Environment Portal August Final

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Updated: August 4, 2015 12:59 IST

Forests vs. people conflict emerges at Western Ghats review meeting
Of the six States falling under the W. Ghats only Kerala and Goa have submitted their reports
with recommendations for demarcating eco-sensitive zones.
Do you save the forests or do you save the economic interests of the people living in and around
forests? This dilemma was at the fore of the review meeting of six States falling under the
Western Ghats, in which 22 members of parliament representing these States participated, led by
Union Environment and Forests Minister Prakash Javadekar. Addressing presspersons outside
Parliament, Mr. Javadekar said, The overall tone of their suggestions was that we must protect
the nature and wildlife habitat, but also simultaneously protect the people. To do that, we can ban
mining and highly polluting industries, but other activities should be allowed.
That economic activities such as rubber and tea plantations and agriculture should be excluded
from the eco-sensitive zones (ESZ) to be demarcated in the Western Ghats, as per the
Kasturirangan Committee recommendations, was one of the major suggestions coming from
the MPs representing these six States. But everyone talked about sustainable development as
well. And to that end, we will have yet another meeting next week, Mr. Javadekar said.
Of the six States, only Kerala and Goa have submitted their reports containing recommendations
for the demarcation of ESZ. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat are ready with the
report, but they are yet to submit it to the Environment ministry, Mr. Javadekar said. He added
that only after factoring in all the suggestions given by the MPs, a final call will be taken about
ESZ demarcation.
Concerns of States
Some Kerala MPs present in the meeting had raised objections to even rubber plantations being
captured as forests by satellite imagery. This has resulted in the peculiar situation where even
key development projects of benefit to locals like construction of hospitals or electrical poles
have been treated as red projects in the area.
Prathap Simha, MP representing Mysore and Coorg from Karnataka told The Hindu that unlike
Kerala, Karnataka had not conducted a physical survey of forest areas, which was why they
failed to meet the July 31 deadline for submitting reports to the Centre. In my constituency most
farmers fear that agricultural activities would be affected that they will not be allowed to use
fertilizers and chemicals if their village comes under ESZ. Also if mining and quarrying is totally
banned, in tourist areas like Coorg construction of houses would become difficult due to sand
supply shortage. I have requested Mr. Javadekar to allow quarrying of sand for local
consumption, the MP, whose constituency comprises 55 ESZ villages said.
Bureaucracy perverting conservation efforts
Renowned ecologist Madhav Gadgil told The Hindu that the conflict between protecting forests
and protecting peoples economic interests was due to the perversion of environmental
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conservation efforts by the bureaucracy, which turned forest protection into a license raj of sorts
to collect bribes from local people to allow simple activities like digging a well. Our report had
emphasized the need to consult gram sabhas and not impose conservation efforts from above.
But these are not being talked about. With the result that today ESZ demarcation is seen by the
local people as tyranny of the forest department, he said.
It would be misleading to say that environment protection is in conflict with peoples livelihood
rights. In Kerala, illegal stone quarrying has deprived the local population of access to natural
resources needed for economic well-being, but political parties have managed to fill their pockets
by encouraging such activities, he said.
One of the MPs also questioned both the Madhav Gadgil report and the Kasturirangan report on
the Western Ghats due to contradictions between the percentage of forests determined in the
report. The Kasturirangan report ignored the fact that a substantial amount of natural forest
occurs outside of government reserve forest area, Mr. Gadgil said.
El Nino, its impact quite unpredictable: ADB expert
Mumbai, Kolkata listed among five vulnerable metros

HYDERABAD, AUGUST 5:
A climate change expert has warned of the unpredictability of El Nino and its adverse impact on
monsoon and agricultural operations, as well as the potential of hotter summers.
Ancha Srinivasan, Principal Climate Change Specialist, Asian Development Bank, explained the
seemingly moderate El Nino can gain strength and has potential to impact rabi crop season and
lead to heat waves next summer.
The difficulty of predicting El Nino and its impact is also a matter for concern, as it could lead
to extreme situations such a poor monsoon; a phase where we may have rain burst or it could
even be a severe heat wave, the last could potentially be possible in vulnerable States like
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, he said here.
El Nino is a phenomenon wherein sea temperature warming in Pacific Ocean spreads and
impacts the region. This leads to intensity of drought and can increase in India and other
places. Its prediction is not easy, he said.
Vulnerable cities
Outlining some of the major concerns of climate change, particularly in the South Asian
countries, and the Indian subcontinent, Srinivasan said Mumbai and Kolkata are among five
major metros along with Bangkok, Dhaka and Manila vulnerable to heavy rains.
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Asia tops in the most vulnerable regions to climate change wherein India and Bangladesh are
seen to be top among vulnerable countries.
While assuring he was not providing a scary scenario, he said studies undertaken by the ADB
and its teams have shown that the Asia Pacific region witnessed 47 per cent of disasters and 75
per cent of global human fatalities.
Highlighting the importance of disaster preparedness in a changing climate situation has

become one of the major challenges for economies globally, he said. While developed
nations with huge resources and quality infrastructure are better off in tackling tough
situations, other countries with large populations and poor urban infrastructure are likely
to find it much tougher to handle the situation.
We need to be optimistic about the future, he said, as planners are seeking to incorporate risk
management as a part of the planning process.
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 has listed out measures that need
to be taken to address disaster situations.
While there is no full consensus on the issue, there are certain binding responsibilities for States,
he said.
Quoting research findings, he said during 2008-2012, about 834 million people were affected
due to floods in the region, resulting in the loss of over $1.5 trillion.
10% monsoon deficit raises drought fears

Sub-par rainfall across India for more than two weeks has pushed the monsoon deficit to
10% below normal, increasing worries of a second successive drought year in the country .
Average all-India rainfall was 5% below normal on August 1 but the deficit doubled by
Independence Day .August so far has seen 17% below-normal rain. A shortfall of 10% or more
for the entire monsoon season (June to September) is considered a drought year.
Agriculturally, however, the situation is better than last year, when the monsoon ended with
a 12% deficit, because of plentiful rains in June and a few good spells since then. Despite the
monsoon weak ening in August, kharif sowing has so far been igher than last year. The net own
area, estimated to be 890 akh hectares as on August 14, was 27 lakh hectares more than he
corresponding period in 2014.
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But concern for standing rops has been growing. Last week, the Centre approved pro osals
for initiating a series of armer-friendly interventions or the kharif crop and sancioned an
additional Rs 300 crore for the purpose.
Met officials said monsoon has remained low-key in August due to absence of large scale
rain systems typical of this time of the year. In August, monsoon has remained mostly
convective, that is, heat-related short period rain. The same pattern is likely to continue for
another 10 days, with a few ups and downs. We may see a large scale revival by the end of this
month or early September, said D Sivananda Pai, IMD lead monsoon forcaster.
With nearly two-thirds of the monsoon season over, possible drought regions have started
emerging. One clear region of high distress is Marathwada (rain deficit 48%), north interior
Karnataka (45%), Rayalaseema (38%) and surrounding areas. Other raindeficit areas are
emerging in the northern plains, with east Uttar Pradesh (36%) and Bihar (32%) showing the
highest deficiency as of now.
IMD has predicted a 12% monsoon shortfall this year, mainly on account of unfavourable
conditions for rains during the season due to El Nino conditions in the Pacific, which continue to
grow stronger.
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Modi announced Rs 3,094 crore for agri revival for Bihar

It is part of his overall package of Rs 125,000 crore for the state
BS Reporter August 19, 2015 Last Updated at 00:31 IST
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced an Rs 3,094 crore package for
rejuvenation of agriculture in poll-bound Bihar, which is part of his overall package of Rs
125,000 crore for the state.
Funds for the sector will be spent on up gradation of Rajendra Prasad Agriculture University to
Central University, creation of a new Research Centre, development of fisheries, farmwater
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management, storage capacity, farm mechanisation, seed production systems and construction of
new godowns for foodgrains.
Of this, work on the first two that is up gradation of Rajendra Agriculture University to Central
University and creation of a new Research Centre has already started. Bihar is one of major
producer of paddy, fruits and vegetables, but lacks a proper institutional mechanism to procure
foodgrains from farmers.
"This is a positive step towards gaining the momentum in the agriculture sector and will provide
the necessary boost.
The sector needs funds and thrust towards this is welcome," Sandeep Sabharwal, Group CEO,
Sohan Lal Commodity Management said.
574 farmer suicides this year, and counting

Mohammed Akhef,TNN | Aug 20, 2015, 12.32 AM IST
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AURANGABAD: With still over four more months to go, the eight districts of Marathwada
region have already witnessed as many as 574 farmer suicides this year. This is the highest
number of farmer suicides registered since 2005 in the region. In the year 2014, there were 569
farmers suicides reported from the region.
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So far the region has witnessed just 28% of its average rainfall, turning the situation from bad to
worse for the farmers. Drought, hailstorm and famine that the region has been consecutively
facing for almost a decade now have broken the back of the farming community.
Due to the mounting toll, alarm bells have set ringing in the revenue, irrigation and agriculture
department. Senior officials are refusing to comment on the mounting figure.
A senior official from the revenue department said, " There are frequent video-conferencing and
continuous follow-ups from the high-ups at the secretariat and the CMO to check the progress of
farmer welfare schemes."
Even if the administration puts in 200% efforts, from where can the state bring rains, asked the
officer pointing towards the cloud seeding statistics on his table. So far the much-hyped cloud
seeding efforts have failed to yield results.
There are about 40 lakh farmers in the region and over 80% of them belong to the category of
small and marginal farmers.
Farmer activist Jayajirao Suryawanshi said, " Nothing is being done by the government. In the
past 225 days, 574 farmers from Marathwada have committed suicide. Moreover, sugar factories
chaired by BJP men have defaulted on payment to sugarcane farmers, further making their lives
miserable. The state should start working on solving the farmer issues."
Khwaja Samiullah, who after retiring as joint commissioner of the FDA opted for farming about
12 years ago, had to sell off his land at a throwaway price after the bank converted his crop loan
into a term loan and started the recovery process.
He said, " The consecutive governments have failed to address the root cause. There are scores
of welfare schemes for farmers but unfortunately a majority of them fail to reach the deserving
ones. Banks easily convert crop loans into term loans and even commercial loans. Some have to
sell off their lands, while the others commit suicide."
August 20, 2015
Ban on unauthorised extraction of groundwater

In a crackdown launched by authorities, a ban has been enforced on unauthorised extraction of
groundwater at seven locations in Servaikaranmadam village in Tuticorin taluk.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate and Tuticorin Sub-Collector S. Gopala Sundara Raj imposed the ban
order on Wednesday under Section 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C) Responding
to complaints from the local people and farmers that large-scale extraction, transportation, sale
and commercial exploitation of groundwater caused depletion of water table in the area and the
people were deprived of water, the action was initiated.
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Tuticorin District Tamirabarani Nathineer Padhukaapu Peravai and Tamirabarani Paasana

Vivasayigal Padhukaapu Porattakulu had earlier submitted petitions to the district administration
against illegal extraction and sale of groundwater. It seriously affected agriculture in the area,
they had said.
India headed for climatic drought 2nd year on the trot

CRISIL Ratings identifies four states and five crops at highest risk to deficient monsoon
Sanjeeb Mukherjee | New Delhi August 20, 2015 Last Updated at 00:37 IST
Within the next 40 days, the southwest monsoon will formally start retracting from the Indian
mainland, ending its four-month journey over the country, pounding some parts with excess
showers, but could leave almost 30 per cent of the country with deficient or less-than-normal
rains, unless there is an abnormal pickup in the coming weeks.
That looks highly unlikely given that the usual intensity of monsoon starts declining from the
middle of August onwards. Most meteorologists feel this year's southwest monsoon season could
end with a minimum shortfall of eight to 10 per cent, and the rains could be in the range of 90-93
per cent of the long-period average (LPA).
The state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast the June-September rains to
be deficient at 88 per cent of the LPA, while weathermen feel that the actual rains could be in the
range of 90-93 per cent of the LPA. The LPA for June-September is the average rainfall of 50
years starting from 1951 and is estimated to be around 89 centimetres.
This does mean India is heading for a second consecutive year of meteorological drought, but
agricultural drought looks remote. The IMD classifies a meteorological drought as one where the
overall rainfall deficiency is more than 10 per cent and 20-40 per cent of the country is under
drought-like condition.
The low overall rains didn't have a big impact on kharif sowing and might not pull down the
final harvest as distribution, spread and timeliness of the southwest monsoon this year in major
parts of the country was perhaps among the best in the past few years.
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The good distribution of rains, barring some pockets, and its proper timeliness ensured that till
August 14, the sowing of kharif crops was completed in almost 84 per cent of the normal area
and the acreage was almost 3.1 per cent more than 2014.
In fact, data from the IMD showed that except for parts of Bihar, Marathwada, north interior
Karnataka, Kerala, Haryana, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, there has been no consecutive three
weeks of scanty rainfall in most places . There have been some showers after a lean patch; the
intensity below normal.
The off and on rains did fill the reservoirs though and, till August 8, water levels in over 90-odd
reservoirs were 99 per cent of past year's level.
"I feel what is happening on the ground is not accurately reflected by the IMD numbers. For
example, in North India, the IMD said that monsoon will be 15 per cent below normal , but the
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distribution so far has been excellent this year. But, yes, in parts of western and southern India
there is a problem. However, the negative fallout of this region would be neutralised by the
positive output in other regions and kharif production in 2015 would be good," said Ramesh
Chand, director, National Centre for Agriculture Economics and Policy Research (NCAP).
However, rating agency CRISIL in a report titled Angsty Farms released on Wednesday said that
four states - Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh - and five crops - jowar, soyabean,
tur, maize and cotton - are most likely to be hurt by below-normal rains this year. The analysis is
based on CRISIL's own Deficient Rainfall Impact Parameter (DRIP).
These states contribute 34 per cent to total foodgrain production in India, while jowar, soyabean,
tur and maize total up 26 per cent of the total foodgrain and oilseed output.
This financial year, the importance of monsoon, and, therefore, agriculture, is magnified because
the non-farm part of the Indian economy has been struggling, as underscored by poor investment
and manufacturing activity, the report said. If monsoon ends up being deficient overall this
financial year, it would mark two failures on a trot, which will be harder to grapple with, it
added.
"India has suffered weather-related turbulence for years, but what is worrying is that with rising
frequency of such events, the impact is getting increasingly amplified because holistic efforts to
reduce structural vulnerabilities are lacking," Dharmakirti Joshi, chief economist, CRISIL Ltd
said.
He added that the recent fall in rural wage growth has hurt those on the fringes. For the record,
small and marginal farmers constitute around 70 per cent of India's agricultural households and
they depend more on wage income compared with large farmers who enjoy cultivation income.
The agency though maintained its overall GDP growth forecast of 7.4 per cent for 2016 with
agriculture growing at a sub-trend rate of 1.5 per cent on a weak base of last financial year.
"Any positive surprise on rainfall over the next 45 days can create some upside to our growth
outlook," the report said.
On Tuesday, Moody's too lowered its 2015-16 GDP growth forecast to seven per cent from the
earlier 7.5 per cent due to adverse impact of low monsoon on crop output.
August 31, 2015
Irregularities in conversion of agricultural land: CAG

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Agricultural lands in Odisha were converted for non-agricultural purposes without going into the
merits of each case, pointed out the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
The CAG report, which was tabled in the State Assembly recently, says in 273 conversion cases
(60 per cent) involving conversion of 300.707 acre agricultural land in 21 tehsils, no map
showing approach road to the converted plots was attached to the case records, though the same
was required to examine the fulfilment of required conditions for conversion of land use.
Moreover, in 223 cases (49 per cent) involving conversion of 223.659 acre land, the fact of
availability of approach roads was not mentioned in the case records.
Joint physical inspection of 103 such cases conducted by the revenue inspector concerned in
presence of audit team revealed that in 19 cases, there was no approach road to the converted
plots, it maintains.
Moreover, in 80 cases involving conversion of 45.249 acre land, the fact that conversions would
not obstruct natural water courses like streams, nullahs, nayanjories or any drainage channel and
irrigation channel was not mentioned.
As per the CAG report, during 2011-12 to 2013-14, tehsildars of 39 out of 40 test checked tehsils
disposed off 1,04,695 conversion cases involving 9,219.026 acre of agricultural land.
The audit noticed that in 50 lease cases, 213.382 acre land under four tehsils (Bhubaneswar,
Jatani, Khurda and Puri) was leased (1967 to 2000) to jawans for agriculture purpose.
Examination of related lease, mutation and conversion records in concerned tehsils and joint
physical inspection of these leased plots revealed that in none of the cases was the same utilised
for agricultural purposes.
No map showing approach road to the converted plots attached in 273 conversion cases
Taj Mahal vulnerable to pollution, no study on other monuments yet: Govt

Last Updated: Tuesday, August 4, 2015 - 19:15
New Delhi: The government has not carried out any specific study to identify monuments across
the country with regards to their vulnerability to climate change and air pollution, the Lok Sabha
was informed today.
It has, however, identified world heritage icon Taj Mahal in Agra as a monument which needs to
be protected from air pollution, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said.
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"Taj Mahal in Agra has been identified as a monument which needs to be protected from air
pollution. No nationwide exercise has been undertaken to identify specific monuments which are
vulnerable to climate change and air pollution," Javadekar said.
He said that to protect Taj, a Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) has been notified and restrictions
have been imposed.
The existing industries have to strictly comply with the 1996 directions of the Supreme Court,
and no new or expansion in the existing units is allowed within TTZ.
"The government has established Taj Trapezium Authority under the Environment Protection
Act, 1986 for mitigation of pollution in TTZ area and to minimise adverse impact of pollution on
Taj Mahal," Javadekar said.
Amidst reports pointing at the discolouration of Taj Mahal, a parliamentary panel had recently
recommended that a "multi-pronged" strategy must be adopted to preserve the "pristine beauty"
of the monument.
Noting that diesel generators in the area around Taj Mahal are a major source of pollution
"adversely" affecting the monument, the parliamentary panel has urged Uttar Pradesh
Government to implement the Supreme Court's directive for 24-hour power supply in the area,
besides giving a host of other recommendations.
Now monitor air pollution every time you breathe with Blueairs new Android app
The Blueair Air Quality Monitor provides hourly updates about street level air pollution in key
cities around India.
New Delhi | Published:August 4, 2015 5:49 pm
cities around India.
Blueairs early warning air pollution app is now available on Android making it available
to tens of millions of Indians who use smart phones and other mobile devices powered
by Googles operating system.
Blueair, which makes indoor air purifiers, today released the Android version of its air pollution
warning app. The app called Blueair Air Quality Monitor provides real-time air pollution
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information gathered from a host of monitoring stations in India cities such as Delhi, Mumbai,
Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.
The Blueair air pollution App provides Indian smartphone users an early warning system that
gives them the opportunity to take precautions against heavily polluted air, said Vijay Kannan,
head of Blueair India.
cities around India. The app rates urban air quality on a scale from zero (good) to 500
(hazardous) and is updated regularly throughout the day.
A major problem has been peoples inability to detect what is in the air they are breathing, but
the Blueair air quality Android app helps address that by giving people the chance to finally
monitor how serious their air quality is in real time and do something about it to protect their
health, added Kannan.
Pollution raises risk of dementia

IANS | Aug 5, 2015, 12.05 PM IST
Swedish researchers have uncovered a direct link between polluted air and dementia.
People who live in homes exposed more heavily to pollution run a 40 percent greater risk of
developing Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia than those who live in areas with cleaner
air, a study at Umea University says.
"In total, about 16 percent of all the cases of dementia in the study might have been caused by
exposure to pollution," researcher Bertil Forsberg said describing the results as "sensational."
The study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, studied nearly 2,000
people over a 15-year span while simultaneously tracking traffic patterns in the northern Swedish
city of Umea, Xinhua news agency reported.
All participants were 55 or older and free of any disease symptoms when the study began.
The researchers established the elevated risk having controlled for factors such as age, education
level, lifestyle and body fat.
While previous research linked air pollution to cancer, asthma and respiratory diseases,
academics have in recent years begun to probe how air quality affects the brain.
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"We know that very small particles can enter the brain through the olfactory nerve and cause
direct damage," Forsberg said.
Over 35,000 died in India in last decade due to air pollution: Govt
Last Updated: Friday, August 7, 2015 - 09:51
New Delhi: The government on Thursday said that more than 35,000 people had died due to
acute respiratory infections (ARI) across India in close to 10 years.
The Union environment ministry had in the past maintained that there was no conclusive
evidence that links air pollution to respiratory diseases.
Sharing details of air pollution-linked deaths, the environment ministry also informed the
Parliament that more than 2.6 crore of such cases were reported every year during the period,
reports an English daily.
Air pollution is known to be one of the aggravating factors for many respiratory ailments and
cardiovascular diseases, environment and forest minister Prakash Javadekar stated, sharing the
data provided by the health and family welfare ministry.
The ministry, which generally avoids revealing details of air pollution-linked deaths, shared
statistics related to ARI deaths from 2006 to 2015.
The ministry also listed a number of measures being taken by it to minimize the impact of air
pollution.
Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis etc are the diseases caused
by exposure to increasing air pollution, the minister stated in his written response in Rajya
Sabha while responding to a Parliament question on impact of air pollution.
Earlier in May, the World Health Organization (WHO)'s report shown that deaths due to air
pollution have increased fourfold across the globe over the past decade with China and India
being named as the far worst affected countries.
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A recent study published in Environmental Science and Technology journal had claimed that
foul air was killing up to 80 people a day in Delhi alone.
The Centre for Science and Environment's (CSE) analysis of government data and the Global
Burden of Disease report's data on India has also named air pollution as the fifth leading cause of
death in India after high blood pressure, indoor air pollution, tobacco smoking and poor
nutrition.
While the above government's data is a rare official admission that pollution could be causing
deaths in India on a large scale, international studies have indicated that the number of deaths
could far higher than reported.
'Constn activities added over 20 pc dust to air in six cities'

Press Trust of India | New Delhi August 6, 2015 Last Updated at 18:42 IST
Contribution of construction activities to dust particles in ambient air ranges between 22-23 per
cent in six Indian cities including Delhi, the government today said while acknowledging that
such wastes are a big contributer to air pollution.
"Yes sir. As per the report on Source Apportionment studies undertaken by Central Pollution
Control Board (CPCB) in association with other leading institutions in six metropolitan cities
including Delhi during the year 2007-09...
"...Contribution of construction activities to dust particles (particulate matter) in ambient air

ranges between 22-23 per cent," Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said in Rajya
Sabha.
He said that his ministry has notified the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling)
Rules 2000 under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.
He said as per these rules, construction and demolition wastes should be collected separately and
disposed off in accordance to the laws.
He said that his ministry has also notified the draft Solid Waste Management Rules 2015 for
environmentally sound management of construction and demolition waste which include
mandatory approval of waste management plan by bulk generators of such wastes.
Replying to another question, he said that there are a total 89 proposals related to infrastructure
across the country which is presently under the consideration of the Ministry for grant of
environment clearance in terms of provisions of Environment Impact Assessment Notification
2006.
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Replying to another question, he said that as per India State of Forest Report-2013, the total
forest cover in the country is 697,898 square kms which is 21.23 per cent of the total
geographical area of the country.
"There is a net increase of 5,871 square km in the forest cover of the country as compared with
India State of Forest Report-2011. It is also a fact that the density of population has increased in
the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand," Javadekar said.
He said that to increase the forest and tree cover and improve the quality of existing forest,
afforestation in the country is taken up under various centrally-sponsored schemes such as
National Afforestation Programme (NAP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP),
National Bamboo Mission (NBM) and Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and
Planning Authority (CAMPA) and others.
89.6% of deaths in slums due to respiratory diseases, reveals IIPS survey

The total number of households covered in the survey was 1,452 and the findings represent the
overall situation of slum conditions in Mumbai, says the paper.
Written by Mihika Basu | Mumbai | Updated: August 7, 2015 1:33 am
A huge 89.6 per cent of people living in slums die of respiratory diseases followed by digestive
problems (41.6 per cent) and aches and pains (37.8 per cent), reveals a survey of slums in
Mumbai by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS). The study, which had
asked if any member of the household had suffered from the listed morbidity in the past one
year, was conducted by the Population-Human Settlement-Environment Centre (Pop-Envis) of
IIPS under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. The others
included eye- related problems (20.7 per cent), blood pressure or heart problems (12.8 per cent),
skin problems (12.5 per cent) and diabetes (9 per cent).
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The paper says that while cold and cough, seasonal flu and diarrhea are common diseases in the
slum areas, most of these slums do not have public hospitals nearby and go to local quacks for
treatments.
According to the authors, the survey scientifically selected slum households from six wards that
belong to two zones of slum concentration in the Mumbai metropolitan region, that is, one zone
with higher concentration of slum population and second zone with lower concentration of slum
population. The sample size was calculated based on 42.6 per cent slum population in Mumbai
according to Census 2011.
The study shows that the reported pollution problems include sound (46.6 per cent), foul smell
(72.7 per cent) and smoke (32.8 per cent).
Garbage dumping bins are present, generally in the middle or nearby slums, which mostly
overflow with garbage leading to scattered garbage thrown on the ground nearby causing foul
smell and flies. The municipality provides garbage clearance services in most of the notified
slums, but that is irregular and unsatisfactory. Unauthorised slums have no proper system of
garbage disposal and most slums experience water-logging during monsoon, says the study.
It further revealed that while clean fuel, that is, gas is mainly used for cooking, most households
do not have a separate kitchen and chimney facility. While 76 per cent use LPG, 48 per cent use
kerosene and 14 per cent use wood or dung cake. The perceived unclean slum surrounding stands
at 43.8 per cent, whereas the perceived poor cleanliness of community toilets figures at 83.5 per
cent. This despite the fact the the mean monthly expenses for using community toilet is Rs 76.
With 85 per cent of the community toilets having irregular water supply, the paper says that none
of the community toilets surveyed has adequate water facility inside the toilets and people have
to carry water with them. The toilets are generally in poor condition, primarily because of lack of
care by the users and poor maintenance by the municipality. It is more troublesome for children
and the elderly, who have to be accompanied by someone to carry water to the toilets. In
authorised slums, toilets are cleaned by the municipality and since the services are not regular,
almost all slums surveyed have a private party to regularly clean the toilet on payment basis,
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ranging from Rs 10-20 per household every month. Toilets also lack disposal facility, facility for
hand wash or bathing, it says.
The study also shows that while most residents of authorised slums know about the slum
rehabilitation scheme, they have poor experience and apprehensions about the slum transition
camps as they are not well-structured for families to live and it especially affects those who work
from home or have businesses set up at home.
They also fear that the contractor and mediators may take a share of this slum development
project and will use low quality materials, and may take money for allotments of houses within
the building, it says.
Toxic air choked 35,000 to death in 10 years: Ministry

Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Aug 7, 2015, 06.08 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Union environment ministry, which generally avoids sharing details of air
pollution-linked deaths, made an exception on Thursday when it said in Parliament that more
than 35,000 people had died due to acute respiratory infections (ARI) across India in close to 10
years. More than 2.6 crore cases were reported every year during the period.
Although international studies have attributed far more deaths to air pollution in India, this was a
rare official admission that pollution could be causing deaths on a large scale. The number of
annual ARI cases reported by environment and forest minister Prakash Javadekar was high
by any measure.
"Air pollution is known to be one of the aggravating factors for many respiratory ailments and
cardiovascular diseases," Javadekar stated, sharing the data provided by the health and family
welfare ministry.
According to the data, 3.48 crore cases came to light in 2014, which means more than 95,000
Indians of all ages were reporting acute respiratory infection every day.
Responding to a Parliament question on impact of air pollution, the minister in his written
response in Rajya Sabha stated, "Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic
bronchitis etc are the diseases caused by exposure to increasing air pollution."
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20
The environment ministry had in the past maintained that there was no "conclusive evidence"
that air pollution had led to loss of lives of patients suffering from respiratory diseases.
Although it continued to stress that air pollution may just aggravate the condition as it was not
the only cause of respiratory diseases, this time the ministry shared statistics related to ARI
deaths from 2006 to 2015. The ministry, at the same time, also listed a number of measures being
taken by it to minimize the impact of air pollution.
The figures revealed that West Bengal reported the maximum number of ARI deaths, followed
by Andhra Pradesh (along with Telangana), Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and
Delhi. These states also reported relatively higher number of ARI cases.
International studies have been indicating that India's air pollution could be exacting a far higher
toll in human lives. A recent study published in Environmental Science and Technology journal
had claimed that foul air was killing up to 80 people a day in Delhi alone.
Similarly, findings of the 'Global Burden of Disease' (GBD) report, released two years ago, noted
that about 6,20,000 premature deaths had occurred in India from air pollution-related diseases in
2010. It had ranked air pollution as one of the top 10 killers in the world, and the sixth most
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dangerous killer in south Asia. GBD is a worldwide initiative involving the World Health
Organization which tracks deaths and illnesses from all causes across the world every 10 years.
The environment ministry, however, invariably rejected such conclusions. Even last week,
Javadekar had told Parliament that "there is no methodology to establish direct correlation
between toxic air and death of people. The impact of various pollutants on health is a result of
complex mixture of pollutants. Also, there are several synergistic and addictive factors like
heredity, socio-economic condition, medical health, habits, occupation etc contributing to it."
CNG-run vehicles emit dangerous nanocarbon, CSIR study finds
PTI | Aug 6, 2015, 06.36 PM IST
AHMEDABAD: The compressed natural gas (CNG)-run buses are harmful for humans as
they emit "nanocarbon" particles which can cause cancer, according to a study conducted
by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Though the study was conducted on a very limited sample size in Delhi, CSIR took the findings
seriously owing to the health hazard it poses to humans and alerted the central government for
further follow up, CSIR's director general Dr MO Garg said on Thursday.
According to him, the study can change the perception that natural gas is a clean fuel as it does
not emit any visible smoke, which is in contrast to smoke emitted by diesel-run vehicles and
perceived as harmful for humans.
"Natural gas is supposed to be a clean fuel when used in internal combustion engines, right? But,
I don't think people realize that what you see (smoke) is perhaps better than what you don't see
(no smoke from CNG vehicles)," said Garg during his address at the Global Green Energy
Conclave held here.
"We did a study with a professor of Alberta University, who have developed a device to measure
and analyze particles emitted by vehicles. We have installed this machine on the exhaust of a
natural gas-run DTC bus in Delhi," he said.
"Can you imagine that we found nanocarbon particles coming out of from natural gas
combustion. These particles are moving around in the atmosphere and going straight into your
lungs through your nose. It then enters into your blood through membranes," Garg said.
According to him, these nanocarbon particles are carcinogenic. Garg also said that he has alerted
the government about its effects.
"These nanoparticles are rich in polynuclear aromatic, having huge surface area. They are also
carcinogenic. I have been telling government that we need to look at this situation more
seriously," he said.
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"Imagine what will be its effect when all the commercial vehicles, such as buses, run on natural
gas in Delhi. You can see smoke coming out from diesel engine and tell that it is dangerous. But,
nanocarbon particles coming out from vehicles is something we need to look at," Garg added.
Sewris coal mountains smoulder, release toxic sulphur compounds

Anahita Mukherji,TNN | Aug 7, 2015, 12.58 AM IST
Mumbai: Another toxic aspect of the pollution caused by the mountains of imported coal
dumped on port trust land in Sewri is signalled by smoke billowing out of the heaps.
"This is a clear case of spontaneous combustion," said environmentalist Sumaira Abdulali, who
visited the spot with TOI. Burning ash collected from the site was sent for chemical analysis in a
local lab. It found the presence of sulphur, which is highly toxic. "Sulphur oxides (SO2, SO3),
formed when sulphur combines with oxygen, are also very toxic," said Abdulali. She pointed out
that smoke was coming out of the area around what appeared to be a water pipe. "It is possible
that the water is combining with sulphur to create toxic fumes and sulphuric acid," she added.
At present, over 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of coal are lying in the open at seven storage sites. The
site where smoke was seen rising out of the coal, is directly in front of Hindustan Petroleum's
Mazgaon Lube Plant No 2.
TOI in a series of reports earlier this year has highlighted the extent to which the coal has
affected the environment and the health of those living around it.
Residents in the area said smoke rising out of the coal is a common occurrence. Inhaling smoke
causes respiratory problems. Contamination of chemicals with water is very bad for the health
and is hazardous," said Dr K D Kapadia, former president of Indian Medical Association
(Mumbai), currently a part-time doctor at the Indian Maritime Association campus, a stone's
throw from the coal heaps.
"Any open combustion is banned in all cities as it causes air pollution. Burning coal is thus an
offence. Allowing spontaneous combustion unchecked will lead to the arrest of the persons
responsible in any self-respecting administration," said retired vice-admiral I C Rao, who, along
with banker Meera Sanyal, had petitioned the Bombay high court seeking to prevent the
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board from renewing the 'consent to operate' to Mumbai Port
Trust (MbPT) for handling coal, which expired in September 2014. The matter is at present
pending with MPCB and MbPT continue to handle coal.
This health hazard is not limited to Sewri, since air pollution is a hazard for the entire city.
"Indian cities already have amongst the worst air quality in the world. We are only making
matters worse by having such large quantities of coal lying in the open in the midst of the city.
We have some of the highest levels of respiratory diseases in the world," said Abdulali.
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Incidentally, Rao and Sanyal raised the matter of spontaneous combustion in their court petition.
In response to a Right to Information query filed by Rao, the port trust had denied that any
instance of spontaneous combustion had occurred in 2012-13 and 2013-14. In a submission to
the pollution control board in November 2014, the port trust said, "It is reiterated that not only is
the coal stacked safely, there are sprinklers installed which periodically sprinkle water to avoid
situations such as spontaneous combustion."
When contacted, port trust authorities said combustion was a normal phenomenon and they had
it under control, adding that smoke from the coal heaps was not expected during the monsoon.
307 inspections conducted against polluting industries in 2 years: Prakash Javadekar

By PTI | 6 Aug, 2015, 05.41PM IST
NEW DELHI: Environment Surveillance Squad conducted 307 inspections against polluting
industries in past two years issuing 47 directions to the defaulters, government today informed
Rajya Sabha said.
In a written reply, Environment MinisterPrakash Javadekar said that Environment Surveillance

Squad Programme of Central Pollution Control Board conducted inspection of 307 industries
during the period 2013-15.
"Based on the inspections, directions to the defauling industries were issued under Section 5 of
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and to the State Pollution Control Boards under Section
18(1)(b) of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981/the Water (Prevention and
Control of Pollution) Act, 1974," the Minister said.
Natural gas is a cleaner answer to pollution

Aug 10, 2015
When was natural gas discovered?
Natural gas, which is inflammable hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane and ethane, has
been known to human beings for thousands of years. It is believed that the concept of eternal
fires in the fire worshiping religion of ancient Persia came from natural gas seeps found
abundantly in the region. The first intentional drilling for extraction of natural gas was done in
ancient China where bamboo poles were used to extract natural gas which was used to dry rock
salt.
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Since when did the commercial use of gas as a fuel start?
The first modern commercial drilling for natural gas was done in 1821 in the US when the
extracted gas was supplied to consumers through small-bore lead pipes. It took much longer to
develop technology for widespread use of the fuel as, unlike petrol and diesel, it was difficult to
store and transport natural gas. The breakthrough in commercial use of natural gas came after the
development of leakproof pipeline coupling in 1890, after which it was possible to supply gas to
a distance of about 160 km from the source. Major improvements in gas transportation came
after World War 2.
From where is natural gas extracted?
Natural gas is often found dissolved in oil or as a gas cap in oil reserves. This gas found with oil
is often called associated or wet gas. There are many non-associated sources of natural gas as
well. Some of the gas reserves have a high methane content and the field-production gas from
them can be directly used as fuel.
What share of world energy comes from natural gas?
According to a 2014 report of the International Energy Agency, in 2012 oil provided 31.4% of
the total global energy consumption. It was followed by coal (29%) and natural gas, which
accounted for 21.3% of the global energy use. At present, the biggest use of natural gas is for
power generation followed by industrial, domestic and commercial use. Unlike petrol and diesel,
the combustion of natural gas is relatively free of soot, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and
sulphur dioxide and hence is less harmful for the environment. Also, there are huge reserves of
natural gas which can outlast those of petroleum. For these reasons, many countries are
encouraging the use of natural gas over petrol, diesel and coal.
What are LPG, LNG and CNG?
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), widely used as a cooking fuel in India, is a by-product of the
refining process of natural gas as well as petroleum. Liquefied and compressed natural gas (LNG
& CNG) are the different forms in which natural gas is transported and utilized by end users.
Which countries have the largest reserves of natural gas?
According to the US Energy Information Administration, as of 2014 the proven global reserves
of natural gas were 6,973 trillion cubic feet. Russia alone has about one fourth of this. It is
followed by Iran, Qatar and the US. India has 47.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves.
Unfortunately, a huge amount of natural gas is wasted annually in petroleum extraction.
CNG is safe, as clean as Euro-VI compliant diesel
TNN | Aug 11, 2015, 03.38 AM IST
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NEW DELHI: NGO Centre for Science and Environment has critically analyzed a Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research study, jointly carried out by Indian Institute of Petroleum and
the University of Alberta, on presence of pollution-causing nanoparticles in CNG and diesel bus
exhausts.
This was in response to claims made by M O Garg, director general of CSIR, who had recently
shared the findings of the studythat the number of nanoparticles released from CNG buses is
higher than that from diesel buses but the mass of nanoparticles emitted from CNG buses is
relatively lower.
CSE's analysis, however, reveals that the CSIR study findings are different from what Garg's
briefing may have conveyed. Garg had been referring to nanoparticle emissions from an Indian
CNG bus and a Canada-made diesel bus meeting advanced US tier-II standards. US tier-II norms
are tighter than Euro VI norms.
CSE accessed the draft study by CSIR only to find that CNG buses performed way better than
diesel on almost all pollution parametersincluding nanoparticles. CNG's performance is close
to or better than Euro VI emission standards for diesel that are yet to be implemented in India.
"This motivated campaign against CNG buses in India will harm not only the CNG bus
programme that has given enormous public health benefits but also jeopardize the policy
decision to leapfrog emissions standards to Euro VI by 2020 to cut dangerous diesel emissions.
The government of India is dragging its feet in face of strong opposition from the diesel
industry," CSE's statement issued on Monday said.
The study involved carrying out emission tests on two Indian CNG buses and two diesel buses
(when they were mobile)one of a Canadian make that meets US tier II standards fitted with
advanced particulate filters and another an Indian diesel bus without any filter or diesel trap.
The results showed that nanoparticle emissions from Indian diesel buses were 600 to 2,000 times
more than those from the CNG bus. But when the CNG bus was compared with the Canadian
diesel bus with particulate matter traps and advanced nitrogen oxides control meeting US tier-II
standard, the study found nanoparticle levels for CNG to be 12-40 times higher. The Indian
diesel bus without particulate matter trap was found emitting 28,000 times more nanoparticles
compared to the Canadian bus.
CSE highlights that CNG performed much better on other pollution parameters as wellcarbon
monoxide, non-methane hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. Both CO and NMHC emissions from
CNG buses in use are close to the limit values of Euro VI norms.
"CSIR should have put out a red flag immediately and urged the government to leapfrog to Euro
VI emissions standards for diesel. Nanoparticles, being of 0.1 micrometres in width, are 25 times
smaller than PM2.5 and go directly into the bloodstream. In conjunction with PM2.5 and PM1,
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they cause irreparable damage. PM2.5 is already the fifth largest killer in India," a CSE
researcher added.
Anumita Roy Chowdhury, head of CSE's Clean Air campaign, said, "CSIR has omitted to
mention the serious health risk associated with diesel emissions. It is now well known that WHO
has concluded that diesel exhaust is a human carcinogen and is in the same class as tobacco for
its strong link with lung cancer."
In its report on August 8, based on interviews with Garg and other experts, TOI highlighted that
CNG is far cleaner than non-low sulphur diesel. Its nanoparticle numbers, though, can be
marginally higher than that in emissions from low-sulphur diesel vehicles meeting Euro V/VI
norms.
67% of rural households still use firewood

In contrast, more than 68% of urban households use LPG for cooking
IndiaSpend Team August 10, 2015 Last Updated at 12:18 IST
More than 67% of rural households in India still depend onfirewood or wood chips for cooking.
This is a decline of only 12% over two decades, according to the latest data released by the
ministry of statistics.
The use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking in rural areas has increased from 2% to
15% of households during the period 1993-94 to 2011-12, an increase of 7.5 times.
Nearly 10% of rural households still cook with dung cakes, a marginal fall from 11.5% in 1993-
94.
About one million deaths are reported annually in India due to household air pollution caused by
fumes from cooking, heating and lighting activities, IndiaSpend had earlier reported.
In contrast, more than 68% of urban households use LPG for cooking.
Many urban households too cook with firewood

27
Of environmental and economic relevance is the fact that 14% of households in urban areas still
cook with firewood.
The encouraging aspect in urban households is that the use of kerosene has declined from more
than 23% to 6%.
In both rural and urban households, there are some who do not cook: 1% of rural households
have no arrangements; the same holds good for nearly 7% of urban households.
Poorer states use firewood, richer states LPG
Data from the states highlight the imbalances between rural and urban households.
More than 93% of rural households in Chhattisgarh use firewood or wood chips to cook with
followed by Rajasthan (89%) and Odisha (87%).
In urban India, Haryana reported more than 86% of households using LPG for cooking purpose,
followed by Andhra Pradesh (77%) and Punjab (75%).
Lighting follows urban-rural differences
The rural-urban difference continues in lighting sources. While more than 96% of urban
households use electricity for lighting, only 73% of rural households use electricity as an energy
source for lighting.
More than 26% of rural households still use kerosene as the primary energy source for lighting.
No Indian state has reported using only electricity for lighting in urban or rural areas, despite the
focus on 247 power for all households across the nation by various governments.
Bihar was at the bottom of the list, with 26% of rural households electrified, followed by Uttar
Pradesh at 40% and Assam 55%.
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu reported the highest electricity use in urban areas at 99%, followed
by Karnataka (98%) and Andhra Pradesh (98%). Occupying the bottom of the urban-areas-with-
electricity list were Bihar (81%), Uttar Pradesh (88%) and Assam (90%).
Electricity use has spread, but India lags compatriots in BRICS

