toxicswatch-alliance against pollution & corporate crimes

Chemical Trespass

2012-01-26T03:24:00.000-08:00

Twenty-seven years ago, toxic leaks from the Union Carbide plant killed about 300 people over one fateful December night in Bhopal. It's estimated that nearly 25,000 people have died so far due to the impact of what is rated as the world's worst such disaster in the pesticides industry. Have we learnt any lessons about managing chemicals ever since? It seems, none, feels Gopal Krishna who has been crusading against the insidiousness of toxic chemicals.

It is estimated that more than 7 million recognised chemicals are in existence worldwide. Of these, approximately 80,000 are in common use. Despite having suffered the world's worst industrial disaster in the chemical pesticides industry in Bhopal, the fact is, in India there is no inventory of chemicals used. At least not in the public domain. In India, chemicals are governed under the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989 which was amended in 2000. Under this rule, the government recognised 429 chemicals as hazardous and toxic in 1989 and revised the number to 684 in 2000. Assuming there is a national list of hazardous chemicals, are the rest of the chemicals safe for human health and environment?

The laws relating to chemicals do not deal with the issue of movement of chemicals through their life cycles. No such study has been done in India but this does not mean that hazardous chemicals and wastes are not flowing into the veins and arteries of the present generation and those who are still in the womb.

For complete story: http://www.ecoearthcare.com/storyd.asp?sid=11&pageno=1&isection=Eco

Capitalism: A Ghost Story

2012-01-26T03:12:00.000-08:00

Arundhati Roy, Anuradha Ghandy, and 'Romantic Marxism'
by Bernard D'Mello

This is the full-text of the introductory remarks made by the author at the Fourth Anuradha Ghandy Memorial Lecture delivered by Arundhati Roy on 20th January 2012 at St Xavier's College, Mumbai.

I woke up this morning to the chirping sounds of the swallows. Arundhati Roy seems to have brought in those love-birds that come in to Mumbai at this time of the year from the cold environs of the North. The lively spirit of Anuradha Ghandy (Anu, as she was fondly known) is all around us -- that picture of hers reminds me of one of my favourite Bob Dylan songs, "Forever Young". We have here with us Anu's mother -- comrade Kumud Shanbag. Parents abiding by Hinduism usually give their daughters away at the time of marriage in a ritual called kanyadaan. Comrades Kumud and Ganesh Shanbag, rational and progressive, broke with this humiliating tradition; they raised their daughter Anu (Janaki) to decide what she wanted to do with her life and she joined the Revolution (Kranti). One might call what she did kranti-daan, though, I think, daan (donate) is not the right word for it. The Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sanghatan (KAMS) is justifiably proud of Anu (Janaki). Not long ago, when Arundhati Roy was walking with these comrades, they proudly showed her a photograph of Anu that they were carrying -- she's dressed in fatigues, an olive green cap with a star on it, rifle slung over her shoulders, and smiling, as always.

Anu came a long way, from the Hamil Sabha (the general student body) of Elphinstone College in the first half of 1970s to the Byramgadh area in old Bastar in the latter half of 1990s. For her, dalit, adivasi and women's liberation1 were part of the fight for "new democracy" -- indeed, for her they were a prerequisite for any kind of democracy. Just as Anu was shaping this policy of the Party -- the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (People's War) -- in the 1990s, Arundhati Roy created a character called Velutha in The God of Small Things (1997). Velutha came from a dalit, attached-labour household. But despite his origins -- Velutha came from the wretched of the wretched of the Indian earth -- he became an accomplished carpenter and mechanic, indispensible to semi-feudal capital's profit register in the small town of Ayemenem. Rahel and Estha, Ammu's children, established a close bond of friendship with him. Ammu was attracted to him, fell in love with him -- he was a passionate lover, he loved her like no one else could ever have loved her.

Velutha is my hero -- for me, he is the classic Indian proletarian. Despite the exploitation and the oppression, Velutha did what he did with devotion -- he kept the creativity and imagination in him alive. For him, like it is for his creator, ingenuity and work became one. This characterisation tells us something about Arundhati Roy, Velutha's maker. In the conception of Velutha, I saw, very early on, signs of a romanticism closely linked to revolution in Arundhati Roy as a writer. That subversive intent was there from the very beginning. From The God of Small Things to Broken Republic, Arundhati Roy is through-and-through a romantic, anti-capitalist writer. There is a basic structure of feelings in her writings that touches my heart.

I don't know if she will agree with me, but I'd like to believe that Arundhati Roy has embraced 'Romantic Marxism'. I know the ideological censors would be frowning at me; for them, there can never be anything like 'Romantic Marxism'; "comrade Bernard, you cannot mix romanticism with Marxism". I differ and in this I am with E P Thompson. And, with Marx of the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 (1959)2 and his passionate denunciation of capitalism in Capital, Volume-I -- with a language and imagery that makes the reader realize the need for Kranti. Marx did, after all, also hitched romanticism with his exposition of the structure, the social relations and logic of the inner workings of the capitalist system. At its core, 'Romantic Marxism' brings together Marx's thesis of alienation with his theory of value and welds these with the basic structure of feelings that such a consciousness evokes.

Let me now say a few words about the topic of today's lecture -- "Capitalism: A Ghost Story". Capital is not a work of Marx's imagination; so also, and I'm sure, Arundhati has a real story to tell, and it's going to be a passionate denunciation of really existing capitalism. If we were to look at capitalism from a romantic Marxist perspective, we would see, above all, the total domination of exchange value, the "cold calculation of price and profit . . . over the whole social fabric . . . the death of imagination and romance, . . . the purely 'utilitarian' . . . relation of human beings to one another, and to nature".3 What should be reciprocity in human relations -- love for love, intimacy for intimacy, trust for trust, as it was with Ammu and Velutha -- has been replaced, in capitalism, by the exchange of money for commodities: accumulation and possession is all that matters today. Indeed, beauty, now defined by capital, has also been commoditised; nothing remains unsullied by capitalism, its logic, and its basic structure of feelings. Human beings have been turned into wretched beings -- physically, psychologically and spiritually dehumanised.

We, the Anuradha Ghandy Memorial Committee members, are old-fashioned Marxists. We continue to insist that wealth comes from the exploitation of human labour and nature. To quote Marx and, keeping in mind the importance he assigns to ecology, include capital's "sucking" of nature too:4

Capital is dead labour [and out-of-play nature] that vampire-like only lives by sucking living labour [and extant nature], and lives the more, the more labour [and nature] it sucks.

Value then is nothing but congealed labour and defunct nature incarnate in commodities. And, in the contemporary world capitalist system, we witness the real subscription of labour, nature, and even democratically-elected governments to finance. Yes, the bond markets -- the funds and financial institutions that buy government bonds, not the people who elected the governments -- are able to very significantly influence public policy, for it is they who specify the conditions under which they will buy those governments' bonds. Indeed, the main focus of corporations today is financial, and here, with quarterly reporting on a mark-to-market basis, short-term net worth is all that seems to matter. Add to this stock options-based remuneration of those who manage the huge financial portfolios, monetary policy designed for the benefit of high finance, and rising labour productivity alongside stagnant real wages, and the result is "traumatized workers", "indebted consumers", and "manic-depressive savers"5 high on Prozac and Viagra which keep Pfizer's cash register ringing. "Humanity" has become "an appendage of the asset markets", my friend Jan Toporowski writes.6 We are reminded of what Paul Sweezy and Harry Magdoff (then editors of Monthly Review) wrote in the aftermath of the 1987 stock market crash in the US and it seems appropriate to paraphrase their words to apply to the present: "The mess" the world-system is in flows "from capitalism's ruthless pursuit of unlimited wealth by any and all available means, whether or not these have anything to do with satisfying the needs of real human beings."7 Indeed, capitalism -- which has metamorphosed into a life-threatening disease -- has become a threat to humanity and other forms of life. The only remedy "is a truly revolutionary reconstruction of the whole socio-economic system".8

But, the failures of the revolutions of the 20th century stare us in the face. I have taken more time than I had intended to, and lest I become a barrier between the star-speaker and you, I need to quickly wind up. Let me then not mince words -- revolution is about expropriating the expropriators, and "force is the midwife of every old society pregnant with a new one".9 But, and more importantly, revolution is also about "human emancipation". It has to create a socialist sensitivity, a socialist consciousness; so forms of violence -- cruelty and brutality -- which negate the very end of revolution must never be a part of the means. Now, while the "seizure of power" and the strategy to achieve this seem to be the central preoccupation of revolutionaries, we need to remember these words of Marx from The German Ideology (1932; written in 1846):10

Both for the production on a mass scale of . . . communist consciousness, and for the success of the cause itself, the alteration of [human beings] on a mass scale is, necessary, an alteration which can only take place in a practical movement, a revolution; this revolution is necessary, therefore, not only because the ruling class cannot be overthrown in any other way, but also because the class overthrowing it can only in a revolution succeed in ridding itself of all the muck of ages and become fitted to found society anew.

Rightly, Marx was more concerned about the "human emancipation" that must come about in the process of making the revolution, the kind of emancipation that makes of us a new kind of "human" being, a practice necessary to found a society that is egalitarian, cooperative, and democratic.

With this "brief" (ha, ha!) introduction, may I invite Arundhati Roy to take the baton.

Notes

1 Scripting the Change: Selected Writings of Anuradha Ghandy, edited by Anand Teltumbde and Shoma Sen, Daanish Books, Delhi, 2011.

2 One should also mention Marx and Engels' On the Jewish Question (1844) and The German Ideology (1932, writing completed in 1846).

3 See Michael Lowy's "The Romantic and the Marxist Critique of Modern Civilisation", Theory and Society, Vol. 16, No. 6 (November 1987), p 892.

4 Karl Marx, Capital, Volume I (Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1954; a reproduction of the first English edition of 1887, edited by Frederick Engels), chapter 10, "The Working Day", p 233.

5 Riccardo Bellofiore and Joseph Halevi, "Magdoff-Sweezy and Minsky on the Real Subsumption of Labour to Finance", 2010, at cemf.u-bourgogne.fr/z-outils/documents/communications%202009/AHE.pdf.

6 Jan Toporowski, "The Wisdom of Property and the Politics of the Middle Classes", Monthly Review, Vol. 62, Issue 4, September 2010.

7 Paul M. Sweezy and Harry Magdoff, The Irreversible Crisis (New York: Monthly Review Press), 1988, p. 55.

8 Ibid.

9 This is how Marx puts it in chapter 31 on "The Genesis of the Industrial Capitalist", in Capital, Volume I.

10 www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01d.htm.
Bernard D'Mello is deputy editor, Economic & Political Weekly, and a member of the Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights, Mumbai. URL: mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2012/dmello250112.html

DNA investigation on CWG power Scam

2012-01-26T00:27:00.000-08:00

DNA investigation by Sandeep Pai on CWG power Scam involving Reliance, DVC, Power Minister Shinde and There IAS officers

Part 1: Power scam CWG ke naam

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_power-scam-cwg-ke-naam_1637716

Part 2: Power play: Damodar Valley Corporation gave unlawful Rs 4,000 crore contract to Reliance Infrastructure

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_power-play-dvc-bends-for-rinfra_1638073

Part 3: Reliance Makes a cooling tower which is Defective and has been involved in series irregularities

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_dna-investigations-rinfra-s-cooling-tower-not-that-cool-on-safety-aspect_1638905

Part 4: Sinde, and three IAS officers took DVC to cleaners

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_dna-investigations-part-4-four-who-took-dvc-to-cleaners_1639415

Okhla Waste Incinerator Case

2012-01-25T23:46:00.000-08:00

Date: 24.01.2012

Delhi High Court, Suit No: W.P.(C) 9901/2009 PIL

Judges: Hon'ble acting Chief Justice Mr. Sikkri-, and Hon'ble Justice Mr. Rajeev Sahai Endlaw
Petitioner: Sukhdev Vihar Residents Welfare Association thru Counsel Mr.K K Rohtagi, Sr

Advocate: Arvind Nigam, Other presents: Sr Advocate: Mr Amit Chadha, Advocate: Mr.Pawan Bahl and residents of Sukhdev Vihar Pocket A and B,

Respondents: Mr N. Waziri (Standing Counsel), Counsels for Delhi Govt.,MCD, DDA, CPCC, DPCB, Plant Operators,etc

The plant owner/ operator presented a Power Point slides in the court to convince that how advanced is the technology, controls and monitoring equipment. Gave examples of various plants of the developed world which are located within city limits. Court asked to file the CD and what ever claimed in favour of the plant in form of an affidavit within a week. The petitioner to file reply within a week thereafter.
Next date of hearing: 15.02.2012 (to be confirmed)

Source:VIMAL MONGA

Statement of Criticism on Jaipur Literature Festival

2012-01-19T06:27:00.000-08:00

For Endorsements

Statement of Criticism on Jaipur Literature Festival

This year too as in 2011, the organizers and participants of Jaipur Literature Festival have revealed their deplorable callousness towards collapsing ecosystem, rampant human rights violations and corrupt practices of many of its sponsors. The festival is being organized at Diggi Palace, Jaipur during 20th - 24th January 2012. Last year, when a statement of concern was released, Festival Directors had claimed that “No one's brought this to our notice yet. If someone does we shall certainly examine the issue.” In 2012, they cannot say so.

One of Festival’s sponsors, Bank of America has announced that “it would no longer service requests to transfer funds to WikiLeaks, stating that "Bank of America joins in the actions previously announced by MasterCard, PayPal, Visa Europe and others and will not process transactions of any type that we have reason to believe are intended for WikiLeaks” in December 2010. Is it a coincidence that Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Limited is on the Board of Directors of the Bank? Do the authors and poets who are expected to join the festival approve of such behavior? It is sad that reputed publications who have been appreciative of Wikileaks too have chosen to be a co-sponsor alongside questionable entities like Bank of America.

Recalling the UN Declaration on Cultural Diversity that came in to force in March 2007 isolating global agenda setters like USA and Israel recommends “such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image”. While ensuring the free flow of ideas by word and image care should be exercised so that all cultures can express themselves and make themselves known. Freedom of expression, media pluralism, multilingualism, equal access to art and to scientific and technological knowledge, including in digital form, and the possibility for all cultures to have access to the means of expression and dissemination are the guarantees of cultural diversity.;

Supporting a New International Information and Communication Order as envisaged in the UNESCO's MacBride Report of 1980 to counter motivated information flow amidst diminishing geo-political boundaries and shaping of the mental landscapes through internet;

Remembering how US Congress that recommended the passage of the US Information and Educational Exchange Act on January 27, 1948 declared that "truth can be a powerful weapon". Drawing lessons from the amendments to the US Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1972 in July 2010 that banned disseminating within the USA any "information about the United States, its people, and its policies" prepared for dissemination abroad with the aim to engage in a global struggle for minds and wills to bolster its “strategic communications and public diplomacy capacity on all fronts and mediums – especially online” This reveals that US government’s relationship with the non US citizens is not healthy;

Questioning literature festival’s sponsorship by the US government institutions like American Centre that have failed to reveal as to why there are some 702 military installations of world’s super power throughout the world in 132 countries along with 8,000 active and operational nuclear warheads;

Objecting to sponsorship by Coca Cola Company that has dried up groundwater and local wells that has forced residents to rely on water supplies from outside their areas and the immorality of the Company’s water-intensive bottling plants in Plachimada, Kerala and Kala Dera, Rajasthan and some 52 water-intensive bottling plants of the company in India;

Outraged at the festival’s sponsorship by Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third- largest mining company has been deemed guilty of collusion with fascist and racist regimes and faces allegations of human, labour and environmental rights violations around the world and over decades;

Taking note of the fact that DSC Limited, the principal sponsor was awarded 23% higher rates in the matter of scam ridden Commonwealth Games as per the observation of Central Vigilance Commission;

Observing the ongoing co-option of literary figures by powers of all shades so that they can facilitate the maintenance of that power by creating a make belief reality;

Recollecting the complicity of sponsors in promoting status quo which censors the creative freedom of writers, poets and artists;

We contend that a literature festival supported by unethical and immoral business enterprises is an exercise aimed at ‘clinical manipulation’ masquerading as a feel good event akin to be an ‘act of hypnosis’.

We express grave concern at the emotional and intellectual depth to fathom the cognitive ramifications of ‘full spectrum dominance’ ideology on the present and future generations.

We appeal to the writers, poets and artists intending to attend the 5 day festival that commences on 20st January, 2012 to condemn corporate crimes, motivated public opinion engineering and state sponsored acts against humanity and disassociate from events that are sponsored by dubious sources.

Sd-
Gopal Krishna, Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties, Mb: 9818089660, Email:krishna1715@gmail.com

Prakash K Ray, Jawaharlal Nehru University Researchers Association, Mb: 9873313315, E-mail-pkray11@gmail.com
Endorsed by

Falll out of Dioxins Plant in Okhla

2012-01-15T04:36:00.000-08:00

“Too polluted an area to be married into or from”

“Too polluted an area to be married into or from” is the dubious status that young men and women of Haji Colony here have been battling for the past few years now.

Living in a densely-polluted unauthorised settlement that houses more than 5,000 people from the lower income group, the Haji Colony is located next to a large municipal compost plant, a bio-medical waste incinerator and the Timarpur-Okhla waste-to-energy incinerator.

“The three plants ensure the air remains polluted, our drinking water is brownish, smelly and contaminated and there is a overhanging stench of decaying garbage in the area,” says area resident Noor Mohammed.

“Outsiders visiting the area are put off by the location itself — with the colony sharing a boundary with a municipal compost plant. Besides, adjacent to the colony is the bio-medical waste incinerator which discharges waste that has contaminated the drinking water of the area so extensively that we now have to buy water to drink and cook. People are now refusing marriage into or from the area,” says Mr. Mohammed, whose now-married elder daughter once faced the same problem.

“In my daughter's case, people came to see her but could not bear the nauseous stench. They left in a huff even refusing to have a glass of water at our residence. They later called back to say that it was the pollution in the area that made them flee. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case and we have several cases of boys not being able to find a match because of the polluted environment here,” he adds.

Health issues

But it isn't just the young who are facing a problem here. Women complain about breathing problem, skin diseases and the fact that everything at home and outside is always covered with a thick layer of soot.

“You breathe the colony's acrid air, drink water polluted by the bio-medical waste incinerator and municipal compost plant and live next to a massive waste incinerator. Because of all this, health becomes the first casualty. The high-decibel, constant noise from the compost plant has adversely affected our hearing. Most of us have high blood pressure because of living in an area that forces the body to stay under stress constantly. The children suffer regularly from stomach infections, breathing trouble and lowered immunity, and the situation has only worsened in the past two years,” says resident Feroz Jahan.

She adds that the “trial run” of the Timarpur-Okhla waste-to-energy incinerator has brought to the forefront the most ugly face of pollution here.

“We have no idea how we will live in such a contaminated environment and to think that this is the heart of Delhi,” rues Ms. Jahan.

Sughna Begum, also from the same colony, says: “We have met several officials and politicians, but so far there has been no relief. We continue to battle ill-health and live under a cloud of pollution. With the government now planning to start up the waste-to-energy incinerator, we are worried about the long-term effects on our health and living condition. We are most worried for our children, their health and life.”

by Bindu Shajan Perappadan
Photo: V. Sudershan

Rally Against Delhi's Okhla Waste to Energy Incinerator on Jan 15

2012-01-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

Rally Against Okhla Waste to Energy Incinerator on January 15, 2012
Time: 12.00 onwards
Date: January 15, 2012
VENUE: Pocket A Sukhdev Vihar DDA Flats

For Details: Asha Arora: 9711408421, Anant Trivedi: 9868502292

Next date of hearing in the matter of Delhi's Okhla Waste to Energy Incinerator is in Delhi High Court on January 28. This project is coming up in violation of Supreme Court's order. It is presenting a fait accompli to the courts with impunity by starting its operations unmindful of the fact that the matter is sub judice. Earlier, the court had said that the construction of the plant is happening at company's own risk. The company in question is pre-judging the verdict of the court. Government counsels have repeatedly misled the court. The circumstances in which the case was admitted reveals it without an iota of doubt.

M/s Jindal Urban Infrastructure Limited (JUIL), a company of M/s Jindal Saw Group Limited owned by Prithviraj Jindal part of O P Jindal Group is facing bitter opposition from residents, environmental groups and waste pickers and it is facing a case from Sukhdev Vihar Residents Welfare Association in the Delhi High Court.

The plant is situated not only in the proximity of New Friends Colony, Maharani Bagh, Sukhdev Vihar and the business district Nehru Place - but also several prominent institutions, including hospitals like Apollo, Escorts and Holy Family and Okhla Bird Sanctuary. But disregarding these, as also a number of binding guidelines from multiple state agencies and at least one Supreme Court directive, the plant has come up, under the shade of slack regulation, at one-tenth the cost of a world-class waste-to-energy facility, deploying China-made equipment and inadequately provisioning for toxic by-products of incineration. It is strange that the Delhi government is backing the project as a technology solution to the city's two enduring, and worsening, problems - excess of waste and shortage of power. But while contributing to the solution of two problems, the plant kindles a number of new ones, with potentially serious health and environment implications for the residents of Delhi.

Unmindful of such concerns, Jindal Saw MD Indresh Batra, who runs the Jindal group unit responsible for the controversial plant claims, "Our plant uses the latest technology. It is absolutely safe. Such plants exist around the world in the middle of cities. In Paris, close to the Eiffel Tower, there is a plant." Batra and his group - the companies owned by the family of Prithviraj Jindal, Batra's father-in-law and son of the late OP Jindal - won an open tender in 2008 to build and operate the plant for 25 years at a project cost of Rs 240 crore. The polluting potential of a plant using municipal solid waste as fuel is serious. Emissions include suspended particulate matter (SPM), sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), hydrogen chloride (HCl), and dioxins and furans, which are among the most toxic substances known to science.

ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA) has been campaigning against it since 2005 when it was announced a carbon credit project despite being an emitter of green house gases, persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals. TWA is opposed to similar plants in Narela-Bawana and Ghazipur as well.

Gopal Krishna
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)
Mb: 09818089660
E-mail:krishna1715@gmail.com

The Great Gene Robbery

2012-01-14T06:43:00.002-08:00

Claude Alvares, 13 January 2012

In 1982, Dr M.S. Swaminathan withdrew from his position as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SACC) and deputy chairman of the Planning Commission – he was also earlier secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture – and defected to join the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) based at Los Banos in the Philippines as Director-General. The word ‘defected’ is used here on purpose: in no other country of the world would a scientist in such a strategically important position, privy to all the country’s scientific secrets particularly of those related to food, be permitted to leave and overnight become the employee of an institution controlled by two private foundations so closely allied to American capitalism and US foreign policy interests.

IRRI had been set up in 1960 as part of America’s efforts to control and direct rice research in Asia, even though American is hardly a rice eating country. A famous plant-breeder had once said, in regard to rice: ‘He who controls the supply of rice will control the destiny of the entire Asiatic orbit. The most important thing to the majority of the Asia is not capitalism or socialism or any other political ideology but food which means life itself, and in most of Asia, food is rice.’

Earl Butz, a former US Secretary of Agriculture, is notorious for one sentence that he uttered in a course of an otherwise utterly insignificant life: ‘If food can be used as a weapon we would be happy to use it.’

And today, as we near the end of the twentieth century, we have to admit that the research concerning the two major cereals that rule our lives – wheat and rice – is wholly directed and controlled by institutions set up under American imperialism.

In many ways Dr Swaminathan’s appointment to IRRI would have been considered a demotion. While in India, he had lorded it over a scientific establishment that employed thousands of scientists, in the Philippines he would have not more than 200 scientists under him. The principal compensation, however, was the money, income tax free.

Already this international institute, always run by American directors, was facing the collapse of its High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) strategy, as seed after seed fell victim to waves of pest epidemics. Urgently required was a massive expansion of IRRI’s rice germplasm, genes from which were essential for passing on resistance to the HYVs. The largest collection of rice varieties, of rice germplasm, remained in the Indian sub-continent. Swaminathan’s appointment was critical to this quest.

The IRRI is not a premier institute of science. It is a privately-controlled agricultural research centre. Even so, it is difficult to conceive of a man with Swaminathan’s record becoming its director general. Unless of course the person being appointed is known more for his ability to get things done than for his scientific work. Certainly no scientist with an equivalent scientific record would have found an appointment as director of, say, the Max Planck Institute, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), or the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). I ask[ed] knowledgeable people in the Philippines how Swaminathan could have been appointed to the post of director general of IRRI. The most plausible answer was also the funniest.

There were apparently three applicants for the post. The first, a vice-president of the Rockefeller Foundation, insisted on coming to the institute with both his wife and his mistress, if he got the job. The second candidate, from West Germany, was found, upon examination, not to have a degree that he had stitched on to his name. In comparison, Dr M.S. Swaminathan whom an article in the 1979 Yearbook of Science and the Future, published by the Encyclopedia Britannica, put in the company of Paul Kammerer and Cyril Burt, two of the leading scientific frauds of the twentieth century, appeared white as snow.

India is rice country. Rice is a critical component of a complex eco-system, tied to legends, used as symbol, essential witness at religious ceremonies and rituals. Such an immense preoccupation with rice would, which is to be expected, call forth its own brand of competence to grow it; so we find a bewildering number of techniques, some of which even today place Indian rice farmers, some Adivasis, in a class far ahead of international science.

