Year of Government’s Contempt towards Parliament, CAG, Environment & Health

Press Statement

Year of Government’s Contempt towards Parliament, CAG, Environment & Health

Nuclear Liability Rules, UID Bill, Home Ministry’s Guidelines for NPR, Companies Bill, LARR Bill, NFS Bill, BRAI Bill, MMDR Bill etc reveal it

Journey from Paid News to Paid Legislation Underway

New Delhi: Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation headed by P Karunakaran in its 84 page report dated December 16, 2011 reveals that UPA government has lost the confidence of the Parliament. It has shown that the government is repeatedly disregarding parliamentary recommendations with impunity.

Parliament’s intent of Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 was undermined through the notification of Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Rules, 2011, an act of subordinate legilsation ahead of Prime Minister's meeting with US President on November 18 at Bali, Indonesia by limiting the liability period from 80 years to 5 years for the culprits of the nuclear accidents. There was such an unprecedented hurry that the government did not have time to consider why countries after countries are giving up nuclear energy option. It did not even wait for the proposed Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill to be passed and re-examine the views of at least 8 secretaries of Government of India who have expressed reservations about nuclear plants in their own way in their testimony to the Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment & Forests.

On the same day, Dow Chemicals Company’s Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, but the same was not disclosed until the return of the Prime Minister. The affidavit stated, “The Union of India (UOI)’s Curative Petition seeks to invalidate the final settlement of all claims arising out of the Bhopal disaster, which was approved twice over by the Supreme Court of India over two decades ago. The Petition is an affront to the rule of law – completely unfounded, both legally and factually.” Unlike in India, in the US Dow settled a case brought against its subsidiary UCC by workers exposed to asbestos in the workplace in January 2002. The case was filed before acquisition of Union Carbide by Dow. Carbide’s new owner, Dow reached a settlement in the case. The company has set aside $2.2 billion to address future liabilities. Globally companies facing asbestos liabilities seem to be in the process of setting up compensation fund-as an out of court settlement exercise- to escape further civil and criminal liability for knowingly exposing workers, their families and consumers domestically and the world over. How is it that UCC is liable for deaths and diseases due to asbestos exposure in the US but it is not so for deaths and diseases caused by UCC’s Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance considering the National Identification Authority of India (NIDAI) Bill, 2010 presented its report to the Parliament on December 13, 2011. The report rejecting biometric data based identification of Indians. The report
severely indicted the hasty and `directionless' project which has been "conceptualised with no clarity of purpose". The Standing Committee found the biometric technology `uncertain' and 'untested'. There is no data protection law in place and the one which is in pipeline seems obsessed with Information Technology alone. The Standing Committee is categorical that the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) constituted for the purpose of collating the two schemes namely, the UID and National Population Register (NPR) supposedly under Citizenship Act, 1955 has failed. Biometric data collection by the government does not have legal mandate. It held that Government’s role can only be characterised by the Standing Committee as `unethical and violative of Parliament's prerogatives'. This vindicated the demands of citizens groups.

After Rajya Sabha rejected the Lok Pal Bill, UPA leadership seems to have persuaded the Union Home Minister (who had given an impression for public consumption that he is opposed to it) to allow UID/aadhaar to progress after the Standing committee rubbished it. It is high time Team Anna realized the adverse consequences of UID/aadhaar and NPR, which is part of an engineered e-governance project with ulterior motives. In a related development, on 21st December, Electronic Delivery of Services Act, 2011 was introduced in the Lok Sabha “to provide for electronic delivery of public services by the Government to all persons toensure transparency, efficiency, accountability, accessibility and reliability in delivery of such services and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto” by Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development. This Bill also merits rigorous scrutiny along with several subordinate legislations under Information Technology Act, 2000.

In the meantime, Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2011 that was introduced in the Rajya Sabha for inserting suitable provisions in the Citizenship Act 1955 to remove certain lacunae that were noticed during its implementation and review of provisions relating to overseas citizen of India. It was introduced on 8th December and has been referred to Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs for examination and report. Written memoranda to it can be sent latest by 13th January, 2012.

Two contradictory things which happened in the Lok Sabha on December 14 reveal current government’s character. The Companies Bill, 2011 was introduced by Dr Moodbidri Veerappa Moily in the afternoon that makes provision for up to 7.5 % of annual profit of companies as corporate funding of political parties and NGOs and 2 % of the annual profit for Corporate Social Responsibility. Within hours of the introduction of this Bill, Manish Tiwari, National Spokesperson of the ruling party who stood up to speak about government's seriousness in dealing about Black money. He stated, “I feel ashamed to state that black money which is linked to our advertisement policy is related to electoral finance that needs to be rectified”.

While the hollowness of Concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is well known, the same is being introduced in the Companies Bill. Clause 135 of the Bill refers to Schedule VII of the Bill that provides a list of "Activities which may be included by companies in their Corporate Social Responsibility Policies"

These activities relate to:— (i) eradicating extreme hunger and poverty; (ii) promotion of education; (iii) promoting gender equality and empowering women; (iv) reducing child mortlity and improving maternal health; (v) combating human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, malaria and other diseases; (vi) ensuring environmental sustainability; (vii) employment enhancing vocational skills; (viii) social business projects; (ix) contribution to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund or any other fund set up by the Central Government or the State Governments for socioeconomic development and relief and funds for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes, minorities and women; and (x) such other matters as may be prescribed.
The activities that have been mentioned above are functions of the state towards its citizens. This is a case of outsourcing functions of the government to companies. It may have been better if instead of letting companies do CSR activities if the same 2 % of their annual profit is collected as tax to create a fund for undertaking state funding of elections?

This illustrates the double speak, insincerity and inconsistency of the ruling party. It is the Companies Bill which is needed to be rectified to deal with black money and corporate funding for electoral campaigns but this has not happened. The root of rampant corporate crimes committed with impunity, environmental destruction, poisoning of food chain and human rights violations by security forces has been traced to corporate funding of political parties. In the aftermath of industrial disasters, frauds and war crimes by companies world over, this Bill merits rigorous scrutiny by all sections of legislatures and society. The 397 page Bill gives greater role to shareholders promoting shareholder democracy of sort instead of poor common man’s democracy. It seems to be an engineered act of legislative corruption that merits more consideration than Lokpal Bill before it is passed by the Parliament.

This disregards the recommendations of all party Parliamentary Committee on State Funding of Election headed by the former Union Home Minister and veteran CPI leader, Indrajit Gupta who had submitted the report to the Government on January 14, 1999 endorsing demand for state support for elections. Prime Minister's National Relief Fund itself can collect it as Government of India did so acting as parens patriae (guardian of the nation) in the Bhopal disaster case but now it appears to have accepted companies as its guardian.

The provision of corporate funding of political parties and NGOs in the Companies Bill must be looked at in the backdrop of the decision of Supreme Court of USA on January 21, 2010 and the Report of the sub-committee of Press Council of India on Paid News. In the US the decision in the Citizens United case has removed the limit on electoral funding by companies. It was denounced by US President Barack Obama for the sake of record in the way Paid News is denounced in theory but is practiced in a routine manner. Payment to media houses gives birth to Paid News and corporate funding to political parties and NGOs creates Paid Legislations phenomenon that pose a grave threat to genuine democracy.

As a result of tireless campaign and advocacy and questions in the Parliament against the white asbestos industry, this year National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to concerned central ministries, state governments and administration of Union Territories. Earlier, Kerala Human Rights Commission banned its use in schools, hospitals etc. Indira Awaas Yojana of Union Rural Development Ministry continues to promote asbestos roofs despite the fact that as Union Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh had adopted a Vision Statement on Environment and Health that underlined the need for its phase out. Following consistent engagement, so far Ministries of Labour, Environment, Mines and Chemicals have acknowledged the hazardous nature of white asbestos and need for prohibition but Ministries of Commerce and Finance continues to support the trade and use of the killer fibers of white asbestos with criminal disregard towards public health of present and future generations.

This year NHRC member, Satyabrata Pal rightly underlined that the use of carcinogenic asbestos has the capacity to invite health problems but unmindful of this central government has slashed import duties of asbestos to 70-80% to allow its use in low cost housing by the poor despite its impending disease burden. In fact a zero tariff regime for asbestos trade is under negotiations as part of free trade agreement with Canada. This year Google India, a subsidiary of US-based Google Inc moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of a criminal complaint filed against it for allegedly carrying defamatory material on its website against an Andhra-based asbestos manufacturing firm. This year saw a Singur like anti-asbestos struggle in Bihar which succeeded in Muzaffarpur but the struggle is going on in Bhojpur, Vaishali, Madubani and West Champaran due to state government’s disregard towards public health.

Meanwhile, 27 workers died this year on Alang beach in Gujarat’s hazardous ship breaking industry due to rising influence of hazardous waste traders and shipping companies over the state and central government. Some 200 dead and toxic ships currently stand dumped there with impunity adversely affecting the fragile coastal environment, villagers, fishermen and the workers. This year incessant diplomatic efforts resulted in the world witnessing a turning point at the 10th Conference of the Parties of the UN’s Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, as 178 countries which are Parties to it agreed to allow an early entry into force of law of the Basel Ban Amendment that prohibits all exports of hazardous wastes, including electronic wastes and old obsolete ships from rich to poor countries like India. The issue regarding the submission of fake certificates by the ship owners/agents remains unresolved.

This year it came to light from the Office Memorandum that Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF)’s Standing Monitoring Committee on Shipbreaking has suggested that since Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) and Customs were not able to verify the authenticity/genuineness of ship’s registry/flag in the fast in respect of some ships referred to them, this task in respect of each ship may be referred to the Directorate General Shipping, Ministry of Shipping ought to undertake such verification henceforth. The GMB officials informed MoEF that “the suggestion of the committee is acceptable to them subject to such verification by DG Shipping is done within a period of 2 working days. If no information is received from the DG Shipping within 2 working days, it will be presumed that the certificate submitted is authentic and genuine.” Such callous approach that calls for presumption of genuineness of fabricated documents disregarding consequences for towards environmental and national security cannot be approved.

Towards the end of the year, it emerged that in spite of inexplicable and hurried resignations of the Chairman and several members of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC) on Hazardous Wastes created by October 14, 2003 order remains alive and government has filed its unsatisfactory compliance report on SCMC’s recommendations based on Court’s order that has endorsed UN’s Basel Convention.