28
Over the last two decades, electricity has clearly replaced kerosene as the primary source of
lighting in both rural and urban areas. While 62% of households used kerosene in rural India in
1993-94, the figure has dropped to 26%.
The use of electricity as a source of lighting has improved from 83% in urban households in
1993-94 to 96% in 2011-12.
Overall, electricity consumption in India is the lowest amongst the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India,
China, South Africa), according to this Brazilian government study.
An average Indians electricity consumption is 75% less than a Russians and 80% less than a
South African. An average Chinese consumes seven times more electricity than an Indian while
a Brazilian consumes 2.6 times more.
Centre for Science and Environment refutes CSIR findings on CNG vehicles
By PTI | 10 Aug, 2015, 08.43PM IST
NEW DELHI: A green body today said diesel technology and fuels in transport sector need
drastic transformation to protect public health, while claiming that CSIR has
"misrepresented" the findings of a study which states that CNG buses are more harmful
than diesel buses.
According to the study conducted by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
natural gas (CNG)-run buses are harmful for humans as they emit 'nano carbon' particles which
can cause cancer.
Referring to the study jointly carried out by CSIR, IIP- Dehradun and University of Alberta,
green advocacy body Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) claimed the findings have been
misrepresented by CSIR and it is a "motivated campaign" against CNG buses in the country.
"CSIR has claimed that CNG buses emit more ultrafine particles than diesel buses and are a
health hazard. When CSE obtained the draft findings of their study, it shows that the
conventional CNG buses have already achieved emissions levels for all pollutants including
ultrafine particle number very close or better than Euro VI emissions standards that are yet to be
implemented," CSE said.
29
It claimed that the actual findings that are yet to be released show how the same findings give an
entirely a different message.
"Without a proper review of the actual findings of the study, misleading conclusions have been
projected in the public domain to confuse policymakers and people. Diesel technology and fuels
need the most drastic transformation in Indian transport sector today to protect public health," it
said.
CSE said that based on its own finding, CSIR should advise the government to leapfrog to Euro
VI emissions standards including the standards for particle count and not undercut the CNG
programme.
Pollution up as rains play truant

Ananya Dutta,TNN | Aug 11, 2015, 05.37 AM IST
PUNE: The air quality is usually good in monsoon because air pollutants get washed away in the
rain water. But, below average rainfall this year in July has resulted in a surge in pollution levels
across the city.
According to records of the system of air quality forecasting and research (SAFAR), an
initiative of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), there was no major change in
pollution levels in June as compared to last year. However, the levels shot up for the month of
July. The rise was seen across the city, but PM2.5 levels (particulate matter less than 2.5 microns
in size) in Manjari nearly increased threefold from 10.98 micrograms per cubic meter in July
2014 to 29.41 micrograms per cubic meter in July this year.
The city received 62 mm rain in July this year as compared to 282 mm last July.
"It rained well in the month of June, so there isn't much deviation since last year. However, poor
rains in July meant that the wash-out effect of pollutants was not seen. The level particulate
matter remained within permissible limits, but there was a significant rise," said Gufran Beig,
senior IITM scientist and programme director of SAFAR.
The highest PM2.5 levels were recorded from Lohegaon, Manjari and Shivajinagar while Nigdi
recorded the lowest level. There wasn't much change in pollution levels in Nigdi, he said.
Vehicular emission is one of the main sources of pollution in Pune and suspended particulate
matter is one of the main areas of concern. While PM2.5 particles are considered most dangerous
as they can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, a rise in PM10 (particulate
matter less than 10 microns in size) levels was also seen.
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The monthly average PM10 level in Lohegaon was 47.55 micrograms per cubic meter in July
2014, but it shot to 81.97 micrograms per cubic meter this July. Similarly, in Shivajinagar it
increased from 47.85 micrograms per cubic meter last July to 59.19 this year. Even a relatively
less polluted area of the city like Pashan witnessed a rise in PM10 levels from 33.21 micrograms
per cubic meter to 55.39 micrograms per cubic meter.
Fortunately, the rising pollution levels have not been followed by a rise in respiratory and viral
diseases. "Pollution levels affect health, but there are other compounding factors. For instance, a
cloudy cover triggers asthma and similar respiratory diseases even when PM 10 or PM 2.5 levels
are not very high. This year we haven't seen a dramatic rise in asthma symptoms or viral
pneumonia," said chest physician Nitin Abhyankar.
Ban on 10 year old vehicles: NGT refuses to modify its order

By PTI | 12 Aug, 2015, 02.57PM IST
NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunaltoday refused to modify its order banning plying of
diesel vehicles which are over 10 years old in Delhi-NCR.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said it was for theDelhi
government and the concerned authorities to decide on the issue of challaning such vehicles or
not.
The green panel, which took the matter on mentioning, said the ban on 10 year old vehicles has
been upheld by the Supreme Court and the Tribunal cannot go against the apex court decision.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG)Pinky Anand, appearing for Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways, told the bench that various truck operators were mulling strike and protesting against
the governments of Delhi, Haryana and UP for not issuing fitness certificates to diesel vehicles
more than 10 years old.
Seeking modification of the ban order, the ASG said that there were possibilities of strike and
consequently the essential services for public would be at stake.
The refusal to issue fitness certificate to vehicles in Delhi and NCR came after the Tribunal
(NGT) April 7 order through which it had held that all diesel vehicles which are more than 10
31
years old will not be permitted to ply in Delhi-NCR.
Later, the Supreme Court also dismissed the plea challenging the Tribunal's order prohibiting
diesel vehicles that are over 10 years old from plying in the national capital.
'Embryonic stem cells' could help to study pollution effects on human health
Wednesday, 12 August 2015 - 9:51pm IST | Place: Washington DC | Agency: ANI
Researchers claim that embryonic stem cells can help in studying the effects of pollution on
human health.
In the study, the researchers from the University of California have successfully detailed the use
of stem cells to gauge the neurotoxicity effects of the environmental pollutant Bisphenol A
(BPA).
The researchers used a combination of biochemical and cell-based assays to examine the gene
expression profile during the differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells upon treatment with
BPA, a compound known to cause heart disease, diabetes and developmental abnormalities in
humans. They were able to detect and measure the BPA toxicity toward the proper specification
of primary germ layers, such as endoderm and ectoderm, and the establishment of neural
progenitor cells.
These results indicate that BPA may alter embryonic development in vivo.
Lead researcher Francesco Faiola of the State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and
Ecotoxicology said that embryonic stem cells had a huge benefit because they offered the
advantage to grow indefinitely in dishes yet possess the ability to differentiate to mimic
embryonic development and virtually into any kind of cells of an adult organism.
Faiola added that they could be utilised in developmental toxicity assays, without the need of
animal experiments. He further said that their stem cell toxicology system proved to be very
sensitive and reflective of the physiological toxic effects of BPA.
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Faiola added that this system could be applied to assess numerous other pollutants for their
toxicity and/or lethality without the expenses of time-consuming animal models.
Surrender of old vehicle to get upto Rs 1.5 lakh sops: Gadkari

PTI | Aug 13, 2015, 05.45 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Government is considering giving financial incentives of up to Rs 1.5 lakh on

surrender of over-ten-year-old vehicles to check pollution and address road safety concerns,
transport minister Nitin Gadkari today said.
This comes at a time when the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has banned plying of diesel
vehicles which are more than ten years old in the national capital region.
A proposal to formulate the new incentive policy for surrendering old vehicles is being worked
out and would be soon sent for the finance ministry's approval, said Gadkari, who is also the
minister for roads and highways.
Under the proposed policy, people would get an incentive of up to Rs 30,000 for discarding
small vehicles like cars, while total benefits after taking into account tax exemptions etc could be
up to Rs 1.5 lakh for big vehicles like trucks, the minister said.
The new policy is likely to be valid for over-ten-year-old vehicles across the country.
"We are bringing such a scheme that, for example, if you sell your old vehicle you will get a
certificate which on being produced at the time of new purchase will get you a discount of up to
Rs 50,000.
"For small vehicles like cars it will be up to Rs 30,000.

33
Besides, there will be exemptions in taxes. Total benefits for big vehicles like trucks will be up
to Rs 1.5 lakh," Gadkari said here on the sidelines of a global conference on public transport
innovation here.
The plan is to set up 8-10 industrial units near ports like Kandla which will give certificates for
accepting old vehicles and also recycle vehicles from India and abroad, thus giving a boost to
employment and economy, he added.
"It is a very beneficial industry and would create huge employment," Gadkari said, adding that
there is an urgent need to recycle old vehicles as they were running on roads with old
technology, which were lacking not only in terms of safety features norms but were also creating
pollution.
"We are going to recommend the scheme to the finance ministry ... If incentives will be given, it
34
will be easy for people to surrender their old vehicles and get new vehicles of international
specifications ... may be of Euro 6 standard," he said.
He also urged manufacturers to build Euro 6 compliant vehicles as early as possible, saying
pollution is a big concern and NGT has also passed its order.
He also called upon the foreign manufacturers to supply bio-fuel based quality buses at
economical prices and said India is a huge market for them.
Aug 17 2015 12:36AM
No petrol, diesel vehicles to Rohtang from today

Mandi/Kullu, August 16
In compliance with the orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the district administration
has imposed a complete ban on all diesel and petrol vehicles going to the Rohtang Pass for
tourism purpose from tomorrow.
No vehicles, except CNG or electric, would be allowed to go the Rohtang Pass for tourist
purpose from August 17, said a statement issued by the district administration this evening.
The relaxation given by the NGT in its orders dated May 5, 2015 said that 1,000 vehicles would
be allowed to go to the Rohtang Pass for tourism purpose only for three months from May 15 to
August 14, 2015.
In view of the expiry of the three-month period, the district administration had ordered that no
petrol or diesel vehicles would be allowed to go to Rohtang Pass for tourism purpose from
August 17 for indefinite period. In its earlier order, the NGT had banned plying of all vehicles
other than CNG or electric vehicles.
The NGT had earlier restricted the number of vehicles going to the Rohtang Pass to 1,000 per
day, including 600 petrol and 400 diesel.
Him-Aanchal Taxi Operators Union, Manali, secretary MD Sharma said they would file a review
petition in the NGT tomorrow as the ban would totally ruin their business.
Nearly 90 per cent of the tourists, who visit Manali, come to have a glimpse of the snow-clad
Rohtang Pass, said an expert associated with the tourism. If tourists were no allowed to go the
pass, the tourism industry in the region would face an uncertain future, he added.
Natural fertiliser to replace chemical fertiliser with no harm to environment

35
Biotech company Camson discovers NKP with full protection on soil, air and water, to sell at
50% lower than chemical fertiliser
Dilip Kumar Jha | Mumbai August 16, 2015 Last Updated at 15:43 IST
In a major breakthrough, agricultural biotechnology majorCamson Bio Technologies has
discovered a revolutionary product - natural fertiliser with capacity to replace existing
chemical fertilisers.
Discovered in all variants i.e. nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium or NPK, the natural fertiliser
is derived from microbial extracts through complete organic means. Thus, natural fertiliser
would resolve the problem of fertiliser residues in foodgrains, fruits and vegetables which India
often face for exports to the Middle East, European and American markets.
Being 100% natural, the fertiliser is cheaper than chemical fertiliser and offer array of
applications across all commodities. Using this fertiliser, therefore, not only the cost of
production of various agricultural products will come down but also, will have high potential for
their market as organic products, which fetches more than 100% higher realization than normal
agri products
This revolutionary fertiliser will be extremely helpful to the agri-input industry which is overly
dependent on imported synthetic water soluble fertiliser (NPK). We have the capacity to make
any combination of NPK depending upon soil type. This is also very cost competitive in the
market and hence, would have potential to get rapid farmers acceptance, said Santosh Nair,
Chief Executive Officer of Camson.
Faced with repeated complain over fertiliser and chemical residues in agri products from
overseas markets, the government of India has decided to promote bio fertiliser. In fact, the
Agricultural Commissioner J S Sandhu in a recent speech has said, Enhanced use of bio-
fertiliser can reduce the NKP doze by 25% and hence, extremely important.
Camson currently offers a wide range of bio-products including biocides, bio-fertilisers and
hybrid seeds. Our products assure a balance of quality and unique attributes that make them the
36
most favourable option for farmers. The company is ready to market its products in water soluble
form in India to begin with.
Natural fertiliser will be first launched in Maharashtra (Nashik), targeting farmers growing
pomegranate, grapes and vegetables in coming season. The technology involves lower capital to
produce natural fertiliser, hence it become economical for farmers and reduce the farming cost.
The approximate cost of this natural fertiliser will be Rs 99 per kg, which is competitive (at least
50% lower than any available fertiliser - synthetic chemical fertiliser or organic) in the market.
Considering the unique technology and increasing awareness of organic farming on a global
level, the company is planning to tap markets in India and abroad in a larger way. The product
has a potential to cater to all kind of crops and soil types.
The unique method to produce NPK through the microbial route is a yet another testimony to
Camsons R&D prowess. The government of Indias continuous support for the Make in India
campaign will provide the necessary fillip to the growth of these revolutionary Natural
fertilisers, said Dhirendra Kumar, Managing Director and Chief Scientific Officer, Camson.
The company has a capacity to substitute the whole chemical industry and does not harm the
environment. The manufacturing process also doesnt impact the nature or eco system of
environment. It has a capacity to serve the global demand, as this can be manufactured to any
quantity based on the demand. Natural fertiliser is water soluble and it can be applied in various
forms based on the requirement.
The company has already applied for the patent of all the three products and their manufacturing
technology.
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BS IV norms to cover entire nation from April 2017

Move from BS III to IV is supposed to bring down the particulate matter from cars to half
BS Reporter | New Delhi August 20, 2015 Last Updated at 00:39 IST
Bringing clarity to the expansion of Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) emission norms, the government
on Tuesday said only passenger vehicles complying with the BS-IV norms can be sold in seven
states from October. The notified norm would become applicable in the rest of the country from
April 1, 2017, according to a government statement. The move from BS-III to -IV is supposed to
halve the particulate matter from cars (0.0250 g per km) and reduce pollution.
BS-IV will be implemented in Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha, Daman and Diu,
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, districts of Mumbai, Thane and
Pune in Maharashtra and four districts of Gujarat from April 2016.
BS-IV was first implemented from April 2010 in the national capital region and Mumbai,
Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Kanpur, Pune, Surat,
Agra, Lucknow and Solapur. Twenty additional cities were added from October 2014 and 30
more cities were included from April 2015.
The Auto Fuel Vision & Policy 2025, spelt out in 2014, had outlined that by April 2019, north
Indian states would graduate to BS-V and in another year, BS-V would be implemented across
the country. It also recommended the adoption of BS-VI norms after a gap of five years in
April 2024. However, this has not been notified by the government so far.
Increasing traffic, poor air choking south Delhi colonies

TNN | Aug 20, 2015, 03.59 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Prime south Delhi neighbourhoods like Alaknanda, Greater Kailash-II and
Chittaranjan Park are creaking under the pressure of increasing traffic and alarmingly poor air
quality, reveals a study by Centre for Science and Environment.
In their report, "Move free: Unlocking the traffic gridlock in our neighbourhods" , researchers
have highlighted an unprecedented scale of congestion in these areas. They have cited the
example of Alaknanda Roadoriginally meant to carry 1,000 vehicles per hour, the stretch is
38
currently being used by non-destined vehicles. Now, the same road carries more than 2,500
vehicles per hour.
The study reveals that increasing parking pressure has led to a decline or loss of public spaces in
these areas. Massive spillover of cars on roads, for instance, has shrunk the carriageways in CR
Park; on-street parking on Alaknanda Road is nearly 3.15 times its notified legal parking area.
Several cars remain covered and parked on colony roads for months and years. Residents from
adjoining areas like Tughlaqabad also park near Tara Apartment T-junction in Alaknanda, which
compounds the problem.
According to an estimate, if the entire CR Park area is built up to the maximum permissible floor
area ratio under the Delhi Master Plan of 2021, then the demand for parking will be 75% of the
colony's total area. Most of the plotted houses here have no provision for parking within the
premises and there is no vacant plot available for shared parking as well.
In Alaknanda, there is a thriving parking business where residents pay Rs 1,000 per month for
night parking and Rs 1,500 for 24-hour parking. Similar practices are seen in Kolkata and Tokyo
too.
CSE suggests the practice of charging for parking at market rates can be made official and the
amount generated can be used for local development. The short stretch of Alaknanda can itself
generate about Rs 13 lakh a month at the current parking rates and car numbers in the area. The
area is also poorly connected to public transport facilities. With both Nehru Place and
Govindpuri Metro stations in the vicinity, a good feeder service could have improved the service,
CSE says.
" When we look at traffic congestion, we usually look at arterial roadsthe Outer or the inner
Ring Road but not at the local roots of the problem, the hierarchy, density and carrying capacity
of streets. We also don't consider participatory planning for these areas. What CSE found was the
street network in many areas gets enormous through traffic. Because of unrestricted parking,
colonies have not only become generators of huge traffic, but also victims of congestion and air
pollution themselves," says Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director and head of clean air
programme at CSE.
She adds that colonies such as CR Park are surrendering precious public space to parking. " We
also found that bus service is curtailed in some areas while feeder service from Metro is very
weak making residents captive users of cars. This top down approach of considering arterial
roads for planning and improvement will not work. It has to be both ways," she says.
As far as walking is concerned, footpaths are available in 70% of the total length of the
Alaknanda stretch surveyed. The width of the footpath near the market is 1.5 metres against a
standard of minimum 2 metres. " The kerb height is unacceptable along the roads (standard is
150 mm). Only the road near St George's School meets the standard," CSE says.
39
Air pollution casts a dark spot on verdant NLSIU campus

Aditi Sequeira,TNN | Aug 20, 2015, 06.27 AM IST
They might not be eligible voters just yet, but they're legal minds in the making and have a fair
idea of what they want from the city that is home or they've adopted as home for the next few
years till they get their degrees.
Students of the premier National Law School of India University may live on the pristine campus
in Jnanabharthi but they're not blind to civic issues. Adit Munshi from Ahmedabad did not think
twice before saying, "The only problem irking me in Bengaluru is air pollution. I cannot imagine
how much worse it will be by the time I finish law school."
First-year student Dhanush Dinesh recollects his daily commute to Rajaji nagar. "The road
outside my school was covered with garbage. We students attempted to draw the government's at
tention to clearance of garbage but they never listened. Bad roads are a bigger issue than
garbage. The roads are so dusty and messy . My agenda for the new council will include
handling Bengaluru's air population," he said.
Dhruv Mehrotra, a resident of RT Nagar, picked roads as the first thing that needed fixing in
Bengaluru. "Our roads are just too congested. I ride a two-wheeler. There are so many potholes
to avoid," he said. He also flagged off the stray dog problem in his area. "My younger brother
was bitten by a dog. He is not the only child in my locality to be attacked. Stray dog menace is a
big issue in RT Nagar but nothing is being done."
Apur Jain arrived in the city from Dehradun two months ago and says he likes it but feels the
need for better public transportation. "Students have to haggle with autorickshaw drivers all the
time; they simply refuse to go by meter. But I think Bengaluru is cleaner than Dehradun, which
is filled with garbage," he said.
All the students say the city has a lot to offer--superb climate, peace and a welcoming attitude.
"It's sad that this wonderful city is plagued by basic issues like dog menace and bad roads. All it
requires is good governance and a solid administrator," said Jain. l
NGT Directs Notice over ECR Widening

By Express News Service
Published: 20th August 2015 02:33 AM
CHENNAI: The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday directed
notice to the Central and State governments on a petition alleging that the widening work of East
Coast Road (ECR) being carried out was in contravention of the Coastal Zone Regulation
Notification and Environment Impact Assessment Notification.
The petitioner, S Venkatesh of T Nagar, submitted that the widening of the ECR, which runs
along the coast from Chennai to Kanyakumari, was being carried without any proper study.
40
He claimed that the road, which passes through mangrove forests, coastal evergreen forests, sand
dunes, agricultural fields, salt pans and wildlife sanctuaries, is located at a short distance from
the coast on many stretches. Along with widening of the road from four lane to six lane on
many stretches, the State government was also planning to expand the road from Thoothukudi to
Kanyakumari, he added. The laying of road and cutting down of scores of trees would put the
coastal zone under tremendous pressure. After construction, the rise in sound and air pollution
because of increased vehicular traffic would pose a threat to the ecologically sensitive coastal
area, Venkatesh said.
Charging that the authorities had failed to obtain prior clearance according to the Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, he said that the Coastal Zone Management
Authority (CZMA) had allowed the project to commence even without the approvals.
Congestion, pollution in S Delhi localities alarming: Study

SNS
New Delhi, | 20 August, 2015
Congestion and pollution are snuffing the life out of Delhis neighbourhoods, according to a new
Centre for Science and Environment study on select south Delhi locations.
The CSE has carried out a detailed traffic and mobility assessment of the prominent South Delhi
neighbourhood of Alaknanda flanked by Greater Kailash II and Chittaranjan Park, which has
exposed that these areas are highly affected by the parking pressure and unprecedented
congestion.
This study has revealed that poor street connectivity, ill-designed roads and very large block
sizes of residential colonies do not allow efficient dispersal of traffic, increase distances from the
nearest public transport nodes and services in these areas.
This is making people captive users of cars and locking them up in perpetual congestion and
pollution.
Even more challenging is the situation in Chittaranjan Park which is a plotted development.
Given the fact that most plotted houses have not provided for parking within the plots and there
is no vacant land available for shared common parking, magnitude of on-street parking has
assumed a proportion, adding to crippling congestion, revealed the study.
A CSE spokesperson said, "Ironically, when the Delhi government is promising more buses,
some parts like Chittaranjan Park have suffered massive curtailment of bus services to make way
for cars. Lack of public transport, poor and unsafe local access and free parking have turned this
area into a congestion nightmare. "This demands immediate action from the government to
implement local area plans with communities in all neighbourhoods of Delhi, to reorganise road
space for safe access of all road users, improve public transport connectivity, and enforce
parking restraints. Only this can prevent the disaster in the making," the official added.
Furthermore, the study said, the Alaknanda road carries three times more traffic than its original
capacity. Actual on-street parking is 3.15 times more than the legal parking area. During peak
hours, the time taken to cross this stretch more than doubles. This adds to pollution, congestion
41
and daily stress and trauma of local residents. During winter, this area has recorded some of the
worst pollution levels, it said.
Talking of the study, Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of CSE, said, "Piecemeal
solutions at local level will not work. We need integrated street design and management,
improved connectivity and vehicle restraints. The time has come to move away from the current
policy obsession of only fixing arterial roads for vehicle movement and speed and instead focus
on better local network planning, more participatory urban planning to involve communities to
find and implement local area solutions for mobility that work for all. This is urgently needed to
solve the city-wide problem and to avert a public health disaster in the making.
Vehicular pollution in city has gone up 35% in 5 yrs

TNN | Aug 21, 2015, 03.27 AM IST
PUNE: This year, automobiles in the city are expected to release an estimated 12.6 thousand
tonne of particulate matter, which is less than 10 microns in size (PM10), marking a 35.71%
increase from the levels in 2010.
The drastic rise in vehicular pollution is far more than the increase in emissions from other
sources. For instance, the PM10 level for industry has grown by 3.29% in the same period,
according to the pollution inventory prepared by System of Air Quality Forecasting and
Research (SAFAR) at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).
"There has been a significant increase in the number of vehicles in the city. The transport sector
is one of the main contributors to pollution in Pune. In 2010, it accounted for 30% of total PM10
emissions and it has gone up to 36% this year," said Gufran Beig, SAFAR programme director
and senior IITM scientist. In comparison, the increase in PM10 emissions from the transport
sector in a city like Delhi was 26%, he said.
Black carbon and PM2.5 levels, which include fine dust particles that can only be seen with an
electron microscope and are the more dangerous to health, have also increased similarly.
In 2010, the more stringent BS-III and BS-IV norms were introduced for vehicles registered in
Pune. This has resulted in new vehicles, added in the last five years, causing much lesser
pollution than older vehicles. Without the new norms, the increase in pollution levels would have
been even higher.
"All four-wheelers sold in the city have to comply with BS-IV norms, whereas all two-wheelers
have to comply with BS-III norms. These are more stringent than the BS-II norms that were in
place earlier," explained regional transport officer Jitendra Patil.
In the last five years, the number of vehicles in the city has increased from about 19 lakh to over
29 lakh. "All 10 lakh vehicles that were added to the streets comply with the higher standards of
emission," Patil said asserting that if it were not so, pollution figures in the city would have been
42
even higher.
"Older vehicles tend to pollute more and that is why we are levying an additional environmental
tax on vehicles that are more than 15 years old. The tax is set at Rs 3,000 for petrol cars, Rs
3,500 for diesel cars and Rs 2,000 for two-wheelers," Patil stated.
However, lack of public transport facilities remains the key reason for rising pollution levels. If
alternative mass transit systems weremade available, there would be fewer vehicles on the
streets, he added.
BOX: Ray of hope: Pollution from biofuels declines
In the dismal picture of rising pollution levels, there is still a ray of hope as emissions from
burning biofuels, such as firewood and coal, have reduced.
According to the 2010 pollution inventory for Pune, biofuels were responsible for 2.18 tonne
PM10 emissions, which has reduced to 2.15 tonne PM10 in 2015.
"While pollution in all sectors is on the rise this is the only source where there has been a
decline. The main source of emission from biofuels in the city is burning of firewood, coal and
kerosene by people living in the slums. Even though the slum population has increased in the last
five years, the fact that the emissions have reduced is an encouraging sign," said Gufran Beig,
SAFAR programme director and senior IITM scientist.
Pawan Kumar, territory manager, LPG, BPCL, said that there has been an increase in the number
of LPG connections in slum areas. "There is a special scheme for below poverty line (BPL)
families to get an LPG connection without a security deposit. In 2014-15, about 3,000 new LPG
connections were given to BPL families in Pune," he said.
NGT: Frame a traffic policy to decongest city

THE TIMES OF INDIA NEWS SERVICE | Aug 24, 2015, 11.52 PM IST
NEW DELHI: National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday directed Delhi Police to develop a
traffic policy to decongest the capital. It also instructed the cops to hold consultations with Uttar
Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan governments before finalizing the policy within a week.
The tribunal has asked police to solve the congestion caused by commercial trucks till the eastern
and western peripheral expressways are ready.
The last time Delhi had a traffic policy was in 2002 when the number of vehicles was a fraction
43
of what it is today. "What have you been doing since 2002? Please chalk out a plan with other
states by September 9," the NGT bench said.
D Rajeshwar Rao, the lawyer for Delhi Police, said, "Joint commissioner Sandeep Goel will be
the nodal officer for the development of the plan. There are 57 entry points to Delhi. The traffic
police have submitted some routes like Panipat-Sonipat and Najafgarh and Gurgaon, which can
bypass Delhi. But these roads are not in a good condition and that's why they're not used by
trucks. The state governments didn't develop them properly."
The bench said the policy would have become redundant by now which is why a new one needs
to be formulated.
Meanwhile, the tribunal slammed Delhi Transport Corporation for running its air-conditioned
buses without many passengers for a major part of the day.
It also issued notices to Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland for non-maintenance of buses they
supply to Delhi government, and directed their senior officials to be present on next date of
hearing.
"Unfortunately, we also live in Delhi. Your huge buses ply empty for at least five hours a day.
Have you rationalized on this aspect? It is shocking that nobody listens in DTC. Your buses are
more than overcrowded...in the afternoon most of your AC buses, which have a capacity of 60,
are empty. After 9.30pm most of your buses which go to airport have only one or two
passengers. You are wasting government revenue, creating traffic chaos and causing
environmental pollution," the bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar said.
DTC MD who was also present during the hearing told the bench that "rationalization and
assessment of bus routes is an ongoing process".
The bench then asked DTC to run buses that were smaller in size. "We are not asking you to stop
the bus service rather you should change the size of bus. Do you know the cost of running these
buses? How many buses have you tested for noise? Their noise is annoying," Justice Kumar said.
The tribunal directed DTC to carry out a study with baseline data, rationalization of bus routes
and details about maintenance of buses "We don't want great thesis. Give us a specific reply
which is not a farce," it said. The bench also asked DTC officials to apply minds into the design
of buses.
"Why can't you think about what designs can protect against accidents? In a DTC bus, the driver
should be a the lowest level so that if he bangs anywhere, he is the target first and not the
passengers," the Tribunal said.
44
Delhi govt: More diesel vehicles getting registered

TNN | Aug 28, 2015, 12.04 AM IST
NEW DELHI: The Centre may be arguing that the traffic share of diesel vehicles nationwide has
come down since price deregulation of the fuel in 2014, but the number of registrations in Delhi
is on the rise.
According to data submitted to National Green Tribunal by Delhi government on Thursday, the
transport department registered 6,748 more diesel vehicles in 2014 than 2013. And in the first
five months of this year, it has registered 34,261 diesel vehicles-which is over 40% of the total
number of registrations done in 2014.
Diesel vehicles cause 27 times more pollution than petrol vehicles, the bench had earlier
remarked. It observed, "According to your data, there is an increase in number of diesel vehicles
in these years in Delhi. God only knows what's happening in Noida and other areas."
In a note submitted to NGT on Tuesday, the Centre had said the share of diesel cars in India
peaked in 2013 at 47% and declined thereafter to 37% in 2015. On Thursday, the Delhi
government also told that, out of all entry points to Delhi, 13 are responsible for 83% of
pollution.
The bench slammed the Delhi government for not implementing NGT's orders on installing
weighbridges and monitoring pollution at the various entry points. "Stop making jokes of our
orders," it said, reprimanding the government on its casual approach and directing it to present
details of the inspection. However, the government counsel was unable to present the
information.
45
"You were supposed to check three things-age, weight and extent of pollution caused by
vehicles. Have you done that? We will impose cost on your officers from now on," NGT said.
On July 20, NGT formed three teams comprising staff from the transport department, Delhi
Pollution Control Committee, weights and measures department and Delhi Police to monitor
vehicles entering the capital.
"Why does this army of officers come when they don't know anything? It is ridiculous. You tell
us on Monday on how many entry points you have complied with our orders. We want details of
all departments involved in the exercise, what action you have taken and the instruments used
during inspection," the bench said.
El Nio strengthening, but rain-boosting IOD could offset impact: Australia Met Bureau
Madhvi Sally, ET Bureau Aug 4, 2015, 04.38PM IST

NEW DELHI: The El Nino weather phenomenon, which has often disrupted rainfall in India, is
further strengthening and likely to persist into early 2016, the Australia Bureau of Meteorology
said in an update on Tuesday.
However, meteorologists are hopeful of the emergence of a rain-boosting phenomenon - a
positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) - which could offset the impact of El Nino and ensure
monsoon to be normal this year.
Trade winds remain weakened and are likely to contribute to more warming of the tropical
Pacific Ocean, the Australian weather bureau said. Other indicators such as cloudiness near the
Date Line, the Southern Oscillation Index (which captures differences in sea level pressure) and
sub-surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean are typical of an established El Nino.
The bureau said all international climate models surveyed by it indicated that El Nino would
continue to strengthen, and persist into early 2016. Typically, El Nino peaks during the late
austral spring (September-November) or early summer (December-February), and weakens in
the following year.
But it said there was the possibility of a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, "with three of the five
international models indicating a positive IOD is likely during late winter to spring".
IOD refers to differences in temperature between the western and eastern part of the Indian
Ocean. A 'positive' IOD period, which indicates warmer water in western Indian Ocean or the
Arabian Sea, tends to boost the monsoon. Weather scientists say it strengthened the monsoon in
2006.
46
10% monsoon deficit raises drought fears

Sub-par rainfall across India for more than two weeks has pushed the monsoon deficit to 10%
below normal, increasing worries of a second successive drought year in the country .
Average all-India rainfall was 5% below normal on August 1 but the deficit doubled by
Independence Day .August so far has seen 17% below-normal rain. A shortfall of 10% or more
for the entire monsoon season (June to September) is considered a drought year.
Agriculturally, however, the situation is better than last year, when the monsoon ended with a
12% deficit, because of plentiful rains in June and a few good spells since then. Despite the
monsoon weak ening in August, kharif sowing has so far been igher than last year. The net own
area, estimated to be 890 akh hectares as on August 14, was 27 lakh hectares more than he
corresponding period in 2014.
But concern for standing rops has been growing. Last week, the Centre approved pro osals for
initiating a series of armer-friendly interventions or the kharif crop and sancioned an additional
Rs 300 crore for the purpose.
Met officials said monsoon has remained low-key in August due to absence of large scale rain
systems typical of this time of the year. In August, monsoon has remained mostly convective,
that is, heat-related short period rain. The same pattern is likely to continue for another 10 days,
with a few ups and downs. We may see a large scale revival by the end of this month or early
September, said D Sivananda Pai, IMD lead monsoon forcaster.
With nearly two-thirds of the monsoon season over, possible drought regions have started
emerging. One clear region of high distress is Marathwada (rain deficit 48%), north interior
Karnataka (45%), Rayalaseema (38%) and surrounding areas. Other raindeficit areas are
emerging in the northern plains, with east Uttar Pradesh (36%) and Bihar (32%) showing the
highest deficiency as of now.
47
IMD has predicted a 12% monsoon shortfall this year, mainly on account of unfavourable
conditions for rains during the season due to El Nino conditions in the Pacific, which continue to
grow stronger.
India headed for climatic drought 2nd year on the trot
CRISIL Ratings identifies four states and five crops at highest risk to deficient monsoon
Sanjeeb Mukherjee | New Delhi August 20, 2015 Last Updated at 00:37 IST
Within the next 40 days, the southwest monsoon will formally start retracting from the Indian
mainland, ending its four-month journey over the country, pounding some parts with excess
showers, but could leave almost 30 per cent of the country with deficient or less-than-normal
48
rains, unless there is an abnormal pickup in the coming weeks.
That looks highly unlikely given that the usual intensity of monsoon starts declining from the
middle of August onwards. Most meteorologists feel this year's southwest monsoon season could
end with a minimum shortfall of eight to 10 per cent, and the rains could be in the range of 90-93
per cent of the long-period average (LPA).
The state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast the June-September rains to
be deficient at 88 per cent of the LPA, while weathermen feel that the actual rains could be in the
range of 90-93 per cent of the LPA. The LPA for June-September is the average rainfall of 50
years starting from 1951 and is estimated to be around 89 centimetres.
This does mean India is heading for a second consecutive year of meteorological drought, but
agricultural drought looks remote. The IMD classifies a meteorological drought as one where the
overall rainfall deficiency is more than 10 per cent and 20-40 per cent of the country is under
drought-like condition.
The low overall rains didn't have a big impact on kharif sowing and might not pull down the
final harvest as distribution, spread and timeliness of the southwest monsoon this year in major
parts of the country was perhaps among the best in the past few years.
49
The good distribution of rains, barring some pockets, and its proper timeliness ensured that till
August 14, the sowing of kharif crops was completed in almost 84 per cent of the normal area
and the acreage was almost 3.1 per cent more than 2014.
In fact, data from the IMD showed that except for parts of Bihar, Marathwada, north interior
Karnataka, Kerala, Haryana, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, there has been no consecutive three
weeks of scanty rainfall in most places . There have been some showers after a lean patch; the
intensity below normal.
The off and on rains did fill the reservoirs though and, till August 8, water levels in over 90-odd
reservoirs were 99 per cent of past year's level.
"I feel what is happening on the ground is not accurately reflected by the IMD numbers. For
example, in North India, the IMD said that monsoon will be 15 per cent below normal , but the
50
distribution so far has been excellent this year. But, yes, in parts of western and southern India
there is a problem. However, the negative fallout of this region would be neutralised by the
positive output in other regions and kharif production in 2015 would be good," said Ramesh
Chand, director, National Centre for Agriculture Economics and Policy Research (NCAP).
However, rating agency CRISIL in a report titled Angsty Farms released on Wednesday said that
four states - Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh - and five crops - jowar, soyabean,
tur, maize and cotton - are most likely to be hurt by below-normal rains this year. The analysis is
based on CRISIL's own Deficient Rainfall Impact Parameter (DRIP).
These states contribute 34 per cent to total foodgrain production in India, while jowar, soyabean,
tur and maize total up 26 per cent of the total foodgrain and oilseed output.
This financial year, the importance of monsoon, and, therefore, agriculture, is magnified because
the non-farm part of the Indian economy has been struggling, as underscored by poor investment
and manufacturing activity, the report said. If monsoon ends up being deficient overall this
financial year, it would mark two failures on a trot, which will be harder to grapple with, it
added.
"India has suffered weather-related turbulence for years, but what is worrying is that with rising
frequency of such events, the impact is getting increasingly amplified because holistic efforts to
reduce structural vulnerabilities are lacking," Dharmakirti Joshi, chief economist, CRISIL Ltd
said.
He added that the recent fall in rural wage growth has hurt those on the fringes. For the record,
small and marginal farmers constitute around 70 per cent of India's agricultural households and
they depend more on wage income compared with large farmers who enjoy cultivation income.
The agency though maintained its overall GDP growth forecast of 7.4 per cent for 2016 with
agriculture growing at a sub-trend rate of 1.5 per cent on a weak base of last financial year.
"Any positive surprise on rainfall over the next 45 days can create some upside to our growth
outlook," the report said.
On Tuesday, Moody's too lowered its 2015-16 GDP growth forecast to seven per cent from the
earlier 7.5 per cent due to adverse impact of low monsoon on crop output.
Possibility of two consecutive droughts is only 3%: Kelkar

51
TNN | Aug 25, 2015, 04.05 AM IST
PUNE: The monsoon performance is not always dependent on El Nino conditions, which are
currently strong but then there are is a month-and-a-half left for the season to end and rains are
expected during the monsoon's withdrawal phase, said R R Kelkar, former director general of the
India Meteorological Department (IMD), New Delhi.
Speaking at an interaction organized by the Pune Union of Working Journalists here on Monday,
Kelkar said that an analysis of past rainfall data shows that the possibility of two consecutive
droughts is only 3%.
Kelkar said that on April 22, the met office had predicted that the rainfall for monsoon this year
for the country as a whole would be deficient (93% of the long period average). On June 2, the
met office downgraded the forecast to 88% of the long period average.
"However, IMD had never used the word 'drought' to describe the ongoing season, but associated
the deficient rainfall to El Nino," he said.
He added that El Nino cycle does not occur every year, but occurs every two to seven years.
"However, monsoon season comes every year and hence, El Nino and the southwest monsoon
cannot be directly correlated. In the past, the country did not experience a deficient monsoon
every time El Nino conditions were present," said Kelkar.
Kelkar said that a study has been undertaken on the performance of the southwest monsoon
between 1871 and 2014.
"The study showed that as many as 19 years were abundant monsoon years for India, 24 were
drought years and 101 years were of a normal monsoon. This means that in any year, the
probability of a drought is 17% and that of a normal monsoon is 83%," he said, adding that of the
19 abundant monsoon years in the country, eight years were associated with the La Nina
phenomenon. However, it is not necessary that every abundant monsoon year is a La Nina year
too, he said.
He added that of the 24 drought years in India, 13 were El Nino years. "But El Nino is not the
sole reason behind every drought in the country.
In addition, observations from earlier drought years indicate that 1904-05, 1965-66 and 1986-87,
were years of two consecutive droughts. This shows that the probability of two consecutive
droughts is just 3%.
He added that when there is a strong El Nino episode, the fish catch off the coast of Peru is
greatly reduced. "Fishing industry suffers huge economic losses due to El Nino," he said.
52
El Nino effect: Weak monsoon to continue
Neha Madaan,TNN | Aug 25, 2015, 03.56 AM IST
PUNE: The ongoing dry spell, which was expected to continue till August end, may get extended
to the first week of September. A recent extended range forecast of the Indian Institute of
Tropical Meteorology (IITM) states that the El Nino effect may dominate the remaining days of
August and first week of September.
Rainfall activity will therefore be mainly confined to the eastern part of India and the southern
peninsula.
The earlier forecast, based on initial conditions on August 14, had said that further propagation
of convection towards north will be hampered due to the development of two cyclonic systems
or typhoons over central Pacific.
The recent forecast, based on initial conditions on August 19, said that development of large-
scale convective activity over Indian land mass will be hampered due to the presence of two
cyclonic systems over western Pacific and the weak monsoon condition will continue for another
10 to15 days.
The forecast also said that rainfall activity will be mainly confined to the eastern part of India
and southern peninsula. The forecast further added that in the current situation, stress on water
resources is expected to increase in most parts of the country.
In line with the IITM forecast, a recent India Meteorological Department's (IMD) extended range
forecast till September 8 predicted above normal rainfall activity over northeast and adjoining
east India on many days till the beginning of September. It forecast normal rainfall activity over
south peninsular from August 20 to 24 and from September 4 to 8 and below normal rainfall
activity over plains of northwest and central India on many days.
An IITM scientist said that a major impact of El Nino on rainfall is usually during the months of
August and September, more so in September. "The forecasts are now indicating that this impact
may continue till the first week of September, while later forecasts may give a picture of
monsoon performance during the subsequent weeks of September," the scientist said.
The scientist said that there is a monsoon system currently over the Bay of Bengal, which will
provide rains to eastern part of India and southern peninsula, but this system may not go further
towards central India due to the cyclonic systems over the Pacific ocean.
The two cyclonic systems over the Pacific are still very strong. Though the first one may make
53
landfall soon, the second one will follow. These systems are said to pull the moisture of the
system over the Bay of Bengal, thus weakening the monsoon on the Indian landmass.
A met department official meanwhile said that a major part of the country will experience
subdued rainfall till the first week of September. "There might be occasional convective clouds
in the evening. A rainfall system may form over the Bay of Bengal, which may provide some
rainfall in Konkan, but would not bring much improvement in the interior parts, including central
Maharashtra and Marathwada," the official said.
August 28, 2015
IMD deficit forecast comes true
But the poor monsoon has not stoked food inflation

