Sunita Narain: Sharing profits for new gains
We need to change our belief that minerals are more
important than forests, water or people
Sunita Narain / New
Delhi
The draft Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation)
Amendment Bill, or MMDR Bill, includes a crucial provision to share the wealth
of mining — 26 per cent of the annual profits — with people who live near the
projects. But industry wants this profit-sharing clause dropped. The Federation
of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi) says it will breed lazy people, who will
only drink and beat up their women. The Confederation of Indian Industries
(CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci)
have reportedly made similar representations to the group of ministers (GoM)
considering this Bill. Clearly, this opposition is not just shortsighted. It
completely misses the point that today the poorest in India
Let us be clear, the minerals that we need for our growth —
from coal for our power to bauxite for aluminium and iron ore for steel — are
all found in areas where there are our richest and most dense forests. These
are also the lands where the tigers of India
roam, where the rivers of peninsular India
flow from and where the tribals of India India
The question is how will India
FOREST QUALITY A CONCERN, OFFICIALS & NGOS PUNCH
HOLES IN GOVT'S GREEN INDIA MISSION
Publication: Financial Express
Date: Sunday, August 22 2010
Date: Sunday, August 22 2010
As environment & forests minister Jairam Ramesh prepares
to present the Rs 44,000-crore Green India Mission blueprint to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh for approval, he would have to take a serious note of the
concerns raised in the just-concluded public consultations on the draft mission
document about the challenging target of doubling afforestation and
eco-restoration areas as well as enhancing the quality of forests.
The mission, which aims to double the green cover in 10
years to 20 million hectares (ha) to store 6.4% of the country's greenhouse gas
emissions by 2020, is one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan
on Climate Change (NAPCC) launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008…………………………..
Man-tiger conflict on the rise as forest lands
encroached
Rachna Singh | TNN
Jaipur: Human intervention in the tiger reserve is proving costly with a third man being mauled by the animal in Ranthambore in four months. In fact, several efforts by the government towards tiger conservation have failed to yield result despite several crores spent on the project. The project has not helped the villages around the reserve.
According to Dharmendra Khandal, conservation biologist, Tiger Watch, an NGO: “There is very large grazing pressure on the reserve. July to October is the most problematic period since most of the cattle of nearby villages move into the reserve forest. Besides, due to heavy grazing pressure it has not been possible to constitute core areas for Sawai Mansingh Sanctuary and Kailadevi Sanctuary. The recurrent conflict with villagers regarding grazing in the
According to Project Tiger Reserves, funded by the Centre,………………..
Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik meets Prime Minister, Jai Ram
Ramesh
Report by Orissa Diary bureau; New Delhi
The requirements of the Forest Rights Act have also been
fully met. If the forest clearance is withheld/withdrawn at this stage, it will
raise serious questions about the credibility of Govt. of India, he said. The
people residing in the area have been promised a very handsome compensation
package and they have gladly accepted it. Any disturbance to the project
at this stage would seriously impact its progress, he pointed out. The Prime
Minister noted the various points raised by the Chief Minister and promised to
remove the hindrances to the POSCO project very soon…………………………
U’khand all set to host national forestry games
Jotirmay Thapliyal Tribune News Service Dehradun, August 20
Uttarakhand is all set to host its first and nation’s 19th All-India Forest Sports Meet in October next year. Preparation has already begun on a war footing with the state Principal Conservator of Forests convening a meeting on September 6 in Dehradun to oversee the arrangements.
Jotirmay Thapliyal Tribune News Service Dehradun, August 20
Uttarakhand is all set to host its first and nation’s 19th All-India Forest Sports Meet in October next year. Preparation has already begun on a war footing with the state Principal Conservator of Forests convening a meeting on September 6 in Dehradun to oversee the arrangements.
The state government had recently given a go ahead signal to
the state forest authorities for hosting the games that will incur an estimated
expenditure to the tune of over Rs 4 crore, major chunk of which will be
contributed by the state government, while a part of it will be funded by the
Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. Money through sponsorships and entry
fees will also be generated as an additional source………………………………………………….
No comments:
Post a Comment