As of now 33 of the 41 developed countries to which the hazardous waste export ban applies have implemented it nationally. India has ratified Basel Convention but is yet to ratify Ban Amendment instead it appears to be mutilating this UN treaty by signing bilateral free trade agreements with countries like USA, Japan and Europe and others that facilitates free trade in hazardous waste which is akin to adopting Lawrence Summers principle of transferring harm to developing countries. Clearly, government is putting naked lust for profit ahead of people’s health. If government is serious it should order a CBI probe in hazardous waste trade and desist from allowing “transboundary movement” of hazardous waste in myriad disguises. The 5th amendment to the Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2008 is under way. Such amendment has been going on since 1989 under the influence of international recyclers and above mentioned members of World Trade Organisation.

Despite Supreme Court order against hazardous waste incinerator technology, 3 Dioxins emitting projects based on it are under construction in the national capital. Disregarding the failure of carbon trade in addressing climate crisis, India 727 registered Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, which is around 21% of worldwide registered projects that includes highly polluting incinerator technology based waste to energy projects. National CDM Authority of India has given host country approval to 35 such waste related projects most of them are based on failed hazardous technology.

Instead of LED, CFLs are being promoted without concern for mercury pollution. 245 Lakh CFLs have been distributed so far in various states of India - Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi under Bachat Lamp Yojana Programme. Consequently, myopic Durban agreement on climate crisis is not positive because it continues to rely on carbon offsets and carbon trade without realizing that these are fake solutions and are exercises akin to fishing in the troubled waters.

Besides Parliamentary Standing Committee on Coal & Steel, Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) of India disclosed illegal coal mining going on across most of the coal mines in the country, so far the government has failed to act. The 54 page report presented to the Parliament observed, “The astronomical figure of illegal mining in various States clearly shows that State Governments are insensitive and indifferent towards the problem of illegal mining and failed to discharge their constitutional responsibilities. The Committee are extremely unhappy to note that though the business of illegal mining has been going on for decades causing considerable loss of human lives and to the environment and national exchequer, no proper documented evidence on the actual loss to the economy and environment is available. This clearly indicates lack of will and effort on part of the Government to combat this problem which is considered to be a national security threat. The Committee would like the Ministry of Coal to ask all the coal companies to prepare a comprehensive document inter-alia the details of human lives lost, environmental degradation and resultant loss to the national economy due to illegal mining. The Committee would like the Ministry to take corrective measures in overhauling the vigilance, personnel and Legal Departments of the concerned coal companies and necessary action may be taken against those officials who have failed to discharge their designated duties. The Committee would like to be apprised about the action taken in the matter. They would also like the Ministry to take stringent preventive measures to curb clandestine activities in all the affected coalfields and the outcome reported to them within 3 months of the presentation of this Report to Parliament.” Central Government has not complied with these recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee. Illegal diamond mining in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh is going on due to incestuous relationship between some ruling and opposition party leaders and despite questions in Parliament and a PIL in the MP High Court. This year it has been in the news following the murder of Shehla Masood.

On December 12, Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Bill 2011 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 12 to replace the Act of 1957. Section 43 (7) to (11) of the 195 page Bill provides for the manner in which the monetary and other benefits are to be given to the mining affected families but it faces opposition from industry associations like FICCI and CII which fund political parties and NGOs either directly or through its members. The Bill proposes new rules on profit-sharing to the tune of 26 per cent to go to project-affected local communities. Union Mines Secretary S. Vijay Kumar has revealed the reason saying it will definitely bring foreign capital, particularly from exploration companies in droves. The Bill new makes the grant of concessions much simpler and quicker.
It makes it more transparent. It also allows licenses to be freely traded. So a late-stage exploration company can buy up a licensee who has spent time acquiring the license. It will incentivise more venture capital flow into the sector. If some people got overwhelmed by seemingly pro-people measures, it merits examination in this backdrop. It is not clear as to how 26 per cent of total profit will be calculated from instance in coal mining because the real profit is not in mining but in thermal power production, which essentially means profit will have to be calculated from profit generated through power production. There is an urgent need for a White Paper on state of mining, minerals, mine, minerals wastes and abandoned mines to comprehend the extent of plunder of natural resources and their real worth in the global commodity market at present and in futures market in order to create commensurate regulatory framework in supreme national interest.

It has come to light that in 2010, India shipped around 10 million tonnes of iron ore to China, every month. Will Government of India explain to the Parliament and to the people of India as to how it served India’s interest? The question is will the new Bill stop such plunder of natural resources from India?.

The other significant Bills that were introduced include the Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, 2011 for a perfect land market and National Food Security Bill, 2011 amidst decline by around 8 lakh hectares of agricultural in the last five years due to shift to non-agricultural purposes. As compared to 1,83,186 thousand hectares during 2003-04, the agricultural land in the country has come down to 1,82,385 thousand hectares during 2008-09. The Government informed in a written reply to Lok Sabha on December 20. This has happened because farm lands are being used for non-agricultural purposes including buildings, roads and railways. These Bill will continue to occupy the attention of citizens groups even in the new year.

This year Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and Public Accounts Committee that is examining the role of Andimuthu Raja as Union Telecom Minister was approached and urged to probe Raja’s role as Union Environment Minister from 23rd May 2004 to 17th May 2007 as well to get the bottom of the truth of the scam that was revealed by CAG. Coincidentally, T R Baalu’s tenure as a member of Union Cabinet as Environment Minister from 13th October 1999 to 21st December 2003 also falls under the time period which the JPC is examining, this also merits consideration. Given the fact that the while being the Chairman of the JPC, he also a Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment & Forests, it is hoped that it would it would factor in the inter-relatedness of the ministries to establish the chain of events.

This year Supreme Court heard the Networking of Rivers Case (Writ Petition Civil 512 of 2002) on October 17 which entails diversion of rivers for linking them in both Himalayan and peninsular India and Aral Sea like ecological disaster and the three-judge bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar adopted precautionary approach by seeking to know its financial viability and possible displacement due to land acquisition for the mega project. Earlier, Supreme Court had suggested that this project should be completed by the year 2016. Since then Union Ministry of Environment & Forests has opposed the project and Kerela, Punjab and West Bengal have rejected this project. The new aggregated cost of the project for diverting rivers for interlinking is Rs 1, 15, 668.20 crore or 20.7 per cent lower than the earlier aggregate cost estimate of Rs 5,60,000 crore at 2002-03 prices. The court posted the matter for further hearing in January 2012.

The year saw the proposal for Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill that is meant to address existing deficiencies in the system of approval of genetically modified (GM) crops turns out to be unconstitutional, unethical, unscientific, self-contradictory, and not contrary to public interest. This will adversely affect agriculture, health of humans and animals, and the environment, causing unparalleled harm. There was no democratic consultation with people. No one knows a 18 page draft Bill that has been in circulation since 2008 emerged as a 68 page Bill in violation of the letter and spirit of UN's Convention on Biological Diversity and Cartegena Protocol on Bio-Safety and India's The Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The Bill appears to be making BRAI exempt from the provisions of Right to Information Act.

In these abnormal times wherein attempts are underway to turn citizens into subjects sans guaranteed constitutional rights and their relationship with natural resources, these developments merit attention in the year ahead.

For Details: Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), Mb: 9818089660, E-mail: krishna1715@gmail.com Web: toxicswatch.blogpsot.com

Achievements and Initiatives of the Ministry of Mines for the Year 2011

YEAR END REVIEW 2011

NEW LEGISLATION

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2011 The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2011 prepared by the Ministry to replace the existing Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 has been approved by the Cabinet and the bill has been introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament. The bill has been prepared after several rounds of consultation and workshop with all Stakeholders. The Bill seeks a complete and holistic reform in the mining sector with provisions to address issues relating to sustainable mining and local area development, benefit sharing mechanism to the people affected by mining operations. The Bill also aims to ensure transparency, equity, elimination of discretions, effective redressal and regulatory mechanisms along with incentives encouraging good mining practices, which will also lead to technology absorption and exploitation of deep seated minerals.

STRATEGIC PLAN FOR MINISTRY OF MINES

The Ministry of Mines has prepared a detailed Strategic Plan document “Unlocking the Potential of the Indian Minerals Sector” in order to systematize the functioning of the Ministry and align it more directly with the vision emanating from the National Mineral Policy. The Strategic plan has identified that the Indian minerals sector holds a huge potential for all stakeholders, including the central government, state government, community and the entire economy. With the right kind of support, the mining sector has the potential to significantly contribute to the GDP and also improve the revenues of royalty and taxes. The Strategic Plan has identified the six priorities to achieve the objectives. These priorities are (i) expanding resource and reserve base by stepping up exploration and aiding international acquisition of strategic minerals (ii) reducing permit delays to create a more favourable policy environment (iii) setting up core enablers for mining—infrastructure, human capital and technology (iv) ensuring sustainable mining and development (v) creating an information, education and communication plan and (vi) establishing the right governance structure for effective implementation

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK (SDF)

Based on the report (2007) of the High Level Committee constituted by the Planning Commission to review the National Mineral Policy 1993 as part of the process of bringing in International Standards into the Mining Sector, best practices in environment management, appropriate use of land within a planning framework through a decision making process on the basis of integrated assessment of ecological, environmental, economical and social impact are being incorporated into Mining based activities. The Ministry engaged an expert consultant for creating a Sustainable Development Framework (SDF) for the mining sector. The consultant, taking into consideration that mining should contribute to economic, social and cultural wellbeing of indigenous host populations and local communities by creating stakeholders interest in mining operations for the project affected people (PAP), has prepared a document and submitted to the Government. A wider dissemination of the SDF has been undertaken and the SDF document is being finalised before its final roll-out.

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TO PROBE ILLEGAL MINING

Several incidents of the illegal mining all over the country especially for iron and manganese ore have come to the notice of the Central Government. In order to make an inquiry into a definite matter of public importance, namely, mining of iron ore and manganese ore in contravention of the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation Act, 1957, the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and other Central and State Acts and the Rules and guidelines issued there under and raising, transportation and exporting of such ores illegally or without lawful authority at various places within the country, the Ministry of Mines in exercise of powers conferred by section 3 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 has appointed a Commission of Inquiry consisting of Justice M.B. Shah, retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India. The Commission has submitted first interim report. Based on the finding of the first interim report, the Government has already initiated action. The Commission has carried out inspection of several mining sites in the States of Karnataka, Goa, Odisha.

