21-12-09

Mining – India

1. Coal India to win trust of displaced via IPO
2. Uranium ghost returns to haunt Meghalaya in 2009
3. Trial mining for new Australian phosphate project
4. CM case for coal balance
5. Green mining system for efficient use of coal energy
6. Govt sees national security threat in illegal mining
7. Govt should act on interim report on illegal mining: Justice Hegde

Mining – International

8. Atlantic signs MOU over bauxite mine
9. Dept of mines approves De Beers’ divestiture from AK6 mine project
10. New mining corporation to expedite key projects in Tibet
11. Alumina Contribution To Saudi Aluminum Project To Be US$120 Million
12. Maaden signs SR40.5 billion deal with Alcoa
13. Minister blocks plan for off-shore sand mining
14. Bucyrus to acquire Terex mining unit for $1.3 billion news 21 December 200 14
Other News – India

15. Questions over business deals of UN climate change guru Dr Rajendra Pachaur
16. Poverty prime reason of child labour
17. Social equity? Not in govt jobs and promotions
18. Climate change also a public health issue

Mining – India

Coal India to win trust of displaced via IPO

21 Dec 2009, 0111 hrs IST, Subhash Narayan & Arindam Ghosh, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: The country’s largest coal miner, Coal India (CIL), is exploring the option of forming a trust to distribute a portion of shares


offered in its proposed initial public offering to people from whom land is acquired for mining.

The option is being considered to institute a fair and transparent system for distribution of CIL’s shares as compensation to people who lose their land or livelihood on account of mining projects planned by the company, an official involved in the disinvestment process told ET.

With the changes, the size of CIL’s proposed initial public offer may increase to 15% of its total equity capital. The coal ministry had earlier proposed to sell 10% of government equity in the market under the proposed IPO.

An additional 5% equity would be offered to CIL’s 4.25 lakh employees as stock option and to the proposed trust in a ratio to be finalised later. The government holds 100% stake in the company.

The proposal is still being finalised by CIL and the coal ministry. The company is also examining the legality of the exercise and has sought the opinion of market regulator SEBI.

“Once all clearances are received, a formal proposal would be sent to the department of disinvestment,” an official connected with the proposed disinvestment process told ET.

As per the plan, the government would place a fixed portion of its equity in an independent trust. The trust would, in turn, process claims of project-affected families and offer CIL shares to them as part of the compensation package.

The earlier proposal of CIL and the coal ministry to reserve shares under the IPO for employees and project-affected persons was rejected by the finance ministry. CIL has appointed merchant bankers to initiate the IPO exercise and get the company valued.

Coal ministry officials said CIL’s disinvestment proposal may be cleared early next year and the PSU would come out with its issue during the next financial year.

The company was given Navratna status last year and was asked to get listed before September 2011. The company has a paid-up equity capital of Rs 6,316 crore. Investment banking officials said the proposed CIL offer may raise over Rs 15,000 crore for the government.

CIL’s annual production is expected to touch 450 million tonnes in 2009-10. The company clocked a pre-tax profit of Rs 8,738.46 crore in 2008-09.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/stocks-in-news/Coal-India-to-win-trust-of-displaced-via-IPO/articleshow/5360106.cms


Uranium ghost returns to haunt Meghalaya in 2009

Rituraj Borthakur

Shillong, Dec 21 (PTI) Hopes were rekindled in mid 2009 that the proposed uranium mining project in Meghalaya will finally see the light of the day but these were dashed towards the end of the year by renewed protests prompting the government to put it in on the back burner.

Within three months of clinching power after the collapse of the NCP-led coalition of regional parties, the Congress-led government headed by Chief Minister D D Lapang sought to break the deadlock over the uranium mining project that has been hanging fire over two decades now.

The Lapang cabinet on August 24 decided to lease 422 hectares of land to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) for 30 years in the uranium-rich West Khasi Hills district for "pre-project" developmental works
http://www.ptinews.com/news/433213_Uranium-ghost-returns-to-haunt-Meghalaya-in-2009

Trial mining for new Australian phosphate project

The first stage for developing the Wonarah rock phosphate deposit in Australia's Northern Territory has been completed with the bulk sampling and trial mining of over 2,000 tonnes of high grade material.
Author: Ross Louthean
Posted: Monday , 21 Dec 2009
PERTH -
Minemakers Ltd (ASX: MAK) said today that it has now road-hauled the first trial parcel of Wonarah ore to the port of Darwin for shipping to potential customers in India and New Zealand.
The material came from the Arruwurra deposit at Wonarah.
Managing director Andrew Drummond said the customers in India and NZ will conduct "confirmatory trials" of the suitability of the Wonarah phosphate for their fertiliser plants.
He said export of this rock phosphate was understood to be the first from the Northern Territory and the first from a new Australian phosphate mine for many years.
"The very substantial JORC-compliant resource position at Wonarah -- the largest in Australia -- underpins Minemakers' intention to be a major producer for a long time," Drummond said.
Following recent meetings in Asia with other potential customers, it was likely there would be further shipments to India and Korea early in the New Year.
The company said all approvals were in hand for a Stage II test mining and sampling programme to enable that marketing to occur.
International DAP prices have risen strongly by 15% so far this month, as predicted by the company. This, Drummond said, was likely to lead to higher rock phosphate prices in the New Year.
He said that considering field work was only initiated in April 2008, that the project is on Aboriginal-owned land, and that the trial mining needed several approvals, the ability to find and export high grade trial product in only 20 months was "a remarkable achievement."
The NT Government had given Major Project Status to the Wonarah development and there had also been support from various NT departments, the Aboriginal Wunara Community, and the Central Land Council.
http://www.mineweb.co.za/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page72102?oid=94776&sn=Detail