In the Jagannath Temple at Puri in Orissa, I was told, freshly harvested rice is presented to the deity everyday, and various varieties of rice, placed in pots, one on top of the other, with a single flame beneath the lowermost, still cook simultaneously. In Chhattisgarh region there is a rice variety called Bora, which can be ground directly into flour and made into rotis. Other varieties have fascinating names, like the kali-mooch of Gwalior, the moti-chur and the khowa; the latter, as its name signifies, tastes like dried milk. The dhokra-dhokri, with its length of grain over 14 mm is the longest rice in the world and the variety Bhimsen has the largest width; there is variety called udan pakheru – because of its long, featherlike structure.

There may have been as many as 1,20,000 varieties of rice in the country, adapted to different environments, and selected and evolved by farmers for specific human needs. These varieties are a product of nature’s desire for diversity, eagerly husbanded by indigenous and non-formal science.

The Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI), at Cuttack, had been working on the different problems associated with rice culture ever since it had been set up in the late 1950s. Dr R.H. Richharia took over as its director in 1959, and a number of competent scientists had come up with interesting work that sooner or later would converge into a strategy to produce more rice. Already in 1963, C. Gangadharan, a CRRI scientist had, for example, produced a mutant variety that was short-statured and produced high yields. The institute had also been working on Taiwanese and Japanese varieties. The work was slow because it takes time to discover which varieties are stable, and resistant to diseases and pests.

Gangadharan has placed the history of rice research in India into three major periods and the developments are highly suggestive. The first phase, from 1912 to the 1950s, concentrated on pure line selections, and by the end of the period, a total of 445 improved rice varieties, mostly the result of pure line methods of selection, were bred.

But what is interesting for our purpose and which starkly illuminates the major schism that would soon develop between indigenous science and ‘international science’ is the broad list of objectives of this early research. Gangadharan lists nine including earliness, deep water and flood resistance, lodging resistance, drought resistance, non-shedding of grain, dormancy of seed, control of wild rice, disease resistance and higher response to heavy manuring. Since pure line selection is itself based on natural selection occurring over centuries, there was no problem of incompatibility between genes and the environment, and therefore no pest problem.

The second phase was less promising. It involved the initially unsuccessful effort at hybridising the Japonica and Indica varieties. The objective, writes Gangadharan, ‘was to transfer the high yielding ability and response to fertilisers that characterise the Japonicas into local Indica varieties which are adapted to local conditions of culture and to the prevalent diseases and pests. Japan had used chemical fertilisers from the beginning of this century and Japonicas showed a response under Japanese conditions whereas the Indicas had not been cultivated under high fertility conditions.’

Only four successes were reported from this programme. The problem was that the Japonicas were both photo-period and temperature sensitive and additionally the seed had been brought from some of the coldest regions of Japan. When these varieties were planted in the tropical environment, they not only gave different but negative results. The introduction of the Philippines semi-dwarf varieties put an abrupt end to this line of research. Later the CRRI imported seed from the milder, temperate region of Japan. This time the efforts were successful but IRRI’s control over the rice research programme would effectively keep these efforts out of circulation, and science.

Which brings us to the third phase inaugurated by IRRI, and also the subject of this investigation.

IRRI was established on the basis of a note written by a Rockefeller official in 1959. Both the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations put up the money to start the institute, which was established formally in 1960 and began functioning fully in 1962. From start to finish, the CRRI would be no match in an unequal battle all the way. The IRRI officials would literally buy rice scientists from different parts of Asia, and take over most of the outstanding talent simply because of IRRI’s ability to offer them salaries not only in dollars, but out of proportion to what they received in their own countries, and its ability to provide accommodation, and opportunities for educating staff children anywhere in the world.

By 1966, IRRI had come up with its first success. It is important to emphasise that whereas the CRRI had nine objectives governing its research, IRRI had only one. IR8 was a semi-dwarf rice variety, the result of a cross between an Indonesian tall rice plant and a Taiwanese dwarf variety. Distinctive of the plant was its ability to stand heavy fertilisation, and heavier yields, without lodging. (It also inaugurated a vast market for American fertilisers all over Asia). Without water, fertilisers and pesticides, IR8 did not perform extraordinarily better than the older rices. The disadvantage of the latter was solely that they tended to lodge when given extra nutrients, thus leading to losses.

The CRRI had, as mentioned earlier, been working with identical material and in fact had isolated dwarf varieties from Taiwan that were free from susceptibility to viral attacks. When the news arrived that the Indian government was planning, at the insistence of IRRI experts, to import the new IRRI seed in bulk into India, Dr Richharia, CRRI director, objected.

The government seems to have found Dr Richharia’s advice contradictory: earlier, it had been informed by the CRRI that Taichung varieties could provide a breakthrough in rice production; now Richharia was objecting to their import. The contradiction stemmed from the fact that bureaucrats and politicians have little grounding in genetics: they did not seem to understand that seed tested after numerous adaptive trials over many seasons, and then selected and multiplied, is radically different from seed imported in bulk from abroad. The latter, because of its mixed population, will contain seed carrying disease and which might be susceptible to pests. IRRI at that point of time was too keen to get its seeds grown on a large scale before decisions could be reversed, to subscribe to caution of any kind.

It was also the tremendous leverage that the Americans maintained over the Indian science establishment that enabled IRRI to ride roughshod over the protests of Indian scientists. Though the country was allegedly nonaligned in politics, most of its policies in science and economics were largely under the control of Americans. Thus the community development programme originated with Albert Myers. Douglas Emswinger of the Ford Foundation once boasted that he had better access to Pandit Nehru than any of the latter’s cabinet colleagues. Dr Richharia first came to know of his appointment to the director’s post at the CRRI from an American, Prof Claim. Dr. Robert Chandler, director of IRRI, reported directly to Agriculture Minister, C. Subramaniam.

Chandler, in his recent account of the IRRI, An Adventure in Applied Science, has admitted that he had never seen a rice plant when he took over as director of IRRI. Yet, it was at his instigation, and because he had been castigated once by Dr Richharia for bringing rice seed into the country without a quarantine certificate, thus violating the country's laws, that the government decided to retire Dr Richharia, at that time one of the world's leading rice specialists.

Once IR8 and TN1 had become fairly established within India and all rice research oriented solely in the direction of semi-dwarfs using these parents, IRRI would naturally retain the lead, with large doses of political clout and advertising to make up for shortfalls in science. Rice scientists from Asia, if they wished to make a career, would have to support the IRRI research direction.

One additional significant factor that seems to have made an impact on the government at the time was the disastrous harvests of 1965 and 1966. What weighed with the Government of India (and also former President Marcos of the Philippines) in choosing to uncritically deploy IRRI technology, was that the latter, for the first time, offered an almost automatic method of raising food that would place it within the control of the administration, taking it out of the hands of the peasants. If the government concentrated its resources in a few, well-endowed areas, using the HYV package, it could produce a sizeable output of food that would be independent of the whims of the monsoons. Again, the very method of agriculture, based on expensive inputs, required credit, and this assured the government that a good proportion of the grain thus produced would end up in the market, in the hands of government procurement agencies, and could then be used to keep prices stable in the cities.

Two major developments totally ruined the prospect of a promised land overflowing with rice and honey. The first was economic: the oil price hike of 1973 effectively limited a fertiliser-based agricultural strategy. It would make Green Revolution inputs so expensive that they would have to be subsidised by Governments if farmers were not to give up using them forever. The second major problem, also irreversible, arrived in the form of disease and insects. The growing of varieties with a narrow genetic base (all with the same dwarfing gene, dee-gee-wo-gen), upset insect ecology and invented entire generations of pests. Dr Swaminathan has himself made quite a shameless summary of the fate of IRRI varieties, in a recent issue of Mazingira. He writes:

‘It is difficult to develop a variety that has a useful life of more than five to six years in tropical environments unless genes for horizontal (more stable) resistance are identified and incorporated. Year round rice cultivation causes disease and insect organisms to occur in overlapping generations and increases the chance of new races or biotypes developing; thus new pest problems continuously arise. Variety IR8, released in 1966, suffered from serious attacks of bacterial blight (BB) in 1968 and 1969. In 1970 and 1971, outbreaks of rice tungro virus (RTV) destroyed IR8 yields throughout the Philippines. The IR20 variety, released in 1969, had BB resistance and RTV tolerance, and it replaced IR8 in 1971 and 1972. However, outbreaks of brown plant hopper (BPH) and grassy stunt virus (GSV) in 1973 destroyed IR20 in most Philippine provinces. Variety IR26, with BPH resistance, was released in 1973 and became the dominant Philippine variety in 1974 and 1975. In 1976, a new BPH biotype attacked it and IR36 was released; it had a different gene for resistance to the new BPH biotype and replaced IR26 within one year. It is now the dominant variety in the Philippines. Its resistance to BPH has held till recently, but it is now being threatened by ragged stunt and wilted stunt (both new diseases), as well as by another new biotype of BPH (No. 3).

In India, the situation was equally horrifying. All of Dr Richharia's predictions had come true. ‘The introduction of high-yielding varieties,’ noted a task force of eminent rice breeders, ‘has brought about a marked change in the status of insect pests like gall midge, brown planthopper, leaf folder, whore maggot, etc. Most of the HYVs released so far are susceptible to major pests with a crop loss of 30 to 100 per cent... Most of the HYVs are the derivatives of TN1 or IR8 and therefore, have the dwarfing gene known as dee-gee-wo-gen. The narrow genetic base has created alarming uniformity, causing vulnerability to diseases and pests. Most of the released varieties are not suitable for typical uplands and lowlands which together constitute about 75 per cent of the total rice area of the country.’

The IRRI counter-strategy against the pests involved breeding of varieties, with genes for resistance to such pests, taken from wild relatives of the rice plant and its traditional cultivars. All of a sudden it seemed critical that massive efforts be made to make as complete a collection of the older varieties: many of the traditional Indicas were found to be important donors for resistance. Gene incorporation strategy, in other words, required vast germplasm resources, most of which were to be found in India. The recruitment of Dr M.S. Swaminathan would be instrumental in the task of collection.

In India, again, Dr Richharia stood in the way.

After he had been retired from service at Chandler's insistence, Richharia had gone to the Orissa High Court, where for three years, alone, he fought a legal battle that ruined his family, disrupted the education of his children, and brought tremendous strains on his wife's health. The legal battle was successful, for in 1970, the Court ordered his reinstatement as director of the CRRI. He had redeemed his honour.

In the meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh government had appointed Dr Richharia as an agricultural advisor, and the rice man set about his disrupted rice work once again, with his usual zeal. Within the space of six years, he had built up the infrastructure of a new rice research institute at Raipur. Here, this extraordinarily gifted and imaginative rice scientist maintained over 19,000 varieties of rice in situ on a shoestring budget of Rs. 20,000 per annum, with not even a microscope in his office-cum-laboratory, situated in the neighbourhood of cooperative rice mills. His assistants included two agricultural graduates and six village level workers, the latter drawing a salary of Rs.250 per month. Richharia had created, practically out of nothing, one of the most extraordinary living gene banks in the world, and provided ample proof of what Indian scientists are capable of, if they are given proper encouragement.

An attack of leaf blight that devastated the corn crop of the US in 1970, and which had resulted from the extensive planting of hybrids that shared a single source of cytoplasm, and the continuous attacks on IRRI varieties, impelled IRRI to sponsor a Rice Genetic Conservation Workshop in 1977. Swaminathan attended it as an ‘observer’. The report of that workshop begins with the statement: ‘The founders of IRRI showed great foresight when in 1960-61 they planned the establishment of a rice germplasm bank.’ Nonsense. The certified aims and objects for the institute merely talk of a collection of the world's literature on rice. The workshop, being held 17 years after the establishment of IRRI, indicated that the germplasm problem was becoming important only now.

After the workshop, IRRI's covetous gaze fell on Richharia’s 19,000 varieties at the Madhya Pradesh Rice Research Institute (MPRRI). Not only had Richharia now uncovered a fascinating world of traditional rices, some of which produced between 8-9 tonnes per hectare – better than the IRRI varieties – he had also discovered dwarf plants without the susceptible dwarfing gene of the IRRI varieties. His extension work among the farmers would soon begin to pose a direct challenge to IRRI itself.

IRRI staff members journeyed to Raipur and asked for his material. Still moulded in the old scientific tradition, he refused because he had not studied the material himself. He was decidedly against any proposal for ‘exchange’, for this could only mean giving up his uncontaminated varieties for IRRI's susceptible ones.

So the IRRI did the next best thing: it got the MPRRI shut down!

The ICAR floated a scheme for agricultural development in Madhya Pradesh, particularly for rice. The World Bank contributed Rs.4 crores. The condition laid down was: close down the MPRRI, since it would lead to a ‘duplication of work.’ At a special meeting of the MPRRI Board, Madhya Pradesh's chief secretary who was not a trustee was present. He had been earlier connected with the Ford Foundation. A resolution was passed closing down the Institute, and the rice germplasm passed over to the Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), whose vice-chancellor Sukhdev Singh also joined the IRRI board of trustees. Scientists were sent to IRRI for training in germplasm transfer, and Richharia's team was disbanded.

This time too, they locked Dr. Richharia's rooms and took away all his research papers.

On June 4, 1982, Dr M.N. Shrivastava, rice breeder, JNKVV, wrote to P.S. Srinivasan, the IRRI liaison officer, addressed it care of Ford Foundation, New Delhi, enclosing two sets of material as requested by T.T. Chang of IRRI: ‘First set (264 accessions) is from our early duration collection and second set (170 samples) is part of those varieties which were identified to be popular with the farmers of Madhya Pradesh and Dr R.H. Richharia, former director of MPRRI, purified them and recommended replacing originals with these purified versions.’

But with Richharia out of the fray, nature herself now jumped into the ring. It responded with the necessary mutations, and began to lay low the new pest resistant varieties, rendering even the strategy of gene incorporation, of temporary utility. And then, in a fashion that only those with some respect for nature's awesome ways would understand, it delivered the coup de grace.

The distinctive success of the HYVs lay in their being short stemmed, able to stand heavy nitrogen applications without lodging, when compared with the older varieties. The incorporation of more and more genes from traditional cultivars not only passed on resistance characters, but also the tendency to lodge. Ergo, modern varieties began to lose their non-lodging character, the main advantage they had against the older cultivars. Research Highlights for 1983, an IRRI publication, observes:

‘Modern rices produce high grain yields with large amounts of applied nitrogen. However, heavy applications increase lodging, which reduces yields. Additionally, as higher levels of insect pest and disease resistance have been bred into modern semi-dwarf varieties, lodging resistance has tended to decline.’

The green revolution in rice had begun to involute.

What then have been the ‘achievements’ of such corrupt and politically naive science? (One set of all IRRI germplasm has been sent to Fort Collins, the maximum security installation in the US, without the permission of the Indian government). Has such science achieved any of its declared aims? Bharat Dogra summed it up:

‘Starting from just five million hectares in 1970-71, over 18 million hectares or nearly half the area of (rice) has now been brought under the HYVs programme till 1982-83... Therefore, this crop must have received a substantial share of the benefit of the overall increase in irrigation and the increase in the overall consumption of NPK fertilisers. However, compared to the increase in the area under HYVs and the increase in fertilisers and irrigation, the production of rice has increased to a lesser extent. During the period mentioned above (1970-71 to 1982-83), the production of rice has gone up from 42.23 million tonnes to 46.48 million tonnes. Assuming the production of non-HYVs did not experience any increase at all and all the difference in rice production was on HYVs land, we get an increase in production of about 4 million tonnes as a result of extension of HYVs programme to nearly 13 million hectares of land. In other words, an increase of 0.31 tonnes was achieved with HYV per hectare. This is a relatively small accomplishment which could have been easily achieved even without the expensive HYV programme and its infrastructure by making better use of village-based resources.’

A 33-member official working group headed by K.C.S Acharya, additional secretary in the ministry of agriculture, has determined that the growth rate of rice production after the Green Revolution has been less when compared with the pre-Green Revolution period.

Millions of hectares of rice are now routinely devastated by BPH and other pests and no compensation is available to farmers who are induced to take to such ‘modernised’ agriculture. Such pest infestations have been introduced into the Indian environment. The IRRI officials knew what they were doing, and they did it for the cheap objective of wanting to assert IRRI primacy.

The unmonitored, hasty introduction of HYVs of seed has led to genetic erosion of tremendous proportions, as hundreds of priceless traditional varieties have been lost to mankind. It is only in the eighties that the IRRI has begun to acknowledge the true worth of the older varieties. What a curious circle of events!

The IRRI inaugurated the revolution in rice by holding in ridicule the basis of traditional agriculture – the traditional cultivar, itself the result of close trial and error experimentation by farmers over decades – and sought to displace it with its own product, the HYV. However, since the HYV was not closely adapted to any environment, it required extensive support, having attracted pest infestations on a mass scale. Protection could only come from the same traditional cultivars, which at the time of HYV propagation, had been loaded with abuse.

Is there a way out: how can such a state of science exist nearly 40 years after independence? Why does the director of the CRRI continue to remain as a trustee of the IRRI, which he has been since 1979? To continue and deepen the dependence? The IRRI has no future, politically, and also as far as research is concerned. Politically, its future was tied to former President Marcos, and Filipino farmers and scientists had already begun to demand its closure. As far as research is concerned, the IRRI has no new ideas, and is now eagerly visiting China to learn Chinese techniques of growing hybrid rice, the next frontier in rice yield enhancement.

The CRRI has ample talent to match Chinese science. It has still vital access to hundreds of indigenous cultivars (a recent count of rice collection centres indicated that there were about 44,000 varieties, whereas the IRRI has 70,000). What then should be done?

First, the CRRI should be upgraded to international standards, for that is the only sure guarantee of the funds it needs, and which it has been deprived of, ever since Indian politicians decided to back IRRI science. Today, the CRRI germplasm unit does not have even a jeep to operate its collection of rice cultivars.

Second, all further export of rice germplasm to IRRI should be banned, since germplasm is part of our national heritage, and its preservation is enjoined by the Constitution in the chapter on Fundamental Duties. Third, steps should be taken to gradually replace IRRI varieties, and all those having IRRI parents, with productive indigenous varieties in the fields. This is already happening in the Philippines: farmers are exchanging old varieties with each other, disowning IRRI seeds, aptly described as ‘seeds of imperialism’ and ‘seeds of sabotage.’

There seems to have been some awareness at the level of the government that the rice revolution had been grounded, due to environmental and economic factors. The late Prime Minister, Mrs Gandhi, had asked Dr Richharia for a rice production increase plan. After he submitted it, he heard no more about it. After an article by Dom Moraes on Richharia, the M.P. Government hastily set about attempting to find some funds to ask the latter to resume his work. Now that proposal has been scotched by the same forces that once got the MPRRI to close down.

More than 25 years have passed in this costly, wasteful, environmentally unsound, flirtation with the exogene. The sorry and sad record only serves to underline the principle – despite our continuing mesmerisation by western science – that for genuine development of any worthwhile kind, the indigene is still the best gene.

(Courtesy Dr Claude Alvares)

[This article was first published in The Illustrated Weekly of India, March 23, 1986; the issues remain relevant – ed.)

http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=2137

Poor aam admi will be a loser in the year ahead

2012-01-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

World over the condition of the poor continues to worsen. The new year will be no different. In India, scam and scandal ridden regime of the Congress-led UPA coalition has been exemplary in its cruelty towards the poor and the common man.

The Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation in its 84-page report dated December 16, reveals that the United Progressive Alliance government has lost the confidence of the Parliament. It has shown that it is repeatedly disregarding parliamentary recommendations with impunity.

Two contradictory things which happened in the Lok Sabha on December 14, reveal its character. The Companies Bill, 2011 was introduced by Corporate Affairs Minister M Veerappa Moily in the afternoon that makes provision for up to 7.5 per cent profit of companies as corporate funding of political parties and NGOs. Within hours of the introduction of this bill, Manish Tewari, national spokesperson of the ruling party, 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".

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.
Companies Bill promotes shareholder democracy

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.

While the hollowness of concept of Corporate Social Responsibility is well known, the same is being introduced in the Companies Bill.

Clause 135 of the bill that deal with CSR reads, "Every company having net worth of Rs 500 crore or more, or turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more or a net profit of Rs 5 five crore or more during any financial year shall formulate a Corporate Social Responsibility Policy which shall indicate the activities to be undertaken by the company as specified in Schedule VII the company spends, in every financial year, at least two per cent of the average net profits of the company made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy.
A case of outsourcing functions of the government to companies

The activities, included in the CSR policy, 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 per cent of their annual profit is collected as tax to create a fund for undertaking state funding of elections?

A regime that is elected based on state funding of elections can undertake the above welfare activities and act as a genuine parens patriae (guardian of the nation). Citizens rightfully deserve it. The proposal of such CSR activities as acts of charity is an assault on provisions of the Constitution that provides for entitlements for life and environment as a fundamental right.
The bill undercuts the proposal of state funding of elections

In the recently concluded convention of Indian Youth Congress on November 29, Congress President Sonia Gandhi reiterated the need for state financing of elections as a measure against corruption in the electoral process.

Earlier, she had demanded it at the Congress plenary in December 2010. Salman Khurshid, Union minister for law and justice, informed the Lok Sabha on November 28 that 'Group of Ministers constituted by the central government is considering measures that can be taken by the government to tackle corruption which inter alia include the introduction of state funding of elections. The Group of Ministers has discussed certain formulations those could be adopted to address this issue but no final decision has yet been taken' in a written reply to a question.

The Companies Bill, 2011 shows that what Sonia Gandhi told the convention of Indian Youth Congress has not been incorporated in the bill.

The Companies Bill provides for excessive rule making powers to the executive for subordinate legislation. This is not advisable given the poor state of our national governance.
Corporate funding manifests itself in myriad disguises

In such a backdrop, why does Union law ministry pretend forgetfulness while approving the Companies Bill that provides for corporate funding of political parties about Group of Ministers decision asking it "to formulate concrete proposals on Constitutional and statutory amendments which are required for introducing reforms relating to state funding of elections"?

In practice this legislation legitimises corporate funding of political parties. It is explicable as to how former finance minister Yashwant Sinha forgot that he was a member of the GoM, headed by then Union Home Minister L K Advani, to consider recommendations of the Indrajit Gupta Committee on state funding of elections during the Bhartiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government.

The GoM was decided on August 17, 2001 by the Union Cabinet, presided over by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Committee on State Funding of Election was headed by the former Union home minister and veteran Communist Party of India leader Indrajit Gupta, and had submitted its report to the government on January 14, 1999.

The Indrajit Gupta panel had favoured state funding of elections, saying it was justified constitutionally and legally. It had recommended state funding in kind and not in cash.

In such a context, the recommendation for continued corporate funding of Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by BJP is quite bizarre and inexplicable.

Is it not the case that both ruling party and the BJP-led opposition parties preaching one thing and practicing just the contrary? Is it any wonder that Dow Chemicals Company cites the opinion of two senior office bearers of BJP and Congress in their "Q and A with respect of the government of India's request for a curative petition"? in the matter of Bhopal's industrial disaster?.

Dow says, "According to the formal legal opinions of two respected Indian jurists, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Arun Jaitley, Dow cannot be found liable under the laws of India. Corporate funding manifests itself in myriad disguises.
Passage of this bill to erode whatever rights the poor man had

The provision of corporate funding of political parties in the Companies Bill must be looked at in the backdrop of the decision of Supreme Court of USA on January 21, 2010 in the Citizens United case, which was denounced by US President Barack Obama for the sake of record.

The US court considered whether there could be a ban on corporations using their general treasury funds for elections-related expenditure. A majority (5-4) of the court ruled that such a ban was violative of the right to free speech.

Essentially, the US court struck down certain campaign-finance limits as a violation. The impact of this ruling is that corporate entities in the USA are free to use their general treasury funds to incur election-related expenditure, in a departure from past precedents.

It also raised a question that do corporations have free-speech rights, just as individuals do? If this is the path of corporations very soon, indeed 'We The People' will be excluded from even representative government because of Corporate Personhood. It was said in the US papers that it would turn the political class into prostitutes.

In that case the Companies Bill is all set to turn most political parties into brothels wherein made-to-order legislations will have a field day if it is not the case already. Will it be surprising if very soon there will be approval for foreign direct investment to facilitate setting up of legislation manufacturing factories?

With the passage of this bill whatever say poor common man had over democratic decision making will be further eroded. The startling disclosure of the Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation headed by P Karunakaran has indicted government of India for its consistent callous and unpardonable disregard towards the Parliament's intent in the passage of legislations.

The Companies Bill also provides unprecedented power of subordinate legislation through rule making. This will worsen the situation of the poor common man amidst ongoing farmer suicides and alarming decrease in agricultural land.

