25/04/09

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Mining – India
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1. ONGC to start sub surface exploration for Uranium
2. India steel futures seen in tight range - Analyst
3. CIL may shut select mines
4. Sinosteel defers USD 4 billion India plant on slowdown
5. Tatas pick up 15% stake in Sydney firm
6. Iron and coal loading hit in East Coast Railways
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Mining – International
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7. Court ruling forces mining pollution to be revealed
8. China extends Niger $95m loan for uranium project
9. Nippon Steel buys into Posco’s Vietnam project
10. Mineral rights showdown at Badlands ranch
11. Jindal to start mining Bolivia iron in May
12. FerrAus gets right to mine in Aboriginal reserve
13. UK professor calls for end to surface mining
14. Quang Ninh: Environment Ministry halts coal-mining project near sacred mountain
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Other News – India
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15. EDITORIAL COMMENT | Urban Futures
16. Hundreds of children 'trafficked'
17. India-Poland pacts on healthcare, tourism
18. The right to survive
19. "Natural causes" not responsible for global warming
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Mining – India
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ONGC to start sub surface exploration for Uranium

Press Trust of India / Dehra Dun April 24, 2009, 18:01 IST

Oil exploration major ONGC today said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Uranium Corporation of India for sub surface exploration of Uranium.


The sub surface exploration for Uranium would be done in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, ONGC CMD R S Sharma told reporters here today.
In this regard, a core team of officials has also been set up, he added.
"The R&D work for the search of Uranium is going on and the initial results are encouraging," Sharma said, adding that the investment for the project would be worked out only after the study of initial data.
Regarding Solar energy, Sharma said the PSU is in talks with top companies of the world. He, however, refused to disclose the names of those companies but said the solar power can be tapped at places such as Rajasthan which get good sunshine.
ONGC has set up an energy centre focusing to tap the nuclear and solar energy as the demand for energy is growing very fast, he said.
To a question, Sharma said that ONGC is an energy company and it is not only an oil and gas producing company. "We are here to look beyond oil and gas," he said.
When asked whether ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) is facing tough competition from Chinese companies for acquisition of projects in foreign countries, Sharma said ONGC has 44 assets in 18 countries. "We are more than satisfied with our performance," he said.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ongc-to-start-sub-surface-exploration-for-uranium/59313/on
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India steel futures seen in tight range - Analyst
Saturday, 25 Apr 2009
Reuters reported that India steel futures are expected to trade in a narrow range this week on lack of fresh leads to drive the market as investors shrugged off signs of a pick up in domestic demand.

Tejas Seth a senior research analyst of SMC Global said that "Steel would remain in a tight range as there are no cues to react.” He said that steel may trade in the range of INR 20,700 to INR 21,300 for the week.

Mr Vibhu Ratandhara an analyst with Bonanza Commodity said that "Good resistances are placed at INR 21,350/21,500. If steel breaches these resistance levels, then we expect a medium term rally till INR 22,100."

Analyst said that there are signs of demand revival on the domestic front.
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/04/25/OTE2NDQ%3D/India_steel_futures_seen_in_tight_range_-_Analyst.html
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CIL may shut select mines
NEW DELHI, April 24: With an aim to cut its operating losses, the country's largest coal producer, Coal India, is mulling closure of “unviable” mines and has approached the trade unions to evolve a practical approach for it.
CIL chairman, Mr PS Bhattacharyya said the company is incurring “heavy losses” of around Rs 3,000 per tons of coal from mining at “small mines” which needs to be shut. n PTI
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=12&theme=&usrsess=1&id=252199

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Sinosteel defers USD 4 billion India plant on slowdown
Saturday, 25 Apr 2009
Bloomberg reported that Sinosteel Corp China's second largest iron ore trader will delay building a USD 4 billion steel plant in India amid weak global demand, joining ArcelorMittal in deferring manufacturing plans in the nation.

Mr Zhongtao Wang managing director of the Indian unit of Sinosteel said "The project is delayed. At present we can't give any further details."

Productions cuts at Toyota Motor Corp and rival automobile makers and slumping construction demand worldwide are prompting steel producers to shelve projects and lower output. Luxembourg- based ArcelorMittal, the world's largest producer, said on April 15th it will delay a USD 20 billion plan to build two factories in India by at least two years and may cut initial capacity.

Mr Hongsen Wang managing director said in May 2007 that Sinosteel announced in 2006 a plan to set up a 5 million tonne steel plant in the eastern state of Jharkhand, also the proposed site for ArcleorMittal and local rival TATA Steel Ltd. Sinosteel would initially invest USD 500 million. The total investment, the biggest in India by a Chinese company, would be made over eight years.

Mr Wang said Sinosteel, which lowered iron-ore imports from India by 25% to 9 million tons last year plans to increase shipments to 12 million tonnes this year as China's CNY 4 trillion stimulus package spurs demand. He said that the stimulus package should help bring stability in prices and demand in the next few months."