CM case for coal balance

Raniganj, Dec. 20: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said he would take up with Delhi the problems the state was facing over Coal India’s objections to new factories in the Asansol-Raniganj belt because of coal reserves and stressed the need to strike a balance.
“Coal India’s objections to proposed factories on the plea that there is a huge coal reserve here is a matter of concern. A way out has to be evolved. The state government can’t stop setting up industries in the Asansol-Raniganj belt simply because of its objections,” the chief minister told a rally.
Coal and industry have to co-exist, he said. “Something has to be worked out so factories can be set up despite the existence of coal reserves.”
Two projects involving a total investment of over Rs 40,000 crore are in trouble because they are likely to make an estimated 200 million tonnes of coal inaccessible.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091221/jsp/bengal/story_11891243.jsp

Green mining system for efficient use of coal energy
TNN 21 December 2009, 07:17am IST
Text Size:
VARANASI: Can clean coal technology bring about efficient and eco-friendly use of coal energy, the largest energy source in the country? If
energy experts are to be believed, the country needs early adoption of green mining system (in coal fields) for sustainable and environment-friendly use of coal energy.

"More than 50 per cent of country's energy requirement is dependent on coal and the situation is not going to change in the coming 50 years," said Prof YP Chugh, energy expert from the US while talking to TOI on Sunday. "There is a growing need for sustainable development of mining system and switching over to green mining system like the US could be a better option," he added.

It may be mentioned here that Prof Chugh is a member of the International Task Force working for sustainable coal development in China that has world's largest coal deposits. In addition, he has also worked for sustainable development of mining system in the US.

"It is not necessary that the technology used in the US is also feasible in India, but efforts should be made for promoting energy-efficient and eco-friendly methods for generating energy," he said, hinting at the use of green mining system with some modifications. The target of energy production should be to cause minimal loss to the environment, in addition to coming up with cheap and reliable technology, he added.

Saying he had worked for dust control in underground coal beds in the US, he added it was important to minimise the exposure of work force to particulate matter, the pollutants in the coal fields. Similarly, efforts like reduction of amount of silica and coal dust apart from coal combustion by products including fly ash, bottom ash and other gasification by products could also be introduced in the green mining system, he said.

Prof Chugh was a key participant of the three-day international conference on issues and challenges in energy conversion and management (ICEM), organised in the department of Mechanical Engineering, IT, BHU, also concluding on Sunday.

"The country can no longer afford to use coal energy without taking care of the environment as it can backfire with colossal loss to human life and property," he said. "The focus should be on developing cheap, reliable and sustainable technology that leads to efficient energy consumption besides protecting the environment," he concluded.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/Green-mining-system-for-efficient-use-of-coal-energy/articleshow/5359871.cms


Govt sees national security threat in illegal mining

Sanjay Jog / Mumbai December 21, 2009, 0:01 IST

The Union home ministry wants state governments to take proactive action against illegal mining as it has become a national security threat.
In a recent meeting with the states, the home ministry said that windfall profits from such mining of minerals and sand were being used by the mafia to aid extremist elements.
A top government source said the Indian Bureau of Mines had identified 17 states where such illegal mining was going on. The worst affected were Bellary-Hospet in Karnataka, Obullapuram, Kurnool and Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh, Keonjhar and Barbil in Orissa, and Jod and West Singhbhum in Jharkhand.
The Centre warned the states that the situation was worsening and that it was not averse to intervening in the matter if they were unable to take action themselves.

TROUBLED SOIL
Top 10 states No of cases
(2006-June ‘09)
Andhra Pradesh 35,411
Gujarat 23,240
Maharashtra 17,900
Madhya Pradesh 16,068
Karnataka 11,896
Rajasthan 7,932
Kerala 7,685
Chhatisgarh 6,923
Tamil Nadu 5,074
Haryana 3,141
Source: Ministry of Mines data released on Dec 7, 2009
The states are expected to submit a definite action plan when the issue again comes up for discussion between the Centre and the states on December 26. The action plan should include mechanisms to monitor prices of minerals, identify endemic areas that were prone to illegal mining to ensure monitoring through multidisciplinary teams and strengthen the inspection agencies, the government source said. Besides, he added, the plan should spell out how to use the satellite machinery to keep track of the areas already under mining and identify new areas.
On their part, the states argued that the Centre should consider a slab system of royalty, as the present method was not sufficient to curb windfall gains by miners and check rampant illegal mining.
Besides, the states said the present procedures of obtaining environment and forest clearances led to delays. They suggested the Centre set up a special force on the lines of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for the mining areas or allow them to use central forces in the difficult terrain.
The states appealed to the Centre to introduce the new draft of Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act as the existing one did not adequately address all the issues of the sector.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/govt-sees-national-security-threat-in-illegal-mining/380228/


Govt should act on interim report on illegal mining: Justice Hegde

12/19/2009
Defending Karnataka Governor’s pro-active move seeking a follow-up action by the BJP Government on his interim report on illegal mining submitted last year, Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde opined that the Government need not wait for receiving the final report but put an end to menace.

Addressing media persons after releasing a summary of a survey report on Review of Democracy and Performance of the Government by Daksha, a civil society organisation, Justice Hegde took exception to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa’s stand that action on illegal mining could be initiated only after receiving the final report from Lokayukta.