AMENDMENT OF RULE 45 OF MCDR 1988

The Ministry of Mines has notified amended Rule 45 in Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988, which stipulates mandatory registration of miners, stockists, traders, exporters, and end-users of minerals, and stringent reporting norms for ensuring end-to-end accounting of the mineral produced. In this system it is mandatory for the miners, traders, exporters, and end-users of the minerals to send a copy of the reports to State Governments also. The State Governments have also been advised to ensure that any automation in the reporting system developed at the State levels should be compliant with the amended Rule 45 of the MCDR. The registration system has already started and the Ministry of Mines is working closely with the IBM to commence the online submission of monthly and annual returns of production to be filed by the mining lessee at the earliest. The work on system of online reporting is in progress.



REVISION OF RATES OF ROYALTY AND DEAD RENT

In order to review the royalty rates and dead rent, the Ministry of Mines has constituted a Study Group under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary (Mines) regarding revision of royalty rates and rates of dead rent for minerals (other than coal, lignite and sand for stowing) and to make appropriate recommendations to the Government. Apart from other terms and recommendations, the Study Group has been also mandated to recommend revision of rates and in case, if necessary, give an additional conditional recommendation on what should be the royalty rate and the mechanism for computation of royalty rates after taking into account the liabilities on the lease holder as envisaged in the draft MMDR Bill, 2011, in the event the Parliament approves the new draft Bill.

EXPLORATION IN OFFSHORE AREAS

The Central Government in exercise of its powers vested as the owners of minerals lying in the offshore areas of the country has enacted the Offshore Areas Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002 and Offshore Mineral Concession Rules 2006. With effect from January 2010, the Central Government has notified the Controller General, IBM as an Administering Authority for grant of mineral concessions and regulating the exploration and mining activities. In pursuance to this Controller General, IBM notified the mineral bearing blocks in offshore areas, 26 in Bay of Bengal and 37 in Arabian Sea for grant of Exploration Licence. In response, IBM has received 377 applications and Grant orders have been issued for 62 blocks to 16 applicants in April 2011. Commencement of offshore exploration will set a new benchmark in the achievement of Indian Mining industry to exploit offshore minerals.

PREPARATIONS OF REPORTS FOR XII FIVE YEAR PLAN

The 2011-12 is the terminal year of the XI Five Year Plan and therefore, the action has been initiated for formulation of the XII Five Year Plan. In respect of non-coal sector a Working Group on Mineral Exploration and Development (Other than Coal and Lignite) has been formulated in the Ministry of Mines to make recommendations for incorporating in the XII Five Year Plan to the Planning Commission. The Working Group has submitted report and major long term goals such as Increase in investment in exploration; Improvement in regulatory systems; Promote scientific and optimal Mining; Infrastructure creation; Modernise exploration and the mining industry; Increase mineral resources and help ensure raw materials security; Implement sustainable development framework; Provide direction to science policy and R&D; Enable techno-economic policy formulation etc. have been proposed.

MINERAL CONCESSION SYSTEM & TRANSPARENCY

In the federal structure of India, the State Governments are the owners of minerals located within their respective boundaries. The Central Government is the owner of the minerals underlying the ocean within the territorial waters or the Exclusive Economic Zone of India. The State Governments grant the mineral concessions {Reconnaissance Permit (RP), Prospecting Licence (PL) and Mining Lease (ML)}for all the minerals located within the boundary of the State, under the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 1957. Prior approval of the Central Government is required under Section 5 of the Act for grant of RP, PL and ML in respect of Atomic and Metallic Minerals specified in Parts ‘B’ and ‘C’ of the first Schedule to the Act.

The Ministry of Mines has, in consultation with the State Governments, issued detailed guidelines on 24th June, 2009, in order to bring about more clarity and transparency in processing the mineral concession proposals under the MMDR Act, 1957 and MCR, 1960. The Ministry has also, in consultation with the State Governments, framed a Policy on ‘special reasons’ to be adopted by all State Governments while recommending a mineral concession proposal in favour of a later applicant under Section 11(5) of the Act. Guidelines in this regard have been issued to the State Governments on 9th February, 2010. Besides, the Ministry has issued guidelines on 13th October, 2010 regarding submission of maps by the State Governments along with the proposals.

The Government of Madhya Pradesh has formulated their Mineral Policy 2010 which includes the ‘Special Reasons’ framed by them for recommending a later applicant in a non-notified area under Section 11(5) of the MMDR Act, 1957. The Ministry has advised them to ensure uniform compliance of the same in all cases. All other State Governments have also been requested vide letter dated 20.10.2011 to examine their respective State Minerals Policies and incorporate therein suitable ‘Special Reasons’ specific to their respective States.

The Ministry of Mines had, vide order dated 4.3.2009, constituted a Central Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee (CEC) under the chairpersonship of Secretary (Mines) on monitoring and minimizing delays at various levels in grant of approvals for mineral concession applications. Six meetings of the Committee have been held in the Ministry so far - on 24.7.09, 22.12.09, 18.6.10, 22.12.10, 3.5.11 and 20.9.11, wherein important decisions aimed at minimizing delays in processing of concession applications and improving the overall concession regime were taken. As per the decision taken in the first meeting of the CEC, all mineral-rich State Governments viz. Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Goa, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu have constituted their State-level Committees.

Keeping in view the need for having more effective coordination as well as for dealing with important matters relating to mineral development and regulation in the country, the Ministry has, vide order dated 20.10.2011, reconstituted the Committee as “Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee on Mineral Development and Regulation”. Its terms of reference have also been widened to bring within its ambit other important issues like coordination and review of steps for prevention of illegal mining, development and implementation of sustainable development framework etc. Besides the Ministry of Mines, the CEC comprises representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Home Affairs, Steel, Shipping, Finance (Revenue), Railways, Fertilizers, Department of Atomic Energy, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Geological Survey of India and Indian Bureau of Mines. Representatives of the State Departments are also co-opted in the Committee. All State Governments have been advised vide letter dated 17.11.2011 to consider reconstitution of their respective State-level Empowered Committees similarly.

The next meeting of the CEC is scheduled to be held on 16.1.2012.

At the instance of the Ministry of Mines, the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) has brought out a compendium titled “Mineral Concession System in India”, which contains useful information on various aspects of mineral concessions, viz. India as a mineral investment destination, mineral legislation and regulation and grant of mineral concessions.

A Working Group under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary (Mines) has been set up in the Ministry 20.1.2011 for developing software for monitoring and expediting forest clearances in respect of mineral concession applications. As per the recommendations of the Working Group, the MoEF has redesigned its software, which is expected to be operationalised shortly.

The Ministry of Mines is using internet services to bring about more transparency in processing the mineral concession applications. The website of the Ministry (www.mines.nic.in) provides all information on the current status of the mineral concession applications.

Revisions Application & Disposal

New Revision software for monitoring Revisions Applications filed under Section 30 of Mines & Mineral (Development and Regulations) MMDR Act., 1957 has been made fully operational. During the year ( upto 15th December, 2011) 773 Applications challenging the States Governments orders were disposed of.

INITIATIVES TAKEN BY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA ( GSI)

GSI with its present focus on exploration for concealed and deep seated deposits has initiated a number of baseline geoscientific data generation programmes like National Geomorphological and Lineament Mapping, Hyperspectral Mapping and National Aeromagnetic Mapping. National Geochemical Mapping and Geophysical Mapping are continuing and are proposed to be completed by the end of the XII Plan through outsourcing and GSI’s own resources.

During the Field Season 2010-12 GSI has made significant augmentation/discoveries in Gold, Molybdenum, Basemetal, Iron Ore and Manganese in the States of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa respectively. GSI has also estimated coal resource of 2641.63 million tonne in the states of West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and 124.6 million tonne of lignite in Tamilnadu, Rajasthan and West Bengal during 2010-12 (as on 01.04.2011).

Information technology is being widely utilized by GSI for monitoring progress of field and project activities, accessing unpublished project reports, publications (Records, memoirs) Detailed Information Dossiers (DIDs), District Resource Maps, Geological Quadrangular Maps, Case Histories, Photo-gallery etc. The GSI Portal provides structured, logically organized information to different categories of users. GSI Portal received the Silver Award in the “Best Government Portal” Category for National e-Governance Awards 2011 by DARPG. GSI has embarked upon the Phase III of the Portal Project and Online Core Business Integrated System (OCBIS) is the essential part of this initiative.

In its modernisation drive GSI is in the process of acquiring a new ocean going research vessel for execution of seabed survey and exploration of non-living resources. GSI is also engaged in the procurement of a Geotechnical vessel with drilling capabilities. GSI is process of installing geophysical instruments onto its ‘Dhruv’ helicopter to carry out low altitude geophysical surveys.

RESTRUCTURING OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA (GSI)

Restructuring of GSI on basis of the High Power Committee recommendations has gathered momentum. There is a significant improvement in HR position with induction of S&T personnel at JTS level during the year. A cabinet note on the restructuring of GSI based on the recommendations of the High Power Committee has been approved by the cabinet on 25.10.2011. The proposals, as approved are under implementation.

INITIATIVES TAKEN BY INDIAN BUREAU OF MINES ( IBM)

For promotion of conservation and scientific development of mineral resources and ensuring protection of mines environment in mining areas, IBM carried out 1,478 Inspection of mines for enforcement of provision of MCDR, 1988 and examination of MP/MS, approved 113 Mining Plans and 208 Schemes of Mining. For up gradation and utilization of low grade and sub-grade ores and minerals, IBM carried out 40 Ore dressing investigations, 31,502 Chemical Analysis, 1,620 Mineralogical studies and one in Plant study. As a part of Consultancy services on charge and promotional basis to mining industry on mining, geological & environmental aspects, IBM completed 4 Technical Consultancy Assignments and 7 Mining Research Assignments and conducted 07 training courses for IBM and Industry personnel. Preparation of 100 multi-mineral maps with forest overlays in respect of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, North-Eastern States, Kerala and Goa are in progress. Updation of NMI as on 01.4.2010 is in progress and work completed for 36 minerals. For dissemination of data on mines and minerals, 10 Statistical and technical publications have been released.