China, the world's biggest steel producer, became a net crude-steel importer for the first time in three years in March after overseas sales plunged. The nation boosted offshore iron ore purchases to a record in March for a second straight month as smaller steelmakers sought cheaper supplies.
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/04/25/OTE2NDI%3D/Sinosteel_defers_USD_4_billion_India_plant_on_slowdown.html

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Tatas pick up 15% stake in Sydney firm
SAMBIT SAHA
Calcutta, April 24: Tata Steel has picked up a 14.99 per cent stake in Sydney-based Riversdale Mining, which owns coal mines in South Africa and Mozambique.
Tata Steel has steadily bought into Riversdale, listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, through its Singapore-based subsidiary Tata Steel Global Minerals Holdings.
In a filing before the Australian Stock Exchange earlier this week, Tata Steel Global Mineral said it had acquired a 4.99 per cent stake in Riversdale through market purchases at an estimated investment of $41 million (Australian), or Rs 143 crore.
When contacted, a spokesperson for Tata Steel declined to comment.
The Singapore subsidiary of Tata Steel, the sixth largest player in the world in terms of steel making capacity, has been buying into Riversdale through market operations from September last year.
By October, it had a stake of 10 per cent.
Stock exchange data show it had spent $20.54 million (Australian), or about Rs 70 crore, in October to raise its stake from 7.29 per cent to 10 per cent.
With the latest round of market purchases, the company has become one of the largest shareholders of Riversdale.
Passport Capital, Talbot Group and Merrill Lynch & Co are some of the other shareholders in the company.
It is Tata Steel’s biggest ever investment in any mining company.
The company had paid Rs 106 crore in October last year to acquire a 19.9 per cent share in Canada’s New Millennium Capital Corporation, an iron ore miner.
Apart from the Benga coal mine in Mozambique, Riversdale has Zululand Anthracite Colliery in South Africa.
Tata Steel has been scouting for iron ore and coal to feed Corus’s operations in Europe.
Mozambique booty
Tata Steel’s association with Riversdale Mining dates back to August 2007 when it decided to acquire a 35 per cent stake in the Benga project.
From then on, the Benga coal mine has increased its production and Tata Steel’s investment has reaped rich rewards.
Riversdale and Tata Steel plan to produce 20 million tonnes of hard coking coal from Benga, up from the initial 5.6 million tonnes.
Apart from Riversdale and New Millennium, Tata Steel has an iron ore project in Ivory Coast and a limestone quarry in Oman.
It also owns 5 per cent of Australia’s Carborough Down coal project in Central Queensland.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090425/jsp/business/story_10873716.jsp

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Iron and coal loading hit in East Coast Railways
Saturday, 25 Apr 2009
The Hindu Business reported that East Coast Railway’s loading of iron ore and coal is badly hit due to several factors such as the crashing of spot market price of iron ore in the international market, excessive heat forcing the district administration to ban work in the sun for several hours during the day and thus affecting work in the mines and elections making trucks unavailable for goods transportation.

There is no indent for iron ore traffic from Orissa’s Nayagarh area with the result the loading of iron ore rakes in that area has come to a halt. A spokesman for ECoR said that “On Tuesday, not a single wagon was loaded in Nayagarh area and the situation is no different today. In normal situation on an average four to five rakes are loaded in Nayagarh area for transportation of ore to Paradip port for exports.”

On the Kirandul Kottavalasa line, the daily iron ore movement has now dropped to 6.5 rakes. The corresponding figure in last year’s April was 11.7 rakes a day. Inquiries reveal that iron ore exports through the ports of Visakhapatnam, Kakinada and Gangavaram have drastically fallen, largely due to the slump in spot market price of ore to less than USD 50 a tonne.

Visakhapatnam is believed to be holding a stock of about 0.4 million tonnes. The spot market operators have virtually vanished; only those with long term contracts are surviving.

The situation at the Paradip port is somewhat different as the port is used largely by exporters having long term contracts, mines in Banspani Jaruli areas served by South Eastern Railway and private sidings.

However, this has created some sort of mismatch as the same iron ore rakes which move into the port are used for backloading of imported coal and the demand for backloading is as high as 12-13 rakes a day.
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/04/25/OTE3Mjk%3D/Iron_and_coal_loading_hit_in_East_Coast_Railways.html

