Syrian defector says Iran providing arms, funds to Assad
A former Syrian diplomat says Iran has provided weapons and funds
to President Bashar al-Assad since the start of anti-government
uprisings in March last year.Former Syrian ambassador to Iraq Nawaf
Fares spoke to an NHK correspondent in Doha on Monday.Fares, who
defected from Syria in July, said the killing of Syria’s defense
minister in an explosion last month was a big blow to the government and
has affected the leadership of its security institution.He quoted a
Syrian government source as saying that the president is shuttling
between the capital Damascus and Latakia in northwestern Syria, fearing
assassination attempts and moving frequently.
Fares also said he attended a meeting of Syrian and Iranian
high-ranking officials in March last year, shortly after anti-government
protests began.He said Iran urged that civilian protests be thoroughly
suppressed and offered all-out cooperation to the Syrian government,
including supplies of arms and funds.Fares added that arms and funds are
being brought to Syria from Iran via Mediterranean ports and Iraq.Referring to support for anti-government forces in Syria, Fares said Qatar and Saudi Arabia continue to provide political support, but not enough. He called for providing more weapons and funds to the forces.Reports NHK
Typhoon Haikui creates havoc in East China
Typhoon Haikui lashing downpours and flooding which
stranded dozens of people in east China after landing in Zhejiang
Province early Wednesday morning, the provincial observatory said.Haikui
landed in Hepu Township, Xiangshan County near the Sanmenwan Gulf in
central Zhejiang at 3:20 a.m. with the maximum wind speed at 150
kilometers per hour, said the observatory.The rain-triggered flooding
stranded about 130 people in three farmer’s hotels in the city of Lin’an
which the provincial capital Hangzhou administers, said Lin’an
municipal rescuers.
By 8 a.m., 123 people have been rescued while ten others have yet to be reached by the rescuers, they said.
The rescuers once had difficulty to reach the hotels as roads towards it have been flooded and they had to march the last two kilometers on foot, rescuers said.Haikui is the third typhoon to wallop China’s eastern coast in a week, after storms Saola and Damrey hit the region over the weekend.
The rescuers once had difficulty to reach the hotels as roads towards it have been flooded and they had to march the last two kilometers on foot, rescuers said.Haikui is the third typhoon to wallop China’s eastern coast in a week, after storms Saola and Damrey hit the region over the weekend.
Opposition parties submit Noda no-confidence motion
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is facing a censure
motion and a no-confidence motion against his Cabinet over his plan to
raise the consumption tax.Six opposition parties submitted a
no-confidence motion against Noda’s Cabinet to the lower house on
Tuesday.Seven opposition groups also submitted a censure motion against
the Prime Minister in the opposition-controlled upper house.
The parties and groups said most Japanese oppose an increase in the
consumption tax, and the Noda Cabinet’s attempt to push it through
violates the Democratic Party’s own 2009 election pledge. They
criticized Noda for continuing to turn his back on the public. At a
joint news conference, Your Party Secretary General Kenji Eda said the
no-confidence motion must be given priority over all other discussions
in the Diet.He said the parties are seeking support from as many
lawmakers as possible to have the motion passed. Even if the all the
opposition parties, including the Liberal Democrats and New Komeito,
support the no-confidence motion, it will not pass the lower house,
where the Democratic Party holds a majority. However, if more than 15
Democrats also support it, the motion will pass the chamber.
The tax bills are a product of the agreement reached in June among the Democratic Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito on amending bills for social security and tax reform.
It remains to be seen whether the Liberal Democratic Party will submit its own no-confidence motion against Noda’s Cabinet to the lower house.New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi has voiced opposition to submitting such motions before a vote on the tax bills.Reports NHK
The tax bills are a product of the agreement reached in June among the Democratic Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito on amending bills for social security and tax reform.
It remains to be seen whether the Liberal Democratic Party will submit its own no-confidence motion against Noda’s Cabinet to the lower house.New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi has voiced opposition to submitting such motions before a vote on the tax bills.Reports NHK
Philippines floods toll rises to 53
Half of Manila was under water as torrential rain paralysed the city, sweeping away houses, stranding residents on rooftops and triggering a landslide.
Torrential rains from a typhoon and the seasonal monsoon have left at least 53 people dead in the central Philippines.Typhoon Soala struck the country over a week ago, bringing incessant downpours that caused widespread flooding and landslides.
Heavy monsoon rains continue to pound parts of the country, including the capital Manila. Weather officials say the city has had more than 30 millimeters of rain per hour since Monday evening.
The Marikina River in the northeastern part of the city has flooded, leaving houses and stores in the suburbs inundated.Disaster management authorities say about 270,000 people are taking shelter at schools, gyms and other facilities.The military and police are using trucks and boats to rescue stranded residents.
orrential rains from a typhoon and the seasonal monsoon have left at least 53 people dead in the central Philippines.Schools, financial markets and most government and private offices were shut as key roadways in the capital - a city of some 15 million people were submerged by waters that in some areas reached neck-deep. “If we put it in a percentage, at least 50 per cent of Metro Manila is flooded,” Gine Nievarez from the state weather service told the news agency. As local television flashed live footage of rampaging rivers carrying off houses and residents marooned on the roofs of their homes, President Benigno Aquino said the government was doing everything it could to help. “Everybody who is supposed to do something is doing what he is supposed to do,” he told reporters after meeting with civil defence officials. Bad weather from seasonal southwest monsoons has been pounding Manila and nearby areas for over a week.Meteorologists said the crisis in the capital came as over half a month’s rain fell on the city in 24 hours. x-small;”>The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said that more than 800,000 people had been affected, with 18,600 in government evacuation centres and some 231,000 seeking refuge with friends or relatives.Tuesday’s deaths brought the number of people killed by the monsoon rains across the Philippines to 68 over the past week, according to civil defence officials. Nine people from the same family were killed when a landslide struck a slum in the north of the city, officials said. “The rain softened the soil and four houses were buried,” said Maribel Mendoza of the local public safety office.In nearby provinces also hit by floods, four people drowned in Bulacan and two were killed in Batangas. Manila’s population includes millions of squatters, who were forced to flee the huge shantytowns lining rivers and sewers overnight for the safety of schools, gymnasiums and government buildings.
Torrential rains from a typhoon and the seasonal monsoon have left at least 53 people dead in the central Philippines.Typhoon Soala struck the country over a week ago, bringing incessant downpours that caused widespread flooding and landslides.
Heavy monsoon rains continue to pound parts of the country, including the capital Manila. Weather officials say the city has had more than 30 millimeters of rain per hour since Monday evening.
The Marikina River in the northeastern part of the city has flooded, leaving houses and stores in the suburbs inundated.Disaster management authorities say about 270,000 people are taking shelter at schools, gyms and other facilities.The military and police are using trucks and boats to rescue stranded residents.
orrential rains from a typhoon and the seasonal monsoon have left at least 53 people dead in the central Philippines.Schools, financial markets and most government and private offices were shut as key roadways in the capital - a city of some 15 million people were submerged by waters that in some areas reached neck-deep. “If we put it in a percentage, at least 50 per cent of Metro Manila is flooded,” Gine Nievarez from the state weather service told the news agency. As local television flashed live footage of rampaging rivers carrying off houses and residents marooned on the roofs of their homes, President Benigno Aquino said the government was doing everything it could to help. “Everybody who is supposed to do something is doing what he is supposed to do,” he told reporters after meeting with civil defence officials. Bad weather from seasonal southwest monsoons has been pounding Manila and nearby areas for over a week.Meteorologists said the crisis in the capital came as over half a month’s rain fell on the city in 24 hours. x-small;”>The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said that more than 800,000 people had been affected, with 18,600 in government evacuation centres and some 231,000 seeking refuge with friends or relatives.Tuesday’s deaths brought the number of people killed by the monsoon rains across the Philippines to 68 over the past week, according to civil defence officials. Nine people from the same family were killed when a landslide struck a slum in the north of the city, officials said. “The rain softened the soil and four houses were buried,” said Maribel Mendoza of the local public safety office.In nearby provinces also hit by floods, four people drowned in Bulacan and two were killed in Batangas. Manila’s population includes millions of squatters, who were forced to flee the huge shantytowns lining rivers and sewers overnight for the safety of schools, gymnasiums and government buildings.
Hamid Ansari re-elected as Vice President
UPA candidate Hamid Ansari was on Tuesday re-elected as
the Vice President, becoming the second person to get the second
consecutive term as he defeated NDA nominee Jaswant Singh by a large
margin of 252 votes.75-year-old Ansari, a former IFS officer,
got 490 votes against 238 bagged by Singh out of 736 votes polled
earlier in the day.Altogether 787 Members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha
were eligible to vote but 47 MPs did not cast their votes, who include
ailing Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh who is admitted in a Chennai
Hospital.
Eight votes were invalid, according to T K Vishwanathan, Lok Sabha Secretary General and Returning Officer for Vice Presidential poll.
Ansari is the second Vice President to be re-elected after S Radhakrishnan who was the first to get two terms from 1952 to 1962.
Formerly the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Ansari’s name came as a surprise in 2007 election when the Left parties, supporting the UPA-I from outside, proposed him and the Congress-led alliance accepted it.
The Left parties, which faced divisions on the Presidential poll, however, had no problems in supporting Ansari for a second time.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said 21 members from BJD, 11 from TDP, 6 from Congress and supporting parties and two nominated members did not cast their votes.
Others who did not vote include 2 each from BJP, AGP, RSP and TRS and Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, one of the two members of YSR Congress. BJP members who did not vote were Shatrughan Sinha, who is was sick, and Dilip Singh Judev, whose mother was not well.
Trinamool Congress members Kakoli Dastidar and Kabir Suman were abroad. So was SP member Brij Bhushan Singh.
Out of the total 790 members of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha that form the electoral college for Vice Presidential poll, 3 are vacant with Pranab Mukherjee becoming President, Vijay Bahuguna Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and the election of BJP MP J Shanta having been set aside by a High Court.A Padma Shree awardee, Ansari became Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University in May, 2000 and held the post till March, 2002.Ansari also tried to innovate in the House proceedings when he shifted the Question Hour to post-lunch session to avoid loss of opportunity for members to question the government on account of routine disruptions in the morning.The move was given up after just a session when he found the members themselves being absent from the House when their questions were taken up and the government also not very enthusiastic about the move.
The monsoon session of Parliament opening on Wednesday promises to kick up a lot of heat and dust as Opposition parties are planning to raise issues like rising prices, economy and drought etc.Government managers have been insisting that they were ready for discussion on any issue.Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal expressed hope that like the last session, this session too would be a good and productive one as regards transaction of government business.Ahead of the session, UPA will project a united picture with the first meeting of the Coordination Committee of the ruling alliance scheduled tomorrow.
As many as 31 bills have been listed for consideration in the session, which will conclude on September 7. The bills include those on Forward Contracts, Banking laws, whistle-blowers and women’s reservation as also the Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials bill.While the much-talked about Lokpal bill has not been listed for consideration, the managers have been maintaining that it would be brought up expeditiously once the report from the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha is submitted.
Eight votes were invalid, according to T K Vishwanathan, Lok Sabha Secretary General and Returning Officer for Vice Presidential poll.
Ansari is the second Vice President to be re-elected after S Radhakrishnan who was the first to get two terms from 1952 to 1962.
Formerly the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Ansari’s name came as a surprise in 2007 election when the Left parties, supporting the UPA-I from outside, proposed him and the Congress-led alliance accepted it.
The Left parties, which faced divisions on the Presidential poll, however, had no problems in supporting Ansari for a second time.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said 21 members from BJD, 11 from TDP, 6 from Congress and supporting parties and two nominated members did not cast their votes.
Others who did not vote include 2 each from BJP, AGP, RSP and TRS and Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, one of the two members of YSR Congress. BJP members who did not vote were Shatrughan Sinha, who is was sick, and Dilip Singh Judev, whose mother was not well.
Trinamool Congress members Kakoli Dastidar and Kabir Suman were abroad. So was SP member Brij Bhushan Singh.
Out of the total 790 members of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha that form the electoral college for Vice Presidential poll, 3 are vacant with Pranab Mukherjee becoming President, Vijay Bahuguna Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and the election of BJP MP J Shanta having been set aside by a High Court.A Padma Shree awardee, Ansari became Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University in May, 2000 and held the post till March, 2002.Ansari also tried to innovate in the House proceedings when he shifted the Question Hour to post-lunch session to avoid loss of opportunity for members to question the government on account of routine disruptions in the morning.The move was given up after just a session when he found the members themselves being absent from the House when their questions were taken up and the government also not very enthusiastic about the move.
The monsoon session of Parliament opening on Wednesday promises to kick up a lot of heat and dust as Opposition parties are planning to raise issues like rising prices, economy and drought etc.Government managers have been insisting that they were ready for discussion on any issue.Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal expressed hope that like the last session, this session too would be a good and productive one as regards transaction of government business.Ahead of the session, UPA will project a united picture with the first meeting of the Coordination Committee of the ruling alliance scheduled tomorrow.
As many as 31 bills have been listed for consideration in the session, which will conclude on September 7. The bills include those on Forward Contracts, Banking laws, whistle-blowers and women’s reservation as also the Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials bill.While the much-talked about Lokpal bill has not been listed for consideration, the managers have been maintaining that it would be brought up expeditiously once the report from the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha is submitted.
Indonesia to continue buying Iranian crude:
Indonesia will continue buying Iranian crude
regardless of economic sanctions against the Persian Gulf nation, the
official Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing the Indonesian
ambassador to Iran.
“Indonesia needs the trade with Iran, especially the purchase of Iranian oil, and it will pursue this cooperation,” Dian Wirengjurit told IRNA.
The ambassador didn’t elaborate on the amount of crude his country imports from Iran, according to the report today. Indonesia wasn’t among the nine importers, including the European Union, that together bought 91 percent of Iran’s crude in the first half of 2011, according to the most recent data from the US Energy Information Administration.
Shipments from Iran have plunged since the European Union banned the purchase, transport, financing and insuring of Iranian crude on July 1, building on US-led sanctions. The US and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons under the cover of its nuclear program, a charge the government in Tehran denies.
Last month, Iran pumped 2.86 million barrels a day, down 300,000 barrels from June and the lowest level since February 1990. The Islamic republic is the third-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in July, after Saudi Arabia
“Indonesia needs the trade with Iran, especially the purchase of Iranian oil, and it will pursue this cooperation,” Dian Wirengjurit told IRNA.
The ambassador didn’t elaborate on the amount of crude his country imports from Iran, according to the report today. Indonesia wasn’t among the nine importers, including the European Union, that together bought 91 percent of Iran’s crude in the first half of 2011, according to the most recent data from the US Energy Information Administration.
Shipments from Iran have plunged since the European Union banned the purchase, transport, financing and insuring of Iranian crude on July 1, building on US-led sanctions. The US and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons under the cover of its nuclear program, a charge the government in Tehran denies.
Last month, Iran pumped 2.86 million barrels a day, down 300,000 barrels from June and the lowest level since February 1990. The Islamic republic is the third-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in July, after Saudi Arabia
NAPM: India:Land Reforms is Need of the Hour
A Paradigm Shift in Development Planning and Land Reforms is Need of the Hour Not Further Acquisition and Cash Compensation
New Delhi August 07: Amidst all the controversies
and conflicts related to Lokpal and Jan Lokpal politics, a very major
enactment (in Bill form) is to be tabled before the Cabinet this week
for approval and there after tabled in the Monsoon session of the
parliament. While this has been in the offing for last many years,
people’s movements across the country from farmers to fishworkers,
landless workers to Dalits, adivasis as well as urban poor, are closely
watching and reacting or responding to every move on the issue: Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation. The
much awaited new “Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation
Bill” has now been renamed “Right to Fair Compensation, Resettlement,
Rehabilitation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Bill, 2012
with a claim to better reflect Government’s Commitment towards securing
a legal guarantee for the rights of project affected, and ensuring
greater transparency in the land acquisition process. It is
also claimed that the Bill will ensure, in concert with local
institutions of self -government and Gram Sabhas established under the
Constitution, a humane, participative, informed, consultative and
transparent process for land acquisition.
The Bill has no doubt sought comments and suggestions through the website but limited only till 30 days and no regional or state consultations were held by Ministry for Rural Development
as was strongly suggested by NAPM, NFFPFW and many other organisations
across the country. This is a kind of disrespect shown to a large number
of organisations and millions of people engaged not only in conflict
over the issues of land, water, forest minerals or aquatic wealth but
also proposing a new, truly democratic, just and sustainable
‘Development Planning Act’ as an alternative since years.
Now that the all party Parliamentary Standing Committee’s report
(on Rural Development) on the Bill is out and the Ministry of Rural
Development has also made its views / reactions clear and open, we,
the people’s movements, have taken serious cognizance of the fact that
the strong position taken by the Standing Committee on certain critical
issues are either diluted or rejected by the Ministry of Rural
Development, which is shocking. The Ministry that is supposed
to protect the rights and powers of the rural communities has not
accepted some of the standing committee recommendations, towards that
end, which are presented with our comments, herewith:
Food Security and Agricultural Land Acquisition
1. No forcible acquisition of agricultural land, for non-agricultural purpose including single crop and multi crop land.
· Ministry says only multiple crop land can be excluded.
How can the in-between farms that may be unirrigated, rain fed,
single crop be left out, we ask. India has 75% of the agricultural land
as rain fed and most of it single cropped. Such land is mostly held by
Dalits, Adivasis and marginal farms. Protecting them and all farm land
for food security, which comes not from PDS but self sufficient
agriculture, is a must!
Acquisition for Private and PPP Projects
2. No forcible acquisition for private projects, or for PPP, which can not to be categorized as public purpose projects.
· Ministry has rejected this and justified this with a
provision that consent of 80% of project affected People will be sought
before acquisition for any private projects
In this era of neo-liberal economic reforms, private projects
with corporate investment and interests are taking a much larger toll of
land and other rich natural resources as also uprooting by killing
communities which are generations old. This must come to an end and the
same can happen only with stopping the State playing a role of
facilitator and land dealer. At the cost of the livelihood of the nature
based sections and working class section of society, the state can’t
transfer the most valuable livelihood resources such as land, water to
the profiteering bodies in the garb of ‘public interest‘ and ‘public purpose‘.
Bringing 16 Central Acts Under Purview of this Bill
3. The standing committee has recommended that all 16 central
acts should be brought under the purview of the new act, to make all
equal before law (Article 14 of the Constitution).
· Ministry of Rural Development wants to exclude 13 out of
16 Acts including Industrial Development Act, Land Acquisition (Mines)
Act, National Highways Act and others from the purview of the new act.
This means that 90% of the land acquired as on today will continue with
injustice and force used, with no change at all.
The standing committee recommendations must be upheld to end brutal unjust acquisition for all projects.
Role and Consent of Gram and Basti Sabha
4. The Committee asks that all studies – SIA, EIA, expert
committee appraisal be done in consultation with the gram sabhas and the
corresponding reports be made available to the gram sabhas.
· Ministry emphasises that 80% consent of PAFs provision is there in case of linear projects where “consultation”.
Consent and direct involvement of majority of the Gram Sabhas
must be there in each and every project, including public projects for
public purpose. 80% consent of the project affected population for the
private projects alone is not sufficient. Why should the linear projects be left out?
If it’s consent of 80% affected, there are to be a number of
manipulations that people will have to face. Experiences of 70% consent
in Slum Rehabilitation Scheme in Mumbai are quite telling.
Return of Unutilised Land to farmers and Land Bank
5. The Committee recommended that the land, if not used till 5
years, should be returned after 5 years from the date of possession to
the land owners.
· Ministry accepts the reduced five years time period but
opposes its return to the landowner and suggests it to go to State Land
Bank.
The ownership over the land is of those who till it and if not
used and unutilized then it must be returned to the owners or
distributed amongst the project affected people. We oppose any such
feature which will promote land bank, since it has promoted large scale
acquisition in the past and later illegally transferred the same land to
corporations for real estate and other purposes.
Retrospective Application of the Law
6. On the question of retrospective application of the R&R
provisions Committee has suggested to Ministry to re-examine the issue
and incorporate necessary provisions
· Ministry has not accepted it and refused to do so.
It needs to be noted that nearly 100 million people have been
displaced since independence and with a dismal 17-20 percent rate of
resettlement and rehabilitation we had suggested that not only the
retrospective application of the provisions of the new act but a National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Commission be established to deal with the claims of the projected affected people from various projects.
Resettlement and Rehabilitation Benefits
In terms of the resettlement and rehabilitation benefits Committee
apart from suggesting some cosmetic changes have accepted the provisions
of the Bill, we think this is unfortunate since provisions don’t stand
up to livelihood based R&R, it merely promotes the principle of cash
compensation. It will be a retrogressive step since it negates
the land and employment based R&R as mandated in the Narmada Water
Dispute Tribunal Award, and various other projects. The
proposed provisions of compensating employment with money and high rates
for land acquired will only lead to speculative land market and will
destroy the fragile economy of the rural hinterland which will lead to
further urban migration.
Urban Eviction
The Bill and the comments by both, Standing Committee as
well as MoRD almost totally excludes and have unaddressed the situation
in the urban areas, where there is no land acquisition, but eviction,
brutal and unjust, for any and every elitist real estate development to
infrastructure without guaranteeing right to shelter, right to life and
livelihood. The only provision is to compensate with 20% of
developed land for land owning families in urbanisation projects, which
is not with regard to the cases where land belongs to the government or
private entities but people are evicted. We demand a separate section or a separate act
for the millions of the urban persons and urban land from getting
misappropriated. The Bill with the presently proposed content need to be
called only “Rural Bill”.
The rapacious use of Land Acquisition Act 1894 by the government to
secure land for ‘development’ projects has caused over 100 million
people to be displaced from their land, livelihoods and shelters. The
country is dotted with communities resisting State sponsored land grab
which resonate the demand for a just law to ensure that there is no
forced acquisition of land and resources, including minerals and ground
water. The government must respond to the voices from movements across
places such as Narmada, Koel Karo, Singur, Nandigram, Sonbhadra,
Chindwara, Bhavnagarm, Kalinga Nagar, Kashipur, Raigarh, Srikakulam and
mining areas in central India with genuine efforts to address the
longstanding crisis concerning land Acquisition and resettlement &
rehabilitation.