To develop an online National Mineral Information System by linking Central and State organizations engaged in administration of mineral resources in the country, a project on "Computerized Online Register of Mining Tenements System" is being implemented. GIS component of the pilot project incorporating very limited data in Bellary (Karnataka) and Durg (Chattisgarh) has been completed. The job for preparation of DPR has been assigned by the NICSI to the consultant M/s. Earnest & Young on 19th May, 2011. Preparation of DPR by M/s E & Y is in progress and is likely to be completed by Dec., 2011. A national Workshop of all stake holders was organized at NIC’s HQ on 10.10.2011 & training cum workshop had been organized on 17th & 18th November 2011 at IBM HQ, Nagpur for online registration, online register for MTS & online submission of Monthly & Annual Returns.

MINERAL PRODUCTION / TRADE

Total provisional value of mineral production including minor minerals but excluding atomic minerals during the year 2010-11 and 2011-12 (Estimated) was about Rs. 212499 crores and Rs. 226522 crores respectively. The value of Minerals and Ores exported during the year 2009-10 was Rs. 127831 crores whereas the value of import was Rs. 524830 crores. The provisional value of minerals and ores exported during the year 2010-11 (Provisional) was Rs. 165080 crores whereas the value of import was Rs. 669010 crores.

NATIONAL ALUMINUM COMPANY LIMITED (NALCO)

Nalco signed an MoU with Indian Rare earths ltd (IREL), a PSU under Department of Atomic Energy, for making value-added products from beach sand minerals, which would subsequently be used for making titanium and allied products. The MoU was signed by CMD, Nalco and CMD, IREL in Bhubaneswar, on January 14. The project is estimated to cost ` 400 crore and is planned to be set up at Chhatrapur in Ganjam district of Odisha. Another MoU was also signed in Jakarta on 04.10.2011 with Government of East Kalimantan in presence of Hon’ble Minister of Commerce and Industry, Government of Indian to set up a Smelter & Power Project.

Board of Directors of NALCO has approved the capital restructuring of equity by splitting the share of ` 10 into two shares of ` 5 each. The Board has also decided for 1:1 bonus share, i.e. one bonus share for each share held, in its board Meeting held on 31st January 2011.

Approval of mining Lease of the ` 338 crore Utkal-E Coal Mine project was received from Ministry of Coal, Government of India in June 2011.

Nalco’s 2nd phase Expansion was completed in all respect with the commissioning of Alumina Refinery project in June, 2011.Other units viz. Smelter and CPP were commissioned in December, 2009 and August, 2010 respectively.

Smelter Plant at Angul started production of another variety of rolled product named as chequered sheet with thickness ranging from 0.60mm to 3.0 mm. The new product has a high demand in automobile industry, vehicle manufacturing and industrial flooring. The first consignment was flagged off on 17th October, 2011.

Nalco and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) signed a joint venture agreement at Mumbai 09.11.2011 to form a joint venture company for establishment of Nuclear Power Plants in India. Under the JV agreement, Nalco would have 49% equity stake out of which 26% equity would be contributed now and would be enhanced later to 49%. The balance would be controlled by NPCIL. Both the companies have already selected Kakrapur units 3 & 4 of 700 MW each in Gujarat as their first JV project where the construction work has already started.

Board of Directors of Nalco in May, 2011 approved the Investment proposal and award of work for establishing 50 MW wind Power Plant in Andhra Pradesh at an investment ` 330 crore. The contract was awarded in June, 2011 and the project is scheduled for completion in February, 2012.

The mining lease of Panchpatmali South Block was renewed for another 20 years with the receipt of Stage-II forest clearance on 20th July, 2011. The original lease period had expired after 30 years of mining.

Against global bid, Nalco has been shortlisted as the only successful bidder for the Mines & Refinery project in Gujarat. The project is scheduled to start in 2012.

The 5th Long Term Wage Settlement of Nalco employees were signed on 5th September, 2011 for a period of ten years, with five Recognized Unions.

In financial year 2011-12, the profit after tax for the half year ended September, 2011 was 516 crore, compared to ` 508 crore for same period last year.

Awards:-

1. Bagged the CSR Award for Best Practices’ under the Global HR Excellence, category at the World HR Congress held in Mumbai from 10th to 12th Feb, 2011. The award was received from Secretary to Govt.of India, Department of Public Enterprise.

2. Panchpatmali Bauxite Mines was awarded the 1st prize for Reclamation and Rehabilitation at the 13th Mines Environment & Mineral Conservation week 2010-11, held under the aegis of Indian Bureau of Mines, Bhubaneswar region.

3. Bagged EEPC ( Eastern Regoin)’s Gold Trophy, as Top Exporter in the Large Enterprise Category, for its outstanding export performance during the year 2008-09 on 25th Feb, 2011.

4. Nalco received the PSE Excellence Award 2011, in the Maharatna nad Navratna category, for Corporate Social Responsibility & Responsiveness, instituted by the Department of Public Enterprises, Govt of India and Indian Chamber of Commerce.

5. Bagged the Top Export Award of CAPEXIL, for its outstanding export performance during the year 2010-11.

6. Bagged the Best Exporters Award for Directorate of Export Promotion and Marketing, Govt. of Odisha for outstanding export of Alumina and Aluminium for the year 2009-10. The award was received in a function held on 3rd Sep., 2011 at Bhubaneswar.

7. Smelter Plant has bagged the pretigious National Energy Conservation Award for the year, 2011.

HINDUSTAN COPPER LIMITED (HCL)

HCL has earned Profit before tax of ` 335.21 crore for the financial year 2010-11 which is highest ever since inception.

The Company has paid ` 92.14 crore as dividend to Government of India for the year 2010-11, which is historically the highest dividend payout by the Company.

Ore Production in 2010-11 at 3.6 million tonne is best in last 12 years.

The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs in its meeting held on 30.09.2011 has approved the investment of ` 1856.36 crore for the project for expansion of Malanjkhand Copper Project mine from 2.0 million tonne per annum open cast to 5.0 million tonne per annum Underground mine.

The Company has awarded five projects valuing ` 1810.0 crore. Execution of one project has started and remaining projects will commence in the last quarter of current financial year.

Tri-partite agreement of wage settlement was signed by the Management of HCL and Recognized union in the presence of Chief Labour Commissioner.

MINERAL EXPLORATION CORPORATION LTD (MECL)

The upward trend in physical and financial performance of the company has been maintained during 2011. The drilling performance cumulatively up to November’ 11, has been 281281 m representing 113% of 215317 m achieved during the same period of the previous year.

The performance in developmental mining was 7844 m which is 106% of 7402 m achieved during the same period of previous year.

The performance in gross revenue is 14378 lakhs which is 128% of the same period of the previous year. The Gross margin stood at ` 3059 lakhs and the company earned a net profit (before tax) is ` 1540 lakhs. Both these achievements are 155% as compared with the corresponding period of previous year.

A total of 34 work orders valued at 4157 lakhs were received from various clients such as M/s. SAIL for exploration of iron ore, M/s. MOIL for exploration of manganese ore, M/s. AMD for exploratory drilling work, M/s. UCIL for developmental mining work and other agencies.

The MoU composite score for the year 2010-11 was 2.42 and company categorized under the “Very Good” category on the basis of audited data.

MECL has been conferred with “Turn around CPSE Award 2010” by Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises, Department of Public Enterprises, Govt. of India, during March 2011.

Repositioning of MECL:MECL has prepared a document on repositioning of MECL including Corporate Plan, Manpower Plan and Business Plan.

Training on JORC Code: MECL has identified training on Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC), an Australian code for reporting of exploration results, mineral resources & ore reserves as a thrust area along with identification/registration of “Competent Person”. As such, MECL has finalized the names of five officials and three officers have been imparted training on JORC code at Snowden Institute, Australia.

INITIATIVES TAKEN FOR ASSESSING AND EXPLOITING THE MINERAL WEALTH IN THE NORTH-EASTERN REGION.

Ministry of Mines has taken several initiatives through its agencies like Geological Survey of India (GSI), Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) and Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL) for assessing and exploiting the mineral wealth of the North Eastern Region (NER).

A meeting was held at Shillong on 17th June, 2011under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary (Mines) to review the progress of ongoing projects in the North Eastern Region, which was attended by representative of Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL) and representatives of Directorates of Mining and Geology (DGM) of Northern Eastern States. In this meeting GSI was advised to utilize 100% funds outlay earmarked for NER and to take more collaborative projects with concerned state Directorate of Geology and Mining (DGMs) for development of natural resources in NER. It was also decided that state DGMs would convene their State Geological Programming Board (SGPB) meeting before the next Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) meeting. The Central Geological Programming Board in its meeting held on 24th -25th August, 2011 discussed the issues relating to North Eastern Region. GSI has initiated a new scheme for supply of equipments to the North Eastern Region and outlay of ` 50 lakhs has been kept for such purposes.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION (IC)

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDINGS

Ministry of Mines, Government of India and the Ministry of Energy & Resources of the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation for cooperation in the field of Geology & Mineral Resources, on 15th March, 2011 at New Delhi, during the visit of Saskatchewan Premier to India.

The Ministry of Mines, Government of India and the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Colombia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of Geology & Mineral Resources on 4th May, 2011 at Bogota. Shri Dinsha J. Patel, Minister of State for Mines (Independent Charge) signed the MoU on behalf of Government of India. Mr. Carlos Rodado Noriega, Minister of Mines and Energy signed the MoU on behalf of Government of Colombia.

The Ministry of Mines, Government of India and the Ministry of Mines, Government of Afghanistan have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation in the field of Mineral Resources Development on 4th October, 2011, during the visit of Afghanistan President to India. The MoU was signed by Shri Dinsha Patel, Hon’ble Minister of State for Mines (Independent Charge) for the Government of India and H.E Mr. Waheedullah Shahrani, Minister of Mines on behalf of the Afghanistan Govenrment. The signing took place in the presence of Hon’ble Prime Dr. Manmohan Sing and H.E. Mr. Hameed Karzai, President of Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Mines, Government of India and the Ministry of Energy & Mines, Government of British Columbia Province, Canada have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation in the field of Geology and Mineral Resources on 17th November, 2011, in the presence of Shri Dinsha Patel, Hon’ble Minister of State for Mines (Independent Charge), Government of India and H.E Ms. Christy Clark, Premier of British Columbia Government.

JOINT WORKING GROUP MEETINGS

A meeting of the Joint Working Group on cooperation in the field of Geology and Mineral Resources was held with the Province of Ontario, Canada on 1st March, 2011, through Video Conferencing.