As the season enters its final phase, the forecast of a below-normal monsoon made by the India
Meteorological Department (IMD) has come true with the rainfall deficit standing exactly at the
12 per cent it has predicted. Private forecaster Skymet, which had forecast a normal monsoon,
concedes that with the season nearly done, the rainfall is not likely to increase. The country-
wide cumulative rainfall [deficit] figure now stands at 12 per cent. The daily average rainfall
figure will start taking a dip after a couple of days. Thus, we can expect that this [the average
rainfall] figure will not rise much, Skymet said on Wednesday.
The IMD says the southern peninsula and central India have been the worst hit, with rainfall 20
per cent and 15 per cent below normal, respectively. Northwest India, east and northeast India
received 6 per cent less.
Only three West Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh and Gangetic West Bengal of the 36
sub-divisions in the country have received surplus rainfall, and 15 have received normal. Half the
sub-divisions received deficient rainfall, the IMD says. The department defines rainfall as
deficient if it is 20-59 per cent less than normal. But despite the deficient monsoon, food
inflation has been falling.
August 9, 2015 23:23 IST

Environment Ministry pushes for hydro-projects in Uttarakhand
With the appointment of the third committee of experts by the Union Environment Ministry to
review a few contentious hydroelectric power projects in Uttarakhand, the debate on their
feasibility has come down to design changes so that they could be accommodated in the disaster-
prone State.
54
The Ravi Chopra Committee and the Vinod Tare Committee had warned against projects,
including the six on which the Supreme Court is yet to give a decision.
The Hindu reviewed the minutes of the two meetings of the newly formed committee held in June
and July. Lata Tapovan (171 MW), Alaknanda Badrinath (300 MW), Kotlibhel 1A (195 MW),
Jhelum Tamak (128 MW), Bhyundar Ganga (24.8 MW), and Khirao Ganga (4.5 MW) are the
projects that will be reviewed again by the new committee.
Design modifications
At a meeting held in July, the developers of the six projects presented design modifications to the
new committee, so that they could be implemented once the issues of muck disposal, impact on
biodiversity and disaster mitigation plan were addressed. The modifications were discussed last
year too, but the first committee rejected them. Since the developers again failed to present
acceptable modifications, the committee has said they should come up with the required
modifications.
In the latest affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Ministry has also underscored the
importance of design modifications, almost sidelining the possibility of cancellation of the
projects even if they dont meet the criteria.
Environmentalists have been objecting to the formation of the new committee, suspecting that the
Ministry is forming committee after committee to get the green signal for the contentious
projects.
On the formation of the third committee, senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan,
Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, E. Theophilus of
Uttarakhand-based Himal Prakriti, and Bharat Jhunjhunwala, a former professor of the IIM-
Bangalore, had written to Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.
A violation
Not only is this a violation but also a clear indication of your ministrys malafide intentions to
overwrite and compromise the findings of previous committees..It is hence clear that till the
time you [Mr. Javadekar] do not get a report that gives a green signal to these hydropower
projects you will continue to form one committee after another, regardless of the reality on
ground, they said.
347 flora, 242 fauna species discovered in 2013-14: Environment Minister Prakash
Javadekar
By PTI | 11 Aug, 2015, 04.39PM IST
55
NEW DELHI: 347 species of flora and 424 offauna, including two reptiles have been discovered
in the country in 2013-2014,Environment Minister Prakash Javadekarinformed Lok
Sabha today.
"As per the studies conducted by scientists and taxonomists of Botanical Survey of India (BSI)
and Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), 347 plant species and 424 animal species have been
discovered in the year 2013 and 2014.
"The details of the species have been published as 'Plant Discoveries 2013', 'Plant Discoveries
2014' published by BSI and 'Animal discoveries 2013', 'Animal Discoveries 2014' by ZSI,"
Javadekar said in a written reply.
Two species of reptiles have been located for the first time in the country, namely 'Boiga
flaviviridis' in Berahampur, Odisha and 'Rhinophis goweri' located in Noolathu Kombai,
Bodamalai hills.
"All endangered species are protected under section 38 of the Biological Diversity Act 2002
which empowers the Central government in consultation with the concerned state government to
notify from time to time any species which are on the verge of extinction or likely to become
extinct in the near future as threatened species, and prohibit or regulate their collection, and also
to take appropriate steps to rehabilitate and preserve those species," the minister said.
In reply to another question, Javadekar said that India ranks among the top ten species rich
nations in the world and is known for its rich biological diversity and high endemism.
The survey and exploration of different geographical areas of the country has resulted in a
repository of about three million National Reference Collections of plant specimens.
He said that as per BSI, India has about 47,791 species of plants, while studies conducted by ZSI
have accorded over 96,000 species of animals.
August 12, 2015 08:51 IST
Join fight against climate change: UK envoy

56
Mr. Joshi was of the view that the State was "Indias best-kept secret" with several sectors
having great potentials yet to receive the widespread attention they deserved.
British Deputy High Commissioner Bharat Joshi has urged the business leaders of the State to
collaborate with the United Kingdom to mitigate the impact of climate change.
He was addressing business leaders at an interactive session on Business Connect Opportunities:

UK and Kerala, jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Kerala
State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), here on Tuesday.
Mr. Joshi said the issue of climate change had immense relevance for Kerala, which valued its
biodiversity. Moreover, the large number of people depending on agriculture for livelihood and
those residing in coastal areas necessitated the need for mitigating the effects of climate change
such as floods. The UK government was willing to extend all possible support for the cause. A
coalition of business leaders in the State was also crucial for the success of such an initiative, he
said.
Mr. Joshi was of the view that the State was Indias best-kept secret with several sectors
having great potentials yet to receive the widespread attention they deserved.
He added that the United Kingdom was also interested in partnering India in addressing the
challenges of urbanisation. Mr. Joshi pointed out that an urban plan for Aluva, titled Framework
for Future Proof, was handed over to the State government on Monday. The projects included in
the framework included those for better sanitation facilities, waste segregation and road safety
systems.
Potential areas
Delivering a special address on the occasion, KSIDC Managing Director M. Beena said that
efforts were being made in collaboration with the CII in overcoming the bureaucratic hassles that
existed in setting up business ventures.
She also said that there were various emerging sectors such as Ayurveda and medical tourism in
the State that had tremendous potential for investment.
This was primarily because expenses of medical treatment were far lower than in the European
countries. At the same time, the State has also been known for providing high quality medical
care, she said.
She also elaborated on the upcoming industrial ventures of the government including the mega
food park at Cherthala, the Bio 360 Life Sciences Park at Thonakkal, Light Engineering
Industrial Park at Palakkad.
CII Kerala State council chairman Hari Krishnan Nair, CII Kerala past chairman P. Ganesh and
Sandy Sheard, counsellor and head, Energy, Climate and Growth unit, British High Commission,
also spoke on the occasion.
57
Democratic conservation of biodiversity is must

Radheshyam Jadhav,TNN | Aug 17, 2015, 05.38 PM IST
PUNE: India ranks among the top ten species rich nations in the world and is known for its rich
biological diversity and high endemism. Botanical Survey of India (BSI) and Zoological Survey
of India (ZSI) under the ministry of environment carry out surveys and documentation of
biological resources including threatened and important species of the country.
Survey and exploration of different geographical areas of the country has resulted in a repository
of about three million National Reference Collections of plant specimen.
Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan, senior fellow and program leader (Ecosytems and Global Change)
working with Bengaluru based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment
(ATREE) said that democratic conservation of biodiversity will benefit the nation. Speaking to
fellows of Forum of Environmental Journalist in India (FEJI), he said, "We have to involve
people to protect rich biodiversity. The conservation paradigm has to change and more and more
participation must be encouraged."
The Indian flora accounts for about 11.4% of the total recorded plant species of the world. As per
BSI, India has about 47, 791 species of plants comprising Virus/Bacteria (1, 071), Algae (7,
309), Fungi (14, 936), Lichens (2, 434), Bryophytes (2, 531), Pteridophytes (1, 274),
Gymnosperms (77) and Angiosperms (18, 159) already identified and classified so far.
Studies conducted by ZSI have recorded over 96,000 species of animals from India. Among
these, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed 18 species of
amphibians, 14 fishes, 13 bird species and 10 mammals as critically endangered; 310 species as
endangered, including 69 fishes, 38 mammals and 32 amphibians. The Wildlife (Protection) Act,
1972 has been enacted for protection of wild animals, birds and plants against hunting and
commercial exploitation. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been empowered under
the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to apprehend and prosecute wildlife offenders.
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has been set up for control of poaching and illegal trade in
wildlife and its products. The National Biodiversity Act, 2002, also ensures protection of
threatened plant species and their habitats. Under the provisions of Biodiversity Act 2002 the
threatened species are identified state wise. MoEF has already issued notifications to this effect
for 14 states viz., Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Orissa,
Meghalaya, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Tripura.
One step forward, three steps back: The curious case of agri-biotech regulation in India
01 Aug 2015, Rahul Koul Koul, Biospecindia

58
Recently, it was reported that Indian scientists have completed final field trials of a genetic
modified mustard and will soon submit their final report to the government. This would be the
second food crop after Bt Brinjal for which all studies have been completed and waiting for the
government approval to be the other crops besides cotton going the GM way. One can't help but
review the regulatory situation in the 5 years that has passed by between the time of Bt Brinjal in
2010 and GM mustard in 2015.
It's fair to say that regulatory situation in India has become very challenging in the last five
years. It is very commendable that the field trials of GM mustard have been completed. The year
2010 was the beginning of the uncertain times for agricultural biotechnology in India when a
moratorium on the commercialization of Bt Brinjal was announced despite satisfying all the
criteria set up the regulatory authorities. The apex regulatory body to review and approve all
biotechnology products in India went through a name change from being Genetic Engineering
Approval Committee (GEAC) to Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), a change
that did not alter the acronym but significantly devalued its authority. Since then, it has become
extremely difficult to even conduct field-research to evaluate the usefulness and safety of GM
crops. In 2011, the GEAC introduced another condition for obtaining a No Objection Certificate
(NOC) from individual states before planting the research trials. This new condition, took
everyone by surprise and resulted in the loss of a complete year. And if that wasn't bad enough,
the ecosystem for field research worsened even further 2013 onwards when the GEAC, that was
earlier convening every month, stopped meeting on a regular basis adding to the uncertainty of
the industry.
Meanwhile, our neighbours in the region continued to advance their research and development to
review and approve GM crops. Philippines has been the leader and continued to approve GM
crops. Last year Vietnam approved GM maize for cultivation and Indonesia continued to develop
its drought resistant sugarcane, issued food and environmental safety certificates in 2013 and
allowed uninterrupted field trials of other crops such as maize. Pakistan also continued to
conduct and completed large scale field trials of several crops. It is worthy to note that Vietnam
started the trials of maize much later and approved these ahead of India mainly because the
predictability in the regulatory system that they developed. The most interesting of all is
Bangladesh. While India imposed a moratorium on Bt Brinjal, Bangladesh continued its multi-
location field trials of its own varieties of Bt Brinjal (the same event developed in India) and
commercially began planting Bt Brinjal in 2014. Interestingly, Bangladesh cited the safety
results for this event conducted in India. Similarly, crop biotechnology has progressed well in
Africa.
Unfounded criticism
The critics of crop biotechnology cite several reasons in support of delays in India. First there's
the MNC bogey - the so called over-reliance of imported technology and dependence on foreign
technology. However, it is Indian institutions that have suffered the most because of these delays
in the last 5 years. GM mustard, like Bt Brinjal was developed in India for Indian conditions so it
will be interesting to see the response there is to GM mustard as field trials come to an end.
Another argument against biotech crop is that only 28 countries grow biotech crops and more
than 80% percent of the planted area is in only four countries. But these critics perhaps do not
59
know that India is in the list of these four countries with just one crop Bt cotton and the 28
countries that grow these crops constitute around 60% of the world's population! And many
more countries import GM foods from the GM producing countries.
Health and safety concerns are also cited as the reasons why we should not progress with
biotechnology. It should be noted and has been reported several times that of the GM crops have
been planted and consumed across the world for so many years, there has not been even a single
case of adverse affect on human health. The opinion of the scientific community linked to a
petition submitted by 250 scientists to the Prime Minister to stop GM research in the country, is
yet another reason cited by critics against the introduction of this technology. However several
noted science bodies such as the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) under the
chairmanship of Professor M S Swaminathan passed a resolution endorsing the usefulness of
biotechnology in agriculture. Scientists at this year's Indian Science Congress also submitted a
similar petition to the Prime Minister. Interestingly the Honourable Prime Minister also recently
spoke in favour of GM crops. So it is hoped that the normalcy would resume in field testing of
biotech crops.
We must realize that India is one of very few select countries in the developing world that has
the scientific knowledge and capability to develop biotech crops on its own which is exemplified
in the number of applications by the public sector has put up for field trials. India's regulatory
system is one of the most stringent in the world and if allowed to evaluate the applications purely
on its merit, India can continue to establish its leadership in this domain. Our universities and
institutes have developed a large human resource in biotechnology, which will decline if
agricultural biotechnology is not allowed to develop further and take us back by several years.
This capability needs to grow and continuing field research will be a very significant step in this
direction. The last 5 years have been very uncertain. It is hoped that the next coming years will
be progressive and not retrogressive for crop biotechnology research in India.
Govt to spend Rs 1750 crore on modernizing regulator, industry welcomes move
14 Aug 2015, Rahul Koul Koul, Biospecindia
On August 12, 2015, the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime
Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, approved the proposal for strengthening the drug regulatory system
both at the central and the state levels at a total cost of Rs 1750 crore.
The note from Press Information Bureau stated that the strengthening or up-gradation of the
system will be spread over a period of three years. Out of the total amount of Rs 1750 crore, an
amount of Rs 900 crore will be spent on strengthening central structures that mainly includes the
Central Drug Standards Organization (CDSCO). The rest of Rs 850 crore will be made available
to the state governments, after signing a Memorandum of Understanding.
During his exclusive chat with BioSpectrum a few months back, Dr G N Singh, drug controller
general of India (DGCI) had hinted at a revamp in offing. "2015 is going to be a year of
60
streamlined regulations. The industry is upgrading its capacity and skills. Capacity building is a
major thrust of the government of India when we are going to have the regulatory frameworks,
tools, setups in place. We intend to graduate to the next level and in 2-3 years, we would be
better placed. The government has taken proactive steps. We had the strength of 40 inspectors in
2008 and now it has gone upto 347. There will be the addition of 200 more in next 2 years. The
basic issue is to train them as per current national and international expectations. Government is
supporting us the regulations stringent yet streamlined'" he had commented.
Industry terms it positive step
In his first reaction, Dr P M Murali, president, Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises

(ABLE) expressed utmost pleasure at this decision. "ABLE is delighted to understand that the
Prime Minister has decided to allocate 1750 crores for regulatory matters. This is the most
forward looking activity done by any government in the past two decades. A much needed
investment and the Industry is thankful," he told BioSpectrum.
Responding to BioSpectrum's Rahul Koul on Twitter, Dr Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD, Biocon
too was upbeat over the government's decision. On being asked whether it is enough for revamp,
she mentioned, "Yes. Infact a lot has improved within the regulatory structure and has been made
more transparent and simplified."
India is one of the largest manufacturers of drugs and exports pharmaceutical products to over
200 countries or economies. The implementation of the scheme will facilitate domestic
manufacture of quality medical products and help establish a robust industry in the field of
medical devices, biologicals and other areas. The common training programmes for regulatory
and laboratory staff will also help in evolving uniform practices throughout the country.
Where will the funds go?
The funds are expected to be strategically used to help the centre and state drug regulatory
departments in their capacity building measures, like construction of new drug and food testing
laboratories, expansion of the existing facilities and hiring manpower.
"The planned provision of additional funding to strengthen the drug regulatory system at both the
central and state level is welcome, opined Dr Anant Bhan, researcher, Global Health and
Bioethics and adjunct professor, Yenepoya University. "It's good to see that these funds will be
spent on enhancing the regulatory infrastructure (labs, equipment etc) and also to hire new
personnel as well as enhance training facilities," he added further.
Assistance will be provided to the states for strengthening their drug regulatory structures. The
measure will help enhance quality, safety and efficacy of drugs and other medical products
manufactured in the country, and thereby help mitigate the disease burden as also increase export
of pharmaceutical products from India. Besides, it will also help trigger growth of the domestic
medical devices sector.
61
Dr Jitendra Verma, managing director, Lifecare Innovations suggested the ways in which funds
could be used appropriately. "There is need to identify at least five universities or academic
centers for M. Pharm with curricular contents including testing/analysis, quality control, quality
assurance, regulatory affairs, and pharmacovigilence, said Dr Verma. He added further,
"Training centers must be created in different parts of the country for training and refresher
programs of the regulatory officials and MSME personnel. Cold chain infrastructure may be
strengthened to ensure uninterested cold chain from Production to consumption. Infrastructure
should be strengthened to ensure un-interrupted power supply at the time of granting
manufacturing licences. This authority and responsibility with accountability may be given to
state drugs controllers."
The CDSCO is expected to bear the 75 per cent of total expenditure of the projects undertaken
by the state drug regulatory departments will be borne by the centre, whereas 25 will have to be
borne by the state governments.
Funds will help in:
Up-gradation including provision of additional equipment and manpower in existing drug

testing laboratories;
Setting up of new laboratories for testing drugs, medical devices and cosmetics;
Making mobile drug testing laboratories available;
Creation of additional manpower for regulatory structures, including for new and emerging
areas such as stem cell, regenerative medicine, biologicals and medical devices in addition to
drugs.
E-governance and information technology enabled online services.
Training academy for regulatory and drug testing officials, of both the central and state
governments.
India to build a new AYUSH hospital in Delhi
17 Aug 2015, BioSpectrum Bureau , Biospecindia
India's biggest AYUSH hospital, built on the lines of All India Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS) is scheduled to be completed in Delhi in the next six months. Union Minister of State
for AYUSH Mr Shripad Naik said the hospital will cater to 500 patients.
The upcoming six AIIMS hospitals across the country will also have separate AYUSH
departments in their premises. "Our mission is to build one AYUSH hospital in each district so
that people can take the benefits of traditional medicines," said Mr Naik.
He further added that medicinal practices under AYUSH and allopathy can be used
simultaneously for setting up better healthcare facilities in the country.
62
The Indian government, in its efforts to promote Ayurveda, yoga and other such traditional
sciences, has also recently signed pacts with various other countries for cooperation in promotion
and research of yoga and ayurveda.
The government has also commissioned research studies to document evidence showing
AYUSH can be used for treatment of various lifestyle diseases like diabetes and hypertension.
The Indian health ministry is also planning to regulate AYUSH medicines and is formulating a
plan to set up a separate vertical under the existing pharmaceutical regulator to monitor quality
and efficacy of AYUSH medicines available in the country.
Govt. to launch tele-medicine services
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in partnership with the Apollo
Hospitals will launch tele-medicine services on August 25.
Under the service, people can visit Common Service Centres (CSC) and fix an appointment for
seeking expert consultancy with a doctor. The doctors at Apollo Hospitals will be able to provide
consultancy to the patients using the video link facilities. People can also order generic drugs
online.
The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) has a network of 1.5 lakh
CSCs across the country and Apollo Hospitals will provide the services using the network.
The services will be launched in 60,000 CSCs across the country. The Ministry of Health will
also extend the benefit of their Jan Aushadhi programme of delivery of generic drugs through the
CSC network.
"The CSC and Bureau of Pharma PSU of India (BPPI) will sign an MoU for providing these
generic drugs to citizens through CSC network," said a Ministry official, in a statement.
Hybrid clouds to witness highest growth by 2020
Healthcare cloud computing is used to share patient information between healthcare providers
and pharmacists.
It also plays a vital role in patient billing and reduces capital expenditure which is associated
with conventional mode of billing practices.
63
It increases the speed and flexibility of healthcare services such as telemedicine, electronic
medical records, and image diagnostic techniques.
Mobile devices are gaining popularity in delivering healthcare services.
According to ReportLinker, a search engine, various factors such as increasing demand for better
healthcare facilities, rising government initiatives and cost effectiveness are driving the global
market for healthcare cloud computing.
In addition, rising investments from healthcare IT players and growing popularity of wireless and
cloud technology are some of the major drivers for the global healthcare cloud computing
market.
However, lack of experienced professionals is key restraint for the global healthcare cloud
computing market. In addition, lack of security and privacy of patient's information also
obstructs the growth of the global healthcare cloud computing market.
The US represents the largest market for healthcare cloud computing in North American region.
This is due to improved healthcare infrastructure and technological advancements.
Asia is expected to experience high growth rate in the next five years in global healthcare cloud
computing market.
This is due to improving healthcare infrastructure and increasing government spending on

healthcare IT.
In addition, several government associations are also supporting in growth of the healthcare
cloud computing market in Asia.
Various factors such as increasing demand for better healthcare facilities, rising government
initiatives and cost effectiveness are driving the global market for healthcare cloud computing.
In addition, rising investments from healthcare IT players and growing popularity of wireless and
cloud technology are some of the major drivers for the global healthcare cloud computing
market.
However, lack of experienced professionals is key restraint for the global healthcare cloud
computing market.
64
In addition, lack of security and privacy of patient's information also obstructs the growth of the
global healthcare cloud computing market.
Increasing usage of portable devices, such as cell-phones and laptops, to access healthcare
services is the key trend for the global healthcare cloud computing market.
'Create an eco-system for Inflow of Higher FDI'
Mr Sudhanshu Pandey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, has

underscored the need for enhancing FDI in the medical device industry. While addressing the
delegates at CII's Medical Technology Conference held in Delhi, Mr Pandey said that the
medical device segment accounted for less than 0.5 per cent of the total inflow of FDI, which
was very inadequate considering the fact that FDI was allowed both in brownfield and greenfield
segments.
More inflow of FDI could also make India a hub for medical device production not only for
catering to domestic use but also exports.
Mr Pandey also referred to the skill deficit in the country and suggested introduction of
customized courses in poly-technics, ITIs and engineering colleges to create the required number
of qualified professionals for the industry. He said, 'Industry to come forward with specific
suggestions for skill development so that it could be dovetailed with the activities of Skill
Development Councils.'
Referring to the role of ancillary industry in the manufacture of medical devices, Mr Pandey said
that the import dependence in the segment should be brought down. For that, it was imperative to
have a strong drive towards ancillarization. The government is motivating MSMEs to be more
active in the field. Support mechanisms are being evolved by the government for this end.
Mr Pandey referred to the new legislation that is being brought about to regulate and harmonize
the segment, which is presently covered by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. Since the legislation
might take some time, certain short term measures also can be brought to address the immediate
problems of the industry such as labeling requirements etc.
He called for transfer of technology to give a leg up to the medical device industry by taking up
contract designing, research, leading to manufacturing. Products sourced from India at cheaper
prices are sold at higher prices abroad, denying the Indian industry the benefits.
Mr Pandey exhorted industry to evolve a pragmatic pricing policy for equipment. Product pricing
should be transparent, predictable and economical to make the medical treatment affordable to
the common man.
65
Paris Agreement: France to set up co-operative mechanism to fight climate change

Urmi Goswami, ET Bureau Aug 3, 2015, 04.26AM IST
NEW DELHI: France, which is chairing the December round of the UN-sponsored climate
talks in Paris, is working towards setting up a mechanism to help countries address specific
challenges to adopting climate-friendly, low-carbon development options.
It has stressed that a co-operative approach"what every country can do, and how we can
do better together"will be the essence of the Paris Agreement. Countries have agreed to
finalise and adopt a new agreement in Paris to tackle the global challenge of climate
change. An agreement at this stage become effective from 2020.
"We have to have a co-operative mechanism because it is about sectors where there is common
investment in technology, access to capital at reasonable costthat is quite specific not vague,"
Laurence Tubiana, France's Special Representative for the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, told
ET.
As part of the new global compact, all countries are expected to prepare and submit national
climate action plans. Known in the UN climate jargon as "intended nationally determined
contributions" or INDCs, climate action plans provide information about efforts that each
country will make to reduce carbon dioxide pollution to slow down global warming.
Tubiana explained that the co-operative mechanism will seek to help countries address their
specific challenges. "India has specific problems with respect to access to capital, China has
different problems,South Africa is even different. That is why it has to be embedded in the INDC
in a way, how much an INDC is displaying what the countries are doing by itself and what
countries need co-operation for," she said.
This stress on co-operative action comes close on the heels of New Delhi's decision in late July
to abandon its earlier plans of providing detailed sector-wise targets focused on reducing carbon
dioxide emissions and adapting to the impacts of rising temperatures.
Developing countries like India have been concerned that without proper financial and
technological support from industrialised countries, their efforts to reduce carbon dioxide
pollution would adversely impact their development efforts.
There are concerns that a new global ?pact? would dilute the 1992 Convention, which puts the
onus on industrialised countries for reducing carbon dioxide pollution, and providing assistance
to developing countries. Concerns that were vocalised by Environment Minister Prakash
Javadekar at the recently concluded Major Economies Forum in Luxembourg. "We should not
try to rewrite the Convention. Annexes are part of the Convention's basic structure stemming
from historical responsibility of countries," he said.
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The French special representative, who was in India last week, takes on board New Delhi's
concern. "Every country, particularly developing countries, feel comfortable as long as you say
that this agreement is an implementing agreement of the Convention, which is a reality, and then
that all the principles apply. So we should not discuss anew about common but differentiated
responsibilities and respective capabilities, or annexes, they are all there."
Tubiana said that while there is no denying the principles enshrined in the Convention, the
carbon budget approach, that every country has a quota of sorts for carbon dioxide pollution, is
an "impossible idea". "We tried it even between developed countries at Kyoto, we didn't succeed
because most opted out. Imagine if we had to discuss burden sharing for the century," she said.
India has maintained that developed and developing countries cannot be expected to have the
same level of responsibility and accountability, which in UN climate terminology is referred to
as "differentiation". "The concept of differentiation is cardinal to the UNFCCC mandate, and as
such there should be no attempt to dilute differentiation," Javadekar stressed at his intervention at
the July informal ministerial meeting in Paris.
Tubiana explained that the idea of differentiating between countries needs to be addressed
through each element of the agreement. "The INDCs (or national climate plans) will be self-
differentiating. Then differentiation has to apply to other elementsmeans of implementation,
that is finance and technology, capacity building and transparency. For transparency, should we
go for a common framework with embedded differentiation that is frequency and nature of
information provided? The notion at the informal meet in Paris was that we should not create
categories, so countries will choose what type of reporting they will do, but with an importance
clauseno backsliding. That means countries reporting in a certain framework cannot move to
one that is less rigorous. On means of implementation, we will discuss in September," the French
Special Representative said.
World glaciers melting at record rates: Study

Subodh Varma,TNN | Aug 3, 2015, 05.53 PM IST
NEW DELHI: A worldwide study has revealed that during 2001 to 2010, glaciers lost ice at an
alarming two to three times the average for the 20th century. Such is the scale of ice loss that the
scientists predict that even if global warming were to stabilize, the ice loss would continue.
Melting glaciers, known to be caused by rising global temperatures, pose a global threat to fresh
water systems, like rivers and lakes. Billions of people live in plains fed by glacier and snow
melt fed rivers, as in India. If these rivers were to start drying up, there would be calamitous
consequences as agriculture would collapse.
Data on glacier changes for the past more than 120 years was compiled by the World Glacier
Monitoring Service, located at the University of Zurich. In this study, observations of the first
decade of the 21st century (2001-2010) were compared to all available earlier data from in-situ,
air-borne, and satellite-borne observations as well as to reconstructions from pictorial and written
67
sources. The Service also collected data from its National Correspondents in more than 30
countries. The study is published in the Journal of Glaciology.
"The observed glaciers currently lose between half a metre and one metre of its ice thickness
every year - this is two to three times more than the corresponding average of the 20th century",
explains Michael Zemp, Director of the World Glacier Monitoring Service and lead author of the
study. "Exact measurements of this ice loss are reported from a few hundred glaciers only.
However, these results are qualitatively confirmed from field and satellite-based observations for
tens of thousands of glaciers around the world."
According to the international author team, the current rate of glacier melt is without precedence
at global scale, at least for the time period observed and probably also for recorded history, as
indicated also in reconstructions from written and illustrated documents. In addition, the study
shows that the long-term retreat of glacier tongues is a global phenomenon. Intermittent re-
advance periods at regional and decadal scales are normally restricted to a subsample of glaciers
and have not come close to achieving the Little Ice Age maximum positions reached between the
16th and 19th century. As such, glacier tongues in Norway have retreated by some kilometres
from its maximum extents in the 19th century. The intermittent re-advances of the 1990s were
restricted to glaciers in the coastal area and to a few hundred metres.
In addition, the study indicates that the intense ice loss of the past two decades has resulted in a
strong imbalance of glaciers in many regions of the world. "These glaciers will suffer further ice
loss, even if climate remains stable", explains Michael Zemp.
Temp in India increased by 0.6 degree Celsius over the last 110 years
Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Aug 5, 2015, 08.02 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Mean temperature in India has increased by nearly 0.6 degree Celsius over the
last 110 years in line with rising temperature across the globe, said the government in Parliament
while informing the Lok Sabha that the heat wave phenomena this year were "abnormally" high
which had led to 2,037 deaths across the country.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana faced the maximum casualties with both these states together
recording 93% of the total deaths due to heat wave in 2015.
"All India mean temperature has risen nearly around 0.6 degree Celsius over the last 110 years in
line with the rising temperature across the globe", said Union science & technology minister
Harsh Vardhan while stating that the last decade 2001-2010 happened to be the warmest decade
for the country as well as for the globe as compared to the previous four decades.
He, in his written reply, also referred to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) report which highlights that the mean surface temperature of the globe has risen by 0.85
degree Celsius (in the post-industrialization period).
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"Using daily maximum temperature data of 103 stations uniformly distributed over the country
for the period 1961-2010 from Indian main land during the hot weather season (March to July), it
was observed that many areas of the country (north, northwest, central and northeast Peninsula)
have experienced more than eight heat wave days on an average per season", said the minister.
DEATHS DUE TO HEAT WAVE IN DIFFERENT STATES IN 2015:
Andhra Pradesh - 1369
Telangana - 541
Odisha - 67
Uttar Pradesh - 22
West Bengal - 13
Gujarat - 10
Madhya Pradesh - 10
Delhi 5
Aug 6 2015 12:35AM
Global warming behind weather extremes: Expert

Pithoragarh, August 5
Weather experts at the Aryabhatt Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES),
Nainital, today said global warming in the stratosphere of the earth had affected the atmosphere
of the world in recent times as well as monsoon forecasting, due to symptoms of extreme event
in general monsoon.
Despite the weather department forecasting lesser rains in the country, some parts have
witnesses extreme rains, belying the forecasts. These are the extremes in monsoon which have
developed due to the effects of global warming on the monsoon waves, said the scientists at
ARIES.
After the extremes in warming as well as cooling, extremes in weather system have now started
giving extremes in monsoon too, which evidence in sudden speedy rains or no rains for days in
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monsoon months in the recent decades, said Dr Manish Naja, an atmosphere scientist at ARIES
Nainital.
Due to global warming, the temperature of the earth had gone two degree Celsius up in the last
100 years, which had resulted in rising of sea water level, posing danger of submergence to
islands countries.
Obamas Clean Power Plan, and lessons for Indias own climate change strategy
Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan is merely one of the ways that will help it fulfill an existing
pledge to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28% by 2025 from 2005 levels.
Written by Amitabh Sinha | New Delhi | Published:August 10, 2015 12:00 am
The biggest, most important step we have ever taken to combat climate change.
That is how President Barack Obama described the Clean Power Plan he unveiled last week. The
Plan aims to cut, by 2030, greenhouse gas emissions from US power plants by 32% from 2005
levels.
To many, the plan is a war on coal by the Obama administration, which is keen to claim global
leadership ahead of the climate change summit in Paris this year-end that is expected to deliver a
landmark climate agreement.
The announcement is the most specific the US has ever made on its emission reduction roadmap.
But while the Plan has triggered intense debate within the US and strong criticism from many
coal-bearing states it has elicited lukewarm response from the international community. It
isnt difficult to see why.
Americas record on climate
To begin with, the Clean Power Plan is not a new or additional emission reduction target that the
US has committed itself to. It is merely one of the ways that will help it fulfill an existing pledge
to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28% by 2025 from 2005 levels.
But more than that, the US track record on climate action has hardly inspired confidence.
In the early 2000s, when it was the worlds largest emitter, it shied away from ratifying the
Kyoto Protocol under which it had been assigned an emission cut target of 7% from 1990 levels,
to be achieved by 2012. It was only in 2009, before the Copenhagen Conference, that the US
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took an emission reduction target 17% of 2005 levels by 2020. On 1990 levels, that translated
to a mere 4% cut. It is struggling to achieve even that: at the end of 2013, US emissions were
barely 8.5% below 2005 levels.
Now, ahead of the Paris Conference, when every country has to reveal its climate action plan for
beyond 2020, the US has said it will cut emissions by 26-28% by 2025 compared to 2005 levels.
Studies have shown that is largely a business-as-usual scenario from the 17% target for 2020,
and therefore, hardly ambitious.
Obamas description of the Plan as the biggest, most important step is a comment on how
timid the US has been in fighting climate change.
The Plan and opposition
The Plan seeks to define an upper limit on carbon emissions from individual fossil fuel fired
power plants, who have until 2030 to go under the limit. The US has about 1,000 coal- or gas-
based plants, each with several units, and the Plan will apply to 3,100 of the most polluting units.
The plants can do emission trading that is, a polluting unit can buy carbon space from one that
is within the limit. And a strong thrust will be given to ensure that the US produces 30% more
energy from renewable sources by 2030.
The Plan will ensure that 870 million tonnes of carbon emissions are avoided by 2030. But the
Plan has met with strong opposition from several quarters, including US states that rely mainly
on coal-fired power plants, ever since an early draft was released last year. The Plan is likely to
be contested inCongress, and possibly in court.
Clean coal
870 million tonnes over 15 years might seem trivial when the US is emitting close to 7 billion
tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent every year. Annual emissions dipped a little from 2008 due
to the financial crisis, but have been rising since 2012.
But the significance of Obamas Plan lies elsewhere and holds an important lesson for
countries like India, which are much more dependent on coal than the US for producing
electricity. Despite the revolution in solar energy production, whose global installed capacity has
grown almost eight times since 2010, and the stress on other forms of renewable energy,
dependence on coal will continue for three or four decades, especially in the developing world.
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Obamas Plan is trying to ensure that coal in the US becomes and remains clean for the time that
it is around. It is a message that needs to reverberate across other coal-dependent countries,
mainly India and China, who have some of the dirtiest coal power plants.
More than 60% Indias power is produced in coal-fired thermal plants. Despite the planned
massive boost to solar and wind energy, absolute consumption is only going to increase as India
tries to lift power generation 3.5-4 times in the next 20 years.
The need for cleaning coal is therefore obvious and of utmost importance in meeting Indias
climate objectives. A coal cess introduced three years ago and since quadrupled, has created a
resource pool to fund research and development. The funds pool contains Rs 10,000 crore, but
the R&D initiatives are missing.
India also needs to develop cost-effective technologies for carbon capture and storage solutions,
which attempt to tap emissions and store them away, in rocks under the earths surface for
example, so they are prevented from being released in the atmosphere. This is a temporary
solution, but something the world is looking at with great interest.
Indias noises on climate strategy are heavily dominated by plans to upscale renewable energy,
and massive afforestation. Clean coal is hardly visible, and that has to change. Its impact would
be much greater in India than Obamas Plan would have in the US.
NABARD accredited by UN's Green Climate Fund

By PTI | 11 Aug, 2015, 04.35PM IST
NEW DELHI: Government today said the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD) has been accredited by the Green Climate Fund as an implementing entity for
undertaking climate change related projects in India.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was set up under the framework of the United
NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010 to help developing
countriesfinance clean energy, other mitigation efforts and adaptation to climate change.
"NABARD has been accredited by GCF as national implementing entity (NIE) for undertaking
climate change adaptation and mitigation projects from India," Minister of State for Agriculture
Mohanbhai Kundaria said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
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NABARD is the only NIE in the country, at present, for undertaking climate change projects.
"The fund assistance will be in the form of concessional loan, grant and through other modalities,
instrument or facilities as may be approved by the GCF Board," he said.
Asked if NABARD has submitted any proposal to GCF for financial support, the Minister said
that the bank has submitted a concept note on 'Mitigating climate change and enhancing adaption
for farmers through agro-forestry in Haryana' prepared by the Haryana government.
The project envisages to lower ground water table (where there has been water logging on
account of excess canal irrigation) and mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide
from atmosphere and improve secondary salinisation of soils, thereby improving productivity of
lands, he said.
The project plans to cover an area of 30,000 hectare under the agro-forestry plantation of fast
growing canal eucalyptus species, he added.
Scaling up climate finance, including effective leverage of the GCF, is an essential component of
a new global climate pace to be reached in the forthcoming meeting in Paris in December 2015.
India coordinating with nations for balanced agreement in climate change summit:
Prakash Javadekar
11 Aug, 2015
NEW DELHI: India is coordinating with various countries to ensure an "equitable and balanced"
agreement at the forthcoming UN climate change summit in December, Union Environment
Minister Prakash Javadekarsaid today.
He also said the government was in the process of finalising its post-2020 Climate Action Plan to
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and had taken up a
"multi-stakeholder" dialogue to finalise the country's proposed greenhouse gas emission cuts.
"Government of India has undertaken an elaborate multi- stakeholder consultation process for
finalising its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) for submission ahead of the
73
expected date.
"A series of consultative meetings have been held with various ministries, think tanks,
institutions, industry associations, NGOs and civil societies in this regard," Javadekar told the
Lok Sabha.
He said India has been advocating a "strong and ambitious" outcome in Paris in accordance with
the principle and provisions of the UNFCCC and highlighting the strong domestic initiatives of
the new government on climate change.
"India has been coordinating with G-77 and China, BASIC (Brazil, India, China and South
Africa) group of countries and the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs) for ensuring an
equitable, comprehensive and balanced agreement in Paris," Javadekar said.
Replying to another question, Javadekar said as per analysis of World Resources Institute(WRI),
in per capita emissions for top ten emitters, India was at the bottom rank with average per capita
emissions of around 1.92 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, while that of Canada was 24.6
tonnes, US 19.6 tonnes, Russia 15.3 tonnes and China 7.69 tonnes in 2011.
"These are many times more than India's per capita emission average. India's per capita
emissions are only one third of the global average," Javadekar said.
Aug 13 2015 12:47AM
Depleting glaciers threat to power projects, water sources

Initiatives
Detecting and forecasting hazards
Installation of weather radar
Developing decision support system
Dissemination of timely, reliable and understandable warning messages
What study says
As per study conducted in 2012, the total number of glacial lakes in Himalayas is 251, including
12 critical, 93 potentially critical and 101 lakes with no potential. Glaciers and ice bodies cover
2,473 sqkm in Himachal which was 4.44 per cent of the total area of the state and all major
rivers, the Sutlej, Beas, Chandrabhaga, Ravi and Yamuna, are fed by these glaciers.
Shimla, August 12
74
Glaciers in the Himalayan region are retreating following climate change which can lead to water
scarcity for the people living downstream areas. The depleting glaciers can trigger the Glacial
Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) posing a threat to the sustainability of hydropower projects and
adversely impacting water sources, people, livestock, forests, farms and other infrastructure, says
a recent study conducted on glacier movement and GLOF.
The facts were highlighted in national workshop organised on GLOF organised by the Central
Water Commission (CWC) held recently, which discussed the strategy and preparing of hazard
maps of potentially dangerous lakes and their paths
Noting that the inventory of glacial lakes, undertaken independently by four groups, suggested
the presence of 391 lakes in HP, the workshop stressed that potentially dangerous glacial lakes
should be identified using standardised methodology and the lakes identified provisionally
through investigations need to be prioritised for further investigations.
It also suggested overflight monitoring of potentially dangerous lakes regularly for monitoring
GLOF hazard and vulnerability and risk assessment and establishing early warning systems and
automatic weather monitoring observatories at such lakes on priority.
However, as per study conducted in 2012, the total number of glacial lakes in Himalayas is 251,
including 12 critical, 93 potentially critical and 101 lakes with no potential. Glaciers and ice
bodies cover 2,473 sqkm in Himachal which was 4.44 per cent of the total area of the state and
all major rivers, the Sutlej, Beas, Chandrabhaga, Ravi and Yamuna, are fed by these glaciers.
The CWC is monitoring the Parechu lake and receiving information from China. The Parechu
lake outburst in 2005 had incurred a loss of Rs 610 crore and National Highway-22 was washed
away at a number of places. Ten bridges and 11 ropeways were washed away while 15
motorable bridges and 8 jeepable roads and 10 km stretch between Wangtoo and Sumdoh were
damaged.
In 2014 Pejor Khud in Lippa was damaged and Rs 45 lakh was spent on reconstruction as the
bridge which was washed away and pipelines of IPH Department were damaged, said Special
Secretary (Revenue and Disaster Management) DD Sharma. Two lakes having highest GLOF
threat identifies in Himachal are Gopang Gath and Samudra Tapu Lake in Lahaul and Spiti. The
pro-glacial Gopang Gath lake was considered as critical, principally due to the steep slope of the
downstream face of the moraine dam, the big lake area and the possibility for mass movements
to occur from the surroundings of the lake.
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Early warning system in the Sutlej basin telemetry at Sumdoh by Snow and Hydrology
division of the CWC, monitoring in the water level in the Sutlej and relay information system by
the Nathpa Jahakri project at Dubling and wireless network at Reckong Peo are already in place,
Sharma, who attended the workshop, said.
Climate change on talks agenda at Pacific Islands Forum summit