If the UPA government serious about addressing the
conflicts over the land and other natural resources then it must listen
to the voices of those struggling or else it will only aggravate these
conflicts all across the country. The need of growth,
infrastructure and urbanisation can’t be fulfilled on the graveyard of
millions. A pro-people Development Planning Bill with complete
participation of the Gram Sabha will go a long way in stopping the
massive corporate corruption and lead to decentralization of power having an overall impact on the politics of the country.
We the people’s movements and various alliances such as National
Alliance of People’s Movements, National Forum of Forest people and
Forest Workers, Kisan Sangharsh Samiti and others will hold a public discussion (13 August 2012, Constitution Club, New Delhi)
on the forthcoming Bill with activists, people from movements which are
fighting for land rights and representatives from national political
parties. Thousands of people displaced by ’developmental’ projects in
Narmada, Bhakra, Polavaram, Mundra, Pune (Lavasa), Nandigram, slum
displaced people from Mumbai and fish-workers displaced by coastal and
tourist projects will camp in Delhi to warn the government and
protest against passing any such act in this session of the parliament
on 21-23 August 2012.
Medha Patkar, Roma, Dr. Sunilam, Rupesh Kumar
Contact : Madhuresh 9818905316 | Vijayan M J 9868165471 napmindia@gmail.com
===============================================
Ph: 022-24150529
6/6, Jangpura B, Mathura Road, New Delhi 110014
Phone : 011 26241167 / 24354737 Mobile : 09818905316
Web : www.napm-india.org
Facebook : www.facebook.com/NAPMindia
Twitter : @napmindia
Karbonn Mobiles Signs Up as the Title Sponsor of Champions League Twenty20
Leading mobile handset manufacturer Karbonn Mobiles has
signed up as the title sponsor of Champions League Twenty20 starting
with the fourth edition of this marquee tournament due to be held in
South Africa later this year. Karbonn Mobiles signed the deal today with
ESPN STAR Sports, the commercial partners of Champions League Twenty20.
As part of this deal, Karbonn Mobiles will have rights to on ground
title sponsorship with all its entitlements. The tournament will now be
called Karbonn Champions League Twenty20.
Overall, the fourth edition of the Champions League Twenty20 will feature a total of 14 teams and 29 matches across four venues – Centurion, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. The Group Stage will be preceded by a Qualifying Stage from 9 October 2012 to 11 October 2012 featuring six teams. These teams have been equally divided into two pools, with each team playing the other two in its pool once. The top team in each pool, in terms of points, will then qualify for the Group Stage.
Commenting on this partnership, Pradeep Jain, Managing Director, Karbonn Mobiles says, “Karbonn Mobiles is extremely proud to be associated as the title sponsor of Champions League Twenty20 and reiterates its commitment to Cricket with this brand association. We are sure that this fourth edition of CLT20 will become a grand success and will bring more edge-of-the-seat entertainment to the cricket fanatics from across the world. Cricket is one game which is considered as a religion in India and our association with it has helped in breaking the clutter and creating right visibility amongst our target audience.”
“During IPL 5 we introduced our new brand extension christened ‘Karbonn Smart’ offering the new range of technologically advanced products along with a complete range of smart-feature phone segment as well; the response of which has been overwhelming to say the least. With Champions League Twenty20 we are confident to take this unique mobile ecosystem to the next level. We intent to leverage this opportunity by utilising the 360 degree communication mix with a focus on TV, print, digital and press,” he further added.
Sudhir Hasija, Chairman, Karbonn Mobiles says, “Our association with the most popular sports of the subcontinent has proved to be a great platform to reach out to the audience, thus giving the brand an opportunity to connect with the consumers at a massive scale. The association with CLT20 is a matter of great pride for Karbonn Mobiles and it gives us a platform to create constructive fan engagement and thus generate a buzz around the brand Karbonn and the Brand CLT20. Looking to create some innovative brand engagement this season we wish to bring in avant-garde product placements and campaigns into the mix which will go a long way in taking CLT20 to the zenith of TV entertainment. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the BCCI for partnering us for some time now and wish to forward our whole hearted support in making this endeavor a grand success.”
Speaking on the occasion, Aloke Malik, Managing Director, ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd, said, “We are delighted to have Karbonn Mobiles come on board as the title sponsor of Champions League T20. I am very confident that this association will deliver a lot of value to Karbonn Mobiles who have been closely invested in T20 cricket for quite a while now.”
“Champions League Twenty20 in just 3 editions has established itself as a marquee cricket property. This year teams from as many as 8 cricket playing countries will feature in the tournament. From the subcontinent alone, we will see 6 teams in action. Besides the 4 IPL teams, for the very first time, we will have representation from Pakistan which will generate further interest in this block buster property,” added Aloke.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajeev Shukla, Chairman – Indian Premier League and Member – Champions League Twenty20 Governing Council, said, “It gives me immense pleasure in witnessing the grand coalition of telecom pioneers Karbonn Mobiles with our affluent brand Champions League Twenty 20.
In my view, our primary challenge has always been to persistently maintain as well as radically enhance the unparalleled standards established by the Champions League T20 brand in the last few years. I am extremely confident in stating that this adroit association shall certainly tender an augmented and enriching experience for the nationwide ardent cricket fanatics.”
CLT20 has shown a consistent increase in TV ratings as well as reach numbers over the past 3 editions. The first edition rated 1.5 TVR; the second edition saw an increase of 33% and the ratings jumped to 2 TVR*, the third edition of the league saw a further increase of 10% in TV ratings generating an overall 2.2 TVR. In terms of reach** as well, CLT20 has shown a positive trend. The first edition reached out to 77 million individuals while the second edition reached out to 95 million. The third edition reached out to 102 million individuals.
*TG Ratings 15+ M ABC CS
**TG Reach CS4+, All India, Live+highlights
About Karbonn Mobiles:
Karbonn Mobiles, launched in March 2009, is the one of the fastest growing mobile brand in the country complemented by a comprehensive portfolio of mobile phones with an array of features. Karbonn Mobiles is a joint venture between Delhi-based Jaina Group and Bangalore based UTL Group. Karbonn already has over 650 service centers established across the country, ensuring great after sales support.
About Karbonn Champions League Twenty20
CLT20 is an initiative of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa. The tournament is a platform where the world’s best domestic T20 teams get the opportunity to pit their skills against each other. The tournament is broadcast around the world by ESPN STAR Sports, who is also the commercial rights holder for the event.
Overall, the fourth edition of the Champions League Twenty20 will feature a total of 14 teams and 29 matches across four venues – Centurion, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. The Group Stage will be preceded by a Qualifying Stage from 9 October 2012 to 11 October 2012 featuring six teams. These teams have been equally divided into two pools, with each team playing the other two in its pool once. The top team in each pool, in terms of points, will then qualify for the Group Stage.
Commenting on this partnership, Pradeep Jain, Managing Director, Karbonn Mobiles says, “Karbonn Mobiles is extremely proud to be associated as the title sponsor of Champions League Twenty20 and reiterates its commitment to Cricket with this brand association. We are sure that this fourth edition of CLT20 will become a grand success and will bring more edge-of-the-seat entertainment to the cricket fanatics from across the world. Cricket is one game which is considered as a religion in India and our association with it has helped in breaking the clutter and creating right visibility amongst our target audience.”
“During IPL 5 we introduced our new brand extension christened ‘Karbonn Smart’ offering the new range of technologically advanced products along with a complete range of smart-feature phone segment as well; the response of which has been overwhelming to say the least. With Champions League Twenty20 we are confident to take this unique mobile ecosystem to the next level. We intent to leverage this opportunity by utilising the 360 degree communication mix with a focus on TV, print, digital and press,” he further added.
Sudhir Hasija, Chairman, Karbonn Mobiles says, “Our association with the most popular sports of the subcontinent has proved to be a great platform to reach out to the audience, thus giving the brand an opportunity to connect with the consumers at a massive scale. The association with CLT20 is a matter of great pride for Karbonn Mobiles and it gives us a platform to create constructive fan engagement and thus generate a buzz around the brand Karbonn and the Brand CLT20. Looking to create some innovative brand engagement this season we wish to bring in avant-garde product placements and campaigns into the mix which will go a long way in taking CLT20 to the zenith of TV entertainment. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the BCCI for partnering us for some time now and wish to forward our whole hearted support in making this endeavor a grand success.”
Speaking on the occasion, Aloke Malik, Managing Director, ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd, said, “We are delighted to have Karbonn Mobiles come on board as the title sponsor of Champions League T20. I am very confident that this association will deliver a lot of value to Karbonn Mobiles who have been closely invested in T20 cricket for quite a while now.”
“Champions League Twenty20 in just 3 editions has established itself as a marquee cricket property. This year teams from as many as 8 cricket playing countries will feature in the tournament. From the subcontinent alone, we will see 6 teams in action. Besides the 4 IPL teams, for the very first time, we will have representation from Pakistan which will generate further interest in this block buster property,” added Aloke.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajeev Shukla, Chairman – Indian Premier League and Member – Champions League Twenty20 Governing Council, said, “It gives me immense pleasure in witnessing the grand coalition of telecom pioneers Karbonn Mobiles with our affluent brand Champions League Twenty 20.
In my view, our primary challenge has always been to persistently maintain as well as radically enhance the unparalleled standards established by the Champions League T20 brand in the last few years. I am extremely confident in stating that this adroit association shall certainly tender an augmented and enriching experience for the nationwide ardent cricket fanatics.”
CLT20 has shown a consistent increase in TV ratings as well as reach numbers over the past 3 editions. The first edition rated 1.5 TVR; the second edition saw an increase of 33% and the ratings jumped to 2 TVR*, the third edition of the league saw a further increase of 10% in TV ratings generating an overall 2.2 TVR. In terms of reach** as well, CLT20 has shown a positive trend. The first edition reached out to 77 million individuals while the second edition reached out to 95 million. The third edition reached out to 102 million individuals.
*TG Ratings 15+ M ABC CS
**TG Reach CS4+, All India, Live+highlights
About Karbonn Mobiles:
Karbonn Mobiles, launched in March 2009, is the one of the fastest growing mobile brand in the country complemented by a comprehensive portfolio of mobile phones with an array of features. Karbonn Mobiles is a joint venture between Delhi-based Jaina Group and Bangalore based UTL Group. Karbonn already has over 650 service centers established across the country, ensuring great after sales support.
About Karbonn Champions League Twenty20
CLT20 is an initiative of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa. The tournament is a platform where the world’s best domestic T20 teams get the opportunity to pit their skills against each other. The tournament is broadcast around the world by ESPN STAR Sports, who is also the commercial rights holder for the event.
Multi-level marketing employees rallied before Parliament
Over 7,500 volunteers representing multi-level marketing employees
and MMEF all over India today rallied before Parliament under the banner
All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) demanding proper law to protect
the interests of the multilevel marketing employees, consumers and the
corrupt and underhand practices of the MNCs.
Inaugurating the rally, veteran parliamentarian and General
Secretary of AITUC declared that that AITUC, all other unions affiliated
to AITUC and himself will be in the forefront along with MMEF to force
the government to bring in immediately the necessary law to protect the
employees. “If you struggle, take the struggle deep down to every nook
and corner of the country and come back to the national capital in
larger numbers, Parliament and the central government will be forced to
listen to your demands and act positively. In India lakhs of educated
young people are engaged in multilevel marketing sector. These employees
have been dependent for years on this sector for meeting their
livelihood needs.”
The AITUC leader said that the multilevel marketing in the name of
reaching the consumers quality products at a cheap price, exploits its
employees to the full by denying them all genuine and accepted workers’
rights. A small share of the profit is being distributed to the
employees in the sector as remuneration without any consideration for
their job security and family’s welfare.
The youngsters are joining this sector with the belief that the
plans and packages worked out by most of the MNCs, domestic business
majors and the newly entering small traders are generally beneficial
both to the employees and the consumers. As a marketing tactics and with
an aim to win over both the employees and consumers, these companies
come out with copies of all kinds of certificates, testimonials and
awards along with photographs to prove that their products were used and
satisfied by people who matter in the society including political
leaders, professors, teachers, doctors and others
The rally, which began from the Barakambha Road and marched to
Parliament house, was led by EC Satheesan, PV Ashokan, Chidambaram N, V
Sreenivasan, Muben Mohamed, James Mathew, V R Sreenivasan, Sasidharan,
Baby Sebastin, Jairo K James, Deepak Bajan, Gowran Nehra, ADV Pradeep,
Awani Kumar Sharma and TV Stephen. The rally was stopped by police in
front of the Parliament Street police station where it got converted
into a public meeting.
AITUC national secretary and reception committee chairperson
Amarjeet Kaur who presided over the meeting at Parliament street said
that multilevel marketing has today become a reality everywhere in the
world including India. Therefore this sector could not be just ignored
and is growing at a tremendous pace in India too. The sector is being
made fully and legally operational in our neighbouring country China. In
several countries, there is separate law and even a separate ministry
to deal with the sector and those engaged in multilevel marketing
including also both employees and consumers.
She demanded a central government law to identify and protect the
real multilevel marketing companies as well as the employees involved in
the sector. The law must be immediately enacted and brought into
practice so that the employees who have taken MLM as a career can live
with a pride.
She pointed out that the high-power seven member inter-ministerial
committee set up by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs with nominees from
various ministries and the RBI unfortunately does not have any employee
representation. This lacuna will seriously affect the quality of the
fact-finding report, which will recommend and finally be submitted to
the government by August 31, 2012. Therefore we demand appropriate steps
by the government to consult all stakeholders including the MMEF before
drafting thre report.
CPI Rajya Sabha member M P Achuthan who spoke in detail of the
MMEF’s successful struggle in Kerala assured all help and support to get
enacted a proper law. He said that though each of these companies
involved in multilevel marketing has rules and regulations, they carry
out their violations — small and big — most intelligently and at times
even make use of the loopholes in the legal set up in India.
AITUC deputy leader H Mahadevan, who referred to other countries
and the epmployees’ struggle experience said that even some of the
companies after amassing enough wealth are least bothered about the
consequential outcome of their operations. If need be they do not think
twice to shut down their activities and flee away from the scene,
throwing the employees to the mercy of the public and law enforcing
agencies.
Among others who spoke are MMEF-AITUC general secretary E C
Sateesan, AIYF general secretary Aftab Alam Khan, AISF Delhi state
president Kunal Kumar, MMEF leaders from various states and Delhi AITUC
leader Babban.
E. C. Satheesan Amarjeet Kaur Chidambaram N
General Secretary National Secretary National Media Co-ordinator
MMEF-AITUC AITUC MMEF-AITUC
Dish TV launchesIndia’s first SD Recorder withunlimited capacity
Delhi, 7th August 2012: Dish TV the pioneer and market leader of India’s DTH industry brings yet another unique technology, “Dish+”, India’s first standard definition box with unlimited recording facility. Dish+ is positioned at a highly consumer friendly and competitive price of Rs. 1690 (against all other SD boxes at Rs 1590)with a 4 GB pen drive free as
promotional offer. Post VCR there is no recording device available with
consumers and there is a huge vacuum to fulfil the consumer need. Dish+ fulfils the ‘need gap’ of recording facility for the consumers.
Speaking on the launch, Mr. R.C Venkateish, Chief Executive Officer, Dish TVIndia,
said “Being pioneers and market leaders we have constantly reinvented
and redefined the market with thought leadership to be ahead of the
pack. Dish+ is being launched in 42 cities of Phase I and Phase II of
digitization and will clearly demonstrate Dish+ as a better alternative
for all viewers who will shift from analog to digital.”
Mr. Salil Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer, Dish TV India, emphasizes “Dish+
is a comeback of recorders in the living room and is a clear
differentiator vis-à-vis other alternatives including digital cable. Its
highly competitive launch price will position it as a preferred option
amongst all DTH buyers”.
Dish+ has been designed with fine detailing, curved edges with sleek and modern looks. The unique feature of Dish + is its compatibility with any USB device enabling consumers to simply plug and play an existing USB stick/ HDD, and build an entire genre based library of their favorite program.Dish+
offers unmatched advantage of recording on SD. Dish+ is user-friendly
with features like “plug-n-play” through an external USB device. This
enables all benefits of a traditional DVR like recording and playing
back programs, Pausing or Rewinding live TV, different play-back
positions, event based recording (EBR), time based recording (TBR) and
so on.
About DishTV India
Rio+20: A Move Towards More Sustainable Transportation
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AirAsia asean officially launched for group’s regional expansion
Jakarta, 8 August 2012 – AirAsia asean, the regional base of the world’s best low-cost airline, was officially launched in Jakarta today.
The launch reaffirms AirAsia’s commitment to the Asean region, which it considers home, and coincides with the eve of the 45th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
With its new regional base, AirAsia strengthens its position as the
Asean airline. AirAsia asean was set up as part of the regional
expansion strategy of the group, which now includes six airlines, five
of which are anchored in Asean: the short-haul carriers AirAsia
Malaysia, AirAsia Thailand, AirAsia Indonesia, AirAsia Philippines and
AirAsia Japan, and the long-haul carrier AirAsia X.
Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia, and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun,
Deputy Group CEO of AirAsia, will be based at the AirAsia asean office.
“The establishment of the AirAsia asean office in Jakarta as our regional base is to help to more fully deliver on our pledge – Now everyone can fly
– to all the people of Asean and beyond. We are blessed to be located
in a part of the world where economic growth is expected to be sustained
despite the chilly economic winds blowing through Europe and the United
States. Shifting AirAsia’s emphasis to a regional strategy is, we
believe, not just good business, but also a move that will keep us ahead
of the inevitable competition that is heading our way,” Fernandes said.
AirAsia asean, as the nerve center of the group’s regional
expansion, will help ready the group for the implementation of the ASEAN
Open Skies policy and the ASEAN Economic Community, initiatives that
the ASEAN Secretariat is now actively pushing in its 10
member-countries.
“AirAsia asean will help ensure that our voice, our concerns and
our appeals are heard much more clearly in the corridors of power with
ASEAN. One of the reasons for locating the office in Jakarta is to help
us engage more closely with the ASEAN Secretariat, which is
headquartered here,” Fernandes said.
By focusing on regional growth, AirAsia expands its market base to
600 million people and brings Asean closer – within four-hour flight
radii – to mega populations in neighboring giants China and India as
well as in Japan and Korea. The Asean region, Northeast Asia and South
Asia have a combined population of 3 billion people, or 43% of the
world’s population.
“No single domestic market in Asean, not even Indonesia, can match
the potential of a regional ASEAN market of 600 million people,” he
added.
AirAsia is supporting its regional growth with a fleet expansion
program that includes firm orders for 375 Airbus A320, 25 Airbus A330
and 10 Airbus A350 aircraft. The group currently operates a fleet of
104 Airbus A320, nine Airbus A330 and two A340 Airbus aircraft. It
operates more than 160 direct city-to-city links and flies to 85
destinations, of which 55 are in Asean.
AirAsia’s commitment to Asean goes beyond its network of
destinations. It has provided employment to 10,000 individuals from
across Asean and flown more than 140 million guests since its launch as a
low-cost airline in 2001. It has championed the region in various
projects, including in sports and youth development, on the global
stage. Last month, AirAsia asean debuted Aseanita, a female Asean
caricature, online to promote the region via popular social media
channels and serve as a guide to the region. Aseanita has so far
garnered more than 2,700 likes on Facebook (facebook.com/Aseanita),
where she engages an average of 500 fans daily. Aseanita also
encourages discussions regarding Asean on Twitter (@Aseanita), where she
has close to 250 followers.
UPA-II Is No More ‘Aam Aadmi Sarkar’
8th, August, 2012:New Delhi: The Central
Secretariat of the Communist Party of India (CPI) strongly decries the
maiden announcement by Sri P Chidambaram, after returning to the finance
ministry. It is no strange the FM has come out with an anti-people,
anti-worker, anti-aam aadmi assessment. Anybody who knows him
from close quarters, including many even in his own party, will agree
that he has been handpicked by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh so that
the corporate as well as MNC interests are protected.
As far as his move to exempt multinational companies, including
Vodafone, from payment of tax on assets they acquire in India and to
facilitate tax avoidance by foreign and Indian corporates, is a
full-fledged attempt to reverse the retrospective effect in the tax law.
He has in fact insulted Parliament, which while adopting the Finance
Bill accepted this norm. Vodafone will of course get a tax relief of Rs
12,000 crore on acquisitions in India, through the new step.
Another measure announced by the FM is aimed at enabling tax
avoidance by companies using the Mauritius route. For that he is going
to review norms under the General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR).
The neo-liberal package of measures worked out by the FM does not
speak of workers’ rights, drought relief measures to peasantry, food
security and universal PDS, interest-free study loans for students, more
jobs for youth, pension and other social security measures for aam aadmi.
The CPI demands that economic policies announced by the finance
minister should be withheld and the new policies should be discussed in
Parliament.
General Secretary: S. Sudhakar Reddy
(S.S.Bhusari)
Office
Secretary
COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA
Central Office
Ajoy Bhavan, 15, Com. Indrajit Gupta Marg, New Delhi-110002
Telephone: 23232801, 23235058, Fax: 23235543, Email: cpiofindia@gmail.com
________________________________________________________________________
Syrian premier Riad Hijab’defects’ blow to Assad
If confirmed, Hijab’s defection would be the highest-ranking of the
17-month uprising, and a new blow to President Bashar al-Assad, who has
already seen no fewer than 31 of his generals cross the border into
Turkey to join the rebellion and a growing number of his ambassadors
break ranks.
Hijab was a leading Sunni Muslim in Assad’s minority
Alawite-dominated government. His home province of Deir Ezzor in the
northeast has been one of the key battlegrounds of the conflict and seen
a mounting death toll from operations by the army in recent weeks.
“Riad Hijab has defected from the regime,” the director of the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told a news
agency.
Abdel Rahman said there were conflicting reports on Hijab’s current whereabouts.
“Some sources say he has arrived in Jordan, others say he was arrested before making his escape,” said Abdel Rahman.
State television reported that Deputy Prime Minister and Local
Government Minister Omar Ghalawanji had been appointed caretaker
premier.
“Prime Minister Riad Hijab has been dismissed,” it said in a terse report.
According to the state-owned newspaper, Hijab presided over two
meetings at the local government ministry on Sunday to discuss “measures
to redevelop areas that have been cleansed of armed terrorists.”
