quickly these are copied,” said Mathur, whose bureau has successfully implemented energy ratings for refrigerators and air conditioners, first voluntary, then mandatory. For instance, the summer of 2009 saw a five-week waiting period for five-star ACs, the rating for most energy-efficient units.
As it becomes evident that the effects of a warming planet are deeper and faster in India than previously thought, the Centre has also identified 127 research institutes—collectively called Indian Network of Climate Change Assessment— to study climate change.
It seems clear there will be no agreement at Copenhagen, Denmark, where governments meet next month to discuss how developed and developing countries will cut carbon emissions and who will pay.
“There will be no legally binding agreement in Copenhagen,” predicted Ramesh. “Only a political statement, which will then be a mandate for negotiations.”
These statements, agreed other experts, would be legally binding on developed nations, not developing ones. “We must now work on the political statement,” said Ramesh.
This includes building a national consensus, a process that was derailed last month by the leak of a letter Ramesh wrote to Singh. The leak wrongly implied that India was thinking of mandating domestic emission cuts and offering them as global commitments.
http://www.livemint.com/2009/11/06234220/How-India-hopes-to-lead-the-wo.html?h=A1
One killed in clash between NREGA workers
TNN 7 November 2009, 06:57am IST
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JAIPUR: One person was killed during a bloody clash between NREGA workers in Chandanpura village under Sarmathura police station in Dholpur on
Thursday night. Police registered a complaint against guilty persons and investigatoi is on. However, no one has been arrested in the case.
Around four months ago, Vidhya Ram, who worked as a mate under NREGA, had a dispute with Ramua Gujjar over marking his attendance in a worksheet for payments. Irked over this, Vidhya had attacked Ramua with an axe and Ramua was seriously injury in his leg. On a complaint on June 26 police arrested Vidhya and two of his accomplice and they were sent to jail.
Two weeks ago, Vidhya, along with his men were out on bail and on Thursday night, they barged into the house of Ramua and threatened him and told him to reach a compromise. Both parties got into heated argument. When Ramua did not agreed to their demands Vidhya fired on them injuring Ram Khiladi in his abdomen.
Vidhya, then, along with his men fled while Ramua and his men rushed Ram Khiladi (44) to hospital but he succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital.
Sarmathura police said that the incident was outcome of past rivalry, Vidhya and Ramua had dispute over marking of attendance in NREGA scheme. Preliminary investigations have revealed Vidhya wanted compromise in the case but when Ramua had not agreed, he fired on him. "We have registered a case and trying to nab Vidhya, who is absconding, " said an official.
SP, Dholpur, Surendra Singh said that one person has died in a clash between two group and police are investigating the case. Meanwhile, police force has been deployed in the village to prevent any untoward incident as the situation was still tense.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/One-killed-in-clash-between-NREGA-workers/articleshow/5204847.cms
THE HONEST LEFTIST
- K. Balagopal was the conscience of Andhra society
Politics and Play - Ramachandra Guha
In a recent lecture, delivered in Mumbai in memory of Nani Palkhivala, the home minister, P. Chidambaram, attacked “left-leaning intellectuals” and “human rights groups”, who, in his view, “plead the naxalite cause ignoring the violence unleashed by the naxalites on innocent men, women and children”. “Why are the human rights groups silent?” asked the home minister.
The short answer is that they aren’t, and haven’t been, silent. There are very many intellectuals and rights activists who have regularly condemned — in newspapers as well as in specialist journals — Maoist methods such as the recruitment of juveniles as militants, the indiscriminate use of landmines, the killings of alleged informers, and the murders of forest guards and police constables who cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be dubbed ‘class enemies’.
It may just be that Chidambaram is new to the job, and that in his previous assignments his reading chiefly consisted of business magazines and stock market reports. It seems that he has been ill served by his assistants, who are paid precisely to avoid their ministers making such obvious factual mistakes in public.
If this assumption is correct, then the deficiencies can be remedied easily enough by the home minister being asked to read the writings of an intellectual who died the very week of his Palkhivala lecture. His name was K. Balagopal. Balagopal was described (by a younger friend) as “the conscience of the collective self known as Andhra society” — with reason, as for 30 years and more his chief focus of work and writing had been the politics and culture of his home state.