Stating that he had submitted a substantive report on the illegal iron ore mining activities in Bellary and other districts, Justice Hegde said the report also highlighted the nexus between state official machinery, mining lobby and transport operators.

‘If things were allowed to continue, Karnataka which is blessed with rich natural resources would turn into a barren piece of land,’ he feared.

He said he had shed light on various activities of illegal mining being carried out in Bellary district, which included destroying of inter-state border, engrossing lease conditions and extracting rich iron ore beyond the leased areas.

‘Government should straight away take preventive action, including prosecution of those involved in illegal mining activities without waiting for Lokayukta to submit its final report,’ Justice Hegde said.

UNI

http://www.indlawnews.com/Newsdisplay.aspx?1e01407b-146f-4a98-aea9-daf24e6b6e6c

Mining – International

Atlantic signs MOU over bauxite mine

December 21, 2009 - 5:14PM
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Atlantic Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a 25 million tonnes per annum bauxite mine in Vietnam.
The miner and a Vietnamese state-owned enterprise aim to access up to 1.5 billion metric tonnes of bauxite from the Lam Dong and Dak Nong bauxite provinces.
Under the plan, Atlantic will join with Vietnam Natural Resources and Environment Corporation (T-MV) for the mine and associated rail and port infrastructure.
Shares in the Atlantic leapt on the news, finishing up 0.6 cents, or 19.35 per cent, at 3.7 cents on Monday.
Atlantic said some of the world's largest aluminium companies have shown interest in mining bauxite in the region but an absence of key infrastructure has curtailed development.
"The parties have also agreed to undertake the downstream processing of bauxite in Vietnam, including alumina refining and aluminium smelting opportunities, on completion of a positive feasibility study," Atlantic said in a statement.
Atlantic said it had agreed to undertake the exploration of the bauxite areas, provide the funding for the project feasibility and procure finance.
"The joint venture interest of T-MV and Atlantic will reflect the contributions of the parties," Atlantic said.
The two groups hope to sign a definitive agreement in the first half of 2010.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/atlantic-signs-mou-over-bauxite-mine-20091221-l9v0.html

Dept of mines approves De Beers’ divestiture from AK6 mine project

by KABO MOKGOABONE
21.12.2009 12:10:22 P
African Copper’s AK6 mine was given a boost this week with the news that the government of Botswana has approved the sale of De Beers’ stake in the project.

The move will now see the BSE listed outfit fast tracking the development of the mine near Letlhakane Village in the Central District as the world gears for a rebound in diamond industry following the bad economic recession.

Under the deal, De Beers will sell its 70% share in the AK06 diamond deposit to Lucara Diamond Corporation, a Canadian junior diamond mining company, for US$ 49 million (over P3 billion) in cash.

John Teeling, Chairman of African Diamonds, punched the air saying the company would take a significant stride in 2010 when development commences on the AK6 diamond deposit in Botswana.

“Negotiations initiated by African Diamonds led to the sale of the De Beers’ stake to the Lundin Group,” said Teeling, adding that his company has the right to increase their stake to 40% and the right to market their share of the diamonds.

Pundits say that due to low operating costs in Botswana, a scaled down capital cost, a distribution of large stones, and the presence of the rare and valuable Type II diamonds, AK6 has the potential to generate significant profits.

“AK6 will be developed as quickly and efficiently as possible, to the benefit of all stakeholders, at a time when there is recovering confidence and growing demand,” Teeling added.

The marriage between the two diamond houses has been an acrimonious one as, at some stage, there was a clash after De Beers reneged from the terms of mining licence that provide that diamonds from AK6 should be sold on a secondary market to develop Botswana as an international diamond centre.

Construction of the mine is expected to begin in mid 2010, with start up in late 2011 at 400,000 carats a year, rising to an expected 1 million carats in 2013/2014.

Updating the feasibility study will continue during the holiday period. A valuation of the AK6 diamonds recovered during exploration will be undertaken during the third week of January 2010.

“For six years, we partnered with De Beers on AK6 and other projects in Botswana. Together we found a diamond mine but, over time, the needs and aims of African Diamonds diverted from those of De Beers. It was a genuine pleasure and privilege to work with De Beers. An amicable separation is a good outcome,” Teeling is quoted as saying.

African Diamonds revealed it has the right to market their share of the diamond output adding that there are further excellent exploration targets to be progressed in 2010.
http://sundaystandard.info/news/news_item.php?NewsID=6623&GroupID=3


New mining corporation to expedite key projects in Tibet

(TibetanReview.net, Dec21, 2009) China said Dec 20 that it had set up on Dec 16 a Tibet Shengyuan Mining Group Corporation with the involvement of four companies and registered capital of 200 million yuan (US $29 million).

The official Xinhuanet news service Dec 20 reported that the new corporation’s largest shareholder, at 40 percent, was the Tibet Autonomous Regional Mining Development Company. The second largest stakeholder was Jiangnan Mining Co. Ltd. in Lhoka Prefecture with a 30 percent share, followed by the Tibet Autonomous Regional Investment Co., Ltd. with a 20 percent stake, and the Tibet Autonomous Regional Geological and Mineral Development Bureau with 10 percent shareholding.

The report cited Wang Guoxin, president of the mining corporation, as saying the new company would accelerate the undertaking of key projects, such as the second-phase of Tibet's Zabuye lithium mining project and the extension of Tinggong copper mine project in Nimu (Tibetan: Nyemo) County of Lhasa City.

The Tibet Autonomous Region government plans to complete by 2010 the establishment of five industrial groups in the key areas of construction, building materials, mining, tourism and traditional Tibetan medicines.