The 46-year-old was only appointed on June 6 following a widely
boycotted May 7 parliamentary election that was hailed as a centerpiece
of reform by the Assad regime but dismissed as a farce by Arab and
Western governments.
An agricultural engineer by training, he was agriculture minister
under his predecessor government Adel Safar who was appointed in April
2011, shortly after the outbreak of the uprising.
The morning bombing struck management offices on the third floor of
the television building in the heavily protected Omayyad district of
the capital.
“It is clear that the blast was caused by an explosive device,” said Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi.
“Syria’s television is being targeted because of its bravery,” Zoabi said.
“But nothing will stop the voice of Syria.” On June 27, gunmen
armed with explosives attacked the Al-Ikhbariya offices outside Damascus
killing three journalists and four security guards.
On Saturday, rebel fighters attacked the state television building in Syria’s second city, Aleppo.
“May this be a lesson to all those who support the regime,” it said.
In Aleppo, the army bombarded a string of rebel neighbourhoods
after government security officials said that troops had completed their
build-up and that a 20,000-strong force was poised for a ground
assault.
A rebel commander was killed in the Salaheddin district in the
southwest, and troops shelled the Palace of Justice, as well as the
Marjeh and Shaar districts, the Syrian Observatory said. A total of nine
people were killed in Aleppo early today, among them eight civilians,
the watchdog.Lopez Nunez won gold120 kg Greco-Roman wrestling
Mijain Lopez Nunez won gold for Cuba in the men’s 120
kg Greco-Roman wrestling Monday, beating Estonia’s Heiki Nabi on points
in the final.Lopez Nunez won 3-0.
Estonia’s Heiki Nabi claimed Estonia’s first medal in London with
silver.World champion Riza Kayaalp of Turkey beat Lopez Nunez to the
world title last year but was forced to settle for bronze, beating Guram
Pherselidze of Georgia 3-0.The second bronze medal match, Johan Euren
of Sweden beat his Belarusian opponent Ioseb Chugoshvili 3-1.
Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus won Olympic gold
Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus won Olympic gold.World silver medalist Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus won Olympic gold in the women’s shot put Monday.Ostapchuk posted a winning distance of 21.36 in the third round.
Defending champion Valerie Adams of New Zealand taking the silver after throwing 20.70.
Evgeniia Kolodko of Russia snatched the bronze on her last attempt with a personal best 20.48.
Poisonous threat to Delhi residents
Poisonous threat to Delhi residents from Farooq Abdullah Ministry & landfills in the sky
Poisonous threat to Delhi residents from Farooq Abdullah ministry & landfills in the sky.Delhi
faces threat from nano particles, ultrafine particulate matter, Dioxins
& heavy metals.Amidst bitter protest against Okhla Incinerator,
construction of incinerator plants at Narela-Bawana & Ghazipur
underway
New Delhi: ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA) gave a presentation to Indian
Association for Air Pollution Control (IAAPC) on ጡndfills in the
sky⠯utlining the disastrous public health consequences of waste to
energy incinerators in DelhiⳠOkhla, Narela-Bawana and Gazipur on August 4
at the meeting of their executive/managing committee. The presentation
is attached.༤iv>
Notably, a related matter has been listed for hearing in the
Supreme Court on October 1, 2012 in the Writ Petition (Civil) No. 888 of
1996. Delhi High Court is seized with the petition of Sukhdev Vihar
residents against the Okhla incinerator plant since 2009. It heard the
matter on July 3, 2012. The next hearing is on October 3, 2012. ༯div>
༯div>
In its presentation to IAAPC, TWA submitted that the burning of
2050 Metric Ton of municipal waste at Okhla by Jindal Ecopolis company,
4000 Metric Ton project at Narela-Bawana by Ramky company and 1300
Metric Ton project at Ghazipur by GMR company. Delhi generates
approximately 22500 Ton of municipal solid waste daily, out of which
7050 Ton is sought to burnt to create landfills for toxic cocktail of
contaminants in the sky. All the three projects are using unapproved
technologies. The probe of Okhla waste to energy incinerator plant by
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) revealed that there is Industrial
Disaster Management Plan has not been prepared and the company is using
a Chinese technology although environmental clearance was taken for
Refuse Derived Fuel technology in a clear case of environmental
lawlessness in the heart of the national capital with impunity. CPCB
report and its critique is attached.
Even the Union Environment Minister has acknowledged that the plant
has violated the EIA Notification, 2006 as not only was the clearance
based on fake public hearing even the clearance has been amended twice
without legal mandate. TWA had reminded the Delhi Chief Minister about
the letter from the Environment Minister. ࠦnbsp; ࠦnbsp;
TWA site visited has revealed that residents and villagers are protesting against the proposed Dioxins emitting plant. The plant at Okhla 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. The proposed plant at Narela Bawana is in the vicinity of Sannaut village. Even Gazipur site is surrounded by residential colonies.
In its presentation, TWA submitted that every time something is burnt, itⳠa backward journey to the beginning of the linear society (extraction- manufacture-consumption-waste). One quarter of the mass of the waste that is burned is ash.
By municipal/household waste, the most toxic substances are created than any chemical laboratory can make it. These include: polyhalogenated dibenzo para dioxins and furans (PCDDs, PCDFs, PBDDs, PBDFs etc) called “dioxins” for short. There are literally thousands of these substances. Incineration releases many toxic metals like lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium etc go into the air, at best they are captured in the fly ash in the air pollution control devices.
For every four tons of waste burned one gets at least one ton of ash: 90% is called bottom ash (that is the ash collected under the furnace) and 10% is the very toxic fly ash. No one knows as to where do the ash from the waste incinerator that is plaguing the national capital due to financial incentives of Farooq AbdullahⳠUnion Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) gets disposed off. MNRE has a waste to energy policy that distorts waste management by promoting incinerator technologies through subsidy of 1.5 crore/MW of waste based power in violation of the Supreme Court Order of May 15, 2007. MNREⳠdriving concern is energy at any human or environmental cost.
TWA underlined the threats from ultrafine particulate matter and nanoparticles which remains beyond regulation which has failed to factor in nanotoxicology. These particles have exquisite biological properties which are very worrying. They are so tiny that they can cross the lung membrane and enter the bloodstream. Once there they can enter every tissue in the body including the brain.
The problem with waste incineration is twofold: a) because every object in commerce is likely to end up in an incinerator any toxic element used in these products is likely to end up in the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles from incinerators are the most dangerous of any common source. b) There are NO regulations in the world for the monitoring nanoparticles from incinerators.
In most countries the particles regulated are 10 microns and above. In some countries they regulate particles at 2.5 microns. But neither standard comes closer to monitoring nanoparticles.
TWA cited a Statement of Evidence -Particulate Emissions and Health from Dr. Vyvyan Howard from Northern Ireland which is the most up to date review of the issue of nanoparticles and incineration available. Before any new incinerator is built in Delhi, or anywhere else for that matter, government officials should force the project proponent director to produce a scientific response to the key questions of nano toxicity posed in this paper.
If they cannot do so, then clearly building such a plant is taking a reckless gamble with the public’s health. Such a gamble cannot be justified on either economic or environmental grounds, both local and global.
Pollution is the most recognized and best-studied problem of incineration. Despite intensive scrutiny over many years, however, much remains unknown about releases of pollutants from incinerators. Waste burners produce hundreds of distinct hazardous byproducts, and only a handful of them have been studied thoroughly. Hundreds more may remain unidentified.
Dioxins are the most notorious pollutant associated with incinerators. They cause a wide range of health problems, including cancer, immune system damage, reproductive and developmental problems. Dioxins biomagnify, meaning that they are passed up the food chain from prey to predator, concentrating in meat and dairy products, and, ultimately, in humans.
TWA recalled that Dioxins became famous as the culprit in such public health disasters as Love Canal, Seveso, Times Beach, and Agent Orange, in which populations were exposed to large quantities of dioxins. These exposures resulted from improper waste disposal (Love Canal and Times Beach), industrial malfunction (Seveso), and the spraying of a herbicide (Agent Orange) contaminated with dioxins as a war chemical. The introduction of approximately one gram of dioxins and 50 kilograms of PCBs into animal food supplies in Belgium triggered widespread food recalls that caused some US$3 billion in damage to the Belgian economy. Worldwide, incinerators are the primary source of dioxins.
Incinerators are also a major source of mercury pollution. Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin, impairing motor, sensory and cognitive functions, and mercury contamination is widespread. Incinerators are also an significant source of other heavy metal pollutants such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, and chromium.
Other pollutants of concern from incinerators include other (non-dioxin) halogenated hydrocarbons; acid gases that are precursors of acid rain; particulates, which impair lung function; and greenhouse gases. However, characterization of incinerator pollutant releases is still incomplete, and many unidentified compounds are present in air emissions and ashes.
Incinerator operators often claim that air emissions are 㵮der control,䠢ut evidence indicates that this is not the case. First, for many pollutants, such as dioxins, any additional emissions are unacceptable. Second, emissions monitoring is uneven and deeply flawed, so even current emission levels are not truly known. Third, the data that do exist indicate that incinerators are incapable of meeting even the current regulatory standards.
Dioxin causes cancer in laboratory animals, and several studies of humans show an increased incidence of various forms of cancer. It is also toxic to the immune system, and it interferes with normal reproduction and development. Primate studies show an association between dioxin exposure and endometriosis. Dioxin interferes with thyroid hormone levels in infants. These effects may occur at extremely low exposure levels. Large accidental or occupational exposures cause a skin rash (chloracne), weight loss, fatigue, decreased libido, altered glucose metabolism, and neurological damage. Dioxin repeatedly causes cancer in virtually all studies in experimental animals at doses well below those which are otherwise toxic.
When air pollution control equipment does function, it removes pollutants from the air and concentrates them in the fly ash, creating a hazardous waste stream that needs further treatment. Thus, the problem of pollutant releases is not solved; the pollutants are simply moved from one medium (air) to another (solids or water). Incinerator ash is highly hazardous but is often poorly regulated. Even landfill disposal is not safe, as landfills leak; but in some places the ash is left exposed to the elements or even spread in residential or food-producing areas. TWA underlined that it is a fraudulent carbon trade project, how every incinerator based waste to energy plant has failed in its journey from DelhiⳠTimarpur to Elikatta Village of Andhra Pradesh and how one Australian companyⳠsix proposals for WTE plant had to be shelved.
These incinerator projects are destroying the livelihood of about 3.5 lakh waste recycling workers and valuable resource material for compost that is required to be treated by composting/anaerobic digestion/vermin composting/other biological processing for stabilization as per Municipal Solid Waste(Management & Handling) Rules framed under Environment Protection Act, 1986. In the CPCB report, Dr A B Akolkar, Director, CPCB emphasized that as per Municipal Solid Waste(Management & Handling) Rules ᢩodegrdable waste⠩s to be treated using biological method rather than deriving RDF or by incineration as is being done by Jindal Ecopolis. It demonstrates that the Timarpur-Okhla Waste to Energy Incinerator Plant violates the Rules.
TWA site visited has revealed that residents and villagers are protesting against the proposed Dioxins emitting plant. The plant at Okhla 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. The proposed plant at Narela Bawana is in the vicinity of Sannaut village. Even Gazipur site is surrounded by residential colonies.
In its presentation, TWA submitted that every time something is burnt, itⳠa backward journey to the beginning of the linear society (extraction- manufacture-consumption-waste). One quarter of the mass of the waste that is burned is ash.
By municipal/household waste, the most toxic substances are created than any chemical laboratory can make it. These include: polyhalogenated dibenzo para dioxins and furans (PCDDs, PCDFs, PBDDs, PBDFs etc) called “dioxins” for short. There are literally thousands of these substances. Incineration releases many toxic metals like lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium etc go into the air, at best they are captured in the fly ash in the air pollution control devices.
For every four tons of waste burned one gets at least one ton of ash: 90% is called bottom ash (that is the ash collected under the furnace) and 10% is the very toxic fly ash. No one knows as to where do the ash from the waste incinerator that is plaguing the national capital due to financial incentives of Farooq AbdullahⳠUnion Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) gets disposed off. MNRE has a waste to energy policy that distorts waste management by promoting incinerator technologies through subsidy of 1.5 crore/MW of waste based power in violation of the Supreme Court Order of May 15, 2007. MNREⳠdriving concern is energy at any human or environmental cost.
TWA underlined the threats from ultrafine particulate matter and nanoparticles which remains beyond regulation which has failed to factor in nanotoxicology. These particles have exquisite biological properties which are very worrying. They are so tiny that they can cross the lung membrane and enter the bloodstream. Once there they can enter every tissue in the body including the brain.
The problem with waste incineration is twofold: a) because every object in commerce is likely to end up in an incinerator any toxic element used in these products is likely to end up in the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles from incinerators are the most dangerous of any common source. b) There are NO regulations in the world for the monitoring nanoparticles from incinerators.
In most countries the particles regulated are 10 microns and above. In some countries they regulate particles at 2.5 microns. But neither standard comes closer to monitoring nanoparticles.
TWA cited a Statement of Evidence -Particulate Emissions and Health from Dr. Vyvyan Howard from Northern Ireland which is the most up to date review of the issue of nanoparticles and incineration available. Before any new incinerator is built in Delhi, or anywhere else for that matter, government officials should force the project proponent director to produce a scientific response to the key questions of nano toxicity posed in this paper.
If they cannot do so, then clearly building such a plant is taking a reckless gamble with the public’s health. Such a gamble cannot be justified on either economic or environmental grounds, both local and global.
Pollution is the most recognized and best-studied problem of incineration. Despite intensive scrutiny over many years, however, much remains unknown about releases of pollutants from incinerators. Waste burners produce hundreds of distinct hazardous byproducts, and only a handful of them have been studied thoroughly. Hundreds more may remain unidentified.
Dioxins are the most notorious pollutant associated with incinerators. They cause a wide range of health problems, including cancer, immune system damage, reproductive and developmental problems. Dioxins biomagnify, meaning that they are passed up the food chain from prey to predator, concentrating in meat and dairy products, and, ultimately, in humans.
TWA recalled that Dioxins became famous as the culprit in such public health disasters as Love Canal, Seveso, Times Beach, and Agent Orange, in which populations were exposed to large quantities of dioxins. These exposures resulted from improper waste disposal (Love Canal and Times Beach), industrial malfunction (Seveso), and the spraying of a herbicide (Agent Orange) contaminated with dioxins as a war chemical. The introduction of approximately one gram of dioxins and 50 kilograms of PCBs into animal food supplies in Belgium triggered widespread food recalls that caused some US$3 billion in damage to the Belgian economy. Worldwide, incinerators are the primary source of dioxins.
Incinerators are also a major source of mercury pollution. Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin, impairing motor, sensory and cognitive functions, and mercury contamination is widespread. Incinerators are also an significant source of other heavy metal pollutants such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, and chromium.
Other pollutants of concern from incinerators include other (non-dioxin) halogenated hydrocarbons; acid gases that are precursors of acid rain; particulates, which impair lung function; and greenhouse gases. However, characterization of incinerator pollutant releases is still incomplete, and many unidentified compounds are present in air emissions and ashes.
Incinerator operators often claim that air emissions are 㵮der control,䠢ut evidence indicates that this is not the case. First, for many pollutants, such as dioxins, any additional emissions are unacceptable. Second, emissions monitoring is uneven and deeply flawed, so even current emission levels are not truly known. Third, the data that do exist indicate that incinerators are incapable of meeting even the current regulatory standards.
Dioxin causes cancer in laboratory animals, and several studies of humans show an increased incidence of various forms of cancer. It is also toxic to the immune system, and it interferes with normal reproduction and development. Primate studies show an association between dioxin exposure and endometriosis. Dioxin interferes with thyroid hormone levels in infants. These effects may occur at extremely low exposure levels. Large accidental or occupational exposures cause a skin rash (chloracne), weight loss, fatigue, decreased libido, altered glucose metabolism, and neurological damage. Dioxin repeatedly causes cancer in virtually all studies in experimental animals at doses well below those which are otherwise toxic.
When air pollution control equipment does function, it removes pollutants from the air and concentrates them in the fly ash, creating a hazardous waste stream that needs further treatment. Thus, the problem of pollutant releases is not solved; the pollutants are simply moved from one medium (air) to another (solids or water). Incinerator ash is highly hazardous but is often poorly regulated. Even landfill disposal is not safe, as landfills leak; but in some places the ash is left exposed to the elements or even spread in residential or food-producing areas. TWA underlined that it is a fraudulent carbon trade project, how every incinerator based waste to energy plant has failed in its journey from DelhiⳠTimarpur to Elikatta Village of Andhra Pradesh and how one Australian companyⳠsix proposals for WTE plant had to be shelved.
These incinerator projects are destroying the livelihood of about 3.5 lakh waste recycling workers and valuable resource material for compost that is required to be treated by composting/anaerobic digestion/vermin composting/other biological processing for stabilization as per Municipal Solid Waste(Management & Handling) Rules framed under Environment Protection Act, 1986. In the CPCB report, Dr A B Akolkar, Director, CPCB emphasized that as per Municipal Solid Waste(Management & Handling) Rules ᢩodegrdable waste⠩s to be treated using biological method rather than deriving RDF or by incineration as is being done by Jindal Ecopolis. It demonstrates that the Timarpur-Okhla Waste to Energy Incinerator Plant violates the Rules.
TWA informed IAAPC that it was in March 2009 that Sukhdev Vihar
Residents filed the Writ Petition (Civil) which was initially dismissed
on 12th August, 2009 because of misrepresentation of facts by A S
Chandiok, Additional Solicitor General (ASG). The court later found that
it was misled earlier by ASG which had led to it dismissing the
petition.Ϯ December 18, 2009, ASG sought time to file his reply as
Court’s order.Ԩe Petition was restored and the bench headed by the Chief
Justice, Delhi High Court in an order dated 15th January, 2010 The
court observed, 㴨at the project in question䠡nd 㴨e location of the pilot
project in Delhi was neither recommended by the Expert Committee nor
approved by the Supreme Court.䠔he respondents, the government was
“granted one week’s more time to file reply as a last chance” by the
court in its order dated February 3, 2010. Till date ASG’s reply has not
been filed.༯div>
Delhi High Court order of July 18, 2011 reads: “It is submitted by
Mr. Nigam, learned senior counsel for the petitioner that the plant is
going to be operated to be soon. Learned counsel has submitted that
he has been instructed to state that Delhi Pollution Control Committee
has issued the consent to operate. Mr.Waziri, learned standing counsel
for GNCTD and DPCC submitted that consent to establish has been given
but consent to operate has not yet been given. Needless to
emphasize, without obtaining consent for operation, the plant cannot be
operationalized.” But even as this submission was given by the Delhi
Government to the Court, the plant started operating since January 2012
with impunity. Instead on January 24, 2012, the Court observed in its
order, “The respondent No.9 arranged for the power point / video
demonstration of the plant in question. Learned counsel for the
respondent No.9 seeks permission to place the same on record supported
by an affidavit and explaining the process.” It appears to be a case of
justice delayed and justice denied because the project proponents now
have created a fait accompli situation for the court. ࠼/div>
IAAPCⳠDelhi Chapter deliberated on the crisis of environmental
toxicity due to these incinerators at its executive/managing committee
on August 4, 2012. S K Gupta, Secretary of IAAPC and other members of
IAAPC opined that the burning of mixed municipal waste laced with heavy
metals is a matter of concern. Its health impact studies ought to be
undertaken to ascertain its adverse impact.
For Details: Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance,͢: 9818089660, E-mail: krishna1715@gmail.com,
Web: toxicswatch.blogspot.com
Web: toxicswatch.blogspot.com
Mars rover Curiosity has landed on the Red Planet
NASA’s most advanced Mars rover Curiosity has landed on
the Red Planet. The one-ton rover, hanging by ropes from a rocket
backpack, touched down onto Mars Sunday to end a 36-week flight and
begin a two-year investigation. Mars rover Curiosity touched down
successfully on the Red Planet at 5:31 UTC on Monday.The largest-ever
probe sent to another planet was launched last November. It is the size
of a small car and weighs nearly one ton.
NASA says Curiosity deployed a parachute and used the reverse thrust of its rocket engines to drastically reduce its speed after entering the Martian atmosphere.The difficult landing routine kept mission control engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles on their toes. They erupted in cheers and applause when the spacecraft’s safe touchdown was confirmed.The 6-wheeled spacecraft beamed back its first images from the Martian surface minutes after landing, using a camera installed at its bottom. One black-and-white image shows the rover’s shadow cast on the surface of Mars.
Curiosity will explore the planet’s surface over the next 2 years. The robotic explorer is packed with sophisticated instruments and is designed to carry out on-the-spot analysis of rocks and sand for evidence of organic matter.
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft that carried Curiosity succeeded in every step of the most complex landing ever attempted on Mars, including the final severing of the bridle cords and flyaway maneuver of the rocket backpack.
“Today, the wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars. Curiosity, the most sophisticated rover ever built, is now on the surface of the Red Planet, where it will seek to answer age-old questions about whether life ever existed on Mars — or if the planet can sustain life in the future,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “This is an amazing achievement, made possible by a team of scientists and engineers from around the world and led by the extraordinary men and women of NASA and our Jet Propulsion Laboratory. President Obama has laid out a bold vision for sending humans to Mars in the mid-2030′s, and today’s landing marks a significant step toward achieving this goal.”
Curiosity landed at 10:32 p.m. Aug. 5, PDT, (1:32 a.m. EDT Aug. 6) near the foot of a mountain three miles tall and 96 miles in diameter inside Gale Crater. During a nearly two-year prime mission, the rover will investigate whether the region ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.
“The Seven Minutes of Terror has turned into the Seven Minutes of Triumph,” said NASA Associate Administrator for Science John Grunsfeld. “My immense joy in the success of this mission is matched only by overwhelming pride I feel for the women and men of the mission’s team.”
Curiosity returned its first view of Mars, a wide-angle scene of rocky ground near the front of the rover. More images are anticipated in the next several days as the mission blends observations of the landing site with activities to configure the rover for work and check the performance of its instruments and mechanisms.
“Our Curiosity is talking to us from the surface of Mars,” said MSL Project Manager Peter Theisinger of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “The landing takes us past the most hazardous moments for this project, and begins a new and exciting mission to pursue its scientific objectives.”