However, he was revered outside Andhra Pradesh too — in Kashmir, which he once referred to as the “only foreign country I have visited”; in Chhattisgarh, where he was among the first to document the excesses of the vigilante movement that goes under the name of Salwa Judum; in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and other cities, where his work for human rights was admired by those who sought to emulate him while knowing that they could never match his intellectual originality or his physical and moral courage.
Indians active in human rights usually come from a humanistic background — they are most often lawyers, social scientists, or journalists. Among the exceptions are the man who founded the first human rights organization in independent India — the engineer, Kapil Bhattacharya — and Balagopal. After taking a PhD in mathematics from Warangal, Balagopal taught for several years at Kakatiya University. Then, in the mid-1980s, he was forced to quit his job, and turned to working fulltime on civil liberties. In the late 1990s he acquired a law degree; now, his vocation complemented his activism, for the cases he fought in court were usually on behalf of subaltern groups victimized or harassed by the State.
In person, Balagopal could appear forbiddingly austere. Small talk and invocation of common friends got one nowhere — as I discovered when we were once placed on a panel together. But it was enough to hear him speak, and more so, to read him in print. His fellow Andhras read him in Telugu; the rest of us, in the Economic and Political Weekly, where he wrote regularly from the early 1980s until his death. His English prose was direct and economical — as befitting a mathematician, although I am told that in his own language he would allow himself an occasional flourish, as befitting the grandson of a major Telugu poet.
Like some others of his generation, Balagopal was powerfully shaped by the Emergency, against whose authoritarian excesses it was then automatic to juxtapose the youthful idealism of the Naxalites. And it was undeniably the case that in his native Andhra only the Naxalites worked among the very poor — such as the sharecroppers and landless labourers of Telengana, and the poor and often destitute tribals of the Agency areas.
Over the years, Balagopal arrived at a less romantic view of the Naxalites. He deplored their cult of violence in articles in English and, perhaps more effectively, in articles in Telugu that were directed at and read by the objects of his criticism. In the late 1990s, he wrote a brilliant essay that anatomized the means, foul and often brutal, used by Maoists to enhance their power and dominance over recalcitrant individuals and groups. (In what follows, I rely on a translation by the historian Rajagopal Vakulabharanam.) Here Balagopal dealt in detail with various cases of harassment, intimidation and murder practised by Maoist groups in Andhra Pradesh. He wrote that “we should publicly interrogate those who claim for themselves the right to kill for the sake of ‘progress’ and the wisdom to define what is progress. We need not hesitate to critique those who do not hesitate to usurp the rights of others, including their right to live, for the sake of revolution”. “[If] Naxalites had any respect for the humanistic values or the sentiments of those close to whom they kill,” he remarked, “they will not kill them by smashing their faces in such a way that they are virtually unrecognizable.”
To be sure, Balagopal also wrote often (and perhaps more often) of crimes and errors on the other side, of how the police and paramilitary brutalized innocent citizens in the name of Law and Order, of how politicians and industrialists seized the land of poor peasants in the name of promoting ‘Development’ while in fact lining their own pockets. In his last years, he was particularly active in opposing the acquistion of farmland for special economic zones in Andhra Pradesh. In sum, Balagopal refused to accept, from either State or Maoist, the justification of “a culture and mentality which celebrates power and use of force in society”.
Balagopal was that altogether rare animal, a genuinely independent Indian intellectual, whose moral clarity and commitment to the truth meant that he could not resort to special pleading for any party or interest. The flawed institutions of our imperfect democracy were all subject to his rigorous scanner — the police, the judiciary, the bureaucracy, and not least, corrupt and authoritarian politicians. When Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy was first elected chief minister, Balagopal wrote that while a pliant media sought to clothe him with “the image of a good doctor who has turned to politics to cure society”, in truth YSR was “anything but a vendor of humane visages. His rise to power has been accompanied by more bloodshed than that of any other politician in this state”. As it happens, he was also among the first to see through YSR’s predecessor, pointing out that “Chandrababu [Naidu] is merely an ambitious political schemer who has managed to con quite a lot of intelligent people because he knows their hunger for the image he has put on — a third world politician in the mould of a corporate executive spewing IT jargon and the verbiage of the World Bank’s development policy prejudices — is too acute for the normal functioning of their other senses”.