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Mining – International
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Court ruling forces mining pollution to be revealed
MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT
April 25, 2009
ENVIRONMENT REPORTER
Mining companies have long had a loophole in federal environmental right-to-know law that no other industry enjoys. Environment Canada has exempted them from having to track the full extent of the pollution their operations cause.
But a Federal Court ruling issued on Thursday will force Environment Canada to collect from the industry and divulge to the public the amount of toxic compounds in tailings and waste rocks found around every mine in the country.
It is a major victory for environmental organizations that have been pressing Ottawa for more than 16 years to have this information disclosed.
Environmentalists believe that when Ottawa releases the information, it will show that mining waste is the single largest source of industrial pollution in the country. The material is often laced with such hazardous compounds as arsenic and mercury, and if the rocks contain sulphur, is capable of creating sulphuric acid.
"The amount of pollution reporting by these mines is just going to be astronomical," predicted Justin Duncan, lawyer with Ecojustice, a public interest legal group that brought the case against the government on behalf of Great Lakes United and Mining Watch Canada, two environmental organizations.
U.S. mines have had to reveal this information for the past decade, and while they account for less than 1 per cent of industrial facilities, the sector is the source of nearly a quarter of all pollution in the United States, Mr. Duncan said.
Environmentalists say the lack of reporting from the mining sector has skewed federal pollution data and made the industry look cleaner than it actually is.
The ruling requires Environment Canada to make public mining pollution for annual periods starting with information from 2006.
Environment Canada said in a statement that it "will carefully examine the court's decision to determine what steps will be taken next."
Under federal rules, all major companies must publicly disclose to Environment Canada the amount of harmful substances their activity releases into the environment each year.
This information is then made available on a data base known as the National Pollutant Release Inventory. Data posted on NPRI is easy for the public to see because it can be accessed over the Internet.
The mining industry doesn't object in principle to revealing its pollution information, but doesn't believe the NPRI is the proper place for the disclosure, said Maggie Papoulias, spokesperson for the Mining Association of Canada. She said the trade group is reviewing the ruling.
According to information provided in the court case, Environment Canada exempted the industry from disclosure requirements because it viewed waste mining material as held in storage and potentially available for further mineral extraction. In this view, the wastes weren't technically released into the environment.
Currently, tailings, the material left over when ore is ground up, are usually dumped in specially constructed ponds, and waste rock is piled around mine sites.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090425.MINING25ISLART2118/TPStory/Environment

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China extends Niger $95m loan for uranium project
Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:32pm BST
NIAMEY, April 24 (Reuters) - China has granted Niger a $95 million preferential loan to boost a uranium mining project the two countries have in the West African state, Niger's government said late on Thursday.
Niger's government is a 33 percent joint venture partner with the China National Uranium Corporation (SINO-U) in the SOMINA uranium mining operation, due to come on line by 2010, with an annual output of about 700 tonnes.
The entry into Niger of Chinese miners and Cameco Corp (CCO.TO), the world's top uranium producer that now has a stake in GoviEx, a company with local exploration rights, follows years of dominance by French nuclear group Areva (CEPFi.PA).
"China has agreed to the Export-Import Bank of China granting Niger a preferential loan of 650 million yuan ($95.22 million) with a view to supporting the SOMINA uranium exploration project," Niger's government said in a statement broadcast on state television late on Thursday.
Niger will have to pay 2 percent interest on the loan, which must be paid back within 15 years, a government source said.
China has committed to investing some $300 million in the project, which is at Azelik, in the northern Agadez region, where Areva has mining projects but the Niger government has also been battling a two-year uprising by Tuareg rebels.
Niger already has two significant uranium mines providing 7.5 percent of global output from Africa's highest-grade uranium ores, according to the World Nuclear Association website.
Earlier this year, Areva said it had won a licence to operate the Imouraren mine, which would more than double Niger's uranium output to make it the second largest producer in the world. ($1=6.826 Yuan) (Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalatchi; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by James Jukwey)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKLO95281820090424

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Nippon Steel buys into Posco’s Vietnam project