7th Meeting of the India-Australia Joint Working Group on Energy & Minerals was held in Australia on 17-18 May, 2011 at Sydney, Australia. Ministry of Mines is the nodal Ministry from the Indian side for this Working Group. The Protocol signed at the end of the meeting endorsed the activities under the Action Plans on Mining and Minerals, Power, Petroleum and Natural Gas and Coal sectors.

The 2nd Meeting of the India-Uzbekistan Joint Working Group on Geology and Mineral Resources was held in New Delhi on 15th September, 2011. A Protocol was signed at the end of the meeting listed the future course of action for furthering the cooperation programme.

The 1st Meeting of the India-Malawi Joint Working Group on Mineral Resources Development was held in New Delhi on 17th October, 2011 in New Delhi. The Indian side was led by Shri S. Vijay Kumar, Secretary in the Ministry of Mines, Government of India, and the Malawi delegation was led by Mr. Anthony Livuza, Secretary, Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy & Environment and Government of Malawi. A Protocol was signed at the end of the meeting listed the future course of action for furthering the cooperation programme.

SEMINARS/CONFERENCES/EXHIBITIONS

PROSPECTORS AND DEVELOPERS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA (PDAC) 2011: Ministry of Mines participated in PDAC 2011 and put up India Pavilion. which received the attention of large number of visitors and prospective investors. A half day ‘India Day’ was also organised on 8th March, 2011, concurrently with PDAC Convention, which showcased India’s mineral wealth and capabilities and potential of the India’s minerals sector as an attractive investment destination.

CHINA MINING 2011: The CHINA MINING (Congress & Expo) 2011, 6th to 8th November, 2011, was hosted by the Ministry of Land and Resources, China and the Tianjin Municipal Government, China. It is one of the largest mineral exploration and mining trading platforms, covers the whole value chain, including geological survey, exploration development, mining rights, trading, mining investment and financing, smelting and processing technique and equipment, mining services, etc. Ministry of Mines participated in the Congress and set up an Exhibition booth at the Expo. The Indian delegation also visited mining sites, mineral processing units and mineral laboratories.

WORLD MINING CONGRESS: Ministry of Mines participated in the 22nd World Mining Congress held from 11th to 16th September, 2011 at Istanbul, Turkey.

XXIX INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON MINING: Ministry of Mines participated in the XXIX International Convention on Mining held in Acapulco, Mexico from 26th to 29th October, 2011

SKS
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/pmreleases.aspx?mincode=44

World Energy Consumption

World Energy consumption figures. All measurements are in Btu (British thermal units) - Adjusts every second. Data Source: Latest Energy Surveys, IEA, DOD. Updated monthly or when new figures are released.

3815 MW Grid Connected Renewable Capacity Added During 2011

Year End Review – 2011

High lights of the year 2011

· The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has intensified the deployment of various renewable energy technologies in the country for grid connected power generation and to improve energy access in rural areas.

· In the recent competitive solar tariff bidding, the tariff quoted are 50% less than they were when the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission was launched just two years ago.

· Renewable power is now being extensively propagated and used to provide energy access to the remote, inaccessible and difficult areas of the country. During 2011 around 965 villages have been covered with solar lights and 30 villages have been covered with biomass gasifiers.

· The Ministry has undertaken an intensive exercise during the year to review its programmes through various working groups set up for preparation of the 12th Plan. The Ministry is envisaging a capacity addition of about 30,000 MW from renewable during the 12th Plan.

Major Achievements in 2011

The Year 2011 has seen a significant growth with a number of new initiatives in the renewable energy sector. The wind energy sector picked up momentum again by adding over 2800 MW capacity resulting in grid-connected renewable power capacity crossed the 22,000 MW milestone which is about 11% of the total power generation capacity of the country. During the year grid-connected solar power plants crossing the 100 MW milestone. In fact, SPV power plants of over 180 MW were set up in the country. Over 1000 remote villages were electrified through renewable energy systems during this year. Over 50 MW off-grid installations were completed. Another initiative of the Ministry was to launch a comprehensive project to popularize renewable energy systems in the Ladakh

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission

The Mission aims at adding 20,000 MW solar power capacity in the country by 2022. Implementation of the Phase – I of the Mission started during the year. One of the target areas is promotion of grid-connected solar power in a big way with the objective to bring cost of solar power generation to grid parity levels. In this year 180 MW of grid-connected solar power projects have been commissioned in the country and this figure will cross 400 MW by the end of this financial year. Projects totaling 350 MW have been allotted in batch-II of phase–I in December,2011 through competitive bidding. The tariff quoted are amongst lowest tariffs anywhere in the World with an average Rs.8.77 per kWh and a bid lowest of Rs.7.49 per kWh. If compared with the tariffs of over Rs.18 per kWh at the start of the Mission, this is a reduction of more than 50%.

The Ministry is giving special focus on research in solar energy. 36 R&D projects in solar thermal and photovoltaic technologies are under implementation. A Centre for Solar Thermal Research has been set up at IIT Rajasthan, Jodhpur. Under R&D Projects sponsored to industries in public-private partnership mode, a 30 ton Solar air conditioning system using concentrating parabolic troughs and triple effect vapor absorption machine has been developed and demonstrated at Solar Energy Centre, MNRE. It is a stand-alone system for day time use and can take care of intermittent clouds through small storage. The system once tested for its satisfactory performance, could be useful for offices and institutions working during day time when solar radiation is also available. In another project, a State of the Art fully automatically tracked paraboloid dish of 90 sq. m. area has also been developed and demonstrated at Solar Energy Centre. The dish is expected to find good opportunity in industries for processed heat applications as it is installed on a pillar and the space below dish could be utilized for other purposes.

Grid Connected Renewable Power

A capacity addition of 3815 MW have been achieved during 2011 from various renewable energy sources. This includes 2827 MW from wind, 310 MW from small hydro, 498 MW from biomass and 180 MW from solar energy. With this, the total installed capacity from renewable has reached 22,447 MW.

Wind power is the fastest growing renewable energy option today. A total capacity of 15,880 MW of wind power has been installed in the country. The progress during the current year has been very good. A capacity of around 2827 MW has been installed during the year. It is expected that it will touch around 3500 MW upto March,2012. It would be a significant improvement as compared to figures of 1485, 1565 and 2350 MW in 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 respectively. As per the recommendations of Working Group for 12th Plan, a target of 15,000 MW has been proposed for 12th Plan.

The Small hydro power programme in India is now by and large private investment driven. 24 States have announced their policies to invite private sector to set up SHP projects. Since SHP projects have reasonably good economic viability, a number of financial institutions and banks are ready to finance these projects. Accordingly, a major part of capacity addition and exploitation of SHP potential in future is expected from private sector projects. With a capacity addition of 310 MW during 2011, the total installed capacity from SHP projects is 3210 MW. The Ministry is also focusing on developing micro hydel projects and watermills for electrification of remote areas. As per the recommendations of Working Group for 12th Plan, a target of 2,100 MW has been proposed for 12th Plan.

The Biomass Power and Bagasse Co-generation Programme is implemented with the main objective of promoting technologies for optimum use of country’s biomass resources for grid power generation and maximizing power generation from bagasse produced in sugar mills. During 2011 a capacity of 498 MW have been added. The cumulative biomass power/bagasse cogeneration based power capacity has reached 3056 MW. During the year the Ministry has continued the existing scheme with two modification related to (a) Cogeneration projects through Build, Own, Operate, Transfer (BOOT) model in cooperative sugar mill (b) Boiler upgradation of cogeneration projects in cooperative sugar mills. A target of 2600 MW is proposed for the 12th Plan period.

Off - Grid Renewable Energy applications

Energy Access: Renewable power is now being extensively propagated and used to provide energy access to the remote, inaccessible and difficult areas of the country. Lakhs of solar lights, solar water heating systems ,biogas plants have been installed in the country and so far over 9000 remote villages have been illuminated through solar photovoltaic systems and biomass gasifiers

Biomass Gasifier: During the year, the Ministry has promoted multifaceted Biomass Gasifier with a view to utilize locally available surplus biomass resources such as rice husk, corn cab & stalks, arhar stalks, cotton stalks, small wood chips, other agro-residues available in surplus to meet the unmet demand of electricity for villages for lighting, water pumping and micro enterprises. In addition, it is promoting small biomass gasifier and combustion based power plants up to 2 MW capacities connected at the tail end of grid and captive power and thermal applications in rice mills and other industries. The Ministry is focusing on promoting rice husk based gasifier projects for decentralized and distributed power generation to provide unmet demand of electricity in villages.

During 2011, about 70 remote villages/hamlets of Bihar in District East Champaran, West Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi benefited by installation of about 25 rice husk based gasifier systems for distributed power generation based on a sustainable model. In addition, about 120 rice husk gasifier systems are under installation in various villages of Bihar. In addition, about 30 rice mills have installed rice husk gasifier systems retrofitted with existing diesel generating sets saving about 13 lakh liters of diesel annually and installation are underway in about 60 rice mills in different States. During the year, biomass gasifier based tail end grid connected projects of 1.20 MW in Gujarat and 500 kW in Tamil Nadu have been successfully installed.

Biogas : The National Biogas and Manure Management Programme of the Ministry mainly caters to setting up of family type biogas plants for meeting the cooking energy needs in rural areas of the country. During the year, about 45000 family type biogas plants have been installed. With this the cumulative installation of 4.44 million family type biogas plants, about 35.70% of the estimated potential has been realized so far. Apart from setting up family type biogas plants, the Ministry started a new initiative for demonstration of Integrated Technology package in entrepreneurial mode on medium size mixed feed Biogas-Fertilizer Plants (BGFP) for generation, purification/enrichment, bottling and piped distribution of biogas. 21 such projects with aggregate capacity of 37016 cum/day have been sanctioned, out of which 2 BGFP projects have been commissioned. Under Biogas based Distributed/Grid Power Generation Programme (BPGP) so far 158 projects have been commissioned with a total installed capacity of about 2 MW.

Remote Village Electrification: The Ministry is implementing Remote Village Electrification Programme for providing financial support for lighting/basic electrification through various renewable sources, to those remote unelectrified census villages and unelectrified hamlets of electrified census villages where grid extension is found not feasible by the State Governments and hence are not covered under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojna. The programme is implemented in States by the State notified implementing agencies. During the current year, 836 remote villages and hamlets have been completed.