Gopal Krishna

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-poor-aam-admi-will-be-a-loser-in-the-year-ahead/20120104.htm

Discussion Board: one of the 50 comments on the article

Following are the item and yearwise loot of the Congress Party:

Jeep Purchase 1948 - Rs. 0.8 Crores
BHU Funds 1956 - Rs. 0.5 Crores
Mundhra Scandal 1957 - Rs. 1.2 crores
Teja Loans 1960 - Rs. 22 crores
Kuo Oil Deal 1976 - Rs. 2.2 crores
HDW Commissions 1987 - Rs. 20 crores
Bofors Pay-off 1987 - Rs. 65 crores
ST Kitts Forgery 1989 - Rs. 9.45 crores
Airbus Scandal 1990 - Rs. 2.5 (Per Week) crores
Securities Scam 1992 - Rs. 5000 crores
Indian Bank Rip-off 1992 - Rs. 1300 crores
Sugar Import 1994 - Rs. 650 crores
JMM Bribes 1995 - Rs. 1.2 crores
In a Pickle 1996 - Rs. 0.1 crores
Fodder Scam 1996 Rs. 950 crores
CRB Scams 1997 Rs. 1000 crores
Stock market Scam 2001 Rs. 115000 crores
Stamp Paper Scam 2003 Rs. 30000 crores
Scorpene Submarine Scam 2005 Rs. 18978 crores
Ali Khan Tax Default 2008 Rs. 50000 crores
The Satyam Scam 2008 Rs. 10000 crores
(satyam takeover by congress govt.)
2G Spectrum Scam 2008 Rs. 176000 crores
Rice Exports Scam 2009 Rs. 2500 crores
Orissa Mine Scam 2009 Rs. 7000 crores
Common Wealth Gams Scam 2010 Rs. 40000 crores
Blackmoney in Swiss Bank A/Cs Rs. 7100000 crores
Telecom scam - 2011 - Rs. 2057.64 crores
Total loss through corruption Rs. 91062381.07

Kanyakumari Resolution demands immediate closure of Koodankulam Nuckear Power Project

2012-01-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) The Conference passed the following resolutions at Kanyakumari on Koodankulam Nuckear Power Project:

[1] The central government must scrap the KKNPP that has given rise to serious fears and concerns among the people of Tamil Nadu. As the first step, authorities must remove the Uranium fuel rods from the KKNPP project site immediately.

[2] Although the people are fighting against the KKNPP all over the state without caste and religious considerations, the central government tries to create such fissures among the struggling people and this conference condemns such devious vehemently.

[3] The Conference declares that the central government in acting against the interests of the Tamil people and Tamil Nadu as it has been behaving with indifference in issues such as the Eelam War IV, the killing of Tamil fishermen, Mullaiperiyar dam issue, the three-Tamils capital punishment issue, Katchatheevu problem and so forth.

[4] The Conference demands that the DMK withdraw its support to the Congress-led coalition government since supporting the central government amounts to the betrayal of the Tamil people.

[5] The Conference demands that the Tamil Nadu Congress party that has lost its support of the Tamil people and stands isolated stop its pro-nuclear activities and start working
for the well-being of the people.

[6] The Conference demands that the central government give sufficient power from the Central Pool to Tamil Nadu and grant the requested funds and helps to generate power from non-nuclear sources.

[7] The Conference Demands that both the central government and the state government prevent the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) from spreading untruthful information about nuclear power in the media by utilizing people’s tax money. The Conference demands further that the
central government and the DAE furnish complete accounts of the KKNPP and explain the financial improprieties in the project.

[8] The Conference condemns the anti-people activities of various entities that belittle the valiant struggle to protect life and rights of the Tamil people.

[9] The Conference condemns the efforts to take water to the KKNPP project from the Pechiparai dam that is the life source for the people of Kanyakumari district.

[10] The Central government had publicly assured to the government and people of Tamil Nadu to respect the Tamil Nadu Cabinet Resolution to halt all the works at the KKNPP until the fears and concerns of the people are allayed. However, the central government went back on its assurance when the Prime Minister announced in Russia that the first Koodankulam reactor would be operational “in a couple of weeks”. The Conference condemns this callous and untruthful attitude of the central government.

Letter from Senior Citizens of Koodankulam

2012-01-05T10:30:00.000-08:00

December 28, 2011

The Senior Citizens of Koodankulam Area
Koodankulam
Tirunelveli District
Tamil Nadu
Email: koodankulam@yahoo.com

Mr. Yoshihiko Noda
The Honorable Prime Minister of Japan
Tokyo
Japan

Your Excellency:
Greetings! We, the senior citizens of the Koodankulam area in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, India, would like to appeal to you not to revive the civil nuclear cooperation negotiations with our country.

We have witnessed how your country has suffered from both nuclear weapons and nuclear power. This "Hiroshima to Fukushima" devastation has taken a heavy toll on your country although you are scientifically more capable, technologically superior, and financially better-off than most countries in the world. Our country, India, is not in a position to face a Hiroshima or to suffer a Fukushima.

As the one and only country in the world that has suffered radiation from nuclear bombs and nuclear power plants, Japan must take a lead in saving humanity from the nuclear menace and not try to make money out of the deadly nuclear business. Your government has just found out that it will take some 40 years and $14.6 billion to decommission the Fukushima nuclear power plants. Our country that is fighting the poverty and misery of hundreds of millions of people cannot just afford this criminal waste of time, energies and resources.

We have great regards for your country and we respect your people who are very duty-conscious, hard working and sincere. We learn that about 800 Japanese companies are operating in India; the Japanese foreign direct investments have reached the $3.62 billion mark in 2010-2011; and the India-Japan bilateral trade has had an increase of 24 per cent thanks to the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with your country.
While we value our country's socioeconomic-political relations with your country, we definitely do not appreciate any civil nuclear cooperation with Japan or anyone else for that matter. While you yourself are struggling to contain the damages of the Fukushima disaster, you have no moral legitimacy to sell this dangerous technology to other countries. Hence we request you not to revive the civil nuclear cooperation negotiations with India.

With best regards and all

Subject: [NoNuclear] PMANE Expert Team's Letter to CM
From: "S. P. Udayakumar" Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:48:51
To: Nonuclear List and others
December 30, 2011

The Expert Team
The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy
Idinthakarai 627 104
Tirunelveli District
koodankulam@yahoo.com
98656-83735

The Honorable Chief Minister
Government of Tamil Nadu
Chennai 600 009

Your Excellency:

Greetings! We, the Expert Team of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) has met today at Kanyakurmari and confirms the worst fears of the people that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) has compromised on safety and failed to perform statutory due diligence. Citing the responses on the matter of siting and the issue of fresh water supply – both critical components in determining safety of the plant – we confirm that NPCIL has compromised on both these aspects.

May we bring your kind attention to the following issues please:

1. The Koodankulam site is not only prone to small-volume volcanic eruptions, but also to mega-tsunamis with heights exceeding100 feet, arising out of the presence of two large “slumps” in the seabed of Gulf of Mannar less than 100 km from the plant. A 1982 study in a noted journal documents the presence of two slumps -- the East Comorin slump and the Colombo slump -- in the vicinity of the Koodankulam site. The second report by the Central Govt Expert Group has accepted the presence of the slumps and the possibility of a Near Field Tsunami occurring out of a landslide. This is in opposition to their earlier position and also to the position of AERB that Near field Tsunamis are not possible in India. However, their contention is on the height of the Tsunami waves. While welcoming their change in accepting the possibility of Near Field Tsunami, the PMANE Expert Team wishes to state that after the 1982 study, a tsunami did occur in December 2006 and it may have changed the structures of the Slumps. Hence merely answering the question from the 1982 text is not sufficient.

2. PMANE’s Expert Team is alarmed that NPCIL has allowed the siting of the plant in an area characterised by sub-volcanic intrusions – an indication of volcanism in the vicinity of the plant. The presence of sub-volcanic intrusions of the kind found in the KKNPP site is precisely the reason why the United States Government abandoned the Yucca Mountain site as a possible waste storage site owing to concerns about the structural integrity. In addition to this, small volume volcanic eruptions have occurred in the KKNPP site’s vicinity from the year 1998.

3. Studies by ONGC, the Geological Survey of India and numerous other terrestrial and marine geologists confirm the presence of basaltic intrusions into the crust and the Gulf of Mannar seabed. Their findings tell us that the Gulf of Mannar sea bed has been thinned because of this. Its thickness is a mere 1,000 to 5,000 metres instead of average 40,000 metres for continental crust.

4. Scientists from various national institutes have published as late as 2010 that the crustal thickness of Koodankulam site is much thinner than the Gulf of Mannar Crust because of similar sub-volcanic intrusions. Ground Magnetic Surveys conducted by them have suggested that the Crustal thickness is a mere 150 to 200 metres at Koodankulam site.

5. The entire Koodankulam region is known for its lime stone formations. Lime stone formations are known to the formation of Sink holes and underground caves. Events that occurred on November 26, 2011 at Pannaiyarkulam, in 2008 at Radhapuram (both located 10 kms from the KKNPP site), and in 1998 at Maruthankulam (25kms from the KKNPP site) have suggested that this is a “KARST” Region. AERB’s safety laws clearly state that if a Karst region is suspected a detailed study has to be conducted. Such a study has not been attempted by the NPCIL.

6. During the 2004 tsunami the withdrawal of the sea was around 4-5 Kms from the shore. Every year after this tsunami, the some places of the coast of Tamil Nadu have faced the issue of sea water withdrawal at least 3 times a year. Tsunami hazard manual released by the USNRC in March 2009 states that if sea water withdrawal is an issue at the site then the chances of the reactor going in for a dry intake should be studied thoroughly. Dry intake can cause damage to the turbines and reactors. Each minute a reactor needs 5,000 cubic-metres of sea water. Hence a detailed volcanic hazard study, tsunami hazard study and a study about the “Karst” Terrain is a must.

7. Another crucial failure of the NPCIL is the fact that the plant has been assured supply of freshwater for merely 36 hours and 25 minutes. The dependence on a single source, namely, the desalination plants, further reduces the reliability of this water source because desalination plants rely on the sea and electricity. Both can be disrupted by disturbances in electricity supply and cyclones and extreme weather events in the sea along with Jelly fish intrusions. In such a situation, reactors will have to be closed down immediately and they may have just enough water for maintaining the safety systems for only 10 days. The reserve of potable water for the KKNPP Township is sufficient only for 2 days. The seawater intake pipeline of the Minjur desalination plant in Thiruvallur district was uprooted during the Cyclone Nisha in 2008. Repairing the pipeline required engineers from the Netherlands and it took more than 45 days to mend the pipeline.

8. Department of Atomic energy (DAE) funded study by Dr. Manjula Datta has found that the morbidity burden in the proximity villages of Kalpakkam is 400% higher than in distant villages. The diseases include Cancer, mental retardation, thyroid problems, infertility, lumps, stroke, cataract, TB, ulcer and diabetes. Another study conducted by Dr. V. Pugazhendhi et. al. showed that auto immune thyroid disease among women living in upto 40 kms from the Kalpakkam site was significantly higher than those living 500 kms away. In another study conducted by the same doctor in 2003 among the Kalpakkam employees and family members had shown that the death rate due to Multiple Myloma (a bone marrow cancer) is statistically significant. Studies based on data supplied by the NPCIL shows that the prevalence of cancer among workers and wives of the BARC and the TAPS is significantly higher than that found in MAPS. The first 2 reactors became critical during the 1960’s and the 1970’s whereas the MAPS came critical during 1984-85. Yet another study shows significant deviation in sex-ratio of children born to employees of the BARC and the TAPS which is indicative of genetic mutations.

9. The United States and Japan have compensatory laws for employees as well as people living around the plants (such as energy employees’ occupational illness compensation program act) even when the reactors function normally without any leaks or accidents. This clearly shows that Low level Radiation from the reactors is a health hazard.

10. The airports in European Union have banned the usage of X-rays due to the hazards of low level radiation and there is no safe dose in radiation.

11. The decommissioning cost of the KKNPP reactors must be taken into account and that cost is at least a few times higher than the commissioning cost. In Fukushima it has been estimated that it will cost 75,000 crores and 30 years to decommission the failed nuclear plants. When we take this into account, all the nuclear plants become unviable and un-economical.

12. The issue of spent-fuel disposal is an unsolved issue both in terms of technology and economics and spent-fuel will remain highly radioactive for thousands of years.

13. Only enhancing energy efficiency and developing alternatives will give a sustainable energy solution. Effective energy efficiency measures alone can free up enough electricity to meet all our current needs.

Given this situation, we would like to request Your Excellency to bring up the above issues with the Central Government and the Department of Atomic Energy and persist with your concern for the wellbeing of the people of Tamil Nadu. We would like to request you to accelerate electricity generation from renewable energy sources such as the solar, wind and bio-mass which are available in plenty in Tamil Nadu. We would also like to request you to implement appropriate policies and action for grid connected renewable energy generation and distribution. Tamil Nadu has got great potential for solar energy (25-30 MW per sq. Km.) as we have 300 cloud-free days in a year. We can surely establish Tamil Nadu as a pioneer in renewable energy in India and such a fete can coincide nicely with the “International Year of Sustainable Energy for All.”

We would very much like to request Your Excellency to grant us an opportunity to meet with you and explain our reservations to the implementation of the KKNPP project in detail.

Cordially,
S/d.

1. Mr. M. G. Devasahayam, I.A.S., Convener of PMANE Expert Team

2. Dr. R. S. Lal Mohan,

3. Dr. V.T.Padmanabhan

4. Dr. R. Ramesh

5. Dr. V. Pugazhendi

6. Mr. Soumya Dutta

7. Adv. T. Lajapathi Rai

8. Prof. P. Sivakumar

9. Mr. G. Sundarrajan, Coordinator of PMANE Expert Team

UN Mercury Treaty Should Include Lessons Learned from Minamata Disaster

2012-01-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

ToxicsWatch Alliance supports the demand of groups for inclusion in the Article 14 Contaminated Sites in the proposed Minamata or Mercury Convention.

"Lessons Learned from Minamata" consist of the following critical transgressions arising from the mishandling of the Minamata tragedy:
(1) unethical and illegal acts committed by the Chisso Company; (2) inaction, insincerity, deception and violations of laws including the Food Sanitation Law by the Japanese government; (3) collusion between and among the Chisso Company, academia and the government; (4) distortion of scientific reports / evidence by scholars beholden to the government and Chisso Company ; and (5) disregard of humanright, and health, environment and safety.

Prime Minister & CCEA Favour Flawed Environment Impact Assessment Regime Amidst Stark Conflict of Interest

2012-01-04T05:48:00.000-08:00

Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report is mandatory for industrial and infrastructure projects. Conflict of interest ridden NGO Quality Council of India (QCI)/National Accreditation Board of Education and Training (NABET) and EIA consultants accredited by it is also mandatory for it splits the facade of environmental governance wide open. The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry, is the nodal ministry for QCI, not the Environment Ministry.

Accreditation Committee Members and NABET Secretariat for EIA Consultant Organisations Accreditation Scheme

ACCREDITATION COMMITTEE
Dr. Prodipto Ghosh
Prof. C. K. Varshney
Dr. K. R. Ranganathan
Mr. K. P. Nyati
Mr. Chandra Bhushan
Prof. B. B. Dhar
Dr. B. Sengupta
Dr. S. Devotta

NABET Secretariat
Mr. Vipin Sahni, Director
Mr. A. K. Ghose, Principal Advisor
Mr. Abhay Sharma, Executive

This state of affairs appears to be engineered by the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs and the Prime Minister.

The industrial and infrastructure projects that need to have EIA reports are listed in the 43 page EIA notification, 2006 under sub-rule (3) of Rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for imposing certain restrictions and prohibitions on new projects or activities, or on the expansion or modernization of existing projects or activities based on their potential environmental impacts.

Under the notification, an application seeking prior environmental clearance in all cases is made in the prescribed Form 1, Supplementary Form 1A and Appendix II under EIA Notification after the identification of prospective site(s) for the project and/or activities to which the application relates, before commencing any construction activity, or preparation of land, at the site by the applicant. The applicant is required to furnish, along with the application, a copy of the pre-feasibility project report except that, in case of construction projects or activities (item 8 of the Schedule) in addition to Form 1 and the Supplementary Form 1A, a copy of the conceptual plan shall be provided, instead of the pre-feasibility report.

The environmental clearance process for new projects comprises of a maximum of four stages in sequential order:
• Stage (1) Screening (Only for Category ‘B’ projects and activities)
• Stage (2) Scoping
• Stage (3) Public Consultation
• Stage (4) Appraisal

Stage (1) of "Screening" refers the scrutiny of an application seeking prior environmental clearance.

Stage (2)of "Scoping" refers to the process by which the Expert Appraisal Committee
determine detailed and comprehensive Terms Of Reference (TOR) addressing all relevant environmental concerns for the preparation of an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Report in respect of the project or activity for which prior environmental clearance is sought. This has to be conveyed to the applicant within sixty days of the receipt of Form 1. If the Terms of Reference are not finalized and conveyed to the applicant within sixty days of the receipt of Form 1, the Terms of Reference suggested by the applicant is deemed as the final Terms of Reference approved for the EIA studies. The approved Terms of Reference is displayed on the website of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the concerned State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority. Applications for prior environmental clearance can be rejected by the regulatory authority concerned on the recommendation of the EAC at this stage itself. In case of such rejection, the decision together with reasons for the same has to be communicated to the applicant in writing within sixty days of the receipt of the application.

Stage (3) of Public Consultation refers to the process by which the concerns of local affected persons and others who have plausible stake in the environmental impacts of the project or activity are ascertained with a view to taking into account all the material concerns in the project or activity design as appropriate. The Public Consultation shall ordinarily have two components comprising of a public hearing at the site or in its close proximity- district wise for ascertaining concerns of local affected persons and to obtain responses in writing from other concerned persons having a plausible stake in the environmental aspects of the project or activity. The public hearing at, or in close proximity to, the site(s) in all cases is supposed to be conducted by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) or the Union territory Pollution Control Committee (UTPCC) concerned in the specified manner and forward the proceedings to the regulatory authority concerned within 45(days of a request to the effect from the applicant.

After completion of the public consultation, the applicant is supposed to address all the material environmental concerns expressed during this process, and make appropriate changes in the draft EIA and EMP. The final EIA report, so prepared, is to be submitted by the applicant to the concerned regulatory authority for appraisal. The applicant may alternatively submit a supplementary report to draft EIA and EMP addressing all the concerns expressed during the public consultation.

Stage (4) of Appraisal means the detailed scrutiny by the Expert Appraisal Committee of the application and other documents like the Final EIA report, outcome of the public consultations including public hearing proceedings, submitted by the applicant to the regulatory authority concerned for grant of environmental clearance. On conclusion of this proceeding, the Expert Appraisal Committee or State Level Expert Appraisal Committee concerned is supposed to make categorical recommendations to the regulatory authority concerned either for grant of prior environmental clearance on stipulated terms and conditions, or rejection of the application for prior environmental clearance, together with reasons for the same.

The regulatory authority considers the recommendations of the EAC or SEAC concerned and conveys its decision to the applicant within 45 days of the receipt of the recommendations of the Expert Appraisal Committee or State Level Expert Appraisal Committee concerned or in other words within 105 days of the receipt of the final Environment Impact Assessment Report, and where Environment Impact Assessment is not required, within 105 days of the receipt of the complete application with requisite documents, except as provided below.

In the event that the decision of the regulatory authority is not communicated to the applicant within the period specified in sub-paragraphs (i) or (ii) above, as applicable, the applicant may proceed as if the environment clearance sought for has been granted or denied by the regulatory authority in terms of the final recommendations of the Expert Appraisal Committee or State Level Expert Appraisal Committee concerned.

On expiry of the period specified for decision by the regulatory authority under paragraph, the decision of the regulatory authority, and the final recommendations of the Expert Appraisal Committee or State Level Expert Appraisal Committee concerned is supposed to be public documents.

Deliberate concealment and/or submission of false or misleading information or data which is material to screening or scoping or appraisal or decision on the application makes the application liable for rejection, and cancellation of prior environmental clearance granted on that basis. Rejection of an application or cancellation of a prior environmental clearance already granted, on such ground, is decided by the regulatory authority, after giving a personal hearing to the applicant, and following the principles of natural justice.

The “Validity of Environmental Clearance” is meant the period from which a prior environmental clearance is granted by the regulatory authority, or may be presumed by the applicant to have been granted to the start of production operations by the project or activity to which the application for prior environmental clearance refers. The prior environmental clearance granted for a project or activity shall be valid for a period of 10 years in the case of River Valley projects, project life as estimated by Expert Appraisal Committee or State Level Expert Appraisal Committee subject to a maximum of 30 for mining projects and 5 years in the case of all other projects and activities.

In the case of Area Development projects and Townships, the validity period is limited only to such activities as may be the responsibility of the applicant as a developer. This period of validity may be extended by the regulatory authority concerned by a maximum period of 5 years provided an application is made to the regulatory authority by the applicant within the validity period. In this regard the regulatory authority may also consult the Expert Appraisal Committee or State Level Expert Appraisal Committee as the case may be.

Post Environmental Clearance Monitoring is mandatory for the project management to submit half-yearly compliance reports in respect of the stipulated prior environmental clearance terms and conditions in hard and soft copies to the regulatory authority concerned, on 1st June and 1st December of each calendar year.

All such compliance reports submitted by the project management are public documents. Copies of the same is to be given to any person on application to the concerned regulatory authority. The latest such compliance report is also be displayed on the web site of the concerned regulatory authority.

A prior environmental clearance granted for a specific project or activity to an applicant may be transferred during its validity to another legal person entitled to undertake the project or activity on application by the transferor, or by the transferee with a written “no objection” by the transferor, to, and by the regulatory authority concerned, on the same terms and conditions under which the prior environmental clearance was initially granted, and for the same validity period. No reference to the Expert Appraisal Committee or State Level Expert Appraisal Committee concerned is necessary in such cases.

Industrial projects located in any of the following notified ecologically fragile/sensitive areas would require environmental clearance irrespective of the type of project:

• Religious and historic places
• Archaeological monuments
• Scenic areas
• Hill resorts
• Beach resorts
• Coastal areas rich in mangroves, corals, breeding grounds of specific species
• Estuaries
• Gulf areas
• Biosphere reserves
• National parks and sanctuaries
• National lakes and swamps
• Seismic zones
• Tribal settlements
• Areas of scientific and geological interest
• Defence installations, specially those of security importance and sensitive to pollution
• Border areas (international)
• Airports

EIA has now been made mandatory under the Environmental (Protection Act, 1986 for 29 categories of developmental activities involving investments of Rs. 50 crores and above.
Environmental Appraisal Committees have been constituted for the following sectors:
Mining Projects
Industrial Projects
Thermal Power Projects
River Valley, Multipurpose, Irrigation and Hydro Electric Projects
Infrastructure Development and Miscellaneous Projects
Nuclear Power Projects

But what is sad and what is clear from the above facts that the EIA report is prepared by the project proponent, the applicant. The consultants who prepare it are hired by the project proponent, this turns the existing framework of "EIA" as a shameless exercise of self-assessment by the companies in questions wherein the Consultants are not liable for their acts of omission and commission. What environmental groups has been demanding is a cumulative EIA which is not conflict of interest ridden. Jairam Ramesh in his role as Union Minister for Environment and Forests had admitted it at the CII-Green Business Centre. He had promised that the Ministry will seeks a third party EIA for power, coal and multi-sector projects. Clearly, the it is part of Ministry's wisdom that the present system is deeply flawed.

QCI, essentially an industry body, in a 2007 document 'Scheme for Accreditation of EIA Consultant Organizations' wrote, "The present situation is far from satisfactory since the EIAs being developed, more often than not, do not measure up to the required quality". Subsequent to this the Environment Ministry issued an Office Memorandum dated March 18, 2010 making the accreditation of the EIA-EMP consultants by the QCI compulsory, stating: "No final EIA/EMP from any Project Proponent prepared by the non-accredited Consultant will be entertained after 1 July, 2010." Its website revealed, "QCI was set up in 1997 as an autonomous body by the Government of India jointly with Indian industry to establish and operate the National Accreditation Structure for conformity assessment bodies. Indian industry is represented in QCI by three premier industry associations, ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI.”

With effect from October 1, 2011, only those Consultants who are accredited as the EIA Consultants with Quality Council of India (QCI)/National Accreditation Board of Education and Training (NABET)can appear before the central Experts Appraisal Committee and State Level Experts Appraisal Committee (EAC) constituted by the Central Government and State Government respectively. The accreditation is valid for specified period which cannot exceed more than three years. The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Consultants and EIA Coordinators can engage only for the approved sectors by the QCI. A to this effect was issued by Dr P B Rastogi, Director, Impact Assessment Division, Union Ministry of Environment & Forests on September 30, 2011.(http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/OM_IA_NABET.pdf) 100 such consultants have been given and the application of 101 consultants is under consideration.