Earlier, a Xinhuanet report Dec 14 said five companies would join to form a 200 milion-yuan, Tibet Building Materials (Group) Co., Ltd. Its largest shareholder, at 86 million yuan, or 43 percent of the total share capital, would be Huaxin Cement company, followed by Huaxin Cement company with 30 percent stake, Tibet Gaozheng company and Tibet Trust and Investment company with 10 percent share each and the Xingye Cement Plant in Lhoka with apparently seven percent stake in the new corporation.

The new company was to focus on the production and sale of cement products and building materials.
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http://www.tibetanreview.net/news.php?&id=5151

Alumina Contribution To Saudi Aluminum Project To Be US$120 Million

December 20, 2009: 06:06 PM ET

MELBOURNE -(Dow Jones)- Alumina Ltd. (AWC.AU) said Monday it will contribute about US$120 million toward the development of a US$10.8 billion aluminium project in Saudi Arabia.
Alumina's joint venture partner, Alcoa Inc. (AA), is teaming up with Saudi Arabian Mining Co., better known as Ma'aden, to develop an aluminum complex featuring bauxite mining, alumina refining and aluminum smelting.
The deal will see Alcoa and Alumina provide alumina for the first stage of the project, due to come on line in 2013, with a bauxite mine and alumina refinery to be developed in the second phase.
Alumina said it will consider a variety of debt funding options for its equity contribution, which will be contributed progressively between 2010 and 2014.
"This is a unique opportunity to invest in very low cash-cost alumina production capacity in a major growth region for the aluminum industry and further diversifies our operational and geographic footprint," Alumina Chief Executive John Bevan said in a statement.
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200912201806DOWJONESDJONLINE000307_FORTUNE5.htm


Maaden signs SR40.5 billion deal with Alcoa

Md Rasooldeen | Arab News

MAMMOTH PROJECT: Maaden President and Chief Executive Officer Abdallah Dabbagh, right, and Alcoa President and Chief Executive Officer Klous Kleinfeld sign a multibillion agreement. (AN photo by Fawaz Al-Muteiry)



RIYADH: Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) signed Sunday a SR40.5 billion ($10.8 billion) contract with Alcoa, the world leader in aluminum, for the development of a fully integrated world-class aluminum industry in the Kingdom.
The agreement was signed by Maaden President and CEO Abdallah Dabbagh and Alcoa President and CEO Klous Kleinfeld at the new Maaden headquarters here.
Dabbagh said after the ceremony that the joint venture would become the world’s pre-eminent and lowest-cost supplier of primary aluminum, alumina and aluminum products with access to the growing markets of the Middle East. The project would be implemented in two phases and that production from the aluminum smelter and rolling mill would start in 2013 and production from the mine and refinery was expected in 2014, he added. Maaden will own 60 percent of the joint venture, while Alcoa and its partners the remainder.
“Alcoa’s partnership in all aspects of this integrated industry brings with it enormous value not only in terms of technology, resources and experience but also a proven commitment to sustainability,” Dabbagh said. He added that a focus on quality alongside the robust economics of the project would ensure its leading role in advancing Saudi Arabia and the region as a major hub for aluminum and downstream projects.
“We are creating a fully integrated aluminum complex that will be the most technologically advanced and cost-efficient in the world,” Kleinfeld said.
In its initial phase, the joint venture will develop a fully integrated industrial complex including a bauxite mine with an initial capacity of 4,000,000 metric tons per year, an alumina factory with an initial capacity of 1,8000,000 (mtpy), an aluminum smelter with initial hot-mill capacity of between 250,000 and 460,000 mtpy.
“The mill will focus initially on the production of sheet, end and tab stock for the manufacture of aluminum cans and potentially other products to serve the construction industry,” Dabbagh said. The refinery, smelter and rolling mill will be established within the industrial zone of Ras As Zawr on the east coast of the Kingdom.
The complex will utilize critical infrastructure including low-cost and clean power generation, as well as port and railroad facilities developed by the government. He said bauxite feedstock for the planned alumina factory will be transported by railroad from the new mine at Al-Baitha near Quiba in the north.
The project will be developed and financed in two phases with the rolling mill and smelter in the first phase.
In his brief speech, Maaden Chairman Abdullah Al-Saif said that the Kingdom’s investment in critical infrastructure was proving to be a catalyst for this as well as other projects.
“The positive impact of the government’s vision in developing the country’s infrastructure including the new railway network and deepwater port at Ras As Zawr is clearly demonstrated by the realization of this industry and others such as phosphate. Collaboration in clean efficient power generation also ensures that it is both highly competitive and sustainable,” Al-Saif said.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=6§ion=0&article=129968&d=21&m=12&y=2009


Minister blocks plan for off-shore sand mining

THE NSW Government has blocked a plan for offshore sand mining between Avoca Beach and The Entrance.
Central Coast and Mineral Resources Minister Ian Macdonald said he had decided to refuse the application by Sydney Marine Sands to begin exploration to determine the viability of offshore sand mining.
Mr Macdonald said the State Government sought advice from commonwealth and state agencies and called for public submissions during consideration of the application.
“Federal Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson agrees with the NSW Government’s decision to refuse this application because of concerns for the State’s coastal environment and the NSW Government’s position of opposing offshore sand mining,” Mr Macdonald said.
The same company lodged applications for offshore exploration twice previously - off the Central Coast in 2000 and off Palm Beach in 2003. Both applications were refused based on environmental concerns. Wyong State Labor MP David Harris welcomed the decision.
“The Central Coast has a unique lifestyle and natural environment and we are committed to preserving that,” Mr Harris said. “It shows the Government is committed to striking a balance between industry and the environment on the coast.”
WYONG Mayor Bob Graham welcomed the decision to refuse offshore sand mining.
“I congratulate the new Central Coast minister for that and he has one tick from me,” Mr Graham said.
“Interfering with the sea bed is something we don’t understand and we shouldn’t be doing it,” he said. He said the application had the potential to impact negatively on both the environment and tourism.
Mr Graham said the offshore mining issue was unlikely to disappear and the council would have to remain vigilant for new applications.
http://express-advocate-wyong.whereilive.com.au/news/story/sand-mine-blocked/