Electrification/illumination of border Villages of Arunachal Pradesh: Implementation of the project for electrification/ illumination of border Villages of Arunachal Pradesh further progressed and out of 1058 villages, 726 villages have been illuminated / electrified. These include, 523 villages, where all households have been provided with solar home lighting systems and balance villages are given electricity from small / micro hydel projects. Further, work in 107 new micro/ small hydro projects is in progress. The project is being monitored by a Steering committee and is targeted to be completed by March, 2012.

Ladakh Renewable Energy Initiative: The Ministry has initiated the implementation of a Rs. 473 crore Special Project for the Ladakh region for large scale use of renewable energy systems in order to provide energy access and minimize use of diesel in the most difficult part of the country and thereby open the doors for coverage of other similar areas. Solar PV lights and solar water heating systems have been intensively promoted in the last one year and 28 villages and 78 institutions in the district stand covered through solar power plants with over 90% house hold coverage. 930 households are using solar water heaters even at sub-zero temperature for their hot water needs. Over 1800 green houses have also been constructed for growing vegetables.

Human Resource Development: In view of rapid growth of renewable energy sector in the country, Ministry has initiated the process to institutionalize the renewable energy education in the country to enable the existing educational institutions to introduce courses related to renewable energy in their regular curriculum. With this initiation, solar street lights, solar hot water systems and small hydro have already been incorporated in the two-year ITI syllabus. Course material for this has been developed and faculty of it is now being trained. In addition, State Renewable Energy Agencies are being supported to organize short-term training programmes for installation, operation and maintenance and repair of renewable energy systems in such places where intensive RE programme are being implemented. Renewable Energy Chairs have been established in IIT Roorkee and IIT Kharagpur.

National Solar Science Fellowship Programme has been launched and process for selection for the National Solar Science Fellows initiated. These efforts, while generating pool of trained manpower at all levels, will also create a system, under which the ensuing requirement of qualified and trained personnel will be met in future. Solar Energy Centre of the Ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs has been providing training to participants from different developing countries.

Renewable Energy and Climate Change:

Renewable energy is central to climate change mitigation efforts. Broad estimates indicate that mitigation from existing renewable energy portfolio is equivalent to around 4-5% of total energy related emissions in the country. Further, the vast market potential and well-developed industrial, financing and business infrastructure, has made India a favorable destination for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, with renewable energy projects having the major share. National renewable energy plans offer ample opportunity for CDM projects and technological innovations.

India had 727 registered CDM projects, which is around 21% of worldwide registered projects. With 520 projects, renewable constitute around 72% Indian CDM registered projects. Within renewable, wind has the maximum number of 225 projects followed by hydro 82 and 6 for solar energy.

PIB
30 December, 2011

Taloja solid waste management project on the anvil

Note: Mumbai should desist from incinerator based waste treatment projects being showcased by technology vendors. The proposed project will process 2,000 tonnes of municipal wastes Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar and others.

Gopal Krishna
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)

Green nod for Taloja waste disposal plan

Ashley D’Mello, TNN | Dec 28, 2011

MUMBAI: The State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority has cleared the Rs 150-crore regional solid waste management project planned at Taloja.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is developing the project on a public-private partnership basis and environment clearance was vital as it will deal with waste material. The project will cater to Mumbai as well as civic bodies in the region.

MMRDA chief Rahul Asthana said they are developing a green belt zone around the project to minimize dust and odour from affecting the surroundings.

While pointing out the need for having a holistic precautionary plan for the upcoming project the Additional commissioner Ashwini Bhide said they have also provided a disaster management plan for the project.

This included provision for taking care of any emergencies which might arise out of accidents and included rescue methods and medical treatments in case of accidents. Care will be taken to make the area safe for people at work,'' she said.

The solid waste management facility which is the largest in the region will have a comprehensive method of taking care of solid waste which includes almost 80 per cent of the garbage collected in the region.The disposal will also mean safe disposal on modern lines.

MMRDA officials said their site will be on lines with those in other countries in South East Asia which have sites which do not emit odour and foul gases. The plant will be a path breaking project for the state and well as the region.

The project will process over 2,000 tonnes of municipal waste per day with a capacity to handle 500 more tones per day if necessary. It will require the setting up of scientific landfill sites and will cater to the four municipal corporations of Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar and others in the region.

Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill, Unconstitutional, unethical, unscientific

PUSHPA M. BHARGAVA

The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill, if passed, will adversely affect agriculture, health of humans and animals, and the environment, causing unparalleled harm.

It is now widely accepted that the existing procedure in India (and even elsewhere) for regulation of genetic engineering technology is faulty and insufficient. It was for this reason that Jairam Ramesh, then Minister for Environment and Forests, put an indefinite moratorium on the open release of genetically engineered Bt brinjal, which was approved by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee of the Ministry on October 14, 2009.

The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill, proposed to be put up to Parliament, claims to take care of the deficiencies in the existing system of approval of genetically modified (GM) crops. As it turns out, the Bill is unconstitutional, unethical, unscientific, self-contradictory, and not people-oriented. It suffers from greater flaws and deficiencies than the present system. If passed, it will seriously and adversely affect agriculture, health of humans and animals, and the environment, causing unparalleled harm.

BRAI will consist of three full-time and two part-time members. It will have three divisions, each headed by a Chief Regulatory Officer. It will be supported by a Risk Assessment Unit, an Enforcement Unit, a Monitoring Office, a Product Ruling Committee, an Environmental Appraisal Panel, Scientific Advisory Panels, an Inter-ministerial Governing Board, a Biotechnology Advisory Council, and State Biotechnology Regulatory Advisory Committees. These bodies would consist mostly of bureaucrats who are likely to have little knowledge of the highly complex issues that arise in today's biotechnology. No civil society participation is proposed anywhere. Even the proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Appellate Tribunal will not accept complaints from civil society, in spite of the fact that the Bill directly or indirectly affects every citizen. It is not even clear which department of the Government of India will service BRAI.

The Convener of the Selection Committee for members of BRAI will be from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), which is a vendor of genetic engineering (the technology that BRAI is supposed to regulate) in the country. The Bill says the members of BRAI will be persons of integrity. There is, however, no requirement of integrity for members of any of the other committees mentioned above!

The Bill is unconstitutional as agriculture is a State subject, and it takes away from the State government the authority to take decisions on GM plant products. In this connection, it is noteworthy that more than 10 States cutting across political affiliations formally told Mr. Ramesh in 2009-2010 that they would not permit Bt brinjal to be released in their territories.

No public consultation

Article 28 of the Bill states the information declared by BRAI “confidential commercial information” will not come under the RTI Act, and there is no way civil society can challenge its decision to declare any information confidential. In spite of the fact that BRAI encompasses activities that would virtually affect every Indian, there is no mention in the Bill of public consultation.

Articles 81, 86 and 87.2, which allow BRAI to override any existing law in the areas covered by BRAI, contradict Article 86, which says “the provisions [of BRAI] shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other law for the time being in force.”

The definition of modern biotechnology in Article 3 (r) is absurd as it excludes a large number (over 25) of areas such as peptide synthesis, immuno-technology, tissue culture, stem cells and nano-biotechnology that are an integral part of today's biotechnology. Not only that, it would make techniques that are used in everyday research in modern biology such as isolation or sequencing of DNA and the PCR technique illegal, unless approved by BRAI in every specific case. So every university in the country teaching these extremely widely used techniques will have to get BRAI permission for teaching them to undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Funnier is the inclusion in Schedule I (which lists organisms and products “which should be regulated by the Authority”) of cloned animals, DNA vaccines, and stem cell-based products. There is no mention of them in the main text of the Bill. Schedule 1 also includes “products of synthetic biology for human or animal use.” I have been in the business of modern biology for six decades and seen the modern biological evolution from very close quarters with more than 20 of my friends having won Nobel prizes but, for the life of me, I cannot make out what is meant by “products of synthetic biology.”

In fact, if one strictly followed item 2(d) of Schedule 1, no organ transplantation would be possible in the country without BRAI permission!

One would also have expected that the Bill, if it was people-oriented, to state the procedure to be adopted before approval of a GM product. The first step should be to determine the need for the product through a socio-economic survey and analysis. If there is need, then one should determine if there are cheaper, better and well-established alternatives such as smart or molecular breeding, organic agriculture, or use of Integrated Pest Management or bio-pesticides in the case of GM products containing a foreign pesticidal gene. If it is concluded that there is no alternative to, say, a GM crop, one would need to state a mechanism for deciding what tests the GM crop would need to undergo, and a statement of who will do the tests to ensure public credibility. There is no provision in the Bill for an independent testing laboratory for GM crops, in which civil society would have confidence.
No mention of mandatory labelling

There is no mention of mandatory labelling of GM food products, and there is no protection provided to, say, farmers whose fields growing, for example products of organic agriculture, get contaminated with a GM product of the neighbouring farm.

Article 62 under “Offences and Penalties” is unprecedented. It implies that anyone making a statement about a GM crop which BRAI decides is false or misleading, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to three months and also with a fine which may extend to Rs. 5 lakh. BRAI will not be obliged to state the basis of its decision which is not challengeable by any member of civil society. The Bill thus assumes that all the wisdom of biotechnology lies with the five members of the Authority, and what thousands of leading scientists say will cut no ice with the members of BRAI.

One may justifiably ask why this Bill. The reasons are clear. Food business is the biggest in the world. Whosoever controls it will control the world. To control food production, one needs to control just seed and agrochemicals production. This is what a handful of multinational seed companies, which are also producers of agrochemicals such as pesticides and weedicides, are attempting to do through patented GM crops. These companies are located in the United States, and liaise closely with the U.S. government.

In fact, one of the biggest quarrels between the U.S. and Europe is that Europe, by and large, does not allow GM crops and requires appropriate labelling of all food products that contain more than 0.9 per cent of GM material. No such labelling is required in the U.S. where, therefore, a person today does not know if he is consuming GM food.