Confirmation of Curiosity’s successful landing came in communications relayed by NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter and received by the Canberra, Australia, antenna station of NASA’s Deep Space Network.
Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools are the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking elemental composition of rocks from a distance. The rover will use a drill and scoop at the end of its robotic arm to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into analytical laboratory instruments inside the rover.
To handle this science toolkit, Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as Spirit or Opportunity. The Gale Crater landing site places the rover within driving distance of layers of the crater’s interior mountain. Observations from orbit have identified clay and sulfate minerals in the lower layers, indicating a wet history.
The mission is managed by JPL for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said they received signals relayed by a Martian orbiter confirming that the rover had survived a make-or-break descent and landing effort to touch down as planned inside a vast impact crater. NASA has described the achievement as perhaps the most complex ever in robotic spaceflight.A mission is to see if Mars ever have supported life in forms like microbes or possibly the humans could survive there someday. Media agencies .http://www.nasa.gov/mars
NASA says Curiosity deployed a parachute and used the reverse thrust of its rocket engines to drastically reduce its speed after entering the Martian atmosphere.The difficult landing routine kept mission control engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles on their toes. They erupted in cheers and applause when the spacecraft’s safe touchdown was confirmed.The 6-wheeled spacecraft beamed back its first images from the Martian surface minutes after landing, using a camera installed at its bottom. One black-and-white image shows the rover’s shadow cast on the surface of Mars.
Curiosity will explore the planet’s surface over the next 2 years. The robotic explorer is packed with sophisticated instruments and is designed to carry out on-the-spot analysis of rocks and sand for evidence of organic matter.
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft that carried Curiosity succeeded in every step of the most complex landing ever attempted on Mars, including the final severing of the bridle cords and flyaway maneuver of the rocket backpack.
“Today, the wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars. Curiosity, the most sophisticated rover ever built, is now on the surface of the Red Planet, where it will seek to answer age-old questions about whether life ever existed on Mars — or if the planet can sustain life in the future,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “This is an amazing achievement, made possible by a team of scientists and engineers from around the world and led by the extraordinary men and women of NASA and our Jet Propulsion Laboratory. President Obama has laid out a bold vision for sending humans to Mars in the mid-2030′s, and today’s landing marks a significant step toward achieving this goal.”
Curiosity landed at 10:32 p.m. Aug. 5, PDT, (1:32 a.m. EDT Aug. 6) near the foot of a mountain three miles tall and 96 miles in diameter inside Gale Crater. During a nearly two-year prime mission, the rover will investigate whether the region ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.
“The Seven Minutes of Terror has turned into the Seven Minutes of Triumph,” said NASA Associate Administrator for Science John Grunsfeld. “My immense joy in the success of this mission is matched only by overwhelming pride I feel for the women and men of the mission’s team.”
Curiosity returned its first view of Mars, a wide-angle scene of rocky ground near the front of the rover. More images are anticipated in the next several days as the mission blends observations of the landing site with activities to configure the rover for work and check the performance of its instruments and mechanisms.
“Our Curiosity is talking to us from the surface of Mars,” said MSL Project Manager Peter Theisinger of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “The landing takes us past the most hazardous moments for this project, and begins a new and exciting mission to pursue its scientific objectives.”
Confirmation of Curiosity’s successful landing came in communications relayed by NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter and received by the Canberra, Australia, antenna station of NASA’s Deep Space Network.
Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools are the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking elemental composition of rocks from a distance. The rover will use a drill and scoop at the end of its robotic arm to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into analytical laboratory instruments inside the rover.
To handle this science toolkit, Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as Spirit or Opportunity. The Gale Crater landing site places the rover within driving distance of layers of the crater’s interior mountain. Observations from orbit have identified clay and sulfate minerals in the lower layers, indicating a wet history.
The mission is managed by JPL for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said they received signals relayed by a Martian orbiter confirming that the rover had survived a make-or-break descent and landing effort to touch down as planned inside a vast impact crater. NASA has described the achievement as perhaps the most complex ever in robotic spaceflight.A mission is to see if Mars ever have supported life in forms like microbes or possibly the humans could survive there someday. Media agencies .http://www.nasa.gov/mars
‘Bellissimo’ brand launched by Panariagroup of Italy & Asian Granito India
High-end luxury tiles under ‘Bellissimo’ brand launched by Panariagroup of Italy & Asian Granito India
New JV co Asian Panaria to invest Rs 100 cr over next 3-5 years
New Delhi, 6 August 2012: Panariagroup
Industrie Ceramiche S.p.A. of Italy, one of the world’s leading ceramic
tiles company, has joined hands with India’s leading tiles maker, Asian
Granito India Ltd., to form a new 50:50 joint venture company, Panaria
Asian Pvt. Ltd., to tap the high-end luxury tiles market in India. This
new JV’s products will be sold under the new brand ‘Bellissimo – STILE
ITALIANO’ to reflect Italian elegance, technology and innovation. It
plans to invest Rs. 100 crore over the next 3-5 years in manufacturing
as well as setting up a nation-wide distribution network for luxury
tiles.
With a presence in over 100 countries, the over Euro 300
million Panariagroup is a world leader in the manufacture and
distribution of high-end and luxury porcelain stoneware flooring and
wall coverings, with production sites in Italy, Portugal and the USA.
Asian Granito India, a Rs. 620 crore plus company, listed on the NSE and
BSE, is one the top 5 ceramic tiles company in India with a strong
distribution network across the country and five manufacturing plants in
Gujarat.
Welcoming this new initiative, Mr. Kamlesh Patel, Chairman of Asian Granito India Ltd.
said, “The joint venture company headquartered at Ahmedabad, Gujarat
will offer products comprising a selected range of Panariagroup’s best
sellers manufactured in Italy and collections produced in Asian
Granito’s Indian plants under an exclusivity agreement. It will be
supported by Panariagroup’s technical team to ensure that touch of
Italian style.”
Explaining the focus of this high-end brand, Mr. Sanjay Monga, Country Manager – India of Asian Panaria Pvt. Ltd.,
said, “Bellissimo sets out to be the point of reference for planners,
interior designers, architects and end users who are looking for
products that combine the highest technical standards and the aesthetics
of Italian products, which for centuries have been the symbol of unique
excellence throughout the world. With production of over 600 million
square metres per year and annual growth rates in double digits, India
is the third-largest ceramic tile market in the world in terms of
consumer spending.”
Mr. Andrea Campaner, Managing Director of Panariagroup India,
added, “We want to become the market leader in the Indian luxury
ceramic tiles market in the next five years and capture 35% of the total
luxury market share in value terms. We will bring in R&D
activities, differentiation, focusing on the market and to become a
close partner to all the needs and requirements of our clients.
Important brands such as Panaria ceramiche, LEA ceramiche and Cotto
d’Este will become important assets to create value right from the
start. Panariagroup believes strongly in the essential importance of our
human resources, that is made up of enthusiasm, entrepreneurial
attitude and responsibility with a very strong background. All the main
activities and experience will be in place with our strong team of
Italian and Indian members to promote our new creation, the BELLISSIMO
brand.”
About Panariagroup Industrie Ceramiche S.p.A.:
Panariagroup Industrie Ceramiche S.p.A., with headquarters in
the area known as the “ceramic tile district” between Modena and Reggio
Emilia, heads a Group with 30 years’ experience in the manufacturing and
sale of ceramic materials for flooring and wall coverings, with a focus
on the luxury and high-end segments of the market. With approximately
1,700 employees and 6 production facilities, Panariagroup ranks among
the leading national and international manufacturers, distributing its
products in more than 100 countries, through a sales network comprising
500 employees and 300 Sales Agents that serve a base of roughly 9,000
customers.
Panariagroup, listed on the Star segment of Borsa Italiana
since November 2004, operates through 8 leading brands (Panaria, Lea,
Cotto d’Este, Fiordo, Margres, Love Tiles, Florida Tile and Blustyle),
all in the high-end and luxury market segments.
Asian Granito India Limited:
Asian Granito India Ltd, listed on the NSE & BSE, reported
sales of Rs 623 crore in 2011-12, with annual growth rates exceeding
20%. The company has more than 4,000 customers throughout the country
and 5 production plants in the state of Gujarat with production
capacities of 81,000 square metres per day. Asian Granito is today among
the top 5 Indian ceramic tile manufacturers and one of the leading
manufacturers of porcelain stoneware in India. The company owns 20
showrooms throughout the country.
Hiroshima marks 67th a-bomb anniversary
Hiroshima has marked the 67th anniversary of the US atomic bombing
of the city by calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and the
development of energy sources that are safe and secure.
About 50,000 people gathered on Monday at Hiroshima’s Peace Park near
ground zero.At the memorial ceremony, attended by representatives of
about 70 countries, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui referred to the
nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant last year.He called on the government to establish an energy policy that would protect the safety and security of citizens.An updated list of 280,959 victims was placed at the cenotaph. It contains the names of 5,729 who died or were confirmed dead in the past year.The peace bell was rung at 8:15 AM to mark the exact time the atomic bomb was dropped, and all participants observed a moment of silence.
In the Peace Declaration, Mayor Matsui said Japan learned a lesson from the Fukushima nuclear accident and is now engaged in a national debate over its energy policy. He noted that some voices are insisting that humankind and nuclear energy cannot co-exist.NHK reports
Seven killed in Shooting in Oak Creek Gurudwara
A gunman opened fire inside a Gurudwara in
Wisconsin during congregation preparation for Sunday morning prayers,
killing at least six people.
The FBI will oversee the criminal investigation. Edwards said there were “numerous individual deceased” and “multiple injured.”
FBI Milwaukee Special Agent in Charge Teresa Carlson said the agency
is working closely with the Oak Creek Police Department and other local
and federal agencies to investigate the shooting incident.
This tragic incident unfolded at around 10:30 pm on Sunday as
members of the Sikh community were gathering in the 17,000 sq ft
Gurudwara in Milwaukee’s Oak Creek suburb.
The unidentified gunman walked into the Gurudwara where he opened
indiscriminate firing, killing six people.The gunman was also shot and
killed by a police officer who also sustained serious injuries. Police
said there were a large number of women and children and the women were
preparing meals to be served after the traditional prayer ceremony.
Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said the police is “treating the incident as a domestic terrorist-type incident.”
President Barack Obama offered his condolences to the victims of
the shooting and said that his Administration will provide whatever
support is necessary to the officials who are responding to this tragic
shooting and moving forward with an investigation.
“Michelle and I were deeply saddened to learn of the shooting that
tragically took so many lives in Wisconsin, Obama said in a statement.
“As we mourn this loss which took place at a house of worship, we
are reminded how much our country has been enriched by Sikhs, who are a
part of our broader American family,” Obama said.
Vietnam curb anti-China protests
Vietnam start suppressing anti-China protests. The
Vietnamese government apparently wants to avoid a further escalation of
its territorial dispute with China.Police in the capital Hanoi dispersed
about 50 people who had gathered in a square on Sunday. They also
detained about 20 who have been organizing the protests since July.
Demonstrations are strictly limited in Vietnam under Communist Party
rule. But the authorities had given their tacit approval for anti-China
rallies, with police controlling traffic when protesters took to the
streets.The two nations are increasingly at odds over the Spratly and
Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.
Vietnam passed a maritime law in June that declared sovereignty over the islands.China, on the other hand, has upgraded the status of the islands to a city. A Chinese state-run oil company has announced a plan to explore natural resources in disputed areas.
Vietnam passed a maritime law in June that declared sovereignty over the islands.China, on the other hand, has upgraded the status of the islands to a city. A Chinese state-run oil company has announced a plan to explore natural resources in disputed areas.
Iran tests new short-range missile
Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi says his country has successfully test-fired a new short-range missile. He says the missile is more accurate than previous models.State-run television showed the launch of a Fateh-110. The missile has a range of more than 300 kilometers and can reach targets in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.Vahidi said the missile’s guidance system allows it to strike on land or sea with precision.
He said Iran plans to add the system to all its existing
missiles.The United States and European nations are tightening
sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programs, targeting its oil
exports.Conservative lawmakers in Iran have called for the country’s
leaders to block the Strait of Hormuz, a key Middle East oil-shipping
route.
Iran test-fired a mid-range missile last month.Observers say the weapons tests are meant as a show of force for the United States and Israel.
Iran test-fired a mid-range missile last month.Observers say the weapons tests are meant as a show of force for the United States and Israel.
Syrian military controls all of Damascus
A Syrian military official says President Bashar
al-Assad’s troops have regained control of all opposition strongholds in
the capital, Damascus.The military began using tanks to attack
opposition forces near the city center on Friday.Anti-government troops
have been intensifying their offensive in parts of the capital since
mid-July.
A military commander told the media that Syrian forces retook all
opposition positions in the capital on Saturday.Government forces are
also stepping up attacks in the northern city of Aleppo. They are
deploying fighter jets to bombard suburban residential and commercial
areas.A human rights group based in Britain says more than 20 people,
including civilians, were killed on Friday and Saturday.
Putin proposes to cooperate Japan
Russian President Vladimir Putin said, Russia and Japan
should cooperate to stop poaching, smuggling and other problems in his
country’s Far East.He told Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba that
an ongoing territorial dispute on Russian-held islands claimed by Japan
off Hokkaido should not prevent the countries from working
together.Putin who met Gemba in the southern Russian resort of Sochi on
July 28th.
Gemba referred to a dispute over a group of Russian-held islands
claimed by Japan off Hokkaido. He suggested that foreign and vice
foreign ministers meet to hammer out a peace treaty.Putin responded that
Russia is ready to explore a solution. But he also said he doesn’t
believe the lack of a peace treaty should prevent the two countries from
working together.Media agencies
Draghi vowed to “do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.”
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi vowed to “do
whatever it takes to preserve the euro.” In its policy meeting on
Wednesday, the ECB decided to keep its existing monetary policies
unchanged. But at a press conference after the meeting Draghi said the
ECB doesn’t rule out taking “further non-standard monetary policy
measures” if needed. He also reconfirmed that the euro is
“irreversible.”
US Federal Reserve held a Federal Open Market Committee meeting, its
policy-deciding function, on Monday and Tuesday. Contrary to market
expectations, the Fed kept its monetary policy unchanged, taking no
additional easing steps.
Bank of Japan holds a policy meeting starting on Wednesday and Thursday. Japan has been struggling to break out of deflation, which drags prices down over long periods, and the yen continues to strengthen against other currencies. The business community is starting to call for further monetary easing by the BOJ. However, BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa is on record as saying excessive easing could have negative side-effects such as a jump in long-term rates and inflation. That has led to a widespread belief that Shirakawa is reluctant to take further easing measures.
We will ask Rikkyo University Professor Teizo Taiya for his analysis of the responses of the ECB and the Fed, what action he expects the BOJ to take next week, and his outlook for the European crisis in the context of the ECB’s expected responses.Media agencies
Bank of Japan holds a policy meeting starting on Wednesday and Thursday. Japan has been struggling to break out of deflation, which drags prices down over long periods, and the yen continues to strengthen against other currencies. The business community is starting to call for further monetary easing by the BOJ. However, BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa is on record as saying excessive easing could have negative side-effects such as a jump in long-term rates and inflation. That has led to a widespread belief that Shirakawa is reluctant to take further easing measures.
We will ask Rikkyo University Professor Teizo Taiya for his analysis of the responses of the ECB and the Fed, what action he expects the BOJ to take next week, and his outlook for the European crisis in the context of the ECB’s expected responses.Media agencies
India to set up three more mega manufacturing zones
Against the backdrop of sharp decline in manufacturing
growth, India will be setting up three more mega industrial and
investment zones as part of its endeavour to push the contribution of
the sector up to 25 pc of GDP by 2020.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said the notification for setting up the National Manufacturing and Investment Zones (NMIZ) is expected to be issued by this month end.”We are seriously considering three National Manufacturing and Investment Zones (NMIZ) of which one will be in Andhra Pradesh and two in Karnataka,” said Sharma who is on a three-day visit to Colombo.The decision, by which the total number of NMIZ will go up to 12, comes against the backdrop of sharp decline in manufacturing growth to 0.3 percent during the January-March quarter from 7.3 percent in the corresponding period of 2010-11.Sharma said there are four proposals pending with the government, including that from Kerala but they are seeking special dispensation in land area requirement of a minimum 5,000 hectares.The government has been taking several steps to increase the share of the manufacturing sector in the GDP to at least 25 percent by 2020 from the present 16 percent.
In this regard, a new National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) was announced recently, which provides for NMIZs. NMIZs will be mega industrial zones with world class supporting infrastructure.
The government is offering a host of incentives like exemption from capital gains tax and a liberalised labour and environment norms to promote these zones. The NMP proposes to create 100 million jobs by 2020.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said the notification for setting up the National Manufacturing and Investment Zones (NMIZ) is expected to be issued by this month end.”We are seriously considering three National Manufacturing and Investment Zones (NMIZ) of which one will be in Andhra Pradesh and two in Karnataka,” said Sharma who is on a three-day visit to Colombo.The decision, by which the total number of NMIZ will go up to 12, comes against the backdrop of sharp decline in manufacturing growth to 0.3 percent during the January-March quarter from 7.3 percent in the corresponding period of 2010-11.Sharma said there are four proposals pending with the government, including that from Kerala but they are seeking special dispensation in land area requirement of a minimum 5,000 hectares.The government has been taking several steps to increase the share of the manufacturing sector in the GDP to at least 25 percent by 2020 from the present 16 percent.
In this regard, a new National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) was announced recently, which provides for NMIZs. NMIZs will be mega industrial zones with world class supporting infrastructure.
The government is offering a host of incentives like exemption from capital gains tax and a liberalised labour and environment norms to promote these zones. The NMP proposes to create 100 million jobs by 2020.
International Conference on People’s Empowerment and Development
Government of Bangladesh organised the International Conference
on People’s Empowerment and Development.Addressing a press conference in
Dhaka today, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes said that the
two day conference which is scheduled to be inaugurated by Bangladesh
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday morning is focused on various
factors interlinked with the” People’s empowerment and a Peace centric
development model “presented by her at the UN General Assembly last
year.
Jairam Ramesh will address the inaugural session of the Conference and will also participate in the Working Session focused on the theme “Creating Jobs for All”.
Jairam Ramesh will address the inaugural session of the Conference and will also participate in the Working Session focused on the theme “Creating Jobs for All”.
UN: First food aid to flood-hit N Koreans
World Food Programme has said it is sending a first
shipment of emergency food aid to flood-hit areas of North Korea, where
torrential rain has killed scores of people and inundated cropland.The
assistance will provide victims with an initial ration of 400 grams (14
ounces) of maize a day for 14 days, the UN body said in a statement
posted yesterday on its website.
It said a UN mission that travelled to flood-hit regions earlier in the week found considerable damage to maize, soybean and rice fields.The country struggles to feed its people even in normal times and suffered a famine in the 1990s that killed hundreds of thousands.The UN mission said immediate food aid was needed for residents of the worst-hit counties, Anju and Songchon in South Pyongan province and Chonnae in Kangwon province.
It also stressed that tens of thousands of families urgently need clean drinking water to prevent disease.Wells had been contaminated by overflowing latrines, creating a high risk of a diarrhoea outbreak, while floods had damaged water sources and pumping stations.Citing government figures, the UN mission said about 50,000 families would need purification tablets or other help to secure clean water.
The North’s state media has reported a total of 119 deaths in recent weeks, with 84,000 people made homeless and 45,370 hectares (122,500 acres) of farmland submerged or washed away.
It said a UN mission that travelled to flood-hit regions earlier in the week found considerable damage to maize, soybean and rice fields.The country struggles to feed its people even in normal times and suffered a famine in the 1990s that killed hundreds of thousands.The UN mission said immediate food aid was needed for residents of the worst-hit counties, Anju and Songchon in South Pyongan province and Chonnae in Kangwon province.
It also stressed that tens of thousands of families urgently need clean drinking water to prevent disease.Wells had been contaminated by overflowing latrines, creating a high risk of a diarrhoea outbreak, while floods had damaged water sources and pumping stations.Citing government figures, the UN mission said about 50,000 families would need purification tablets or other help to secure clean water.
The North’s state media has reported a total of 119 deaths in recent weeks, with 84,000 people made homeless and 45,370 hectares (122,500 acres) of farmland submerged or washed away.
Basel III norms: RBI
“Question is can PSU banks mobilise this sort of capital, or can the government give this sort of capital. We are aware of the constraints on the government”, the RBI governor said in Hyderabad on Saturday.”The alternate to the government is either to reduce shareholding below 50 per cent or slow down PSU growth,” Subbarao said in his keynote address delivered at Centre for Economic and Social Studies.
He was, however, hopeful that the banks in private sector may be able to raise the capital.”Can private banks raise this sort of money? They probably can, because Rs 500 billion was raised in last 5 years,” Subbarao said.
Explaining the outcomes after the financial crisis in 2008-09, Subbarao said, though price stability and macroeconomic stability are important they do not guarantee financial stability.
“Not only that they do not guarantee financial stability but if you have macroeconomic and price stability for too long, you are probably jeopardising financial stability,” Subbarao said. “Because, you become complacent, you are impervious; you’re plying to the cancer building underneath your belly. And when pressures build up, implosion takes place, he added.
He said the take away from this is that central banks and governments and all regulators need to pursue financial stability explicitly, not as a byproduct of price and macroeconomic stability.
Subbarao felt the collection of healthy institutions does not make a collective healthy system. Banks are over confident during safe times and excessively panic during bad times, he said.
He said during the crisis period, it was thought India was decoupled from the affected economies because of the forex resources and regulations but the crisis proved that decoupling is a myth.
“We thought we were decoupled because of the reforms, because of our financial sector is more resilient, manufacturing sectors have grown, forex reserves are sufficient. We thought we were decoupled from the economies. But that proved to be wrong,” he said.
Don’t Ban MLM Multi Level Marketing just Regulate it
Press conference held at 4 windsor place New Delhi to engage the stakeholders
in order to Regulate Multilevel Marketing And Protect Consumers and Employees
In joint statement issued by the Reception Committee Chairperson
Amarjeet Kaur,Vice-chairman Chidambaram N, General convener E C
Satheesan and MMEF(AITUC) leaders P V Asokan and V Sreenivasan at a
press conference in New Delhi on Saturday August 4, 2012.