Bucyrus to acquire Terex mining unit for $1.3 billion news 21 December 2009

Mining equipment maker Bucyrus International Inc said yesterday that it will acquire a mining unit of Terex Corporation, the world's third biggest maker of heavy earth-moving equipment for $1.3 billion in cash.
Bucyrus, based in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a designer and manufacturer of high productivity mining equipment for the surface and underground mining like coal, copper, iron ore, oil sands and other minerals, said the acquisition would make it a "premier supplier of mining equipment."
Under the terms of the agreement, approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Bucyrus will acquire those subsidiaries and assets of Terex Corporation used to design, manufacture, and sell hydraulic excavators, surface mining trucks, drills, highwall miners, and related components, parts, and after-sales service, commonly known as O&K, Unit Rig, Reedrill, Superior Highwall, Halco, and Hypac.
The Westport, Connecticut-based Terex may request to receive $300 million of the purchase price in Bucyrus stock.
The acquisition, which is not subject to shareholder approval by either company, is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2010.
The acquisition is expected to yield significant benefits for Bucyrus shareholders since the company believes it can achieve $100 million in annual run-rate operating synergies by 2012.
A substantial portion of the synergies is expected to come from the integration of the company's global manufacturing facilities and leveraging manufacturing centres of excellence as well as engineering and product development resources.
Bucyrus noted that additional cost savings are expected to come through combining management functions and reducing purchasing expenses.
Terex Corporation, with 2008 net sales of $9.9 billion, operates in four business segments: Terex Aerial Work Platforms, Terex Construction, Terex Cranes, and Terex Materials Processing & Mining.
Terex manufactures a broad range of equipment for use in various industries, including the construction, infrastructure, quarrying, surface mining, shipping, transportation, refining, and utility industries and has 38 facilities around the world with about 2,150 employees.
Bucyrus said it will double its sales to about $30 billion from $15 billion and have almost 100 global locations.
Bucyrus has signed a commitment letter with a group of financial institutions to provide the necessary funding for the acquisition through an increase in its existing revolving credit facility and a new term loan facility and also modifies certain terms of the company's existing debt.
http://www.domain-b.com/industry/Mining/20091221_bucyrus.html

Other News – India

Questions over business deals of UN climate change guru Dr Rajendra Pachauri
The head of the UN's climate change panel - Dr Rajendra Pachauri - is accused of making a fortune from his links with 'carbon trading' companies, Christopher Booker and Richard North write.

Published: 8:30AM GMT 20 Dec 2009

The head of the UN's climate change panel - Dr Rajendra Pachauri - is accused of making a fortune from his links with 'carbon trading' companies. Photo: EPA
No one in the world exercised more influence on the events leading up to the Copenhagen conference on global warming than Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and mastermind of its latest report in 2007.
Although Dr Pachauri is often presented as a scientist (he was even once described by the BBC as “the world’s top climate scientist”), as a former railway engineer with a PhD in economics he has no qualifications in climate science at all.