Till a few years ago, there was no significant opposition to GM crops in India. In fact, the mechanism set up by the Government of India, ostensibly to regulate GM products, largely worked as a vendor of GM products, serving the interests of seed and agrochemical MNCs.
But, then, people of India became wiser and better-informed. Consequently, against all odds and expectations of the MNCs, and of the U.S. government and the rulers in India, we had an indefinite moratorium on Bt brinjal, and the opposition to GM crops became a force to reckon with. Some components of the existing regulatory system have also begun to assert themselves. As of today, at least five States (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh) have formally declared that they will not allow field trials and/or open release of any GM crop. So, the present system had to be disabled, and roadblocks to fulfilling the ambition of the U.S. and the seed MNCs removed. What better way to achieve this than by BRAI — so the government thought. But, I believe, the GoI has again underestimated the collective wisdom of the people of India!

(Pushpa M. Bhargava is former Vice-Chairman, National Knowledge Commission.)
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2752711.ece?homepage=true

Note: The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill, 2011 is listed for introduction in the Winter Session of the Parliament. It endangers right to safe food for good. This traces its origins in 2005. A 18 page Draft has been in circulation since 2008 which is available at http://dbtindia.nic.in/Draft%20NBR%20Act_%2028may2008.pdf. Its opening sentence reads: "An Act to establish the National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India and to regulate the research, manufacture, importation and use of products of modern biotechnology."

The public participation in this matter has been only with business interests. Now a
68 page Bill is proposed without any democratic pretense whatsoever. The Bill is available at: http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Biotech/Biotech%20Regulatory%20Auhority%20Bill,%202011.pdf Its opening sentence reads:"a Bill to promote the safe use of modern biotechnology by enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of regulatory procedures and provide for establishment of the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India to regulate the research, transport, import, manufacture and use of organisms and products of modern biotechnology and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto." It was listed in the LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS of November 22, 2011. Vilasrao Deshmukh was supposed to move for leave to introduce the Bill.

Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India(BRAI) will be an autonomous body and statutory agency to regulate the research, transport, import, manufacture and use of organisms and products of modern biotechnology. The Authority will consist of one Chairperson, two full-time members and two part-time members. Each of them will have expertise in life sciences and biotechnology applications in agriculture, health care, environment and general biology. This information was given by the Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Ashwani Kumar in a written reply to a question by E G Sugavanam in Lok Sabha on September 8, 2011.

While the Bill is related to UN's Convention on Biological Diversity and Cartegena Protocol on Bio-Safety and India's The Biological Diversity Act, 2002, proposed BRAI is conflict of interest ridden because it acts both as a regulator and promoter of biotechnology. It APPEARS TO BE EXEMPTED from the provisions of the RTI Act if BRAI decides that certain information submitted by the applicant is “confidential commercial information” as per its Section 28. The is regressive and deserves to be rigorously examined before its entry in the Parliament.

Gopal Krishna
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)

Supreme Court Committeee Orders Sealing of Okhla Biomedical Waste Incinerator

Supreme Court vide its order dated 24.03.2006 passed in IA No. 22 in WP ( C) No. 4677/1985 in the matter of MC Mehta Vs. Union of India & others has appointed a Monitoring Committee with the following members:-Shri K.J. Rao, Former adviser to Election Commission of India, Shri Bhure Lal, Chairman, E.P.C.A. and Major Genenral (Retd) S.P. Jhingon, Kirti Chakra, VSM. The Monitoring Committee functions from India Habitat Centre, 6-A, Lobby Office, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003.

As per a report of the Monitoring Committee dated October 7, 2011, it has ordered sealing of the hazardous biomedical waste incinerator plant after the site visit by K.J. Rao and Maj Gen (Retd) S P Jhingon. The order is yet to be complied with. ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)has written to the Monitoring Committee drawing its attention towards the violation of its order. The letter is given below.

Letter to Supreme Court's Monitoring Committee Against Misuse of Property in Residential Areas

To

Shri K.J. Rao
Member
Supreme Court Monitoring Committee
New Delhi

Subject- Sealing of Commercial & Industrial Establishments in Residential Premises

Sir,

This is to draw your attention towards the biomedical waste incinerator plant and the construction of municipal waste to energy incinerator in the Sukhdev Vihar residential area which is surrounded by university, schools, hospitals, bird sanctuary and several other residential areas of Okhla.

I have learnt from the residents that as per a report dated October 7, 2011, the Monitoring Committee constituted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court had recommended sealing of the hazardous biomedical waste incinerator plant after the site visit by you and Maj Gen (Retd) S P Jhingon.

I submit that so far the recommendations of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee have not been complied with. I also submit that the municipal waste to energy incinerator in the area is also based on the same hazardous incinerator technology that emits persistent organic pollutants like Dioxins and toxic heavy metals like Mercury. Incinerators are tried, tested and failed technology. I wish to know if the Monitoring Committee has made any recommendation with regard to waste to energy incinerator plant as well. If the recommendations are not confidential, is it possible to get its complete text?

I am an environmental health researcher and an applicant in the hazardous wastes case in the Supreme Court. I have been an invitee to Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes, Supreme Court Committee on Waste to Energy and Supreme Court Technical Experts Committee on Hazardous Wastes relating to Ship breaking besides having been an invitee to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on. Science & Technology, Environment & Forests.

I wish to submit research papers and relevant documents to the Monitoring Committee to help prevent public health disaster due to biomedical waste incinerator plant and the construction of municipal waste to energy incinerator plant in the Okhla area.

A delegation of residents and environmental groups would like to meet you to apprise you of the emerging situation due to these commercial and industrial establishments in residential premises.

Thanking You

Yours Faithfully
Gopal Krishna
Convener
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)
New Delhi
Phone: +91-11-2651781
Fax: +91-11-26517814
Mb: 9818089660
Web: toxicswatch.blogspot.com

US sets new standards for mercury, toxic air pollutants

A key US environmental agency has unveiled the country’s first-ever national standards for mercury and other toxic air pollutants from power plants. The sweeping regulations mandated by the Congress in 1990 and delayed by prolonged litigation, lobbying, and legislative battles — will require utilities to cut at least 90 per cent of their emissions of mercury.

The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the new safeguards will prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks a year.

The standards will also help America’s children grow up healthier — preventing 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms and about 6,300 fewer cases of acute bronchitis among children each year.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy /article2737572.ece?homepage=true&ref=wl_home

Japan probe finds nuclear disaster response failed

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's response to the nuclear crisis that followed the March 11 tsunami was confused and riddled with problems, including an erroneous assumption an emergency cooling system was working and a delay in disclosing dangerous radiation leaks, a report revealed Monday.

The disturbing picture of harried and bumbling workers and government officials scrambling to respond to the problems at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was depicted in the report detailing a government investigation.

The 507-page interim report, compiled by interviewing more than 400 people, including utility workers and government officials, found authorities had grossly underestimated tsunami risks, assuming the highest wave would be 6 meters (20 feet). The tsunami hit at more than double those levels.

The report criticized the use of the term "soteigai," meaning "outside our imagination," which it said implied authorities were shirking responsibility for what had happened. It said by labeling the events as beyond what could have been expected, officials had invited public distrust.

"This accident has taught us an important lesson on how we must be ready for soteigai," it said.

The report, set to be finished by mid-2012, found workers at Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that ran Fukushima Dai-ichi, were untrained to handle emergencies like the power shutdown that struck when the tsunami destroyed backup generators — setting off the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

There was no clear manual to follow, and the workers failed to communicate, not only with the government but also among themselves, it said.

Finding alternative ways to bring sorely needed water to the reactors was delayed for hours because of the mishandling of an emergency cooling system, the report said. Workers assumed the system was working, despite several warning signs it had failed and was sending the nuclear core into meltdown.

The report acknowledged that even if the system had kicked in properly, the tsunami damage may have been so great that meltdowns would have happened anyway.

But a better response might have reduced the core damage, radiation leaks and the hydrogen explosions that followed at two reactors and sent plumes of radiation into the air, according to the report.

Sadder still was how the government dallied in relaying information to the public, such as using evasive language to avoid admitting serious meltdowns at the reactors, the report said.

The government also delayed disclosure of radiation data in the area, unnecessarily exposing entire towns to radiation when they could have evacuated, the report found.

The government recommended changes so utilities will respond properly to serious accidents.

It recommended separating the nuclear regulators from the unit that promotes atomic energy, echoing frequent criticism since the disaster.

Japan's nuclear regulators were in the same ministry that promotes the industry, but they are being moved to the environment ministry next year to ensure more independence.

The report did not advocate a move away from nuclear power but recommended adding more knowledgeable experts, including those who would have been able to assess tsunami risks, and laying out an adequate response plan to what it called "a severe accident."

The report acknowledged people were still living in fear of radiation spewed into the air and water, as well as radiation in the food they eat. Thousands have been forced to evacuate and have suffered monetary damage from radiation contamination, it said.

"The nuclear disaster is far from over," the report said. The earthquake and tsunami left 20,000 people dead or missing.

By YURI KAGEYAMA

Indian Olympic Association Against Dow sponsorship of London Games

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has written to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) strongly urging the IOC to reconsider Dow Chemicals sponsorship of the 2012 London Games on December 20.

The letter to the IOC states, "It is IOAs considered opinion that Dow Chemicals should be removed as the sponsors of the Games. Because the very presence of this company is against the spirit of the Olympic ideals Even Britains Shadow minister for Olympics Tessa Jowell, who was in Delhi last week had asked the Games organizers to drop DOW Chemicals as the sponsors."

"IOA urges the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to urgently take this matter up with the organizers of the London Games and also convey our concerns to them and ensure matter is sorted out amicably keeping in view the sentiments of the millions of people."

The letter comes a few days after DOW Chemical agreed to remove its logo from London's Olympic stadium but the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said that it is not satisfied with the move and wants US giant to remove its sponsorship from the 2012 Games.

DOW said it was agreeing to the "vision" of the 2012 Games by waiving its sponsorship rights to place its brand on a controversial fabric wrap for the stadium. Environmental health and human rights groups have condemned London Games links with Dow which is liable for Bhopal gas disaster.

waste-pickers & environmental groups say, waste incinerators anti-worker & anti-health

Indian waste is not suitable for energy generation because of huge inert matter component and compostable matter. Incineration of waste is anti-environment, anti-labour and anti-public health. Ongoing construction work for the hazardous waste to energy plant in Okhla despite a case against it in Delhi High Court is an invitation for public health disaster, said Gopal Krishna, convener, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA). TWA disapproved of waste picker organizations that betray workers cause by floating companies for ewaste trade and for signing MoU with Coca Cola company.