Chairperson Amarjeet Kaur said, their main demands of protest in
form of the ‘March to Parliament’ being organised by the Multilevel
Marketing Employees Federation MMEF(AITUC) is to enact a central
legislation to regulate the multilevel marketing sector and protect its
employees as well as consumers.
She further added that In India the multilevel marketing/direct
selling sector is actively functioning since 1996, but not under any
regulation. Instead, each multinational net work and big business house
in India are operating according to its wishes, aimed at making only
huge profits.Also in India about 20 lakhs of youngsters are working in
this sector and this is the only means of their livelihood. Such
operations are rampant in more than one hundred countries. Even in our
neighbouring country China, the multilevel marketing is in operation
with proper separate regulating laws. In certain countries, there are
sections, legally equipped officials and even ministers to look after
and regulate the sector.The noble aim of multilevel marketing/direct
selling is to provide directly without middlemen cheap and better
quality essential items to consumers identified through personal
contacts. A share of the profit is being distributed to the employees in
the sector as remuneration.
She said , several business organisations engaged in multilevel
marketing after cheating and misappropriating the hard earned money of
the consumers disappear all of a sudden throwing the employees and
consumers into wilderness. This is happening due to the lack of any
regulatory mechanism.Multilevel marketing is similar to various other
income-generating jobs. This really provides some relief in India where
unemployment is critical.The multilevel marketing employees must be able
to work in this sector with a healthier environment ensuring both
dignity and security. This can be achieved only through enacting a
proper legislation.
Welcming the media she said, we would also like to reveal to the
Press that attempts are being made by MNCs to instill fears into the
minds of the employees that the government may ban multilevel
marketing/direct selling setup itself. Vested interests in the
bureaucracy and other government machinery are trying their best in this
regard.However, a seven-member committee has been set up under the
chairmanship of the present consumer affairs secretary to study the
problems, assess the sector and submit a report by August 31, 2012.We
demand that the committee and the consumer affairs ministry should
consult all the stakeholders, particularly the employees and the
MMEF(AITUC) before finalising the report.It is to focus on these demands
and seeking urgent steps by the central government towards framing a
legal setup that a trade union has taken birth in the multilevel
marketing sector MMEF(AITUC) for the first time in the world and is
holding the March to Parliament on August 7, 2012, starting at 11 a.m.
from Barakhamba Road signals to Parliament Street via Tolstoy Marg,
Janpath and Jantar Mandir.
MULTILVEL MARKETING EMPLOYEES FEDERATION MMEF(AITUC)
Reception Committee
AITUC Bhavan, 35-36, D.D.U Marg, New Delhi-110 002 Tel: 011-23217320
Chairman: Amarjeet Kaur Mob: 09810144958,
General Convener: E C Satheesan Mob:09446520292
UNGA adopts resolution on Syria
The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a
Saudi-drafted resolution on Syria that expressed “grave concern” at the
escalating violence in the country but India was among the 31 nations
that abstained.The 193-member General Assembly passed the
resolution that denounced Syria’s crackdown on its people and demanded
that the country lockdown it’s chemical and biological weapons.
The resolution also deplored “the failure of the Security Council to agree on measures to ensure the compliance of Syrian authorities with its decisions”.
The resolution got 133 votes in favour, while 12 countries voted against and 31 countries, including India abstained.An earlier draft of the resolution had provisions that demanded regime change, called on President Bashar Al-Assad to resign and asked countries to place sanctions against the country for the violence and killing.
India was not in favour of these provisions and a senior member of Indian delegation had said that officials “worked over time” to get these demands dropped from the resolution.
Others countries like Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa too were not in support of the provisions demanding regime change and sanctions.The Indian Ambassador to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri had also held several rounds of discussion with his Saudi and Qatari counterparts over the provisions of regime change and sanctions in the resolution. Unlike a UN Security Council resolution, the General Assembly resolution is not legally binding. It is only moral and symbolic in nature.The resolution strongly condemns “the continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities and pro-governmental militias”.
Addressing the 193-member General Assembly before the vote on the resolution, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the violence and acts of brutality being reported in Syrian cities may constitute “crimes against humanity or war crimes”.
He said despite repeated verbal acceptances of the international envoy six-point plan endorsed by the UN Security Council, the Syrian government and the opposition continue to rely on weapons and not diplomacy, believing that they would win through violence.
The Syrian crisis has escalated in the last 17 months when the uprising against President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime began.
More than 10,000 people have been killed and thousands others displaced by the fighting between government and rebel forces.Efforts to restore peace and stability in the troubled nation were dealt a huge blow when the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan announced that he was resigning from his post, six months after his efforts to end the violence and find a political solution to the Syrian crisis yielded no results.
Ban said the violence and bloodshed in Syria was “avoidable” if the Syrian government had from the beginning of the uprising not responded to peaceful demonstrations with brutal force, including mass round-ups and torture.He said observers had predicted at the start of the conflict that unchecked spread of violence in Syria would lead to a rise of radicalisation, extremism and terrorism.
“The next step was also forewarned: a proxy war, with regional and international players arming one side or the other.”“Now, we face the grim possibility of long-term civil war destroying Syria’s rich tapestry of interwoven communities. This would have tragic implications for Syria’s people and could affect stability across the region. We must not let this prediction come true,” Ban said.
He said mediation to solve the Syrian crisis can only succeed if there is a commitment to solving conflict through dialogue and real leverage to back it up.Annan too had blamed a divided international community and UN Security Council for lack of action to stop the violence.
The resolution also deplored “the failure of the Security Council to agree on measures to ensure the compliance of Syrian authorities with its decisions”.
The resolution got 133 votes in favour, while 12 countries voted against and 31 countries, including India abstained.An earlier draft of the resolution had provisions that demanded regime change, called on President Bashar Al-Assad to resign and asked countries to place sanctions against the country for the violence and killing.
India was not in favour of these provisions and a senior member of Indian delegation had said that officials “worked over time” to get these demands dropped from the resolution.
Others countries like Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa too were not in support of the provisions demanding regime change and sanctions.The Indian Ambassador to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri had also held several rounds of discussion with his Saudi and Qatari counterparts over the provisions of regime change and sanctions in the resolution. Unlike a UN Security Council resolution, the General Assembly resolution is not legally binding. It is only moral and symbolic in nature.The resolution strongly condemns “the continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities and pro-governmental militias”.
Addressing the 193-member General Assembly before the vote on the resolution, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the violence and acts of brutality being reported in Syrian cities may constitute “crimes against humanity or war crimes”.
He said despite repeated verbal acceptances of the international envoy six-point plan endorsed by the UN Security Council, the Syrian government and the opposition continue to rely on weapons and not diplomacy, believing that they would win through violence.
The Syrian crisis has escalated in the last 17 months when the uprising against President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime began.
More than 10,000 people have been killed and thousands others displaced by the fighting between government and rebel forces.Efforts to restore peace and stability in the troubled nation were dealt a huge blow when the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan announced that he was resigning from his post, six months after his efforts to end the violence and find a political solution to the Syrian crisis yielded no results.
Ban said the violence and bloodshed in Syria was “avoidable” if the Syrian government had from the beginning of the uprising not responded to peaceful demonstrations with brutal force, including mass round-ups and torture.He said observers had predicted at the start of the conflict that unchecked spread of violence in Syria would lead to a rise of radicalisation, extremism and terrorism.
“The next step was also forewarned: a proxy war, with regional and international players arming one side or the other.”“Now, we face the grim possibility of long-term civil war destroying Syria’s rich tapestry of interwoven communities. This would have tragic implications for Syria’s people and could affect stability across the region. We must not let this prediction come true,” Ban said.
He said mediation to solve the Syrian crisis can only succeed if there is a commitment to solving conflict through dialogue and real leverage to back it up.Annan too had blamed a divided international community and UN Security Council for lack of action to stop the violence.
Keshubhai Patel quits BJP
Keshubhai Patel, who ushered in BJP rule in
Gujarat in the 90s and has revolted against CM Narendra Modi, has
resigned from the party and announced plans to launch a new outfit which
he claims would be the real BJP.
Addressing a press conference in Gandhinagar on Saturday, the
83-year-old former chief minister announced his decision along with the
resignation of Kanshiram Rana, a former Union minister, from the
party.”Kanshiram Rana and I, who have served the party for the last 60
years, are very sad to send our resignations, from the party that we
have nurtured here, to party president Nitin Gadkari. We are not
switching the party but we are going to form the real BJP,” Keshubhai
said.
The former chief minister launched a stinging attack on Modi saying
the party had become a one-man outfit and gone far away from the
principles of the BJP.
The poor and the middle class have become unhappy with the
government and Modi was keeping away from everyone including the media
to avoid questioning, he said.
The announcement by Patel, who was leading an anti-Modi group
within the state BJP ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections (due in
December), was expected for quite some time, and the formation of the
new party would result in a triangular fight.
Though a powerful OBC leader during his heydays, what impact his
departure would have on the party remains to be seen since he has been
marginalised in the state politics for quite sometime now.In Gujarat,
considered the Hindutva forces’ laboratory, Keshubhai had emerged as a
powerful leader of the numerically strong Patel community, which is the
backbone of BJP’s support base.
The saffron party is in power in the state for the last 15
years.”BJP has not remained the real BJP which we had formed by working
for the last 50 years. This party has become a one- man party and gone
far away from its principals,” Keshubhai said, targeting Modi. “I will
tomorrow announce the formation of our new party,” he added.
“The present BJP has gone miles away from democracy and has become insensitive towards the people,” Keshubhai said.
In the last 10 years, people were suffering, decisions of courts
were not being respected, women and children were suffering from
malnutrition, and if the parents of missing children wanted to meet the
chief minister, they were turned away, he said.”In this situation, I
cannot remain silent and be a mute spectator, and that is the reason I
have decided to form a new party which will be the real BJP,” he
said.Modalities of forming the new party were being worked out, he said.
Sources close to Keshubhai said the new party would contest all the 182
Assembly seats.
Keshubhai was unceremoniously removed as Gujarat chief minister in
2001 by the BJP leadership; Modi replaced him.”At this ripe age, I am
not forming a new party for grabbing power, as people have given me
enough. My only aim is to give a better alternative to the people,”
Keshubhai said.
Rana, a powerful leader from Surat, who was the union textile
minister in the NDA government, said, “Vajpayeeji had once told Modi to
follow ‘Raj-dharma’, and inspired by that, we have decided to follow
‘Praja-Dharma’”.
Keshubhai enjoys support of a section of the Sangh Parivar in
Gujarat, including RSS ‘pracharaks’ and members of VHP.Former minister
of state for home in the Modi government, Gordhan Zadafia, who later
formed his own Maha-Gujarat Janta Party, had sometime ago said that he
would merge his outfit with Keshubhai’s party.
Saina wins first badminton Olympic bronze
Saina Nehwal created history by becoming the first Indian
to win an Olympic Games bronze medal in badminton, though under
fortuitous circumstances, as her world number two Chinese opponent
retired from the play-off because of a knee injury.The
22-year-old Saina was trailing 18-21, 0-1 in the high-voltage bronze
medal play-off match when her second seeded opponent Xin Wang retired
hurt, giving India an unexpected medal without having to sweat much.Saina
also became the second Indian woman to win an Olympic medal, after
Karnam Malleswari’s weightlifting bronze in 2000 Sydney Olympics.With
the addition of Saina’s bronze, India’s medal collection in the ongoing
Olympics has gone upto three with pistol shooter Vijay Kumar (silver)
and seasoned marksman Gagan Narang (bronze) being the other medal
winners.The packed Wembly arena, which had a seizable chunk of
vociferous Indian supporters cheering for Saina, were taken by surprise
when the script suddenly changed with Wang getting injured towards the
very end of the first game.Wang got herself medical attention and even
went in for the second game but conceded the match after just one
point.A thunderous roar greeted Saina when it was announced that she had
won the bronze medal and Wang had retired.”I still can’t believe that I
have won a medal. In badminton, I never believed that India could win a
medal because the competition is so tough. It is a dream come true for
me,” Saina said after the match on Saturday.”I had trained hard and
there was a lot of expectation. I initially thought that she was just
taking rest as she was tiring, but then I realised she was injured. It’s
sad that she got injured, but I was confident of beating her as I was
coming into rhythm,” she said.
Saina said her defeat against top ranked player Yihan Wang of China on Friday was still rankling her as she had adopted a wrong strategy against her.
“Today’s match was crucial. But I was still thinking about what happened yesterday. But as the game went, I began to play better. I felt that she was tiring and I had my chance,” the ace shuttler said.Saina, seeded fourth, started off well by taking an early lead but the Chinese clawed back and the score moved neck and neck till 6-6.
From then on, the Chinese increased the lead by not allowing Saina to play her natural game.Wang took a lead of 16-10 but the Indian again showed her tenacity by reducing the margin and engaging her opponent in long rallies, a tactics which she could not do in the semifinal match.The turning point came when the score was 20-18 in the first game. In her bid to finish off the game, Wang leaped into the air and unleashed a blistering smash from the baseline but landed awkwardly and injured her left knee in the process.She bandaged her knee and took the court for the second game but conceded after just one point, much to the delight of the Indian spectators and IOA officials who were present at the venue.
“Today my strategy was to engage her in long rallies and it did work to some extent. Yesterday also we had the same strategy, but it did not work. I should have tried something else and played my own game instead of trying to match her,” Saina said.
“I had never won a match like this before. May be, the medal was written for me. I have always wanted an Olympic medal. I always wanted to see India’s national flag going up at the podium,” she said.The moment it was known that she was the bronze medal, Saina first waved at her coach P Gopichand, who was sitting on the coach’s chair, and then acknowledged the cheers from the spectators, most of whom were Indians.
Saina said her defeat against top ranked player Yihan Wang of China on Friday was still rankling her as she had adopted a wrong strategy against her.
“Today’s match was crucial. But I was still thinking about what happened yesterday. But as the game went, I began to play better. I felt that she was tiring and I had my chance,” the ace shuttler said.Saina, seeded fourth, started off well by taking an early lead but the Chinese clawed back and the score moved neck and neck till 6-6.
From then on, the Chinese increased the lead by not allowing Saina to play her natural game.Wang took a lead of 16-10 but the Indian again showed her tenacity by reducing the margin and engaging her opponent in long rallies, a tactics which she could not do in the semifinal match.The turning point came when the score was 20-18 in the first game. In her bid to finish off the game, Wang leaped into the air and unleashed a blistering smash from the baseline but landed awkwardly and injured her left knee in the process.She bandaged her knee and took the court for the second game but conceded after just one point, much to the delight of the Indian spectators and IOA officials who were present at the venue.
“Today my strategy was to engage her in long rallies and it did work to some extent. Yesterday also we had the same strategy, but it did not work. I should have tried something else and played my own game instead of trying to match her,” Saina said.
“I had never won a match like this before. May be, the medal was written for me. I have always wanted an Olympic medal. I always wanted to see India’s national flag going up at the podium,” she said.The moment it was known that she was the bronze medal, Saina first waved at her coach P Gopichand, who was sitting on the coach’s chair, and then acknowledged the cheers from the spectators, most of whom were Indians.
Launch of AACCI project on “Prevention of Violence and Aggression in children and Youth”
National consultative meeting and Launch of AACCI project
on “Prevention of Violence and Aggression in children and Youth” Saturday, 4th August 2012 IIC, New Delhi:
In view of the escalating violence in many cities of India which involves children and youth in schools, out of school and at home in various aspects AACCI- Association of Adolescent and child care in India felt a need to plan some interventions and decide to spearhead a project that will get together a variety of stake holders to plan practical interventions which are doable at various levels. We at AACCI felt that there is a need for a group of experts, NGO’s and stake holders to come together and brain storm to come out with recommendations for prevention of this escalating violence and aggression and plan intervention strategies at various levels- school. College, community, parents and last but not the least Media .This consultative meeting was planned This project is the brain child of Dr Swati Y Bhave Executive Director AACCI. This is being co-hosted by Dr Anuradha Khairnar and ISHP Indian Society of health care professionals AACCI is a group of doctors from various specialties and mental health professionals who have come together for holistic care of children and adolescents.
Children in schools and youth in college can only be reached through the two main pillars of their wellbeing –parents at home and teachers in schools .With this in mind AACCI has also included in our group parents and teachers Since 2008 AACCI has been doing various programs on parenting, Life skill education, tobacco control, gender issues, healthy life style, anger management and coping with emotions prevention of obesity and other life style disorders in various cities and states in the country. You can visit our website www.aacci.in for more details about us and our activities .Many of The AACCI research and other publications and yearly reports are on the website In the morning Presentations on the subject will be made by renowned psychiatrists: Dr Shekhar Seshadri from NIMHANS, Bangalore, Nimesh Desai IHBAS, New Delhi and Dr Jitendra Nagpal, Expressions India New Delhi The participants are experts in psychology, doctors from various specialties- paediatricians, psychiatrists, adolescent specialists, family physicians, principals, teachers, counselors, legal experts, media experts, social scientists, educationist and parents and representatives from various NGOS. Group discussions will be held under various themes: interventions at parental, school, college, community levels, legal aspects, special situations like rural, tribal and urban slums and specially challenged children.
In addition to the above experts The groups will be led by experts: Dr Jai Shastri Psychiatrist and Dr Anuradha Sovani from Mumbai University, Prof Katy Gandevia from TISS, Dr Jay Shastri a child psychiatrist from Mumbai ,Dr Radhakrishnan from RGNIYD, Dr UNB Rao from UVCT Trust, Seema Khanna Media expert from ASWHD , Dr Farookh Buchia from CASP ,Mumbai Dr Sangeeta Yadav Prof of Pediatrics from MAMC New Delhi, Padmashree Pukhraj Bafna from Chhattisgarh, Adolescent experts like Drs Ashok Gupta from Jaipur, Paula Goel from Mumbai, Anjali Saxena and TS Jain from New Delhi. AACCI has got many partners A multicentre research is planned by AACCI which will be coordinated by Dr Surekha Joshi research coordinator AACCI and analysis will be done by TISS Mumbai.
The results of the discussions will be complied in the form of recommendations and action plan that will be carried out by committed people across the country. The report will also be published Sunday, 5th August 2012 Orientation to master trainers module developed by AACCI for creating awareness and capacity building of teachers , students and children to prevent and ability to cope up with violence. This has been developed by Dr Swati Bhave and Divya Santhanan. AACCI faculty lead by Dr Swati Y Bhave and Anuradha Sovani will explain the way to use this module so that principals and teachers can conduct the program at their schools. We have 25 principals and teachers from various parts of the country .
An unusual part of this consultative meeting is that 18 students from X-XII std will also be part of this meeting and give inputs. As a pilot launch AACCI trained a whole school over 7800 students, 25 teachers and 50 parents whose children had problems in the month of July in a elite south Mumbai School – Activity school .The principal Perin bagli will make a presentation at the meet to share her experience People who will give bytes to the press Dr Swati Bhave , Paediatrician and teen expert Executive director AACCI Dr Anuradha Sovani psychologist , Advisor AACCI Dr Jay Shastri psychiatrist ,Mumbai DR Shekhar Sheshadri psychiatrist NIMHANS Dr Nimesh Desai psychiatrist IHBAS Dr Katy Gandevia social worker TISS . Mumbai Dr Farookh Buchia conselor CASP Dr UNB Rao ,IPS, UVCT Perin Bagli Principal Activity School
on “Prevention of Violence and Aggression in children and Youth” Saturday, 4th August 2012 IIC, New Delhi:
In view of the escalating violence in many cities of India which involves children and youth in schools, out of school and at home in various aspects AACCI- Association of Adolescent and child care in India felt a need to plan some interventions and decide to spearhead a project that will get together a variety of stake holders to plan practical interventions which are doable at various levels. We at AACCI felt that there is a need for a group of experts, NGO’s and stake holders to come together and brain storm to come out with recommendations for prevention of this escalating violence and aggression and plan intervention strategies at various levels- school. College, community, parents and last but not the least Media .This consultative meeting was planned This project is the brain child of Dr Swati Y Bhave Executive Director AACCI. This is being co-hosted by Dr Anuradha Khairnar and ISHP Indian Society of health care professionals AACCI is a group of doctors from various specialties and mental health professionals who have come together for holistic care of children and adolescents.
Children in schools and youth in college can only be reached through the two main pillars of their wellbeing –parents at home and teachers in schools .With this in mind AACCI has also included in our group parents and teachers Since 2008 AACCI has been doing various programs on parenting, Life skill education, tobacco control, gender issues, healthy life style, anger management and coping with emotions prevention of obesity and other life style disorders in various cities and states in the country. You can visit our website www.aacci.in for more details about us and our activities .Many of The AACCI research and other publications and yearly reports are on the website In the morning Presentations on the subject will be made by renowned psychiatrists: Dr Shekhar Seshadri from NIMHANS, Bangalore, Nimesh Desai IHBAS, New Delhi and Dr Jitendra Nagpal, Expressions India New Delhi The participants are experts in psychology, doctors from various specialties- paediatricians, psychiatrists, adolescent specialists, family physicians, principals, teachers, counselors, legal experts, media experts, social scientists, educationist and parents and representatives from various NGOS. Group discussions will be held under various themes: interventions at parental, school, college, community levels, legal aspects, special situations like rural, tribal and urban slums and specially challenged children.
In addition to the above experts The groups will be led by experts: Dr Jai Shastri Psychiatrist and Dr Anuradha Sovani from Mumbai University, Prof Katy Gandevia from TISS, Dr Jay Shastri a child psychiatrist from Mumbai ,Dr Radhakrishnan from RGNIYD, Dr UNB Rao from UVCT Trust, Seema Khanna Media expert from ASWHD , Dr Farookh Buchia from CASP ,Mumbai Dr Sangeeta Yadav Prof of Pediatrics from MAMC New Delhi, Padmashree Pukhraj Bafna from Chhattisgarh, Adolescent experts like Drs Ashok Gupta from Jaipur, Paula Goel from Mumbai, Anjali Saxena and TS Jain from New Delhi. AACCI has got many partners A multicentre research is planned by AACCI which will be coordinated by Dr Surekha Joshi research coordinator AACCI and analysis will be done by TISS Mumbai.