Last Updated: Thursday, August 13, 2015 - 22:46
New Delhi: Climate change will be high on the agenda of talks at the second Forum for India-
Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) on August 21 in Jaipur, being attended by all the 14 nations.
With many of the island nations that dot the Pacific Ocean east of Australia, threatened by rising
sea levels, climate change and sustainable development is a common concern.
The 14 nations are: Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Nauru, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands,
Samoa, Niue, Palau, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
Climate change will be a high priority subject at the talks with the 14 nations, Anil Wadhwa,
secretary (East) in the ministry of external affairs said at a briefing here.
He said the talks will dwell on what can be done to mitigate the effects of climate change, ahead
of the Paris conference in December this year.Many of the islands, especially low-lying Kiribati
and also Tuvalu, are threatened by submergence.
Wadhwa said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will hold a talk at the
summit on what the nations can do as mitigation and also on training programmes. The talks will
also veer on what can be done to reduce the carbon footprint, he added.
India is providing development assistance in the form of making use of solar energy by reducing
dependence on kerosene for lighting. The 14 Pacific Islands leaders arriving for the summit
include three presidents, one vice president, six prime ministers, one deputy prime minister, two
ministers and a special envoy representing their governments, he said.
Wadhwa said one of the main objectives of the summit would be to boost trade, which is "far
below potential" at $300 million. Both sides would also seek to promote cooperation in the field
of fisheries, oil and gas, marine resources, coconut and coir - where India has expertise, he said.
76
Cooperation in the field of space and technology, especially in weather forecasting and on
natural disasters, would also be part of the talks, Wadhwa said.
Of the 14 nations, all except Cook Islands and Niue are UN members, and 10 out of them have
stated their support for India`s bid for permanent seat at the UNSC.
According to the itinerary, the Pacific Island nation leaders arrive in New Delhi on August 18
and 19. On August 19, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will meet them and host a
welcome dinner. On August 20, a ceremonial welcome will be held in the morning for the
leaders at Rashtrapati Bhavan, during which they will meet President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Hamid Ansari and also Sushma Swaraj.
The leaders will then proceed to Agra to view the Taj Mahal. Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma
will be at Agra to welcome the dignitaries and take them around.
In the afternoon, they will attend a CII meeting on possibilities of enhancing trade during which
Coal Minister Piyush Goyal will be present.
On August 21, the day of the summit, the leaders will proceed to Jaipur. They will do a spot of
sight-seeing at the Amer Palace Fort, 11 km from Jaipur.
Later, they will attend an interactive session being organized by the Indian Council for World
Affairs, and attend a lunch, during which Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh will
be present. The summit is to be held in the evening, to be followed by a banquet.
The leaders return to Delhi on August 22 noon and depart for their respective countries, Wadhwa
announced.
Modi, during the first summit held on November 19 in Suva, Fiji, had proposed a slew of
measures, including visa on arrival for all and an e-network to connect the islands to provide
telemedicine and tele-education. He had also announced setting up of a Special Adaptation Fund
of $1 million to provide technical assistance and training for capacity building to the Pacific
Island nations.
He had also announced a hike in the Grant-in-Aid to Pacific Island Countries from $125,000 to
$200,000 annually to each for community projects selected by them.
Fiji seeks India's support for climate change talks

IANS | Aug 17, 2015, 12.12 PM IST
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SUVA: India should support Fiji and other Pacific island countries at the climate change talks to
be held in Paris later this year, the government-owned Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) said
on Monday.
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama highlighted this in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra
Modi as he congratulated him on India's 69th Independence Day," Xinhua quoted the FBC as
saying.
As he paid tribute to the historic relations shared between the two countries, Bainimarama
pointed to areas that have the potential to boost and strengthen the Fiji-India ties.
Bainimarama is set to join leaders at the second Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation
(FIPIC) summit from Thursday to Friday in India to discuss ways to enhance India's relationship
with Fiji and other Pacific island countries.
Nearly 40 per cent of Fiji's population is of Indian descent.
CSIR-IICT develops hydrofluorocarbons manfacture technology to reduce global warming by

refrigerators
Ch Sushil Rao,TNN | Aug 20, 2015, 05.33 PM IST
HYDERABAD: A technology to manufacture hydrofluorocarbons used in refrigeration systems

as a coolant to reduce global warming is ready to be transferred to the industry by the CSIR-
Indian Institute of Chemical Technology.
As MNCs in the US, UK, France, Japan and China were not transferring the technology to any
other country, India had begun its own work in developing the technology.
From the year 2005, the use of chlorofluorocarbons was banned in all countries as the gas used in
home refrigerators and other refrigeration system was hugely contributing to the depletion of the
ozone layer. As an alternative hydrofluorocarbon gas to be used by the clique of nations which
had already developed the technologies were only interested in selling the gas for a huge amount
rather than parting with their technology.
"We developed the technology at the IICT with two industries having come forward to fund the
research. The technology has already been transferred to them," Dr B Narsaiah, chief scientist
and head, Fluoroorganic division of CSIR-IICT said. While one industry has already set up a
manufacturing plant producing 50 per cent of the need of the country, another 50 per cent is still
being imported. The gas is sold to refrigerator manufacturing companies for use as a coolant.
The same technology can now be shared with other manufacturers both from the country and
abroad to set up their own plans and not be dependant on developed countries.
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Chlorofluorocarbons, it was found were one of the causes for the depletion of the ozone layer up
to 29 million square kilometers over the Antarctica. The depletion of the ozone layer, among
other things causes global warming and also causes cancers. Realising the dangerous effects of
Chlorofluorocarbons, as per the Montreal Protocol, Canada, for which India is a signatory, it was
decided not to use Chlorofluorocarbons anymore. But a solution to the problem, the use of
hydrofluorocarbons, was only in the hands of some big nations which spurred India to do its own
research and come up with manufacturing technologies for HFC134a.
However, the use of hydrofluorocarbons was only looked at as a 'transitionary alternative'. The
final solution for the problem is in the use of hydrofluorocarbons which will have no chlorination
as that is the 'culprit' in contributing to global warming.
According to Dr B Narsaiah, by the year 2030, the hydroflurocarbons used in refrigeration

systems also should not be used as they, in their own way, contribute to global warming.
With the deadline approaching, scientists at the CSIR are now focusing their attention on being
able to manufacture HFC-32, a lower global warming potential refrigerant. "As the molecule is
known, we have to develop viable technologies for production and we can do it," Narsaiah said.
However, this can only be done if companies invest money in spurring the research as the
technology will be transferred to them.
Paris climate change pact: India's stance will be revealed through small print
India's target for Paris deal by end September
Nitin Sethi | New Delhi August 21, 2015 Last Updated at 00:34 IST
India is likely to announce its targets for the Paris deal by September-end. The Indian offering
called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) is expected to have different
components with an over-arching target for reducing the emission intensity of the economy by
2030. This over-arching figure is expected to be well over the 20-25 per cent reduction by 2020
compared to 2005 levels that India had earlier committed.
The nature of Indian INDCs is likely to be along the lines the Chinese have offered and highlight
the number of big steps India has already taken to address climate change.
Developed countries have already submitted sub-optimal targets under the Paris agreement and
China has taken targets that are quite close to their business-as-usual scenario.
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Yet, the attention on INDCs has distracted away from the key areas of concern that India faces
during the next three months on the road to Paris. To top it, the radical advice from governments
chief economic advisor, Arvind Subramanian, has not just heated up domestic politics on climate
change, but also forced Indias partner countries in climate change negotiations to look for
clarity on the NDA governments stance, which is reminiscent of what Jairam Rameshs advice
to the then Prime Minister had done in the run-up to Copenhagen. At that time, both BJP and the
Left parties in opposition had taken on the UPA in Parliament for attempting to move away from
national consensus.
Officials across ministries say Subramanians radical suggestions cannot possibly be accepted at
this stage and have been formally objected to in parts but the matter has not been settled at the
highest levels of government so far. A radical and blatant departure three months before the Paris
talks always seemed unlikely.
But observers would now be looking all the more carefully for departures from existing red-lines
in the small print of Indian submissions to the UN, as well as statements and utterances of
NDAs climate change thinking-heads, besides of course that of Environment Minister Prakash
Javadekar. These thinking-heads include Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his minister for state
Jayant Sinha, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu who also acts as Sherpa for Indo-US strategic
dialogue and the G-20 and takes keen interest in the issue, Power Minister Piyush Goyal and the
mandarins at the ministry of external affairs. They are all involved in different bilateral,
plurilateral and formal UN talks on climate change.
SOME UNRESOLVED ISSUES FOR PARIS AGREEMENT
Nature of aggregate assessment of countries' climate actions

How this assessment will impact each country's individual targets after 2020?
How will provision of finance and tech from rich nations be reviewed and linked to action
of poorer countries?
Can the Paris agreement become provisionally operational without some countries,like
India, on board?
Will scrutiny of rich and poor countries be uniform and without differentation?
Will the targets of countries be specifically legally binding
How will the pact balance adaptation against mitigation?
What is the finance package developed world will offer and will it be a political
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announcement or form part of legal agreement?
The first formal submission to the UN from India that will be open to international scrutiny,
called the Biennial Update Report, has already stirred a controversy. The draft report opened up
actions of the Indian government to intrusive questions from other countries, even though these
were undertaken more for energy security considerations rather than to address climate change
explicitly, such as Indias tax policy for petroleum products. The report will soon be cleared by
the Union Cabinet. With the developed countries keen to impose a uniform and more stringent
inspection rules on developing countries under the Paris agreement, a slip on this report, some
negotiators have warned could risk laying the grounds for such deeper inspection of Indian
economy.
Next up, by early September, the Cabinet will also clear the INDCs to be submitted to the UN.
The fine-print to the headline numbers in the INDCs would be as critical. As one climate
negotiator explained, Some rich countries, such as the US, have asked that one part of our target
under the INDCs be entirely unconditional without being linked to supply of finance and
technology and other acts of the developed world.
Subramanian too has advised India should stop pushing developed countries for climate finance
along and move away from poorer developing countries. Will India continue to demand the full
linkage between provision of finance and technology from developed world to its actions and
how government articulates this demand in Indias INDCs would be an important sign of NDAs
climate stance.
Before going in to the Paris round of talks, the cabinet would also have to clear the negotiating
redlines for its team of diplomats, but such multilateral negotiations require that the redlines be
kept under wraps quite like hiding ones cards at a game of poker.
Other indicators of Indias position on climate change, and if there will be any changes to it,
could emerge from statements and positions that NDA governments key personnel on the
subject take in several engagements beyond the formal UN negotiations. At the UN talks slated
before the December round in Paris, such as the one beginning end August, Indias formal
submissions (and not the rhetorical public posturing) would be closely read into by negotiators
from other countries as well as observers back home.
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France intends to hold a second round of ministerial talks in September and then organise
another of the Finance ministers in October to find a common ground. There could be a fourth
such round of talks too just before the big jamboree in December. Then there is the September
UN Secretary Generals summit on Climate Change where again India would engage in formal
and closed-door talks. During the same period, the Indo-US strategic dialogue too is being held
where Suresh Prabhu is expected to be the Sherpa and climate change a central topic. India has
already given in early on one demand from the US on the phase out of a set of refrigerant gases
and antennnas will be up to catch any signal of a drift at all US-India bilaterals or plurilateral
engagements such as Major Economies Forum.
If the NDA government intends to alter the essential and consistent redlines on climate change
before Paris, it definitively wont happen with the dramatic flair that theoretical conditions
permit but with subtlety that real diplomacy requires.
Climate Talks: India will not announce its peaking year; Country's INDC will focus on all key
elements
NEW DELHI: India will not announce its peaking (peak emission) year, unlike China, in its
'climate action plan' which is to be submitted by the country to the UN body on climate change
in September. Instead of specifying any timeline to cap its emission of greenhouse gases, the
country will, rather, focus more comprehensively on all five key elements which are identified as
vital components of global efforts to fight adverse impacts of climate change.
The five elements which will be reflected in India's `climate action plan' - officially called
Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) -are mitigation (emission cut), adaptation,
finance, technology transfer and capacity building.
India's stand on `peaking year' was clearly spelt out by the country's environment minister
Prakash Javadekar on Monday when he said no country had ever asked us for announcing
`peaking year' as world knew that India's per capita emission was quite low (much below than all
the big emitters).
China had, however, announced its 'peaking year' in its INCD. It submitted that the country
would try to peak its emission level by 2030. It means China's carbon emission will first stabilize
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(reach its plateau) and then start falling after reaching the peak by 2030.
Articulating the broad contours of India's 'climate action plan', Javadekar said, "Our INDC will
be quite comprehensive. Many countries who have submitted their INDCs have talked about
mitigation. But, as you know the world has now accepted that both mitigation and adaptation are
equally impor tant. They have now made two separate templates for it.
"Our INDC will have all five key elements. That is the mandate of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change and our INDC will reflect the mandate of the
UNFCCC".
INDC is the country's voluntary pledge of emission cut (mitigation) and other proposed measures
which it will eventually take up as its post-2020 contribution to fight climate change.
The focus of India's `climate action plan' is expected to be on seeking a global commitment on
'finance' and `technology transfer' to support its `adaptation' measures to the growing impact of
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climate change. All countries are expected to submit their respective INDCs by October 1. These
INDCs will form the basis of final negotiations for arriving at a global climate deal in Paris in
December.
United Nations Paris summit: India's climate plan to have sectoral goals
By Anubhuti Vishnoi, ET Bureau | 25 Aug, 2015, 02.46AM IST
NEW DELHI: India's climate action plan ahead of the United Nations' Paris summit in
December will come with sector-specific emphasis on emission reduction.
The Union environment ministry has held at least five rounds of meetings with key infrastructure
ministries to help clarify the definition, scope and approach for preparing India's Intended
Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to be submitted to the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), officials from various government departments told
ET.
They said 'specific emphasis' is placed on ministries of heavy industry, power, new & renewable
energy, water resources, urban development, steel, petroleum and natural gas, road transport and
highways, railways, civil aviation, shipping, agriculture, coal, mines and rural development.
Departments of commerce; animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries; and, chemical and
fertilisers, too, will play key roles in the country's efforts to check emissions and adopt climate
friendly measures.
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Environment minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday said India is expected to submit its climate
action plan by next month. Most nations, including biggest greenhouse gas emitters US and
China, have already submitted their INDCs.
Paris will host the 21st Session of the Conference of Parties in December this year where a new
climate agreement for emission reduction post 2020 is expected to be finalised. Key focus areas
in India's action plan will include the country's efforts to switch to energy-efficient lighting
systems, climate-friendly building code, and improved devices for homes, officials said.
Improved energy efficiency and reduced energy intensity across industries will also be
emphasised. While cement and fertiliser plants lead by example on global benchmarks, there is
considerable improvement required as far the steel industry, pulp and paper are concerned among
others.
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The big power efficient shifts that India's massive railway network is making are among inputs
given to the environment ministry by the various government arms, they said.
The various government departments have been consulted to set targets to reduce emissions both
by year 2020 and 2030 along with the requirement of finance, technology and capacity building
to achieve the targets for emission reduction.
Meanwhile, Javadekar on Monday reiterated India's stated position on the issue, pointing to the
'historical responsibility' of the developed world and maintained that India will not declare a
'peak year' for emissions reduction in view of countryspecific circumstances.
Credit scheme backfired, hiking greenhouse gases: Study

By AFP | 25 Aug, 2015, 03.16AM IST
PARIS: A global scheme meant to keep atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) levels in check
instead caused some 600 million tonnes of excess emissions, researchers said Monday.
They blamed a loophole in the Kyoto Protocol's Joint Implementation (JI) mechanism which
allowed countries to earn and sell credits for emissions cuts which were "not real".
Russia and Ukraine were the main offenders, reported authors Lambert Schneider and Anja
Kollmuss from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).
These findings should serve as a warning to the 195 nations gathering in Paris later this year to
forge a global climate treaty, they said.
"Overall, the use of JI may have enabled global GHG emissions to be about 600 million tCO2e
(tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) higher than they would have otherwise been," they wrote
in a policy brief published by the SEI.
Such a figure represents most of the total 872 million credits issued by March 2015.
"About three-quarters of JI credits may not represent actual emission reductions" but "bogus
carbon offsets", watchdog Carbon Market Watch said in a comment on the research.
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The JI mechanism, under the Kyoto Protocol, gave countries credits for incinerating or otherwise
"abating" waste gases generated by industry instead of venting them into the atmosphere.
Other countries, which needed to exceed their emissions quotas, could buy these credits to emit
the equivalent volume of gas supposedly curbed elsewhere -- the goal being a "zero-sum game"
of constant global emissions.
But a flaw in the system created a "perverse incentive" for countries to create and incinerate
more waste gases to earn more credits, said a study by the same authors, published
simultaneously in the journal Nature Climate Change.
This meant excess credits sold on the market, and a net increase in emissions.
The implications for the European Union's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) the world's
biggest carbon market, were "particularly serious", said the SEI brief.
"JI may... have undermined the EU ETS emission reduction target by about 400 million tCO2e.
In Russia alone, four chemical plants issued 28-33 million "excess" credits since 2011, Schneider
told AFP by email.
"Most Joint Implementation credits came from Ukraine, followed by Russia," he said.
"Most credits from both Ukraine and Russia are questionable and may not represent actual
emission reductions."
Ukraine and Russia accounted for over 90 per cent of JI credits issued.
The price of the credits has varied from about 10 euros ($11.6) in 2010/11, to a few cents today.
"A key concern for us is that there is considerable risk that the same mistakes may be repeated in
the new international climate treaty which is currently under negotiation and will be adopted in
December this year in Paris," said Schneider.
Many countries do not want oversight of international credit transfers, and several of the carbon-
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cutting pledges nations have tabled so far to underpin the new pact, were "not very ambitious".
This could create a scenario in which countries continue to sell credits which did not correspond
with actual emissions reductions, Schneider said.
The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997, entered into force in 2005, and bound developed countries
to an average five-per cent cut in emissions from 1990 levels in the period 2008-2012. The target
was largely met.
The United States did not sign up, and the pact excluded developing giants like China and India -
- now the first- and fourth-biggest polluters.
All the world's nations have undertaken to be party to a new, global pact that will officially
replace the Kyoto Protocol from 2020.
Since 2012, the protocol exists in a watered down form known as a "second commitment
period", imposing emissions targets only on the 28-member European Union and a dozen other
developed nations.
Russia, Japan, Canada and New Zealand have withdrawn from the pact.
Javadekar says Subramanian's views on climate change policy not India's

'Rich countries must meet their financial burden for climate change'
India to submit its climate change targets in six weeksG20 meeting on climate finance to help
India clear stanceDrop demand for finance from rich countries: Arvind SubramanianParis
climate change pact: India's stance will be revealed through small print
India would continue to ask for developed countries to meet their obligations to
provide finance and technology to developing countries, said, Union Environment Minister
Prakash Javadekar. Dismissing the chief economic advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanians views
as one of many, he said Indias policy continued to be the same.
The minister was speaking to media here on Monday, two days after a high-level meeting of
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ministers and officials in the PMO on Indias climate change stance and its targets under Paris.
Developed world themselves have committed to provide $100 billion annually by 2020. That is
a commitment. We are only reminding them of it, the minister said.
The CEA had earlier recommended that India drop its demand for climate finance, ask support
only for clean coal and at the same time stop focusing on adaptation. He had also suggested India
move away from poor countries like the Africa group and other developing country blocks such
as BASIC, LMDC and BRICS. He had advised India to build a closer coalition of coal-bearing
countries such as Poland and Australia.
Javadekar said the targets, which had to be submitted for the Paris agreement by India, would
include details on finance, technology and capacity building, besides mitigation.
Many other countries have only focused on mitigation but our intended nationally determined
contributions (INDC) will focus on all elements that are part of the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change, he said.
The minister did not reveal the date for the formal submission of the INDC but said India would
showcase its actions through a Pavilion at the Paris meeting for the first time and also through a
science train focusing on climate change. Business Standard had earlier reported that India is
likely to submit its INDC in second half of September. It will have an overarching target for
reducing the carbon intensity of Indias economy.
The government is also contending with a substantially enhanced target for renewable energy of
up to 300 Gw by 2030. India will also look at a specific target for energy efficiency. But multiple
sources in the government said it was yet to be decided how the sub-components would be
articulated and reflected in the part of INDC submission that would be open to international
scrutiny. India also plans to project a list of technologies across sectors along with clean coal
technologies that would be required for the country to achieve a low carbon pathway in future.
He also said, I think as BASIC partners we have discussed and presented our common views on
all platforms. He added that India will remain part of BASIC (Brazil, India, South Africa and
China), BRICS (Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa) and LMDC (Like-Minded
Developing Countries) in the run-up to the Paris meeting in November end. To emphasise his
point Javadekar noted that India would host a meeting of the LMDC group in September.
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How India can cut short-term carbon emissions by 70%

India will have to put in place wide-ranging energy-use reforms across sectors, including
incentives and penalties
Darryl D'Monte | IndiaSpend | Bengaluru August 25, 2015 Last Updated at 10:41 IST
As India works on its voluntary commitments to reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,
Indian experts have explained how the country could cut its carbon emissionsfrom short-lived
climate pollutants by nearly three-fourths using low-cost methods and, in the process, transform
the lives of the poor.
The US, EU and China are among the major countries which have declared their commitments;
the global community is waiting to see what India does.
India has already indicated that it is going to take minimalist steps as regards its Intended
Nationally Determined Contributions or INDCs (as they are known in United Nations
negotiations), as environment minister Prakash Javadekar said. India will take a further cut on its
emissions intensitythe amount of energy used to produce a unit of GDPfrom 20-25% on 2005
levels to around 35-40%.
To an extent, current science on climate change justifies this policy, as speakers observed at the
sixth annual climate conference, organised by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in
Mumbai, on equity in the forthcoming UN climate summit in Paris this December.
TISS has developed a carbon budget for both industrial and developing countries, which
provides a clear glimpse of what each is entitled to emit in an equitable framework.
The total amount of emissions from the start of the industrial revolution in 1850 till 2100 is 641
gigatonnes of carbon equivalent (GtC, 1 Gigatonne = 1 billion tonnes), according to Tejal
Kanitkar of the Centre for Climate Change at TISS.
If the worlds climate is not to spin out of control when mean temperatures rise by 2?C above
1850 levels, there is a total budget of 270 GtC till 2100, as against 371 GtC already emitted from
that baseline till 2011.
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Developing counties have only spent 97 GtC out of the 371 GtC so far.
Industrial countries have only 50 GtC to spend till 2100, while developing nations have 220 GtC
left.
However, based on their INDCs made so far before Paris, rich countries will already exceed this
budget by 2030 alone.
If the model developed by TISS with the Delhi Science Forum, which takes into account
historical responsibilities or past emissions, is applied, rich countries can only spend 39 GtC
till 2100.
If developing countries leave it to business as usual and commits to what we think is

reasonably possible, Kanitkar says, a 2?C rise is inevitable.
But if they cut their emissions steeply, their development plans will go awry, what Kanitkar
terms a lose-lose situation.
Indias energy options: What greater efficiency could do

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While holding industrial countries responsible for putting the worlds climate and consequently
development back in order, Kanitkar also believes there are tangible, quantifiable trade-offs in
undertaking mitigation actions domestically.
We cant be cavalier about it lots of homework is needed, she says.
This can be taken further by examining Indias energy options. An aggressive pursuit of
efficiency can be a win-win situation, according to Ashok Sreenivas of Prayas, a Pune NGO
working largely on energy.
The potential value of saving electricity from appliances is Rs 2.50/kWh (per kilowatt hour, a
unit of electricity).
Buildings can be better designed. Improvements can be made in industrial processes, vehicle
technology and agricultural pumps.
This requires imposition of standards, such as those introduced by the Bureau of Energy
Efficiency. There can be incentives and penalties. This will also create a market for energy-
efficient processes and products.
Transport accounts for a tenth of Indias GHG emissions. There could be a shift from road to rail
across the nation, greater use of public and non-motorized transport in cities and better spatial
planning.
These options will not only reduce GHG emissions but also reduce costs, improve mobility (and
hence access to education, jobs etc.), reduce imports and, not least, improve air quality.
Renewable energy is relevant to India for reasons beyond reducing carbon emissions, Prayas
states. It uses local resources, impacts the local environment and is price-effective in the long-
term.
The government has announced aggressive plans a capacity of 175 GW by 2022,

asIndiaSpend previously reported.
India can tweak policies, such as allowing householders who install rooftop photovoltaic (PV)
sets to earn revenue for the surplus electricity they provide to the grid. Such tariffs can be
telescopic they rise with every kWh sold to the electric supply undertaking, providing
incentives.
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This way, high-end consumers on the conventional grid pay for a high cost resource. In this case,
there are no batteries required to store PV energy, making it cheaper and environmentally
friendly.
How helping the poor could help India
As many as 800 million households have to make do with poor cooking fuels a form of energy
which is even more vital than electricity. This is both domestically polluting and damaging to the
climate.
It also has severe health impacts, Prayas points out. As many as 1.5 million people die
prematurely due to household air pollution. It causes 25 million disability-adjusted life years or
DALYs a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-
health or early death.
Women and young children are most affected in rural homes, while housewives and girls fetch
most of the fuel.
The suspended particulate matter and soot generated by inefficient chulhas or cook stoves form a
controversial meteorological phenomenon known as the Asian Brown Cloud. These also get
deposited on the highest reaches of the Himalaya and the black particles on the snow absorb
more heat, causing it to melt.
Apart from the switch to more efficient chulhas, there is a clear development case for rapid
uptake of clean, modern fuels like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)), electricity and biogas, Prayas
believes.
Control of short-lived climate pollutants like aerosols or black carbon and tropospheric ozone
can mitigate the impact of climate change, Chandra Venkataraman and two colleagues from IIT-
Bombay point out.
These are not included under the Kyoto Protocol because their mitigation is perceived to yield no
reward. However, they can trigger radiative forcing, which are changes in the atmosphere due
to GHGs, thereby accentuating ocean level rise.
Reduction in these pollutants as well as CO? can arrest South Asian sea level rise by 31-50%.
When black carbon increases, it destabilises the atmosphere and can reduce rainfall.
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The three IIT authors cite a 2015 study in Nature titled Soot and short-lived pollutants provide a
political opportunity by two Americans and Veerbhadra Ramanathan from the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego.
Ramanathan, who addressed an International Federation of Environmental Journalists congress

in Delhi before the Copenhagen summit in 2009, is the worlds foremost authority on the Asian
Brown Cloud.
The US authors believe that cutting soot and these pollutants will deliver tangible benefits and
show Paris that collective action by the world is possible. After December, they believe, the
demonstration of such action will bestow credibility on the UN diplomatic process in climate
negotiations.
The emission sources by sector for GHGs differ vastly from those of short-lived pollutants in
India, according to the IIT-B study. Thermal power stations and heavy industry contribute 65%
of the countrys GHGs while homes are responsible for 53% of transient pollutants.
Other sources, which also differ greatly, are transport, agriculture and brick production.
Of the 53% contributed to the pollutants by homes, chulhas are mostly to blame, together with
kerosene wick lamps. Burning crop residue accounts for 14%, while diesel and petrol vehicles
account for another 13%.
A tractor-mounted machine can cut and lift rice straws, sow wheat into the bare soil and deposit
the straw over the sown area as mulch (and help to retain moisture in the soil), the authors state.
This reduces the time to sow wheat without burning the rice-straw residue. However, this
technology doesnt necessarily increase productivity or profits. It calls for regulation to curb
residue burning and policy support for technology adoption.
There are technologies to switch to more efficient brick kilns, designing them in zigzag lines,
rather than a conventional trench. At present only 2% of the countrys kilns employ this process
and this, once again, calls for a policy prescription.
Bricks can also be fashioned from fly ash, waste from coal-fired power stations, without firing
them. Only 12% of the nations fly ash is currently used for this purpose.
Replacing traditional technologies could make India lean and clean

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Short-lived pollutants are generated by diverse sectors, using traditional technologies with low
energy-efficiency and high emissions in homes, farms and brick production.
Biomass chulhas, kerosene wick lamps and crop residue burning contribute 65% of these
pollutants emissions, while diesel vehicles alone add 10% of these emissions, amounting to
3,800 teragrammes of carbon dioxide equivalent or Tg CO2 eq (1Tg=1 million metric tonnes)
per year.
Mitigation actions using currently available technologies can mitigate 70% of present-day
emissions from all these sectors.
The authors ask whether such domestic actions to curb emissions from short-lived pollutants will
qualify under the UN climate negotiations as voluntary common, but differentiated
responsibilities and respective capabilities.
A survey of 73 households in Raikhel village in the drought-prone Marathwada region of

Maharashtra by Anjali Sharma and Tejal Kanitkar of TISS in 2014 found that 90% used only one
stove.
Almost a third of the stoves were used to heat water; 35% had no exhaust mechanism, while 40%
were located outside the home.
Half the households purchased firewood, given a landscape which is being increasingly
deforested. The use of farm waste was low because it was seasonal.
The TISS researchers stressed the benefit of switching to LPG, if homes could afford it. The
drudgery of collecting firewood and indoor pollution were important factors which male-headed
households didnt consider.
As speakers at the TISS conference emphasised, while India has to demand greater contributions
by industrial countries at Paris, along with funds and technologies for developing countries to
mitigate catastrophic climate change, India can voluntarily cut its emissions with such low-cost
methods, which are entirely in its enlightened self-interest and vital to its development progress.
Three New Tools to Aid Indian Companies Advance Climate Action

Capital Market August 26, 2015 Last Updated at 16:26 IST
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India Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Program launched a series of three new, India specific tools and
methodologies for companies to effectively measure, manage and mitigate their greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions at the India Business and Climate Summit 2015.
Air, Rail and Road Emission Factors along with the methodology to compute transport related
emissions effectively
Power Tool along with the guidance document, to address and compare efficiencies across
different power plants
Aviation Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction: Best Practices & Perspectives - Beta release
Currently, Indian companies rely upon international tools and methodologies to calculate
emissions. The emission factors developed by the India GHG Program using a wide stakeholder
approach offer India specific methodologies for companies to calculate emissions from the
power and transport sectors.
There is a need to come up with a globally binding agreement on climate change; and we must
have a strong domestic strategy to do so. Any business plan needs to be ecologically sound and
this workshop is a right step in the right direction. I'm sure such bottoms up approach that Indian
business is adopting will provide good inputs for India's negotiating position for Paris. said
Suresh Prabhu, Honourable Minister of Railways for the Government of India. Focusing on the
environment doesn't mean we forget the economy. This can happen simultaneously. This is what
the India GHG Program will facilitate. He further added, Railways are the largest single user of
energy today and slated to become the biggest producer of solar in the country.'' This explains
the large potential of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and switch to renewables, all
combined, as the best route to expansion and development.
The time is ripe for business leaders to drive low carbon growth by scaling energy efficient and
sustainable business practices, urging more Indian companies to sign up to the India GHG
Program. Approximately 42 percent of India's greenhouse gas emissions come from energy
generation and about 76 percent of that energy is consumed by industrial and commercial users
said Dr. Naushad Forbes, President CII Designate & Director, Forbes Marshall. Accurate
measurement is the first step to mitigation. As the old adage goes, you cannot manage that which
you do not measure.
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The power and transport sectors in India contribute significantly to India's emissions. The tools
launched today by the India GHG Program will ensure consistent and accountable measurement
of emissions, which will further help companies to not only improve their bottom line but also
engage responsibly to mitigate climate risk, said Jamshyd Godrej, a leading India industrialist
and Chairperson of WRI India.
"Road transport has emerged as the dominant segment in India's transportation sector
contributing to a 5.4 percent share in India's GDP. It also utilizes 78 percent of the energy share
for transport, when compared to rail and air that account for 11 percent of the energy share
respectively. A changing climate is an imminent business risk, said K N Rao, Director Energy
and Environment, ACC Limited. Businesses must take it upon themselves to factor climate risk
into business decisions and policy positions.
The Summit also launched a report to to lay the roadmap for the aviation sector to transition to a
lowcarbon business model. By 2020, India's airports would be handling 336 million domestic
and 85 million international passengers with projected investment to the tune of USD 120
billion. The report gives actionable data to provide further insight into economic costs and
benefits of climate action.
Aviation Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction: Best Practices & Perspectives is the product of a
successful collaboration between Delhi International Airport (P) Limited, Airlines, Air Traffic
Management of Airports Authority of India, Palam with the India GHG Program partners. Each
stakeholder has provided valuable inputs to prepare an effective framework for interested parties
in the Aviation Sector to measure and mitigate their Carbon Emissions, said Marcel
Hungerbuehler, Chief Operating Officer, Delhi International Airport (P) Limited. The report also
provides an account of current best practices and recommendations for improving overall GHG
performance of the sector.
The India GHG Program also introduced its new member companies - UltraTech Cement,
Arvind Limited, Oil India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Secure Meters Private Limited, Vedanta
Limited, Chemfab Alkalis Limited, Grasim Industries Limited and CESC Limited making it a
conglomerate of 42 companies staking out a leadership position on climate action.
With collaborative, multi-stakeholder partnerships initiated by the India GHG Program, Indian
businesses have an unprecedented opportunity to drive investment in low-carbon growth and
development.
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Maharashtra has no EC for Virdi dam project, Union minister tells Parliament
05 Aug, 2015, 02:59AM IST
PANJIM: In a major disclosure, the Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti said that
Maharashtra government did not secure environmental clearances (EC) for the controversial
Virdi dam, currently in a legal battle before the Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT).
Maharashtra government did not secure environmental clearances for the Virdi dam on the
pretext that the culturable command area (CCA) of the project is less than 2000 hectares,
requiring no environmental clearances, Bharti disclosed in reply to a question tabled by
Shantaram Naik in Parliament on Monday.
Bharti said the Goa Government, however, protested that construction of the dam poses serious
threat to environment and water availability downstream for drinking water supply. The
Maharashtra government, however, denied these apprehensions.
The Goa government has already secured a stay on the filling of the gorge portion of the dam
from the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal vide its order dated May 6, 2015, the minister said,
adding that the matter is sub judice.
In June the State government had filed a petition with the Water Disputes Tribunal against the
Maharashtra government over the proposed Virdi Large Minor Irrigation Project, declaring the
project illegal and order the Maharashtra government against proceeding with the project.
Despite informing MWDT that it will stop all the work on the proposed dam, the Maharashtra
government fraudulently continued the work on the project.
In 2006, then Goa chief minister Pratapsingh Rane and Maharashtra counterpart Vilasrao
Deshmukh had agreed in principle to the proposal of a dam at Pavalachi Kond in Virdi on
condition that the riparian requirements of Goa are satisfied and water be utilized in the Mhadei
basin itself.
In January 2008, Goa chief secretary had written to his Maharashtra counterpart asking
Maharashtra to stop all work on the Virdi dam till the matter is disposed off by the tribunal.
Joint inspection of Polavaram dam site likely
New Delhi, | 16 August, 2015

The National Green Tribunal has ordered a joint inspection of the Polavaram dam construction
site by the Andhra Pradesh government, state pollution control board and Polavaram Project
Authority following a complaint about dumping of mud in the West Godavari district.
The directive from a bench headed by NGT chief Justice Swatanter Kumar came while disposing
of a plea by activist P Pullarao. The complainant, appearing through advocate Sravan Kumar,
had sought directions to the state government to stop mud dumping in villages along West
Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh for construction of the dam.
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"In view of the course of action that we propose to adopt, in the facts and circumstances of the
present case, we do not propose to issue notice to the respondents. It is not necessary for us to
notice the facts of the case in any greater details or even to issue notice either.
"We dispose of this application with a direction to the State Pollution Control Board, State of
Andhra Pradesh and Polavaram Project Authority to conduct joint inspection and pass
appropriate directions in the interest of environment and ecology," the bench said.
Earlier, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar had told the Lok Sabha that an area of 3427.52
hectares of forest land will be inundated and around two lakh acres was likely to be submerged
as a result of execution of the project.
August 17, 2015

Odisha says no to Chhattisgarhs canal link proposal
Odisha has declined permission to the proposal of a 54-km link canal for diversion of 85 million
cubic metre water from Mahanadi to Tandula dam in neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
The State government, in a letter to Central Water Commission, has objected to construction of a
series of water reservoirs by Chhattisgarh stating that it would reduce water availability in its
irrigation projects including Hirakud reservoir which depends on Mahanandi.
In the latest case, Chhattisgarh had sought Odishas consent for constructing the link canal in
Mahanadi basin to divert water to Tandula dam which has water deficiency. The project, as
claimed by Chhattisgarh government, would have increased command area of Tandula dam from
85,400 hectare to 1,03,000 hectare.
In the upper part of Mahanadi basin, Chhattisgarh has built multipurpose reservoirs
Ravishankar Sagar, Dudhwa and Murrumusil. The last two supplement Ravishankar Sagar.
According Odishas Water Resource Department, the proposal is based on the presumption that
Ravishankar Sagar project is a surplus reservoir.
In order to justify this, a surplus water analysis table has been furnished by Chhattisgarh to
establish that Ravishankar reservoir is surplus reservoir varying from 53.65 Mcum to 610.14
Mcum . from 1981-82 to 2007-08. But below Ravishankar Sagar, there is a Rudri Barrage and
the river crosses Chhattisgarh-Odisha boundary and enters Odisha to enrich the Hirakud
reservoir, said the department.
The Water Resource Department warned that if the water diversion to the tune of 85 Mcum is
being done unconditionally as per Tandula Reservoir requirement, Hirakud reservoir in Odisha is
going to be severely affected during non-monsoon season.
It needs to be mentioned that Chhattisgarh has not entered into any inter-State agreement with
Odisha regarding Mahanadi basin water allocation. Experts have predicted that the two States
would witness many bitter face-offs over Mahanadi water sharing in future. Mahanadi, sixth
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largest river in India, originates in Chhattisgarh and falls into the Bay of Bengal travelling 851
km of which 357 km lie in Chhattisgarh and 494 km in Odisha.
Odishas contention is that as Hirakud, built in 1950s, is a much older structure with multiple
commitments with increasing demand structure and diversion at the cost of dilution of fulfilment
of Hirakud commitment needs to be resisted on rational ground.
Odishas Water Resource department also charged that unilateral decision of Chhattisgarh
government to construct a series of barrage just on the upstream of Hirakud reservoir without
taking Odisha into confidence has resulted in threat to non-monsoon water availability at
Hirakud.
In order to create greater forum for covering all the basin-related water issues in future, an
initiative towards an inter-State agreement on Mahanadi water sharing is highly solicited, said J.
B. Mohapatra, Odishas engineer-in-chief, Water Resource department.
It will reduce water availability in the States irrigation projects including Hirakud reservoir
which depends on Mahanandi
JAVADEKAR VOWS TO MAKE KUTKU DAM OPERATIONAL

