MoEF calls meet to protect elephants
Rajat Roy | 2010-09-25 01:00:00
After the tragic death of seven wild elephants, one of them
a calf, by a goods train speeding through the forests of Dooars last night, the
Union ministry of forest and environment has called a meeting of the chief wild
life wardens. The date of the meeting has not been fixed yet but it is likely
to be held in the first week of October, says one of the experts involved with
the conservation of elephants at the national level.Expressing shock, Jairam
Ramesh, minister in charge of forest and environment, has said in a statement
from New York, "This is not the first time such a mishap has taken place,
although the scale with which it has taken place now is unprecedented,
particularly in the North-East Frontier Railway." He said that he would
meet with officials of the Railway Board after his return to India on September
26.Only last week Jayram Ramesh had written a letter to all seven chief
ministers of the states where there are sizeable population of wild elephants………
Stopping mining projects will not help displaced
people: FM
BS Reporter / New
Delhi
Coal ministry opposes
concessions for PSUs in profit sharing.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said people
displaced due to mining projects should be provided alternative sources of
livelihood in addition to adequate compensation.“The solution does not lie in
companies stopping mining activities. It lies in providing alternative sources
of livelihood to those displaced. We have to ensure that we compensate them and
make them beneficiaries of economic development,” he said at the Coal Summit
2010 here.On the possibility of public sector undertakings (PSUs) getting any
concession in the profit-sharing regime, to be introduced by the new mining
Bill, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, who was also present at the summit,
said: “There is no proposal being considered by the Group of Ministers (GoM) to
treat PSUs separately. We will have to offer level playing field to both the
private and public sector companies.”A 10-member GoM, headed by Mukherjee, is
currently finalising the draft Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation)
Bill, which is likely to make it mandatory for mining companies to share 26 per
cent of their profits with the tribal population affected by the projects……………………….
150 openbill storks die in Karbi Anglong
PULLOCK DUTTA
Guwahati, Sept. 24: Over 150 endangered Asian openbill
storks, most of them chicks, died and several were injured, as strong winds
damaged their nests and blew them off trees at remote Banglung Shyam village in
Karbi Anglong district of Assam last night.Over 800 storks had died in the
village in September two years ago when a banyan tree where the birds nested in
large numbers collapsed because of continuous rain and strong winds.Sushen
Shyam, an employee attached to Karbi Anglong (east) forest division, said over
phone that the tragedy could have taken place around 10.30 last night when the
winds were extremely strong……………………………………….
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