The results of the discussions will be complied in the form of recommendations and action plan that will be carried out by committed people across the country. The report will also be published Sunday, 5th August 2012 Orientation to master trainers module developed by AACCI for creating awareness and capacity building of teachers , students and children to prevent and ability to cope up with violence. This has been developed by Dr Swati Bhave and Divya Santhanan. AACCI faculty lead by Dr Swati Y Bhave and Anuradha Sovani will explain the way to use this module so that principals and teachers can conduct the program at their schools. We have 25 principals and teachers from various parts of the country .
An unusual part of this consultative meeting is that 18 students from X-XII std will also be part of this meeting and give inputs. As a pilot launch AACCI trained a whole school over 7800 students, 25 teachers and 50 parents whose children had problems in the month of July in a elite south Mumbai School – Activity school .The principal Perin bagli will make a presentation at the meet to share her experience People who will give bytes to the press Dr Swati Bhave , Paediatrician and teen expert Executive director AACCI Dr Anuradha Sovani psychologist , Advisor AACCI Dr Jay Shastri psychiatrist ,Mumbai DR Shekhar Sheshadri psychiatrist NIMHANS Dr Nimesh Desai psychiatrist IHBAS Dr Katy Gandevia social worker TISS . Mumbai Dr Farookh Buchia conselor CASP Dr UNB Rao ,IPS, UVCT Perin Bagli Principal Activity School
Mongolian former president jailed for corruption
ULAN BATOR: A court in Mongolia has jailed former
president Nambar Enkhbayar for four years after finding him guilty of
corruption charges that he has called politically motivated.
Enkhbayar, 54, served as prime minister and then president for almost a decade until losing office in 2009. He was arrested in April in a dawn raid broadcast live on national television.
On Thursday, a Mongolian court found him guilty of misappropriating gifts intended for a monastery and illegally privatising a hotel along with other corruption charges, in a hearing broadcast to the nation.
The court originally sentenced him to seven years, but reduced it by three years, citing an amnesty law.
Enkhbayar, who was barred from running in Mongolia’s June parliamentary elections, called the charges “groundless”.
“I served the posts of president, prime minister and speaker of parliament. I never thought I would be accused groundlessly,” Enkhbayar said in his testimony. His lawyer said they would appeal the verdict.
Enkhbayar formed a breakaway Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party last year, splitting from the ruling Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), the oldest in the country which held power during the Soviet era.
For much of the past decade the MPP shared power with the Democratic Party, but the latter left the coalition in January to prepare for June elections.
Enkhbayar’s MPRP joined forces with another party to form the Justice Coalition, which in June won 11 of 76 parliamentary seats, considered a relative success for the new coalition.
They have agreed to cooperate closely with the DP, which won the largest share in parliament with 31 seats, while the MPP won 25.
The election results are still being contested, however, with charges of vote-buying and other disputes.
Accusations of vote-rigging in 2008 parliamentary elections sparked riots that left four people dead.
The MPP and DP have pledged to improve the distribution of wealth across the vast nation, which covers an area three times the size of France but has a population of just 2.8 million people.
Mongolia is ranked 120 out of 182 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index compiled by the watchdog group Transparency International, tying with Bangladesh, Iran and Kazakhstan.
Mongolia is one of Asia’s poorest nations but has increasingly lured foreign investors with its rich deposits of copper, gold, uranium, silver and oil.
Its economy grew 17.3 percent last year and foreign investment quadrupled to $5 billion.
But poorer Mongolians complain the benefits of the boom are not reaching them, that the elite have grown more corrupt and foreign mining companies receive exceedingly favourable deals.
Enkhbayar, 54, served as prime minister and then president for almost a decade until losing office in 2009. He was arrested in April in a dawn raid broadcast live on national television.
On Thursday, a Mongolian court found him guilty of misappropriating gifts intended for a monastery and illegally privatising a hotel along with other corruption charges, in a hearing broadcast to the nation.
The court originally sentenced him to seven years, but reduced it by three years, citing an amnesty law.
Enkhbayar, who was barred from running in Mongolia’s June parliamentary elections, called the charges “groundless”.
“I served the posts of president, prime minister and speaker of parliament. I never thought I would be accused groundlessly,” Enkhbayar said in his testimony. His lawyer said they would appeal the verdict.
Enkhbayar formed a breakaway Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party last year, splitting from the ruling Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), the oldest in the country which held power during the Soviet era.
For much of the past decade the MPP shared power with the Democratic Party, but the latter left the coalition in January to prepare for June elections.
Enkhbayar’s MPRP joined forces with another party to form the Justice Coalition, which in June won 11 of 76 parliamentary seats, considered a relative success for the new coalition.
They have agreed to cooperate closely with the DP, which won the largest share in parliament with 31 seats, while the MPP won 25.
The election results are still being contested, however, with charges of vote-buying and other disputes.
Accusations of vote-rigging in 2008 parliamentary elections sparked riots that left four people dead.
The MPP and DP have pledged to improve the distribution of wealth across the vast nation, which covers an area three times the size of France but has a population of just 2.8 million people.
Mongolia is ranked 120 out of 182 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index compiled by the watchdog group Transparency International, tying with Bangladesh, Iran and Kazakhstan.
Mongolia is one of Asia’s poorest nations but has increasingly lured foreign investors with its rich deposits of copper, gold, uranium, silver and oil.
Its economy grew 17.3 percent last year and foreign investment quadrupled to $5 billion.
But poorer Mongolians complain the benefits of the boom are not reaching them, that the elite have grown more corrupt and foreign mining companies receive exceedingly favourable deals.
Olympics: US gold rush sinks China
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| LONDON: China slipped to second place in the London Olympics
medals count Friday as wins in badminton and trampolining were outdone
by an American gold rush in the pool. The six-day leaders, who also ruled the roost at Beijing 2008, were just one gold behind the United States — 20 to 21 — but with athletics, a rich mine for American medals, only just under way. World champions Japan humbled Brazil 2-0 to reach the women’s football semi-finals, easing the delegation’s disquiet at being knocked off top spot in the judo competition for the first time since Seoul 1988. China will look to their divers, badminton players and table tennis stars to maintain their flow of medals. On Friday, world champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, who are romantically involved, won the badminton mixed doubles 21-11, 21-17 against team-mates Xu Chen and Ma Jin. It began what China hope will be a sweep of all five badminton titles — a bid which was rocked when top seeds Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli were among eight players kicked out of the women’s doubles for playing to lose. Men’s champion Lin Dan set up a dream final with great rival Lee Chong Wei, who is recovering fast from a serious ankle injury, in what will help organisers move on from the ‘throwing’ scandal. Malaysia’s Lee downed fourth seed Chen Long 21-13, 21-14, and Lin beat South Korea’s Lee Hyun-Il 21-12, 21-10 to set up a rematch of the 2008 final — and last year’s gripping world title match, won by Lin at Wembley Arena. “I was not the favourite to win this match,” said top seed Lee, who has battled back to fitness with intense rehab and stem-cell treatment. “This is not Lee Chong Wei at his best. But I was determined to prove a lot of people wrong.” China stayed on course for the unprecedented feat of winning all eight diving titles when Wu Minxia, seeking a record-equalling sixth Olympic medal, led the preliminary round of the women’s 3m springboard. Dong Dong won the men’s trampoline, usurping the title of Chinese team-mate Lu Chunlong, who is also world champion in the discipline and took bronze. South Korea claimed the Olympic Games men’s team sabre fencing gold, beating Romania 45-26 in the final, while Oh Jin-Hyek extended their dominance in the archery events by winning the men’s individual competition. South Korea, who set a modest target of 10 titles for the Games, already have nine which puts them third on the medals table, ahead of hosts Great Britain. But Japan were left to contemplate a medal-less showing for their male judokas which means that, for the first time in 24 years, they cannot finish as the competition’s most successful nation. Japan have just one judo gold so far, through women’s under-57kg world champion Kaori Matsumoto. Japan are currently 13th on the medals table, with North Korea eighth. “It is my responsibility. Technically we were good but mentally and in terms of power we were weak,” said men’s coach Shinichi Shinohara. “I don’t think the rest of the world has got better but mentally athletes from the other countries are stronger.” On Saturday, the last evening of pool action, China can bet the house on a gold medal for world champion and world record-holder Sun Yang in the 1500m. Sun, with the 400m title in the bag, topped qualifying with 14min 43.25sec. It will help counter a flood of US titles in the pool including wins for Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin, and 15-year-old Katie Ledecky on Friday. |
Iran agrees to resume dialogue with world powers
Iran’s main nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili agreed in phone talks
today to resume dialogue with world powers in August on Tehran’s
contested programme, the EU’s top diplomat said. She did not say if
these would be face-to-face talks or more phone contact.
Working on behalf of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, European Union High Representative Ashton is trying to elevate dialogue with Tehran into a stable exchange after tortuous stop-start diplomacy. The so-called P5+1 group she represents has told Iran to immediately stop enriching uranium to the 20 percent level, to ship out its existing 20 percent stock and to shut down a fortified underground enrichment facility.
Iran insists it has a right to uranium enrichment under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and wants Western sanctions on its economy to be eased.
Working on behalf of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, European Union High Representative Ashton is trying to elevate dialogue with Tehran into a stable exchange after tortuous stop-start diplomacy. The so-called P5+1 group she represents has told Iran to immediately stop enriching uranium to the 20 percent level, to ship out its existing 20 percent stock and to shut down a fortified underground enrichment facility.
Iran insists it has a right to uranium enrichment under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and wants Western sanctions on its economy to be eased.
India to train Myanmar defence personnel
India has assured its support to Myanmar in training its defence
personnel. The assurance was given to the visiting Commander-in-Chief of
Myanmar’s armed forces Vice Senior General Miu Aung Hlaing during
discussions with Defence Minister AK Antony, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal
Verma, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne and Army Chief Gen Bikram
Singh in New Delhi on Friday.
The Myanmar General will visit Eastern Army Command in Kolkata, Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam and some of the DRDO laboratories in Banaglore before leaving for home.
The Myanmar General will visit Eastern Army Command in Kolkata, Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam and some of the DRDO laboratories in Banaglore before leaving for home.
Vijay Kumar bags silver medal in 25-m rapid fire pistol
Army sharp shooter Vijay Kumar on Friday fought a
nerve-wracking battle with five other top marksmen to clinch the silver
medal in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event at the Olympic Games.
Kumar beat back the challenge of world champion Alexei Klimov of
Russia, Chinese duo of Ding Feng and Zhang Jian and German Christian
Reitz in the 40-shot final to finish runner-up in a thrilling finale
behind Cuba’s Leuris Pupo who shot his way to the gold with a world
record equalling score of 34.
The 26-year-old army subedar from Himachal Pradesh found the target 30 times out of 40 attempts in the series comprising eight rounds of five shots each.
This is India’s second medal in the ongoing quadrennial extravaganza after fellow marksman Gagan Narang’s bronze in the 10m Air Rifle event on July 30.
This was also the country’s fourth medal in shooting in Olympic history.
The other medal winners are Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (silver in 2004 Athens) , Abhinav Bindra (gold in 2008 Beijing) besides Narang.
Kumar started with a bang, hitting the target all five times and kept himself in the hunt for a medal by consistently finding the target.
After a perfect five out of five at the start, Kumar, a double gold medallist in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, found the target four times in the second and third series, but missed it twice in the fourth.
He came back strongly by finding the target four times in the next three rounds and assured himself of a silver.
In the last round after Pupo shot four to clinch the gold, Kumar seemed to relax a bit and missed three targets.The bronze medal was won by Feng with a tally of 27.In the final, Kumar was assured of a medal after the the elimination of the trio of Klimov (23), Jian (17) and Christian (13) leaving himself, Pupo and Feng in the fray.The silver was in his bag when Feng missed twice in the seventh round and Kumar replied with four.Kumar had earlier lifted the Indian shooting team’s spirit after the flop show by Narang, who failed to qualify for the final of the 50m Rifle Prone, by entering the finals of his event through the preliminaries.
En route to his total score of 585, Kumar became the second shooter to break the previous Olympic record of 583 to give a hint of his potential during the second stage of qualification.
Placed fourth in the list, Kumar, who had scored 293 in stage 1 of the qualification on Thursday, shot a series of 98 97 97 in the second stage to take his total score to 585.
He shot a sequence of 99 96 98 at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
The Army man then successfully competed with five shooters for a medal.
Pre-Games medal favourite Ronjan Sodhi had yesterday failed to qualify for the double trap event.
Klimov had created a new world record by shooting 592 but he could not replicate that in the final.
He scored a total of 592 after Stage 2, breaking the existing world record of 591 and Olympic record of 583, with 294 points in Stage 1 and a staggering 298 out of 300 in Stage 2.
The 26-year-old army subedar from Himachal Pradesh found the target 30 times out of 40 attempts in the series comprising eight rounds of five shots each.
This is India’s second medal in the ongoing quadrennial extravaganza after fellow marksman Gagan Narang’s bronze in the 10m Air Rifle event on July 30.
This was also the country’s fourth medal in shooting in Olympic history.
The other medal winners are Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (silver in 2004 Athens) , Abhinav Bindra (gold in 2008 Beijing) besides Narang.
Kumar started with a bang, hitting the target all five times and kept himself in the hunt for a medal by consistently finding the target.
After a perfect five out of five at the start, Kumar, a double gold medallist in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, found the target four times in the second and third series, but missed it twice in the fourth.
He came back strongly by finding the target four times in the next three rounds and assured himself of a silver.
In the last round after Pupo shot four to clinch the gold, Kumar seemed to relax a bit and missed three targets.The bronze medal was won by Feng with a tally of 27.In the final, Kumar was assured of a medal after the the elimination of the trio of Klimov (23), Jian (17) and Christian (13) leaving himself, Pupo and Feng in the fray.The silver was in his bag when Feng missed twice in the seventh round and Kumar replied with four.Kumar had earlier lifted the Indian shooting team’s spirit after the flop show by Narang, who failed to qualify for the final of the 50m Rifle Prone, by entering the finals of his event through the preliminaries.
En route to his total score of 585, Kumar became the second shooter to break the previous Olympic record of 583 to give a hint of his potential during the second stage of qualification.
Placed fourth in the list, Kumar, who had scored 293 in stage 1 of the qualification on Thursday, shot a series of 98 97 97 in the second stage to take his total score to 585.
He shot a sequence of 99 96 98 at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
The Army man then successfully competed with five shooters for a medal.
Pre-Games medal favourite Ronjan Sodhi had yesterday failed to qualify for the double trap event.
Klimov had created a new world record by shooting 592 but he could not replicate that in the final.
He scored a total of 592 after Stage 2, breaking the existing world record of 591 and Olympic record of 583, with 294 points in Stage 1 and a staggering 298 out of 300 in Stage 2.
Saina bows to hunt for bronze
World No 5 Saina, the first Indian to reach the Olympic semi-final
in the shuttle game, was beaten 13-21 13-21 by the world’s top women’s
badminton player in a match that lasted 42 minutes before a packed
Wembly Arena where Indian supporters outshouted the Chinese but that too
did not help.
Saina can still hope to win an Olympic bronze in a play-off with
yet another Chinese player Xin Wang, who defeated compatriot Li Xuerui
in a closely fought second semi-final 22-20, 21-18, played immediately
after Saina-Yihan clash.
The Indian will meet the World No 3 Chinese in the play-off on
Saturday.Clearly off colour, the Hyderabadi girl was never in the match
except for brief moments in the second set. She was unable to draw her
rival into rallies and could not hold her service for long.
The taller Wang moved swiftly on the court, never allowing Saina to engage in rallies which is her strength.
The longest rally of the match lasted 38 seconds and the average rally just 10 seconds.
Acknowledging the superiority of Wang, the disappointed Indian said
later that she was too fast for her while she herself was not moving so
well on the court.
“Wang was simply too fast for me. I was not moving well on the
court and she exploited that. I made some errors in crucial stages which
did not help me,” she said.
“I tried hard in some areas but she just did not allow me to settle
down and engage in rallies. She was finishing off quickly and was
coming upto the net to attack. I could not counter that kind of a game,”
Saina explained.
Asked if she had not had enough recovery time for the match after
her yesterday’s quarterfinal win, Saina said that was not an issue at
all and that she had had enough recovery time.
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India pakistan electricity trade
Second meeting of group of experts on trade of electricity
between Pakistan and India on Thursday discussed the proposals for
electricity trade and HVDC link establishment to transfer 500 MW from
India to Pakistan in detail.
The six-member Indian expert group was headed by Joint Secretary (Transmission), Ministry of Power, India while the Pakistan Expert group was led by Joint Secretary (Power), Ministry of Water and Power, Government of Pakistan.
An official handout stated that the meeting was held in cordial atmosphere. The (transmission) lines will emanate from grid station in India to grid station in Pakistan. Further discussion with NTDCL will be held in Lahore tomorrow.
The delegation also called on Secretary Ministry of Water and Power. To further discuss the possibilities/matters of proposed trade, both sides decided to hold the next round of discussions in New Delhi in October 2012.
The six-member Indian expert group was headed by Joint Secretary (Transmission), Ministry of Power, India while the Pakistan Expert group was led by Joint Secretary (Power), Ministry of Water and Power, Government of Pakistan.
An official handout stated that the meeting was held in cordial atmosphere. The (transmission) lines will emanate from grid station in India to grid station in Pakistan. Further discussion with NTDCL will be held in Lahore tomorrow.
The delegation also called on Secretary Ministry of Water and Power. To further discuss the possibilities/matters of proposed trade, both sides decided to hold the next round of discussions in New Delhi in October 2012.
India and Belgium Sign MOU for Development & Modernization of Railway Sector
India and Belgium Sign MOU for Development &
Modernization of Railway Sector.MOU to Focus Especially on Development
of Railway Stations to International Standards. A Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) was signed by the visiting Deputy Prime Minister
& Minister for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs
of Belgium, Mr. Didier Reynders and the Union Minister of Railways of
India Shri Mukul Roy on bilateral co-operation for the effective
development and modernization of railway sector of both the countries,
here today. In pursuance of the Vision 2020 document promulgated by the
then Minister for Railways, Mamata Banerjee, for modernization and
development of major Railway Stations as vibrant centres of the life of
cities for commerce, entertainment and social space, Indian Railways has
identified stations for development to the international standards and
signing of this MOU will especially focus in this direction.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Mukul Roy said that the MOU will
usher in a new era of cooperation between two countries for effective
development and modernization in Railway sector. He said that both
Indian and Belgian Railways will benefit with mutual consultation and
exchange of information services on development and modernization of
railway stations.
Shri Mukul Roy further said that knowledge sharing on design and current practices in the field of Railway Infrastructure and deputation of specialists and experts in areas of mutual interests will bond the ties between the two countries further. He said that Belgium Government owned companies, namely Euro Station and Immostar, have vast experience in field of development of stations in and outside Belgium. These companies have extensive expertise in transforming historical railway stations into the modern international terminals and the experience gained by them can be gainfully emulated in India after suitable adaption to Indian conditions.
Shri Mukul Roy informed that both the countries have agreed to form Steering and Working Groups consisting of experts to determine and define detailed scope and modalities of the activities and projects to be undertaken by both the countries for mutual benefit. Shri Mukul Roy said that he is directing these groups to start working immediately and come up with workable recommendations. Shri Mukul Roy hoped that the cooperation between Indian and Belgian Railways reaches a new high with the signing of this MOU.
Speaking on the occasion, the Belgium Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs of Belgium, Mr. Didier Reynders said that the size of Indian Railway sector is truly impressive. He said the developments and opportunities in this sector are equally impressive in view of the vision and ambitions of the Indian Government. He pointed out that Indian Railway sector is a focus sector of Belgium economic diplomacy.
Referring to the existing Belgium involvement in Indian Railway sector, Mr. Didier Reynders said that several Belgium or Belgium-based companies are already firmly present in India and their activities range from the fastening and coating of rails to the delivery of parts for the train construction and software for safety and network management. Referring to today’s MOU, Mr. Didier Reynders said that this initiative will kick start Belgium cooperation for the development of world class railway stations in India. He expressed the hope that it will be a fruitful and long standing partnership. He also outlined the economic and commercial potential of Belgium and elaborated about the well developed Railway network of Belgium.
In his welcome address, Shri Vinay Mittal, Chairman Railway Board (India) said that with the signing of this MOU, a new era of construction and exchange of technical and managerial information in relation to the modernisation of railway station and commercialization of real estate around stations between the two countries will begin. Shri Mittal said that the rich experience of the Belgium Railway companies will boost Indian Railways’ endeavours in modernizing and upgrading its stations. He said that under this MOU, the areas of cooperation among others shall also include carrying out joint research and training programmes.
The Minister of State for Indian Railways, Shri K. H. Muniyappa was also especially present on the occasion.
CEO of Euro Immostar/Eurostation Mr. Herwig Persoons also spoke on the occasion. Also present on the occasion were Board Members and senior officials of Indian Railways and Ambassador of Belgium to India Mr. Pier Vaesen among others
Shri Mukul Roy further said that knowledge sharing on design and current practices in the field of Railway Infrastructure and deputation of specialists and experts in areas of mutual interests will bond the ties between the two countries further. He said that Belgium Government owned companies, namely Euro Station and Immostar, have vast experience in field of development of stations in and outside Belgium. These companies have extensive expertise in transforming historical railway stations into the modern international terminals and the experience gained by them can be gainfully emulated in India after suitable adaption to Indian conditions.
Shri Mukul Roy informed that both the countries have agreed to form Steering and Working Groups consisting of experts to determine and define detailed scope and modalities of the activities and projects to be undertaken by both the countries for mutual benefit. Shri Mukul Roy said that he is directing these groups to start working immediately and come up with workable recommendations. Shri Mukul Roy hoped that the cooperation between Indian and Belgian Railways reaches a new high with the signing of this MOU.
Speaking on the occasion, the Belgium Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs of Belgium, Mr. Didier Reynders said that the size of Indian Railway sector is truly impressive. He said the developments and opportunities in this sector are equally impressive in view of the vision and ambitions of the Indian Government. He pointed out that Indian Railway sector is a focus sector of Belgium economic diplomacy.
Referring to the existing Belgium involvement in Indian Railway sector, Mr. Didier Reynders said that several Belgium or Belgium-based companies are already firmly present in India and their activities range from the fastening and coating of rails to the delivery of parts for the train construction and software for safety and network management. Referring to today’s MOU, Mr. Didier Reynders said that this initiative will kick start Belgium cooperation for the development of world class railway stations in India. He expressed the hope that it will be a fruitful and long standing partnership. He also outlined the economic and commercial potential of Belgium and elaborated about the well developed Railway network of Belgium.