14:33' 24/04/2009 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – South Korea’s Posco, the world’s fourth largest steelmaker, has transferred a stake in Posco Vietnam Co. Ltd. to Japan’s Nippon Steel.
A source from the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Industrial Zone Authority (BIZA) told the Daily on the phone on Wednesday that Posco had informed BIZA of the transfer of the 15% stake to the Japanese firm.
However, Dau Tu newspaper of the Ministry of Planning and Investment said the percentage of the stake transferred was 30%.
Procedures for the transfer have been finalized and registered with the authorities, said the source.
The international media earlier reported that Posco announced last October that Nippon Steel, the world’s number two steelmaker, would buy a stake of 10 to 20% in the steel project in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
Posco received an investment certificate in late 2006 for its steel project worth US$1.13 billion in Phu My II Industrial Park in Tan Thanh District, some 80km southeast of HCMC. The factory under way will cover 130 hectares and produce hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel.
Work on the project started in August 2007 with the first phase requiring a total of US$361 million. The facility is expected to be operational in late 2009 with annual output of 700,000 tons of cold-rolled steel.
Cold-rolled steel is used in a variety of products such as refrigerators and automobiles.
Posco plans to produce three million tons of hot-rolled steel and 1.5 million tons of cold-rolled products, which will be supplied to both the local market and other Southeast Asian markets.
The forthcoming facility will supply steel for the automobile and shipping industries and other steel products for construction, according to the company.
The company plans to use hot-rolled coils from its Indian integrated mill as feedstock to make cold-rolled steel products in Vietnam.
Posco first entered Vietnam in 1992 with three joint ventures including a steel project.
An official of the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency told the Daily on Wednesday that seeking an investment license and land for a steel project would be time-consuming, so some foreign steel companies wanted to take a shortcut by investing in those projects that are already operational or licensed but not operational.
Earlier, in late 2007, two Taiwan steel giants, Tycoons and E-United, joined forces to spend US$4 billion on a steel project in Dung Quat Economic Zone (EZ) in the central province of Quang Ngai. E-United is a lead investor in the project with a total annual capacity of 10 million tons.
The two companies will import feedstock from China, Brazil and Australia.
A number of huge steel projects have been either put on hold or delayed for a long time, including of India’s Essar Steel, Taiwan’s Thien Huong and Formosa, and Vietnam’s Lilama, Bach Dang and Phu My.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade found in an inspection that 17 among 23 steel projects prioritized for implementation in 2007-2015 had remained idle.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2009/04/843901/
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Mineral rights showdown at Badlands ranch
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)--A Montana man who wants to mine gravel on the Badlands ranch where Theodore Roosevelt once ran his cattle is comparing his dispute with the U.S. Forest Service to an Old West stare-down. He says he won't blink.
"If they want me out of the picture, pay me $2.5 million and I'll go back to Montana and they'll never here from me again," Roger Lothspeich said. "Or I'm going to mine that ranch for decades and decades to come."
Lothspeich, 50, of Miles City, Mont., claims he owns half the mineral and gravel rights beneath the 5,200-acre ranch in western North Dakota. He said his portion of the subsurface rights represents about $10 million in high-grade gravel that can be sold to the government and oil companies for road building.
"I'm not blinking," he said. "I'm going to get my gravel, or write me a check and I'll go away."
The Forest Service purchased the ranch, next to Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch site, from brothers Kenneth, Allan and Dennis Eberts and their families in 2007. It cost $5.3 million, with $4.8 million coming from the federal government and $500,000 from conservation groups. The purchase did not include mineral rights.
The Ebertses had bought the ranch and half the mineral rights from the Connell family in 1993 for $800,000. Lothspeich, who grew up near the ranch before moving to Montana, bought the other half of the mineral rights about a year ago, knowing the government had not obtained them in the Eberts deal.
Byron Connell, of Scottsbluff, Neb., said the Forest Service never gave him a formal offer for the mineral rights.
"They had a middle man call me and he offered some ridiculous price," Connell said. "After that, I never heard from them again."
Connell calls it a joke and says it's typical of government.
"Nobody did their homework on this," Connell said. "Now, everybody is ducking and diving at the Forest Service and trying to save face."
Forest Service district supervisor Ron Jablonski said the agency never made a formal offer for the mineral rights to the Ebertses or the Connells.
"We thought at the time that the land was a good purchase for taxpayers," Jablonski said. "We had no idea that something like this would come up. We knew the potential was there, but we were willing to take the risk."
The Ebertses have not expressed interest in exploiting their mineral rights, he said.
The Forest Service has not acted on Lothspeich's application to mine gravel at the ranch because his application is not complete and lacks proper documentation, Jablonski said.
"He has not provided to us what we need," Jablonski said. "The reality is, we're still trying to figure out who actually owns it (mineral rights)."
The Forest Service is attempting to work with Lothspeich, "but we are not interested in buying Mr. Lothspeich out," Jablonski said.
Lothspeich says the government has been stalling for nearly a year and is fighting his plan with red tape. He wants to begin mining gravel this summer.
"They're jacking me around and backpedaling because they know I got them over a barrel," said Lothspeich, who owns a motorcycle, snowmobile and ATV dealership in Montana. He claims he has documentation dating back to the late 1800s, when a railroad owned the land.
Wayde Schafer, a North Dakota spokesman for the Sierra Club, said Lothspeich approached his group about buying the subsurface rights to the ranch.
"He basically said he'd dig it up unless we gave him money," Schafer said. "He thought for sure we'd just jump at the chance to pay him $2.5 million, but I told him, 'that's not what we do and good luck."'
Lothspeich said he is open to selling the subsurface rights, which include "coal, scoria, uranium, sand, gravel, the whole works," to anyone who gives him $2.5 million.
"If those tree-huggers want to write me a check, that's OK, too," he said.
"This guy is taking advantage of this because it is a special place," Schafer said. "If he came with a reasonable offer, maybe something could be worked out."
Connell, whose family owned the ranch for nearly 50 years before selling it in the early 1990s, said gravel had been mined at the ranch from about 1917 through the 1980s. He said many of the roads in Billings County were built with gravel from the ranch.
Roosevelt, who was president from 1901 to 1909, set aside millions of acres for national forests and wildlife refuges during his administration. The newly acquired ranch is part of an area now hailed as "the cradle of conservation" by the Forest Service, Park Service and conservation groups.
The Forest Service's acquisition of the historic ranch has been fraught with problems since the deal was inked. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-ND, accused the agency of skirting the law when it announced plans last year to manage the ranch as a forage reserve without traditional grazing.
The Forest Service has not yet completed the sale of an equal number of acres in North Dakota to balance the acquisition of the ranch. The agency has promised to continue grazing and other activities, including oil and gas development.
Lothspeich's battle with the agency doesn't surprise Dorgan.
"If he has a legitimate claim, it would be an unbelievable and pretty spectacular failure on behalf of the Forest Service not to have addressed that issue," Dorgan said. "They're going to have a lot of egg on their face, if they didn't deal with the mineral rights."
Lothspeich said tourists coming to the area will be disappointed if he doesn't get his asking price.
"These people who think they'll come out there and see the so-called 'cradle of conservation' won't see anything except a bunch of gravel pits," Lothspeich said. "It won't bother me one bit to have big open pit mines at that place."
http://www.hpj.com/archives/2009/apr09/apr27/MineralrightsshowdownatBadl.cfm?title=Mineral%20rights%20showdown%20at%20Badlands%20ranch
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Jindal to start mining Bolivia iron in May
Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:19pm EDT
LA PAZ, April 24 (Reuters) - India's Jindal Steel and Power will start mining iron ore next month at Bolivia's El Mutun site, where it plans to invest $2.1 billion, the company said on Friday.
After meeting with President Evo Morales, Jindal Executive Vice President Vikrant Gujral said the company was ready to start production at the vast reserve, which lies near the border with Brazil.
"Next month we'll start producing raw material. I've invited the president to go to El Mutun because we want him to be there when the mineral crusher starts working," Gujral told reporters.
He did not specify how much the crusher will produce and said full production would not start until 2012.
A 40-year contract signed in late 2007 gives Jindal (JNSP.BO) the right to mine approximately half the area of El Mutun, which has estimated iron ore reserves of more than 40 billion tonnes, though they are said to be of medium-grade quality.
In comparison, proven reserves in ore-rich Carajas in Brazil's northern state of Para total 1.5 billion tonnes.
Gujral said that as soon as the government gives Jindal rights over the land the company will begin investing some $300 million a year over the next three years.
The government said earlier this week that it would soon grant Jindal rights over the land it has requested.
As part of the project, Jindal has vowed to develop an integrated steel plant with an annual capacity of 1.7 million tonnes, which would start up by 2010.
Jindal and Bolivia will share the profits generated by the project, which officials have said would amount to $200 million per year in taxes and profits for the Bolivian state. (Reporting by Carlos Quiroga; Writing by Eduardo Garcia; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN2443577620090424
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FerrAus gets right to mine in Aboriginal reserve
0 COMMENTS |
By: Esmarie Swanepoel
24th April 2009
Updated 7 hours ago
TEXT SIZE
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed FerrAus has been granted consent by the Western Australian government to mine for iron-ore at tenements located within the Jigalong Aboriginal Reserve.