He was speaking at a press conference organised by All India Kachra Shramik Mahasangh (AIKSM), an organisation of waste-pickers that has been active for the past 8 years in Delhi, Jharkhand, Uttrakhand and Uttar Pradesh. AIKSM is organizing its Delhi state conference on 22nd December 2011 at Gandhi Darshan. The objective of the state conference is to reorganise the waste-pickers affiliated with AIKSM in order to evolve a strategy to tackle the ongoing process of corporatisation of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and upcoming waste to energy plants in Delhi as both these initiatives of the Delhi government are severely impacting the livelihood of waste-pickers in the city.

Delhi government has decided to hand over the responsibility of handling solid waste to private companies under public-private partnership (PPP). These companies have been given contract for collection, segregation and disposal of waste in 12 different zones of the city. These companies have also been allotted a concession period of 9 years inclusive of the implementation period of 12 months from the date of signing the contract. Alongside the coporatization of MSW, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has signed a MoU with Jindals Ecopolis for the construction of waste to energy plants in Timarpur and Okhla. The waste to energy plant would use incinerator technology to generate 20 MW of energy from Delhi’s solid waste. The company gets a subsidy of Rs. 2 crore for the production of each MW of electricity. The plant is ready and expected to start its production soon. Similar types of two other plants are under construction in Narela-Bawana and Gazipur through public private participation (PPP). It is estimated that after all these 3 plants would be functional they will require approximately 7300 MT of waste to produce the projected amount of energy leaving only about 1200 MT of waste to share between private contractors and waste-pickers.

The waste-pickers access to waste was stopped when the corporatization of MSW started in Delhi in 2005. Waste-pickers mainly collect and segregate waste and sell the recyclables before it is taken to the landfill sites. Even though waste-pickers faced different types of challenges, such as police threatening, health hazards and social insecurity etc., they were able to access waste to secure their livelihood. The three proposed waste to energy plants will destroy the livelihood of some 3.5 lakh waste pickers, Dharmendra Yadav, General Secretary, All India Kachra Shramik Mahasangh (AIKSM).

The AIKSM’s Delhi state conference will initiate a fresh struggle against these two initiatives, and also commits to develop an alternative decentralized solid waste management in Delhi, which would be sustainable both from the point of view of waste-pickers and environment in the city, said Sadre Alam, a researcher working with unorganized sector workers.

टौक्सिक वाच एलाइंस के कनवेनर गोपाल कृष्ण ने कहा कि हमारे देश में जो कचरा निकलता है उस से बिजली पैदा नहीं की जा सकती क्योकि उस में अधिक मात्रा में बालू और खादय पदार्थ हैं। उनके मुताबिक कूड़े से बिजली बनाने का यह प्लांट केवल सरकार द्वारा मिलने वाली अनुदान को प्राप्त करने के लिए किया जा रहा है, खुद सरकार के अन्दर इस पर स्थिति स्पष्ट नहीं है। 1993 में जो प्लांट तीमार पुर में लगाया गया था वह केवल 7 दिन ही चला था।

गोपाल कृष्ण आल इंडिया कचरा श्रमिक महासंघ द्वारा आयोजित संवाददाता सम्मेल्लन में बोल रहे थे. महासंघ कूड़ा चुनने वाले मजदूरों का एक संगठन है जो पिछले 8 सालों से इस मुद्दे पर काम करता आ रहा है। संगठन का मुख्य काम दिल्ली में होने के साथ साथ झारखण्ड, उतराखंड एवं यू.पी. में भी फैलाने की कोशिश चल रही है।

कूड़ा चुनने वाले मजदूरों की जीविका को नजरअन्दाज करते हुए सरकार ने कूड़े कचरे को भी कम्पनियों के हाथों में सौंपने का फैसला किया है, साथ ही साथ कूड़े को जला कर बिजली बनाने का भी पलांट भी लगा रही है जिस से पर्यावरण का नुकसान होगा।

मजदूरों की जीविका एंव पर्यावरण की रक्षा को ध्यान में रखते हुए संगठन का दिल्ली राज्य सम्मेलन 22 दिसम्बर 2011 को गांधी स्मृति एंव दर्शन समिति (निकट राज घाट) में आयोजित होने जा रहा है। इस सम्मेलन का मकसद कचरा चुनने वाले मजदूरों को लामबन्द करते हुए सरकार का कूड़े से बिजली बनाने की योजना का विरोध करना है, ताकि कचरा चुनने वाले मजदूरों की जीविका बचाई जा सके एंव साथ साथ पर्यावरण का नुकसान होने से भी बचाया जा सके।

सरकारी ऐसा अनुमान के मुताबिक दिल्ली में 8500 मेट्रिक टन कूड़ा हर दिन निकलता है, इसे ठिकाने लगाने की जिम्मेदारी एम सी डी, एन डी एम सी एंव कन्ट्रोनमेन्ट बोर्ड की है। शोध एंव सर्वे से यह बात बार बार सामने आती रही है कि सरकारी कर्मचारी अपना काम ठीक से नहीं करते जिस कारण कूड़ा नालों को जाम करता है एंव बरसात में जल निकासी की समस्या सामने आती है। यह अन्दाजा लगाया गया है कि दिल्ली में लगभग 3.5 लाख कूड़ा चुनने वाले मजदूर हैं जो इन कूड़ों को चुन कर उसकी छटाई करते हैं एंव अपनी जीविका इसी को बेचकर चलाते हैं। अगर वह ऐसा न करें तो यह सभी रीसाईकिल होने वाले कूड़ों को भी गाजीपुर, भलस्वा एंव ओखला लैंडफिल साईट में सरकारी कर्मचारियों के द्वारा डाल दिया जाएगा। कूड़ा चुनने वाले मजदूर ऐसा कर न केवल अपनी जीविका चलाते हैं बल्कि पर्यावरण को भी खराब होने से बचाते हैं, इस दौरान इन्हें तरह तरह की परेशानियों का सामना करना पड़ता है। न केवल स्वास्थ्य की दिक्कत बल्कि पुलिस भी परेशान करती है साथ ही साथ समाज भी इन्हें गन्दी नजरों से देखता है। यह वह मजदूर हैं जिन्हें किसी भी प्रकार की सामाजिक सुरक्षा भी सरकार से प्राप्त नहीं।
दर असल कूड़ा चुनने वाले मजदूरों के सामने परेशानी तब शुरु हुई जब 2005 में इन्हें कूड़ा चुनने से रोका जाने लगा, सरकार ने पी पी पी के तहत यह जिम्मेदारी कम्पनियों को सोंप दी। इन कम्पनियों को दिल्ली के 12 जोनों के कूड़े चुनने, छांटने एंव ठिकाने लगाने की जिम्मेदारी सोंपी गई। 10 साल के इस करार में उन कम्पनियों को 12 महीने की छूट भी दी गई हैै। एम् सी डी ने जिन्दल कम्पनी के साथ तीमार पुर और ओखला में कूड़े से बिजली बनाने का प्लांट लगाने के लिए एक एम ओ यू साईन किया। कूड़े से बिजली बनाने का यह प्लांट जलन पद्धति द्वारा दिल्ली के कूड़े कचरे से 20 मेगा वार्ड बिजली पैदा करेगा।
इस काम के लिए सरकार से इन कम्पनियों को हर एक प्लांट लगाने के लिए 2 करोड़ का अनूदान भी दिया। यह प्लांट तैयार हो चुका है एंव सरकार इसे जल्द शुरु करने की फिराक में है। इसी तरह के 2 और प्लांट नरेला-बवाना एंव गाजीपुर एंव में भी पी पी पी के तहत बनाये जा रहे हैं। अनुमानित है कि जब यह सभी प्लांट काम करने लगेंगे तब इसके लिए 7300 मेट्रिक टन कूड़े की जरुरत होगी एंव कुल 8500 मेट्रिक टन कूड़े में से 1200 मेट्रिक टन ही इन मजदूरों के लिए बच पायेगा। एक शोध के मुताबिक यह भी पता चला है कि सरकार के इस कदम से न केवल इन कूड़ा चुनने वालों की जीविका मारी जाएगी बल्कि इस से जहरीली गैस भी निकलेगी जिससे पर्यावरण और स्वास्थ्य दोनों प्रभावित होंगे, जो कैंसर का कारण बनेगा।

आॅल इंडिया कचरा श्रमिक महासंघ इन दोनों पहलूओं के मद्देनजर 22 दिसम्बर 2011 को 10 बजे दिन से गांधी स्मृति एंव दर्शन समिति में आयाजित राज्य सम्मेलन में आगामी संघर्ष की रुपरेखा तय करेगा।

प्रेस को सम्बोधित करते हुए महासचिव धर्मेन्द्र ने कहा कि आज राजघानी का मजदूर बहुत बुरे वक्त से गुजर हा है, अगर मजदूरों को कूड़ा चुनने से रोका गया तो लाखों मजदूर बेरोजगार हों, संगठन ऐसा होने नहीं देगा।

असंगठित क्षेत्र के मुददे पर काम करने वाले सदरे आलम ने कहा कि आने वाले दिनों में कूड़े को मैनेज करने की वैकल्पिक पद्धति भी तैयार करेने की जरुरत है ताकि मजदूरों की जीविका भी बची रहे एंव पर्यावरण भी दुषित न हो, इसके लिए सामाजिक मुददों पर शोध करने वाले कार्यकर्ताओं को आगे एंव इन मजदूरों को सहयोग देने की जरुरत है।

प्रेस को सम्बोधित करते हुए बाल विकास धारा के अध्यक्ष देवेन्द्र ब्राल ने कहा कि सरकार जान बूझ कर मजदूरों को परेशान करने के लिए कूड़े को निजि कम्पनियों के हाथें में सौंप रही है, इस से शहर के गरीब मजदूर और भी बेहाल हो जायेंगे।
झुग्गी झोपड़ी एकता मंच के अध्यक्ष जवाहर सिंह ने कहा कि यह सभी कूड़ा चुनने वाले मजदूर झुग्गी वासी ही हैं, सरकार अपना फैसला वापस ले अन्यथा मिलकर संघर्ष किया जाएगा।

संगठन के अघ्यक्ष थानेश्वर दयाल ने इन मजदूरों को वह सब हक देने की मांग की जो सरकार असंगठित क्षेत्र के मजदूरों को देने की बात बिल में ला रही है। उन्होंने सभी को सम्मेलन में शामिल होने की अपील की।