In his welcome address, Shri Vinay Mittal, Chairman Railway Board (India) said that with the signing of this MOU, a new era of construction and exchange of technical and managerial information in relation to the modernisation of railway station and commercialization of real estate around stations between the two countries will begin. Shri Mittal said that the rich experience of the Belgium Railway companies will boost Indian Railways’ endeavours in modernizing and upgrading its stations. He said that under this MOU, the areas of cooperation among others shall also include carrying out joint research and training programmes.
The Minister of State for Indian Railways, Shri K. H. Muniyappa was also especially present on the occasion.
CEO of Euro Immostar/Eurostation Mr. Herwig Persoons also spoke on the occasion. Also present on the occasion were Board Members and senior officials of Indian Railways and Ambassador of Belgium to India Mr. Pier Vaesen among others
India is the Second-Largest Mobile Phone user in World
India is the second-largest mobile phone user with
over 900 million users in the world. It accounted for over 10% of the
world’s online population in 2011. This was stated by Shri Ghulam Nabi
Azad, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare in London today.
Addressing the seminar on “The Role of Health Informatics – How
Health is making difference to ordinary people in India” at Healthcare
& Life Sciences Global Business Summit, Shri Azad said that mobile
telecommunications have seen tremendous growth in India. This growth has
been inclusive with benefits accruing to the poorest households in the
remotest regions of the country. In 2011 alone, 142 million
mobile-cellular subscriptions were added in India, twice as many as in
the whole of Africa, and more than in the Arab States, CIS and Europe
put together. The mobile tariffs in India have become among the lowest
in the world. A new mobile connection can be activated with a monthly
commitment of 15 cents only.
Recognizing the potential to reach out to people, especially those living in remote areas and adolescents he said that Government of India has recently taken steps to integrate and enhance existing Health related – IT enabled Systems. A name, address and telephone based Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS) is a new initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and is one of the excellent examples of leveraging Information Technology for ensuring delivery of full spectrum of healthcare and immunization services to pregnant women and children up to 5 years of age. This system is aimed at generating a data bank to validate delivery of services, ensuring ante-natal, intra-natal and post-natal checkups, nursing universal immunization, ensuring quality service delivery, micro planning. These initiatives will have a positive impact on important health indicators like Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR).
Shri Azad said that that Mother & Child Tracking System employs mobile-based SMS technology to communicate with grass roots level health care services providers, health and family welfare policy makers, health managers and health administrators at different tiers of the health care delivery system. This tracking system has ‘pull’ features making it very user friendly. A pregnant woman registered in MCTS can use the MCTS interface to know which of the scheduled services she has received and which of the maternal care services she still requires. Similarly, parents of a child can get information about vaccines the child has already received and details of the vaccinations due. 25.2 million pregnant women and 18.3 million children have been registered in MCTS since its inception in 2010. In the current year (2012-13) alone, 3.8 million pregnant women and 2.2 million children have been registered.
One example of effective use of mobile technology is using SMS to communicate with the 3.2 million Central Government Health Services (CGHS) beneficiaries spread across India. These beneficiaries are patients who come to the CGHS Wellness Centres for consultation and getting medicines for treatment. Under the aegis of the National Rural Health Mission, mobile telephone based systems are being increasingly used for managing health information systems.
Besides the above initiatives, the Government of India is planning a mobile based information dissemination programme. Through this initiative, health promotion messages could be sent out as and when required for maternal & child health, nutrition for children, adolescent health and population stabilisation, tobacco control, information on non-communicable diseases & healthy lifestyle and HIV/AIDS.
Shri Azad said that through these efforts, our major policy objective is to reposition the mobile phone from a mere communication device to an instrument of empowerment and use it to help take health care services at the doorstep of ordinary people. He hoped that these meetings will highlight the importance of the health sector and enable global health leaders to benefit from opportunities for collaboration and develop meaningful partnerships to improve upon health care delivery.
Recognizing the potential to reach out to people, especially those living in remote areas and adolescents he said that Government of India has recently taken steps to integrate and enhance existing Health related – IT enabled Systems. A name, address and telephone based Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS) is a new initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and is one of the excellent examples of leveraging Information Technology for ensuring delivery of full spectrum of healthcare and immunization services to pregnant women and children up to 5 years of age. This system is aimed at generating a data bank to validate delivery of services, ensuring ante-natal, intra-natal and post-natal checkups, nursing universal immunization, ensuring quality service delivery, micro planning. These initiatives will have a positive impact on important health indicators like Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR).
Shri Azad said that that Mother & Child Tracking System employs mobile-based SMS technology to communicate with grass roots level health care services providers, health and family welfare policy makers, health managers and health administrators at different tiers of the health care delivery system. This tracking system has ‘pull’ features making it very user friendly. A pregnant woman registered in MCTS can use the MCTS interface to know which of the scheduled services she has received and which of the maternal care services she still requires. Similarly, parents of a child can get information about vaccines the child has already received and details of the vaccinations due. 25.2 million pregnant women and 18.3 million children have been registered in MCTS since its inception in 2010. In the current year (2012-13) alone, 3.8 million pregnant women and 2.2 million children have been registered.
One example of effective use of mobile technology is using SMS to communicate with the 3.2 million Central Government Health Services (CGHS) beneficiaries spread across India. These beneficiaries are patients who come to the CGHS Wellness Centres for consultation and getting medicines for treatment. Under the aegis of the National Rural Health Mission, mobile telephone based systems are being increasingly used for managing health information systems.
Besides the above initiatives, the Government of India is planning a mobile based information dissemination programme. Through this initiative, health promotion messages could be sent out as and when required for maternal & child health, nutrition for children, adolescent health and population stabilisation, tobacco control, information on non-communicable diseases & healthy lifestyle and HIV/AIDS.
Shri Azad said that through these efforts, our major policy objective is to reposition the mobile phone from a mere communication device to an instrument of empowerment and use it to help take health care services at the doorstep of ordinary people. He hoped that these meetings will highlight the importance of the health sector and enable global health leaders to benefit from opportunities for collaboration and develop meaningful partnerships to improve upon health care delivery.
Egyptian Cabinet Takes Oath
Egyptian government led by Prime Minister Hesham Qandil was sworn in before President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday.
The 35-member cabinet consists mainly of new members although it includes several key ministers who served under President Hosni Mubarak.
Hussein Tantawi, the chief of Egypt’s military council who was the de facto head of state since Mubarak’s ouster in February 2011 until Morsi’s inauguration as president in June, retained his post as defense minister which he has held since 1991.
Mohamed Amr was also reappointed as foreign minister, Mumtaz al-Said as finance minister, Ali Sabri as minister of military production, Mohamed Ibrahim as minister of antiques, Nagva Halil as social security minister and Nadiye Zahari as minister of scientific research.
A U.S.-educated engineer and former minister of water resources, Qandil has been dubbed “the first bearded Egyptian minister,” in reference to his links to the Islamists.
Meanwhile, only four of the newly appointed ministers are members of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). They will be in charge of higher education, housing, youth, and mass media.
Speaking at a news conference in Cairo ahead of the ceremony, Qandil declared his cabinet a “people’s government” and called on Egyptians to “rally behind our elected president and to work with the government to achieve all of our goals.”
Those goals include improving the living standards in Egypt, ensuring freedom and social justice, he said. He also called for unity among Egyptians without religious discrimination.”We have to stop asking who is a Copt, a Muslim or a Salafi. I don’t see that. All I see is that we are all Egyptians and this should be the main principle,” he said.
Greece agrees on fresh austerity measures
Greece’s coalition government have agreed to take the fresh
austerity measures needed to secure funding from the country’s
international creditors.Greece is required to accept new spending cuts
of 11.5 billion euros, or over 14 billion dollars, for 2013 and 2014 in
return for bailouts from the European Union and other international
bodies.
The leaders of the trio coalition parties discussed the matter on Wednesday.
The leaders of the second and third coalition parties, both leftists, demanded that the deadline for the cutbacks be extended by 2 years. They cited the country’s contracting economy and falling employment due to austerity measures already in place.
But conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras succeeded in persuading them to accept the additional measures. He insisted that fresh spending cuts are essential for the country to remain in the eurozone.The measures to be announced around the end of August are expected to include privatization of state-owned corporations and pension cuts, which will likely arouse strong public opposition.
The leaders of the trio coalition parties discussed the matter on Wednesday.
The leaders of the second and third coalition parties, both leftists, demanded that the deadline for the cutbacks be extended by 2 years. They cited the country’s contracting economy and falling employment due to austerity measures already in place.
But conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras succeeded in persuading them to accept the additional measures. He insisted that fresh spending cuts are essential for the country to remain in the eurozone.The measures to be announced around the end of August are expected to include privatization of state-owned corporations and pension cuts, which will likely arouse strong public opposition.
UN General Assembly to Meet on Syria
World governments are reacting to the resignation of UN special envoy on Syria Kofi Annan. Russia has expressed regret, while the United States and Syria’s opposition forces say his departure highlights a failure at the top level of the United Nations.
The United States reiterated its call on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Assad continues to brutally murder his own people despite his promise to abide by Annan’s plan. Carney said Annan’s resignation underscores the failure at the UN Security Council of Russia and China to support resolutions against Assad.
US officials say they will not provide weapons to Syria’s opposition, limiting assistance to non-lethal tools such as communication equipment.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed regret over Annan’s resignation, calling him a brilliant diplomat.
Putin did not refer directly to Annan’s criticism of the split at the UN Security Council, pitting Western countries against Russia and China. Putin said only that he hoped the international community would continue efforts to end the violence.
Amidst fierce fighting between Government forces and rebels in Aleppo, Syria, the United Nations General Assembly is meeting later tonight to discuss the draft seeking resignation of Bashar Assad and transfer power to a transitional government. It also strongly condemns the Security Council for failing to take action against Damascus.
Ahead of the UN General Assembly Session, Russia has reiterated that it will vote against the Saudi resolution. It said that the text of the draft resolution is unbalanced and biased. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a statement that the draft resolution attributes all responsibility for what is happening in the country uniquely on to the Syrian authorities and makes no request to the Syrian opposition. The resolutions at General Assembly are not binding unlike at Security Council. However there are no vetoes and it can be passed by a simple majority. Last time in the voting at UN General Assembly Russia,China, Iran and Iraq had voted against a resolution on Syria. In addition Russia and China have vetoed thrice the UN Security Council resolutions on Syria. The voting on the draft is expected tomorrow.
Situation in Syria has worsened with fighting from both sides continue and the rebels have heavy weapons.Syria’s northern city of Aleppo, rebel forces have been using a tank against government troops in a further escalation of fighting.A UK-based human rights group says the anti-government Free Syrian Army attacked a military airbase near Aleppo on Thursday with a tank believed to have been taken from government forces.The rebels had been lacking in firepower to counter the tanks and helicopters of government troops.
But recently they are reinforcing their weaponry with help from neighboring Gulf states.UN ceasefire observers expressed concern on Wednesday, confirming the rebels have heavy weapons.The government army launched a fierce offensive across the country on Wednesday and Thursday.
In the suburbs of the capital Damascus, government troops and pro-regime militiamen known as Shabbiha reportedly assaulted a village, killing more than 40 people.Concern is growing that the fighting in Syria will continue to escalate as the rebels seek more help from outside the country.
Ford,General Motors profit dips
Ford,General Motors profit dips due to poor European
sales.US automakers General Motors and Ford are reporting a sharp
decline in profits because of poor sales in Europe.GM’s profit better
because its European division, which includes money-losing German
subsidiary Opel, reported a loss of $361 million, a big dip from the
$102 million that GM made in Europe a year ago, more than $500 billion
that many analysts expected it to have lost after rival Ford (F)
reported a shocking $404 million loss in Europe last week.
GM revealed on Thursday that its net income for the second-quarter
was down 41 percent from a year earlier.The major factor behind the drop
was negative earnings reported by its European division following poor
sales.European losses also sent Ford’s net profit declining 57 percent
year-on-year.
But Chrysler returned to the black from negative earnings a year earlier.The company says decreased dependence on the European market, along with brisk sales in US and Canadian markets put it on the road to recovery.
But Chrysler returned to the black from negative earnings a year earlier.The company says decreased dependence on the European market, along with brisk sales in US and Canadian markets put it on the road to recovery.
12 Innovations to Combat Drought
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Saina Nehwal in semi women’s singles
Saina Nehwal of India dispatched Tine Baun of
Denmark 21-15, 22-20 to reach the semi-final of the women’s singles
badminton event.
Fourth seeded Saina edged past fifth seed Tine 21-15, 22-20 in a
39-minute match at the Wembley Areana on Thursday to set up a clash with
the current world No 1 and World champion Yihan Wang of China in the
semifinals, whom she hasn’t beaten once in her last five encounters.
With this win, Saina bettered her quarterfinal finish at the
Beijing Games four years ago and also excorcised the demons of that
painful defeat to Maria Kristin Yulianti of Indonesia.
The world No 5 Indian had to toil hard against the two-time All
England Champion Tine, who matched her strokes but was a tad erratic,
which proved to be her bane in the quarterfinal match.
Saina was very precise with her strokes, while Tine was erratic initially and it allowed the Indian to lead 11-7 at the break.
After the breather, Saina slowly mixed her strokes to move into the
game point at 20-12 with a short smash but she committed some unforced
errors and a few judgemental mistakes on her part allowed the Dane to
save three game points. Saina finally pocketed the first game with a
smash which Tine netted.
In the second game, Tine opened up a slender 3—0 lead and extended
it to 10—7 but Saina reeled off four straight points to lead 11—10 at
the break once again.
Saina tried to exploit the length of the court and started
combining lifts and clears with drops and net-shots but Tine was up for
the job as she caught up with Saina at 15-15 and even managed to earn
three game points at 20-17.
But Super Saina was not the one to take it lying low as she executed a cross court smash to move to 18-20.
She also pocketed the next point when her stroke was judged ‘in’ by
the line-umpire, much to chagrin of Tine, who thought it was out and
was celebrating her comeback by pumping her fists.
After that, Tine committed to three unforced errors as Saina burst into celebration.
An anti-graft Team Anna buy politics
Although Anna Hazare is yet to clearly spell out whether his team
will join politics or support clean candidates and act as a pressure
group, many are terming the move a logical next step forward for Team
Anna.
Until recently Team Anna was steadfastly against entering politics.
The latest round of indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar in the heart of national capital had made some points amply clear.
The hunger strike was not going to bring in a Lokpal or for that
matter an SIT against corrupt ministers despite some of the fasting
members being close to being hospitalised without the fast yielding any
result.
Team Anna today decided to end its indefinite fast tomorrow and take a plunge into politics.
“It is another two years to go to polls in 2014. We have to go to
people throughout the country in the next one-and- half years”.
“Why waste time on fasts? Tomorrow at 5 pm, all fast will end,”
Hazare told supporters at Jantar Mantar at the end of an address in
which he enunciated the civil society’s approach to providing a
political alternative to the current system.
However, questions still remained as to what Team Anna would do
regarding the political alternative and whether they would launch a
party themselves.
Team Anna asked people to send their suggestions about politicial
alternative through text messages or emails or through the opinion poll
in their website.
10th Zagreb Film Festival
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August 2012
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Dear citizens and guests of Zagreb!
The temperature is high and the summer holidays and school
vacations have emptied the streets of Zagreb. However, the impressive
programmes of cultural, entertainment and sporting events scheduled to
take place during the month of August guarantee that the citizens who
have stayed in the city can look forward to a pleasant summer in Zagreb.
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Dear friends and business partners!
What can one see and experience in Zagreb? How long should one
stay? The list of interesting summer events has never been longer, so
the answer to those questions is quite difficult.
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our pick
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In the Vicinity of the Arena Centre
An adrenaline packed view of the city – from a bungee jumping platform
Since July, another attractive option has been added to the ways in
which to see Zagreb from the air; the first bungee jumping facility in
the continental part of Croatia – located near the Arena Centre. The
enjoyment one feels during the adrenaline packed jump is enhanced by a
bird’s-eye view of the city.
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| If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter please click here | |
| Published by: Zagreb Tourist Board | Produced by: U.T. Marketing d.o.o., Zagreb | |
| This message was sent to nksagar_1@yahoo.com by newsletter@zagreb-touristinfo.hr
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HKTD International
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Website: CPCB submits error ridden misleading affidavit,
CPCB submits error ridden misleading affidavit, fails to file report on groundwater contamination around site of Bhopal’s industrial disaster in Supreme Court
CPCB Chairperson urged to recall, revise the misleading report and file a fresh affidavit
Direction of groundwater flow and contamination around Bhopal plant is along Northeast axis
New Delhi July 31, 2012: In a letter to Mira Mehrishi, Chairperson, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Additional Secretary
Union Ministry of Environment & Forests, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA) has revealed the glaring loopholes and errors in the 13 page attached misleading affidavit of CPCB in the matter of drinking water in Dow Chemicals Company’s Union Carbide Corporation (UCC)ⳠBhopal plant area filed in Hon’ble Supreme Court on July 17, 2012. The letter is attached.
The affidavit was filed as a follow up of TWA’s letter dated July 14, 2012, assurance of Vijay Panjwani, CPCB lawyer and court’s order dated March 28 and April 19, 2012.
The bench of Hon⢬e Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice J. Chelameswar had directed, 㔨e Central Pollution Control Board, which has been added as party to these proceedings, and represented in Court today, shall also file a report with regard to the removal of contamination of the ground water in the area where Union Carbide factory/plant is situated䠯n March 28, 2012 in I.A. No.43 of 2007 in Writ Petition (Civil)No. 657 of 1995. The court in its order dated April 19 has directed, 㴨e Central Pollution Control Board is given time to file its composite report by 4th June, 2012.䠂oth the orders are enclosed.
Supreme Court lawyer for Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had assured that バCB would file report (on groundwater contamination by DowⳠBhopal plant) as soon it is ready. There is no reason for CPCB to hold back or delay filing of report on contaminated ground water in Arif Nagar,etc near UCC/UCIL/DOW CHEMICAL plant in Bhopal.伢r>
It is also sad that instead of acting as per Hon’ble Court’s order, the affidavit refers to a business as usual study that was commissioned to IITR as per its letter dated January 24, 2012 that seems to task IITR to ensure compliance with NEERI’s study. This study is not in compliance with the Hon’ble Court’s order dated March 28, 2012 because it was commissioned 2 months prior to the order.
At page 2 of the affidavit filed by Dr D D Basu reads: “the officials of the Central Pollution Control Board visited the area on 7th June, 2012 and examined the matter and are of the view that the de-contamination of the ground water needs following information as a pre-requisite.
The two out of three the Terms of Reference (TOR) for IITR mentioned in the affidavit reads: “Collection of the ground water samples of 36 locations as indicated in the report of NEERI and analysed for the following parameters…:” and “Data generated on groundwater and soil quality shall be put together to revalidate the observations in the June 2010 report of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur.” It may be noted that NEERI study’s assumption of direction of flow of ground water in the UCC’s plant area has been contested. Both these TORs appear motivated as it appears to decide the direction and inference of the IITR study.
It further states that “once the revalidation is completed, a strategy of remediation of contaminated soil and ground water can be worked out. This shall take one year to develop the module of decontamination of soil and ground water.” It is revealed that “IITR has requested to Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief & Rehabilitation Department (BGTRRD) for facilitation of sampling of soil and ground water in and around the UCIL premises.”
It is clear from these admissions in the affidavit that the “report with regard to the removal of contamination of the ground water in the area where Union Carbide factory/plant is situated” as directed by the Hon’ble Court is not yet complete and only correspondence with regard to the same has happened.
The concluding sentence of the affidavit at page 4 reads: ” Meanwhile, CPCB through his Zonal Office-Bhopal collected samples of drinking water being supplied by Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) on 7th June, 2012 from six locations. It is observed that the water quality is within the limit of drinking water”. It concludes by saying that ” The detailed report of drinking water sampling ar Arif Nagar (Near UCIL premises), Bhopal is Annexed.”
It is evident from what is mentioned at page 2 of the affidavit that CPCB was directed to examine contamination of ground water in the are where UCC factory is located. But after admitting that the examination is not yet complete, CPCB undertook the formality of testing samples of BMC’s drinking water supply and casually talks about how “possibility of cross contamination” with dirty water “cannot be ruled out” at page 7 (in the annex) of the affidavit. There is reference to “one sample from bore well being used by a local small restaurant (Ayasha Hotel).” The pagination of the affidavit is irregular that gives an impression that some pages of the annexure may be missing or may have got left out.
The Hon’ble Court had asked for “report with regard to the removal of contamination of the ground water in the area where Union Carbide factory/plant is situated” instead an irrelevant “Report of Drinking Water Sampling At Arif Nagar (Near UCIL Premises) Bhopal” has been filed.
All the titles of all the 3 tables which are annexed as part of the affidavit is faulty, misleading and factually incorrect. Table 1 at page 11 is titled “Analysis results of ground water monitoring carried out by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)”.
The fact is the affidavit itself reveals that CPCB did not undertake the ground water monitoring as it has been ‘commissioned’ to IITR which in turn has sought the assistance of BGTRRD.
Table 2 at page 12 is titled “Analysis results of ground water monitoring carried out by Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (M.PPCB)”.
Table 3 at page 13 is titled “Analysis results of ground water monitoring carried out by Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (M.PPCB)”.
The fact is at page 9 of the affidavit it is incorrectly claimed that “Groundwater sampling was carried out at six locations by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB).”
At page 5 of the affidavit the six locations from where water samples were taken on June 7, 2012 between 3 PM to 6 PM are mentioned. It is explicitly mentioned that 5 of these samples were from “Drinking water supply by BMC”, there is just one sample from Borewell in Street No. 8 being used by Ayasha Hotel at Arif Nagar, Bhopal.
It is evident from the affidavit of the CPCB that its team visited UCC’s factory site after the expiry of the Hon’ble court’s deadline.
It is noteworthy that former employees of the UCC’s plant have shared the list of toxic substances in the factory premises. These include:
1 Ortho dichlorobenzene, 2 Carbon tetrachloride, 3 Chloroform, 4 Methyl Chloride, 5 Methanol, 6 Mercury, 7 Sevin, 8 Alpha Naphthol etc.