Friday, 21 August 2015
Union Minister of State for Forest and Environment Prakash Javadekar on Thursday declared
that he would leave no stone unturned in removing hurdles, small or large, which held up inter-
State North Koel Irrigation project for last 40 years.
Admitting that several serious issues are involved in making Mandal Dam operational, he
blamed previous regimes for holding up the 1970s multipurpose project.
I am amazed to see the Dam and it is the biggest wonder I have come across in my whole life.
Almost entire work of reservoir, dam is complete; the locals are ready; farmers are ready but
what held up the project for last 40 years. It was obstructionist attitude of the Congress and its
allies that flied stop work diktat during Kamal Naths era in 1993, said the Minister at Mandal,
about 55 kms from Daltonganj and 190 kms from Ranchi.
Javadekar stressed on the politics for derailing the project which was started way back in 1974
promising to irrigate 1.20 lakh hectares of farmlands of Palamu, Latehar, Garhwa of Jharkhand
as well as of Gaya, Aurangabad, Jehanabad and Arawal of neighbouring Bihar.
The situation has become so that people have started raising non-issues like irrelevant forest
laws which never existed in 70s. Now, they are saying and raising voice that permissions were
not taken then thus stop the work. Those who did that are the people who violated national
interest, said the Minister.
The spectacular dam over North Koyel River is said to have had completed 90 per cent of its
work in 1989 when it stopped following killing of Baidhyanath Jha, Additional Chief Engineer.
The majestic dam has height of 67.86 meters and length 278 meters. Nine gates have to be
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stalled and most of the turbines were brought to the place. Unfortunately, the entire setup and
resources have vanished now, leaving the entire township a deserted and devastated look.
Nevertheless, out of 634 families of 17 submerged villages, a majority of 555 have been paid
compensation. The project besides, irrigating dried land, also ought to generate 24 MW hydro
power. But the inordinate delay has also escalated the cost where about Rs 150 crore is already
spent.
After the deafening silence for so long, the recent push has come following the efforts of MPs
from Chatra Sunil Singh, Palamus VD Ram and of Aurangabad, Gaya and Jehanabad. The
concerted effort has brought Bihar in agreement on reducing height of the dam by four meters.
Bihar Government has agreed to it and this would reduce submerged area by 860 hectares by
bringing it to 51136 hectares, said an official of Water Resources Department, adding that
catchment area would go up to 128 kms.
In order to drive home his point, the Minister added that functioning of his Ministry has taken a
face lift. Files were lying idle there. Since I come, I have approved 40 projects of dams in 15
months. I dont want to give any time line here but I can say for sure that I would expedite the
process. I would make consultations, search for possibilities and prepare plans. Files would be
prepared accordingly for resuming the project, said Javadekar, hinting towards smoother sail in
the Supreme Court where some PILs have also been filed against it slamming brake on Mandal
Dam.
The Minister also sidelined the concern expressed for its effect on Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR)
which is about 40 kms from the project site. The obstructionists attempts have not benefited
tigers, leave alone farmers, residents and those who are forward looking. Scarcity of water in the
region has even forced tigers to come out in open. It is the reason why population of tiger in the
reserve has remained almost one third from 1970 figures, said Javadekar, hinting no in principle
disagreement from his Ministry as far as objections are concerned. He lauded the project
excellent and promised for step forward.
Chatra MP Sunil Singh also rubbed previous governments for stalling the project for 40 long
years. Water is in the river but not in the fields. They have just brought people against each
other for vested interest. Now, the situation would change in reality. I appeal Prakash Javadekar
for bringing change in policies, if required, but facilitate the development of the region, he said.
Palamu MP VD Ram also stressed over completing other projects like Kanhar, Oranga of
Palamu that would bring the region out of acute poverty. Water Resource Minister CP
Chaudhary also offered full support in the completion of the project. Also present on the
occasion were Shushil Kumar, Aurangabad MP, Arun Kumar of Jahanabad and Hari Manjhi of
Gaya.
Local villagers also looked in support of the project. Most of the villagers have been paid
compensation, though they are residing as the project has been stopped. Their land is fertile due
to sedimentation of Koyel river but they are willing to leave once the work starts. The project
would bring job opportunity for us and also generate scope of development, said Md
Gayyasuddin of Kutku.
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Make In India: Sony Starts Manufacturing Android TV

by CXOtoday News Desk Aug 04, 2015
Japanese consumer electronics major Sony will start making its popular Bravia television sets in
India as part of the governments Make in India initiative. To begin with, Sony will start
manufacturing both Android and LCD televisions.
Sony Corp is back to manufacturing in India after more than a decade. The Japanese has entered
into an agreement to manufacture its Bravia line of televisions at Taiwanese contract
manufacturer major Foxconns plant near Chennai. It is also evaluating the possibility of making
smartphones in the country and may eventually set up its own plant in India, Sony India
managing director Kenichiro Hibi said.
The governments Make in India policy and the growing importance of India for Sony
worldwide has accelerated our decision to manufacture in India once again, Sony India
managing director Kenichiro Hibi told ET. Local production will help us to be more
competitive, lower costs and allow faster turnaround time to launch newer models, he said.
As per the report, Sony is initially manufacturing two 43-inch models running Googles Android
operating system at the Sriperumbudur plant of Competition Team Technology in India, which is
a subsidiary of Foxconn.
India is the fourth-largest market for Sony, after the US, China and Japan. Sony India clocked Rs
10,600 crore sales in 2014-15, with televisions and smartphones contributing 40 percent each to
its revenues, with Bravia is the highest selling category in TVs. At a later stage, the plant may
also start exports. If this turns out to be successful, Sony may evaluate setting up its own plant
in India, Hibi said.
Sony stopped its India manufacturing in 2004 when it shut down its facility in Haryana that
mostly made music systems, TV and home theatres.
Hibi believes the market has changed considerably today. We see huge potential in the TV
business as conversion from CRT TV to LCD TV by Indian customers is expected to accelerate
over the next few years. There is also very high demand for technologically advanced products
such as 4K and our newly launched Android TVs.
With products now being manufactured locally, Sony plans to perfect its TV business operations
in India and further strengthen its marketing and distribution channel.
Experts believe Sony will also end up in a tough fight with Samsung for supremacy in the Rs
20,000-crore flat panel television market in India with over 25 percent share. Rivals Samsung
and LG already manufacture televisions in India. Smartphone manufacturers, too, plan to start
manufacturing in India as the country is expected to overtake US to become the second-largest
smartphone market by 2017.
Multinational brands Samsung and HTC already manufacture in the country while LG, Motorola
and Xiaomi too evaluating prospects. Foxconn is in also reportedly in talks with Apple to
manufacture iPhone in India, and now Sony too is looking at the possibility of making
smartphones in the country.
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RBI Remaking Banking; SMAC, E-Com In Focus

The Indian banking sector has gone through a sea change in the past 2-3 years, thanks to the use
of new and innovative technologies to keep its customers loyal and happy while boosting its
bottomline. It was around the same time Raghuram Rajan took over as the Reserve Bank of
India governor in September 2013 and promised a dramatic remaking of the countrys banking
sector. Rajan and his team believe five years down the line, the Indian banking sector could look
very different from what it is now.
The focus of banks is becoming very different from the yesteryears and in near future will, they
have to transform into technology firms, believes RBI. The use of new strategies and concepts
such as e-commerce, is setting the stage for banks to evolve as technology companies, it states.
The RBI has been authorizing banks/non-banks for issuing e-wallets/mobile wallets which is
being used extensively for bill payment, recharge apart from e-commerce transaction. He has
stated earlier that the IT industry, which is laying greater focus on the SMAC (social media,
mobile, analytics and cloud) technologies should use these effectively for gains. For example, he
said social media can be used as a listening post to pick up the latest frauds.
Speaking at a recent speech at the Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT)
event in Hyderabad, which was uploaded on the RBI website, RBI deputy governor HR Khan
too stressed on the use of SMAC not only for driving innovation worldwide, but also for
identifying and combating security flaws. While leveraging the ubiquitous power of technology
the focus has to be on what I can call five Ps. They are products (in terms of offerings), processes
(that ensure efficiency of operations), people (both customers and staff that take to technology
engagement with maximum ease without losing sight of security needs), productivity (by
enhancing margins) and prudence (by building more robust risk management system and
regulatory compliance culture), he said as part of his speech thats posted on RBI website.
As banks face a difficult challenge in the area of security management, RBI sees a lot of
opportunity in this area. The security measures must be highly responsive, quickly deployable
and adaptable to new threats and emerging risks.
Khan also states appropriate IT governance and strategy driven by boards of banks is of
paramount importance, besides other related developments like virtualization, big data, mobile as
well as globalisation of markets and other demographic changes with their concomitant security
implications have all added to the significance of IT security.
At present banks should be capable of satisfying a new generation of customers who want more
personal and customized experiences that match their lifestyles, says RBI.
Meanwhile, there are reports on Rajan is expected to hold interest rates and that repo rate,
reverse repo rate and marginal standing facility rate continue to stand at 7.25%, 6.25% and
8.25%, respectively, this is in line with India Ratings and Researchs (Ind-Ra) expectations.
Amid evolving growth-inflation dynamics, Ind-Ra believes the policy stance reflects RBIs
continued intention to anchor both inflation and inflationary expectations.
Recently Sunil Kumar Sinha, Director - Public Finance & Principal Economist told
CXOtoday, Despite the Greece debt crisis and Chinese stock market turmoil, the domestic
financial market broadly remained calm and rupee depreciated only marginally against the US
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dollar. The call money rate remained below the repo rate through July, reflecting comfortable
liquidity conditions. A seasonal reduction in demand for currency and increased spending by the
government coupled with low credit deployment relative to the volume of deposit mobilisation
contributed to surplus conditions in the money markets.
The government is likely to reach a compromise with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) while
setting up of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The government cannot thrust the entire
responsibility of bringing down the inflation on the RBI governor, while at the same time take
away his veto power in deciding interest rates, say economists
India, US Resolve 35 Transfer Pricing Disputes In IT Industry

For concepts such as Digital India and Make In India to succeed, it is essential to collaborate
with companies around the world, encourage investment (from both foreign investors and
domestic players) and create an ecosystem conducive for business growth. The Government of
India is fast realizing this fact and is trying every mean to uphold its relationship with other
countries.
In a step to this direction, the Government has resolved 35 transfer pricing disputes with the US
in the Information Technology (IT) space and another 100 are likely to be settled in the next
three months. A Framework Agreement was recently signed with the US under the Mutual
Agreement Procedure (MAP) provision of the India-US Double Taxation Avoidance Convention
(DTAC).
This is a major positive development, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) told PTI.
Around 200 transfer pricing disputes between the two countries in IT Services and ITeS
segments are expected to be resolved under this Agreement during the current year. The
Framework Agreement with the US opens the door for signing of bilateral Advance Pricing
Agreements (APAs) with Washington, the CBDT said.
The MAP programs with other countries like Japan and UK are also progressing very well with
regular meetings and resolution of past disputes.
These initiatives will go a long way in providing stable tax environment to foreign investors
doing business in India, said the CBDT, which is responsible for direct tax collections in the
country.
CBDT has also signed 14 APAs related to sectors like telecom, oil exploration, pharmaceuticals,
finance, banking, software development services and ITeS (BPOs) as part of a major initiative
to usher in certainty in taxation. APAs settle transfer prices and the methods of setting prices of
international transactions in advance.
Almost Every IT, Telecom Player Is Now 'Making in India'

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The Make In India magic is happening and is likely to accelerate in the coming months.
Theres a huge trigger from IT and telecom companies. Be it domestic players or global ICT
giants, everyone is now looking at investing in India. Make In India aims to promote country as a
global manufacturing hub.
The most recent drive comes from Japanese consumer electronics major Sony, which will start
making its popular Bravia television sets in India. Sonys comeback to India manufacturing after
more than a decade both Android and LCD televisions was cheered by industry bodies and the
government as Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das said in a tweet that the budget boosters are
silently working and Make in India is taking shape.
Sony entered into an agreement to manufacture its Bravia line of televisions at Taiwanese
contract manufacturer major Foxconns plant near Chennai. We are also evaluating the
possibility of making smartphones in the country and may eventually set up our own plant in
India, Sony India managing director Kenichiro Hibi said.
Meanwhile, Foxconn plans to make long-term investments in India and is in discussions with the
Gujarat-based Adani Group, Micromax and other domestic firms to establish manufacturing
plants in the country. We are very encouraged to invest in India, said Foxconn chairman and
CEO Terry Gou, who is on an India visit for the second time in less than two months.
Gou, who met PM Modi this week said the company is very interested in many government
programmes including Make in India, Skill India, Digital India and Clean India. Manufacturing
giant Foxconn plans to invest up to $2 billion to set up 10-12 units for electronic products by
2020.
Recently, Motorola, InFocus and OnePlus introduced their latest devices globally from
India. Smartphone makers such as Xiaomi and Gionee are already considering manufacturing in
India.
More than seven brands entered the India handset market in the three months ended June,
including Coolpads Dazen, Meizu, ZTEs Nubia and PhiComm, offering devices in the most
affordable range with 4G capability across India. At the same time, domestic handset makers
like Micromax, Karbonn and Lava are also in the process of ramping up manufacturing in the
country.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his 2015-16 Budget has announced a host of tax and non-tax
initiatives to boost domestic manufacturing as part of the Make In India programme.
Another competitor looking at the Make In India prospect is Asus. The smartphone maker is
now mulling manufacturing in India and has set up an internal team to study the prospects of
domestic manufacturing. The Taiwanese firm, which currently has a share of about 2% in the
Indian smartphone market, aims to raise it to 5% by 2016.
India offers a huge opportunity, smartphone penetration is just about 10%. We are focusing on
getting the entire supply chain right here and not just assembly. Once the supply chain is there,
manufacturing will become easier here, Asus chairman Jonney Shih told PTI.
As the government is pushing its Make in India initiative. India is one the fastest growing
smartphone markets globally. According to research firm CMR, 19.5 million smartphones were
shipped in India in the March 2015 quarter.
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Not only ICT players and telecom companies, Make In India has also pushed global
automakers to renew their focus in the country. The very recent example is General Motors, the
worlds third-largest carmaker that announced an investment of $1 billion in the country
including a major overhaul of its existing operations here. This is the beginning of a new GM
in India. There will be many changes in the way we operate, said Mary Barra, global CEO,
General Motors said in a statement, as the company plans to launch 10 new models by 2020.
India Ranks 9th In Global Ransomeware Attack: Study

Threats arising from mobile devices, cloud, big data and Internet of Things (IOT) devices are
helping consumers get adequate connectivity across devices, and also creates room for a host of
security risks. In a recent study by security vendor Symantec, India is the ninth-most impacted
region by ransomware, while countries such as the US, Japan, the UK, Italy and Germany top the
charts, according to a study by Symantec.
Ransomware is a malware that blocks users from accessing their systems, and forces victims to
pay the ransom through online payment methods. In the Asia-Pacific region, India ranked third
for ransomware attacks with more than 60,000 attacks received per year or about 7 attacks per
hour. Of which a staggering 86 per cent was crypto ransomware, it said, quoting an earlier study
conducted in April.
Certain ransomware encrypts files (crypto locker), says the study, adding that Crypto
ransomware and locker ransomware both have 3 percent each detections in India.
In an earlier Internet Security Threat Report, Symantec showed ransomware attacks grew by 500
percent and turned vicious in the latter part of 2014. This growth was largely due to the success
of Ransomcrypt, commonly known as Cryptolocker. This particularly aggressive form of
ransomware made up 55 percent of all ransomware in the month of October alone. This threat is
designed to encrypt a users files and request a ransom for the files to be unencrypted.
Ransomware causes even more damage to businesses where not only the victims files are
encrypted but also files on shared or attached network drives. Holding encrypted files for ransom
is not entirely new, but getting the ransom paid has previously proven problematic for the
crooks. However recently ransomware makers have started leveraging online and electronic
payment systems such as Bitcoins, Webmoney, Ukash, greendot (MoneyPak) to get around this
challenge.
Crooks like the relative anonymity and convenience of electronic payments and these are already
readily available, putting businesses and consumers at greater risk from losing data, files or
memories.
According to Symantec, ransomware is likely to leap from mobile phones to wearable devices
such as smartwatches. It also adds ransomware attackers could have wearables and other
connected devices in their crosshairs.
Another report by the F-Secure Labs suggested that tier-II cities are becoming a favorite
destination for mobile malware. The top Indian cities include Chandigarh, Bangalore,
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Hyderabad, Chennai and New Delhi, where threats from mobile devices were significant were
the most affected by mobile malware.
Symantec advises users infected with locker ransomware not to pay as even after the payment,
the ransomware may not unlock the users computer. Further, most locker ransomware can be
removed from computers using free tools such as Norton Power Eraser or SymHelp.
25% Global Population To Use Mobile Banking By 2019

The number of mobile banking users globally is forecast to double to 1.8 billon over the next
four years, encompassing over 25% of the worlds population, according to research by KPMG
and UBS. The Global Mobile Banking Report, finds that while mobile is already the largest
banking channel by volume of transactions, its adoption by new customers is now entering an
exceptionally rapid phase.
According to the report, while mobile is already the largest banking channel by volume of
transactions, its adoption by new customers is now entering an exceptionally rapid phase. It also
suggests that mobile banking and payment systems are increasingly being integrated with other
technologies, driving an era of Open Banking. The report warns that banks who do not have
clear mobile banking strategies will lose customers and cross-sell opportunities in the short-term,
as well as risk jeopardising competitive advantage.
In the short-term, the availability of mobile banking services is a key indicator when consumers
choose to switch banks, and the report highlights a clear link between a strong mobile
proposition, customer satisfaction and advocacy. However, mobile bank users, who are typically
in the mid to late thirties, are the most likely to switch banks, suggesting that even an effective
mobile banking offering is not enough by itself to retain these higher value customers.
In the long-term, the report suggests that as mobile banking technology is driving an area of
Open Banking, where consumers can bank within context, across a variety of channels,
operating systems and devices, including phones, tablets and wearables. For example, as a
consumer holds-up their phone to a television in a store, an augmented reality app can recognise
it and provide information including reviews and credit options.
The report highlights three key areas for banks to focus on in order to take advantage of the surge
in mobile banking and therefore prepare for the Open Banking era:
Expand mobile banking services Banks should investigate the potential of value added
services, suggesting that virtual customer support can bring the personal touch of a branch to a
handset, but banks need to tread carefully. For example, mobile banking offers many
opportunities for cross-selling other financial services, but unwanted sales messages can invade
what the report calls device intimacy and lead to customer complaints, reduced usage or
even switching to another provider. On the other hand, consumers value personalised support
via mobile services. The report urges banks to explore areas such as virtual support, social media
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banking and life tools such as cloud storage. Furthermore, banks should also consider mobile-
enabled technologies such as wearables and augmented reality as they proliferate.
Banks need to be more open - While banks offer Application Program Interfaces (APIs),
allowing third-party developers to develop such technology, the report highlights that there needs
to be greater collaboration between the banks and developers. Whatsmore, even as banks invest
unprecedented amounts in mobile and other technology-led capabilities, challengers
unencumbered by legacy IT infrastructure are already one step ahead. To stay ahead, large banks
are increasingly acquiring technology start-ups and investing in incubators.
Invest in security - Innovation must be underpinned by rock-solid security. Banks are urged to
heavily invest in technologies that will evolve and protect against future threats, as well as tackle
current pressures from malware and social engineering. Forty per cent of consumers, cited
concerns about entering card details in mobile devices, and the possibility of losing a handset
ranks highly among the list of worries. Banks find themselves having to both protect the
customer, while at the same time providing seamless and speedy access to their services to
ensure greater consumer satisfaction. Biometric apps and fingerprint scanning are earmarked as
ways to bolster the security of mobile banking, whilst ensuring ease of access - only a handful of
the main banks assessed in the research currently offer this service.
David Hodgkinson, KPMGs researcher and the reports author believes banks must adapt or die.
Mobile banking is clearly supplanting all other channels as the main portal between the bank
and the consumer. Many banks have already risen to the challenge and invested in new
infrastructure and pioneering initiatives, but others must follow suit and commit to building both
immediate propositions and on-going capability to keep up with the pace of change, he says.
According to him, this new, exciting phase of mobile banking innovation, spearheaded by new
market entrants as well as pioneering banks, will be a rollercoaster. Banks must overcome
substantial infrastructural challenges, and reconcile consumers appetite for ease of use with
greater security. Boldness will be required to overcome these challenges, and the only sure-fire
winner will be the consumer.
Artificial Intelligence Lessons From E-Commerce Firms

E-commerce is a booming industry that depends solely on personalization and customer-

centricism. As the online shopper would want get the best possible professional advice and
recommendations online, e-commerce majors are realizing that by using extensive Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and machine intelligence, they can offer a better shopping experience to
customers.
The term AI is the intelligence exhibited by machine learning, business intelligence or robotics
and has been until recently used by tech companies like Google and IBM and in fields like
finance and medicine, among others, to create measurable impact. Today, AI and related
technologies is said to change the way e-commerce operates.
Take for example, Myntra, which is reportedly preparing to launch apparels designed with the
help of data science and artificial intelligence (AI). The company that closed down its website to
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become app-only this year told TOI that it has developed a smart bot that accumulates fashion-
related information from across the online world, and is focusing on crunching mammoth
amounts of data in order to understand the consumer demand in real time.
There is a big, emerging trend among internet companies which have accumulated tons of data
to use it for personalization. Our platform is disrupting the current way of expert-based fashion
forecasting as it is 100% tech-backed, Ganesh Subramanian, head of new initiatives at Myntra,
told TOI. In the pilot stage, one of the in-house Myntra brands used this AI-driven platform to
design its line which, Subramanian says, received a good response in terms of sales. The bigger
goal for us is to build an AI-based fashion platform which continuously produces insights and
churns out customer-loving products in real time, he said.
Indias second largest e-commerce brand Snapdeal is also planning to invest $100 million into a
new, Multimedia Research Lab in Bengalore and planned acquisitions, to make shopping
experience faster, easier and more engaging. Founded by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal in 2010,
its app findmystyle uses image recognition technology and machine learning algorithms, to make
search results faster, accurate and tuned to the specific consumers.
E-commerce giant Flipkart has also implemented the image search feature in its mobile app for
the fashion category, with plans for more similar, Machine learning powered features in future.
The customer today is a curator and creator. By using data science and artificial intelligence, we
are able to give real time responses, Subramanian said.
Junling Hu, author of Data Mining a book on machine learning and other intelligent techniques
writes: We are seeing a growing need for data mining and its huge potential for e-commerce
sites. The success of an e-commerce company is determined by the experience it offers its users,
which these days is linked to data understanding.
During her tenure with eBay as a Data Mining Lead, she wrote in a blog that machine learning
and data mining is important in creating a great experience at eBay. For eBay, BI, machine
learning and data mining play an important role in product search, product recommendation and
fraud detection, she believes.
This cutthroat competition in the Indian e-commerce market, the second largest in Asia will see
more acquisition of start-ups by the major players and investments in newer technology areas
like AI and machine learning to keep pace with todays accelerating demand. As Martin Rugfelt.
CMO for Expertmaker, states that the future of e-commerce is m-commerce with AI included.
The question is not if, but when well see the first truly transformative offerings that embrace
the exciting world of AI and use it for our benefit to create better experiences for every single
user, he sums up.
Proposed US H-1B Visa Policy May Hurt Indian IT

Aug 19, 2015
Immigration and visa issues in the US, a long-pending issue, could further hurt Indias $146
billion IT outsourcing industry in the coming months as the US heads towards Presidential
elections in 2016.
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The US is currently the biggest market for the Indian IT services sector. In recent years, the
countrys IT outsourcing sector has been a beneficiary of the temporary US work visas that are
required by skilled foreign workers to work in that country. The employees working at client
locations in the US are issued H-1B visas, which have a cap of 65,000 a year.
The US Congress in recent months has been considering Bills that seek to triple the cap of H-1B
visas to 195,000. There is, however, a growing discontent about the H-1B visa process among
skilled workers in the US.
Recently, the Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has promised to put an end to
H-1B visas and also proposed to raise the minimum wage for the preferred work visas for Indian
technology professionals as he outlined his policy, which if passed can be harmful for IT
companies in India having huge client base and offices in the US.
Trumps states, We graduate two times more Americans with STEM degrees [science,
technology, engineering, mathematics] each year than find STEM jobs, yet as much as two-thirds
of entry-level hiring for IT jobs is accomplished through the H-1B program. Such a move, he
argued, would force companies to give IT jobs to unemployed Americans and not cheaper
workers from overseas, including India.
The real-estate tycoon lashed out at Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Florida senator
Marco Rubio, who has introduced a bill to triple H-1B visas. Incidentally, Rubio is one of the
Republican presidential candidates.
Releasing a position paper: Increase prevailing wage for H-1Bs, Trump campaigns came out in
strong opposition to the Zuckerberg s move to increase the number of H-1B visas. He notes in
the paper, Raising the prevailing wage paid to H-1Bs will force companies to give these coveted
entry-level jobs to the existing domestic pool of unemployed native and immigrant workers in
the US, instead of flying in cheaper workers from overseas.
This will improve the number of black, Hispanic and female workers in Silicon Valley who
have been passed over in favor of the H-1B program. Mark Zuckerberg s personal Senator,
Marco Rubio, has a bill to triple H-1Bs that would decimate women and minorities, it said.
Citing recent examples the campaigners mentioned, in Edison, an electricity company in
Southern California and in entertainment company Disney local employees were laid off and
replaced by H-1B visa holders. The layoffs have prompted some US Senators to call for
investigations into the visa process used by the companies.
According to Patrick Thibodeau, senior editor at Computerworld, the US workers who have
trained a temporary visa-holding replacement as a condition of their severance describe it as a
profoundly humiliating experience. These workers see a direct connection between the US
governments H-1B visa policies and their job loss, and they are furious, said he.
Real immigration reform puts the needs of working people first not wealthy globetrotting
donors. We are the only country in the world whose immigration system puts the needs of other
nations ahead of our own. That must change, the position paper said.
The displacement of US IT and back-office jobs will be a significant issue leading up to 2016,
notes Phil Fersht, founder and chief executive of HfS Research. In the US, this will be a bloody,
contentious election and immigration reform is right up there for discussion.
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Many analysts argue that even though H1-B workers displace some American workers, it is
equally true that Indian companies have invested billions in the US and created thousands of
jobs. The bill if passed can therefore spell trouble for these IT companies.
Telemedicine Market to Touch $421.6 Mn In 2019

Aug 19, 2015
Telemedicine is on the rise and has finally made inroads in the Asia Pacific market. In a
recent study conducted on the Telemedicine Market in Asia-Pacific, research firm Frost &
Sullivan found that the market earned revenues of nearly $240 million in 2014, and is pegged to
touch $421.6 million in 2019 at a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent.
The research firm notes that improving access to healthcare services is the primary reason for
telemedicine growth in APAC. Even in developed countries like Japan and Australia, there exist
large pockets of underserved rural and remote regions that struggle to obtain basic healthcare
services. Hence, governments are investing in telemedicine pilots and establishing regulations
that promote the development and adoption of telemedicine among consumers, it said in the
report.
However, aiming to use telemedicine for improved healthcare access alone would be myopic
considering the potential of these services, said Frost & Sullivan Healthcare Industry
Manager Natasha Gulati. Since telemedicine services can drive new ways to collaborate across
healthcare settings throughout the life of a person, it will have a wide-ranging impact on the
continuum of treatment to prevention.
The very value proposition of telemedicine is expected to leap forward over the next five years.
Telemedicine will very soon empower APAC consumers by allowing them to capture and
request analytical and actionable health data by themselves.
Of course, this will not happen through telemedicine alone, pointed out Gulati. It requires the
integration of several telehealth functionalities such as remote monitoring, mHeath, wearables
and platforms. Niche telemedicine providers are already preparing for this industry shift by
partnering with healthcare providers, device manufacturers, real estate developers and telecom
companies to establish connected ecosystems that efficiently capture and act on patient data.
As the telemedicine value proposition evolves, so will the business models. Current telemedicine
models are largely targeted towards healthcare providers as they can reap tangible benefits in
terms of reduced costs and access to a larger patient base, states F&S.
For now, consumer adoption of telemedicine in APAC is low due to the absence of
reimbursement schemes. Progressive regulations and technological advancements that make
telemedicine more affordable will enable the gradual entry of direct-to-consumer business
models, which symbolise the anticipated power shift to consumers, states the study.
3D Printing In Healthcare Fast Maturing: Gartner

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3D printing technology has progressed rapidly in recent years, and that medical applications are
leading to some of the most significant deployments in this area, states Gartner.
Gartners 2015 Hype Cycle for 3D Printing reveals that 3DP of medical devices has reached the
Peak of Inflated Expectations, but certain specialist applications are already becoming the norm
in medical care.
In the healthcare industry, 3DP is already in mainstream use to produce medical items that need
to be tailored to individuals, such as hearing aids and dental devices, states Pete Basiliere,
research director at Gartner.
All of the major hearing aid manufacturers now offer devices that are personalized to the shape
of the customers ear, says Basiliere. This is evidence that using 3DP for mass customization
of consumer goods is now viable, especially given that the transition from traditional
manufacturing in this market took less than two years. Routine use of 3DP for dental implants is
also not far from this level of market maturity.
Some medical 3DP technologies are further from mainstream use, but are equally, if not more,
exciting. Hip and knee replacements, for example, are a $15 billion industry and are one of the
most common surgical procedures. Early trials using personalized 3D-printed replacements
indicate improved healing times and function of the implant as well as an improved success rate
in more complex operations. Given the size of the market, Gartner predicts that 3D-printed hip
and knee replacements, as well as other common internal and external medical devices, will be in
mainstream use within two to five years.
Looking further out, at least 5-10 years to mainstream adoption, there is bioprinting. 3D
bioprinting has two categories in this Hype Cycle: one focused on producing living tissues for
human transplant, the other for life sciences research and development (R&D).
Some of these R&D systems are already capable of printing cells, proteins, DNA and drugs,
however there are significant barriers to mainstream adoption, says Michael Shanler, research
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director at Gartner. The sheer complexity of the items to be printed and the high maintenance
requirements of these systems mean that initial deployments will be mostly limited to specialist
service providers. We see mainstream adoption increasing as the systems become more diverse
in their functions.
There is still rapid advancement outside of medical fields. While 3D prototyping has for many
years been the only mainstream use of the technology, within the next two to five years it is
likely to be joined by many technologies that will spur much wider use of 3DP outside of
specialist fields.
Technologies such as 3D scanning, 3D print creation software and 3D printing service bureaus
are all maturing quickly, and all in their own way have the potential to make high quality
3DP more accessible and affordable, Basiliere says.
3D printing software, for example, has in the past been limited to commercial 3D computer-
aided design (CAD) programs that were not simple to use. Consumer-oriented design libraries
and modelling tools are becoming established, providing a far simpler method for producing
printable designs. Moreover, 3D scanners are also advancing in adoption and dropping in price,
enabling users to create complex printable models of real-world items without any CAD skills.
The emergence of 3DP service bureaus also continues to accelerate. This enables enthusiasts and
organizations to test and experiment with the capabilities of advanced 3DP systems in situations
where an investment in purchasing a 3D printer would be hard to justify. As this ecosystem
matures around the printers, so market demand and competition will keep increasing and more
use cases will become commonplace, the research firm says
35% Of India's Population To Benefit From Smart Cities

There are about 12 crore people in the country who will be the direct beneficiaries of the Smart
City project. The total population of these proposed 98 Smart Cities is about 12 crore accounting
for 35 per cent of countrys total urban population as per the 2011 census, Urban Development
Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said while releasing the list.
Naidu also said that his governments prime motive was to enhance urban life. Smart cities need
smart people. We need peoples co-operation to move forward in our mission. He added that
smart cities will have the core infrastructure and will give a quality and decent life to citizens. It
will enable a clean environment and provide smart solutions to problems.
Post the announcement, Dr. Devendra Kumar Pant, Chief Economist, India Ratings & Research
told CXOtoday, Selection of smart cities is first step. Major challenge is to provide quality
urban services such as 24X7 water supply, sanitation, drainage, solid waste management, sewage
treatment. Looking at finances of urban local bodies, which are far from healthy, provision of
these services will be challenging.
Read more: Smart City: Monetization Models Yet To Evolve
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Levying of user charges to recover cost of provision of these services will be crucial to maintain
quality of these services, Pant said, adding that in the process of smart cities focus should not
divert from providing urban services in other cities and make them more liveable.
As per the profile of the selected cities, 35 cities and towns have a population between one and
five lakh. There are 21 cities with population ranging between five and 10 lakh. 25 cities have
population of above 10 lakh and below 25 lakh. A set of 5 cities are in the population range of 25
to 50 lakhs. Four cities - Chennai, Greater Hyderabad, Greater Mumbai and Ahmedabad have
population of about above 50 lakh each. Out of 98 cities, 24 are capital cities, another 24 are
business and industrial centres, 18 are of cultural and tourism importance, 5 are port cities, and 3
being education and health care hubs.The cities which have have population of one lakh and
below but figure in the list are Silvassa, Diu, Kavaratti, Pasighat in Arunachal and Namchi in
Sikkim.
New Town near Kolkata in Bengal, Panaji in Goa and Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh are
among 8 cities which are in the Smart City list. Bidhannagar, Durgapur, Haldia are other three
cities to be developed as Smart City in West Bengal.Chennai, Erode, Salem, Coimbatore,
Madurai and Vellore are among 12 cities from Tamil Nadu that find place in the list.
While Dehradun from Uttarakhand and Agartala from Tripura have been selected, Greater
Hyderabad and Greater Warangal are from Telangana. Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar have
found place in the list from Punjab while Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from Odisha bagged the
slots.
From Rajasthan besides Ajmer, pink city Jaipur alongwith Udaipur and Kota find place in the
list. Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Surat and Rajkot are among six cities from Gujarat that got the
nod.Ranchi and Dharamshala will represent Jharkhand and Himachal respectively in the
list. Karnal and Faridabad from Haryana and Kochi from Kerala are in the coveted list released
by the centre. Biharsharif, Bhagalpur and Muzafarpur from Bihar while Vishakhapatnam,
Tirupati and Kakinada from Andhra have also found place in the list.
Indian governments Smart City project is a growth avenue for enterprises, which are optimistic
about leveraging newer technologies like IoT. The government plans to develop 100 smart cities
at Rs 7060 crore by 2022.
According to Cisco, the IoE (Internet of Everything) total value at stake in India is USD 511
billion over the next 10 years. Of the total IoE at stake, public sector value at stake is USD 116
billion, which includes creating smart cities and citizen services such as health and education.
Public private partnership will be key in taking this initiative further, residents along
with city leadership will be instrumental in implementing Smart Cities across the
country, says Anand Navani, Country Manager, Verint Systems India.
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However, a major challenge to the Smart City project is the broadband availability. India ranks
122 in the world for broadband penetration (The Broadband Commission) and its average
Internet speed is 1.5 Mbps, the lowest among Asia Pacific region. Only 4.9 per cent of Indians
have access to speed higher than 4 Mbps, says a report by Akamai Technologies.
Capacity constraints and integration of legacy data are major challenges in its implementation,
coupled with change management and coordination among various departments that cause delay
in administrative approvals.
More 'Make In India' Mobile Phones In 2015

The Videocon group has recently started manufacturing mobile handsets in at its Salt Lake
factory in Kolkata. With an initial investment of around Rs 50 crore, and production capacity at 3
million units per annum, the Kolkata facility would be manufacturing feature phones, which
makes up almost 40 percent share of the mobile phones market, and later that the unit would also
make smartphones and tablets.
Not only Videocon, in the past few months, several mobile manufacturers have announced their
plans to make handsets in India instead of sourcing from China. While some have already
embarked on new projects, some other have started scaling up.
The India drive
The Indian mobile phone industry is reportedly expected to reach Rs 100,000 crore in 2015,
which will give impetus to the Governments Make in India drive. The industry registered a
turnover of Rs 75,000 crore in 2014. Though smart phones account for about 25 percent in
numbers, however contribute three times as much in turnover.
Indias largest phone maker Samsung, has been manufacturing in India for nearly a decade, has
spent more than Rs 500 crore to add capacity at its plant in Noida where it makes many models,
including the Tizen-powered Z1, Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.
Chinas Lenovo has started making smartphones in India through contract manufacturer
Flextronics at Sriperumbudur near Chennai. The Flextronics unit has started rolling out two of
Moto E smartphones 4G variants and will soon start making another 4G device Lenovo K3
note, the company said in an official release. Amar Babu, Chairman and COO, Asia Pacific,
Lenovo India said, The Indian governments Make in India program offers a plethora of
opportunities for organizations looking to conduct business in India.
Chinese phone maker Gionee plans to invest Rs 300 crore over the next three years. Xiaomi also
partnered with Foxconn to set up a mobile phone manufacturing unit here as the Chinese
technology major looks at grabbing a larger share of the booming Indian handset market.
On the domestic front, mobile handset major Micromax has started a plant at Rudrapur in
Uttarakhand and is planning investments in Telangana, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Lava has
invested Rs 50 crore to build a facility in Noida to assemble one million units a month.
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Karbonn is also investing Rs 200 crore in two plants, in Noida and Bangalore. Similarly, Spice
Mobility is investing Rs 500 crore in Noida to build a facility it says will be up and running by
the next quarter.
A major boost
According to a Reuters report, the government has received Rs 90,000-crore investment
proposals in the last two months for electronics manufacturing in India. Both local and foreign
companies are showing interest in making mobile phones in India, said Ajay Kumar, Additional
Secretary, Ministry of Communications and IT, who sees that India has already become the
fastest-growing smartphone market.
The Ministry of Communications and IT has formed a fast-track task force, group of phone
sellers, tax advisors, skilling experts and bureaucrats, in order to boost significant growth in
mobile manufacturing. The group stated that in order to achieve production of 500 million units
of mobile handsets by 2019,which includes, annual manufacturing output of Rs 150,000 crore to
Rs 300,000 crore or 20 to 25 percent of total global manufacturing. Experts believe if this figure
is achieved, there would be an additional 1.5 million jobs in the country.
Clearly the Make In India is having a key impact on the mobile handset industry. As M.N.
Vidyashankar, President, IESA comments, We expect 2015 to bring a major shift in the
electronic manufacturing paradigm. Based on the various proposals that have been submitted
during the last couple of years, the manufacturing activities will pick up pace particularly
during the second half.
Fuel retailers bet on solar power with easy loans
Oil companies betting big on solar doesn't sound ironic any more. Setting up solar plants -
either for generating electricity or steam is no more a token of commitment to environment.
Instead, it is making business sense.
No wonder India's staterun fuel retailers are offering petrol pump owners easy loans to help
them go green by setting up solar power units. IndianOil Corporation is offering loan of up to Rs
5 lakh. Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum too have joined the bandwagon on the back
of government directives. But it is the economics of solar power that is making the scheme tick.
There are nearly 52,000 petrol pumps in the country . Power supply from the grid in rural
areas and the hinterland is patchy and only fills up the gap between long blackouts. Petrol pump
owners in these places depend on generators, which pushes up costs of operation and eats into
their income.
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IndianOil's initial experiments have shown it would be economical to run its 24,400 petrol
pumps and Kisan Seva Kendras -low-cost filling stations catering to farmers and rural
communities on solar power than burn diesel in generators.
In this backdrop, investing in a rooftop solar system is in creasingly beginning to make

sense as it provides a reliable source of power, reduces electricity bill and pollution from diesel
generators. IndianOil executives said over 150 dealers have already availed of the loan scheme to
set up solar plants at their pumps.
Depending upon the size of the petrol pump, a 24 kw (kilowatt) photovoltaic system on the
rooftop can bring down costs by more than Rs 7 lakh a year. This is almost 50% less than the
average annual electricity bill currently . Petrol pumps have to pay commercia rates, which is
much highe than domestic tariffs, for elec tricity from grid.
There are other benefits too such as accelerated deprecia tion and associated benefit (80%
depreciation in the firs year and 20% depreciation in the second year). It is no sur prise that solar
energy ha found wide acceptance among dealers of IndianOil, the large st retailer. The period
between April 2014 and January 201 witnessed 1,175 new outlet joining the solar club.
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About 35,000 solar water pumps installed in India against the 1,38,267 sanctioned
PTI Aug 3, 2015, 05.32PM IST
NEW DELHI: As many as 34,941 solar water pumps have been installed so far in the country as
against the 1,38,267 sanctioned , Parliament was informed today.
"A total of 1,38,267 solar pumps have been sanctioned throughout the country and 34,941 pumps
have been installed," New and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply
to Rajya Sabha.
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Goyal said that the ministry has issued supplementary guidelines for one lakh solar pumps during
2014-15 fiscal and Rs 353.50 crore was released to various agencies.
"Some states are subsidising solar pumps, so that farmers take this up in a big way. The ministry
has also made provision in guidelines for injecting surplus power in the grid so that farmers can
get some returns on the investment," the minister told the House.
According to the statement, the maximum number of solar water pumps for irrigation were
installed in Rajasthan. As many as 23,603 pumps were installed in the state against the
sanctioned 31,505 so far, followed by Punjab (1857), Madhya Pradesh (1806) and Uttar Pradesh
(1653).
However, Jharkhand and Telangana have not installed any solar water pump against the 1,400
and 4,225 sanctioned, respectively.
No solar water pump has been sanctioned for Sikkim as per the minister's statement in the
House.
Government has sanctioned 15,330 solar water pumps for drinking in 15 states. However, only
200 such pumps are installed so far.
The ministry has empanelled 53 solar pump system integrators to operate through NABARD.
However, out of the 30,000 solar pumps for irrigation to be installed through NABARD, only
100 have been installed so far.
India's report to UN sets solar target at 20,000 Mw

Govt 'considering' enhancing the target of 100 Gw of solar power; draft report leaves door open
for international scrutiny of parliamentary procedures
In a draft report prepared for the UN, the government has hedged its bets on achieving the 100
gigawatt (Gw) solar power target by 2022. It has not committed to achieve the new target that
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced but is instead stuck with the previous target of
achieving 20,000 Mw grid-connected solar power under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar
Mission. It has said the government is 'considering' enhancing the target of 100 Gw of solar
power. The draft has also left the door open for other countries at the UN climate talk to review
and question how well the Parliament monitors and verifies the country's actions to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
Additionally, the draft report also details and quantifies the actions it has taken to reduce
emissions from the agricultural sector. This is in contrast to India's non-negotiable line
internationally refusing to take mitigation actions that impact farmers and instead focusing on
adaptation in the farming sector.
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The report to be submitted under India's obligations to the UN Framework Convention on