List ‘A’ : Accredited/ Conditionally Accredited Consultants - 100
S.N. Name State/ City
1. ABC Environ Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Chennai
2. Anacon Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. Nagpur
3. Anand Consultants Ahmedabad
4. Apex Mintech Consultants Udaipur
5. Asian Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Delhi
6. B. S. Envi-Tech Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad
7. Bhagavathi Ana Lab Hyderabad
8. Bhagwati Enviro Care Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad
9. Centre for Envotech and Management Consultancy Private Limited Bhubaneshwar
10. Cholamandalam MS Risk Services Chennai
11. Consulting Engineering Services (India) Private Limited New Delhi
12. Consulting Engineers Group Ltd. Jaipur
13. Creative Engineers & Consultants Chennai
14. Creative Enviro Services Bhopal
15. Desein Private Limited New Delhi
16. Det Norske Veritas AS Hyderabad
17. Detox Corporation Pvt. Ltd. Surat
18. Development Consultants Private Limited Kolkata
19. Earthcare Labs Private Limited Nagpur
20. Eco Chem Sales and Service Surat
21. Eco Laboratories and Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Mohali
22. Eco Services India Private Limited Chennai
23. Ecomen Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. Lucknow
24. EMTRC Consultants Private Limited Delhi
25. Engineers India Limited Gurgaon
26. Enkay Group Jaipur
27. ENV Developmental Assistance Systems (I) Pvt. Ltd. Lucknow
28. Enviro Analyst & Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai
29. Enviro Techno Consult Nagpur
30. Envirocare Consultants (I) Pvt. Ltd. Baroda
31. Environ India Kolkata
32. Environment Protection and Training Research Institute Hyderabad
33. Environmental Engineers & Consultants Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
34. Environmental, Mine Plan & Resource Evaluation Solutions Chennai
35. Envirotech East Pvt. Ltd. Kolkata
36. En-vision Enviro Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Surat
37. ENVOMIN Consultant (Pvt.) Ltd. Bhubaneshwar
38. EQMS India Pvt. Ltd. Delhi
39. ERM India Private Limited Gurgaon
40. Geomin Consultants Pvt. Limited Bhubaneshwar
41. Ghosh, Bose and Associates Pvt. Ltd. Kolkata
42. GIS Enabled Environment & Neo-Graphic Centre Ghaziabad
43. Global Enviro Labs Hyderabad
44. Global Experts (A Techno-Enviro Consultant) Bhubaneshwar
45. Grass Roots Research & Creation India (P) Ltd. New Delhi
46. Green Chem Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Chennai
47. Holtec Consulting Private Limited Gurgaon
48. Hubert Enviro Care Systems (P) Ltd. Chennai
49. Idma Laboratories Limited Panchkula,Haryana
50. In Situ Enviro Care Bhopal
51. Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
52. JM Environet Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon
53. Kadam Environmental Consultants Vadodra
54. Kalyani Laboratories Bhubaneshwar
55. Kirloskar Consultants Limited Pune
56. L & T – RAMBOLL Consulting Engineers Limited Andhra Pradesh
57. LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
58. Louis Berger Consulting Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon
59. M. N. Dastur and Company (Pvt.) Ltd. Kolkata
60. M/s Padmaja Aerobiologicals Pvt. Ltd. Navi Mumbai
61. M/s Visiontek Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. Bhubaneshwar
62. Mantec Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Delhi
63. Mecon Limited Ranchi
64. Mineral Engineering Services Karnataka
65. Mineviron Systems Pvt. Ltd., Nagpur
66. MITCON Consultancy and Engineering Services Ltd. Pune
67. Mott Mac Donald Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad
68. National Environmental Engineering Research Institute Nagpur
69. Perfact Enviro Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Delhi
70. Pioneer Enviro Laboratories and Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad
71. Pollution Control Research Institute Haridwar
72. Pragathi Labs & Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Secunderabad
73. Projects & Development India Limited Noida
74. Pure Enviro Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Chennai
75. Ramans Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad
76. Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited Hyderabad
77. RITES Limited Gurgaon
78. RS Envirolink Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon
79. S. S. Environics (India) Pvt. Ltd. Bhubaneshwar
80. Saitech Research & Development Organization Kolhapur
81. San Envirotech Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad
82. SECON Private limited Bangalore
83. Senes Consultants India Pvt. Ltd. Noida
84. SGS India Pvt. Ltd Gurgaon
85. Singareni Collieries Company Limited Khammam, Andhra Pradesh
86. SMEC India Private Limited Gurgaon
87. SNC - LAVALIN Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. India Noida
88. Srushti Sewa Nagpur
89. Superintendence Company of India Pvt. Ltd. Kolkata
90. SV Enviro Labs & Consultants Vishakapatnam
91. TATA Consulting Engineers Limited Mumbai
92. Team Labs and Consultants Hyderabad
93. Ultra-Tech Environmental Consultancy and Laboratory Thane
94. UniStar Environment & Research Labs Pvt. Ltd. Vapi, Gujarat
95. Vasantdada Sugar Institute. Pune
96. Vimta Labs Limited Hyderabad
97. VITYA Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Secunderabad
98. Voyants Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon
99. WAPCOS Limited Gurgaon
100. Wolkem Consultancy Services Udaipur

List ‘B’ : Accreditation in Process

S.N. Name of the Organization
1. Amba Recyclers Private Limited, Chennai
2. Mahabal Enviro Engineers Pvt. Ltd, Thane
3. CTRAN Consulting Private Limited, Bhubaneswar
4. Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi
5. R.K. Consultants, Jodhpur
6. Greentech Environmental Engineers and Consultants , Guwahati
7. Min Mec Consultancy Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
8. Ramji Mines Envirotech, Jaipur
9. Agricultural Finance Corporation Ltd., Mumbai
10. EGIS India Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd., Faridabad
11. SMS Envocare Ltd., Pune
12. Sri Sai Manasa Nature Tech Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad
13. Team Institute of Science and Technology Pvt. Ltd., Jaipur
14. Prakruti Environmental Engineers, Vadodra
15. Siddhi Consultants, Ankaleshwar
16. Pacific Scientific Consultancy Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata
17. M/S Indus Technical and Financial Consultants Ltd., Raipur
18. Sun Consultancy and Services, Bhubaneswar
19. Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited, Ranchi
20 Consafe Science India, Hyderabad
21 Gondwana Geotech Services Pvt. Ltd., Ranchi
22 Pollution and Project Consultants, Kolkata
23 Brigade Enterprises Limited, Bangalore
24 Engineering & Technological Services, New Delhi
25 MNEC Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Nagpur
26 S Pradhan , Bhubaneswar
27 Shri Environmental Technology Institute, New Delhi
28 CPTL Envirotech Designers & Pollution Control Consultants, Chandigarh
29 MSV International Inc., Gurgaon
30 SD Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd., Aurangabad
31 A & N Technologies , Bangalore
32 Crystal Consultant , Ranchi
33 Fine Envirotech Engineers , Mumbai
34 Ind Tech House Consult, New Delhi
35 Centre for Environment Health & Safety, Annamalai University,, Tamil Nadu
36 D.Y. Patil College of Engineering, Pune
37 Enviro Care Engineers & Consultant, Surat
38 Madhya Pradesh State Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur
39 Oasis Environmental Foundation, Pune
40 Science and Technology Park, Pune
41 Thriveni Consultancy Services, Keonjhar (Odisha)
42 Trio-Chem Techno- Legal Services Pvt. Ltd., Pune
43 Vison Labs, Hyderabad
44 Rightsource Industrial Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad
45 ASCENSO Management and Consulting Services Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
46 Krishna Gangaa Enviro System Pvt. Ltd., Nagpur
47 GLOBAL Environment & Mining Services, Hospet, Karnataka
48 Centre For Sustainable Development, Hooghly
49 KKB Envirocare Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad
50 Chilworth Technology Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
51 DHI India Water & Environment Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
52 Pollution & Ecology Control Services, Nagpur
53 Energy Infratech Private Ltd., Gurgaon
54 Action for Ecology, Environment, Energy and Management, Rishikesh
55 Aarvee Associates Architects Engineers & Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad
56 Building Environment Pvt. Ltd., Navi Mumbai
57 M/s Udaipur Min-Tech Pvt. Ltd., Udaipur
58 Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad
59 N H Consulting Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
60 Royal Environment Auditing & Consultancy Services, Rajkot
61 Tetra Tech India Limited, New Delhi
62 Transit Surveys, Karnataka
63 K. R. S Enterprises, Bangalore
64 Gadark Lab Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai
65 Environment & Power Technologies Private Limited, Bangalore
66 Technoenviron Consultants, Maharashtra
67 AECOM India Private Limited, Gurgaon
68 Century Consulting Engineers, Chandigarh
69 SA Infrastructure Consultants Pvt. Ltd, Ghaziabad
70 Octagon Consultancy Services, Kolkata
71 Aditya Environmental Services Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai
72 Mitra S. K. Private Limited, Kolkata
73 Ace Engineers & Consultants, Patiala
74 Centre of Mining Environment, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dhanbad
75 School of Water Resources Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
76 Sawen Consultancy Services, Lucknow
77 Chaitanya Projects Consultancy Pvt. Ltd, Ghaziabad
78 National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science & Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram
79 Epsilon Projects Pvt. Ltd., Lucknow
80 C. E. Testing company Pvt. Ltd. Kolkata
81 Waste Encare (India) Pvt. Ltd., Thane
82 Environmental System Consultants & Ambiente Lab Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Chennai
83 V R Enviro Engineers, Chennai
84 S G M Corporate Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Pune
85 Precitech Laboratories, Vapi
86 S. N.Hirpara, Surat
87 Akshar Consultant, Gujarat
88 Gherzi Eastern Limited, New Delhi
89 India Glycols Limited, Kashipur, Uttarakhand
90 SEE Tech Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Nagpur
91 Shiva Test House, Patna
92 Vogue Construction and Consultancy Services Private Limited, New Delhi
93 Spectro Analytical Labs Limited, New Delhi
94 Wilbur Smith Associates Private Limited, Bangalore
95 Terracon Ecotech Private Limited, Mumbai
96 Sophisticated Industrial Materials analytic Labs Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
97 Aquagreen Engineering Management Pvt. Ltd.
98 Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies Of Mountain & Hill Environment University Of
Delhi(CISMHE), Delhi
99 Shivalik Solid Waste Management Limited, Solan
100 Excel Enviro Tech, Ahmedabad
101 En-Geo Consultancy & Research Centre(ENGECORC), Guwahati

List ‘C’ : Applications Not approved /Withdrawn / Ineligible applications

S.N. Name State/ City
1. Metamorphosis Bangalore
2. Environmental Health And Safety Consultants Private Limited Bangalore
3. M/s Pragathi Labs and Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Secunderabad
4. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education Dehradun
5. Earth and Environment Bhubaneshwar
6. Green Circle, Inc. Vadodra
7. M/s Aqua-Air Environmental Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Surat
8. Indomer Coastal Hydraulics (P) Ltd. Chennai
9. Mantras Resources (Environmental Division) Nashik
10. EST Consultants (P) Ltd. New Delhi
11. Scott Wilson India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
12. International Testing Centre Panchkula
13. ECO-CARE Solutions (Environmental Consultants & Engineers) Vadodra
14. SEAMAK HITECH PRODUCTS Bangalore
15. Jyoti Om Chemical Research Centre Private Limited Ankleshwar
16. Clean Technologies Bangalore
17. AET Infrastructure Environmental Services New Delhi
18. Betterworld Enviro Consultants Faridabad
19. Centre for Climate change & Environmental Advisory Services Hyderabad
20. Ecotech Services Inc. Faridabad
21. SOWiL Limited Noida
22. Techno Analytical Kolkata
23. Gujarat Mineral Research & Industrial Consultancy Society(GMRICS) Ahmedabad
24. E. C. Engineers (Environmental Consultants) Jaipur
25. Enpro Technosolutions Chennai
26. Envisafe Environmental Consultants Ahmedabad
27. Garden City Environmental Services Bangalore
28. Richardson & Cruddas Chennai
29. SAI Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad
30. T.R. Associates Ahmedabad
31. Water and Waste Water Research Center Sangli
32. Yogiraja Industrial Consultants Pune
33. Aquatech Enviro Engineers Bangalore
34. Deccan Consulting Engineers Private Limited Delhi
35. ENPRO Enviro Tech & Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Surat
36. Enviro Care India (P) Ltd. Madurai
37. JB Enviro Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Kolkata
38. Prakriti Consultants Services Lucknow
39 Bombay Natural history Society Mumbai
40 C.P. Consultants Private Limited New Delhi
41 Consafe Science India Hyderabad
42 Eco Care Engineering Pvt. Ltd. Chennai
43 Enviroaid Consultants Gwalior
44 Environmental Research and Services (India) Pvt. Ltd. Bhubaneswar
45 Galaxy Envirotech Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
46 Hydro ChemTech Chennai
47 Integrated Techno-Legal Consultants Mumbai
48 LION Engineering Consultants Bhopal
49 Lotus Environments Pune
50 Mechatronics Systems Pvt. Ltd. Pune
51 Metro Enviro-Chem Associates Ahmedabad
52 National Institute of Ocean Technology Chennai
53 National Institute of Oceanography Goa
54 Oil and Natural Gas Corporation New Delhi
55 Paryavaran Labs (India) Limited Hyderabad
56 Remedy Environmental Consultants Bellary
57 Sadekar Enviro Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Goa
58 Vasudev Associates Ahmedabad
59 Zomah Engineers Consultants Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
60 Gondwana Geotech Services Pvt. Ltd. Ranchi
61 Pollution and Project Consultants Kolkata
62 Weston Solutions (India) Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad
63 N. K. Buildcon Pvt. Ltd. Jaipur
64 Eco Care Burdwan, West Bengal

There is a list of 65 Consultants with provisional Accreditation as well.

The current fate of R.K. Consultants, Jodhpur which prepared more than 100 EIA reports was barred from preparing EIA reports due to its acts of omission and commission on March 30, 2011 reveals how consultants are accredited. The bar was withdrawn on May 30, 2011.
http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/debarring-RK-Cons.pdf
Now its Accreditation is in process. There are several names which have been given Accreditation whose EIA reports have been exposed by researchers still they are listed. What happened to Ministry's promise for a third party assessment? Is this the way to identify, examine, assess and evaluate the likely and probable impacts of a proposed project on the environment and to work out remedial action plans to minimize adverse impact on the environment? Silence of Jairam Ramesh who is a member of CCEA along with the Prime Minister is deafening.

Will the Environment Ministry explain why its environmental clearance SITE http://www.ecprocess.nic.in/ or related links on its website rarely work?

The applications from the following consultant organizations have been received by QCI and are under different stages of processing. Stakeholders desirous of giving any feedback about the consultant organizations may do so by writing to Director, NABET. The feedback would be taken into account while accreditation decisions are made.
S.No. Name State
1 Vimta Labs Limited Hyderabad
2 EMTRC Consultants Private Limited Delhi
3 Kalyani Laboratories Bhubaneshwar
4 Ghosh, Bose and Associates Pvt. Ltd. Kolkata
5 Geomin Consultants Pvt. Limited Bhubaneshwar
6 Pollution Control Research Institute Haridwar
7 EQMS India Pvt. Ltd. Delhi
8 MetamorphosisSM Bangalore
9 Perfact Enviro Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Delhi
10 Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited Hyderabad
11 SGS India Pvt. Ltd Gurgaon
12 Minenviron Systems Pvt. Ltd., Nagpur
13 Environment Health and Safety Consultants Private Limited Bangalore
14 B. S. Envi-Tech Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad
15 Bhagavathi Ana Labs Hyderabad
16 Asian Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Delhi
17 Kadam Environmental Consultants Vadodra
18 Envirotech East Pvt. Ltd. Kolkata
19 M/s Pragathi Labs and Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Secunderabad
20 JM Environet Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon
21 Wolkem Consultancy Services Udaipur
22 Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education Dehradun
23 Ecomen Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. Lucknow
24 Mantec Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Delhi
25 Mineral Engineering Services Karnataka
26 Enviro Techno Consult Nagpur
27 Enkay Group Jaipur
28 Earth and Environment Bhubaneshwar
29 Creative Enviro Services Bhopal
30 RS Envirolink Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon
31 Ramans Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad
32 Voyants Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon
33 Green Circle, Inc. Vadodra
34 Pioneer Enviro Laboratories and Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad
35 Global Experts (A Techno-Enviro Consultant) Bhubaneshwar
36 ABC Environ Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Chennai
37 Development Consultants Private Limited Kolkata
38 Sun Consultancy and Services Bhubaneshwar
39 Engineers India Limited Gurgaon
40 Senes Consultants India Pvt. Ltd. Noida
41 GIS Enabled Environment & Neo-Graphic Centre Ghaziabad
42 Anacon Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. Nagpur
43 RITES Limited Gurgaon
44 Anand Consultants Ahmedabad
45 Green Chem Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Chennai
46 Deccan Consulting Engineers Private Limited Delhi
47 Mecon Limited Ranchi
48 Consulting Engineering Services (India) Private Limited New Delhi
49 Hubert Enviro Care Systems (P) Ltd. Chennai
50 ERM India Private Limited Gurgaon
51 Kirloskar Consultants Limited Pune
52 M. N. Dastur and Company (Pvt.) Ltd. Kolkata
53 Holtec Consulting Private Limited Gurgaon
54 Jyoti Om Chemical Research Centre Private Limited Ankleshwar
55 M/s Aqua-Air Environmental Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Surat
56 National Environmental Engineering Research Institute Nagpur
57 Yogiraja Industrial Consultants Pune
58 Cholamandalam MS Risk Services Chennai
59 R. K. Consultants Jodhpur
60 M/s Udaipur Min-Tech Pvt. Ltd. Udaipur
61 San Envirotech Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad
62 ENV Developmental Assistance Systems (I) Pvt. Ltd. Lucknow
63 Visiontek Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. Bhubaneshwar
64 Grass Roots Research & Creation India (P) Ltd. New Delhi
65 Indomer Coastal Hydraulics (P) Ltd. Chennai
66 Prakriti Consultants Services Lucknow
67 Aditya Environmental Services Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai
68 T.R. Associates Ahmedabad
69 Mantras Resources (Engineers and Environmental Consultant) Nashik
70 Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
71 VITYA Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Secunderabad
72 Mott Mac Donald Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad
73 Enviro Care India (P) Ltd. Madurai
74 Water and Waste Water Research Center Sangli
75 M/s Padmaja Aerobiologicals Pvt. Ltd. Navi Mumbai
76 Consulting Engineers Group Ltd. Jaipur
77 Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited Ranchi
78 Pure Enviro Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Chennai
79 Ultra-Tech Environmental Consultancy and Laboratory Thane
80 En-vision Enviro Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Surat
81 S. S. Environics (India) Pvt. Ltd. Bhubaneshwar
82 Detox Corporation Pvt. Ltd. Surat
83 Desein Private Limited New Delhi
84 Singareni Collieries Company Limited Khammam, Andhra Pradesh
85 WAPCOS Limited Gurgaon
86 ENVOMIN Consultant (Pvt.) Ltd. Bhubaneshwar
87 ECO-CARE Solutions (Environmental Consultants & Engineers) Vadodra
88 Environmental Engineers & Consultants Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
89 Team Labs and Consultants Hyderabad
90 Environmental, Mine Plan & Resource Evaluation Solutions Chennai
91 EST Consultants (P) Ltd. New Delhi
92 UniStar Environment & Research Labs Pvt. Ltd. Vapi, Gujarat
93 L & T – RAMBOLL Consulting Engineers Limited Andhra Pradesh
94 Environment Protection and Training Research Institute Hyderabad
95 SAI Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad
96 Centre for Envotech and Management Consultancy Private Limited Bhubaneshwar
97 Creative Engineers & Consultants Chennai
98 Projects & Development India Limited Noida
99 Envirocare Consultants (I) Pvt. Ltd. Baroda
100 In Situ Enviro Care Bhopal
101 E. C. Engineers (Environmental Consultants) Jaipur
102 SV Enviro Labs & Consultants Vishakapatnam
103 Sri Sai Manasa Nature Tech Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad
104 Eco Chem Sales and Service Surat
105 Scott Wilson India Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
106 SMEC India Private Limited Gurgaon
107 Transit Surveys Karnataka
108 Bhagwati Enviro Care Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad
109 National Institute of Oceanography Goa
110 Siddhi Consultants Ankleshwar
111 ENPRO Enviro Tech & Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Surat
112 Global Enviro Labs Hyderabad
113 Weston Solutions (India) Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad
114 Superintendence Company of India Pvt. Ltd. Kolkata
115 Paryavaran Labs (India) Limited Hyderabad
116 TATA Consulting Engineers Limited Mumbai
117 Garden City Environmental Services Bangalore
118 Sawen Consultancy Services Lucknow
119 Enviro Analyst & Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai
120 Louis Berger Consulting Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon
121 Envisafe Environmental Consultants Ahmedabad
122 Technoenviron Consultants Maharashtra
123 En-Geo Consultancy & Research Centre(ENGECORC) Guwahati
124 Agricultural finance corporation Ltd. Mumbai
125 Det Norske Veritas AS Hyderabad
126 Centre of Mining Environment, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering Dhanbad
127 Srushti Sewa Nagpur
128 MITCON Consultancy Services Ltd. Pune
129 Apex Mintech Consultants Udaipur
130 Idma Laboratories Limited Haryana
131 Eco Care Burdwan, West Bengal
132 Shri Environmental Technology Institute New Delhi
133 Pollution & Ecology Control Services Nagpur
134 National Institute of Ocean Technology Chennai
135 Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Mountain & Hill Environment, University of Delhi Delhi
136 DHI India Water & Environment Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
137 Shiva Test House Patna
138 Clean Technologies Bangalore
139 Metro Enviro-Chem Associates Ahmedabad
140 SECON Private limited Bangalore
141 SEAMAK HITECH PRODUCTS Bangalore
142 Min Mec Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
143 Mitra S. K. Private Limited Kolkata
144 CTRAN Consulting Private Limited Bhubaneswar
145 M/S Indus Technical and Financial Consultants Ltd. Raipur
146 International Testing Centre Panchkula
147 Vasantdada Sugar Institute(speed post) Pune
148 Team Institute of Science & Technology Pvt. Ltd. Jaipur
149 LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
150 Octagon Consultancy Services Kolkata
151 Gadark Lab Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai
152 Chilworth Technology Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
153 Ace Engineers & Consultants Patiala
154 Fine Envirotech Engineers Mumbai
155 Jain Mining and Technical Consultants Udaipur
156 Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research Dhanbad
157 Eco Laboratories and Consultants Mohali
158 SMS Envocare Ltd. Pune
159 Krishna Gangaa Enviro System Pvt. Ltd. Nagpur
160 Shivalik Solid Waste Management Limited Solan
161 Ramji Mine Envirotech Jaipur
162 Environ India Kolkata
163 IRG Systems South Asia Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
164 N. K. Buildcon Pvt. Ltd. Jaipur
165 Greentech Environmental Engineer and Consultants Guwahati
166 S G M Corporate Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Pune
167 Terracon Ecotech Private Limited Mumbai
168 Trio-Chem Techno- Legal Services Pvt. Ltd. Pune
169 Chaitanya Projects Consultancy Pvt. Ltd Ghaziabad
170 Mahabal Enviro Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Thane
171 Energy Infratech Pvt. Ltd Gurgaon
172 Hydro ChemTech Chennai
173 D.Y. Patil College of Engineering Pune
174 Science and Technology Park Pune
175 Sophisticated Industrial Materials analytic Labs Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
176 Earthcare Labs Private Limited Nagpur
177 Saitech Research & Development Organization Kolhapur
178 Prakruti Environmental Engineers Vadodara
179 Centre For Sustainable Development Hooghly
180 KKB Envirocare Consultants PVT. LTD. Hyderabad
181 Aquagreen Engineering Management Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
182 Spectro Analytical Labs Limited New Delhi
183 Pacific Scientific Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. Kolkata
184 MNEC Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Nagpur
185 Madhya Pradesh State Forest Research Institute Jabalpur
186 Lotus Environments Pune
187 School of Water Resources Engineering, Jadavpur University Kolkata
188 Consafe Science India Hyderabad
189 Wilbur Smith Associates Private Limited Bangalore
190 Building Environment (INDIA) Pvt. Ltd. Navi Mumbai
191 SA Infrastructure Consultants Pvt. Ltd Ghaziabad
192 Sky Lab Analytical Laboratory Thane
193 Integrated Techno-Legal Consultants Mumbai
194 Oasis Environmental Foundation Pune
195 Crystal Consultants Ranchi
196 Aquatech Enviro Engineers Bangalore
197 Century Consulting Engineers Chandigarh
198 Gherzi Eastern Limited New Delhi
199 Egis India Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Faridabad
200 Environmental System Consultants & Ambiente Lab Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Chennai
201 Precitech Laboratories Vapi
202 Remedy Environmental Consultants Bellary
203 Eco Services India Private Limited Chennai
204 Mechatronics Systems Pvt. Ltd. Pune
205 Action for Ecology, Environment, Energy and Management Rishikesh
206 India Glycols Limited Kashipur, Uttarakhand
207 Enpro Technosolutions Chennai
208 LION Engineering Consultants Bhopal
209 Vogue Construction and Consultancy Services Private Limited New Delhi
210 Amba Recycler Private Limited Chennai
211 Richardson & Cruddas Chennai
212 ASCENSO Management and Consulting Services Private Limited New Delhi
213 Environmental Research and Services (India) Pvt. Ltd. Bhubaneswar
214 Zomah Engineers Consultants Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
215 Gondwana Geotech Services Pvt. Ltd. Ranchi
216 Ind Tech House Consult Delhi
217 Central Road Research Institute(CRRI) New Delhi
218 Enviroaid Consultants Gwalior
219 CPTL Envirotech Designers & Pollution Control Consultants Chandigarh
220 Waste Encare (India) Pvt. Ltd. Thane
221 Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Delhi
222 Environment & Power Technologies Private Limited Bangalore
223 Tetra Tech India Limited New Delhi
224 Epsilon Projects Pvt. Ltd. Lucknow
225 Akshar Consultants Ahmedabad
226 JB Enviro Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Kolkata
227 K. R. S Enterprises Bangalore
228 A & N Technologies Bangalore
229 SOWiL Limited Noida
230 Thriveni Consultancy Services Keonjhar, Odisha
231 S Pradhan Bhubaneswar
232 C.P. Consultants Private Limited New Delhi
233 Vasudev Associates Ahmedabad
234 Galaxy Envirotech Pvt. Ltd. Delhi
235 Engineering & Technological Services Delhi
236 Brigade Enterprises Limited Bangalore
237 AECOM India Private Limited Gurgaon
238 AET Infrastructure Environmental Services New Delhi
239 SD Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd. Aurangabad
240 SEE Tech Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Nagpur
241 Eco Care Engineering Pvt. Ltd. Chennai
242 Techno Analytical Kolkata
243 National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science & Technology (NIIST) Thiruvananthapuram
244 Rightsource Industrial Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad
245 MSV International Inc. Gurgaon
246 Ecotech Services Inc. Faridabad
247 Excel Enviro Tech Ahmedabad
248 Enviro Care Engineers & Consultant Surat
249 Centre for Climate change & Environmental Advisory Services Hyderabad
250 S. N. Hirpara Surat
251 Royal Environment Auditing & Consultancy Services Rajkot
252 GLOBAL Environment & Mining Services Hospet, Karnataka
253 C. E. Testing Company Pvt. Ltd. Kolkata
254 Aarvee Associates Architects Engineers & Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad
255 Betterworld Enviro Consultants Faridabad
256 Centre for Environment Health & Safety, Annamalai University Tamil Nadu
257 Gujarat Mineral Research & Industrial Consultancy Society (GMRICS) Ahmedabad
258 Sadekar Enviro Engineers Pvt. Ltd. Goa
259 Pollution and Project Consultants Kolkata
260 Vision Labs Hyderabad
261 Bombay Natural History Society Mumbai
262 N H Consulting Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
263 V R Enviro Engineers Chennai
264 SPAN Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Noida
265 Re. Pragathi Labs & Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad
266 Pridhvi Envirotech (P) Limited Hyderabad
267 Shriram Institute for Industrial Research New Delhi
268 Gem Solutions Bangalore
269 Swasti Enviro Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Chennai
270 Powertec Engineering Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi
271 Enviro Solutions & Services Tamilnadu
272 Clean Enviro Projects Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. Valsad, Gujarat
273 Alfa Enviro Systems Chennai
274 CPTL Engineers & Consultants, INC. Chandigarh
275 Viraj Envirozing India Private Limited Pune
276 Naik Environment Research Institute Limited (NERIL) Pune
277 Guru Enviro Udyog Chennai
278 Center for Environmental Studies Chennai
279 STUP Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Kolkata
280 Institute of Environment and Hazardous Material Management Bangalore
281
Re. Metamorphosis Bangalore
282 Mahindra Consulting Engineers Ltd. Chennai
283 Gauhati University Guwahati
284 Institute for Catchment Studies and Environmental Management (ICSEM) Bangalore
285Re Green Circle Inc. Vadodra
286 Nature Care Bhubaneshwar
287 Surya Envirotech Nagpur
288 Re Environmental Health And Safety Consultants Private Limited Bangalore
289 Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology Gujarat
290 Horizon Services Pune
291 ENSYS Technologies (I) Pvt. Ltd. Chennai
292 Environmental Technologies Services Organization Faridabad
293 Institute of Ocean Management, Anna University Chennai
294 Department of Forestry, H. N. B. Garhwal University Srinagar
295 Dust Devils Overseas & Company Burdwan (West Bengal)
296 Evapo Tech Technical Services & Consultants Patiala
297 University of Kashmir Srinagar
298 Equinox Environments (India) Private Limited Maharashtra
299 VK :e environmental Pune
300 Pavan & Co. Ahmedabad
301 University of Jammu Jammu
302 Creative Research Group Kolkata
303 Sainath Envirotech Tuticorin
304 Halcrow Consulting India Pvt. Ltd. Noida
305 Envirochem Laboratories (P) Ltd. Thrissur, Kerala
306 Palle Consultants Private Limited Hyderabad
307 Global Environmental Systems Bangalore
308 National Council for Cement and Building Materials Ballabgarh
309 Feedback Ventures Pvt. Ltd. (FVPL) Gurgaon
310 Anant Advisory Noida
311* Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education Dehradun
312* Mantras Resources (Engineers and Environmental Consultants) Nashik
313* Clean Technologies Bangalore
314* Jyoti Om Chemical Research Centre Private Limited Ankleshwar
315 Centre for Environment Research and Development Ghaziabad, U.P
316* International Testing Centre (ITC) Panchkula
317 SNEHA HI-TECH PRODUCTS Bangalore
318 Envirogreen Consultants (India) Pvt. Ltd. Udaipur
319* Enpro Tech Solutions Chennai
320* E.C. Engineers Jaipur
321 entech Services Kolkata
322* T. R. Associates Ahmedabad
323* Scott Wilson India Private Limited New Delhi