The consent to mine was granted following a recommendation and agreement of support for mining by the relevant indigenous stakeholder groups, the Jigalong community, and the Nyiyaparli native title clement group.

“A commitment has been made between FerrAus and the indigenous stakeholders groups towards a long and mutually beneficial relationship that supports community development and resource development,” said FerrAus MD David Turvey.

He added that by developing the iron ore assets, FerrAus had a unique opportunity to provide employment, training and other benefits to indigenous residents at the Jigalong community.

“The consent to mine enables FerrAus to progress with development of an initial mining operation at its Robertson Range project. We will immediately advance approvals of our mining proposal for iron ore production of two-million tons a year, that is currently with the Western Australian Department of Mines and Energy,” Turvey concluded.
http://www.miningweekly.com/article/ferraus-gets-right-to-mine-in-aboriginal-reserve-2009-04-24
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UK professor calls for end to surface mining
The Associated Press
HAZARD, Ky. -- A University of Kentucky professor and former head of the university's Appalachian Center says it's time to end surface coal mining.
Ron Eller spoke Thursday in Hazard, saying ending open-pit mining - particularly mountaintop mining - would be good for Kentucky's economy.
Eller told a group of about 250 people at the East Kentucky Leadership Conference the state needs to recognize declining coal reserves, political opposition to using coal to produce electricity and increasing regulation of carbon dioxide emissions.
He said surface mining also impedes tourism.
Letcher County Judge-Executive Jim Ward told the Lexington Herald-Leader after the speech that quickly ending surface mining would be devastating to the region.
http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/772493.html

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Quang Ninh: Environment Ministry halts coal-mining project near sacred mountain

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) has instructed the Dong Bac Company to cease coal mining in the area near the Yen Tu sacred mountain in Uong Bi and Dong Trieu districts of Quang Ninh province.
The MONRE instruction followed an on the spot investigation early this month which found that mining permissions granted by MONRE in December 2008 on the recommendation of the Quang Ninh Province Peoples Committee (PPC) overlapped part of the Yen Tu Forest Reserve.
The area in question, 0.18 km2, is believed to contain about 750,000 tons of coal, which the Dong Bac Company proposed to exploit by open pit mining between now and 2023.
MONRE spokesman Le Van Hop emphasized that local authorities are required by the Minerals Law to prohibit exploitation that encroaches on historic sites.
Yen Tu Mountain, the site of many Buddhist temples, has been an important pilgrimage destination since the 13th century.Plans to develop coal mining in the area were overturned in the 1990’s after protests by Vietnamese scholars.The MONRE ruling upholds the existing ban on mining activity within the Yen Tu Forest Protected area.
In the course of the investigation early this month, local authorities accepted responsibility for their mistaken determination that the coal mining permit did not overlap the protected area.
Mining activities have been suspended pending new surveys and a revised recommendation to MONRE by the Quang Ninh PPC.