Those concerned with the security of the State often criticize human rights workers for living in an ivory tower, for not knowing the law, and for making excuses for the Naxalites. When (or if) made against Balagopal, none of these charges held any water. He knew rural India intimately: a tireless fieldworker, he had explored, on foot or in crowded buses, almost every district of Andhra as well as many districts in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and Kashmir. He was extremely well acquainted with the Indian Penal Code as well as the Constitution, and hence could pinpoint how, and in what measure, the State had violated its own laws. And no one could accuse him of being a Maoist apologist.
His friends and readers shall mourn Balagopal’s death, at the comparatively young age of fifty-seven. On the other hand, the ideologues and leaders of the Maoist movement are probably quite relieved at his passing. That caveat ‘probably’ can be dispensed with when it comes to the Andhra police, Andhra politicians, and the Union home ministry. For the most credible critic of their crimes and impunities has unexpectedly been removed from their midst.
ramachandraguha@yahoo.in
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091107/jsp/opinion/story_11635423.jsp]
Gram Sabha Needs Orientation On Climate Change
Keywords:
Gram Sabha Needs Orientation On Climate Change,documents And Reports ,Madhya Pradesh,Scheduled Tribes And Other Traditional Forest Dwellers
Posted On: 07-Nov-2009 10:02:33 By: Awanish SomkuwarFont Size:
India is observing the year 2009-10 as the Year of Gram Sabha. It has immediately assumed significance in the context of ongoing dialogues on climate change. Announcement of the Gram Sabha Year offers a space for strategic thinking on how Gram Sabha as a constitutionally mandated body can contribute to mitigating the impact of climate change and improving common understanding on climate change issues. This is the most suitable time slot to recognize and acknowledge the role of Gram Sabha in combating the menacing situations caused byclimate change. It is also the right time to enlist the expectations from Gram Sabha on major issues like climate change.
India has pioneered in establishment of decentralized system of governance through radical 73rdconstitutional amendment. Indiais a vibrant democracy. The three tier Panchayat system has added a new dimension by defining socio-political behaviour of the rural India. Her rural population specially the tribal population is full of wisdom, which remains unchallenged even in the modern age of computer science.
Spiritual perception of environment, unflinching faith in the miraculous powers of Nature, knowledge of medical flora and inherent respect for eco-systems are some essential behaviours exhibited in the public conduct of ethnic groups play a major role in practicing environmental ethics. India can take a lead on advocating how lower level democratic institutions like Gram Sabha can effectively address climate change issues if enlightened on emerging scenario.
The recently released World Development Report – 2010 clearly illustrates the equation of climate change, development and poverty. It cautions that the development gains can be reversed by adverse impact of climate change both on human population and farming systems. “The bio-diversity and eco-system services in changing climate have also been threatened” menacingly. “Land-based activities can support bio-diversity”, the report further says. Countries like India can have hopes from grassroots level peoples’ institutions. The Gram Sabha needs to be sensitized about the possible impact. The question is that who is going to enlighten the Gram Sabha about this. There is no clear communication path between high profile forums and the community institutions despite the fact that the responsibility will ultimately fall on the community.
Recently a Memorandum of Agreement on climate change has been signed between India and China for partnership on strengthening dialogues and practical cooperation. While India is in dialogue with global institutions and countries, downward communication is missing. An intensive campaign to inform Gram Sabha about the key agenda items is urgently needed. The forum of Gram Sabha can be constructively utilized for improving the popular understanding on climate change and emerging challenges. Better understanding onclimate change will encourage voluntary adaptation of low-carbon technologies.
A series of documents and reports on climate change have appeared generating a worldwide debate. Why Gram Sabha should remain ignorant? The state governments must come forward to celebrate the spirit of Gram Sabha Year. The simple strategy should be to publish summary of important documents in local dialects. It would not only ensure the revival of dying out dialects but also help vital information reach out to the genuine stakeholders. For example, Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights Act 2006 was published in Gondi, Bhili and Korkudialects in Madhya Pradesh and was read out in Gram Sabha meetings and was well-received. Lucidly written literature on climate change in local dialects can be extremely helpful.