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What has also almost entirely escaped attention, however, is how Dr Pachauri has established an astonishing worldwide portfolio of business interests with bodies which have been investing billions of dollars in organisations dependent on the IPCC’s policy recommendations.
These outfits include banks, oil and energy companies and investment funds heavily involved in ‘carbon trading’ and ‘sustainable technologies’, which together make up the fastest-growing commodity market in the world, estimated soon to be worth trillions of dollars a year.
Today, in addition to his role as chairman of the IPCC, Dr Pachauri occupies more than a score of such posts, acting as director or adviser to many of the bodies which play a leading role in what has become known as the international ‘climate industry’.
It is remarkable how only very recently has the staggering scale of Dr Pachauri’s links to so many of these concerns come to light, inevitably raising questions as to how the world’s leading ‘climate official’ can also be personally involved in so many organisations which stand to benefit from the IPCC’s recommendations.
The issue of Dr Pachauri’s potential conflict of interest was first publicly raised last Tuesday when, after giving a lecture at Copenhagen University, he was handed a letter by two eminent ‘climate sceptics’. One was the Stephen Fielding, the Australian Senator who sparked the revolt which recently led to the defeat of his government’s ‘cap and trade scheme’. The other, from Britain, was Lord Monckton, a longtime critic of the IPCC’s science, who has recently played a key part in stiffening opposition to a cap and trade bill in the US Senate.
Their open letter first challenged the scientific honesty of a graph prominently used in the IPCC’s 2007 report, and shown again by Pachauri in his lecture, demanding that he should withdraw it. But they went on to question why the report had not declared Pachauri’s personal interest in so many organisations which seemingly stood to profit from its findings.
The letter, which included information first disclosed in last week’s Sunday Telegraph, was circulated to all the 192 national conference delegations, calling on them to dismiss Dr Pachauri as IPCC chairman because of recent revelations of his conflicting interests.
The original power base from which Dr Pachauri has built up his worldwide network of influence over the past decade is the Delhi-based Tata Energy Research Institute, of which he became director in 1981 and director-general in 2001. Now renamed The Energy Research Institute, TERI was set up in 1974 by India’s largest privately-owned business empire, the Tata Group, with interests ranging from steel, cars and energy to chemicals, telecommunications and insurance (and now best-known in the UK as the owner of Jaguar, Land Rover, Tetley Tea and Corus, Britain’s largest steel company).
Although TERI has extended its sponsorship since the name change, the two concerns are still closely linked.
In India, Tata exercises enormous political power, shown not least in the way it has managed to displace hundreds of thousands of poor tribal villagers in the eastern states of Orissa and Jarkhand to make way for large-scale iron mining and steelmaking projects.
Initially, when Dr Pachauri took over the running of TERI in the 1980s, his interests centred on the oil and coal industries, which may now seem odd for a man who has since become best known for his opposition to fossil fuels. He was, for instance, a director until 2003 of India Oil, the country’s largest commercial enterprise, and until this year remained as a director of the National Thermal Power Generating Corporation, its largest electricity producer.
In 2005, he set up GloriOil, a Texas firm specialising in technology which allows the last remaining reserves to be extracted from oilfields otherwise at the end of their useful life.
However, since Pachauri became a vice-chairman of the IPCC in 1997, TERI has vastly expanded its interest in every kind of renewable or sustainable technology, in many of which the various divisions of the Tata Group have also become heavily involved, such as its project to invest $1.5 billion (£930 million) in vast wind farms.
Dr Pachauri’s TERI empire has also extended worldwide, with branches in the US, the EU and several countries in Asia. TERI Europe, based in London, of which he is a trustee (along with Sir John Houghton, one of the key players in the early days of the IPCC and formerly head of the UK Met Office) is currently running a project on bio-energy, financed by the EU.
Another project, co-financed by our own Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the German insurance firm Munich Re, is studying how India’s insurance industry, including Tata, can benefit from exploiting the supposed risks of exposure to climate change. Quite why Defra and UK taxpayers should fund a project to increase the profits of Indian insurance firms is not explained.
Even odder is the role of TERI’s Washington-based North American offshoot, a non-profit organisation, of which Dr Pachauri is president. Conveniently sited on Pennsylvania Avenue, midway between the White House and the Capitol, this body unashamedly sets out its stall as a lobbying organisation, to “sensitise decision-makers in North America to developing countries’ concerns about energy and the environment”.
TERI-NA is funded by a galaxy of official and corporate sponsors, including four branches of the UN bureaucracy; four US government agencies; oil giants such as Amoco; two of the leading US defence contractors; Monsanto, the world’s largest GM producer; the WWF (the environmentalist campaigning group which derives much of its own funding from the EU) and two world leaders in the international ‘carbon market’, between them managing more than $1 trillion (£620 billion) worth of assets.
All of this is doubtless useful to the interests of Tata back in India, which is heavily involved not just in bio-energy, renewables and insurance but also in ‘carbon trading’, the worldwide market in buying and selling the right to emit CO2. Much of this is administered at a profit by the UN under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) set up under the Kyoto Protocol, which the Copenhagen treaty was designed to replace with an even more lucrative successor.
Under the CDM, firms and consumers in the developed world pay for the right to exceed their ‘carbon limits’ by buying certificates from those firms in countries such as India and China which rack up ‘carbon credits’ for every renewable energy source they develop – or by showing that they have in some way reduced their own ‘carbon emissions’.
It is one of these deals, reported in last week’s Sunday Telegraph, which is enabling Tata to transfer three million tonnes of steel production from its Corus plant in Redcar to a new plant in Orissa, thus gaining a potential £1.2 billion in ‘carbon credits’ (and putting 1,700 people on Teesside out of work).
More than three-quarters of the world ‘carbon’ market benefits India and China in this way. India alone has 1,455 CDM projects in operation, worth $33 billion (£20 billion), many of them facilitated by Tata – and it is perhaps unsurprising that Dr Pachauri also serves on the advisory board of the Chicago Climate Exchange, the largest and most lucrative carbon-trading exchange in the world, which was also assisted by TERI in setting up India’s own carbon exchange.
But this is peanuts compared to the numerous other posts to which Dr Pachauri has been appointed in the years since the UN chose him to become the world’s top ‘climate-change official’.
In 2007, for instance, he was appointed to the advisory board of Siderian, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm specialising in ‘sustainable technologies’, where he was expected to provide the Fund with ‘access, standing and industrial exposure at the highest level’,
In 2008 he was made an adviser on renewable and sustainable energy to the Credit Suisse bank and the Rockefeller Foundation. He joined the board of the Nordic Glitnir Bank, as it launched its Sustainable Future Fund, looking to raise funding of £4 billion. He became chairman of the Indochina Sustainable Infrastructure Fund, whose CEO was confident it could soon raise £100 billion.
In the same year he became a director of the International Risk Governance Council in Geneva, set up by EDF and E.On, two of Europe’s largest electricity firms, to promote ‘bio-energy’. This year Dr Pachauri joined the New York investment fund Pegasus as a ‘strategic adviser’, and was made chairman of the advisory board to the Asian Development Bank, strongly supportive of CDM trading, whose CEO warned that failure to agree a treaty at Copenhagen would lead to a collapse of the carbon market.
The list of posts now held by Dr Pachauri as a result of his new-found world status goes on and on. He has become head of Yale University’s Climate and Energy Institute, which enjoys millions of dollars of US state and corporate funding. He is on the climate change advisory board of Deutsche Bank. He is Director of the Japanese Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and was until recently an adviser to Toyota Motors. Recalling his origins as a railway engineer, he is even a policy adviser to SNCF, France’s state-owned railway company.
Meanwhile, back home in India, he serves on an array of influential government bodies, including the Economic Advisory Committee to the prime minister, holds various academic posts and has somehow found time in his busy life to publish 22 books.
Dr Pachauri never shrinks from giving the world frank advice on all matters relating to the menace of global warming. The latest edition of TERI News quotes him as telling the US Environmental Protection Agency that it must go ahead with regulating US carbon emissions without waiting for Congress to pass its cap and trade bill.
It reports how, in the days before Copenhagen, he called on the developing nations which had been historically responsible for the global warming crisis to make ‘concrete commitments’ to aiding developing countries such as India with funding and technology – while insisting that India could not agree to binding emissions targets. India, he said, must bargain for large-scale subsidies from the West for developing solar power, and Western funds must be made available for geo-engineering projects to suck CO2 out of the atmosphere.
As a vegetarian Hindu, Dr Pachauri repeated his call for the world to eat less meat to cut down on methane emissions (as usual he made no mention of what was to be done about India’s 400 million sacred cows). He further called for a ban on serving ice in restaurants and for meters to be fitted to all hotel rooms, so that guests could be charged a carbon tax on their use of heating and air-conditioning.
One subject the talkative Dr Pachauri remains silent on, however, is how much money he is paid for all these important posts, which must run into millions of dollars. Not one of the bodies for which he works publishes his salary or fees, and this notably includes the UN, which refuses to reveal how much we all pay him as one of its most senior officials.
As for TERI itself, Dr Pachauri’s main job for nearly 30 years, it is so coy about money that it does not even publish its accounts – the financial statement amounts to two income and expenditure pie charts which contain no detailed figures.
Dr Pachauri is equally coy about TERI’s links with Tata, the company which set it up in the 1970s and whose name it continued to bear until 2002, when it was changed to just The Energy Research Institute. A spokesman at the time said ‘we have not severed our past relationship with the Tatas, the change is only for convenience’.
But the real question mark over TERI’s director-general remains over the relationship between his highly lucrative commercial jobs and his role as chairman of the IPCC.
TERI have, for example, become a preferred bidder for Kuwaiti contracts to clean up the mess left by Saddam Hussein in their oilfields in 1991. The $3 billion (£1.9 billion) cost of the contracts has been provided by the UN. If successful, this would be tenth time TERI have benefited from a contract financed by the UN.
Certainly no one values the services of TERI more than the EU, which has included Dr Pachauri’s institute as a partner in no fewer than 12 projects designed to assist in devising the EU’s policies on mitigating the effects of the global warming predicted by the IPCC.
But whether those 1,700 Corus workers on Teesside will next month be so happy to lose their jobs to India, thanks to the workings of that international ‘carbon market’ about which Dr Pachauri is so enthusiastic, is quite another matter.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6847227/Questions-over-business-deals-of-UN-climate-change-guru-Dr-Rajendra-Pachauri.html