http://army.qdnd.vn/vietnam.Policy-Society.pnews.24380.qdnd
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Other News – India
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EDITORIAL COMMENT | Urban Futures
25 Apr 2009, 0000 hrs IST

Twenty years from now, nearly 60 per cent of the world's population will live in urban areas, according to the State of the World's Cities

Report 2008-09. The impact of urbanisation might not all be positive on India as urban expansion is happening at a much faster rate than infrastructure expansion and improvement. Cities are engines of growth and how that growth is achieved is as important as the rate of growth itself.

Sustainability issues need to be tackled so that economic and social development is not at the cost of public health and environment. And this depends on the availability and efficient delivery of key urban services. Some basic urban services that ought to be in place in a city or town are water, electricity, transport, waste management and energy-efficient buildings. The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) headed by R K Pachauri who also chairs the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has, in collaboration with the New York-based Sustainable Urbanism International, put together a detailed report that explores sustainability in the provision of basic urban services in Indian cities. It adds governance as the sixth important urban service to the five listed above.

Inadequate public transport is a major reason for the proliferation of private vehicles on the roads, choking traffic and adding to atmospheric pollution. Respiratory illness in children living in urban areas is on the rise with more cases of asthma being reported because of pollution. This is also affecting school attendance and students' performance. Transport infrastructure is therefore a major aspect of city life that needs urgent attention.

India's National Action Plan on Climate Change talks about intervention to improve the quality of urban services to reduce emissions and energy use. Identifying the problem and collecting relevant information is a good starting point to plan improvements. TERI's recommendations have to be taken seriously and put into practice, including the suggestions to strengthen and empower local bodies to improve governance, and to encourage public-private partnership to provide urban services. As a first step, the government is introducing a system of indicators to monitor sustainability in the provision of urban services. Data collection and analyses are integral to any master plan. However, that needs to be followed up with actual delivery of services that can put us on a new, sustainable urban growth trajectory. The future of the Indian dream depends on whether we can build better cities today.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/EDITORIAL-COMMENT--Urban-Futures/articleshow/4445019.cms

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Hundreds of children 'trafficked'
Up to 325 children a year are being smuggled into or around the UK to be used for slavery, crime or prostitution, according to research.
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) identified 325 potential victims of child trafficking between March 2007 and February 2008.
Half were found to be working as prostitutes while others were involved in forced labour and drug smuggling.
Ceop's Jim Gamble said the true scale of the problem could be much worse.
The sophisticated methods used by traffickers and the fear felt by the victims meant many cases went unreported, the chief executive said.
Domestic servants
Researchers from Ceop said 53% of the children whose age could be determined, were under 16.
They came from 52 different countries, including China, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Romania and Vietnam.
Some children were found working as forced labour in restaurants, on building sites and in beauty salons, or in private homes as domestic servants.
Others were drawn into street crime or coerced into working in cannabis factories.
Investigators also uncovered evidence of British children being trafficked around the UK for sexual exploitation.
The traffickers ranged from individuals to well-organised international networks and some used safe houses in other countries for children being moved across large distances by land, sea or air.
Overall, Ceop said, the process of trafficking could take up to a year and victims themselves could be made to repay the cost of their travel - anything between £5,000 and £40,000.
Mr Gamble said: "A crime where the children themselves sometimes don't even realise they are victims is a complex crime to crack.
"Young victims are typically manipulated by and collaborate with the trafficker because they have been promised a better life and that in itself presents a massive challenge for all authorities.
"Add to that the cultural barriers of language, potential threat from the traffickers themselves or the very new and alien world that these young people are walking into and you can see why many children don't have the confidence to speak out."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8017372.stm
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India-Poland pacts on healthcare, tourism
Sugandhi Ravindranathan
More scope for expansion of bilateral trade, says Kaczynski

Leaders agree to look at enhancing bilateral investments, trade and economic cooperation
Both countries renew commitment to fight terrorism