Climate Change (UNFCCC) and in climate change parlance, is referred to as the Biennial Update
Report (BUR). It provides a status of the actions developing countries have taken domestically,
to fight climate change, an inventory of the country's emissions and how it verifies and monitors
the targets. The report once submitted is open to international scrutiny at the UN climate talks
and India would be required to answer questions probing the report in detail. This is referred to
as International Consultation and Analysis (ICA).
Business Standard reviewed the

draft report which has already
gone through several rounds of
consultations and is near
finalisation. It was prepared by
several non-government and
government institutions with the
help of United Nations
Development Programme
(UNDP) and World Bank's Global
Environment Facility (GEF) but
eventually, it is a report submitted
by the ministry of environment
and forests on behalf of the
government. It is likely to be
presented to the Prime Minister's
Council on Climate Change for
review, just as India's climate
change targets for Paris would be,
before the report is sent for
Cabinet approval. The PMO,
meanwhile, has closely monitored
the progress on both fronts.
Union Environment and Forests Minister Prakash Javadekar, speaking on the controversial
elements in the draft report, said, "We are aware of some of these issues. The report has gone
through consultations with concerned ministries and as the procedure requires, we shall present
everyone's views at the Cabinet meeting along with the Cabinet note. I am sure all such problems
will be resolved in the final approved BUR. We shall not let anything go through, that is not in
the country's interest."
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The BUR was required to lay out what actions India undertook since 2007 to specifically reduce
greenhouse gas emissions after 2007 - referred to as the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation
Actions (NAMAs). But in the report, unlike some other emerging countries such as Brazil, India
has elaborated in detail actions that were taken well before the UN climate convention decided to
have NAMAs in place as well as given very detailed sector-specific achievements and targets.
The report has said that the measurement, reporting and verification of India's actions on climate
change are done through various methods that include parliamentary scrutiny. The scrutiny of the
report by other countries at the UN talks under the ICA process is to include how a country
measures, reports and verifies its climate actions. India's submission on how well Parliament
reviews the climate actions could also be open to such an international review if the draft report
is accepted in its current shape by the Cabinet.
The decisions at the UN climate talks requiring such BURs from developing countries and their
international scrutiny (ICA) came about with heated debates in India and internationally during
the UPA's tenure. Since then, this is the first BUR that India would be tabling before the
international community. "This is the first BUR we are submitting, so there are concerns about
how much and what of India's actions should come under the ICA process," said one senior
official in a ministry, which was asked to comment on the report. "The report is long and
prepared by more than a dozen institutions. It needs to be consistent and focused as this is not an
internal government review. This is what other countries shall have the opportunity to grill us
on," he added. His and other ministries have sent their comments on changes they expect in the
report.
Another official in a second ministry Business Standard spoke to point out the continuing
concerns like reference to representing the taxes on fossil fuels as carbon tax and including
emission reduction actions in the agriculture sector. "Do we want a plant-wise detail of how our
thermal power plants are operating or coal sector performing or how we are reducing subsidies
when these do not form part of the climate negotiations for Paris? These are questions one must
be clear about before we finalise the BUR," he added.
These officials have also been involved in the preparation of India's targets for the post-2020
targets. Both pointed out how similar concerns remained about the target being too sector-
specific. "If we submit a disaggregated target we shall also be locking these sectors down to
some extent in to specific growth trajectories for the next 10 years. China has not done so. We
hopefully are looking at a metric for the submission that permits flexibility within the economy,"
one of them said.
India, not obliged so far by the climate convention to bind itself to climate action, has for long
internationally argued that its actions are targeted towards energy security and sustainability with
co-benefits of greenhouse emission reduction. It has also taken a consistent position that it is
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against any kind of targets on emission reduction from the farm sector as it impacts the poorest.
This nuanced approach has been integral to India's negotiating stance for the international
agreement on climate change. But the draft BUR has dropped reference to the co-benefit
approach of the government as well.
Given 4,700-MW target, DVC added only 500 MW in 11th Plan: CAG
PTI Aug 6, 2015, 10.45PM IST
NEW DELHI: Set with a target of 4,700-MW capacity addition during 2007-12 Five-Year Plan,
Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) managed to add only 500 MW during the period,
a CAG report said today.
"... the Corporation could add only 500 MW i.e. 11 per cent of the target of 4,700 MW (own
projects) with a shortfall of 4,200 MW," said Comptroller and Auditor General of India report on
capacity addition in power generation during 2007-12 by DVC which was tabled in the
Parliament.
The report further said that the PSU planned to add power generation capacity of 6,250 MW
during XI Plan period (4,700 MW by the Corporation alone and 1,550 MW through Joint
venture).
As on 31 March 2014, it had a total power generation capacity of 5,857.2 MW -- thermal 5,710
MW and hydel 147.2 MW, it said.
It further said that with regard to Mejia thermal power station unit 5 and 6, Detailed Project
Report(DPR) was prepared without adequate investigation and deficiencies were noticed after
finalisation of orders which resulted in delay.
"... and in Chandrapura Thermal Power Station(CTPS) Unit 7 & 8, the execution work initially
suffered for 26 months due to delay in handing over the land to the contractor, non-availability of
storage space for shipment of materials at site, local law and order problems, abnormal rise in
price of steel and cement etc," it said.
"Execution of main plant package was delayed due to non-availability of clear work fronts, coal
linkage, water and delay in completion of coal handling plant and the DPR for MTPS 7 & 8 did
not adequately address the adequacy of capacity of existing ash ponds to hold the entire ash in
case of low level of utilisation of dry flyash," it added.
Due to delay in development of the captive coal blocks, DVC lost the opportunity to use cheaper
coal. Moreover, it had to bear additional cost as Performance Incentive (PI) towards procurement
of coal over and above the annual contracted quantity (ACQ), it said.
There were deficiencies in various stages of contract management and the objective of efficient
and timely execution of the contracts remained unfulfilled, it said.
"As per the manual of the Corporation, a contract should be awarded within 161 days from the
date of invitation of tender. Out of 13 contracts, seven contracts were finalised with delays
ranging from 12 to 117 days. Further, in respect of four contracts the delays were more than 100
days," it said.
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The main reasons for delay were extension of bid submission dates and discrepancies in scope of
work detected during finalisation of price bids, it added.
International Finance Corporation plans big investment in Indias renewable energy space
Karnika Bahuguna, ET Bureau Aug 7, 2015, 04.00AM IST
NEW DELHI: International Finance Corporation (IFC) has big plans to invest in
India's renewable energy space as the sector is evolving with competitive commercial bidding
unlike the subsidy-driven growth in the West, a top executive at the World Bank's investment
arm said. IFC joins other global players such as Goldman Sachs, SoftBank and SunEdison in
plans to invest in the country, which is aiming to make a quantum leap in the production of solar
and wind energy.
Sujoy Bose, IFC's global head of infrastructure and natural resources, said there were several
positives about India's renewable energy dreams and IFC would invest in projects that come up
as part of the country's ambitious target of adding 1 lakh megawatts of renewable power.
IFC, which has a $5-billion commitment in India, has already funded companies such as
Mahindra Solar and NSL Renewable, and recently issued a 'green Masala bond', raising Rs 315
crore for private sector investments that address climate change.
Bose also highlighted certain factors that renewable projects should focus on to be successful.
"For these projects, there are three factors the project cost has to be viable, the operation and
maintenance have to be extremely tight and the financing has to be attractive," Bose told ET.
He said the cost of renewable power was coming down, approaching the level of conventional
electricity. In the recently held competitive bidding for solar projects, tariffs fell to as low as Rs
5.05 per unit in Madhya Pradesh and Rs 5.17 in Telangana.
"The fact that these projects have been able to come up and supply power at these attractive
prices shows that the financing packages are there to support them and hence the sector has a lot
of legs going forward. So, we expect to definitely continue to invest in India and it is going to be
a large part of our portfolio going forward in the renewable space as well," he said. IFC has
withdrawn from investing in coal-based projects given its commitments to environment, Bose
said.
IFC's last investment in the black-fuel based project was Tata Power's Mundra power project.
"It is something that has been agreed with our board over the last few years. We operate in a
pretty restricted framework for coal and have not got any request within that framework for any
project," Bose said when asked if IFC had completely exited from investing in coal-based
projects.
IFC had invested $400 million in Tata Power's Mundra project in 2008 through debt and
provided guidance on environment and social practices.
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IFC, which follows a July-to-June financial year, has its biggest portfolio exposure in India. As
of June 30, 2015, its committed portfolio in India was about $5 billion, accounting for about 9-
10% of its global portfolio.
Riding the renewable wave, IFC expects to increase its investment in the infrastructure segment.
Currently, it invests around $500-600 million per year in India's infrastructure segment, over a
third of which is in renewables.
Reducing transmission and distribution losses would be the key driver of the government's plan
of providing 24X7 power to all by 2019, Bose said. IFC is keen to engage in opportunities in the
transmission and distribution segment as well.
"I realise that in the Indian context there are challenges but to me making the distribution
companies more efficient and reducing transmission losses will go a long way in helping us
solve the problem of the power sector in India," he said.
ET View:
Set up a bank of credible renewable projects
India has set out an ambitious plan for adding 175 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022. The
solar component of this plan, 100 GW, alone would require investment to the tune of $120
billion. India needs to leverage the interest that financial institutions are evincing in the
renewable energy sector. This would help it to increase the share of renewable energy capacity,
reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, and improve the country's carbon emission profile.
Many financial institutions are withdrawing from coal-based projects. India must tap these funds
to augment its clean energy sector. To this end, it must ensure it has a bank of credible renewable
energy projects.
August 7, 2015
Solar rooftop subsidy only for 4 segments

Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has indicated that its subsidy or central
financial assistance (CFA) for solar rooftop projects will be provided only to projects under four
categories, and industrial and commercial categories will be excluded from this programme.
CFA of 15 per cent of the benchmark cost will be provided to solar rooftop projects built under
residential, institutional (schools, educational institutions, medical colleges and hospitals and R
& D institutions both public and private), government (both central and state government
organsiations as also all Panchayati Raj buildings) and social sectors (old age homes,
orphanages, common service centres and welfare homes, etc), according to a information notice
of MNRE.
The 15 per cent subsidy will be provided through state nodal agencies, Solar Energy Corporation
of India, IREDA, empanelled government agencies, public sector undertakings of the Central
and state governments and participating banks.
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Also, domestic content requirement (for modules made in India) will be applicable to only those
installations where the subsidy is provided. Private, commercial and industrial buildings rooftops
will not be covered under the subsidy unless the solar system is owned by a government
organization.
MNRE has also said that there are several other sops being given to rooftop and small solar
capacity schemes.
The subsidies and sops are being provided as part of Grid connected rooftop and small solar
power plants programme, under which rooftop units from 1 kWp to 55 kWp are being
promoted.
16 hydropower projects under construction in Northeast
NEW DELHI, Aug 6: Sixteen hydropower projects are in various stages of

construction in the northeast, DoNER Minister Jitendra Singh said on Thursday.
Presently, 16 hydropower projects aggregating to 5,576 MW are under various stages

of construction for the growth and development of the northeastern region, including
Sikkim, the minister for Development of North Eastern Region said in a written reply
in the Rajya Sabha.
Among the projects underway are the Subansiri Lower under the National Hydro
Power Corporation, and the Kameng and Pare projects under the North Eastern Electric
Power Corporation (Neepco). All these three projects are in Arunachal Pradesh.
Another project in the state, Gongri, is being constructed by the private sector, the
minister said.
In Mizoram, Neepco is constructing the Turial hydropower project.
In Meghalaya, the state government is constructing the New Umtru hydropower

project.
According to the minister, as many as 10 hydel power projects are being constructed in
Sikkim by the private sector Teesta St. III, Teesta St.VI, Rangti-IV, Jorethang Loop,
Bhasmey, Tashiding, Dikch, Rangit-II, Rongnichu, and Panan.
Based on the studies for re-assessment of hydroelectric potential of the country,

completed by the Central Electricity Authority in 1987, identified hydropower potential
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in the country is 1,48,701 MW, Jitendra Singh said.
This includes 62,604 MW of potential in the northeastern region, including Sikkim.
He said that at present, 10 projects with an installed capacity of 1,242 MW are in

operation in the northeastern region.
In addition, there hydro electric projects with an installed capacity of 669 MW are in
operation in Sikkim. In addition, thermal power plants with total installed capacity of
1,000 MW are under development in the region. Gas-based Palatana Power Plant (Unit
II) of 726 MW in Tripura has been commissioned on December 1, 2014, he said.
The central government has also taken a joint initiative with various states to provide
24x7 power for all.
State specific documents for 24x7 power for all (PFA) have been prepared in respect
of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. For other states, the matter is being pursued and
meetings have been held at MoP/CEA (ministry of power/Central Electricity
Authority) level with the states, he said. (IANS)
67% of rural households still use firewood

In contrast, more than 68% of urban households use LPG for cooking
IndiaSpend Team August 10, 2015 Last Updated at 12:18 IST
More than 67% of rural households in India still depend onfirewood or wood chips for cooking.
This is a decline of only 12% over two decades, according to the latest data released by the
ministry of statistics.
The use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking in rural areas has increased from 2% to
15% of households during the period 1993-94 to 2011-12, an increase of 7.5 times.
Nearly 10% of rural households still cook with dung cakes, a marginal fall from 11.5% in 1993-
94.
About one million deaths are reported annually in India due to household air pollution caused by
fumes from cooking, heating and lighting activities, IndiaSpend had earlier reported.
In contrast, more than 68% of urban households use LPG for cooking.
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Many urban households too cook with firewood
Of environmental and economic relevance is the fact that 14% of households in urban areas still
cook with firewood.
The encouraging aspect in urban households is that the use of kerosene has declined from more
than 23% to 6%.
In both rural and urban households, there are some who do not cook: 1% of rural households
have no arrangements; the same holds good for nearly 7% of urban households.
Poorer states use firewood, richer states LPG
Data from the states highlight the imbalances between rural and urban households.
More than 93% of rural households in Chhattisgarh use firewood or wood chips to cook with
followed by Rajasthan (89%) and Odisha (87%).
In urban India, Haryana reported more than 86% of households using LPG for cooking purpose,
followed by Andhra Pradesh (77%) and Punjab (75%).
Lighting follows urban-rural differences
The rural-urban difference continues in lighting sources. While more than 96% of urban
households use electricity for lighting, only 73% of rural households use electricity as an energy
source for lighting.
More than 26% of rural households still use kerosene as the primary energy source for lighting.
No Indian state has reported using only electricity for lighting in urban or rural areas, despite the
focus on 247 power for all households across the nation by various governments.
Bihar was at the bottom of the list, with 26% of rural households electrified, followed by Uttar
Pradesh at 40% and Assam 55%.
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu reported the highest electricity use in urban areas at 99%, followed
by Karnataka (98%) and Andhra Pradesh (98%). Occupying the bottom of the urban-areas-with-
electricity list were Bihar (81%), Uttar Pradesh (88%) and Assam (90%).
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Electricity use has spread, but India lags compatriots in BRICS
Over the last two decades, electricity has clearly replaced kerosene as the primary source of
lighting in both rural and urban areas. While 62% of households used kerosene in rural India in
1993-94, the figure has dropped to 26%.
The use of electricity as a source of lighting has improved from 83% in urban households in
1993-94 to 96% in 2011-12.
Overall, electricity consumption in India is the lowest amongst the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India,
China, South Africa), according to this Brazilian government study.
An average Indians electricity consumption is 75% less than a Russians and 80% less than a
South African. An average Chinese consumes seven times more electricity than an Indian while
a Brazilian consumes 2.6 times more.
August 12, 2015 07:41 IST

Government plans to generate 20,000 mw solar power
Roof top solar panels to be encouraged on the lines of Germany
The Union Government has drawn up plans to facilitate the setting up of 26 solar power plants at
26 locations in the country and increase the installed power generation capacity by 20,000 mw,
said Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Resources, at the
international conference on Renewable Energy and Sustainable Environment held at the Dr.
Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology in Pollachi on Tuesday.
A release from the college quoting him said that the move would make India a leading country in
solar energy production. The Government was drawing up plans to set up solar energy plants
atop buildings and on vacant lands, taking a cue from Germany.
In Tamil Nadu, there would be a move to install a 600 mw solar power plant, the release said.
The College had organised the conference in collaboration with the Department of Science and
Technology, Government of India, IEEE and the Cape Breton University, Canada.
The objective was to provide a platform for scientists and engineers from industries, non-
government organisations and education institutions from around the world to exchange ideas on
the topic.
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The organisers had received 200 papers and chose 90 of those based on peer reviews. The release
added that M. Manickam, Chairman of the College, C. Ramasamy, Secretary of NIA institutions,
Ibrahim Alladin, International Advisor to the College, and others spoke at the inauguration. The
Hinduis the media partner for the conference.
India to have excess coal if government hits fuel production target

By Debjoy Sengupta, ET Bureau | 12 Aug, 2015, 10.10AM IST
KOLKATA: India is likely to see an oversupply of 400 million tonnes of coal if the government
achieves its target of producing 1.5 billion tonnes of the fuel by 2020. The nation will, however,
not be able to export this volume as international market for coal will be almost dead by then,
experts from US-based Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) told ET.
"Combined with a major grid and energy efficiency drive, the doubling of domestic coal
production and fivefold lift in renewable will see India exit this decade with not only a zero
reliance on thermal coal imports, but also significant excess supply of domestic coal," said Tim
Buckley , director of energy finance studies, Australasia, at IEEFA.
Funded by entities such as the Rockefeller Family Fund, Energy Foundation and Mertz-Gilmore
Foundation, Ohio-based IEEFA is a financial and economic research & analyses firm that
specialises in energy and environment.
According to IEEFA's estimate, the power demand in India will rise by almost 60 per cent in
2022. In absolute terms, this will be around 50 billion units, touching 131.8 billion units per
annum by 2022.
The government has adopted a multi-pronged approach to equate demand, including capacity
addition of 175 giga watt of renewable energy by 2022, sustained reduction in the ag gregate
technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, and increased usage of energy efficient lighting
systems as well as three-fold rise in coal pro duction.
IEEFA estimates that reducing AT&C losses by just 1 per cent per annum could deliver 11.4
billion units of power savings, equa ting to a whopping 23 per cent of India's re quired increase
in net electricity gen eration. If energy-efficiency initia tives can deliver a net electricity sav ings
of just 1 per cent per annum, those likewise could reduce required elec tricity generation growth
by 7.5 bil lion units or 15 per cent of the total re quired. The plan to install 75 giga watt of solar
power capacity by 202122 alone can deliver 11 billion units of power or 22 per cent of the
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required electricity demand increase.
"The target to install 175 GW of renewable by 2021-22 looked ridiculously ambitious when first
announced. But it seems all too achievable with both major domestic and global firms
increasingly endorsing these plans including Softbank, Foxconn and Bharti's $20 billion
announcements for 20 giga watt of new solar capacities. Commitments to major new projects in
India over the last month alone from firms such as ENGIE, Trina Solar, Hanwha Q Cells, First
Solar, SkyPower and SunEdison reads like a who's who of the largest and most successful
renewable firms in the world," said Buckley .
"All this seems to be achievable. A 6.9 per cent growth in coal production in 2014 and a 10.5 per
cent year-to-date sug gests a sustained improvement is coal supplies. Coal SecretaryAnil
Swarup has said that 550 million tonnes of production in 2015-16 is on track, and this is a 50
million tonnes increase in just one year. Energy Minister (Piyush) Goyal has suggested private
coal production could rise to 500 million tonnes on the unwinding of 'Coalgate', and the freeing
up of these 204 coal deposits.Combined, this suggests a target of 1.5 billion tonnes of coal
production, a more than doubling of India's current rate," said Buckley .
"PM Modi might exit his first term in 2019 with the problem of what to do with the surplus
domestic coal, a remarkable scenario that would never have been contemplated even 18 months
ago. Given the structural decline in seaborne thermal coal markets globally , exporting is not
really an option, and stranded asset risk needs to be evaluated," he warned.
SoftBank seeks major policy shift in global tenders for solar power
By Pranab Dhal Samanta, ET Bureau | 13 Aug, 2015, 08.20AM IST
NEW DELHI: SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son's ambitious proposal to produce 20 gigawatts
(GW) of solar energy in India has triggered a major policy shift with the government now
looking at issuing mega global tender packages inviting companies to set up solar
power generating capacity of 5-10 GW (5,000-10,000 MW).
Sources familiar with the matter told ETthat after a series of meetings at the prime minister's
office (PMO), the cabinet secretary has formed an inter-ministerial committee to work out the
modalities, much of which will draw upon preconditions that came up in subsequent discussions
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with SoftBank and its Indian partners. The committee will include members from the ministries
of finance, industry, power as well as new & renewable energy.
Preconditions are essentially the policy tweaks which SoftBank and its partners believe are
needed to make investments in the Indian solar power sector viable.
Son's commitment, it may be recalled, was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision
on solar energy. "Since I started studying the project, he (PM Modi) then announced 100 GW
vision for solar, increased from the last government's 20 GW target. I said, 'wow, that's a great
vision!' I said OK, and I would like to support and contribute to making that happen," he told
ETafter his meeting with Modi on June 22. Modi has set a target for investments of $100 billion
in the solar sector by 2022. Much of this is expected to come from foreign investors. Of India's
total installed capacity of 2,71,000 MW, renewables largely wind account for just over
30,000 MW.
A major issue which came up in course of discussions on Soft-Bank's proposal was the need to
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obtain encumbrance-free land at 4-5 acres per megawatt. This may not be a major obstacle as
state governments such as Telangana and Rajasthan have indicated they would find dedicated
land which could also be called solar zones.
GUARANTEED OFFTAKE OF POWER
The discussions with SoftBank also made it clear to the government that an investor in this sector
would need guaranteed offtake of total power produced alongside watertight agreements with
distribution companies (discoms). Further, the government concerned would have to act as some
sort of guarantor with regard to payments. The committee will now explore what kind of
assurances the government can provide given that poor financial health of discoms is a deterrent
to investors. The other issue highlighted in the SoftBank offer was a demand to have exchange
rate indexed to the yen as a safeguard against rupee's volatility. The panel has been tasked to
examine the possibility of indexing rate to a bunch of currencies such as the US dollar, yen and
euro.
About 63% solar panel are imported from China, says government
Thursday, 13 August 2015 - 6:40pm IST | Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI
About 63% of the total imports of solar power panels have been from China during the first two
months of the current fiscal, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
As many as 1.90 crore solar power panels were imported from China out of the total imports of
3.02 crore panels in April-May, New & Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyalsaid in a reply
to Lok Sabha.
Solar panel imports from China constituted over 70% of the total imports of country in the
previous fiscal.
India imported 16.15 crore solar panels last fiscal, of which 11.35 crore were from China.
Similarly, in 2013-14, solar panel imports from China constituted over 65% of total imports by
the country.
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India imported 15.41 crore solar panels in 2013-14 which includes 10.04 crore from China.
Other countries on which India depends heavily for import of solar panels include Taiwan and
Malaysia.
The minister said the total annual installed domestic manufacturing capacity of the solar cells
and modules is 1,328 MW and 2,523 MW respectively.
He listed several initiatives taken for promoting domestic production that include
reduction/exemption of custom and excise duty on several input raw materials required for
manufacturing of cells and modules.
The government also provides capital subsidy for manufacturers under special incentive package
scheme (SIPS) & Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIP).
Earlier this year, government increased India s solar power capacity target under the Jawaharlal
Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) by five times from 20,000 MW to 1,00,000 MW by
2022.
This target comprises 40,000 MW of rooftop solar projects and 60,000 MW through large and
medium scale grid connected solar power projects.
India has 17.9% untapped energy-efficiency potential: Study

By PTI | 13 Aug, 2015, 03.35PM IST
NEW DELHI: India has approximately 17.9 per cent of untapped electricity-efficiencypotential
and there is a need for more energy-efficient equipments to be made available in the domestic
market, according to a study.
"India has approximately 17.9 per cent of untapped electricity-efficiency potential and
optimising industrial motor-driven systems could deliver overall savings up to 60 per cent on
industrial electricity consumption...,"Siemens Financial Services said in a research finding.
Siemens Financial Services, a subsidiary of Siemens AG offering financing services, conducted a

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research among the global top 20 industrial equipment manufacturers.
The report said that in order to remain competitive in the future, the manufacturing sectormust
continually innovate and reinvent itself.
"In particular, electricity consumption and prices have risen substantially over the last decade.
Electricity usage in the manufacturing sector has undergone huge growth over the last 40 years,
rising three times faster than overall energy use, and now represents over a quarter of industrial
energy consumption," it said.
The research further provides an estimate on the unused potential for electricity-efficiency (usage
and cost-savings, expressed as a proportion of total electricity consumption) in the
manufacturing sector, putting India in the second position following Russia and ahead of China
in electricity-efficiency potential.
"Investing in electricity-efficiency technologies not only helps cut energy bills, manufacturing
costs and carbon emissions, new equipment often brings productivity and capacity improvements
as an added bonus, improving business performance and competitiveness," Siemens Financial
Services Chief Executive Officer Sunil Kapoor said.
"The global manufacturing sector is inevitably electrifying. Resulting in electricity becoming a

pathway to a sustainable energy system and allowing greater levels of automation and
digitalisation in the manufacturing process," he said.
Access to finance to fund investments in energy-efficient equipment remains relatively restricted

in many countries, especially in India where there is a large base of smaller and medium-sized
manufacturing operations, he added.
Such tailored financing arrangements will prove fundamental to the Indian manufacturing sector
in terms of energy-efficiency and thus, will boost the government's 'Make in India' initiative,
placing India as a manufacturing hub, Kapoor further said.
The manufacturing sector, globally, is now estimated to account for 42 per cent of total annual
electricity consumption.
The sector has, therefore, become keenly focused on installing more electricity-efficient
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equipment to reduce the consumption and cost of electricity, the research said.
As a result, an increasing range of electricity-efficient solutions are now available to

manufacturers that help reduce electricity consumption, reduce transmission losses, improve
business performance, reduce life-cycle costs and meet environmental regulations, it added.
Specialist financiers, who understand in great detail the payback that can be obtained from
electricity-efficiency technologies, are stepping into the gap to provide financing arrangements
that can help the country in energy savings, thus offsetting the cost of acquiring energy-efficient
equipment.
'Make disaster study must for Uttarakhand hydel projects'
Vishwa Mohan & Pradeep Thakur,TNN | Aug 17, 2015, 07.09 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Flagging direct correlation between development activities and disaster in
ecologically sensitive regions, a home ministry's body - National Institute of Disaster
Management (NIDM) - has urged the government to carry out 'Disaster Impact Assessment' of
proposed hydro-power projects in such fragile zones before giving its clearance.
It said the comprehensive 'Disaster Impact Assessment' of proposed hydro-power plants should
be made mandatory along with the existing practice of 'Environmental Impact Assessment' (EIA)
for project clearance.
Though the NIDM, in a recent study, elaborated how largescale deforestation and developmental
activities had contributed to the Uttarakhand disaster in 2013, it specifically noted the
vulnerability of the state due to existing hydro-power projects and suggested that the government
should look for alterative sources of renewable energy like solar, wind and bio-mass in the
Himalayan region than depend on hydroelectricity.
At present, the environment and forests ministry through 'environmental appraisal committees'
carries out EIA for projects including hydro-power before giving its green clearances. The
assessment is used as a tool to identify environmental, social and economic impacts of a project
prior to decision-making.
The EIA, made mandatory under the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986, is carried out for all
mining, industrial, thermal power, river valley, multi-purpose dams, irrigation, hydro-electric,
infrastructure and nuclear projects.
But there is no concept of 'Disaster Impact Assessment' which can be an important guide and
preparatory mechanism for crisis management. The DIA can be made on the basis of a
comprehensive analysis of the potential impacts that may result as consequence of a disaster.
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The NIDM's suggestion to have DIA of hydro-power projects assumes significance as it clearly
sees such projects as recipe of disaster. It noted that in the June 2013 floods, the muck dumped
by the 330 mw Srinagar hydro-electric project might have intensified the factors responsible for
causing damage downstream.
The study, carried out by experts of the NIDM, also pointed out that "hydro-power projects are
blamed for disturbing ecological balance in the sensitive fragile zone of Himalayas, leading to
more landslides and other associated risks".
Though the institute left the question whether the government should at all go for hydro-power
projects in Uttarakhand to the expert committee of the environment ministry that has been
examining it under direction of the Supreme Court, it supported the concerns of
environmentalists who have been opposed to dams and big reservoirs in ecologically fragile
regions.
In its 184-page study on 'Uttarakhand Disaster 2013', the NIDM study said, "The impact of
hydro-power projects on environment, ecology, biodiversity and economic and social life of the
region has always been a matter of concern. In this context, the observation made by the
Supreme Court of India is very significant."
Taking note of experts' views, the Supreme Court had in August 2013 stayed construction of all
hydro-power projects in Uttarakhand in the wake of the disaster and also restrained the
environment ministry from granting clearance to such projects until further orders.
Gujarat to be 4th largest state in rooftop solar power projects by 2022: report
The Government of India raised the National Solar Mission's solar installation target from
22,000 Mw to 100,000 Mw by 2022
Vimukt Dave | Ahmedabad August 18, 2015 Last Updated at 16:46 IST
By 2021-22, Gujarat could emerge as the fourth largest state in India with proposed 3,200
megawatt (Mw) grid connected rooftop solar power projects, a latest Indian solar power market
update report by Mercom Capital Group stated.
As per the global communications and consulting firm's report, by 2021-22, Gujarat will follow
states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in terms of grid connected rooftop solar
power projects which could cumulatively rise to 40,000 Mw buoyed by the Government of
India's National Solar Mission.
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The Government of India raised the National Solar Mission's solar installation target from
22,000 Mw to 100,000 Mw by 2022 with a split of 60,000 Mw for large-scale projects and
40,000 Mw for rooftop projects.
According to Mercom Capital Group's Indian solar market update report, Gujarat proposed 15
Mw grid connected rooftop solar project forthe year 2015-16 which could increase to 3,200 Mw
by 2021-22.
On the other hand, by 2021-22, Maharashtra would lead with 4,700 Mw rooftop projects
followed by Uttar Pradesh with 4,300 Mw and Tamil Nadu with 3,500 Mw grid connected
rooftop solar power projects. The projections come at a time when the Gujarat government
recently declared relaxation in revised Solar Power Policy 2015.
"Gujarat Solar Power Policy 2015 aims to scale up solar power generation in sustainable manner.
Object of the policy are to promotegreen and clean energy. Most importantly it will encourage
growth of local manufacturing facilities in line with Make in India program and promote
research, development and innovation in renewable energy sector," said an official of energy
department of Gujarat.
Under the policy, any surplus energy generated and exportedafter adjustment of the consumption
at the end of the billing cycle shell bepurchased by the concerned distribution company.
Gujarat government has revised its solar power policy and as per new policy government will
gives exemption in transmission charge and loss, wheeling charge and loss and electricity duty
for the rooftop solar powerprojects to households, government and industry also. Mercom report
said that while 60,000 Mw may be achievable with the right policies in place, 40,000 Mw of
rooftop in six years is very aggressive considering cumulative rooftop installations in India are
just under 250 Mw.
Not even one percent of India's solar potential tapped: Study

August 18, 2015
Not even one percent of India's total solar energy potential has been harvested till date, a recent
study by Deloitte and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has revealed.
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All this while the National Institute of Solar Energy has estimated India's solar power potential at
749 GW.
The study also revealed that installed solar power capacity in India grew from 14 MW in 2010 to
3,744 MW by March 2015.
"There are 300 million people in India without power; 400 million people are supplied erratic
power; more than half the population of India does not get proper power," said Ashish Khanna,
CEO, Tata Power Solar.
Speaking at the CII Annual Power Conference here on Tuesday, Khanna lauded the government
of India's ambitious target of achieving 100 GW solar power capacity by 2022 compared to
China's 100 GW by 2020.
The central and state governments have embarked on initiatives like rooftop solar projects, solar
parks, standalone mini-grids for rural electrification and off-grid applications such as solar
cookers, lanterns and others for producing maximum solar power in India.
About use of solar power in Karnataka, G.V. Balaram, MD, Karnataka Renewable Energy
Development, said: "Excluding rooftop solar power generation, plans are afoot to increase solar
power generation to 20,000 MW using wastelands by 2020."
Balaram said 500 MW solar power capacity will be added in Karnataka in the next six to eight
months.
"Karnataka's solar policy aims to install 400 MW solar rooftop projects by 2018. Harvesting
solar energy through rooftop installation not only enables flexibility but also reduces dependence
on diesel-based captive and back-up generation units for industrial and commercial consumers,"
said M. Maheshwar Rao, MD, Karnataka Power Corporation Limited.
The annual power conference will brainstorm on policy issues and challenges, new and emerging
technologies, grid evacuation, availability and load despatch and innovative financing models in
the solar power sector.
Prime Minister Modi pitches for solar energy as ultimate solution to India's energy problem
NEW DELHI: Describing solar energy as the ultimate solution to India's energy problem, the
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called upon Indian scientists to work towards
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developing more efficient equipment which could revolutionise the entire sector.
His remarks came during his interaction with 30 eminent scientists from top institutions of India
here at a gathering which was meant for discussing scientific solutions to the country's various
problems.
The Prime Minister picked up the point of solar energy while discussing the issue of climate
change in the context of the upcoming UN climate conference (COP21) in Paris.
Referring to the critical negotiations in coming days in run up to the COP21 in November-
December, Modi also asked the scientists to come up with new ideas and concepts so that India
can contribute to fight climate change as a global leader.
His emphasis on solar power assumes significance in the context of India's goal to generate 100
GW of electricity from solar energy by 2022. The country is expected to scale up its target quite
substantially (almost double) by 2030. India's new goal will be reflected in its 'climate action
plan' (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution - INDC) which is to be submitted to the
UNFCCC next month.
In the course of his interaction which lasted for over two-and-half hours, several scientists made
brief presentations on the progress made by India in different fields of science.
Appreciating the works done by the scientists, the Prime Minister called upon the scientific
community to work towards solving the problems faced by India, including in the emerging
critical areas of energy and water.
Describing the task of cleaning up the rivers, including the Ganga, as a "scientific project," he
said it was a challenge to Indian scientists to come up with innovative solutions to achieve this
goal.
In the area of healthcare, the Prime Minister said Indian science must address the unique
healthcare needs and challenges that confront India. He mentioned the prevalence of
malnutrition, and the disease of sickle-cell anaemia in certain tribal areas, as illustrations.
He also called for overlapping traditional knowledge with modern systems and said India must
become self-reliant in medical equipment manufacturing.
Reiterating that while science is universal, technology must be local, the Prime Minister called
for innovations in the agriculture sector that would lower wastage of agricultural produce, and
eliminate entirely, India's import of agricultural products.
As an illustration, the Prime Minister mentioned that India produces most of the global
production of castor seed, and yet other countries import raw castor seeds from India to add huge
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value, and supply the resulting products globally.
On the administrative front, the Prime Minister said that Indian science seemed to be constrained
by a silo-approach, which should be ended through greater coordination, and establishing a
multi-disciplinary environment for research.
The vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog, Arvind Panagariya, and principal scientific advisor to
government, R Chidambaram, were among those present at the high-level interaction.
Sun shines on India's solar ambitions as prices nosedive

The two latest solar bids in Madhya Pradesh and Telangana saw tariffs touching a low of Rs 5.05
per unit and Rs 5.17 per unit, respectively
Shreya Jai | New Delhi August 21, 2015 Last Updated at 00:09 IST
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Even as the global market battles saturation in clean energy, solar power price in India is on its
way down - a landmark 70 per cent decline from 2010 when solar capacity in the country was a
mere 2 Mw against the present-day 4,000 Mw. The slide in global solar module prices due to
oversupply coupled with the entry of new aggressive players in the Indian solar market, is
pushing solar tariffs closer to the thermal power price. Solar capacity addition is also expected to
outpace wind capacity for the first time, this fiscal end.
The two latest solar bids in Madhya Pradesh and Telangana saw tariffs touching a low of Rs 5.05
per unit and Rs 5.17 per unit, respectively. India's run-up to its solar dream has attracted foreign
players, big corporate groups to have a dedicated solar arm and promote start-ups to be sector
majors.
"Solar power prices have primarily moved south on account of the competitive allocation of
projects and declining capex-largely modules. The fall has been further accentuated by the
emergence of India as one of the top solar markets globally and investor confidence in the India
solar story," said Rupesh Agarwal, advisory partner & leader-energy, BDO India LLP.
The downslide in prices started post large-scale allocations since 2011 with the launch of the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). The first phase of the solar mission in 2011
pulled the price down to Rs 10.95 per unit. It was Rs 17.91 per unit in 2010, which came down to
Rs 12.5 per unit when Gujarat tendered large-scale projects the following year.
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"Since then, the prices have been gradually coming down. The price reduction would have been
more pronounced if the Indian rupee had not depreciated by 20 per cent between 2012 and now,"
said Jasmeet Khurana, senior manager-consulting at Bridge to India, a leading consultancy firm
monitoring foreign investment in Indian renewable energy space.
Module prices, which constitute 80 per cent of the cost of a solar power plant, fell to $0.60-0.70
a unit currently from $1.5-2 per unit in 2012. The global glut in demand of solar in the US and
European markets and oversupply of modules because of aggressive Chinese manufacturers
slashed prices of solar further to Rs 8.5 per unit in 2012 and then Rs 6.5 in 2013.
Come 2014, the Narendra Modi-led NDA government revised the solar mission target by five
times to one lakh Mw. The government's first-of-its-kind investor meet for renewable RE-Invest
in 2015 saw two lakh Mw worth of solar power commitments by prominent names in the energy
sector.
Sector experts believe, solar tariff would now be in the range of Rs 5.9-5.7 per unit for some
time. Khurana said for projects to be allocated this year, an internal rate of return of 15-16 per
cent is economically sensible.
Price stabilisation is an outcome of number of parameters like capex, financing cost and
efficiency. While the industry has made significant strides in bridging capex and financing cost,
the next big tariff breakthrough would be driven by efficiency gains, said Mr. Agarwal.
Contrasting it with thermal power, where the recent power purchase bids have skyrocketed to Rs
4.9 per unit from Rs 2.5 per unit in just two years, solar could soon achieve grid parity.
We certainly do not foresee capex falling in the proportion it did during the last 4-5 years and
while competitive financing could lower tariffs by 50 paise in the near term eventually its the
developers call on capacity utilisation factor that would determine the base tariff for solar, said
Mr. Agarwal.
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Khurana, however, cautioned the biggest challenge for the solar sector would continue to be the
financial ability of discoms to procure power. With the solar targets being revised to 1 lakh Mw,
grid will also start becoming an issue as the penetration increases in select geographies.
NSA Ajit Doval, Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman & other MPs keen to harness solar energy
By Anubhuti Vishnoi, ET Bureau | 24 Aug, 2015, 03.49AM IST
NEW DELHI: Solar power is dominating the political landscape in New Delhi despite the
plummeting prices of crude oil, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to set up 100 gigawatt
solar plants by 2022 has prompted ministers and Parliamentarians to jump into the field.
National security advisor Ajit Doval wants it at home while commerce minister Nirmala
Sitharaman believes it's the best solution to light up two villages she has adopted inAndhra
Pradesh while several ministers and members of Parliament are closely looking at the potential
of solar energy in their respective states and constituencies, according to officials.
There's a whirl of activity in the ministry of new & renewable energy where those making a
beeline include not just global solar technology firms but MPs, ministers, heads of institutions
and just ordinary bureaucrats.
Sitharaman's office confirmed that discussions were on to work on a comprehensive solar power
plan for Pedamainavanilanka and Thurputallu villages in Andhra's West Godavari district that
she has adopted under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SADY).
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The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) is already in the middle of devising 'solar
solutions' for the two villages. "The idea is to make it possible for the two villages to switch
completely to solar power. We are looking at ways of doing so and studies are at advanced stages
for the same," a senior official from SECI told ET on condition of anonymity.
A meeting will be held this week to finalise the modalities of the plan. Officials from the
ministry of new & renewable energy (MNRE) confirmed that they had received a request from
Doval to help convert his own residence in Noida to solar power and a site visit had already been
done for the same earlier this month. While attempts were made to reach the NSA on the same,
there was no response. Women & child development minister Maneka Gandhi is said to be keen
on procuring solar-powered streetlights for villages in her constituency Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh,
especially for the safety of women. But the current subsidy offer on the government scheme is
considered not adequate to go ahead with this plan, sources said.
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Several MPs from Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand have written to the renewable energy ministry to
get solar-powered streetlights installed in parts of their constituency where electricity supply is
heavily disrupted.
Over 300 companies are in the fray to meet the demand for solar power equipment to help the
country meet the target of generating 100 GW of solar energy by 2022.
Falling prices of solar power equipment have generated greater interest and demand among
individuals and small organisations for tapping the sun. Several government offices are also
looking to switch to solar. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) complex in New
Delhi is learnt to be in advanced stages of getting a rooftop solar power solution installed.
Transport Bhawan, which houses tourism and transport ministries, is also planning a basic solar
power installation. The Bureau of Indian Standards, National Productivity Council and Yojana
Bhawan/NITI Aayog buildings have already commissioned rooftop solar installations.
World's largest solar power station to come up in Madhya Pradesh

By PTI | 23 Aug, 2015, 03.05PM IST
BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh will house world's largest 750 Mega Watts(MW) solar power
station in Rewa district, state's energy minister Rajendra Shukla said today.
"Global tenders for commissioning the solar power station in an area over 1,500 hectares at
Bandwar region in Gudh tehsil of Rewa, will be invited shortly," Shukla told PTI.
He said that if all goes well, the plant will start generating solar energy by March 2017.
The project - Rewa Ultra Mega Solar - is a joint venture of Solar Energy Corporation of
India and MP Urja Vikas Nigam, where in both parties have 50 per cent stake, he added.
According to him, the project will come up on barren government land and one MW power
generation needs two hectares tract of land.
The minister said the cost of generating one MW solar energy comes to around Rs 7.6 crore.
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At present, world's largest solar power project - Ivanpah Solar Power Facility of 392 MW - is at
Mojave deserts in California, United States, the minister informed.
In February last year, Narendra Modi, as BJP's prime ministerial candidate, inaugurated Asia's
largest solar power project at Neemuch.
As per reports, Welspun's solar power project in Neemuch, some 400 km from here, had come
up at a cost of around Rs 1,100 crore on 305 hectares of land.
Master plans approved for 50 solar cities