* Re: Re-application

Requests received for Review of Decision

1. 27-Jan-11 Indomer Coastal Hydraulics Pvt. Ltd., Chennai
2. 29-Jan-11 Green Circle Inc., Vadodra
3. 7-Feb-11 Pioneer Enviro Services Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad
4. 14-Feb-11 National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai
5. 4-Mar-11 Ramans Enviro Services Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad
6. 10-Mar-11 Minenviron Systems Pvt. Ltd., Nagpur
7. 22-Mar-11 Earth & Environment, Bhubaneshwar
8. 15-Apr-11 Aqua-air Environmental Engineers, Surat
9. 30-Apr-11 Eco Chem Sales & Service, Surat
10. 2-May-11 Envirocare consultants (I) Pvt. Ltd., Vadodra
11. 3-May-11 Indus Technical & Financial Consultants, Raipur
12. 3-May-11 M. K. Ray (Individual)
13. 9-May-11 San Envirotech Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad
14. 9-May-11 Jessica P Karia (Individual)
15. 24-May-11 Consulting Engineering Group, Jaipur
16. 30-May-11 SNC Lavalin, Noida
17. 31-May-11 Rajesh Puranik (Individual)
18. 8-Jun-11 V.K. Singh (Individual)
19. 10-Jun-11 Mantec Consultants, Noida
20. 13-Jun-11 Clean Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore
21. 17-Jun-11 Techno Analytical, Kolkata
22. 20-Jun-11 Enviro Techno Consult, Nagpur
23. 27-Jun-11 Secon Limited, Bangalore
24. 29-Jun-11 SGS India Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon
25. 30-Jun-11 Perfact Enviro Solutions, Delhi
26. 30-Jun-11 Jyoti Om, Ankleshwar
27. 11-Jul-11 Mitcon Consultancy Pvt. Ltd., Pune
28. 11-Jul-11 National Institute of Oceanography, Goa
29. 20-Jul-11 EST Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Delhi
30. 22-Jul-11 Idma Laboratories, Panchkula
31. 28-Jul-11 Ghosh, Bose and Associates Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata
32. 28-Jul-11 Environment Protection and Training Research Institute, Hyderabad
33. 1-Aug-11 Environment Health and Safety Consultants Private Limited, Bangalore
34. 3-Aug-11 Visiontek Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd., Bhubaneshwar
35. 5-Aug-11 Agricultural Finance Corporation Ltd., Mumbai
36. 26-Aug-11 V.K.Gautam (Individual)
37. 14-Sep-11 Yogiraja Industrial Consultant, Pune
38. 15-Sep-11 Envisafe Environmental Consultants, Ahmedabad
39. 16-Sep-11 Metamorphosis, Bangalore
40. 19-Sep-11 Environmental, Mine Plan & Resource Evaluation Solutions (EMPRES), Chennai
41. 22-Sep-11 ENV Developmental Assistance Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd., Lucknow
42. 3-Oct-11 Mineral Engineering Services, Bellary
43. 3-Oct-11 T. R. Associates, Ahmedabad
44. 4-Oct-11 ENPRO Enviro Tech and Engineers Pvt. Ltd., Surat
45. 16-Oct-11 Eco Laboratories and Consultants Private Limited
46. 20-Oct-11 JB Enviro Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
47. 25-Oct-11 Aquatech Enviro Engineers, Bangalore
48. 4-Nov-11 Srushti Sewa
49. 9-Nov-11 Creative Engineers & Consultants, Chennai
50. 11-Nov-11 Team Institute of Science & Technology, Jaipur
51. 24-Nov-11 Anacon Labs, Nagpur
52. 8-Dec-11 R.K Consultants, Jodhpur

NGO Quality Council of India (QCI) and its National Accreditation Board of Education and Training (NABET) seem to be front offices of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Watch Out : USA's Long Arm Has Reached You!

2012-01-04T05:14:00.000-08:00

President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law on New Year’s Eve. The bill provides a massive $662 billion for the US war machine and makes unprecedented inroads into democratic rights, authorizing the US military to seize individuals anywhere in the world and hold them in a military detention facility indefinitely, without a trial or any other legal recourse.

Congressional Democrats and Republicans ratified the NDAA in a series of House and Senate votes in November and December that beat back nearly all efforts to set limits to the presidential power to arrest and imprison without trial or charge. As Republican Senator Lindsey Graham emphasized during the congressional debate, the legislation defines the entire world to be part of the battlefield against Al Qaeda, including the territory of the United States itself, making every human being on the planet, including every American citizen, a potential prisoner of the American military.

The NDAA effectively revokes the oldest democratic right, habeas corpus, which bars arbitrary imprisonment by requiring that the government present evidence to a judge or court to justify taking a person into custody. This right was first asserted in England during the Middle Ages and finally established and codified in the course of the English Revolution of the 17th century, which shattered the arbitrary power of the monarchy and established the supremacy of parliament.

Under the new law, the president of the United States can designate any individual, whether an American citizen, resident alien, or citizen of any other country, to be arrested and detained for life by the US military. The law defines a “covered person” in the following terms: “A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.”

This goes far beyond terrorists linked to the 9/11 attacks, the purported target of the Bush and Obama administrations’ “war on terror,” to include anyone defined by the president as “engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.” This could include Kurdish separatists in Turkey (a US NATO ally), Palestinian protesters in Israel, the West Bank or Gaza, and anyone engaged in resisting the ongoing US wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, or any future wars initiated by Obama or his successors.

It could include youth in Tahrir Square fighting the Egyptian military dictatorship (the second largest recipient of US military aid and a key US ally), workers on strike against the governments of Greece, Spain or Italy (all NATO allies), or those opposed to the stationing of US military forces anywhere in the world, including Obama’s latest deployment of 2,500 US Marines in Australia.

It could well include domestic opponents of US military action, including opponents of the repressive actions of the military-intelligence apparatus at home. There have been repeated attempts by spokesmen for the political right to smear antiwar groups and the Occupy Wall Street protesters as allies of terrorists—and therefore potential targets for military incarceration.

First under Bush and then under Obama, the US government has advanced, with full sanction by the federal courts, an extremely broad reading of what constitutes “material support” to include anyone who engages in political activity that is in any way aligned with the actions of a supposedly “terrorist” organization. In several cases, the US government has even brought “material support” prosecutions against human rights activists who have advised nationalist movements fighting US-backed governments on how to shift from guerrilla war to electoral politics.

The American Civil Liberties Union denounced Obama’s signing of the legislation. Obama “will forever be known as the president who signed indefinite detention without charge or trial into law,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a statement. “Any hope that the Obama administration would roll back the constitutional excesses of George Bush in the war on terror was extinguished today,” he added.

Obama sought to conceal the implications of this massive attack on democratic rights by claiming to oppose the applicable provisions of the bill even as he was signing them into law. The weasel-worded statement issued by the White House only underscores the duplicity of the Obama reelection campaign, in which the Democratic president will seek to appeal to youth, minorities and popular antiwar sentiment, while carrying out policies even more militaristic and anti-democratic than those of the Republican Bush.

In the signing statement, Obama claims to have “serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists.” He continues: “I want to clarify that my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a Nation.”

The language is carefully crafted. Obama admits that the NDAA represents a repudiation of the democratic traditions associated with the American Revolution and the Civil War. He makes an extremely limited promise—no military detention without trial of a US citizen—which does not bind any successor and which he can break just as easily as he broke his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay concentration camp.

The promise is an easy one to make, since even the Bush administration abandoned its lone attempt to carry out “indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens,” in the case of Jose Padilla, turning him over to the federal courts rather than risk a Supreme Court ruling on the issue.

But in signing the law, Obama has asserted his right to carry out such indefinite detention of an American citizen in the future, and thus the right of any future president to do so. This amounts to giving a green light to the abrogation of habeas corpus, with the dimensions of the breach in democratic rights dependent solely on the arbitrary whim of the executive power.

Even more ominously, Obama has already asserted an even more drastic power—the “right” to assassinate any American citizen designated by the president as an “enemy combatant,” without trial or charge. The White House authorized the drone missile assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki four months ago, claiming the US-born Islamic preacher was a leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. A few weeks later, the CIA murdered Awlaki’s 16-year-old son, also a US citizen, with the same weapon.

Much of the White House signing statement criticized the NDAA’s detention provisions as too restrictive of the executive branch, essentially declaring that Obama wanted the flexibility to decide on military or civilian detention facilities and judicial processes on a case-by-case basis. An aide, speaking to the press in Hawaii, where Obama is vacationing, said that the president would be “making sure that none of these congressional provisions impede the ability of the counter-terrorism and law enforcement and military professionals who are keeping this country safe.”

The White House statement specifically criticized “unwarranted restrictions on the executive branch’s authority to transfer detainees to a foreign country.” The Obama administration has continued the practice of “extraordinary rendition” in which individuals are seized by the US military or intelligence services overseas and transferred to third countries for torture and interrogation.

Obama also objected to any limitation on US military flexibility in transferring prisoners in Afghanistan to the custody of the Afghan government—another instance in which prisoner interrogation and torture have been “outsourced.”

There is an intrinsic connection between the main purpose of the NDAA—to authorize and fund the Pentagon’s operations for fiscal year 2012—and the sections on military detention of prisoners both inside and outside the United States. The legislation includes new US sanctions against Iran aimed at choking off the country’s oil exports, an act of economic warfare, while financing the worldwide operations of American imperialism. It demonstrates that militarism and aggressive war abroad go hand in hand with authoritarianism and dictatorship at home.

3 January, 2012
Patrick Martin is a WSWS.org writer

Jansatta exposes threat to Delhi from waste to electricity plants

2012-01-03T20:09:00.000-08:00

Pratibha Shukla of Jansatta exposes threat to Delhi from three hazardous waste based power plants. The story can be read at:
http://epaper.jansatta.com/03012012/index.html

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

2011-12-31T01:10:00.002-08:00

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

2011-12-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-30T04:28:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-27T02:19:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-27T02:15:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-26T21:47:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

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।

Alang Beach remains a graveyard of hazardous ships

2011-12-19T11:01:00.000-08:00

Note:Jayanthi Natarajan's reply regarding ships hazardous chemicals are not being allowed into India for dismantling purposes is factually incorrect. Several years have passed but since the Draft Code regarding ship breaking incorporating safety, health and environmental management considerations was ready but it is yet to be finalized. It appears that her officials are not giving her the true picture of Alang beach where more than 200 ships are standing in violation of the Supreme Court's order.

Gopal Krishna
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Environment and Forests
19-December-2011 17:13 IST

Disposal of Toxic Wastes

The ships loaded with hazardous chemicals are not allowed into India for dismantling purposes. Ship breaking activities are carried out as per the directions issued by Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition 657/95 in September 2007 with regard to safety, health and environmental considerations.

As per orders of Hon’ble Supreme Court dated 17-02-2006, a Central Technical Committee (CTC) under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests was set up to regulate various activities of ship breaking industries. The CTC gave its recommendations covering all aspects of ship breaking. These recommendations are operative by virtue of the aforesaid Supreme Court Order dated 6-9-2007.

Guidelines to mitigate the environmental impacts due to ship breaking activities have been formulated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and circulated to all the State Pollution Control Boards and the Pollution Control Committees in Union Territories for implementation. Ministry of Steel, Government of India is preparing a National Code regarding ship breaking incorporating safety, health and environmental management considerations.

The Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent charge) Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan gave this information in a written reply to a question by Shri Adhalrao Patil Shivaji in Lok Sabha today.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx

DOW Chemicals to remove its logo from London’s Olympic stadium

2011-12-19T00:04:00.000-08:00

London/New Delhi: DOW Chemicals has 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 which was objected by campaigners furious at the US conglomerate’s links to the deadly Bhopal gas disaster.

Dow was made a sponsor of London 2012 by Lord Coe’s organising committee (Locog) in August.

The company has decided to withdraw its branding from a fabric wrap for the stadium. Reuters

“The agreement between Dow and Locog was limited to branding of five ‘test panels’ that were to be removed in the months before the Games and were not part of the final design,” Dow spokesman Scott Wheeler was quoted as saying by a British newspaper Sunday Express.

“In mid-summer, Locog and Dow discussed Dow deferring the rights to these five panels to allow free and full execution of the design as determined by Locog. Dow agreed to this to support Locog’s and London 2012′s vision for the stadium wrap,” he added.

Reacting to the report, IOA acting president VK Malhotra said he was not clear what exactly it meant and said the body would continue to press for total removal of Dow Chemical as a sponsor of the London Olympics.

“I have also heard about Dow chemical withdrawing their logo from the decorative wrap but I don’t know what it means,” Malhotra told PTI.

“Our demand is that Dow should be removed as a sponsor and we have expressed strong reservation with the Olympics. We are sending our communication to Dow as well as IOC on this regard.”

“So all that we want is that it should be removed as a sponsor and we wint be satisfied if only the logo is removed,” he added.

Amid growing resentment over Dow Chemicals’ association with the London Olympics, the Indian Olympic Association’s Executive Board had decided last week to write a “strong” protest letter to the International Olympic Committee, seeking the removal of the company as a sponsor of the Games next year.

Labour MP Barry Gardiner, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on India, said: “This decision at last indicates Dow is showing some shame and that can only be positive.”

Keith Vaz, senior Labour MP and chairman of the British Home Affairs Select Committee, had earlier demanded that Dow withdraw from its contract to sponsor the wrap around the main stadium for the 2012 Olympics.

The company’s involvement with Olympics was questioned due to the responsibility and liability of its subsidiary, Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), in the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster.

Dow bought UCC in 2001 and denies responsibility for UCC’s liability in Bhopal.

However, Dow’s position was that it did not own Union Carbide at the time of the disaster and thus could not be held responsible for it.

Thousands of people lost their lives in the Bhopal gas disaster in December 1984, considered one of the world’s worst industrial catastrophes, at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Madhya Pradesh’ after being exposed to methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals from the plant.

Union Sport Ministry sources today said that Dow had taken the decision only for the 2012 London Olympics.

“Dow has decided to not go ahead with the wrap outside London Olympics stadium. It is not the IOC but the Dow taking a decision and that too only for London Olympics and a special event,” the ministry source said.

“Credit should be given to government of India, Sport Ministry, and Ministry of Foreign affairs,” he added.

The sports ministry had written letters to the IOA, asking it to raise the Dow issue with the IOC, as in India, there is strong public sentiment against Dow being the sponsor of an international sporting event.

Dec 19, 2011
PTI

UK Taxpayer could be hit by nuclear waste bill for new reactors

2011-12-18T23:39:00.000-08:00

Note: India and the UK signed a joint declaration on civil nuclear cooperation on February 11, 2010. Srikumar Banerjee, the then chairman, India's Atomic Energy Commission and British high commissioner Richard Stagg signed the declaration. The two countries had finalised the text of the declaration earlier this month during commerce minister Anand Sharma's visit to London for the UK-India joint economic trade committee meet. Pat McFadden, Britain's minister for business, innovation and skills was in India to promote civil nuclear technology. Will India ever a legislation to regulate nuclear waste?

Gopal Krishna
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)

• Fears new disposal levy could underestimate cost
• Radioactive waste 'could be traded like commodity'

The nuclear industry could end up passing on to taxpayers the costs of disposing of waste from new reactors under government plans, according to official documents seen by the Guardian.

This is despite ministers' claims the industry would no longer receive any public subsidy – repeated today by energy secretary Chris Huhne as he unveiled the next step in the UK's new nuclear reactor programme.

The government has been consulting with nuclear operators about how they will pay their waste disposal costs. But the response by the Ministry of Defence, which has a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines so must also pay a disposal levy, said the proposals favoured private reactor companies and could encourage a "'someone else's problem' attitude".

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the partially state-funded body responsible for cleaning up the UK's publically owned civil nuclear sites, also said the levy could underestimate the disposal costs, leaving the taxpayer to cover any shortfall. The NDA said such a levy could inadvertently lead to a "futures market" where nuclear reactor companies trade radioactive waste like a commodity.

Industry experts said that if the government underestimated the costs, companies could buy options to store the waste from planned reactors if they believed the disposal levy would increase in the future.

Highly radioactive waste from the UK's old reactors and nuclear weapons programmes is currently dotted around the country in interim storage facilities. The cost of disposing of this will be met by the taxpayer via the MoD and the NDA. The plan is to eventually build a £12bn underground repository to store this waste permanently. This repository could also house waste from new civil nuclear power stations.

The industry will only invest in new reactors if the government fixes a disposal levy to cover their contribution towards disposal in such a repository. The taxpayer will be liable for any shortfall if the actual costs exceed this levy decades from now.

Today, the government outlined how companies would have to pay for decommissioning costs but will not announce how they will contribute towards a new repository until later this autumn.

Jean McSorley, a Greenpeace consultant, said: "The NDA's document reveals there is a substantial risk of underestimating the cost of disposing of waste from new reactors. Any shortfall would have to be paid by the taxpayer, resulting in a significant subsidy to the nuclear industry. The government has to stick to its promise of no more subsidies for new reactors and must act to close any loopholes in the proposed funding arrangements."

The "fixed unit price" (FUP) levy proposed by the government charges operators on the amount of electricity they generate, rather than the volume of waste they produce. The MoD's submission said this would favour reactor companies which typically produce more waste for the electricity they generate than the UK's fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. "The current proposal aimed at removing uncertainty could encourage perverse behaviour, poor technical choices, short-term thinking and a 'someone else's problem' attitude," its submission said.

The NDA said its response to the consultation on the disposal levy was "very positive in tone" and supported the idea of delaying the setting of the FUP until more was known about the future costs. "It is in this context that our author raised the possibility of operators being given an 'asset' if, over time, the FUP turns out to be an underestimate. This is not a scenario we believe to be likely."

A government spokesman said: "We are keen to ensure that operators of new nuclear power stations meet in full their waste management, waste disposal and decommissioning costs."

Tim Webb
guardian.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/oct/18/taxpayer-hit-nuclear-waste-bill-reactors

Punjab Pollution Control Board goes hi tech

2011-12-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

To give clearance over Internet

In an attempt to reduce corruption, bureaucratic delays and long paper trails, the Punjab State Pollution Control board (SPCB), has decided to give clearances online. At present, this facility is available only for big industries with an investment of Rs 15 crore and above, but will soon be extended to other industries.

The system was introduced on December 12 and works like an e-mail account. To apply, an industrialist must register his company. He is then given a log in id and password. This can be used to access or track an application. On an average, the SPCB receives approximately 50 to 60 applications regarding various clearances under like no objection certificates relating to water, air, Environment Protection Act, hazardous waste management, solid waste management and many more.

“The move intends to reduce corruption, increase efficiency and transparency,” says K S Pannu, chairman of Punjab SPCB. He adds that the main function of the pollution board is surveillance and some paper work in the form of documentation. “Earlier, a lot of time was wasted in this. Now officials can clear projects while on the move, while on holiday and when in the field,” he adds.

Though activists are happy with the reduction of paperwork, they fear this system excludes the general public. “If it is meant to increase transparency, the information ought to be made available to the general public,” says Gopal Krishna of Toxicswatch, a research advocacy group. He adds people will no longer know what industries are being established in their backyard.

Under the new system after an industry is registered, the SPCB is required to send the information to the regional offices, which in turn conduct public hearings and verify applicant’s claims and submit their reports online. When asked about physical verification, Pannu says engineers are being hired for the job. He adds that when an industrialist applies for a clearance from the board, the application will be checked by an assistant environmental engineer.But this information is available only to the officials and the industrialist till the project is cleared.

Krishna says it would be a dangerous step if the system becomes a substitute for physical verification. Citing the recent controversy over the Jalandhar waste to energy plant where officials were unable to answer questions posed by affected people during public hearing, he says once the online system is put in place the public has no way of registering their complaints. “Public hearings or official reports are often questionable. The access to company claims and compliances make it possible for people to protest. Putting it all online might make this impossible,” he adds.

But officials refute the claims of a possible nexus between the industrialists and government or the exclusion of public from the process of giving clearances to an industrial unit. “There is a due process which would require the officials to make public their findings and even public hearings on the pollution control website. This may not happen the very next day but all information will be available online in three to four days,” says B Sengupta, former member Secretary Central Pollution Control Board.

Moyna

Tags: Web Specials, Central Pollution Control Board, Environmental clearances, Gopal Krishna, Industries, Internet, Jalandhar, Online applications, Pollution, Punjab, Punjab State Pollution Control board (SPCB), Toxicswatch

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/punjab-pollution-control-board-goes-hi-tech

István Mészáros, Pathfinder of Socialism

2011-12-18T09:31:00.000-08:00

This is the foreword to István Mészáros’s The Structural Crisis of Capital (Monthly Review Press, 2010). President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela presented Mészáros with the Libertador (Bolívar) Award for Critical Thought on September 14, 2009, for his previous book The Challenge and Burden of Historical Time (Monthly Review Press, 2008).