WARSAW: The goodwill generated in Spain by President Pratibha Patil’s visit continued in Poland with India and the European country signing two agreements here on Friday: one on cooperation in healthcare and medicine, and the other on tourism.
The documents were signed by Ashwani Kumar, Union Minister of State for Industrial Policy and Promotion; Jakub Szykc, Polish Secretary of State in the Ministry of Health; and Katarzyna Sobierajska, Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Sport and Tourism, in the presence of Ms. Patil and Polish President Lech Kaczynski,
Earlier, addressing journalists, Mr. Kaczynski spoke of increasing India-Poland cooperation in European matters, particularly relating to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and in supporting peaceful assistance in Afghanistan.
Calling for closer ties between India and the European Union, Mr. Kaczynski said his country was “envious” of India’s growth rate — even though it had fallen from nine to seven per cent. “This is good not only for India but for the whole world,” said the leader of a country, which is facing recession and soaring unemployment.
“Our bilateral trade is $1 billion, but considering the country’s size, it is not much,” he said, “and there is more scope.”
In her reply, Ms. Patil, referring to the historic and long-standing ties between the two countries, said discussions with her Polish counterpart pointed to future cooperation in information technology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, tourism and the ongoing areas of defence, mining, education and culture. “Despite the current global economic downturn [our bilateral trade] is well under its full potential [and we] have agreed to look at ways of enhancing bilateral investments, trade and economic cooperation.”
The business and industry delegation held parallel meetings, while the Indo-Polish Parliamentary Group was promoting parliamentary exchanges, which would continue after the constitution of the new Lok Sabha.
Referring to the two countries’ role in United Nations’ peace missions as well as other areas of international concern such as climate change, WTO negotiations and terrorism, Ms. Patil said: “We renewed our commitment to fight terrorism ... and both our countries have had to suffer loss of lives at the hands of the Taliban and Al Qaeda.”
Pointing out that India had been suffering terrorism “from across the border” for more than two decades, she condoled with the gruesome murder of a Polish engineer by the Taliban in Pakistan in February 2009. She thanked Poland for its gesture following the Mumbai terror attacks last year.
While concluding her speech, Ms. Patil referred to her next stop Krakow as Poland’s culture capital, only to be corrected by Mr. Kaczynski, who said Warsaw was one too. “So you are doubly benefited,” she said with a smile.
Briefing the media later on the high-level meeting, Nalin Surie, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, said: “The ease of discussions between the leaders was like two friends talking.”
Among the areas of future cooperation is infrastructure. There is already a joint working group on defence. “Poland also has strength in software and hardware and we can benefit from that,” Mr. Surie said, adding yoga and Ayurveda were increasingly gaining a high profile here.
“India is trendy”
The Indian democratic system evoked genuine interest here, Mr. Surie said. “India is trendy in Poland, especially amongst the youth. Some Bollywood films have been shot here.”
C.M. Bhandari, India’s Ambassador, said while only 100 were expected at the business meeting, more than thrice the number turned up.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/25/stories/2009042560721300.htm

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The right to survive
Barbara Stocking
Published 24 April 2009
The world's major cities are increasingly under threat from climate-related disasters. A greater awareness of the humanitarian impact is needed, argues Oxfam's Chief Executive