IANS | Aug 23, 2015, 08.30 PM IST
NEW DELHI: The government has approved a proposed master plan to develop 50 solar cities,
for which master plans have been prepared for 46, an official statement said on Sunday.
Three of these cities under the programme are planned to be set up the national capital region,
the ministry of new and renewable energy said in a status note.
"At least one city in each state to a maximum of five cities in a state may be supported by the
ministry," it said.
Out of the proposed 60 solar cities, sanctions have been issued for 50 cities that include New
Delhi, Agra, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Amritsar, New Town (Kolkata), Howrah,
Madhyamgram, Kochi and Bhopal.
Master plans have been prepared for 46, including Agra, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Surat, Thane,
Shirdi, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Imphal, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bilaspur, Raipur,
Agartala, Guwahati, Jorhat, Mysore, Shimla, Hamirpur, Jodhpur, Vijayawada, Ludhiana,
Amritsar, Dehradun, Panaji and New Delhi (NDMC area), the report said.
Further, in-principle approvals have been given to five cities - Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur,
Indore, Leh and Mahabubnagar - it added.
"Master plan of Indore has been prepared and the other corporations/state nodal agencies are in
the process of engaging consultants for preparation of master plans," the ministry said.
The ministry had empanelled 26 consultants in June 2009 to prepare the master plans.
Eight cities are to be developed as "Model Solar Cities", the ministry said, adding Nagpur,
Chandigarh, Gandhinagar and Mysuru have so far been selected for this.
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Fifteen cities will be developed as "Pilot Solar Cities" of which 13 including Agartala,
Coimbatore, Rajkot, Shimla, Faridabad, Thane, Raipur, Shirdi, Leh, Aizawl, Puducherry,
Vijaywada and Amritsar have been named.
Parliament was informed last that the new and renewable energy ministry has been implementing
the programme under which a total of 60 cities and towns are proposed to be supported for
development as "solar or green cities".
The criteria set for identification of such cities include a population between 50,000 to 50 lakh
(with relaxation given to special category states including northeast states), initiatives and
regulatory measures already taken along with a high level of commitment in promoting energy
efficiency and renewable energy.
Indias tapped solar potential is still under one percent: study

India's solar power potential estimated at 749 GW while the tapped solar power output is still
under one percent
By: IANS | Updated: August 24, 2015 4:39 pm
Not even one percent of Indias total solar energy potential has been harvested till date, a recent
study by Deloitte and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has revealed.
All this while the National Institute of Solar Energy has estimated Indias solar power potential
at 749 GW.
The study also revealed that installed solar power capacity in India grew from 14 MW in 2010 to
3,744 MW by March 2015.
There are 300 million people in India without power; 400 million people are supplied erratic
power; more than half the population of India does not get proper power, said Ashish Khanna,
CEO, Tata Power Solar.
Speaking at the CII Annual Power Conference here on Tuesday, Khanna lauded the government
of Indias ambitious target of achieving 100 GW solar power capacity by 2022 compared to
Chinas 100 GW by 2020.
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The central and state governments have embarked on initiatives like rooftop solar projects, solar
parks, standalone mini-grids for rural electrification and off-grid applications such as solar
cookers, lanterns and others for producing maximum solar power in India.
About use of solar power in Karnataka, G.V. Balaram, MD, Karnataka Renewable Energy
Development, said: Excluding rooftop solar power generation, plans are afoot to increase solar
power generation to 20,000 MW using wastelands by 2020.
Balaram said 500 MW solar power capacity will be added in Karnataka in the next six to eight
months.
Karnatakas solar policy aims to install 400 MW solar rooftop projects by 2018. Harvesting
solar energy through rooftop installation not only enables flexibility but also reduces dependence
on diesel-based captive and back-up generation units for industrial and commercial consumers,
said M. Maheshwar Rao, MD, Karnataka Power Corporation Limited.
The annual power conference will brainstorm on policy issues and challenges, new and emerging
technologies, grid evacuation, availability and load despatch and innovative financing models in
the solar power sector.
Aug 26 2015 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Dialogue panel presents draft solar policy to all
The Delhi Dialogue Commission on Tuesday presented the draft solar policy for Delhi in a
meeting with NGOs, discoms, power department officials and others. The highlights of the
policy included developing Delhi as a solar city and generating about 1,000 MW between 2015
and 2020 when the policy will be implemented.
Sources in the power department told TOI that various incentives have been proposed to get
commercial as well as individuals interested in implementing the solar rooftop systems. These
include VAT and import duty exemption, electricity tax exemption and many other measures. It
will be similar to Haryana's draft solar policy .We have proposed various incentives; they are
not necessarily subsidies to make rooftop systems attractive. It has to be made a mass movement
to achieve such a huge target, an official said.
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NGOs that participated said the draft policy looks exciting but without financial subsidies it
may be difficult to implement. The ministry of new and renewable energy has recently approved
a proposed master plan to develop 50 solar cities, including three in NCR.Of the proposed 60
solar cities, sanctions have been issued for 50, which include New Delhi, Agra, Chandigarh,
Gurgaon, Faridabad, Amritsar, New Town (Kolkata), Howrah, Madhyamgram, Kochi and
Bhopal.
Sources said a German delegation in the meeting gave a presentation on how they had
implemented solar power policy there. The delegation discussed the mistakes they had made in
the initial planning, the factors that were not considered, and inputs on how the Delhi draft policy
should not repeat the same mistakes. The idea was to learn from others and gain from their
experience, said a source.
Discoms also expressed concern about the cost factor involved. They said since a large
chunk of Delhi's domestic consumers already had subsidized tariffs, it would be subsidized
tariffs, it would be up to the government and DERC to ensure that the solar power was affordable
to make the idea successful.
August 26, 2015 06:47 IST

Betting high on solar power
World Bank to provide loans for the solar projects in Delhi
Solar power generation is set to gather pace in the Capital with the Delhi government ready to
roll out a Solar Power Policy on the RESCO model with a target of producing 1000 MW of
electricity by 2020. More importantly, top sources told The Hindu that the World Bank is
planning to provide loans for the solar projects in Delhi.
Not just that, if all goes as planned, the city is going to get its first exclusive solar power plant at
the defunct Indraprastha Thermal Power station. Starting with a capacity of 5 MW, the Delhi
government will be floating tenders for the same by next month. Later its capacity would be
increased to 20 to 25 MW.
All these proposals were mooted in the Delhi Solar Roundtable Conference organised on
Tuesday by the Delhi Dialogue Commission, a think tank of the Government of National Capital
Territory (NCT).
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Confirming the proposals, Delhis Power Minister Satyendra Jain said that the Delhi government
is soon going to release a fresh policy on solar power based on the Renewable Energy Services
Company (RESCO) model wherein the government would provide the site for various projects
while the developer will invest the capital cost for project development.
The policy will be in tandem with the net metering regulations issued by the Delhi Electricity
Regulatory Commission (DERC).
When asked about giving incentives to people who invest in solar power, the Minister clearly
stated that the Delhi Government will not provide subsidy on capital costs. We conducted a
study and found out that providing subsidy on capital costs is mostly of no use as generation of
power is not guaranteed. So our policy will provide incentives to those who are producing solar
power in terms of subsidy. For each unit produced through solar power by the household, we will
give Rs 1 Rs 1.5 as per the meter reading, he added. Currently, the MNRE offers 30 per cent
subsidy on solar equipment or capital costs.
The policy would not be on the CAPEX model, but rather on RESCO under which the project
operation and maintenance cost will also be borne by the developer. The World Bank is going to
provide loans for various projects because of which returns could be achieved by the operators in
about 10-12 years time, said Mr Jain.
World Bank to provide loans for the solar projects in Delhi
No subsidy, but draft solar plan promises competitive returns

If you are interested in setting up a solar rooftop system, don't expect a subsidy that can
bring down capital costs. The Centre recently withdrew the 30% subsidy for commercial and
industrial consumers; the Delhi government's new draft policy also doesn't have any provisions
for a subsidy , which pretty much means consumers in Delhi will install solar panels or rooftop
solar systems at market costs. Experts, however, believe that solar power is anyway competitive
because of significant returns on investment within a short time.
The draft policy that was presented on Tuesday focused on achieving 1,000 MW by 2020
and 2 GW by 2025. The policy stresses on first covering all the government buildings on a
renewable energy service company (RESCO) mode wherein a consumer need not pay
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installation cost upfront but pays for the power produced. The space is provided by the
consumer. Some discoms that attended the meeting said they were unsure a RESCO mode will
work.I don't know how many companies will come forward to do it. The Delhi government
should check the feasibility of RESCO first, said a participant. The Delhi government is
planning to incorporate solar rooftop sys tems in corporation bylaws so panels can be installed
even if they are not meeting the floor area ratio norms. There are also features like a generation-
based incentive of about Rs 2 per unit.Another incentive is accelerated depreciation, a method
to reduce tax burden on the projects. There may be provisions for a tax-free green bond.
It's good the government doesn't have any subsidy provisions. The cost of solar rooftop is
about Rs 80,000 per KW with return on investment within five years for commercial projects.
For instance, if your bill is Rs 1,500 per month, power will be free after five years for the next 15
to 20 years. Solar is very competitive now, said a power company representative.
The generation based incentive will encourage early adopters. Given current tariff
structures, this sector can see significant savings, said Pujarini Sen of Greenpeace. She cited the
example of Holy Family Hospital in Okhla that has a 300 KW system and is saving over Rs 15
lakh per year .
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WTO rules against India in solar power programme dispute with US: Report
Reuters Aug 27, 2015, 03.14AM IST
WASHINGTON: The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled against India in a dispute
with the United States over its solar power program, a business newspaper reported on
Wednesday.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed official from the commerce ministry as saying the country
planned to appeal the decision, made after the United States complained about domestic content
requirements in a program aimed at easing chronic energy shortages in India, Asia's third-largest
economy.
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India has said it expects peak power demand to double over the next five years from around
140,000 megawatts today. To help meet that demand, India wants 100,000 MW of new capacity
from solar panels, with at least 8,000 MW from locally made cells.
The newspaper said the WTO dispute settlement panel, in a confidential report to New Delhi and
Washington, found India violated global trade rules by imposing local content requirements for
solar cells and solar modules, and also struck down incentive policies such as subsidies provided
for domestic solar companies to manufacture cells and solar modules.
Poor manufacturing could cast a shadow on India's solar ambitions

Close to 75% of Indian solar power projects are built on imported cells from China and the US
Shreya Jai | New Delhi August 28, 2015 Last Updated at 00:20 IST
Even as the government gears up for another round of fighting at the World Trade Organization
(WTO) for its domestic content requirement (DCR) policy under the National Solar Mission
(NSM), the low capacity of Indian solar manufacturing could be a long-term handicap for India.
The current installed capacity of Indian solar cell manufacturing is around 1,386 Mw, of which
less than 30 per cent is operational. "India's annual demand for solar cells is close to 4,000 Mw,
but the operational capacity is just 200 Mw. With the government scaling up targets, domestic
manufacturers are nowhere close to meeting this demand," said a renewable energy sector
analyst in Delhi.
Close to 75 per cent of Indian solar power projects are built on imported cells from China and the
US.
The US filed a case in WTO in 2012 against the domestic content requirement guidelines of the
first phase of NSM. Under the stipulated guidelines, solar power project developers were
supposed to source 30 per cent of the required equipment from domestic manufacturers.
When the US and some Indian project developers condemned this, the government gave equal
shares of projects under the second phase for development from domestic and foreign content.
The Indian government also delayed the official response to the WTO in 2013 as the case was
pending with the ministry of commerce after the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE)
had given its submission.
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"The MNRE would still stand by its position that around 15 to 20 per cent of the projects would
be built on domestic content. Earlier it was 50 per cent and we have brought it down. We will
file a plea again and any amendment in the policy will be only if we lose the case," said a senior
MNRE official.
Currently, under the new mission guidelines, separate schemes are earmarked for domestic
manufacturers. The 1,000 Mw of solar projects to be built by central PSUs are mandated to be
built on indigenous solar cells, and 50 per cent of the projects to be tendered out by Solar Energy
Corporation of India would be based on domestic cells.
According to industry estimates, Indian solar panels are 30 per cent costlier than those
manufactured in China, the US, Taiwan and the European markets.
IS THE FUTURE BRIGHT?
US-WTO-INDIA SOLAR SAGA
First case filed in 2012 by the US in WTO alleging DCR to be anti-competitive policy
It was put on back burner post criticism from the US clean energy NGOs, including
Greenpeace International
JNNSM Phase II saw around 32% projects choosing domestic content
US solar companies feared decline in exports
US filed second case against JNNSM at WTO alleging threat to their exports in 2013
Indian authorities delayed response; case decision took two years and India's plea
dismissed
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NITI Aayog unveils updated data tool for energy planning
Policy body calls for heroic efforts to conserve energy
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 27:

Indias demand for energy could increase more than four-fold in the next three-and-a-half
decades if no efforts are made on the conservation front. But, heroic efforts made to contain
demand, could cut down the increase by almost half.
These estimates have been made by an interactive data tool on the countrys energy security,
launched by NITI Aayog on Thursday. The tool aims to help policy makers and stakeholders
make informed choices for better energy planning for the future.
This tool will be of particular use in the framing of the national energy policy being carried out
by NITI Aayog, said Arvind Panagariya, Vice-Chairman of the think-tank, at the launch
organised by FICCI on Thursday. The Indian Energy Security Scenarios (IESS) 2047 (Version
2.0) calculator, housed within the NITI Aayog, will suggest measures to shift the energy pattern
in a way to ensure advancement of the countrys energy security considerations.
The calculator explores Indias possible energy futures across energy supply sectors such as
solar, wind, biofuels, oil, gas, coal, and nuclear, and demand sectors such as transport, industry,
agriculture, cooking, lighting and appliances, said Anil Kumar Jain, Adviser (Energy), NITI
Aayog.
It showcases the implications that various pathways may have on Indias energy security, land
use, water costs and emissions.
The first version of the tool, launched last year, has already helped policy makers arrive at
pathways toward meeting the developmental goals of the government, like the 2022 target of 175
GW from renewables and enhancing Indias energy security, Jain pointed out.
As per the new version, Indias demand for energy is likely to increase to 22,140 TWh (Tera
Watt hours) in 2047 as opposed to 4,929 TWh in 2012 if the country does not make serious
efforts to contain demand.
Determined efforts to contain demand could bring it down to 18,634 TWh in 2047, while heroic
efforts on energy conservation would further lower demand to 12,436 TWh, according to the
analysis done by the tool.
Similarly, import dependence is expected to rise to 84 per cent of energy consumption by 2047
from 31 per cent at present. However, if the country chooses the maximum clean and renewable
energy pathway, the share of imports could reduce to 26 per cent.
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Wind forecast to help tap more power

U Tejonmayam,TNN | Aug 28, 2015, 04.57 AM IST
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has the enviable status of being one of the largest wind power-
producing states; it also possesses more around 7,800MW installed capacity of this renewable
power. Now to reap the most of this resource, the state is utilising a new wind power forecasting
service.
The output of wind farms, unlike conventional energy plants, is as changeable as the weather. So
it's not feasible to depend on it as the only source of power.
However, this flaw can be rectified if the energy can be estimated beforehand for its effective
management. The new prediction system developed by National Institute of Wind Energy
(NIWE) in collaboration with Vortex Factoria De Calcul SL, a Spanish-based company, requires
availability-based tariff (ABT) metres in wind energy pooling sub-stations. So far, these meters
have been installed in 80 sub-stations in the state and by the end of this month another 40 sub-
stations will have them, NIWE scientists said.
The system will provide the forecast every 15 minutes for up to 10 days in advance. This will
help Tangedco in scheduling and dispatching electricity from wind turbine generators. With the
wind season on (May to October), the institute is aiming to provide highly accurate results and
customizable and cost-effective service. With this, they will know how much energy is available
and schedule their distribution reducing the burden on thermal plant stations, which supplies
around 8,000MW of the total 14,000MW of the state's energy requirement.
Head of wind resource assessment unit K Boopathi said the ABT metres are installed in wind
energy pooling sub-stations that connects wind turbines positioned within a radius of 10 km.
They are fixed on the group connector, which joins the distribution feeders. They will gather data
on availability of wind power through a modem and a SIM card fixed in the metre. The data will
then get transferred to a centralised server installed in Chennai. Scientists at NIWE will filter the
data before transferring it to the super computers at Vortex in Spain where it is processed. The
information is sent back to NIWE and is simultaneously made available in the monitor of the
grid managers at the state load dispatch centre and NIWE.
As a pilot project few months back, NIWE installed one ABT metre each in 24 feeders in a
pooling sub-station in Kayathur, Tuticorin district.
"Wind energy varies in nature. Wind generation can drop or increase by a few thousand MW in a
matter of just few minutes. Forecasting will help grid managers at the dispatch centre to schedule
wind energy just like those from other conventional sources and better evacuation," scientists
said. They said the forecasting system would be eventually extended to other states.
In 2010, NIWE collaborated with a company in Denmark to use their commercial wind power
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forecasting tool in Maharashtra. But they found that the method was time consuming as the
prediction was done in every wind farm instead of a pooling sub-station that links the farms.
Proposed policy to push solar UMPPs of 3,000 MW & above

Sops may include capital, interest subsidies & customs duty relief
By: Arun S | New Delhi | August 31, 2015 7:02 PM
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has proposed a policy replete with
incentives for ultra mega solar power projects (UMSPPs) of 3,000 MW and above. According to
official sources, the sops could include capital and interest subsidies, greater incentives for R&D,
and excise and customs duty relief for capital equipment.
The idea of DIPP (the nodal agency for the Modi governments Make-in-India initiative) is to
help the development of local industry for manufacture of solar modules/cells so that large solar
projects can source inputs from it at competitive prices. The government would also endeavour
to make the required land available to solar developers at fair prices.
An UMSPP, under the current policy (Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission or JNNSM), is
defined as a single power project with capacity of 500 MW or more.
The feasibility of DIPPs proposal is now being considered by an inter-ministerial committee
comprising the DIPP and the ministries of new & renewable energy, power and finance, the
sources added. Since the banking sector is not well-equipped to handle such large projects (as
they are already saddled with huge bad loans and huge exposure to infrastructure projects),
discussions will soon be held to see how India can attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and
other sources of finance into its solar cell/module manufacturing sector. Up to 100% FDI via the
automatic route is currently allowed in the renewable energy sector.
Currently, the costs of Indian solar modules are 25-30% higher than the imported ones.
Technology, quality and delivery skills too are inferior to foreign competitors. Lack of demand,
in turn, is preventing local companies from setting/scaling up plants in India to manufacture solar
modules/cells. It is reckoned that plants with capacity of 3,000 MW would create the demand
required for a local equipment manufacturing industry to flourish.
Over 70% of the countrys solar projects are currently set up on imported cells/modules. Solar
panel imports (in volume) from China accounted for 63% of the 3.02 crore imported panels in
April-May FY16, 70% of the 16.15 crore imported panels in FY15 and 65% of the 15.41 crore
imported panels in FY14. Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, the US, Germany, Italy and Japan are
also among other big exporters of solar panels to India.
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The Union cabinet had in June cleared a proposal to ensure an increase in the countrys solar
power capacity target to 1 lakh MW by 2022 (of which 60% would be from medium and large
projects and 40% from roof-top installations) from the earlier target of 20,000 MW. The move
will need investments worth Rs 6 lakh crore.
Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive policy for UMSPPs of 3,000 MW and above, the
DIPP said, adding that such huge projects can also help in bringing down the solar power cost
significantly. However, issues including whether or not a significant number of homegrown
companies have the experience, technical expertise, technology and financial resources to win
bids for such huge projects will also have to be looked into, it said.
This development comes at a time when New Delhi has received an interim report from the
World Trade Organisations Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), which according to sources, has
gone in favour of the US in a dispute with India over the latters national solar policy (JNNSM).
The local content requirement in the policy, the US had alleged, violated the national treatment
principle in WTO rules, according to which equal treatment should be provided by member
countries to foreign and local players.
Urban local bodies step up checks against plastic use
Mounds of plastic waste in the fringes of lakes and tanks, choking storm water drains and
channels is a common sight everywhere.
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Tonnes of use-and-throw plastic products are causing irreversible damage to the environment
and there seems to a ray of hope with the State government firming up its stand on the use of
plastic.
The Directorate of Town Panchayats has directed its urban local bodies to stop using plastic
products with a thickness less than 50 microns from Independence Day. The directorate, which
issued a circular to the urban local bodies, decided to ban aluminium-coated single-time usable
plastics, those used for packaging food in hotels and restaurants, polypropylene (non-woven
fabric), disposable bags and thermocol/styrofoam products, apart from carry bags with a
thickness of less than 50 microns.
Use of plastic products with less than 40-micron thickness has been banned already and a
fine has been imposed for its manufacturing, marketing and use in town panchayats, official
sources told The Hindu.
Town panchayats have also been asked to sensitise residents and to ensure directives from the
Supreme Court on the issue following a case filed by Vellore Residents Welfare Association
are followed.
The town panchayats have also been asked to launch awareness campaigns and pass a resolution
banning plastic use and to encourage people to use cloth bags instead.
Recently, the staff and elected representatives of Sriperumpudur town panchayat took a pledge to
stay from the use of plastic.
Over 450 projects being considered of environ clearance: Govt
More than 450 projects in various sectors are presently being considered by the government for
environmental clearance while more than 200 are awaiting forest clearance, Lok Sabha was
informed today.
"The number of projects under consideration for environmental clearance in the Ministry (of
Environment) are 475 and for approval under Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 are 240,"
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said in a written reply.
As per the details, 168 projects in the non-coal mining sector are under consideration for
environmental clearance while there are 102 projects in the infrastructure and CRZ sectors which
are awaiting a decision.
Javadekar said that more than 140 projects are under consideration for environmental clearance
in various industrial categories while eight thermal projects are under such consideration.
Similarly, 21 coal mining projects are awaiting environmental nod while 22 river valley projects
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(HEP) are under consideration. Six projects under nuclear defence strategic sector are also under
consideration for environmental clearance.
Altogether 37 projects seeking approval of the central government under the Forest Conservation
Act, 1980 for diversion of forest land are pending, which include 12 in the mining sector, eight in
hydel, two in defence and five in irrigation sectors amongst others.
203 proposals under the Act are pending in regional offices of various states which include 131
in the road sector, 14 in hydel and eight for transmission lines.
He said that a total of 1567 proposals were given environmental clearance in the last three years
and the current year. This year till June, 81 projects in infrastructure and construction sectors
have been given environmental nod while 68 proposals in the industry sector have been cleared.
Environmental Clearances to Mining PSU
Delhi August 3, 2015 Last Updated at 00:20 IST
Mining leases are granted by the State Governments. Environmental Clearances are given by the
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change or the State Environment Impact
Assessment Authority. Therefore, the details of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) which have
been closed/ are on the verge of closure due to want of environmental clearance in various states
are not maintained centrally. However, no PSU of the Ministry of Mines has been closed/ is on
verge of closure for want of environmental clearance.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the Environment
Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
which deals with the process to grant Environmental Clearances. The projects of mining with
mining lease area equal to or greater than 50 ha are handled at the level of MoEFCC for grant of
EC. The projects with mining lease area less than 50 ha are handled by the respective State
Environment Impact Assessment Authority.
Time lines have been prescribed under the EIA Notification, 2006, according to which terms of
Reference (TOR) shall be conveyed by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) within thirty
days of the receipt of Form-I to the Project Proponent. Thereafter, as per the TORs issued, the
project proponents are required to comply with the conditions mentioned in the TORs which
inter-alia include collection of base-line data, approved mine plan, conducting public
consultations, and submission of final EIA/ Environment Management Plan (EMP) Reports to
the Ministry of Environment and Forests along with all the relevant documents.
On receipt of final EIA/EMP report after the public consultation, the project is appraised by the
EAC in a transparent manner in a proceeding to which the Proponent is invited for furnishing
necessary clarification in person or through an authorized representative. Thereafter, the EAC
makes appropriate recommendations of the proposal and the Ministry takes the final decision
with regard to Environmental Clearance as per the EIA Notification, 2006. This decision is
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conveyed to the Proponent within forty five days of the receipt of the recommendations of EAC.
In other words, the decision is to be conveyed within one hundred five days from the receipt of
the final EIA/EMP report/requisite documents from the Project Proponent.
This information was provided by The Minister of State for Mines and Steel Shri Vishnu Deo Sai
in Reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
350 projects await green nod in MMR
Environment clearance committees working overtime to appraise projects to be sent for

approval.
Written by Anjali Lukose | Mumbai | Published:August 4, 2015 1:22 am
With no environment clearance committee meetings for over two months earlier this year, nearly
350 residential and infrastructure projects are awaiting approval in the Mumbai Metropolitan
Region. The meetings had stopped after Maharashtra Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam
issued a directive that files of all projects on the agenda should be sent to his office first.
With Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar approaching Chief Minister Fadnavis to
resolve the issue, the meetings resumed in the first week of July. To make up for the lost time,
environment department officials are now forced to meet every alternate week to appraise
projects.
Even after holding meetings in the first and third weeks of July, there are 350 projects still
pending before the State Expert Appraisal Committee 2 (SEAC 2).
According to officials, the latest State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA)
meeting held from July 27 to 30 appraised 73 projects, but around 280 projects are still pending.
The SEIAA committee is likely to meet two more times this month August 10-13 and August
27-30.
Besides, there are 160-180 projects that are awaiting environmental clearance from the
Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority.
We are holding two to three meetings of the committee in a month now. The projects are all
likely to be appraised only by the end of September, said an official from the environment
department who did not wish to be named.
There are three SEACs that scrutinise projects and recommend them for an environment
clearance. The first one deals with industrial and mining projects across the state, the second
looks at residential and infrastructure projects in the MMR and the third appraises such projects
for the rest of the state. These committees then send the projects to the SEIAA for environment
clearance.
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In April this year, Kadam verbally directed his department that all meetings of the SEACs and
the SEIAA be stayed as he wanted all project files to go through his office. Later, he issued
similar orders in writing in a letter dated May 26.
Projects in the MMR have already suffered grave delays as the committee had remained defunct
for nearly a year till April 2015, after the previous committees term expired and a new one was
not constituted.
MPs assured pro-people approach to handle issue of 'ecologically sensitive area' in Western
Ghats
NEW DELHI: The Center on Monday assured MPs from Western Ghats region that the final
notification on earmarking 'ecologically sensitive area' (ESA) will incorporate suggestions of all
the six states and the 'no go' area will not in any case affect the basic economic activities,
including agriculture and plantation, of the people living in the earmarked zone.
A dominant view within the environment ministry is about banning only big mining\construction
activities and highly polluting industries within the ESA which is expected to be notified by
August end.
The assurance on "pro-environment and pro-people" ESA was conveyed to the MPs by the
Union environment and forests minister Prakash Javadekar during special meeting on the issue
here on Monday. The Center will, however, call one more meeting of MPs from the region next
week before taking a final call on the extent of the ESA and permitted economic activities.
"Twenty-two MPs expressed their views in the meeting and many other submitted their concerns
in writing. We will hold one more round of meeting with MPs where the remaining ones will
express their view...This is the most democratic exercise which we are carrying out on the issue
of Western Ghats...We will take any decision only after considering suggestions of all the
states", said Javadekar.
Referring to suggestions, extended by MPs during the meeting, Javadekar said, "The overall tone
was that environment as well as livelihood of the people must be protected. The MPs felt that
only big mining activities and highly polluting industries should be banned. They felt that
agriculture, plantation and sand mining should be allowed...Everybody talked about sustainable
development and sustainable way out".
He said two states, Kerala and Goa, have already submitted their reports (based on physical
demarcation and verification exercise on the ground) to the ministry. Four other states - Tamil
Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra - will submit their reports in the next could of days.
The ministry will take final decision on the ESA after going through all these reports, he added.
The environment ministry called the meeting of MPs in the backdrop of various concerns
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expressed by the states over the past few months. Though the ministry has, more or less, made up
its mind to reduce the proposed 'ESA' by nearly 6,000 sq km, it still keeps option open to reduce
the total area further if states insist.
The concept of ESA provides a mechanism to conserve biologically diversity of an area while
allowing for sustainable development to take place. Once the notification comes into force, the
ESA will be a completely 'no go' zone for excessive commercial mining and high polluting
industries.
It is expected that 85 types of high polluting activities including setting up aluminum smelter,
cement plant, fertilizer factory, glass manufacturing units, zinc smelter, automobile
manufacturing units, airports and big hotels (having 100 rooms and above) won't be allowed
within the ESA.
It is expected that the total ESA will be reduced to a little over 50,000 sq km from the 56,825 sq
km spread over six states -- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala --
extending over a horizontal distance of about 1,500 km along the west coast.
The Kasturirangan panel, set up under the UPA government, had suggested earmarking 59,940
sq km as the ESA. However considering Kerala's report, the then government had in its March,
2014 draft notification reduced the ESA in the state from 13,108 sq km to 9,993.7 sq km, thereby
reducing the entire ESA from original 59,940 sq km to 56, 825 sq km.
With focus on Rohtang, other eco-sensitive areas in Himachal Pradesh neglected
Anand Bodh,TNN | Aug 3, 2015, 10.56 AM IST
SHIMLA: While entire government machinery is busy in "saving' the ecology of 13050 feet high
Rohtang pass especially after seeing the tough stand of National Green Tribunal (NGT), other
ecological sensitive areas like 21000 feet Kinner-Kailash of Kinnaur district are lying neglected
with no mechanism in place to stop the open defecation and littering during the annual
pilgrimage starting from Saturday. While local residents have shown resentment over the
neglected attitude of government, district administration on its part claimed that it does not
conduct the pilgrimage.
Each year from August 1 to 15, hundreds of people visit the Kinner-Kailash located at an altitude
of 21000 feet where 79 feet vertical rock Shiva lingam is located. But even after knowing that
people start heading for the mountain top from August 1, Kinnaur district administration has
failed to make any arrangements to preserve the fragile ecology of area.
While officially very few people take the annual pilgrimage to mountain top, but unofficially
each year 2500-4000 people visit the place during summer, sources said. This year there is no
system in place for the registration of pilgrims.
Members of Devta Parka Shankaras Dev Sabha Committee of Tangling village, from where yatra
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takes upward route, said that open defecation and littering has become a cause of concern. Right
below Kinner-Kailash is located Parvati kund lake which is considered sacred by the local
residents while illegal plucking of Brahma Kamala (Epiphyllum Oxypetalum) by visitors too has
become a cause of concern for Kinnaur residents, they added.
Residents demanded that when NGT could issue directions for the 13050 Rohtang pass then
similar directions should also be issued for the regulation of annual pilgrimage by Tribunal.
Baldev Singh fanyan, president of committee said that on Sunday around 200 people left for the
mountain top while administration has not made any arrangements for eco-friendly toilets and
garbage collections bins. He said that last year registration of pilgrims was done but this year no
arrangements have been made.
"Last year we had seen open defecation around sacred Parvati Kund where an authorized
community kitchen was set up during the yatra period, besides there were massive littering along
the entire yatra route," he said. He said that while administration failed to ensure cleanliness,
local people stepped in to remove the illegal community kitchen (langar) on which police
registered case against 35 villagers.
Rajesh Kumar another resident of Tangling and member of committee said that entire area is eco
sensitive so administration should have made arrangements accordingly. "It seems they too are
waiting for the NGT directions to do the needful," he added.
Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Naresh Kumar Latth said that yatra this year was started by some
people from Ghaziabad along with local residents without taking district administration into
confidence. He said that on Monday they would be called and asked for their action.
Kalpa SDM Vishal Sharma said that no application has been received from the people to visit
Kinner-Kailash. Sharma said that officially yatra has not started. "I have only received
application for the langra for which permission has been granted," he added.
SDM said that for the preservation of local flora and fauna help of local residents is taken by the
administration. He said that last year a Rs 15 lakh proposal under District Innovation Scheme
was prepared under which 10 bio-toilets were to be provided along the yatra route besides
making arrangements of sleeping bags and tents for the pilgrims. "But till date no funds has been
received," he added.
Over 450 projects being considered of environ clearance: Govt
More than 450 projects in various sectors are presently being considered by the government for
environmental clearance while more than 200 are awaiting forest clearance, Lok Sabha was
informed today.
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"The number of projects under consideration for environmental clearance in the Ministry (of
Environment) are 475 and for approval under Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 are 240,"
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said in a written reply.
As per the details, 168 projects in the non-coal mining sector are under consideration for
environmental clearance while there are 102 projects in the infrastructure and CRZ sectors which
are awaiting a decision.
Javadekar said that more than 140 projects are under consideration for environmental clearance
in various industrial categories while eight thermal projects are under such consideration.
Similarly, 21 coal mining projects are awaiting environmental nod while 22 river valley projects
(HEP) are under consideration. Six projects under nuclear defence strategic sector are also under
consideration for environmental clearance.
Altogether 37 projects seeking approval of the central government under the Forest Conservation
Act, 1980 for diversion of forest land are pending, which include 12 in the mining sector, eight in
hydel, two in defence and five in irrigation sectors amongst others.
203 proposals under the Act are pending in regional offices of various states which include 131
in the road sector, 14 in hydel and eight for transmission lines.
He said that a total of 1567 proposals were given environmental clearance in the last three years
and the current year. This year till June, 81 projects in infrastructure and construction sectors
have been given environmental nod while 68 proposals in the industry sector have been cleared.
Aug 6 2015 12:44AM
Karnataka to get institute on conservation of Western Ghats
The Centre has agreed to sanction Western Ghats Development Institute to Karnataka for
conservation of the ecologically sensitive areas of Western Ghats in six States.
The institute would be set up on 117 acres at Chakra in Shivamogga district for undertaking
research and management of the Western Ghats, one of the eight biodiversity hotspots in the
world.
Management of
eco-system
Karnataka Forest Minister B. Ramanath Rai, who submitted a proposal to the Centre seeking
sanctioning of the institute, told presspersons that the Centre would grant funds for monitoring
and management of eco-system in the Western Ghats. It would also enable expansion of green
cover in the region.
165
No truth in charges
The institute would take up environment management with active participation of locals, Mr. Rai
said and termed there was no truth in allegations made by BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje that the
State Government had not given its comments to the Centre on the K. Kasturirangan report on
conservation of Western Ghats.
The State had given its comments on the report on April 24, 2015 to the Centre, he said.
All States, including Kerala and Maharashtra, have copied Karnatakas comments in their
reports, Mr. Rai claimed.
The State Government has agreed to a complete ban on mining. However, it has demanded
regulation of sand mining and quarrying to meet local development needs.
The State had opposed establishment of new thermal and hydro power projects. It has favoured
regulation of construction of hospitals and other public utilities. As large number of temples
existed in the region, the government wanted reasonable restrictions on the movement of people
and vehicles.
Eco-tourism in Western Ghats to be promoted with the regulatory mechanism, Mr. Rai said.
August 6, 2015
World Bank again under fire over diluting lending norms
A second draft framework of the World Bank, for environmental and social safeguards policies,
is said to vastly weaken protections for affected communities and the environment at the same
time as the bank intends to finance more high-risk projects, and it could have a serious impact
in India, which is the multilateral agencys largest borrower.
Although the first draft of its safeguards framework, released in July 2014, came under fire from
a wide swathe of human rights groups, and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim then committed
to ensure that the Banks new rules would not dilute existing mandatory safeguards, a group of
19 organisations said this week that the second draft also pointedly contradicts Mr. Kims
promise and calls into question the extent to which the bank has responded to public input.
Further, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), one among the 19 organisations, the
proposed new framework would not cover substantial sections of the World Banks portfolio,
including rapidly disbursing policy-based lending for environmentally and socially sensitive
sectors.
HRW said that despite repeated requests the Bank had also failed to make public a detailed
budget for the implementation of its proposed plan.
166
The criticism of the Banks second draft framework came scarcely a month after HRW issued a
scathing report alleging that Indian government and company officials engaged in widespread
use of intimidation, including threats of physical violence and death, against outspoken members
of communities that stand to be displaced or otherwise affected by World Bank-financed
projects.
It also came weeks after the Banks own Inspection Panel hinted at serious abuses in a World
Bank-funded transmission line project in central Nepal, for which the ultimate users of
electricity were based in India.
In 2014, The Hindu reported that the Bank was fending off allegations that it was watering
down these safeguards after a leaked report of a draft safeguards framework was described by
Bank on Human Rights (BHR), a coalition for human rights in development finance, as moving
from one based on compliance with set processes and standards, to one of vague and open-
ended guidance, threatens to render technical improvements meaningless.
At the time BHRs coordinator, Gretchen Gordon, shared with The Hindu its rigorous analysis of
the before-versus-after comparison of the Banks wording on safeguards, highlighting the new
proposals inclusion of an opt-out clause from protections for indigenous communities, of a
definition of discrimination that was not consistent with international law and no rigorous
framework for enforcing human rights.
Additionally on involuntary resettlements and land acquisitions, BHR supplied a matrix of

evidence showing the how the policy would get weakened over, for example, the issue of
whether communities displaced by Bank-funded projects would merely get compensation or
whether, as in the past, they would also benefit from sustained development programmes.
This may have particular significance for India given the current salience of the debate over the
Land Acquisition Bill.
Similarly on environmental and social assessments, BHR provided another matrix showing that
the new wording proposed would result in dilution in terms of the use of borrower systems, by
focusing on the project level, with little detail on eligibility for use, gap analysis or disclosure.
Conceding that this may represent the shifting of some of the burden of safeguards onto
borrower nations, Mark King, Chief Environmental and Social Standards Officer at the Bank,
said to media at the time, Borrowers go into agreement [with the Bank] with eyes wide open
and if there are unforeseen impacts on the environment or local communities the Bank has
various remedies to deal with those.
However, critics of the Banks draft framework point out that should there ever be political
fallout of Bank lending that adversely affects certain communities in borrower nations; the Bank
possibly now has the ability to manoeuvre to avoid any liability owing to the greater reliance on
borrower safeguards.
167
307 inspections conducted against polluting industries in 2 years: Prakash Javadekar
PTI Aug 6, 2015, 05.41PM IST
NEW DELHI: Environment Surveillance Squad conducted 307 inspections against polluting
industries in past two years issuing 47 directions to the defaulters, government today informed
Rajya Sabha said.
In a written reply, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekarsaid that Environment Surveillance
Squad Programme ofCentral Pollution Control Board conducted inspection of 307 industries
during the period 2013-15.
"Based on the inspections, directions to the defauling industries were issued under Section 5 of
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and to the State Pollution Control Boards under Section
18(1)(b) of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981/the Water (Prevention and
Control of Pollution) Act, 1974," the Minister said.
August 10, 2015
Special law sought to save Western Ghats in State
40 organisations have committed themselves to be part of federation.