If I were asked to sum up the significance of István Mészáros for our time, I would have to follow President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela in referring to him as the “Pathfinder of Socialism.”1 His work, in such writings as Marx’s Theory of Alienation (1970), The Power of Ideology (1989), Beyond Capital (1995), The Challenge and Burden of Historical Time (2008), The Structural Crisis of Capital (2009), and Social Structure and Forms of Consciousness (forthcoming, 2010), provides a strategic vision of the building of socialism, the absence of which, for many decades, constituted one of the principal weaknesses of the anti-capitalist movement, worldwide. For Mészáros, “the structural crisis of capital” arises, not simply from the fact that the system is now face to face for the first time with its own “absolute limits,” but also from the reality that the necessary conditions of a mass-based, hegemonic socialist alternative are emerging, providing the bases of a new revolutionary situation, globally. The depth and breadth of his critique of the capital system—extending to post-capitalist regimes such as the Soviet Union—offers a powerful set of insights into the historical necessity of socialism, and this in turn informs his critique of capital itself, constituting a single strategic argument. As Chávez has stated, the importance of Mészáros’s magnum opus Beyond Capital is to be found in its subtitle: “Toward a Theory of Transition.” “It is a theoretical effort,” said Chávez, “because Karl Marx did not develop a theory of transition.”2

The immediate context in which Mészáros’s Structural Crisis of Capital appears is what is commonly and euphemistically known as the Great Recession, or the immense financial and economic crisis in which we are now engulfed, manifesting itself on a scale not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.3 Mészáros begins and ends his book with the current economic malaise. But he explains this as part of a wider disjuncture stretching back to the early 1970s.4 This structural crisis cannot be seen simply in narrow economic terms. Rather, it also encompasses the global ecological crisis; what Mészáros calls “the potentially deadliest form of global hegemonic imperialism” (179); and the manifold social and cultural contradictions emanating from the hierarchical power relations of the prevailing order. “The epochal structural crisis of the capital system,” moreover, transcends all merely “cyclic and conjunctural economic crises…affecting all conceivable forms of the capital system as such, not only capitalism,” asserting itself through the activation of “the absolute limits of capital as a mode of social metabolic reproduction.” This poses dangers “incomparably more severe than even the Great World Economic Crisis of 1929-1933,” due to the “truly global character” of the world crisis this time around (172).

So dialectically interconnected, in Mészáros’s conception, are capital’s deepening structural crisis and the imperative of a genuine socialist transition that it is impossible to address the former without also addressing the latter. His critique of capital (as opposed to capitalism) is equally a critique of the early “socialist” (or post-capitalist) experiments which, in failing to eradicate the capital relation in its entirety, but merely mediating this via the state, ended up in a historical dead end—while nevertheless illuminating the path that the socialism of the twenty-first century must take. In Mészáros’s analysis, this path can be summed up as: “substantive equality,” “self-critique,” and communal self-organization of productive relations, which, taken together, define a sustainable socialist society.5

Mészáros strongly counsels against the defensive, purely economistic orientation of laborist and social democratic movements, which, faced with the default of capital, do everything they can to bail it out and restore the very economic power that keeps them and the entire working class in subservience. Rather, it is essential, he argues, to take full offensive advantage of the current weakness of capital as a system of social metabolic reproduction to alter the rules of the game fundamentally and irrevocably by political means. Opposing those who claim that the working class has been integrated into the system, he makes it clear that this is a systemic impossibility even in the wealthiest capitalist states, and at most extends to the trade union leadership (190-95). The working class remains everywhere an alienated power, the indispensable agent of potential revolutionary change. Still, in responding to the question of whether such a revolutionary transformation will actually take place, Mészáros answers bluntly: “It depends” (187). Genuine human emancipation, altering society “from top to bottom,” in Marx’s terms, can only be brought about through unrelenting struggle; hence it is a contingent aspect of history (85).

The structural crisis of capital, described in this book, has been worsening for decades and has now reached a point where it has taken on real urgency in every region of the globe. Critics of the system can therefore no longer hide behind the comforting illusion that socialism will eventually arise of its own accord, or that the world can afford to wait. In this respect, Chávez (quoted in Chapter Five, “Bolívar and Chávez”) declared before the World Social Forum in Caracas in January 2006 that to limit anti-systemic activities to an annual

touristic/folkloric encounter would be terrible, because we would be simply wasting time, and we have no time to waste. I believe that it is not given to us to speak in terms of future centuries…we have no time to waste; the challenge is to save the conditions of life on this planet, to save the human species, to change the course of history, to change the world (136).

The out-of-control destruction that now characterizes the capital system on a world scale, and imperils all life on the planet, has its dialectical antithesis in the potential for an acceleration of history, through the activation of a genuine, mass-based revolutionary struggle for substantive equality. The conservative nineteenth-century cultural historian Jacob Burckhardt, looking back on an earlier era of revolution, once described a “historical crisis” as a time in which

a crisis in the whole state of things is produced, involving whole epochs and all or many peoples of the same civilization….The historical process is suddenly accelerated in terrifying fashion. Developments which otherwise take centuries seem to flit by like phantoms in months or weeks, and are fulfilled.6

Today the structural crisis of capital provides the historical setting for a new revolutionary movement for social emancipation in which developments normally taking centuries would flit by like phantoms in decades or even a few years. But the +--Notes

↩ Chávez first called Mészáros “Pathfinder” (Señalador de caminos)—referring to his role in illuminating the transition to socialism—in an inscription that he wrote in a copy of Simon Rodriguez’s Collected Works, which he gave to Mészáros at a dinner in the Miraflores Palace on September 10, 2001. On the same occasion they discussed Mészáros’s Beyond Capital, with Chávez exhibiting the copious notes he had made in his copy.
↩ Hugo Chávez, AloPresidente, May 3, 2009.
↩ On the economic crisis itself, see John Bellamy Foster and Fred Magdoff, The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2009); also pp. 181–85 of this book.
↩ The fact that Mészáros understood this from the start as “the structural crisis of capital,” and not merely a conjectural economic crisis, can be seen by looking at Chapter 3 of this book, “The Necessity of Social Control,” originally delivered as a lecture in January 1971, on his receipt of the Issac Deutscher Prize for his Marx’s Theory of Alienation.
↩ In addition to the present book, see István Mészáros, “The Communal System and the Principle of Self-Critique,” Monthly Review 59, no. 10 (March 2008), 33–56.
↩ Jacob Burckhardt, Reflections on History (Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1979), 213, 224.

John Bellamy Foster
http://monthlyreview.org/2010/02/01/istvan-meszaros-pathfinder-of-socialism

Union Cabinet clears Food Security Bill

2011-12-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

The Union Cabinet cleared the Food Security Bill on December 18. The bill will now be tabled in the Parliament on December 19.

The Cabinet decision on Food Security Bill was postponed earlier on as the allies of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre wanted more discussions on it.

The draft of the National Food Security Bill seeks to expand the scope of subsidised food entitlements to the poor.

(ANI)

Once upon a time water used to be available for free in open wells, ponds……

2011-12-17T21:29:00.000-08:00

Water is called the elixir of life on this Planet. But this resource is dwindling very fast because of variety of reasons which include accelerated pace of industrialisation causing immense damages to the Ecology and Environment leading to Climate Change etc., and overpopulation causing ever increasing load on water resources and agriculture. But a closer look at the water issue indicates in addition to the above causes mismanagement of this resource, rather lack of intention for its harvesting where it drops, conservation and control on its misuse etc.

Until recently „water water everywhere, not a drop to drink‟ remained only as a forecast for the coming times. Many never believed that this would ever happen. But the water crisis world over is to the fore and has come sooner than later. Many reasons are being assigned to the causes of water scarcity. The most important impact of non-availability of this resource is increasing food insecurity. A review of the happenings of the last century is expected to provide better understanding of the scarcity of water and food insecurity.

Genesis

With the onset of the 20th century variety of changes the world over began - entry of communism, growing tension between powerful European Nations, entry of the US and USSR as Big Global Players. By mid-century the two world wars were fought and European Nations esp. the British were forced to withdraw from their never-sunsetting empire and allow new powers to share the booty. The US and the USSR got to play the major role with world bodies like the UN and its subordinate organisations. For the spread of capitalism and subjugating the newly freed countries various UN agencies, the World Bank, the IMF etc. were given physical shape to play greater role in shaping the future world based on over exploitation of Natural Resources and converting the then existing monarchies and empires to Corporate monarchies via a defective democracy route. All this led to the acceptance of "Development through Industrialisation mode‟ world over. Though there were basic differences between Capitalist and Communist systems of governance yet the development was accepted and retained by both as panaceea for all the ills of their people. The same became true of those who were known as non-aligned nations.However, by the turn of the last century even the Communism lost its grip in many countries and the world got definite tilt to capitalism. The field was left open for the only world Power, the US to make the Rules of the game unilaterally and play as per its wishes.

Development through Industrialisation resulted in setting up of high capital and high energy intensive industries all around. However, this gave desired output - mass production of consumer and non-consumer goods, availability of more jobs in industry, growth of towns and cities,good roads, population transfer from rural to newly created urban and industrial centers and improved quality of life for a small part of thepopulation. As expected this also created more destitutes, have-nots and downtroddens all around. Burning of fossil fuel and felling of trees coupled with dam building activities gave way to thermal and hydropower generation respectively. As an effect industrialisation created aside show of Environmental issues-damages to all aspects of life on this planet through massive air, water and noise pollution, increased consumerism causing enormous domestic and industrial waste generation. Various reports talked about in different fora indicate that water bankruptcy is going to be worse than the financial melt down now destabilising the global economy, and there will be no way of bailing the earth out of water scarcity.

Studies revealed that the world has not been as warm as it is now fora millennium or more. The three warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998; 19 of the warmest 20 since 1980. And Earth has probably never warmed as fast as in the past 30 years - a period when natural influences on global temperatures, such as solar cycles and volcanoes should have cooled us down. By mid - eighties Global Warming followed by Climate Change took the front seat and IPCC got created to suggest ways and means to counter the fear of these two evils. Like the other world bodies, IPCC also had the same objective –transfer of „Clean technologies‟ from developed to developing nations and money flow in the reverse direction.

This enriched the already rich ones-domestic as well as the foreign variety.Increased population, on the other hand, caused increase in the input of chemical dose in agriculture sector increasing, in turn, water pollution. By 1970 the US came up with National Environment Protection Act and the UN created a body under its arm known as United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This was followed by most of the countries making laws for protection of the Environment.But many including the protestors in the on-going worldwide Occupy movement have identified the 1% as the real source of environmental destruction which includes water also in the ultimate analysis, not the7 billion.

Water scenario in India

Many academic and field studies attempted to develop alternative routes of development to counter industrialisation as the only mode tobetter the life of the people. They simply got rebuffed by the money power of the money makers. India already had its Nature worshipping scriptures with low consumption of resources and less waste generation themes. Mahatma Gandhi added to the same. But none of this could influence the Indian political leaders sufficiently to follow the traditional route of living without massive industrialisation.Looking at the seriousness of the issue water was chosen as the first major resource for protection.

India had its first water Act in 1974 which was revised and improved with passage of time. But none of these showed a turn around. Water issue took global shape and rich people took the first step to make money out of the crisis through bottled water schemes, and energy and chemical intensive water treatment and recycling route. All the sources of water including municipal supplies for domestic uses were declared unsafe. To provide better impetus to this business the members of the elite group who were responsible for making drinking water available to the populace were shown in TV shows and print media with bottled water in front of them on the dais. Such pictures spoke more than millions of words -that water was a scare resource and it would be available to a limited few , that too for a payment. Water distribution in India has the pattern: Irrigation- 69 %, Industry- 23 %, Domestic/Municipal- 8 %.Govt. has failed to provide drinking water to about 20 % urban and about 50% rural population. Attitude of high profit making by moneymakers through increased consumerist culture leads to over-exploitation, pollution of water and depletion of other resources.Polluted water from industries, automobiles, chemical uses in agriculture and80 per cent of urban waste water discharged daily into the country‟s rivers leads to disability of large part of the population due to health reasons ending in loss of man/women-days in workplace,loss of life of more than 2.2 million people per year which is more than the number of people killed from all forms of violence, including wars, making most water bodies unfit for human use. All this culminating into an additional expenditure in Health care which is helping in wealth generation for very few.It is claimed that population has gone up also because of improved Health delivery system leading to increase in longevity and decrease in infant mortality rate. Whatever be the reason the population increase in last 60 years is reported to be 850 million whereas the figure for150 years from 1801 AD was 150 million only. Change in irrigation pattern needing 500 km water in 1900 AD to 2000 km in 2000 AD -an increase of 4 times in a hundred years. Quite natural that it led to exponential increase in food and water demand. On the other hand system administrators could not match their planning and execution steps with these demands of times.Conversion of traditional water sources - ponds, lakes etc in the urban areas for raising multi-storied buildings and concreting the open space in the cities are causing low rate of ground water recharging. Over exploitation of water leads to further lowering of ground water tables and salinisation in both urban and rural areas.

Silting of Natural and artificial lakes, dams and reservoirs are causing less water availability esp. in lean season.Water is considered a Govt responsibility but lack of will and planning,financial allocation and engineering intervention reveal

Lack of interest / awareness - towards conservation and retention of rain water where it falls, Govt. inaction and negative attitude

Govt at the Centre and most of the States/UTs failed to take wake calls provided by low rainfalls in recent years and initiate corrective steps/ action

Lack of vision for utilizing collective wisdom of all sections of the stakeholders and mobilizing them.It is wrongly assumed that more investments in water treatment,ignoring the existing traditional water sources and creation of dams etc or newer schemes with profit motives will solve the problem.Interlinking of rivers in India is wrongly proposed as a solution to water problem. In fact it is a proposal for privatisation of Water resources ending with money making for a few.

Suggestion for problem solving

In addition to the improvement in Surface Water Management like desilting and periodical maintenance of rivers, dams, ponds, lakes etc.and building new reservoirs and check dams extensive awareness programme like Communicating the water agenda in the right perspective to the people added by community driven or community owned / people‟s participation approach has better chance to succeed.Using more local wisdom (succeeds) than technology oriented programmes (invariably fails) has already been established as better result giving approach to solve the problem..Post-Gandhi Indian political leaders must be reminded of Nature worshipping scriptures & tradition of low consumption of resources,less waste generation themes and Mahatma Gandhi‟s teachings of low cost, more distributed employment generating village industries with better wealth distribution strategies.

“Catch where it (rain) falls” strategy is expected to increase in extensive Rain water harvesting in both rural and urban areas by extensive Ground Water Recharging. A simple calculation says tha thalf of Av. annual Rainfall of 1170 mm–captured on 1.12 ha of land in each of 5,87,226 villages, 6.57 million litres of rain water in each village will meet the cooking & drinking needs of 1200 people. So far no approach has been made to tap 135 million ha meter (mham) of available precipitation Watershed Management schemes must include Social Economic Development, Economic benefits of local population as well as people /life downstream, Crop Planning /Rotation, Livestock & Animal Husbandry, Weather Modification, Coastal water Management and aggressive but positive to all round Water Management

Conclusion

Water has been considered thus far a free and unlimited resource -this is not true anymore. The situation is tending towards „water water everywhere, not a drop to drink‟. Therefore, if policy makers,administrators and social activists do not honour the wake-up call provided by Nature in last few years and take immediate steps to rectify the situation it may lead to disastrous consequences for humanity and other lives on the planet. By the turn of the century academic curricula and Granny‟s fiction stories may include “once upon a time water used to be available for free in open wells, tanks, pond sand rivers flowing near each and every village and city with no private ownership, no control by the governments or their appointed private agents, no water bottling plants and no price to be paid for its use in whatever manner.

Dr.V.N.Sharma

Dr.V.N.Sharma,the author is Environment & Water Management Consultant & Chairman, Jharkhand Vigyan Manch. He can be contacted at e-mail:vnsh44@gmail.com & Cell:+919431102680; Ph:+91651-2441524 andlocated at A-100, SAIL Satellite Township, Ranchi-834004, Jharkhand

Published in JANATA Vol.66 No.43, Nov. 27, 2011, pp11-13

Prime Minister's Statement in favour of Koodankulam nuclear reactor condemned

2011-12-17T21:24:00.000-08:00

The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) and the people of Tamil Nadu condemn the anti-people and autocratic statement made by the Indian Prime Minister in Russia on December 16, 2011.

The Prime Minister’s assertion that the first Koodankulam reactor will be operational “in a couple of weeks” simply betrays the fact the Tamil Nadu State Cabinet’s resolution to halt the work at the Koodankulam plants was never honored earnestly or implemented effectively. It is also very clear that the Central Government, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), and the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) authorities have all been working on the Koodankulam reactors secretly against the letter and spirit of the State Cabinet Resolution.

If the first Koodankulam reactor has to go operational “in a couple of weeks,” the nuclear authorities must have loaded the fuel rods into the reactor. In that case, the nuclear authorities have breached all the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) rules and the various international regulations that mandate compulsory mock drills and evacuation exercises among the local people before loading the fuel rods. Throwing all these Indian and international rules and norms to the air and compromising the safety and security of the Tamil people, the Central Government as well as its nuclear departments has indeed perpetrated a crime against its own people.

Although the State Government wanted the Central Government to allay the fears and concerns of the Tamil people, the latter simply put together an assorted 15-member “Expert Group” to talk to the State Team. But they never shared any of the basic documents on the KKNPP with the State Team, never answered any of the protesting people’s questions honestly and completely and never met any section of the Tamil society for any kind of interaction. Even as the preliminary talks and the exchange of research findings are going on, the Prime Minister hastily announces dates for the commissioning of the reactors showing his scant regard for dialogue, democracy, and human rights.

Hundreds of thousands of Tamil people have been protesting against the KKNPP project for the past four months and the Prime Minister has shown his utter disregard for the protesting people and our democratic struggle. The way the Central Government has responded to the gruesome Tamil genocide in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Navy’s killing of some 570 Tamil fishermen, Colombo’s illegal detention and torture of others, the 3-Tamils capital punishment issue, the Katcha Theevu issue, and the more recent requests of the Honorable Chief Minister for financial and material help and for CISF security for the Mullaperiyar dam causes concern and worry in our minds that Tamil people are being systematically discriminated against in India.

The Prime Minister, who hardly said anything meaningful to the people of Tamil Nadu or India about the Koodankulam issue, has chosen to speak about it in Russia, one of his major business partners. Obviously, this attitude and approach to the issue gives rise to a suspicion if the Prime Minister is more interested in pleasing the rulers of Russia than the people of India, and in working for the welfare of multinational corporations and foreign countries rather than the wellbeing of Indian people.

We condemn the Prime Minister’s gross disrespect for the Government of Tamil Nadu and the disregard for the Tamil people’s feelings, sentiments and interests. We would like to request the Prime Minister to respect our people, our struggle, and scrap the Koodankulam nuclear power project.

The Struggle Committee
People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy

Companies Bill for Corporate Funding of political parties & NGOs introduced

2011-12-15T21:33:00.000-08:00

Press Release

Companies Bill for Corporate Funding of political parties & NGOs introduced

Reveals Double Speak of UPA Government on State Funding for Elections

Corporate State can become guardian of political parties & NGOs, not of citizens

New Delhi: Two contradictory things happened in the Lok Sabha on December 14, 2011. Companies Bill, 2011 was introduced by Dr Moodbidri Veerappa Moily in the afternoon that makes provision for corporate funding of parties. Within hours of the introduction of this Bill, Manish Tiwari, National Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress who stood up to speak about UPA’s seriousness in dealing about Black money 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”.

This reveals double speak, insincerity and inconsistency of the Indian National Congress led UPA government. 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. This is contrary to the sense of both the houses of the Parliament.

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. The Bill allows for certain types of companies to be subject to a less stringent regulatory framework. It has new provisions related to independent directors and auditors in the name of corporate governance. The Bill allows certain financial relationships between independent directors and the company, which can lead to conflicts of interest. The Bill provides for a number of issues currently specified in the Act, to be specified by the government in the rules. The government has greater role in drafting rules under the Bill so the impact of any possible change cannot be estimated.The Bill is available at http://toxicswatch.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/the-companies-bill-2011.pdf.

This Bill will replace 332 page Companies Act, 1956 that provided the legal framework within which companies function. It defined the relationship between the management of a company, the shareholders who own the company, other stakeholders, and the government. It was amended 24 times since 1956. This is in pursuance of the concept paper issued in 2004 by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on a new company law. The Ministry had constituted an Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr J J Irani to suggest a framework for such a law to replace the existing Act. The Committee submitted its report in May, 2005. The history of laws creating companies which are least understood is quite old and goes further back in the colonial past that will have to be dealt with on some other occasion.

Clause 182 of this Bill deals with prohibitions and restrictions regarding political contributions. It corresponds to section 293A of the Companies Act, 1956 and seeks to provide the manner and limits up to which a company shall be able to contribute the amount to any political party or to any person for a political purpose. The clause further provides the manner in which every company shall disclose in its profit and loss account any amount so contributed by it during any financial year. This clause further provides penal provision in case company contravenes the provision.

It reads as follows: Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act, a company, other than a Government company and a company which has been in existence for less than three financial years, may contribute any amount directly or indirectly to any political party:

Provided that the amount referred to in sub-section (1) or, as the case may be, the aggregate of the amount which may be so contributed by the company in any financial year shall not exceed seven and a half per cent of its average net profits during the three immediately preceding financial years:

Provided further that no such contribution shall be made by a company unless a resolution authorising the making of such contribution is passed at a meeting of the Board of Directors and such resolution shall, subject to the other provisions of this section, be deemed to be justification in law for the making and the acceptance of the contribution authorised by it.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-section (1),—

(a) a donation or subscription or payment caused to be given by a company on its behalf or on its account to a person who, to its knowledge, is carrying on any activity which, at the time at which such donation or subscription or payment was given or made, can reasonably be regarded as likely to affect public support for a Company to contribute to bona fide and charitable funds, etc. political party shall also be deemed to be contribution of the amount of such donation, subscription or payment to such person for a political purpose;

(b) the amount of expenditure incurred, directly or indirectly, by a company on an advertisement in any publication, being a publication in the nature of a souvenir, brochure, tract, pamphlet or the like, shall also be deemed,—

(i) where such publication is by or on behalf of a political party, to be a contribution of such amount to such political party, and

(ii) where such publication is not by or on behalf of, but for the advantage of a political party, to be a contribution for a political purpose.

(3) Every company shall disclose in its profit and loss account any amount or amounts contributed by it to any political party during the financial year to which that account relates,

giving particulars of the total amount contributed and the name of the party to which such amount has been contributed.

(4) If a company makes any contribution in contravention of the provisions of this section, the company shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five times the amount so contributed and every officer of the company who is in default shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months and with fine which may extend to five times the amount so contributed.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, “political party” means a political party registered under section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Earlier, the 261 page Companies Bill, 2009 was referred to Yashwant Sinha headed Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on September 9, 2009. The Committee submitted its 375 page report on August 31, 2010. The Companies Bill 2011 was freshly introduced after incorporating it.

On page 225 of its report while commenting on clause 161 of Companies Bill 2009 (which is same as clause 182 of Companies Bill 2011), it said, “This clause seeks to provide the manner and limits up to which a company shall be able to contribute the amount to any political party or to any person for a political purpose. The clause further provides the manner in which every company shall disclose in its profit and loss account any amount so contributed by it during any financial year.” The report reveals that “During evidence, the Committee raised the issue regarding political contribution by corporates to political parties. In response, the Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs during evidence stated that: ―Whatever is there in the Act, which is there from 1956, the same provisions are there and there was no discussion. You can take a view. I have nothing to say on that.”

Clause 581ZH of the Companies Act, 1956 Act dealt with the donations or subscriptions by producer company. It reads: A Producer Company may, by special resolution, make donation or subscription to any institution or individual for the purposes of -(a) promoting the social and economic welfare of Producer Members or producers or general public ; or (b) promoting the mutual assistance principles : Provided that the aggregate amount of all such donation and subscription in any financial year shall not exceed three per cent of the net profit of the Producer Company in the financial year immediately preceding the financial year in which the donation or subscription was made:

Provided further that no Producer Company shall make directly or indirectly to any political party or for any political purpose to any person any contribution or subscription or make available any facilities including personnel or material.

This clause read with 293A of the 1956 Act that explicitly deals with "Political contributions" and "Prohibitions and restrictions regrading Political Contributions" appears to be at cross purposes. The clause 293 A reads:

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act, -(a) no Government company ; and (b) no other company which has been in existence for less than three financial years shall contribute any amount or amounts, directly or indirectly, - (i) to any political party ; or (ii) for any political purpose to any person.

(2) A company, not being a company referred to in clause (a) or clause (b) of sub-section (1), may contribute any amount or amounts, directly or indirectly, -(a) to any political party ; or
(b) for any political purpose to any person :

Provided that the amount or, as the case may be, the aggregate of the amounts which may be so contributed by a company in any financial year shall not exceed five per cent of its average net profits determined in accordance with the provisions of sections 349 and 350 during the three immediately preceding financial years.