The Union Government has prescribed a number of initiatives for the states to be taken up during Gram Sabha Year. In the context of forthcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference at Copenhagen, the immediate step is to equip the Gram Panchayat headquarters with relevant information whether in print or audio-visual formats. A series of orientation sessions can be held for Panchayat functionaries and representatives of Panchayat Raj Institutions. The Government of India has asked the states to conduct social audits of works done under NREGA and monitor the performance of other rural development schemes. A step further, dialogues onclimate change and related issues can also be initiated.
Article 243A of Indian Constitution provides that a Gram Sabha may exercise such powers and perform such functions at the village level as the legislature of a State may, by law, provide. In the context, Madhya Pradesh has enacted Panchayat and Gram Swaraj Act 1993 following which there is a Gram Sabha for every village. It is duty of the Gram Sabha to suggest corrective measures for preventing environmental degradation by promoting land improvement, plantations, organic farming, and community-led management of watersheds, clean development mechanisms and conservation of bio-diversity. Gram Sabha can assume educative role to motivate every member to keep the earth cool and green. States have given enough powers to Gram Sabha and have realized their importance. Now the stage has come when they need to be an active player in the process of dialogues on bigger issues.
http://www.mynews.in/News/Gram_Sabha_Needs_Orientation_On_Climate_Change_N29434.html#
Too little, too late?
Pratik Kanjilal
Email Author
November 06, 2009
Manmohan Singh may be the man of the moment, but he isn’t the flavour of the season. Last year, he had identified the Maoists as our biggest security threat. This week, at a meet on the Forest Rights Act, he publicly accepted the truth that has been obvious for decades — that Maoism will keep growing unless tribals get their due. An important meeting, given that Maoist attacks in the tribal areas are dominating the headlines, it was nevertheless ignored by the chief ministers of all the Maoist-affected states, with the sole exception of Naveen Patnaik. So is Singh the man of the moment or too far ahead of his time?
The day before this meet, the death of a man a 100 years old was announced in Paris. A man so far ahead of his time that he had broken with the past. Claude Levi-Strauss, who worked on ‘primitive’ societies, was relatively unknown outside intellectual circles. His name reminded ordinary people of a jeans manufacturer in San Francisco. But he casts a long shadow over the social sciences.
Levi-Strauss shifted the focus of inquiry from what institutions like marriage, a clan or an IIT are for, to the intriguing question of what they are made of. His structuralist analysis of myth, the oldest form of human knowledge, shared across peoples, made a radical break with the ethnocentrism which had marked the study of humankind since the rise of Europe. The identification of racial differences was popular well into the 20th century because it served the colonial project. But by the 1950s, when Levi-Strauss began to receive attention, the illogical link between race and culture just had to be broken. Why is it illogical? Simply because there are many more cultures than there are races.
But in our forest areas, we are still applying another colonial idea — terra nullius, which was used to beggar indigenous populations in the Americas and Australia. It posited that anyone could occupy lands over which no one claimed ownership. Or were perceived not to have the right to claim ownership, the pretext for the annexation of Oudh and Jhansi in India. Occupied lands were there to be exploited, the welfare of local people being secondary. Exactly as we have exploited the lands, minerals and forest resources of the tribal areas, with almost no regard for local populations.
They were squeezed between the Indian Forests Act and the Wildlife Protection Act, through which the government took away forest land and denied access to the commons without making proper reparation. More land was taken away for development projects and, in recent years, for special economic zones for land-hungry business. The Forest Rights Act of 2006 was supposed to right historical wrongs, but the tribals still seem to have a raw deal.
There was ample warning of trouble ahead. For example, the 1980s saw a militant phase of the Jharkhand movement in which, incidentally, the Naxals were involved. Now a lesser breed of Maoists with a tenuous interest in ideology, complete disinterest in the democratic process and a disgusting eagerness to commit murder has assumed control over tribal communities. Perhaps the Prime Minister is not ahead of his time. Maybe the rest of the country is running on Indian Standard Time.
Pratik Kanjilal is publisher of The Little Magazine.
n pratik@littlemag.com
The views expressed by the author are personal.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Too-little-too-late/H1-Article1-473519.aspx
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