Poverty prime reason of child labour

BSS, Dhaka

Prime Minister's Adviser on Education and Social Welfare Dr Alauddin Ahmed on Sunday said poverty is the prime reason for child labour and deprivation of education for children in the country.

He said parents-literate or illiterate, rich or poor-want to send their children to school, but poor parents fail to do it, not because they are unaware but because they are financially incapable.

Dr Alauddin was addressing as the chief guest a dissemination seminar titled "Poverty and Working Children Project", organized by Eminence, a research organization, in cooperation with the Save the Children UK at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.

State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Dr Shirin Sharmin and First Secretary of European Commission Lean-Jacques Lauture addressed the seminar as special guests.

Chairman of Sonali Bank and professor of Dhaka University Abul Barakat presided over the seminar. Acting Country Director of the Save the Children UK Saima Anwar was present.

Mentioning flaws in some laws, Dr Alauddin said it is difficult to convict the offenders in most cases under the laws on repression of women and children.

"In order to ensure rule of law, it is needed to reform laws," he added.

"Many women and men torture domestic workers, which often become difficult to prove before the court," he said mentioning his early career as a magistrate for five years.

He urged all concerned for changing mindset regarding child labour in order to ensure human rights.

Dr Alauddin emphasized incorporating the poor parents in the social safety net programme for ensuring their financial capability so that they feel encouraged in sending their children to school.

"We have to find out the financial reasons for which the parents are sending their children for labour in hazardous jobs," he said, adding that if incentives were given to the families, the number of dropouts would fall.

The government is working relentlessly for fulfilling its election pledges, he said, adding that "as part of it, the Right to Information Act was enacted and the Information Commission has been constituted."

All parliamentary standing committees were formed at the first session of parliament and those bodies are regularly holding meetings to monitor the activities of the concerned ministries, he said.

The issues on local government would be resolved by early next year allowing it to conduct activities in 24 fields at the grassroots level, he said. "As per the constitution, the government wants to run the state through the elected representatives at all stages."

He said: "Women have been empowered and as part of it, the election of women lawmakers were held at the first session of the ninth parliament."
http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/12/21/news0223.htm

Social equity? Not in govt jobs and promotions

Vineeta Pandey / DNA
Monday, December 21, 2009 2:42 IST

New Delhi: The government's social equity policy does not reflect in its functioning. Despite reservation for scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) in government jobs and promotions, there is not a single SC at the secretary level.