Explanation. - Where a portion of a financial year of the company falls before the commencement of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1985, and a portion falls after such commencement, the latter portion shall be deemed to be a financial year within the meaning and for the purposes, of this sub-section:

Provided further that no such contribution shall be made by a company unless a resolution authorising the making of such contribution is passed at a meeting of the Board of directors and such resolution shall, subject to the other provisions of this section, be deemed to be justification in law for the making and the acceptance of the contribution authorised by it.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-sections (1) and (2), -(a) a donation or subscription or payment caused to be given by a company on its behalf or on its account to a person who, to its knowledge, is carrying on any activity which, at the time at which such donation or subscription or payment was given or made, can reasonably be regarded as likely to effect public support for a political party shall also be deemed to be contribution of the amount of such donation, subscription or payment to such person for a political purpose;
(b) the amount of expenditure incurred, directly or indirectly, by a company on advertisement in any publication (being a publication in the nature of a souvenir, brochure, tract, pamphlet or the like) by or on behalf of a political party or for its advantage shall also be deemed, -
(i) where such publication is by or on behalf of a political party, to be a contribution of such amount to such political party, and (ii) where such publication is not by or on behalf of but for the advantage of a political party, to be a contribution for a political purpose to the person publishing it.

(4) Every company shall disclose in its profit and loss account any amount or amounts contributed by it to any political party or for any political purpose to any person during the financial year to which that account relates, giving particulars of the total amount contributed and the name of the party or person to which or to whom such amount has been contributed.
(5) If a company makes any contribution in contravention of the provisions of this section, -
(a) the company shall be punishable with fine which may extend to three times the amount so contributed ; and (b) every officer of the company who is in default shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.

Instead of upholding clause 581ZH of the old act and making it better, it has now been merged thereby legalizing enhanced corporate contributions for NGOs and political parties for good. Thus, it is not surprising that corporate sponsored NGOs have maintained a silence about it unmindful of the facts that such deafening silence on such a crucial issue reveals the true character of some of the NGOs involved in leading the anti-corruption movement. The mainstream media appears to be hand in glove with them or has not applied their mind to it. It is high time those peoples movements which are not tainted by such blood stained corporate wealth emerging from a military-mining-industrial complex provided leadership.

On page 226, the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee reads: “The Committee desire that sub-clause 1(a) of Clause 161 of the Companies Bill 2009(clause 182 in the Companies Bill 2011) may be modified so as to make it clear that “any political party” would mean and read as "a political party registered with the Election Commission". Similarly, sub-clause 1(b), which reads as “to any person for a political purpose” may be deleted, as it may leaves scope for ambiguity and misuse.

In this context, the Committee also recommend that the prescribed maximum percentage for contributions to political parties in a financial year may be raised to 7.5% from the existing 5% of the average net profits during the three immediately preceding financial years, keeping in view the fact that the number of political parties in the country has increased and such donations are not made every financial year.” Clearly, UPA government has complied with the recommendations of the Yashwant Sinha headed Parliamentary Committee.

The report further reads: “The Committee further recommend that the Ministry should also stipulate a cap on contribution to charitable and other funds as donation as proposed in sub-clause 160(1) (e) [clause 182 in the Companies Bill 2011]. Any contribution under this sub-clause, regardless of percentage, should be required to be made only with the consent of the shareholders of the company by a special resolution. It also needs to be stipulated in the sub-clause that the contribution should be made only to “bonafide” charitable institutions, that is, those institutions which have neither attracted any restraints from any regulatory authorities, including the Revenue Department of Government, in the past nor have defaulted in filing the requisite annual returns and statements with the Government.” This is a masterstroke to co-opt “bonafide” charitable institutions and turn them into fake public interest institutions who serve corporate interests. Both are divergent interests for sure.

In practice this legislation legitimizes corporate funding of political parties. It is explicable as to how Yashwant Sinha forgot that he was a member of the Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by the Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, to consider recommendations of the Indrajit Gupta Committee on State funding of elections during the Bhartiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government. The GoM was decided on August 17, 2001 by the Union Cabinet, presided over by the then Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. The Committee on State Funding of Election was headed by the former Union Home Minister and veteran CPI leader, Indrajit Gupta, had submitted its report to the Government on January 14, 1999. The Indrajit Gupta panel had favoured State funding of elections, saying it was justified constitutionally and legally. It had recommended State funding in kind and not in cash.

At a public function of journalists on July 15, 2011 at Indore Press Club, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan appealed for provision of state funding of elections in the presence of Vice President, Hamid Aansari and several ministers. In such a context, the recommendation for continued corporate funding of Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by BJP is quite bizarre and inexplicable.

UPA’s role is equally sad. In theory, a PIB release dated September 14, 2011 reveals that UPA Government has accepted the recommendations made by the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Corruption in its First Report on September 6, 2011. The Union Government had constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) on 6th January. 2011 to consider measures that can be taken by the Government to tackle corruption, under the chairmanship of Union Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee. Its terms of reference “State funding of elections”.

The Group of Ministers has called upon the Ministry of Law to formulate concrete proposals on Constitutional and statutory amendments which are required for introducing reforms relating to State Funding of Elections as per a PIB release dated October 15, 2011. The Group of Ministers had, in its meeting held on 6th September, 2011, asked the Ministry of Law to report progress in the consultative process already initiated by it. In the 30th September, 2011 meeting of the GoM, after the Law Ministry made a presentation on the subject, the Group of Ministers directed the Law Ministry to formulate specific proposals for consideration and decision of the GoM, excluding such areas where consultation with political parties was required.

In the recently concluded Convention of Indian Youth Congress on November 29, 2011, Sonia Gandhi, Chairman, Indian National Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) reiterated the need for state financing of elections as a measure against corruption in the electoral process. Earlier, she had demanded it at the Congress plenary in December 2010. Salman Khurshid, Union Minister for Law & Justice informed the Lok Sabha on November 28, 2011 that “Group of Ministers constituted by the Central Government is considering measures that can be taken by the Government to tackle corruption which inter alia include the introduction of state funding of elections. The Group of Ministers has discussed certain formulations those could be adopted to address this issue but no final decision has yet been taken” in a written reply to a question. The Companies Bill, 2011 shows that what Sonia Gandhi told the Convention of Indian Youth Congress has not been incorporated in the Bill.

The Companies Bill provides for excessive rule making powers to the executive for subordinate legislation. This is not advisable given the poor state of our national governance. The Bill makes provision for only one person to make a company-One Person Company Limited under clause 3 (1), c. The India Economic Census 2005, revealed that the country has 4.2 million non-farm enterprises and less than 3 lakh active companies. This appears to be an exercise in the corportisation of the whole of non-farm enterprises. It seems to be an engineered act of legislative corruption that merits more consideration than Lokpal Bill before it is passed by the Parliament.

In such a backdrop, why does Union Law Ministry pretend forgetfulness while approving the Companies Bill that provides for corporate funding of political parties about Group of Ministers decision asking it “to formulate concrete proposals on Constitutional and statutory amendments which are required for introducing reforms relating to State Funding of Elections”? It is clear that Union Law Ministry is expected to do undertake two contradictory legislative works by the Union Cabinet.

Is it not the case that both Congress led UPA and BJP led NDA is preaching one thing and practicing just the contrary? Is it any wonder that Dow Chemicals Company cites the opinion of two senior officer bears of BJP and Congress in their “Q and A with respect of the Government of India’s request for a Curative Petition”? in the matter of Bhopal’s industrial disaster?. Dow says, “according to the formal legal opinions of two respected Indian jurists, Senior Counsel, Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Mr. Arun Jaitely, Dow cannot be found liable under the laws of India. (See the full opinions at:Mr. Arun_Jaitley_Opinion_EXPARTE.pdf; Dr.Abhishek_Manu_Singhvi.pdf)”. Dr Singhvi gave his 10 page opinion on the letterhead of National Spokesperson of Indian National Congress. Jaitely gave his 15 page opinion on the letter head of the Senior Advocate having phone numbers which is used by him as Member of Parliament. Corporate funding manifests itself in myriad disguises.

The provision of corporate funding of political parties in the Companies Bill must be looked at in the backdrop of the decision of Supreme Court of USA on January 21, 2010 in the Citizens United case, which was denounced by US President Barack Obama for the sake of record. The US Court considered whether there could be a ban on corporations using their general treasury funds for elections-related expenditure. A majority (5-4) of the Court ruled that such a ban was violative of the right to free speech. Essentially, the US Court struck down certain campaign-finance limits as a violation. The impact of this ruling is that corporate entities in the USA are free to use their general treasury funds to incur election-related expenditure, in a departure from past precedents. It also raised a question do corporations have free-speech rights, just as do individuals? If this is the path of corporations very soon, indeed ‘We The People’ will be excluded from even representative government because of Corporate Personhood. It was said in the US papers that it would turn the political class into prostitutes.

In that case Companies Bill is all set to turn most political parties into brothels wherein made-to-order legislations will have a field day if it is not the case already. Will it be surprising if very soon there will be approval for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to facilitate setting up of legislation manufacturing factories?

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 that deal with CSR reads" Every company having net worth of rupees five hundred crore or more, or turnover of rupees one thousand crore or more or a net profit of rupees five crore or more during any financial year shall constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Borad consisting of three or more directors, out of which at least one director shall be an independent director.

(2) The Board's report under sub-section (3) of section 134 shall disclose the composition of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. (3) The Corporate Social Responsibility Committee shall,— (a) formulate and recommend to the Board, a Corporate Social Responsibility Policy which shall indicate the activities to be undertaken by the compay as specified in Schedule VII the company spends, in every financial year, at least two per cent of the average net profits of the company made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy:

Provided that if the company fails to spend such amount, the Board shall, in its report made under clause (o) of sub-section (3) of section 134, specify the reasons for not spending the amount.

Schedule VII mentioned in the clause 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? Prime Minister's National Relief Fund itself can collect it as Government of India did acting as parens patriae (guardian of the nation), passed the Bhopal Gas Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985 in the case against USA’s Union Carbide Corporation, currently owned by USA’s Dow Chemicals Company. A five judge bench of the Supreme Court upheld that the State had rightly taken over the exclusive right to represent and act on behalf of every person entitled to make a claim in the Charan Lal Sahu Vs Union of India and others on 22 December, 1989. The Companies Bill should provide for “creation of an Industrial Disaster Fund” to comply with this very order in the aftermath of world worst industrial disaster before the nuclear disasters of Chernobyl and Fukushima.

The political parties that will collect up to 7.5 % of annual profits of the companies as donations will not have the political will to regulate CSR activities and will not be able to acts in any case. A regime that is elected based on state funding of elections can undertake the above welfare activities and act as a genuine parens patriae. Citizens rightfully deserve it. The proposal of such CSR activities as acts of charity is an assault on provisions of the constitution that provides for entitlements for life and environment as a fundamental right.

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

Companies Bill, 2011 introduced in Lok Sabha

2011-12-15T08:11:00.000-08:00

The Companies Bill 2011

Carbon trade is opium trade: Durban deal promotes status quo

2011-12-14T22:44:00.000-08:00

The deal promotes status quo

By Gopal Krishna

The 17th session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) failed to acknowledge that carbon markets are encouraging a reliance on fossil fuels and a monetisation of the atmosphere. As a consequence, small island states, coastal people, indigenous people, local communities, fisherfolk will suffer without any legal remedy. Lack of wisdom and sense of history of free trade among those who gathered made them connive at the carbon trade even in the second commitment period. This is akin to the opium trade.

Not surprisingly, Durban revealed the failure in stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere that is required at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system, which includes the totality of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and geosphere and their interactions. Sadly, it is sought to be done through carbon offsets and carbon trade which was incorporated in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol — an amendment to the 1992 UNFCCC — on the insistence of the US which wanted to sell it to the US Senate as “economically effective”, but to no avail. The American lifestyle was not negotiable and is still not so.

Like previous sessions of the UNFCCC, which had the mandate to achieve a reduced pollution level within a timeframe sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner, the Durban exercise also remained caught in the narratives of nation states. For instance, it is insincere on the part of developing countries like India to argue that carbon trade leads to poverty alleviation in the same breath as it seeks permits for survival emissions and Nano cars.

As long as carbon offsets and carbon trade remain part of the text of the climate treaty no amount of verbiage can disguise the fact that it is not good for the developing countries which are imitating the industrialised countries.Some 130 species of birds have become extinct since the 17th century because of alterations in climate, landscape and their food sources. Collapse of bee hives is quite widespread. Agricultural production depends on them but this does not seem to matter to companies and visionless nation states especially from the industrialised countries; it is the people in developing countries who will suffer the most.

The continued failure of developing countries in getting rid of false solutions from the negotiations due to their incestuous relationship with carbon credit-earning companies will lead to resource conflicts. This is akin to pushing the client states towards agreeing to discuss climate crisis in the UN Security Council, which has already been attempted on two occasions. Developing countries must revise their strategy by the next major UNFCCC Conference during November-December 2012 before it is too late for course correction.

Gopal Krishna is Convener, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)

Outcome is good, if not best

By Sunita Narain

The Durban outcome may not be the ideal one for for developing countries, per se. But it is as good a deal as they could have got in the circumstances where the developed world is keen to renege on commitments and the developing world is deeply divided on what should happen. Let us be clear: the Durban agreement only reflects the fact that the world is far from bridging the gap on emission reduction to avoid catastrophic climate impacts. This is because the developed world that has contributed to the bulk of emissions historically is not keen to take on the burden of reducing emissions.

Therefore, the Durban conference reflected this obduracy of the developed world to act. But it also came after a period when global media and civil society had successfully changed the nature of the climate discourse — moved it away from the fundamental question of equity in distribution of the global commons — to the crisis of climate change and the need for all countries, including India to act. It is in this backdrop that countries like India arrived in Durban, cornered by the powerful Western public opinion, which could only see their growth as the problem for the world.

Worse, as the world has not acted decisively to cut emissions, the crisis of climate change has grown. In all this, the poor are getting divided and turning against each other. On one hand, island nations — from Maldives to Granada — believe, rightly so, that the world has not delivered on its promise to cut emissions and is today jeopardising their future. But they do not have the power to fight the powerful interests. So, this powerful coalition — the voice of climate victims — has turned against their partner developing countries, targeting India, for instance, for inaction. This is when the per capita emission of most island states is more than countries like India.

As I see it, India and key developing countries showed some spunk at Durban. They fought back, as best as they could, given the power of the rich countries and the loss of ground of the poor countries in the years before. What they got was an assurance that the future agreement will take into account their need for development and this agreement will be created under the Framework Convention on Climate Change. This will protect the differentiation between developed and developing and provide equity as the basis of mandatory emission targets, which the world desperately needs to take to avoid climate change.

Climate change is real, the threat is urgent. The world needs to act. We have to build power in our voice to make sure, in the next round, expected in Qatar in 2012, that the world wakes up and listens to our message that the world is running out of time, not because of the intransigence of the poor, but because of the selfish actions of the rich. We want hard and tough action to reduce emissions because we are vulnerable. But this action must be built on our right to development — not the right of the rich to pollute.

Sunita Narain is Director, Centre for Science & Environment (CSE)

15 December, Op-ed, The Asian Age & Deccan Chrocicle
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/op-ed/west%E2%80%99s-real-burden-767

Open Letter to Narendra Modi on Heavy Pollution in Gujarat

2011-12-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

To,

Shri Narendrabhai Modi
The Chief Minister of Gujarat
Government of Gujarat
1st Block, 5th Floor,
New Sachivalaya,
Gandhinagar - 382 010.

Shri Narendrabhai Modi
The Chairperson
The Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority
Block No. 11, 5th Floor,
Udyog Bhavan, Sector - 11,
Gandhinagar - 382 017

Subject: Requesting you to clarify the position of your government on some major people’s issues when you are in Vadodara on 15th December 2011 for your ‘Sadbhavna Mission’.

Dear Sir,

We would like to raise certain issues for your response when you are in Vadodara on 15th December 2011 for your ‘Sadbhavna Mission’. We do not want to raise the issue by protesting in public by shouting slogans but we are sending you our questions in advance so that when you are in Vadodara you can give your response. We are also sending the copy of the letter to the press so that you can also give your response to the press. These are not new; we have repeatedly raised these same issues in letters sent to your various departments and directly to you but we have yet to receive a proper reply. Your office always referred these letters to the so-called concerned department even when straight questions were addressed to you. We are ready for dialogue in an open meeting with you. We are also prepared to attend a press conference to discuss these issues in the presence of press. We assure you that we are eager to engage in dialog with you, and are sending you our concerns in advance so that the discussion may be thoughtful.

(1) Your book CONVENIENT ACTION – Gujarat’s Response To Challenges of Climate Change selectively presents information and data which are convenient to defend the ‘development model’ being pursued by the state. Even the Gujarat Ecology Commission report acknowledges the abysmal status of the environment in Gujarat. Why did you base your book on cherry-picked evidence that ignores the level of irreversible environmental degradation in the state of Gujarat?You have included in your book on page 132-133 a photo of the 'Common Effluent Treatment Plant' of Vapi, a facility which has not been able to fulfil the environmental norms prescribed by Gujarat Pollution Control Board since many years. While the photo is very large, there is no discussion about the functioning of CETP of Vapi. Your book completely ignores the failure of all major ‘industrial effluent treatment facilities’ of Gujarat. Why?

(2) On 17th September 2011, an RTI application with your office, seeking information regarding the ‘Sadbhavna Mission’ was filed by Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah. The RTI application sought to know how much money was spent on the 3 days (17, 18 & 19th) programme, who were the sponsors, and under which policy or rules this programme was conceived and carried out. The application was forwarded to the home department and home department is saying that they can provide the information about their department only and about other question lot of other departments are involved so we should approach the other department. A request was made to your office to forward our application to other concerned departments so that we could receive responses to our application. Why has your office failed to forward the application to other concerned departments? We would like to know your position on this issue.

(3) We had also launched a complaint against residential & commercial complexes coming up in the vicinity of hazardous solid waste sites in Ahmedabad (Vatva & Naroda) in violation of GPCB notification on industrial hazardous solid waste and The Hazardous Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1989. These complexes were in violation of the CPCB & GPCB guideline and norms requiring a 500 meter safety distance from TSDFs & CETPs to residential complexes. Instead of punishing the violating builders/contractors, The Forest & Environment Department and Urban Development and Urban Housing Department of Government of Gujarat decided, in the meeting dated 5-9-2011, to relax the required 500 meter safety radius to only 100 meters for the purpose of legalizing all illegal residential complexes which came after the notification. For future, it was decided that the 500 meter distance would be enforced.The original guideline was issued with the intention of preventing risk to the health and safety of the people. The revision obviously looks at the profit margin of unscrupulous contractors, not the innocent residents who will suffer in future.This post-facto regularization of illegal residential complexes sends a clear message that the safety norms can be bent to accommodate economic interests. This is going to be a disastrous action on the part of the concerned authorities as far as the health and safety of the people is concerned. It is clear that such a decision can only be due to immense pressure from the rich and powerful.It cannot have been a suo motto decision. Instead of taking firm action and enforcing the regulations, these departments are succumbing to pressure from all sides from powerful rich people who want to legalize their illegal residential complexes.Any post facto relaxation in the present environmental guidelines and norms is nothing but manipulation of present environmental norms to legalize illegal construction activities in order to favour powerful rich people who can pressurize the Government to act against the interests of ordinary people. We are opposed to the proposed dilution of norms, and have expressed this and written letters to you. We would like to know your position on this issue, especially the acceptability of changing laws to accommodate violators.

(4) As treatment facilities of Gujarat continue to be unable to meet the Gujarat Pollution Control Board‘s (GPCB) norms, a moratorium on opening new industries or expansion of existing industries was declared for the Ankleshwar area on 7-7-2007, and now the Ministry of Environment and Forests has extended it up to 31-3-2012. Later on, on 13-1-2010 a moratorium was declared for other areas like Vatva, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Vapi, etc. The moratorium was subsequently lifted for the Vapi, Bhavnagar, and Junagadh area because of the pressure of the Gujarat Government. We objected to the lifting of moratorium for Vapi because treatment facilities of Vapi are still not able to meet the GPCB norms. Today the moratorium for Vatva, Ankleshwar is extended till 31-3-2012. This has rightly stalled the projected huge investment in these areas of Gujarat. However, we believe that as responsible citizens, we are not and cannot be concerned only with the quantum of investment, but also with what is being invested, what the goal of the investment is, and how it affects the people in general. The Gujarat Government has perpetually opposed these moratoriums, despite obvious need. Given that the industries are facing moratoriums from the Ministry of Environment and Forests for unabated cycle of pollution which continues to impact adversely all kinds of lives – human, agriculture and livestock, we are interested to know what you have to say regarding the industrial moratoriums in our state.

(5) Why does your government fail to have land use policy? Why is an abundance of chemical industries allowed in fertile land, including the 'vegetable basket' of India like Padra Taluka of Vadodara District?

(6) On 7-5-2004 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 657/1995, the Supreme Court ordered Gujarat State to provide clean drinking water to residents of villages near Vapi, Ankleshwar, and Effluent Channel Project of Vadodara, where the water supply was irrevocably damaged by industrial activities. Yet, there are ongoing actions contrary to what the Court has ordered. This order is waiting for its implementation. When will your government implement this order? The quality of groundwater in Gujarat has reached at critical stage and yet it is being contaminated continuously. Orders for clean drinking water are passed based on the visit of the Supreme Court committee, and the committee is not able to visit all the affected villages of the Golden Corridor. The groundwater of about 14 districts and about 74 talukas of Gujarat are critically affected by pollution. Even if we take the routine parameter like Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TS), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and some heavy metal like Cadmium, Copper, Lead, Mercury, Iron etc. Thus condition of the groundwater of Gujarat requires immediate attention as the rural population is deprived of the very basic need of safe drinking water and clean water for their animals and crops.

Ahmedabad, Daskroi, Mehmedavad, Vadodara, Ankleshwar, Bardoli, Choryasi, Kamrej, Mangrol, Olpad, Palsana, Valod, Vyara, Navsari, Sanand, Dhoraji, Jetpur, Okha Mandal etc talukas are critically polluted. Amreli, Jambusar, Junagad, Mandvi, Kalol, Morvi, Upleta, Mahuva, Chorila, Dhangadhar, Limdi, Bansda, Umbergaon etc talukas are found moderately polluted.[1]

If we talk about Vatva to Vapi - Golden Corridor it is clear that 70% of the groundwater is contaminated and it has reached the irreversible level. When you are going to act on this serious issue of contamination of ground water?

(7) The air pollution situation is also alarming in the Golden Corridor of Gujarat. The Gujarat Pollution Control Board admits[2] in writing “5. PROBABLE POLLUTANTS: … (B) Air: HCL, SO2, NH3, H2S, NOx, PM2.5, PM10, VOCs, PAHs, PCBs, VINYL CHLORIDE. Note: Benzene, VOCs, PAHs, PCBs, vinyl chloride are not being monitored by GPCB, as no measuring facility is available with GPCB. This statement speaks for itself. In an advanced state like Gujarat, why do we not have facilities to take these basic measurements? Moreover, when will you take actions to clean up the air quality, which has become some poor?

(8) You are the chairman of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority and the same authority has to implement ‘The Gujarat State Disaster Management Act, 2003. The Act clearly states ‘(2) (h) “ disaster” means an actual or imminent event, whether natural or otherwise occurring in any part of the State which causes, or threatens to cause all or any of the following: (i) widespread loss or damage to property, both immovable and movable; or (ii) widespread loss of human life or injury or illness to human beings; or (iii) damage or degradation of environment;’[3] but the web site of Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority states ‘The GSDMA has been constituted by the Government of Gujarat by the GAD’s Resolution dated 8th February 2001. The Authority has been created as a permanent arrangement to handle the natural calamities.’[4] What about environmental disasters? There is no ‘Comprehensive Chemical Emergency Plan’ with the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority. The Director, Health & Safety Department has an ‘Off Site Emergency Plan;’ but when we demanded a copy of it, we were told that it is secret. Kindly clarify your position on the crucial issue of a disaster management plan and its transparency.

(9) A direct outcome of our persistent efforts since 1994 has been forcing GPCB / Government to act against Hema Chemicals of Vadodara which was responsible for illegal dumping of hazardous chromium waste in Gorwa area of Vadodara. As per the direction of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee the company has been ordered in year 2004 to pay Rs. 17 Crores as first instalment towards remediation of the site. Why has your government failed to remove the hazardous waste dumped by Hema Chemicals, recover the Rs 17 Crores fines from Hema Chemicals, per the direction of Supreme Court?

(10) In Gujarat the Final Effluent Treatment Plant (FETP) of Ankleshwar which was inaugurated by you continues to be unable to meet the Gujarat Pollution Control Board’s norms. The Project is designed to divert industrial pollution from Amla Khadi and the Narmada River. The FETP is operated by Bharuch Eco Aqua Infrastructure Ltd, (now known as ‘Narmada Clean Tech Ltd.’). The FETP was built by the sweat of tax payers. Out of a total project cost of Rs 131.43 Crores, the industries paid only Rs 21.75 Crores (about 17%); the rest of the tab (Rs 109 Crores) was picked up the Central Government, Gujarat Government, and Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) - all of which ultimately draw from public money. It is a familiar story: the profits are distributed privately, but the institutional costs and environmental burden are borne by another segment of the population. Why did you inaugurate the FETP pipeline project despite its non-compliance with the GPCB norms? Why do you endorse the public paying when industries pollute?

(11) Which law allows the effluent that does not meet Gujarat Pollution Control Board norms to be discharged from Tadgam Sarigam Pipeline, from FETP, Ankleshwar, ECP, Vadodara, CETPs of Ahmedabad? We would like you to clarify your position on the issue of such an open and blunt disregard of environment laws.