People walking along a flooded Mumbai street after heavy rains, July 2005
The hero of Slumdog Millionaire, Jamal Malik, faces many hazards before he can win the game-show and get the girl: growing up in a Mumbai slum, orphaned in religious violence, living on a rubbish dump, getting caught up with gangsters. But the film misses out on an increasingly dangerous threat to Jamal and his ilk – the weather.
Mumbai is one of the world’s cities most vulnerable to flooding, with over half the population living in slums, many built on reclaimed swampland. In July 2005 floods caused 900 deaths, mostly by landslips and collapsed buildings. With its crumbling drainage system, uncontrolled development and the destruction of mangrove swamps that once soaked up intense rains, the urban poor are facing increasing risks from the weather in this 21st century megacity.
It’s not just Mumbai. In rapidly swelling cities across Asia, Africa and the Americas, from Jakarta to Lagos to Port-au-Prince, rapid urbanisation is pushing people to live on marginal land at risk of flooding and other climatic disasters.
At the same time climate change is bringing new and unpredictable weather patterns, increasing the number of storms and their intensity. Rising sea levels will leave 200m people living in coastal floodplains at risk of losing their homes and livelihoods.
The effects will be huge. Research collated by Oxfam shows that in only six years time the number of people affected by climate-related crises is projected to rise by 54 per cent, from 250 million people currently to 375 million. This doesn’t include the huge numbers of people affected by wars, volcanoes and earthquakes.
It takes poverty to turn a storm into a full-blown disaster. The United States saw this very clearly when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Poor people are more likely to live in densely populated areas, in rickety houses, without savings or access to health care. Living so close to the edge they are easily killed or pushed into utter destitution.
Their country cousins remain vulnerable too. Huge numbers of people in East and Central Africa and South Asia are growing ever more vulnerable to an annual drought and flood cycle. In 2008, failed rains in Ethiopia left millions in need of food aid. Nearly four million people, mostly peasants, were affected by floods in Bihar, India in 2008.
Many climate disasters don’t make the headlines. Who remembers that Haiti was hit by four hurricanes last year, or that swathes of Mexico were flooded the year before? But the cumulative effect is huge. As John Holmes, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator said: “All these events on their own didn’t have massive death tolls, but if you add them together you get a mega-disaster.”
The massive increase in disasters would be shocking enough if the world could cope with the current humanitarian situations. But the international system struggles to cope with current crises, like the millions going hungry in Somalia and hundreds of thousands adrift and homeless in the jungles of the Congo.
In 2006 the world spent an estimated $14.2 billion (£9.5 billion) on international humanitarian aid, less than the amount spent on video games. Keeping pace with the expected increase in disasters means the world will have to spend around $25 billion (£16.8 billion) to maintain the current levels of humanitarian aid. But at $50 per person this isn’t enough to meet their basic needs. In 2007 in Bangladesh families were still living under plastic sheeting months after Cyclone Sidr hit because the $70 government housing grant wasn’t enough to rebuild their homes.
If the world’s rich governments in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development gave as much as the OECD’s ten most generous countries, then global humanitarian aid would increase to $42 billion. In comparison, the UK government’s bank bailout in September 2008 cost $55 billion (£37 billion).
Aid must not only be increased, it must be spent more fairly. In 2004, victims of the Asian tsunami received aid at an average of $1,241 (£832) per head. In Chad, which received far less media coverage than the tsunami, only $23 (£15) per head was spent on similarly destitute people. Their misfortune was to suffer a disaster that was slow, quiet and insidious.
The world humanitarian system, comprising of the UN, national governments and aid agencies (both western and non-western) needs to be much more timely, adequately funded and impartial. It also needs to go beyond a sticking-plaster approach and help poor countries to withstand future shocks.
In Bolivia, Oxfam worked with local authorities to find a more permanent solution after flooding devastated tens of thousands of hectares of agricultural land in 2007. Elevated seedbeds surrounded by water channels protect crops from water surges and keep them irrigated during drier periods. The cost of implementing such programmes to prepare for disasters is a fraction of providing post-disaster relief.
Poor countries can do a lot to deal with the effects of storms and flooding - if the political will is there. Bangladesh, Cuba and Mozambique have all invested heavily in protecting their people, and suffer much less loss of life in disasters than other poor countries. With extra help from the rich world more vulnerable countries will be able to follow their example.
As well as improved and increased aid, the rich world must also help poor countries to cope with the extra stress of climate change. Oxfam estimates that they need to provide at least $50 billion (£33 billion) annually – in addition to their aid budgets - to help people protect themselves from climate change, for example developing drought or flood-tolerant crops, or for training and equipment for rainwater harvesting to cope with altered rainfall patterns. Infrastructure also needs urgent improvement, raising bridges and roads in flood-prone areas or strengthening buildings to cope with increasing numbers of hurricanes.
Stress-proofing entire regions against weather disasters is a long, hard slog. Few Western politicians are going to win plaudits for increasing aid budgets in a recession, or tackling the tough job of improving the humanitarian system. There are no awards for directors making films about an Indian boy building an embankment to save his slum. This doesn’t make it any less urgent or important.
http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2009/04/aid-world-climate-disasters

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"Natural causes" not responsible for global warming
Researchers from Lancaster and Durham universities in the UK say that natural causes, such as variations in the solar cycle and cosmic rays, cannot be responsible for more than 14% of global warming observed since 1956. The result confirms that international policies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions are on the right track.
"Our result represents another argument against the hypothesis that cosmic rays represent an alternative, natural way of explaining a significant part of the undoubted global warming," team leader Arnold Wolfendale of Durham University told environmentalresearchweb. "The argument against a direct solar origin for warming is equally strong."
Despite unambiguous experimental evidence, such theories have received widespread support from certain media trying to downplay man's influence on the climate.
Wolfendale stated, however, that small variations in surface temperature do seem to follow variations in the solar cycle.
Some scientists have suggested that cosmic rays might be associated with changes in the weather and climate. For example, the low amount of cloud cover observed during certain solar cycles correlates well with the decrease in cosmic rays reaching Earth. Fewer cosmic rays in the atmosphere leads to less ionisation of particles, which reduces cloud cover and in turn allows more sunlight to warm Earth.
The Durham-Lancaster team came to its conclusions by analysing published data on cosmic-ray rates over the past 50 years, together with data on sunspots and the solar radiation over the same period, to look at the relation between these factors.
"The likelihood of our being wrong is very small," insisted Wolfendale. "The chance of the natural cosmic-ray or solar irradiance explanation being responsible for more than 14% of the observed warming is quite negligible." According to assumptions made in the work, the effect of varying solar activity – either by direct solar warming or changing cosmic-ray rates – must be less than 0.07 °C since 1956.
The results also confirm that international policies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions are on the right lines, added Wolfendale. And they highlight the importance of carefully observing natural phenomena over long periods of time.
Wolfendale said that his team will continue to look at possible natural causes of global warming. "This problem is so important that every aspect must be studied," he insisted. In particular, the researchers will study whether cosmic rays cause clouds via ionisation in the atmosphere.
"The biggest shortcoming in climate models so far seems to be how to deal with such clouds and this is why we are concentrating on them," he said.
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/research/38751
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