UCC’s chemical plant dealt with a multitude of organic compounds to manufacture the pesticide carbaryl (Sevin). Phosgene and Monomethyl amine (MMA) were the main raw materials involved in the process of manufacturing Methyl iso-cyanate (MIC), which in turn was used in combination with excess alpha-naphthol to produce Sevin. By-products like chloroform,carbon tetrachloride, MMA, ammonium chloride, dimethyl urea were all collected and recycled back to the process.
Toxic substances stored inappropriately inside the UCC’s plant site are believed to have entered the soil and the ground water aquifer. It may be noted that the 1996 study of Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad showed the presence of Heavy metals(Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Manganese Nickel andZinc) in wastes dumped within the factory. Naphthol and other volatile organic matter were also detected in the same waste. Leaching from these wastes cannot be ruled out.
Notably, the UCC plant was in operation from 1977 to 1984. After the industrial disaster in December 1984, the factory operations ceased and the site was abandoned. It is clear that since no remediation activities ever took place, the pesticide products and their production intermediates serve as ongoing pollutants to the environment, in particular, the groundwater.
A recent thesis titled “A Deterministic and Probabilistic Analyses of the Carbon Tetrachloride Contaminant Plume in Groundwater at the Former Union Carbide India Limited Factory in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India” submitted to the Faculty of the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University in 2012 attempts to describe the contaminant plume of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in the groundwater using analytical models provided by publicly the available software known as analytical contaminant transport analysis system (ACTS). It notes that CCl4 is known to have adverse effects on human health when consumed through the drinking water and is classified as possibly carcinogenic by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The calibrated deterministic results show that concentrations of CCL4 do not exceed the U.S. EPA maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) roughly 850 m from the source in the northeast direction. Probabilistic simulations show that there is a 100% probability that CCl4 concentrations exceed WHO specified MCL up to the year 2034 at sites 500m, 1000 m and 2000 m northeast of the UCIL site.
It may be noted that within the NEERI report from 2010, the direction of groundwater in the region of UCC’s plant is reported to be in both the Northeast and Southeast direction. The Greenpeace report from 1999, citing an earlier report by NEERI, stated that the direction of groundwater flow is along a Northeast axis. The thesis states, “Given that the contaminant concentrations used for calibration increased along the Northeast axis, it was assumed for the purposes of this study that the direction of groundwater flow was along the Northeast axis.”
It is noteworthy that Greenpeace International’s 1999 study had found Chloroform, Carbon Tetrachloride, Tricholroethane, Tetrachloroethane, Hexachloroethane,, Chlorobenzene, Dichlorobenzenes and Trichlorobenzenes were detected in the groundwater by Organic Screening Analysis. Concentrations of Chloroform, Carbontetrachloride, Dichlorobenzenes and Trichlorobenzenes in groundwater exceeded WHO standards at Bhopal’s JP Nagar and Atal Ayub Nagar.
In such a context, the submission by the CPCB official is manifestly quite inadequate. In In view of the errors and inadequacy of the report, TWA in its letter has urged the Chairperson of CPCB to ensure that the CPCB’s affidavit is recalled, revised and a fresh affidavit is filed at the earliest.
Copies of the letter has been sent to Neel Kamal Darbari, Joint Secretary, Bhopal Gas Cell, Union Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Dr N P Shukla, Chairman, Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Dr K C Gupta, Director, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, Dr. D. D. Basu, Scientist ‘E’ & In charge, PAMS Division, CPCB, R.S. Kori, Scientist ‘E’ & (In charge Zonal Office Central), CPCB, Anirudh Mukherjee, Commissioner-cum-Director, Directorate of Gas Relief and Rehabilitation, Bhopal among others.
For Details: Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), Mb: 9818089660, E-mail-krishna1715@gmail.com, Phone: +91-11-26517814,
Fax: +91-11-26517814
CPCB Chairperson urged to recall, revise the misleading report and file a fresh affidavit
Direction of groundwater flow and contamination around Bhopal plant is along Northeast axis
New Delhi July 31, 2012: In a letter to Mira Mehrishi, Chairperson, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Additional Secretary
Union Ministry of Environment & Forests, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA) has revealed the glaring loopholes and errors in the 13 page attached misleading affidavit of CPCB in the matter of drinking water in Dow Chemicals Company’s Union Carbide Corporation (UCC)ⳠBhopal plant area filed in Hon’ble Supreme Court on July 17, 2012. The letter is attached.
The affidavit was filed as a follow up of TWA’s letter dated July 14, 2012, assurance of Vijay Panjwani, CPCB lawyer and court’s order dated March 28 and April 19, 2012.
The bench of Hon⢬e Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice J. Chelameswar had directed, 㔨e Central Pollution Control Board, which has been added as party to these proceedings, and represented in Court today, shall also file a report with regard to the removal of contamination of the ground water in the area where Union Carbide factory/plant is situated䠯n March 28, 2012 in I.A. No.43 of 2007 in Writ Petition (Civil)No. 657 of 1995. The court in its order dated April 19 has directed, 㴨e Central Pollution Control Board is given time to file its composite report by 4th June, 2012.䠂oth the orders are enclosed.
Supreme Court lawyer for Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had assured that バCB would file report (on groundwater contamination by DowⳠBhopal plant) as soon it is ready. There is no reason for CPCB to hold back or delay filing of report on contaminated ground water in Arif Nagar,etc near UCC/UCIL/DOW CHEMICAL plant in Bhopal.伢r>
It is also sad that instead of acting as per Hon’ble Court’s order, the affidavit refers to a business as usual study that was commissioned to IITR as per its letter dated January 24, 2012 that seems to task IITR to ensure compliance with NEERI’s study. This study is not in compliance with the Hon’ble Court’s order dated March 28, 2012 because it was commissioned 2 months prior to the order.
At page 2 of the affidavit filed by Dr D D Basu reads: “the officials of the Central Pollution Control Board visited the area on 7th June, 2012 and examined the matter and are of the view that the de-contamination of the ground water needs following information as a pre-requisite.
- Status of water quality of the ground water in the formal UCIL premises, Bhopal.
- To what extent with respect to area, the ground water is contaminated.
- Options of technology available for ground water remediation”
The two out of three the Terms of Reference (TOR) for IITR mentioned in the affidavit reads: “Collection of the ground water samples of 36 locations as indicated in the report of NEERI and analysed for the following parameters…:” and “Data generated on groundwater and soil quality shall be put together to revalidate the observations in the June 2010 report of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur.” It may be noted that NEERI study’s assumption of direction of flow of ground water in the UCC’s plant area has been contested. Both these TORs appear motivated as it appears to decide the direction and inference of the IITR study.
It further states that “once the revalidation is completed, a strategy of remediation of contaminated soil and ground water can be worked out. This shall take one year to develop the module of decontamination of soil and ground water.” It is revealed that “IITR has requested to Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief & Rehabilitation Department (BGTRRD) for facilitation of sampling of soil and ground water in and around the UCIL premises.”
It is clear from these admissions in the affidavit that the “report with regard to the removal of contamination of the ground water in the area where Union Carbide factory/plant is situated” as directed by the Hon’ble Court is not yet complete and only correspondence with regard to the same has happened.
The concluding sentence of the affidavit at page 4 reads: ” Meanwhile, CPCB through his Zonal Office-Bhopal collected samples of drinking water being supplied by Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) on 7th June, 2012 from six locations. It is observed that the water quality is within the limit of drinking water”. It concludes by saying that ” The detailed report of drinking water sampling ar Arif Nagar (Near UCIL premises), Bhopal is Annexed.”
It is evident from what is mentioned at page 2 of the affidavit that CPCB was directed to examine contamination of ground water in the are where UCC factory is located. But after admitting that the examination is not yet complete, CPCB undertook the formality of testing samples of BMC’s drinking water supply and casually talks about how “possibility of cross contamination” with dirty water “cannot be ruled out” at page 7 (in the annex) of the affidavit. There is reference to “one sample from bore well being used by a local small restaurant (Ayasha Hotel).” The pagination of the affidavit is irregular that gives an impression that some pages of the annexure may be missing or may have got left out.
The Hon’ble Court had asked for “report with regard to the removal of contamination of the ground water in the area where Union Carbide factory/plant is situated” instead an irrelevant “Report of Drinking Water Sampling At Arif Nagar (Near UCIL Premises) Bhopal” has been filed.
All the titles of all the 3 tables which are annexed as part of the affidavit is faulty, misleading and factually incorrect. Table 1 at page 11 is titled “Analysis results of ground water monitoring carried out by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)”.
The fact is the affidavit itself reveals that CPCB did not undertake the ground water monitoring as it has been ‘commissioned’ to IITR which in turn has sought the assistance of BGTRRD.
Table 2 at page 12 is titled “Analysis results of ground water monitoring carried out by Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (M.PPCB)”.
Table 3 at page 13 is titled “Analysis results of ground water monitoring carried out by Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (M.PPCB)”.
The fact is at page 9 of the affidavit it is incorrectly claimed that “Groundwater sampling was carried out at six locations by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board (MPPCB).”
At page 5 of the affidavit the six locations from where water samples were taken on June 7, 2012 between 3 PM to 6 PM are mentioned. It is explicitly mentioned that 5 of these samples were from “Drinking water supply by BMC”, there is just one sample from Borewell in Street No. 8 being used by Ayasha Hotel at Arif Nagar, Bhopal.
It is evident from the affidavit of the CPCB that its team visited UCC’s factory site after the expiry of the Hon’ble court’s deadline.
It is noteworthy that former employees of the UCC’s plant have shared the list of toxic substances in the factory premises. These include:
1 Ortho dichlorobenzene, 2 Carbon tetrachloride, 3 Chloroform, 4 Methyl Chloride, 5 Methanol, 6 Mercury, 7 Sevin, 8 Alpha Naphthol etc.
UCC’s chemical plant dealt with a multitude of organic compounds to manufacture the pesticide carbaryl (Sevin). Phosgene and Monomethyl amine (MMA) were the main raw materials involved in the process of manufacturing Methyl iso-cyanate (MIC), which in turn was used in combination with excess alpha-naphthol to produce Sevin. By-products like chloroform,carbon tetrachloride, MMA, ammonium chloride, dimethyl urea were all collected and recycled back to the process.
Toxic substances stored inappropriately inside the UCC’s plant site are believed to have entered the soil and the ground water aquifer. It may be noted that the 1996 study of Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad showed the presence of Heavy metals(Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Manganese Nickel andZinc) in wastes dumped within the factory. Naphthol and other volatile organic matter were also detected in the same waste. Leaching from these wastes cannot be ruled out.
Notably, the UCC plant was in operation from 1977 to 1984. After the industrial disaster in December 1984, the factory operations ceased and the site was abandoned. It is clear that since no remediation activities ever took place, the pesticide products and their production intermediates serve as ongoing pollutants to the environment, in particular, the groundwater.
A recent thesis titled “A Deterministic and Probabilistic Analyses of the Carbon Tetrachloride Contaminant Plume in Groundwater at the Former Union Carbide India Limited Factory in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India” submitted to the Faculty of the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University in 2012 attempts to describe the contaminant plume of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in the groundwater using analytical models provided by publicly the available software known as analytical contaminant transport analysis system (ACTS). It notes that CCl4 is known to have adverse effects on human health when consumed through the drinking water and is classified as possibly carcinogenic by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The calibrated deterministic results show that concentrations of CCL4 do not exceed the U.S. EPA maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) roughly 850 m from the source in the northeast direction. Probabilistic simulations show that there is a 100% probability that CCl4 concentrations exceed WHO specified MCL up to the year 2034 at sites 500m, 1000 m and 2000 m northeast of the UCIL site.
It may be noted that within the NEERI report from 2010, the direction of groundwater in the region of UCC’s plant is reported to be in both the Northeast and Southeast direction. The Greenpeace report from 1999, citing an earlier report by NEERI, stated that the direction of groundwater flow is along a Northeast axis. The thesis states, “Given that the contaminant concentrations used for calibration increased along the Northeast axis, it was assumed for the purposes of this study that the direction of groundwater flow was along the Northeast axis.”
It is noteworthy that Greenpeace International’s 1999 study had found Chloroform, Carbon Tetrachloride, Tricholroethane, Tetrachloroethane, Hexachloroethane,, Chlorobenzene, Dichlorobenzenes and Trichlorobenzenes were detected in the groundwater by Organic Screening Analysis. Concentrations of Chloroform, Carbontetrachloride, Dichlorobenzenes and Trichlorobenzenes in groundwater exceeded WHO standards at Bhopal’s JP Nagar and Atal Ayub Nagar.
In such a context, the submission by the CPCB official is manifestly quite inadequate. In In view of the errors and inadequacy of the report, TWA in its letter has urged the Chairperson of CPCB to ensure that the CPCB’s affidavit is recalled, revised and a fresh affidavit is filed at the earliest.
Copies of the letter has been sent to Neel Kamal Darbari, Joint Secretary, Bhopal Gas Cell, Union Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Dr N P Shukla, Chairman, Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Dr K C Gupta, Director, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, Dr. D. D. Basu, Scientist ‘E’ & In charge, PAMS Division, CPCB, R.S. Kori, Scientist ‘E’ & (In charge Zonal Office Central), CPCB, Anirudh Mukherjee, Commissioner-cum-Director, Directorate of Gas Relief and Rehabilitation, Bhopal among others.
For Details: Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA), Mb: 9818089660, E-mail-krishna1715@gmail.com, Phone: +91-11-26517814,
Fax: +91-11-26517814
Flood, landslides kill 7 in Indonesia
Indonesia, the massive flood and landslides in Ambon, the capital
city of eastern Maluku province, has killed seven people. A spokesman of
the Indonesian Disaster Mitigation Agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said,
the casualties took place following torrential downpour in the region
since yesterday causing landslides and heavy flood that inundated houses
in the city’s neighborhood.
The official said four of the victims died from landslides. The heavy downpour in Indonesia’s eastern region was an impact of tropical cyclone of Saola, hitting north Philippines’ territory at present.
The official said four of the victims died from landslides. The heavy downpour in Indonesia’s eastern region was an impact of tropical cyclone of Saola, hitting north Philippines’ territory at present.
India has allowed investment from Pakistan
In a major decision, India has allowed
investment from Pakistan paving way for Islamabad to normalise bilateral
economic ties by implementing much-delayed Most Favoured Nation (MFN)
status for New Delhi.
Pakistan terms the Indian decision to allow Pakistani direct foreign investment in India as a positive step.
Pakistan has termed the Indian decision to allow Pakistani direct
foreign investment in India as a positive step.In a statement Foreign
office welcoming it said that Pakistan will take up the decision
according to the rules and regulations of the country. Earlier‚ India
decided to allow foreign direct investment from Pakistan in a move to
boost bilateral economic relations.An official statement issued in New
Delhi said the government after reviewing the policy has decided to
permit a citizen of Pakistan or an entity incorporated in Pakistan to
make investments in India in sectors and activities other than defence‚
space and atomic energy.
“The Government of India has reviewed the policy…and decided to
permit a citizen of Pakistan or an entity incorporated in Pakistan to
make investments in India,” the Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a
press note in New Delhi on Wednesday.
However, strategic sectors of defence, space and atomic energy have
been kept out of foreign direct investment (FDI) from Pakistan, it
said.
Also, the FDI proposals from the neighbouring country would need clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
Hailing the decision, the Indian industry said that Pakistani
businessmen can explore sectors like cement, textiles and sports for
investments in the country.
“It is a great decision…Now Pakistan should also implement the MFN status to India,” Ficci Secretary General Rajiv Kumar said.
SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry President Vikramjit Singh
Sahney termed the decision as one of the strongest confidence building
measures to improve bilateral relations.
“Pakistan should also take similar steps and allow Indian
businessmen to invest in their country,” CII Director General
Chandrajeet Banerjee said.
Although Pakistan had notified granting the MFN status to India in March this year, it is yet to implement it fully.
However, Pakistan had partially liberalised its trade regime with
India in March when it shifted from positive list rules to
negative-meaning barring 1209 items Islamabad would allow import of all
other Indian goods.
Analysts feel that Wednesday’s decision would help the Pakistan
government to convince the MFN opponents about its trade bargains with
India.
India had granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in 1996 which
means that Islamabad will give treatment to Indian imports at par with
its other trading partners.Pakistan welcomes Indian decision to allow
Pakistani direct foreign investment in India.Pakistan terms the Indian decision to allow Pakistani direct foreign investment in India as a positive step.
Hisham Qandil has formed a new Cabinet
Prime Minister Hisham Qandil has formed a new Cabinet. According
to state television, the finance and foreign ministers from the outgoing
Cabinet will retain their posts in the new cabinet. The Nile News
channel said, Qandil was meeting with the ministers, including Foreign
Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr and Finance Minister Mumtaz al-Said, a day
before he was to formally unveil the Cabinet tomorrow.
The report said, the Prime Minister selected Ahmed Gamal al-Din, a former deputy interior minister, as his new interior minister.
The report said, the Prime Minister selected Ahmed Gamal al-Din, a former deputy interior minister, as his new interior minister.
Series of low intensity explosions in Pune
Four low-intensity blasts within a one-km range
on the busy Junglee Maharaj Road were witnessed in Pune on Wednesday
while one person was confirmed to be injured in the incident, Pune
Police Commissioner Gulabrao Pol has ruled out the terror angle and
stated that it was a case of mischief.
The explosions were set off by pencil cell detonators placed in a
plastic bag, a dustbin and in cycles at two locations, police said.
Speaking to reporters at the blast site, Pol said, “The situation is under control. There is no need to panic.”
The Pune ATS and teams from the National Investigation Agency (NIA)
from Mumbai and Delhi will investigate the matter further, he said.
The first explosion occurred around 7.30 p.m. near Balgandharva
Rang Mandir, an auditorium on Junglee Maharaj Road. Dayanand Patil, who
was injured in the blast, was carrying a cake box kept in a plastic bag,
police said.
He was admitted to Sassoon Hospital, where the police recorded the evidence.
According to the police, the second explosion occurred in a dustbin
outside the popular fast food joint McDonald’s. Soon after, the third
and fourth blasts went off at Dena Bank and Garware Chowk, in the same
vicinity, with the explosive material planted in cycles.
Another bomb was defused by the police within the next one hour. The
number of injured might have been higher, but have not been reported as
they were minor injuries.India invited to attend ASEAN-AIPA general assembly meet
India has been invited to participate as observer at the 33rd
General Assembly of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) next month
in Lombok, Indonesia. The invitation was conveyed by the President of
AIPA and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of
Indonesia, Marzuki Alie during the first visit of AIPA delegation to New
Delhi.
The delegation was on a four-day visit ending today. External affairs ministry said, Alie conveyed an invitation for India to participate as observer at the 33rd General Assembly of AIPA from September 16th to 22nd.
During the various call-ons, which included a meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee, the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs yesterday, the AIPA delegation took appreciative note of the ground covered by the ASEAN-India Dialogue Partnership and the important role that it has in the continuing stability and development of the region and to global economic growth and prosperity.
President of AIPA also took note of the economic potential of ASEAN and India, which together constitute a market of over 1.8 billion people, while supporting the early conclusion of the ASEAN-India FTA on Services and Investment.
The AIPA delegation also conveyed that ASEAN countries were looking forward to the Commemorative Summit in New Delhi in December 2012.International News Content
The delegation was on a four-day visit ending today. External affairs ministry said, Alie conveyed an invitation for India to participate as observer at the 33rd General Assembly of AIPA from September 16th to 22nd.
During the various call-ons, which included a meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee, the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs yesterday, the AIPA delegation took appreciative note of the ground covered by the ASEAN-India Dialogue Partnership and the important role that it has in the continuing stability and development of the region and to global economic growth and prosperity.
President of AIPA also took note of the economic potential of ASEAN and India, which together constitute a market of over 1.8 billion people, while supporting the early conclusion of the ASEAN-India FTA on Services and Investment.
The AIPA delegation also conveyed that ASEAN countries were looking forward to the Commemorative Summit in New Delhi in December 2012.International News Content
Delhi Police advise Team Anna to hospitalise Kejriwal,Gopal,Manish
In a letter to Team Anna member Neeraj Kumar, Additional
Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) K C Dwivedi said doctors have advised
that Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai need immediate medical
intervention and be shifted to a hospital.
The fast of the three activists entered eighth day on Wednesday and
their health has worsened with doctors advising their hospitalisation.
However, Anna Hazare and Kejriwal saw a conspiracy to take the
activists to hospital to end the stir for a strong Lokpal and warned
that they would not negotiate with the government if the activists are
forcibly removed.
Kejriwal also said that it is the responsibility of the supporters
to ensure that he should be out of hospital in case of forcible
eviction. The letter to Team Anna came following the tough stand taken
by activists.
Dwivedi said their continued fasting, resistance to accepting
medical intervention and announcing from the dais at Jantar Mantar that
there would be dire consequences following their forcible removal is not
as per the terms and conditions that were mutually agreed upon and may
lead to adverse law and order situation.
“You are advised to follow the doctors’ recommendation and take
steps for immediate hospitalisation of Arvind Kejriwal, Gopal Rai and
Manish Sisodia to prevent harm to their lives and well-being failing
which you would be squarely responsible for any untoward incident,” the
letter said.
Dwivedi pointed out that Team Anna has given an undertaking on 7th July that they will abide by all lawful directions by any police officer at any stage of the agitation.
“Being the organiser of this agitation, it would be your
responsibility to ensure the well-being of the persons sitting on fast,”
the letter to Kumar said.
Dwivedi also said that Dr Vivek Arya and Dr Kanika of Ram Manohar
Lohia Hospital and Dr Vipin Mittal and Dr Atul Gupta, attending to
fasting activists, have examined Hazare and three other activists.
“Today, Dr T S Sidhu, the Medical Superintendent of RML, forwarded
the medical reports of Dr Arya for the past two days. This team of
doctors has advised that Kejriwal, Rai and Sisodia need immediate
medical intervention of a hospital and should, therefore, be shifted to
one. Dr T S Sidhu has endorsed this view,” the letter said.
After the letter was sent to Team Anna, activist Shazia Ilmi
alleged that they have information that Kejriwal will be taken by force
in the night. However, police denied the allegation.
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