Of the 874 central government officers posted at various levels, only 45 belong to SC and 23 to ST category. Not a single SC is among the 88 IAS officers posted as secretary in various central ministries. There are four secretaries who belong to ST category though.

Among the 66 additional secretaries, there is only one officer each from SC and ST category. Of the 249 joint secretaries, there are only 13 officers from SC and 9 from ST. And of the 471 director-level officers, only 31 are SC and 9 ST.

Upset with the disparity, the National Commission for SC (NCSC) has sought an explanation from the government. "We have asked the secretary of the department of personnel and training (DoPT) to explain this," commission chairman Buta Singh said. A commission member even hinted at bias. "There are many suitable people, but why are SCs/STs not picked up for top posts? One cannot rule out bias," NCSC member Mahendra Boddh said.

Dalit activist Udit Raj minced no words though. "The bias against competent SC/ST officers during the empanelment of joint secretaries stops them from becoming secretaries," he said.

DoPT clarified that officers on these posts are appointed on deputation from various cadres. Therefore, the percentage of SC/ST officers on these posts need not be the same as in their respective cadres. The posts of secretary, additional secretary and joint secretary in the ministries and departments are not promotion posts, like those in the ministry of external affairs where posts of these designations are cadre posts.

Under the Central Staffing Scheme (CSS), the posts of secretary, additional secretary, joint secretary and director are filled with officers from various cadres, including state cadres, who are empanelled from a list of those who opt for deputation under the CSS.

"There is no provision of reservation for SCs/STs in these posts. However, at the time of empanelment, every effort is made to empanel SC/ST officers, if needed by adopting liberal benchmarks," said Prithviraj Chavan, minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions.

An official claimed there is usually a shortfall of SC/ST officers during recruitment, which carries on till the end and is reflected in appointments of secretaries. UPSC had recommended only 34 candidates belonging to SC, 28 to ST and 136 to OBC during 2007-08, against 249 posts reserved for them in civil services, the official said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_social-equity-not-in-govt-jobs-and-promotions_1325848

Climate change also a public health issue

The recent UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen was organised on the background of the growing international acceptance that the environmental changes that modern society are witnessing are iatrogenic in nature and that corrective mechanisms should be put in place in order to reverse the trend of a gradually warming planet.

However, the fact that climate change is also a public health issue is not at the foremost of public consciousness despite the fact that our health can be affected by climate change through a number of ways:

Decrease in resources

The gradual decline in fresh water and arable land will be causes of insufficient potable water and malnutrition. The demand for such resources in an atmosphere of dwindling supply will also lead to the inexorable increase in levels of poverty, arguably the most important factor in public health.

Spread of infectious diseases

The change in mean temperature brings about subtle changes to an ecosystem's flora and more importantly, its fauna. Effects tend to include changes in range and seasonality of outbreaks. This is of a particular importance with regards to insect vectors especially mosquitoes and flies, who are together, the most dangerous animals known to man.

Natural disasters

People can be more directly affect by floods and famine; not only to such events predispose entire societies to diseases such as cholera and dehydration from heat waves, but entire working populations can be wiped out with the end result of psycho-social displacement that leads to further increase in healthcare inequalities and a decline in national economic growth.

Just as importantly, the factors that are said to contribute to global climate change can have just as devastating an impact to our personal health. This includes the increased rates of asthma exacerbations from air pollution and the growing epidemic of diabetes and coronary heart disease from our penchant to indulge in a meat-centred Western diet.

It is perhaps a relief then that mitigating climate change has the added effect of improving our health. In fact, the benefits can be more readily apparent when applied to our individual well- being as opposed to that of the planet.

There are many things that can we can do on a personal level. These activities do not need to be at the cutting edge of science, but rather more pragmatic day-to-day behavioural changes. These would include less aversion for the use of public transport, a reduction in the quantity of meat that we consume and decreasing the tendency to overuse air-conditioners. There are plenty of resources, especially over the Internet, from which one is able to reach for a comprehensive list of advice.

The Malaysian federal and state governments should also be more discriminating when taking up their roles in these matters.

From a healthcare point of view, appropriate resources should be allocated or obtained to serve areas that are most in need of assistance. It is a known contradiction that those who need the most healthcare input tend to be those who have the least access to it.

Plans should already be in place to ensure that our healthcare system is able to cope with any surge in capacity, and that we have improved surveillance mechanisms to detect changes in disease progression. It would also be useful to invest in training the workforce and encouraging further promotion of public health issues, as at the end of the day, changes will only be able to be implemented if there are sufficient public education and awareness.

More generically, policies can be implemented to help limit the effects of climate change as well as its detrimental effects on our health. These would include tax breaks for green entrepreneurship, promoting competition to boost the anaemic state of our public transport system and even gradually decreasing the subsidy that is given for fuel consumption.

The caveat is that these policies will need to be introduced in a step-wise and practical fashion; we will need to prevent the introduction of negative health effects such as exposure to traffic danger when crossing the road to the nearest LRT station.

Change is never easy and politicians might be reluctant to introduce changes that might displease the rakyat. Unfortunately, we will all have to bite the bullet soon and make the conscious decision to take steps to improve not only the state of our health, but the fragile state of our planet.

Although Lord Stern (who released an economic report of climate change for the UK government) has described the Copenhagen summit as the most important since the end of the Second World War, it is clear that we cannot rely on the actions of governments to push ahead with the agenda for change - at the end of the day, we should take individual responsibility for our actions and not leave it to the state

http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/120319