(12) The Vadodara Mahanagar Seva Sadan is dumping its municipal solid wastes into the ravines, ditches, hillocks of Vishwamitri River by violating the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000. The action of the corporation is directly violating laws which provide that water bodies should not be permitted to be polluted. Instead of protection and preservation, the government and its corporation are themselves are destroying a Vishwamitri River with their unlawful and unethical dumping of Municipal Solid Waste. Many times this has also led to terrible floods from River Vishwamitri.On 25th of May 2005 the Chairperson of Gujarat Pollution Control Board had given clear direction to the Municipal Commissioner of Vadodara Municipal Corporation: (1) To stop dumping of Municipal Solid Waste on the bank of the river “Vishwamitri“ and recollect all the waste from about 70,000 sq. meter area and dispose it on the landfill site. (2) To recollect solid waste from the bank of the river and clean up national water way to avoid the flooding during monsoon season. (3) To recollect solid waste from site near Akota Garden and on the bank of the river near VUDA Circle and dispose it at the landfill site. (4) To stop burning of Municipal solid waste all over the city immediately. (5) To direct the concerned personnel to be more vigil and careful. (6) Directed them to comply with the direction issued in the authorization granted.

Now VMSS do have the so-called legal site but still direction dated 25-5-2005 is not implemented by the VMSS and still illegal dumping is continued at the illegal site. This is nothing but butchering of the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000. Why there is no legal action under the act as initiated against the VMSS by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board?

There is little to debate regarding the factual basis underlying our concerns. We have also made our perspective clear: the environment and the well-being of people in general should be treated with more respect than industrial/profit-making interests. By writing this letter, we are soliciting your stance on these issues in writing. In the interest of democracy and transparency, we feel we are entitled to a response from you.

Rohit Prajapati
Swati Desai
Trupti Shah
Anand Mazgaonkar
Amrish Brahmbhatt
Shivani Patel
Rajni Dave

[1] State Environmental Action Programme - Industrial Pollution Phase III – Sectoral Report, Volume - I, Gujarat Ecology Commission, April 2002
[2] Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Abatement Action Plan – Vapi Industrial Cluster – Gujarat, GPCB, Gandhinagar 2010
[3] http://www.gsdma.org/dmact.pdf [4] http://www.gsdma.org/profile.htm

An Open Letter from America's Port Truck Drivers on Occupy the

2011-12-14T22:05:00.000-08:00

We are the front-line workers who haul container rigs full of imported and exported goods to and from the docks and warehouses every day.

We have been elected by committees of our co-workers at the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle, Tacoma, New York and New Jersey to tell our collective story. We have accepted the honor to speak up for our brothers and sisters about our working conditions despite the risk of retaliation we face. One of us is a mother, the rest of us fathers. Between the five of us we have 11children and one more baby on the way. We have a combined 46 years of experience driving cargo from our shores for America’s stores.

We are inspired that a non-violent democratic movement that insists on basic economic fairness is capturing the hearts and minds of so many working people. Thank you “99 Percenters” for hearing our call for justice. We are humbled and overwhelmed by recent attention. Normally we are invisible.

Today’s demonstrations will impact us. While we cannot officially speak for every worker who shares our occupation, we can use this opportunity to reveal what it’s like to walk a day in our shoes for the 110,000 of us in America whose job it is to be a port truck driver. It may be tempting for media to ask questions about whether we support a shutdown, but there are no easy answers. Instead, we ask you, are you willing to listen and learn why a one-word response is impossible?

We love being behind the wheel. We are proud of the work we do to keep America’s economy moving. But we feel humiliated when we receive paychecks that suggest we work part time at a fast-food counter. Especially when we work an average of 60 or more hours a week, away from our families.

There is so much at stake in our industry. It is one of the nation’s most dangerous occupations. We don’t think truck driving should be a dead-end road in America. It should be a good job with a middle-class paycheck like it used to be decades ago.

We desperately want to drive clean and safe vehicles. Rigs that do not fill our lungs with deadly toxins, or dirty the air in the communities we haul in.
Poverty and pollution are like a plague at the ports. Our economic conditions are what led to the environmental crisis.

You, the public, have paid a severe price along with us.

Why? Just like Wall Street doesn’t have to abide by rules, our industry isn’t bound to regulation. So the market is run by con artists. The companies we work for call us independent contractors, as if we were our own bosses, but they boss us around. We receive Third World wages and drive sweatshops on wheels.

We cannot negotiate our rates. (Usually we are not allowed to even see them.) We are paid by the load, not by the hour. So when we sit in those long lines at the terminals, or if we are stuck in traffic, we become volunteers who basically donate our time to the trucking and shipping companies. That’s the nice way to put it. We have all heard the words “modern-day slaves” at the lunch stops.

There are no restrooms for drivers. We keep empty bottles in our cabs. Plastic bags too. We feel like dogs. An Oakland driver was recently banned from the terminal because he was spied relieving himself behind a container. Neither the port, nor the terminal operators or anyone in the industry thinks it is their responsibility to provide humane and hygienic facilities for us. It is absolutely horrible for drivers who are women, who risk infection when they try to hold it until they can find a place to go.

The companies demand we cut corners to compete. It makes our roads less safe. When we try to blow the whistle about skipped inspections, faulty equipment, or falsified logs, then we are “starved out.” That means we are either fired outright, or more likely, we never get dispatched to haul a load again.

It may be difficult to comprehend the complex issues and nature of our employment. For us too. When businesses disguise workers like us as contractors, the Department of Labor calls it misclassification. We call it illegal.

Those who profit from global trade and goods movement are getting away with it because everyone is doing it. One journalist took the time to talk to us this week and she explains it very well to outsiders. We hope you will read the enclosed article “How Goldman Sachs and Other Companies Exploit Port Truck Drivers.”

But the short answer to the question: Why are companies like SSA Marine, the Seattle-based global terminal operator that runs one of the West Coast’s major trucking carriers, Shippers’ Transport Express, doing this? Why would mega-rich Maersk, a huge Danish shipping and trucking conglomerate that wants to drill for more oil with Exxon Mobil in the Gulf Coast conduct business this way too?

To cheat on taxes, drive down business costs, and deny us the right to belong to a union, that’s why.

The typical arrangement works like this: Everything comes out of our pockets or is deducted from our paychecks. The truck or lease, fuel, insurance, registration, you name it. Our employers do not have to pay the costs of meeting emissions-compliant regulations; that is our financial burden to bear. Clean trucks cost about four to five times more than what we take home in a year. A few of us haul our company’s trucks for a tiny fraction of what the shippers pay per load instead of an hourly wage. They still call us independent owner-operators and give us a 1099 rather than a W-2.

We have never recovered from losing our basic rights as employees in America. Every year it literally goes from bad to worse to the unimaginable. We were ground zero for the government’s first major experiment into letting big business call the shots. Since it worked so well for the CEOs in transportation, why not the mortgage and banking industry too?

Even the few of us who are hired as legitimate employees are routinely denied our legal rights under this system. Just ask our co-workers who haul clothing brands like Guess?, Under Armour, and Ralph Lauren’s Polo. The carrier they work for in Los Angeles is called Toll Group and is headquartered in Australia. At the busiest time of the holiday shopping season, 26 drivers were axed after wearing Teamster T-shirts to work. They were protesting the lack of access to clean, indoor restrooms with running water. The company hired an anti-union consultant to intimidate the drivers. Down Under, the same company bargains with 12,000 of our counterparts in good faith.

Despite our great hardships, many of us cannot — or refuse to, as some of the most well-intentioned suggest — “just quit.” First, we want to work and do not have a safety net. Many of us are tied to one-sided leases. But more importantly, why should we have to leave? Truck driving is what we do, and we do it well.

We are the skilled, specially-licensed professionals who guarantee that Target, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart are all stocked with just-in-time delivery for consumers. Take a look at all the stuff in your house. The things you see advertised on TV. Chances are a port truck driver brought that special holiday gift to the store you bought it.

We would rather stick together and transform our industry from within. We deserve to be fairly rewarded and valued. That is why we have united to stage convoys, park our trucks, marched on the boss, and even shut down these ports.

It’s like our hero Dutch Prior, a Shipper’s/SSA Marine driver, told CBS Early Morning this month: “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
The more underwater we are, the more our restlessness grows. We are being thoughtful about how best to organize ourselves and do what is needed to win dignity, respect, and justice.

Nowadays greedy corporations are treated as “people” while the politicians they bankroll cast union members who try to improve their workplaces as “thugs.”
But we believe in the power and potential behind a truly united 99%. We admire the strength and perseverance of the longshoremen. We are fighting like mad to overcome our exploitation, so please, stick by us long after December 12.

Our friends in the Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports created a pledge you can sign to support us here.

We drivers have a saying, “We may not have a union yet, but no one can stop us from acting like one.”

The brothers and sisters of the Teamsters have our backs. They help us make our voices heard. But we need your help too so we can achieve the day where we raise our fists and together declare: “No one could stop us from forming a union.”

Thank you.

In solidarity,

Leonardo MejiaSSA Marine/Shippers Transport ExpressPort of Long Beach10-year driver
Yemane BerhanePorts of Seattle & Tacoma6-year port driver
Xiomara PerezToll GroupPort of Los Angeles8-year driver
Abdul KhanPort of Oakland7-year port driver
Ramiro GotayPorts of New York & New Jersey15-year port driver

http://occupywallst.org/

Govt defers decision on Posco SEZ

2011-12-12T09:56:00.000-08:00

The Posco SEZ, to be set up in Jagatsinghpur, had received in-principle approval from the BoA but it expired in October. Subsequently, the steel giant's India subsidiary had sought more time from the government for its SEZ, that has to come up on 1,620.49 hectares in Orissa.

The government has deferred a decision on South Korean steel major Posco's request for allowing more time to set up multi-product SEZ in Orissa till the Board of Approval's next meeting.

The inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA), chaired by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, deferred the issue due to the absence of a "reasoned submission" of the Orissa government.

As per the rules, state government's nod is required for a final clearance by BoA to set up an SEZ.

"...a faxed request was received from the Government of Orissa, stating that it would submit its views later. No reasoned submission has been provided...the matter is deferred to the next meeting, before which the state government may make a reasoned submission," the minutes of the BoA meeting, held on November 28, said.

The BoA also gave extra time to 11 SEZ developers, including those of Parsvnath SEZ, to execute their projects.

Four tax free zones including Dr Reddy's Laboratories and City Gold Realties Private Ltd were de-notified.

While some asked for de-notification of their SEZs due to change in their business plans, others have cited reasons such as imposition of Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT).

The BoA also gave its approval to set up four zones, including Free Trade and Warehousing Zone to be set up by Mundra Port and SEZ Ltd in Gujarat, over an area of 168.41 hectares.

Exports from SEZs grew 26.2 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1.76 lakh crore during April-September this fiscal.

Out of 381 notified zones, 148 are operational. Maximum number of them are in sectors such as IT/ITES, engineering, electronics, hardware and textile.

SEZs and export oriented units (EoUs) contributed 34 per cent to the country's export shipments in 2010-11.

However, in the wake uncertainties over tax incentives, scores of SEZ developers were given more time to execute their project and some of them have surrendered.

The draft Direct Taxes Code, which is to replace the Income Tax Act, has proposed withdrawal of exemptions for new units.

In this backdrop,the Commerce Ministry has floated a discussion paper to revamp the policy.

Press Trust of India, 12 Dec 2011

http://profit.ndtv.com/News/Article/govt-defers-decision-on-posco-sez-293937

UNFCCC's Press Release after Durban conference

2011-12-11T23:44:00.000-08:00

11 December 2011- Countries meeting in Durban, South Africa, have delivered a breakthrough on the future of the international community's response to climate change, whilst recognizing the urgent need to raise their collective level of ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to keep the average global temperature rise below two degrees Celsius.

"We have taken crucial steps forward for the common good and the global citizenry today. I believe that what we have achieved in Durban will play a central role in saving tomorrow, today," said Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation and President of the Durban UN Climate Change Conference (COP17/CMP7).

"I salute the countries who made this agreement. They have all laid aside some cherished objectives of their own to meet a common purpose - a long-term solution to climate change. I sincerely thank the South African Presidency who steered through a long and intense conference to a historic agreement that has met all major issues," said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

In Durban, governments decided to adopt a universal legal agreement on climate change as soon as possible, but not later than 2015. Work will begin on this immediately under a new group called the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action.
Governments, including 35 industrialised countries, agreed a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol from January 1, 2013. To achieve rapid clarity, Parties to this second period will turn their economy-wide targets into quantified emission limitation or reduction objectives and submit them for review by May 1, 2012.

"This is highly significant because the Kyoto Protocol's accounting rules, mechanisms and markets all remain in action as effective tools to leverage global climate action and as models to inform future agreements," Ms. Figueres said.

A significantly advanced framework for the reporting of emission reductions for both developed and developing countries was also agreed, taking into consideration the common but differentiated responsibilities of different countries.

In addition to charting the way forward on reducing greenhouse gases in the global context, governments meeting in South Africa agreed the full implementation of the package to support developing nations, agreed last year in Cancun, Mexico.

"This means that urgent support for the developing world, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable to adapt to climate change, will also be launched on time," said Ms Figueres.
The package includes the Green Climate Fund, an Adaptation Committee designed to improve the coordination of adaptation actions on a global scale, and a Technology Mechanism, which are to become fully operational in 2012 (see below for details).

Whilst pledging to make progress in a number of areas, governments acknowledged the urgent concern that the current sum of pledges to cut emissions both from developed and developing countries is not high enough to keep the global average temperature rise below two degrees Celsius.

They therefore decided that the UN Climate Change process shall increase ambition to act and will be led by the climate science in the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report and the global Review from 2013-2015.

'While it is clear that these deadlines must be met, countries, citizens and businesses who have been behind the rising global wave of climate action can now push ahead confidently, knowing that Durban has lit up a broader highway to a low-emission, climate resilient future,' said the UNFCCC Executive Secretary.

The next major UNFCCC Climate Change Conference, COP 18/ CMP 8, is to take place 26 November to 7 December 2012 in Qatar, in close cooperation with the Republic of Korea.

Details of key decisions that emerged from COP17 in Durban
Green Climate Fund
• Countries have already started to pledge to contribute to start-up costs of the fund, meaning it can be made ready in 2012, and at the same time can help developing countries get ready to access the fund, boosting their efforts to establish their own clean energy futures and adapt to existing climate change.
• A Standing Committee is to keep an overview of climate finance in the context of the UNFCCC and to assist the Conference of the Parties. It will comprise 20 members, represented equally between the developed and developing world.

• A focussed work programme on long-term finance was agreed, which will contribute to the scaling up of climate change finance going forward and will analyse options for the mobilisation of resources from a variety of sources.

Adaptation

• The Adaptation Committee, composed of 16 members, will report to the COP on its efforts to improve the coordination of adaptation actions at a global scale.
• The adaptive capacities above all of the poorest and most vulnerable countries are to be strengthened. National Adaptation Plans will allow developing countries to assess and reduce their vulnerability to climate change.
• The most vulnerable are to receive better protection against loss and damage caused by extreme weather events related to climate change.

Technology

• The Technology Mechanism will become fully operational in 2012.
• The full terms of reference for the operational arm of the Mechanism - the Climate Technology Centre and Network - are agreed, along with a clear procedure to select the host. The UNFCCC secretariat will issue a call for proposals for hosts on 16 January 2012.

Support of developing country action

• Governments agreed a registry to record developing country mitigation actions that seek financial support and to match these with support. The registry will be a flexible, dynamic, web-based platform.

Other key decisions

• A forum and work programme on unintended consequences of climate change actions and policies were established.
• Under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, governments adopted procedures to allow carbon-capture and storage projects. These guidelines will be reviewed every five years to ensure environmental integrity.
• Governments agreed to develop a new market-based mechanism to assist developed countries in meeting part of their targets or commitments under the Convention. Details of this will be taken forward in 2012.

Source: http://unfccc.int/files/press/press_releases_advisories/application/pdf/pr20111112cop17final.pdf

View webcast from final press conference with UNFCCC Executive Secretary and COP17/CMP7 President

Climate Change, the Big Corrupt Business?

2011-12-11T23:41:00.001-08:00

By far the best interview out of Durban - If only everyone spoke the truth like Tom Goldtooth in this interview ... we would be winning the battle instead of losing.

By Khadija Sharife in Durban

Tom Goldtooth, head of the Indigenous Environmental Network talks to The Africa Report about the manipulation of carbon trading data and the double standards assumed by richer countries.

"The carbon certificate, that says one corporation somewhere in the world now controls and owns what in our culture cannot be owned – land, air, the trees" - Tom Goldtooth/Photo/Reuters

Goldtooth expresses his misgivings about agriculture being included as part of the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD). Arguing that "REDD is going to be the largest legal land grab the world has ever seen", the indigenous North American warns of colonialism and forced privatisation. And according to him "those with the most money and power can – by remote control, lock up the largest land areas in developing countries". "They are happiest to work with the most corrupt because it is easiest that way," he says.

Interview.

The Africa Report: How do indigenous peoples, such as yourself, perceive REDD?

Tom Goldtooth: There are a number of reasons for profiling REDD as a false solution. For indigenous peoples, and as an indigenous organisation that specialises in environmental issues, and which has consulted with many indigenous peoples from the North of the world to the South, from the East to the West, one of the biggest issues is escalation of global warming. In Alaska, melting ice has forced entire villages to relocate, there is coastal land erosion. It is not an easy situation to pull up your entire life – as a community – and move, especially with the other issues involved like settlers with private land rights. So the biggest issue we feel, is putting a stop to climate change by shutting the valve of GHG. It is a matter of life and death.

So we are very concerned that the second round of the Kyoto Protocol is being held back by the powerful governments of the world, including my own government, the US. Any real mitigation is welcome with open arms because we are the people who are most vulnerable and desperate for a solution. But is REDD a real solution? Already, there has been manipulation of the data, displacement of peoples, narratives driven by industry-funded scientists. We are concerned that the same people who caused the problem are now shaping the solution to fit with their agendas – which is making a profit using the same principles that caused the problem. Look at how it is being implemented as well – corporations know that it is easy to exploit the peoples of the South given the state of their governments, the lack of land rights, the violation of human rights, through that piece of paper – the carbon certificate, that says one corporation somewhere in the world now controls and owns what in our culture cannot be owned – land, air, the trees. How can this belong to a one financier when it belongs – and has a right to belong, to the earth?

Give us your perspective on the US government's position in the climate talks?

In our country, there has been the expansion of fossil fuel development, so even while they are talking a green policy view, they are expanding dirty industry right in our backyards, which is also the homeland of indigenous peoples. Look at the tar sands in Northern Alberta, Canada – this is within the traditional homelands of the Dine' people – I'm a Southern Dine'. Another group, the Namate, live downstream and with the immediate zone. They are about 22 corporations – many of them state-funded, including Statoil from Norway, and Total from France. The companies involved are not only polluting the atmosphere and the earth, but they're depleting water, and the same companies are involved with clearing away the boreal forest. It is a viable option now that the price of fuel is going up. Yet Canada, which has not come close to meeting their commitments and is a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, has gone ahead with tar sands. These are the governments that are supposed to provide the solution?

Has there been any co-option of the indigenous leadership through corporatising policies such as Alaska's 'native corporations'?

Yes – there are many shams, precisely like the native corporation. At the top, our allies in the UN tell us they are still wondering whether it can even scientifically work or not – offsetting biotic carbon in trees for the carbon mine from the earth and burnt through combustion. In the long term, we pay the price. The indigenous peoples in Alaska are very concerned about the destruction of their leadership through the native corporations that was a mechanism by the US government and politicians to gain title to buy them out with money through forming these corporations, which also locates negotiating tactics within these capitalist structures. We work with the Alaskan organisation Redoil – some have resisted becoming part of it and still call themselves traditional governments, they are not part of the regional corporation structures. Some have sold their shares. Others still participate to try and make a difference. These corporations are lobbied and collaborate with the business-as-usual fossil fuel leaders. It has taken us away from our traditional principles and values which is the opposite of commodifying, privatisation resources that are destructive and spell a death sentence. The native corporation heads – we see them in meetings, wearing designer suits, and talking designer talk. We don't talk because their agenda is the same lethal talk that has caused a global crisis.

If we look at the way in which the UN is structured, is there legitimacy to this UNFCCC event – should it be delegitimised or engaged with?

It is a two-way street for us. Certainly, the UN is what you say. But look – we tried to use it as a way of lifting up issue of human rights, social and environment justice, and bring that to the framework. We know that the first Kyoto Protocol had many problems including that the emissions target that Annex 1 (developed) nations were signatories too, was the bare minimum. It was very hard for us to accept the compromise. Some of the bigger organisations said, 'Tom Goldtooth – this is the first step, we can strengthen it later.' But here, it is 'later' and the issue of relevant binding agreements holding industrialised countries accountable has to happen. But as indigenous peoples, we cannot wait for another international agreement to be negotiated – another wasted decade. You have petroleum companies now that are investing millions to offset their pollution by owning the environment. Our people end up as renters. But what happens when the carbon market falls apart or collapses? Who is liable? Who pays the price? We are told to safeguard and trust the process, but the advisors in the UN and World Bank, have even admitted that it is going to be very weak.

There is a lot of risk. We fear that at the end of the day, with agriculture now being included as part of REDD, REDD is going to be the largest legal land grab the world has ever seen. Back to colonialism, back to forced privatisation, especially for forest communities. Those with the most money and power can – by remote control, lock up the largest land areas in developing countries. And they are happiest to work with the most corrupt because it is easiest that way.

Do you have representation through large green political muscles – and if so, how, if not, why not?

"When indigenous peoples started to call into question the false solutions, we were attacked by large environmental organisations, saying that we were not looking at the bigger picture, at the benefit of REDD. We saw a campaign mounted to disrupt us, and to marginalise what we're saying. But indigenous people no longer are able to stand back and let the 'good intentioned' voices speak on our behalf. In 1999, it used to be five or six people, at most, holding the line. Only when REDD became part of the picture, did indigenous peoples begin to stand up and actively resist. Corporations that fund some of the green organisations know how to play the game, and the organisations play back, to stay in business. The corporations know there is money to be made from investing in privatised trees, and that it looks good in paper. If you look at the NGOs, these are European 'white' NGOs, and there is tremendous racism and classism woven into that. When an ethnic person speaks up, they get offended they don't want a solution from the marginalised. They want to devise the solution they feel is best for the whole system – and we have to ask ourselves what the system they actually represent, entails.

Many have proposed 'eco-socialism' and other similar models as the solution. Renowned Marxist David Harvey says it may be necessary to separate indigenous-type peoples living in the commons, like the Amazon, from the 'natural' commons – what is he advocating and from what standpoint?

"The white-is-right dogma – where they don't care to understand what the reality is and the culture and beliefs, of indigenous peoples, all over the world, especially the most marginalised, the forest peoples. We are the ones most anxious to protect, our cultures are principles on the belief that we cannot own and abuse the earth for our short-term benefit."

Youth from all over the world have flown in – yet many lack understanding of the political economy of pollution, both problem and solution. Why is this?

"Look at the role of the WWF-type organisations. These are educators. Al Gore – pushing for the carbon market, he is an educator on the environment and climate. They are slumming it out in Durban, it is fashionable for a young white kid from the US or UK to be concerned about a global poverty issue, not the reality in their own backyards, but somewhere where they can be special, become heroes. We challenged the big organisations with environmental racism – the top ten movements, including Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, to bring our voices to the board, to the way in these campaigns are shaped. They resisted us. Even when they do appoint a person of colour, it is usually from within the mentality of surburbia, so that they are never questioned or taken out of the comfort zone where 'white is right.' And these organisations and their narratives are so popular – you have young kids coming, getting their hands dirty. They leave, feeling vindicated, slumming around – as if they have done their share. But this is our life, and that parachuting in and out of communities, the ruckus society, is destructive and presents the distorted reality. We have challenged, and become very unpopular, for raising the issue of classism which is source of the problem and requires an economic analysis if the environmental and climate narrative is to be truthful.... Look at 350.org – we had to challenge them to bring us to stand with them on the pipeline issue. Bill McKibben, the ivory tower white academic, didn't even want to take the time to bring people of colour to the organising. We managed a negotiation that allowed for both groups to unite.

Concerning celebrated activist voices like Naomi Klein – they appear to come from a specific formula - What are your thoughts?

"Well, it is always the case with the media that 'white is right' or that global issues affecting people of color on the frontline should be represented by the type of voices that don't engage, in a threatening way, the realities of capitalism. There are also many fashionable voices that become part of the establishment in the sense that while they do espouse the truth, it is not pose a threat for change, for ending the system, because someone has adopted a cause that they were not born into. The communities that live in the cancer hotspots, in the immediate environment, their voices are too real, too threatening. Meanwhile, infiltration continues – how the corporations lend their money to the media - how the media shapes the tones and get the right voices to provide just the right amount of dissent. Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg donated millions to the Occupy Wall Street. We need a systems change, not an isolated trendy environmental change. The organisations that speak need to have a real constituency – they need to be accountable to the people they represent. There is no time for egos and games anymore.

As Navaho people, as Dakota people, we are struggling to understand how the problem that created the problem becomes the solution? In our language, we have no translation of ownership for the air – or carbon. One of my elders told me, if you ever have a hard time translating something into your language, beware that it may lack the truth.

http://www.theafricareport.com/index.php/news-analysis/climate-change-the-big-corrupt-business-50176874.html