In order to give a fillip to eco-conservation, the Save Western Ghats Federation of Tamil Nadu
formed in Coimbatore recently has resolved to urge the State government to enact a legislation to
save the fragile eco-system.
President of OSAI K. Kalidasan told The Hindu that the federations main agenda was to demand
a Tamil Nadu Western Ghats Conservation Act to conserve part of the mountain range in the
State. Already, the forest area under the control of Forest Department was protected by
legislation such as the Forest Conservation Act and the Wildlife Protection Act. But other parts
of the areas were equally fragile and needed protection.
Underlining the importance of the initiative, Mr. Kalidasan said the Western Ghats was the
lifeline of South India. In Tamil Nadu, more than 80 per cent of the water for drinking, domestic,
agriculture and industrial purposes came from the rivers originating in the Western Ghats.
Failure to protect the Ghats would pose a threat to water security. The movement was working
on the mission in six States, he added.
168
After the Madhav Gadgil Committee submitted its report, many States opposed the
recommendations resulting in the formation of another committee headed by Dr.Kasturirangan.
Even the Kasturirangan report and recommendations were not accepted by many States.
Currently, 40 organisations have committed themselves to be part of the federation and efforts
were being made to include more.
Kavignar Sirpi Balasubramanian was elected as the federation president and N. Margandan,
former Vice-Chancellor of Gandhigram University and V.Jeevanantham of Tamil Nadu Green
Movement elected as vice-presidents.
A conference is proposed to be conducted by the federation in November or December. Meetings

would be conducted at regional levels and the supportive committees would be formed very
soon.
August 9, 2015
Environment Ministry pushes for hydro-projects in Uttarakhand
With the appointment of the third committee of experts by the Union Environment Ministry to
review a few contentious hydroelectric power projects in Uttarakhand, the debate on their
feasibility has come down to design changes so that they could be accommodated in the disaster-
prone State.
The Ravi Chopra Committee and the Vinod Tare Committee had warned against projects,
including the six on which the Supreme Court is yet to give a decision.
The Hindu reviewed the minutes of the two meetings of the newly formed committee held in June
and July. Lata Tapovan (171 MW), Alaknanda Badrinath (300 MW), Kotlibhel 1A (195 MW),
Jhelum Tamak (128 MW), Bhyundar Ganga (24.8 MW), and Khirao Ganga (4.5 MW) are the
projects that will be reviewed again by the new committee.
Design modifications
At a meeting held in July, the developers of the six projects presented design modifications to the
new committee, so that they could be implemented once the issues of muck disposal, impact on
biodiversity and disaster mitigation plan were addressed. The modifications were discussed last
year too, but the first committee rejected them. Since the developers again failed to present
acceptable modifications, the committee has said they should come up with the required
modifications.
In the latest affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Ministry has also underscored the
importance of design modifications, almost sidelining the possibility of cancellation of the
projects even if they dont meet the criteria.
169
Environmentalists have been objecting to the formation of the new committee, suspecting that the
Ministry is forming committee after committee to get the green signal for the contentious
projects.
On the formation of the third committee, senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan,
Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, E. Theophilus of
Uttarakhand-based Himal Prakriti, and Bharat Jhunjhunwala, a former professor of the IIM-
Bangalore, had written to Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.
A violation
Not only is this a violation but also a clear indication of your ministrys malafide intentions to
overwrite and compromise the findings of previous committees..It is hence clear that till the
time you [Mr. Javadekar] do not get a report that gives a green signal to these hydropower
projects you will continue to form one committee after another, regardless of the reality on
ground, they said.
New AP capital to pose major threat to ecosystem
TNN | Aug 10, 2015, 05.49 AM IST
HYDERABAD: Amaravati, the proposed capital of Andhra Pradesh, will face eight major
environmental challenges that may affect the local atmosphere and lead to adverse climatic
events in the region, a document prepared by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
has identified.
According to the document, degradation of vegetation, uncontrolled concretization, lack of

control on automobile and industrial emissions, unchecked mining activity in the hills all around,
emissions from paddy fields and agro-processing activities are responsible for the fragile ecology
of the region. It said the authorities in the capital region must take appropriate mitigation
programmes to overcome these factors influencing climate change.
The document suggested measures like introduction of energy efficient systems, scientific
closure of abandoned mines and creation of green zones to keep the capital region healthy. It also
noted that extensive concrete bunds and sand dunes in the river and irrigation canals cause re-
radiation, leading to increase in the average temperature.
Vijayawada region, where the new capital will come up, along with the entire coastal belt, is
faced with several sustainability challenges vis-a-vis climate change. "There is an urgent need to
limit greenhouse gas emissions if ambitious mitigation targets are to be met. Climate change will
disproportionately affect poor, small and marginal farmers," the document warned.
According to the report, there have been increased cases of extreme weather conditions.
It pointed out that in the last two decades, temperatures in several pockets of the state have been
on the rise and many people have died due to heat waves in summer.
170
"Change of land-use pattern has led to changes in the amount of sunlight reflected from the
ground. Since 1990, the severity of heat waves has increased in the region, mostly due to local
atmospheric changes. The severe heat waves experienced in recent times has shifted from the
interior parts of the state to areas close to the sea coast," the report said, cautioning that such
drastic changes are symptoms of the impact of climate change.
NGT bans use of plastic bottles in Haridwar
IANS | Aug 10, 2015, 10.12 AM IST
HARIDWAR: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has banned the use of plastic bottles around
the banks of Uttarakhand here to check the menace of pollution in and around the river Ganges,
an official said on Monday.
This has been necessitated as devotees and visitors bringing plastic water bottles along with them
throw them near the banks, he said.
The littering causes these bottles to settle on the river bed, causing great harm to the river, the
official added.
The NGT has asked the state government to ensure ban on sale of plastic bottles near the Ganges
and shutdown all shops selling them.
The tribunal also appointed a local commissioner on August 4 and asked him to furnish a
detailed progress report. Local district officials have been asked to cooperate with the official.
NGT adjourns hearing in closed tanneries case
TNN | Aug 12, 2015, 11.56 AM IST
KANPUR: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) adjourned the hearing of closed tanneries of
Kanpur case on Monday when Central Pollution Control Board sought more time to file
inspection report and fixed September 16 as next date of hearing.
The matter was listed for hearing on August 10. Justice Swatantra Kumar (chairperson), Justice
M S Nambiar (judicial member) D K Agarwal & A R Yousuf (members) heard the arguments of
the state counsel as well as Central Pollution Control Board.
Central Pollution Control Board counsel urged that he require more time to furnish inspection
report. The tribunal allowed his request and asked to file the report within two weeks. In the
event of default, senior officers of UP, UP Pollution Control Board and Central Pollution Control
Board should present in person before the Tribunal.
171
The tribunal directed the municipal commissioner to be present before the tribunal on the next
date of hearing along with other officers.
In February, a team of National Green Tribunal had inspected tanneries and secondary treatment
plant at Wajidpur. The team had also collected water samples from factories and hand pumps
installed in localities of Jajmau and Sikhpur village and interacted with locals. The team was
accompanied by representatives of UP Pollution Control Board (UPCB) and Central Pollution
Control Board (CPCB), Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) and National Ganga
River Basin Authority (NGRBA). Finally, NGT had ordered to close 98 tanneries in February
2015.
In its order, the NGT had asked the tannery owners to upgrade the system by June 6. The NGT
has asked the tanneries operators to follow the standards of NGT and if they continue to violate
pollution norms, then their unit would be closed. NGT had already ordered to reopen seven
tanneries on May 19, during the hearing when they stated that they had installed required
equipment to meet the set standard to check the pollution in river.
HARYANA GOVT ROLLS OUT NEW INDUSTRIAL POLICY

Wednesday, 12 August 2015 | PNS | Chandigarh | in Chandigarh
Aiming to attract investments of over `1 lakh crore and creating four lakh jobs in the State, the
Haryana Government on Tuesday rolled out its much-awaited industrial policy Enterprises
Promotion Policy 2015.
To attract new investments, the State Government has announced fiscal incentives including
VAT refund, stamp duty refund, interest subvention, power tariff rebate among others amounting
to `1,000 crore. Apart from this, `1,000 crore fund for collateral free loans for MSMEs has been
proposed in the new policy.
The State Government has proposed a Financial Incentives and No Enhancements Scheme
(FINE) which would make industries competitive wherein steps would be taken to reduce cost of
doing business. Also, no enhancement will be charged to allottees of HSIIDC within case of
allotments to be made in future.
Enterprises Promotion Policy 2015 envisages ease of doing business, enhancing
competitiveness of the industry, laying special focus on manufacturing and services enterprises,
especially balanced regional growth and MSMEs, said the Chief Minister Manohar Lal while
addressing a press conference after the state Cabinet meet.
Under the policy, the Government has introduced self-certification and third-party verification
where a government panel would be made available and other permissions would be time-bound.
The new policy is also designed to tackle the ramifications of the exit of the CST and the
introduction of the GST across the country.
172
A system of online clearances will be put in place by creating an e-biz Haryana portal starting
from October 1. The Government has identified 68 most critical services for industries which
will go online on eBiz portal by December 31.
The Chief Minister said Haryana Enterprise Promotion Board (HEPB) will be created and the
Board will have a Governing Council headed by him and comprises Cabinet Ministers for
overseeing time bound clearances, sanctioning special packages for mega projects and clearing
further policy initiatives.
Under the policy, the state has been divided into four categories of Development Blocks viz. A,
B, C and D for incentive support. The State Government has proposed to provide power tariff
subsidy at a rate of Rs two per unit only for Micro and Small Enterprise in 'C' and 'D' category
blocks for 3 years from the date of release of electricity connection.
Panchayat land wherever available will also be made available on long term lease for
entrepreneurs and industrial units located in Rural Functional Clusters, said Manohar Lal.
Apart from this, there will be Global Economic Corridor along KundliManesarPalwal
Expressway for theme clusters- tourism, entertainment and industrial etc.
When asked about the status of existing industries, Manohar Lal said that for the benefit of
existing industrial units and to minimize pending litigations, all the departments especially
Excise and Taxation, Industries, Labour, Environment, Power etc. will bring out of court
settlement schemes within a period of three months. And, all the Policy proposals will have to be
notified by concerned department in one month from the date of release of this policy.
Talking about the policy, Haryana Industries Minister Capt. Abhimanyu said, The policy will
change restrictive environment to facilitating environment and red tape to red carpet treatment
for the industries in the state.
August 12, 2015
After a decade, Athirapilly project gets green light
The 163-MW Athirappilly hydroelectric project, proposed across the Chalakudy river, has
received the go-ahead from the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for River Valley and
Hydroelectric Projects.
Proposed by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) a decade ago, the project stirred political
controversies and agitations with various environmental groups opposing it. While most of the
Congress and the CPI (M) leaders were in favour of it, Jairam Ramesh, the former Environment
Minister, had termed it as a perfect recipe for ecological disaster.
Though the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel rejected it, the High-Level Working Group
suggested that the project must be revaluated in terms of the generation of energy and whether
the plant load factor expected in the project makes it viable against the loss of local populations
of some species. The proposal had also run into a series of litigations, thus delaying its
implementation.
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The EAC, which focused on 15 concerns raised against the project, including the loss of
forestland and displacement of tribes, felt that there were no tribal families in the submergence
area of the Athirappilly reservoir.
There are 22 tribal families living in the upstream of the submergence area. The Ministry has
already stipulated that no tribespeople are to be displaced while implementing the project, it
said.
The panel observed that there was no endemic species specifically of project area. There were no
species for which mitigation methods were not available. The damage due to submergence of
flora and fauna of the area was mitigable.
The committee felt that there was not enough data and reason to go against the recommendations
of the EAC for environmental clearance for the project. No fresh issues have been brought to
the attention of the EAC or the Ministry with any convincing data. The EAC also concluded that
the forest clearance issued by Ministry of Environment and Forest is subject to the obtaining
requisite environmental clearance and hence valid from the date of issuance of the same.
It faced political controversies and agitations by various environmental groups
Scientists find green solution for PoP idols
Meenakshi Rohatgi,TNN | Aug 14, 2015, 12.38 AM IST
PUNE: Scientists at the city-based National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) have found a more
environment-friendly solution for household and big Ganapati idols made from plaster of Paris
that are taken for immersion on Anant Chaturdashi.
The liquid solution called 'Jal Abhishek', for sentiments' sake, can dissolve the idols and the
residue can be used as a fertilizer. Pune Municipal Corporation can thus ensure that idols handed
over at hundreds of immersion tanks are disposed of with dignity.
Five idols were immersed in the solution and they dissolved in an hour at a recent trial in Kasba
Vishrambaug ward office. Mayor Dattareya Dhankawde, civic officials and nearly 100
representatives of Ganapati mandals were present.
According to NCL officials, a solution made of ammonium bicarbonate, a common rising agent
used by bakeries, can dissolve idols made of plaster of Paris (PoP) which would produce sludge
and calcium sulphate, a widely used fertilizer.
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"About 20% ammonium bicarbonate, in the powder form, will be dissolved in water to make this
solution. Plaster of Paris is made of gypsum and will react with this solution to form calcium
sulphate which can be used as a fertilizer and sludge or calcium carbonate that can make chalk,"
said senior NCL scientist Shubhangi Umbarkar.
The focus was on using a chemical which would not harm the environment. "We experimented
with baking soda which is sodium bicarbonate, but sodium sulphate, the by-product, was
unusable," added Umbarkar.
The project is the effort of one and half years, involving the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC),
Cummins India and the NCL to stop pollution of the city's water bodies on immersion day. After
last year's Ganeshotsav, over three lakh idols were immersed in rivers and tanks, according to
civic officials.
"We had been trying to identify a bio-degradable material to make idols in order to save our
environment and our water bodies. However, the limited availability of the identified raw
material challenged us to look for a more sustainable solution. Through efforts from NCL
scientists, we have a solution to dissolve PoP. The liquid generated from the process can directly
be used to water the city's green spaces and the solid can be used to make chalk," said S
Ravichandran, head of corporate responsibility, Cummins Group in India
The civic body will have a pilot project for this year, Suresh Jagtap, head of the solid waste
management at PMC, said. "We will take it to the people so that there is increased acceptance
among Ganesh mandals."
"Our efforts have borne fruit. It will be presented before the standing committee and the cost and
other factors will be worked out. The civic body will transport idols from the tanks to the
centralized place where the process will be followed," said Ketaki Ghadge, medical officer at
PMC.
Mahesh Suryawanshi, treasurer, Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati Mandal said, "We encourage the
use of eco-friendly Ganapati idols, but will now spread awareness about this solution."
Sunita Narain: Governance matters
Why strengthening regulatory capacity should be the first step in solving environmental
problems
Sunita Narain August 16, 2015 Last Updated at 22:50 IST
It is time we recognised that the current ways of fixing theenvironment are not working. Rivers
are more contaminated; air is more polluted and cities are filling up with garbage we cannot
handle. The question is: where are we going wrong? What do we need to do?
175
For this, we first need to recognise that India and countries like ours have to find new technical
solutions and approaches to solve environmental problems. It is a fact that the already
industrialised world had the surplus money to find technologies and fund mitigation and
governance, and they continue to spend heavily even today. We have huge demands - everything
from basic needs to infrastructure - on the same finances and will never be able to catch up in
this game. So, we need to build a new practice of environmental management, which is
affordable and sustainable.
In this way, environmental management options will have to be explored carefully and leaps
made.
Take river cleaning. For long we have invested in sewage treatment plant technologies that were
adopted by the rest of the world. We hoped we would clean our rivers the way other countries
did. But we forgot that most of our cities do not have sanitation systems or underground sewage
networks. Even if flush toilets of a few urban Indians are connected to the underground drain,
and their waste is pumped for some length and transported to sewage plants and treated, it does
not clean rivers. The reason is that the rest - in fact, the majority - does not have the same
connection. Their waste goes to open drains and then to the same river or lake. The end result is
dirty water.
Pollution control measures must be affordable to meet the needs of all. They must cut the cost of
water supply and the cost of taking back wastewater. This would require reworking sewage
management so that we can intercept wastewater in open drains and septic tanks, and treat it as
cost effectively as possible. It would also require strategies to make sure that rivers have enough
water to dilute wastewater.
All this can be done. But it will require backing new solutions, ensuring that they are put to
practice and scaling them up.
For this, we also require the ultimate investment in our institutions of governance. Without them
we cannot have arbitration or resolution of difficult conflicts. For too long in our environmental
journey we have neglected this aspect. The rot has, in fact, accelerated in the past 10 years, even
as environmental issues have been mainstreamed. This is because governance has never been on
the agenda.
As a result, governments and civil society have invested all their political capital, bureaucratic
time, energy of committees and media airtime, into airing differences on project and policy
designs, and not on the capacity that we need to implement these in the real world. We continue
to churn out notifications and policies for regulating environmental degradation - everything
from battery rules to hazardous waste management, to plastic disposal and clearance for every
building or shopping mall or penalties against illegal dumping of waste - without any
consideration whether we can actually do this on the ground.
It is time we focused firmly and squarely on strengthening the capacity of regulatory agencies.
For instance, even after years, the pollution control boards remain understaffed and grossly
neglected. The problem is that this is an agenda nobody wants to touch. Governments want to
176
downsize or outsource governance to the private sector or civil society. They do not believe they
can fix what is broken and high-profile environment ministers do not want to touch this as it
brings them little kudos. It is the hard job and it is not immediately recognised. Civil society does
not push for this because it distrusts the bureaucracy and believes that strengthening it will
further corrode the power of the people. So, the agenda is unattended and institutions, abused.
This has to be the biggest lesson of the past four decades. We cannot fix what is broken till we
make an attempt to fix it. There is no doubt that we cannot have the same "inspectors", but we
can have new age tools of transparency, data analysis and do everything that builds public trust
and credibility. Similarly, we cannot have the same "sticks" but we do need even stronger
enforcement systems that can make deterrence work.
This is the real environmental agenda, but one that is inconvenient to handle. It is about change
that matters.
How Adani group can get its $7.2 billion coal mine project in Queensland back on track
By Binoy Prabhakar, ET Bureau | 20 Aug, 2015, 03.52AM IST
Last December, Jeyakumar Janakaraj, the chief executive of Adani Australia, was indubitably
upbeat in a conversation by phone with ET. "Never in the history of Indian business has a
company gone to a developed country and established itself so well," he said.
The assuredness of Janakaraj was at odds with the erratic progress of the Ahmedabad-based
company's ambition to build a giant coal mine project in the Queensland state in Australia.
Adani's attempts to start work on the Carmichael coal mine located in the Galilee Basin had
repeatedly been hobbled by irrepressible environmental opposition.
177
But that was history,

according to
Janakaraj. "We have
all environmental
approvals. We have
strong partners," he
said. The only
barrier that
remained to be
crossed, he said,
was raising debt for
the project.
This wasn't bluster.

In July 2014, Adani
had managed to
secure approval
from Australian
environment
minister Greg
Hunt's office. The
company then hired
American
consulting firm
Parsons
Brinckerhoff and
Korean construction
company Posco,
which it counted as
an investor too, as
project managers. It
awarded a $2 billion
contract to
Australian miner
Downer to dig up
coal. There was the
possibility of the Queensland government investing in the project. After languishing for four
years, the project seemed finally set to take off.
The threat of environmental opposition still dangled, but Janakaraj was dismissive. "Not a single
project approval has been given and overturned in Australia," he said. "This is not India, where
after 20 years of mining, they come and say everything is illegal and stop mining."
In the Depths
Subsequent events proved otherwise. The shadow of doubt that long hung over the project has
178
grown into a cloud of uncertainty due to a series of setbacks that has visited on it in recent
months (see Series of Obstacles...). On August 5, an Australian court overturned minister Hunt's
approval. Less than a week later, Standard Chartered Bank ended its role as a financial adviser to
Adani, joining a host of international banks that have steered clear of financing the $7.2 billion
project.
Even before these impediments, Adani had admitted to bourses it had halted work at the project
site due to delay in approvals. It also suspended Parsons Brinckerhoff and Posco and began
sacking workers. Only a skeletal staff reportedly remains in Australia.
These events have put a big question mark over the future of the project. "The project is now
dead in the water," said Tim Buckley, director of energy finance studies at the Institute for
Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, in an interview with the BBC.
Adani declined to comment for this article. A spokesman for Downer said the contract with
Adani remains in force, but offered no further comment. Publicly, Adani remains defiant though.
It attributed the court ruling to a "technical legal error" and said it was confident the matter
would be resolved.
The environment department under Hunt called the ruling a "technical, administrative" issue. It
said it would take six to eight weeks to prepare new advice and supporting documents for Hunt.
But Shani Tager, an activist for environmental group Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said the
ruling was a significant blow for the project. "The mine no longer has the approvals or the
finance it needs to be developed."
Nevertheless, these are early days to conclude that it is the end of the road for the project. There
is too much at stake. Adani spent $2.7 billion in a cash and royalty package to acquire the
Carmichael coal mine in 2010 from Linc Energy of Australia as it looked to expand its energy
business (Janakaraj said the company has spent another $1 billion).
The project was, by all accounts, a prize catch. The Galilee Basin boasts of 7.8 million tonnes of
coal, which makes it the single largest tenement in Australia in terms of coal resources,
according to a project report prepared by Adani. "There is not a single mine in the world that has
this kind of reserves," Janakaraj said in December.
The project would spawn the largest coal mine in Australia and possibly the largest in the world.
To give an idea of scale, the land allotted to Adani is equal to the size of Singapore.
As Adani envisioned the project, coal would be carried through a rail line built by Posco to the
port of Abbot Point, where it had permission to build a terminal to export coal. The company
aimed to produce as much as 40 million tonnes of thermal coal in the first phase and 60 million
tonnes in the second. Twothirds of the total coal will be shipped to India, of which, half will be
used by power plants owned by Adani and the rest sold to competitors. The remaining one-third
of coal will be exported to South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
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The coal itself was found to be superior to what was mined in India. Coal in India is of poor
quality owing to a high ash content, which essentially means it contains less energy per kg.
Enter Environmentalists
As it happened, the project was fiercely opposed by environmentalists owing to its potential
impact on the Great Barrier Reef, one of the natural wonders of the world and home to countless
species of sea creatures, threat to groundwater and heavy carbon emissions. To expand the port
of Abbot Point, 3 million cubic metres of seabed had to be dug up and dumped within the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Environmentalists worry that the suspended sediments could smother seagrass beds, vital food
for threatened turtles and dugongs, and also corals. Under pressure from environmentalists,
Adani was forced to scale down its dredging plan to 1.7 million cubic metres. It also promised to
dump the dredged material on land despite additional costs of $25-30 million, said Gautam
Adani, chairman of the Adani group, in an interview with ET in November 2014. But the land
that Adani referred to happens to be Caley Valley Wetlands, significant to environmentalists
because it is home to 40,000 water birds and natural filters for the Reef. Environmentalists were
again up in arms.
"Imagine your local municipality was planning to turn the favourite local beach into a garbage
dump. You would be upset, right? Imagine then that they decided to make the park next to the
beach the garbage dump instead. Would you be happy? That's essentially what Adani is talking
about on a much larger scale," said Tager.
An environmental impact statement for the dredging and dumping proposal put forward by the
Queensland state government is now awaited. An Adani statement after the court ruling said it is
committed to ensuring its mine, rail and port projects are developed and operated in accordance
with all laws and regulations, including strict environmental conditions. That indicates the
company is willing to press ahead. But it is a long haul.
As Adani has found the hard way, the environmentalists opposed to the Carmichael project have
proved to be quite ingenious. While approving the project, minister Hunt had imposed 36
conditions, primarily aimed at protecting groundwater. Yet, the environmentalists achieved a
breakthrough.
John Rolfe, a professor at the Central Queensland University, said the court's decision about the
Adani mine centred on two threatened species a lizard and a snake. However, the
environmental groups were not necessarily focused on those species; their opposition to the mine
was because of greenhouse emissions, concerns about the Reef etc, he said. "The concerns about
the threatened species were a mechanism to delay the project and achieve their broader goals."
There is a lot of opposition to mining, particularly coal, in Australia, according to Rolfe. "So the
success of the tactics on August 5 means that those groups are likely to become even more active
in the future to delay projects." Even so, if the Adani project were to be abandoned, it could be
180
on economic grounds rather than for environmental obstacles. Long before the adverse court
ruling, financial analysts have questioned the economic viability of the project.
According to Janakaraj's estimates, the company will make $4 billion in revenues from the total
shipments in the first phase. That calculation and the company's own assessment on the
feasibility of the project is rooted in a price tag of $100 a tonne for coal. But that estimate or the
dizzy returns seem unlikely because international coal prices entered a freefall two years ago,
recording their lowest level in eight years. Futures market forecasts give a price upside of only
around $65 a tonne in 2021.
"Adani's financial model had overestimated the coal price and the yield, underestimated the
mining costs, the rail costs and the discount for which the coal would sell, and breezily ignored
pesky things in its calculations like interest on the debt," said a recent analysis in the Sydney
Morning Herald.
Janakaraj is sanguine though. "We are in a downcycle, but there will be an upcycle." The mine
will be ready in time to exploit the 'upcycle', according to him. He turned to history to justify his
projections. "In 2002, commodity prices were low, but those companies who built capacities
reaped benefits."
The environmental obstacles and protracted courtoom battles, however, have already messed up
Adani's construction and shipment timelines. Its plans to raise the remaining $6.2 billion to
complete the project through a debt to equity ratio of 70:30 too have been a struggle. A senior
official of State Bank of India, which signed an agreement with Adani to lend $1 billion for the
project, said there has been no progress with the loan, which is unlikely to be disbursed in the
near future. The Queensland government's proposed investment has come under a cloud after
revelations that senior bureaucrats were sidelined over key decisions.
A factor that Adani could have used to blunt the attack of environmentalists was the tantalising
prospect of jobs and taxes the mine could generate. But in April, an expert witness for Adani told
a court in Queensland that the mine would generate only 1,464 jobs and around A$4.8 billion in
royalties, a far cry from the 10,000 jobs and A$22 billion the company had publicised.
The lone succour in this sea of troubles for Adani has been the unabashed support of Australian
prime minister Tony Abbott. Abbott has said the project puts Australia on the path to becoming
an energy superpower. It can also count on the support of the Indian government, thanks to
Gautam Adani's friendship with prime minister Narendra Modi (Adani signed the loan deal with
SBI during a visit to Australia by Modi). Indian high commissioner Navdeep Suri told reporters
last week that he shared the government's "disappointment" over the setbacks suffered by the
Adani project with Australian trade minister Andrew Robb.
In the end, the Adani project's future will depend on Australia's overall experience in balancing
ecological concerns with boosting economic development. But there is no clear pattern here.
Matthew Currell, a lecturer at the RMIT University in Melbourne, said the trade-off between
economic activity and and environmental protection has always been a central debate in
Australia. "There are examples where community pressure has overturned decisions to approve
181
developments.
At the same time, many projects that had major environmental impact were allowed because of
the economic and political power of the mining industry," he said. "How people view this trade-
off, particularly regarding mining projects, is always a controversial debate in Australia."
Sadly for Adani, it has become the subject of that debate.
Majority of ecologically sensitive zones still not notified
Environment ministry okays only 26 zones out of 452 proposed

Subhayan Chakraborty | New Delhi August 20, 2015 Last Updated at 00:24 IST
Of the 526 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, the environment ministry has been able to
provide a protective buffer zone, called ecologically sensitive zones (ESZs), to only 26 so far.
According to the national wildlife policy, each of these wildlife zones was to have a protective
zone around it, where polluting and detrimental activities would be restricted.
The ESZ is based on the principles of providing sanctity to protected areas and strengthening the
buffer zones and corridors around such areas.
All forms of infrastructure projects of commercial or public purpose, including mining,

industries and hydro-power projects, are prohibited within such zones, according to the ministry
guidelines.
But data from the Union environment ministry show only 26 such ESZs have been formally
notified so far.
On Tuesday, the environment ministry notified an ESZ around Okhla Bird Sanctuary in Noida,
which has caught public attention because it impacted thousands of home buyers in the countrys
capital. But the vast majority of such proposals for other national parks and wildlife parks are
still in limbo.
182
According to a 2006 Supreme Court order, all states and Union Territories were required to send
proposals detailing the site-specific geographical extent of ESZs around environmentally
protected areas falling within their boundaries.
Data from the ministry show 452

proposals have been sent so far.
The highest number of proposals
has been received from Madhya
Pradesh followed by Himachal
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil
Nadu and Karnataka. All UTs
other than Andaman and Nicobar
have proposed one zone each.
Larger states have on an average,
proposed higher number of zones.
Of those, which have been

notified till date, most fall in four
states Gujarat, Goa, Sikkim
and Odisha. Haryana, Jharkhand,
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
have one zone each notified.
Several states such as Himachal

Pradesh, Rajasthan and Goa have
consistently raised concerns about
creating ESZs. Based on such complaints the Union government consistently asked for site-
specific proposals. According to Supreme Court orders, unless site-specific ESZs are declared a
10-km area around each of these wildlife zones is treated as an ESZ. But despite repeated
deadlines the states failed to submit their proposals.
While the states themselves have played truant in sending proposals within stipulated time, the
slow pace by the ministry too cast a shadow on the project. Officials suggest that procedural
complexities were primarily to be blamed for the delays.
Guidelines issued in 2011 said a committee, comprising a field staff of the forest, revenue and
panchayati raj departments and an ecologist would identify an ESZ. The chief wildlife warden
of the state was required to send these to the environment ministry.
183
However, the number of zones being notified shot up after the National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) government came to power in May last year. In fact, 18 of the 26 ESZs were notified
after NDA took over, though critics complained that in some cases ESZs were demarcated
keeping industrial and polluting industries safe from restrictions, such as in the case of Sikkim.
This has elicited concerned responses from different quarters and allegations of arbitrary and
hurried decision making in the process.
Birds-eye view: Death knell for sanctuary, say environmentalists
Birds fly for only 10-20 m around a sanctuary.

Written by Aditi Vatsa , Aniruddha Ghosal | New Delhi | Updated: August 24, 2015 7:28 am
Environmentalists said the National Board of Wildlifes order last week sounded the death knell
for the Okhla Bird Sanctuary. They said shrinking the eco-sensitive zone set a dangerous
precedent for other protected forests and sanctuaries in the country. Many builders have, in
fact, concealed information and the environment ministry has turned a blind eye to it, said
Gaurav Bansal, who represented petitioner Amit Kumar before the National Green Tribunal.
The order sets a very dangerous precedent for other sanctuaries, wherein, in order to regularise
an existing illegality, a situation is created which cant be explained in ecological terms, said
Manoj Mishra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan.
K K Singh, the district forest officer of Gautam Budh Nagar, however, said that the boundary set
as the eco-sensitive zone for the bird sanctuary was suitable.
Eco-sensitive zones are site-specific. The 10-km radius was given as the maximum limit and
with the intention of pressuring states to specify and notify the eco-sensitive zones. Tigers roam
in an area of 5-6 km while elephants need around 10 km. Birds, on the other hand, fly for only
10-20 m around a sanctuary. The 1.27-km limit (the eco-sensitive zone on the Okhla Bird
Sanctuarys north) covers the floodplains and parts of the Yamuna. This will help check illegal
fishing. On Saturday, we seized two big boats each 20-30-ft long that had entered the
sanctuary. The poachers, however, could not be caught, he said.
Anand Arya, a management consultant and bird watcher, who had gone to court after nearly
9,000 trees near the sanctuary were felled, said the notification was a death knell, not just for
the Okhla sanctuary but for all protected areas across the country.
First, you dont know what you are required to do and, after you have served your personal
gains, you come out with a notification. It is a death knell because out of around 150 proposals
yet to be received or notified, as the CM of a state you could ask the Okhla proposal to be
replicated. The whole action plan, the Environment Protection Act seem to have been thrown
into the dustbin, he said.
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He added that the most damaging part was the environment ministrys okay to a 100-m limit. He
added that the most damaging part was the environment ministrys okay to a 100-m limit.
He alleged that the UP government had not formed a committee to look into the ecological
impact before determining the limit.
Supreme Court panel says no to mega rail link through Western Ghats
A joint venture between the Railways and the Karnataka government, the original project
involved construction of 329 bridges and 29 tunnels, and required felling of more than 2.5 lakh
trees on 965 hectares of forest land.
August 24, 2015
The Rs 2,315-crore Hubli-Ankola railway line, cutting across the Western Ghats in Karnataka,
has been shown the red signal by a Supreme Court panel on forest and wildlife, which said that
the projects huge and irreparable ecological impact would far outweigh its actual tangible
benefits.
Last August, Railways Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, who is also a senior BJPleader from
Karnataka, had claimed that he was in touch with Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on
the issue and that the 168-km rail link project conceived in 1998 primarily to transport iron
ore from the Bellary-Hospet mines would be cleared in a year.
However, in its report submitted earlier this month, the Supreme Courts Central Empowered
Committee (CEC) underlined that the net present value of the modified requirement of 727
hectares of forest land for the project works out to Rs 7,426 crore ? more than triple the project
cost.
These figures most effectively demonstrate the extraordinary high ecological and economic
value of the forest land involved in the project, it said, recommending that the apex court may
direct the Environment Ministry not to reconsider or approve the project it had earlier rejected.
MoEF officials refused to comment as the matter was sub-judice.
185
The proposal was rejected by the Environment Ministry in 2004 but revived with modifications
in 2006. Pushing the rail link in 2008, the Karnataka government claimed it was inevitable that
the Western Ghats has to be pierced through at some point to ensure this connectivity between
coastline and eastern plains of the state.
The CECs opinion follows a series of adverse reports the project has attracted since its
foundation stone was laid by then prime minister A B Vajpayee in May 2000.
In 2002, the Karnataka forest department observed that no national interest would be served by
dissecting the forest landscape of Uttara Kannada with a new rail link when the potential of the
existing alternatives such as Hubli-Vasco, Hospet-Chennai and Hospet-Vizag lines was yet to be
tapped fully due to the low volume of iron ore traffic.
It further reasoned that the deposit of Bellary-Hospet itself would not last beyond 20 years,
making mining economically unviable.
But by then, the Railways had already started work on the project in a non-forest stretch. In
2003, the then Karnataka forest chief reiterated that the forest and terrain really do not permit a
railway line but the proposal has to be considered in the light of more than one commitment
already made by the state government and the Railways Ministry.
Submitting the proposal to the Union Environment Ministry, Karnatakas then principal secretary
(forest) acknowledged that the rail link will further fragment the forest and expose fresh areas to
anthropogenic pressure, before concluding that these appear inevitable given the importance of
the line.
In May 2004, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Environment Ministry observed that
the project for transporting mainly iron ore has not much justification while this will simply
be a tragedy on the prime forests of the Western Ghats. Accordingly, the ministry rejected the
proposal.
In the following months, the Railway Ministry mounted pressure, underlining the importance of
the project in view of increasing global demand for iron ore. In September, the FAC asked the
Karnataka government to critically revise the proposal. The Railway ministry modified the
proposal in 2005, reducing the forest land requirement to 720 hectare.
In 2006, two NGOs approached the CEC which found that though the project was rejected, work
was in progress on a 40-km non-forest stretch. Before CEC could take action, 80 per cent of
earth and bridge works up to 47 km between Hubli and Kiravatti was complete.
In 2011, the state government engaged the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to prepare a
technical report. Recommending a Rs 450-crore mitigation plan, the IISc report said in 2012 that
the proposed link would cut through a key elephant corridor and trigger conflict, while removal
of trees would lead to a loss of 2.25 lakh tonnes of carbon and annual sequestration potential of
upto 3,696 tonnes.
186
Between 2006 and 2013, the CEC held seven hearings and meetings on the project. During this
period, the Railways proposed to implement the project in stages while Karnataka further
reduced the total forest land requirement to 687 hectare.
Dismissing the reduction in forest-land requirement, the CEC said that no amount of mitigation
measures would be adequate to contain the severe adverse impact on the biodiversity-rich dense
forest of Western Ghats.
However, it said that the MoEF may divert five hectares of fringe forest land for the Hubli-
Kalaghati stretch of the proposed link as sought by the Railways if the latter confirmed that the
segment would be commercially viable by itself.
13 YEARS, MANY TWISTS AND TURNS
2002: Karnataka forest department says no national interest would be served by dissecting forest.
2003: Karnataka forest chief says forest and terrain do not permit railway line.
2004: Environment Ministry panel says project will be a tragedy on the prime forests.
2005: Railways cuts forest requirement to 720 hectares.
2006: CEC finds work in progress on a 40-km non-forest stretch.
2012: IISc says link would cut through elephant corridor.
2006-2013: Railways says will implement project in stages, Karnataka cuts forest requirement to
687 hectares.
2015: SC panel says no amount of mitigation measures would be adequate to contain the severe
adverse impact on the biodiversity-rich dense forest.
187
4 states yet to submit report on Western Ghats
August 25, 2015, New Delhi, dhns
Four of the six Western Ghat states including Karnataka have not submitted the
assessment of their eco-sensitive areas to the Centre, though the deadline to notify these
areas on the basis of the Kasturirangan committee report is less than three weeks away.
Though Kerala presented its report long back, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest has
now posed several questions to the Malabar state, which is yet to respond. Goa is the only other
state that submitted its eco-sensitive zone assessment.
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are the other states in the Western Ghats, one
of biodiversity hot spots of the world.
Some clarifications were sought from Kerala, but I can't disclose what they are. We need
reports from other states as the deadline to come out with a final notification is September 9,
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said here. The Union government is legally
bound to finalise the notification by September 9, 2015, which is 18 months from the day of
issuing the draft notification on March 10, 2014, when a draft notification on the ecologically
sensitive areas in the Western Ghats was issued based on the report of an expert panel headed by
space scientist K Kasturirangan.
The states objected to the ESA boundaries as recommendations by the panel on the ground that it
would hamper the states' right to development. The state governments were asked to carry out
their own assessment and submit a report to the central ministry. More than 500 days later, those
ESA reports from the states are still pending.
Over 150 ECZ proposals approved by NDA in 8 months: Javadekar
Taking a dig at the previous UPA regime, the government today said that it was "unfortunate"
that only 15 eco-sensitive zones around protected areas of the country were declared in the last
eight years against more than 150 by the present government in just eight months.
Noting that it was one of the most important "reform" and "achievement" of the Narendra Modi-
led government, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that his ministry will complete a
"long-pending mammoth exercise" of declaring ESZs around 624 protected areas in the country
by March next year.
"Defining the boundaries of all protected areas was the most important reform which we
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undertook... From 2006 to 2014, 15 notifications happened. But in last eight months, we made an
all out effort, and that has resulted in approval of 176 proposals.
"This is a major achievement of the Narendra Modi-led government. This must be taken note of
by everybody. We are doing it diligently with all scientific processes in place, after engaging
extra team, with extra channels of dialogue with states in practice and making nodal officers at
our end and state government level," Javadekar told reporters.
Giving out details, the Union Minister said that there are a total 624 protected areas (PAs) in the
country which include national parks and sanctuaries.
Out of that, 100 proposals for ESZ were of Andaman and Nicobar Islands alone. Out of the
remaining 524, 445 proposals were received by the ministry. "156 of them are under scrutiny by
it and state governments," he said.
The Environment Ministry has issued 31 draft notification and 32 final notifications of ESZs, he
said.
"One might find it a technical subject but defining ESZ is a major reform because this clarifies
the situation on ground and ends the confusion," he said.
"By March 31, 2016, all the rest proposals will be processed and approved so that the confusion
in the country in the name of ESZ will end and there will be clarity. We should not maintain
confusion in the system. We must bring clarity," he said, adding, 179 proposals are yet to be
received.
The ministry is making a compliance mechanism and creating that architecture (for it), he said.
Aug 28 2015 12:19AM
Eco concerns over Baglihar hydel project worry experts, locals
Jammu, August 27
The 900-MW Baglihar hydroelectric project continues to increase the worries of experts and
inhabitants in the erstwhile Doda district comprising Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban districts as the
region faces a major threat of severe climate change, courtesy successive regimes which have
ignored all environmental concerns attached to the project.
Torrential rain, cloudbursts and massive landslides are said to be new dangers confronting the
people of the erstwhile Doda district which are mostly due to creation of the reservoir of between
30 km and 35 km in length. The region falls in Seismic Zone IV.
The second phase of the 450-MW Baglihar project will be commissioned in September. The
450-MW first phase of the project was commissioned in 2008. Work on the run-of-the-river
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project, which has come over the Chenab in the Chanderkote area of Ramban district, began in
May 1999 when the National Conference government led by Farooq Abdullah was in power.
Both phases have a common reservoir.
Two important surveys, environment impact assessment and environment management plan,
were not conducted before start of work on this project, which could cause a disaster in the entire
region. The design of the project was based only on an old geological survey conducted in 1972.
I had cautioned then Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah about all portents of a disaster that could be
faced by the area in the future, but was left virtually unheard. People of the erstwhile Doda
district are paying for this faulty planning, said noted geologist GM Bhat.
He said the new trend of torrential rain coupled with frequent cloudbursts in the region was
fraught with dangerous ramifications. There is a strong possibility that heavy landslides
triggered by torrential rain and cloudbursts will block the Chenab river and create an artificial
dam in the area. If it happens, it will cause a massive disaster in the region, he said. He voiced
his concern over danger to the people living in upper villages of Doda district, saying they had
been facing a major threat because of terrain.
Water from the reservoir has entered the loose soil which is the root cause of frequent landslides
and sinking of Doda areas. It will continue till water in the reservoir remains stagnant. Cracks are
gradually developing in the higher reaches. It is high time for the government to seriously look
into the matter of grave concern, Bhat said.
Shakil Ahmad Romshoo, head of the department of earth sciences in Kashmir University, said
Jammu and Kashmir was tectonically quite active and earthquake with magnitude of 8 to 9 on
the Richter scale, which was overdue in the state, could create havoc with human lives and
property as these multiple dams would not withstand with such tectonic activity.
The construction of multiple dams in this small region will definitely have a great impact on the
environment. Water from reservoirs behind these dams may seep deeper into the earth and create
an adverse impact. The need of the hour is to make stringent environment assessment guidelines
for such projects to lessen the impact on climatic in future, he said.
The Chenab that flows into Pakistan already has the 690-MW Salal hydroelectric power project
in Reasi and the 390-MW Dulhasti hydroelectric power project in Kishtwar. The 850-MW Ratle
project, the foundation stone of which was laid by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in
2013, was coming up on the Chenab river in Kishtwar.
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People have been voicing their concerns against the disadvantages to the region for long, but no
heed is being paid to them. The sinking of the Batote-Doda highway and frequent landslides in
the region have already begun. The project will lead to a huge disaster if corrective measures are
not taken, said Mohammad Ashraf, a resident of the Pul Doda area.
Furthermore, eyebrows had also been raised over the state governments decision to allow Jai
Parkash Industries Limited to execute work on phase II of the Baglihar project by just giving an
extension to the memorandum of understanding signed with it for the first phase of the project
way back in 1999.
The Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation, which is the executing agency
for the power project, preferred to give an extension to the agreement (signed with Jai Parkash
Industries) over floating fresh tenders for execution of the project, said sources.
Ken-Betwa river link project's EIA inadequate and flawed, say environmentalists
Friday, 28 August 2015 - 6:30am IST | Place: New Delhi | Agency: dna | From the print edition
In a scathing letter to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC),
environmentalists and former senior bureaucrats have exposed inadequacies in the environment
impact assessment (EIA) of the ambitious Ken-Betwa river link project. The South Asia Network
on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), who have authored the letter, sent it to the environment
appraisal committee (EAC) of theMoEFCC as they considered the project for the environmental
clearance on August 25. The letter has been endorsed by former power secretary EAS Sarma and
Ramaswamy R Iyer, former secretary of water resources ministry, who had a major role in
drafting the National Water Policy, 1987.
The Ken-Betwa link project is the first proposed river-linking project in the country. The project
involves transferring 591 million cubic metres of surplus water in the Ken basin in UP through a
231.45-km canal to the Betwa river in MP. Land needed for acquisition is an estimated 6,000
hectares and the cost of resettlement Rs 333 crore. But, according to environmentalists the
project will reduce 30% of the Panna Tiger Reserve and almost 10 per cent of the 54,266 hectare
of its area will get submerged.
The letter to the EAC highlights the violations in the public hearing process that was held in
December 2014. According to the letter, a majority of the citizens present at the meeting had
opposed the project despite being shouted down by activists of the rulung party. SANDRP notes
in detail the inadequacies of the EIA report. The report, SANDRP says, fails to assess impact of
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reservoir which will effectively cut areas of the Panna tiger reserve to the west and also the
notified forests beyond.
The EIA says that "no operation and activity is proposed in Panna protected area except the
submergence." But, the dam to be for water diversion will be built inside the Panna national
park. As far as enlisting vulerable and threatened species is concerned, the EIA enlists species
that are not found anywhere close to the project site. According to the EIA, Philippine pangolin,
found only in Philippines is found at the project site along with animals such as slender loris,
slow loris and even sagai, all animals not found in the area. The EIA is also completely silent
about the existence of Ken Ghariyal Sanctuary in the downstream area, which will be adversely
impacted due to the project.
"We have sent this letter to the EAC so they are informed abut the incorrect information and
flaws in the EIA report. They should apply their mind while considering environmental clearance
and we have demanded that a fresh EIA is needed," said Himanshu Thakkar of SANDRP.
The river-linking project has garnered significant protests. The project's impact on Panna tiger
reserve even prompted the ex-field director R.Sreenivasa Murthy to write to the Madhya Pradesh
state government.
Online competition to increase environmental awareness launched
The government was constantly trying to encourage forest and environmental awareness among
residents and expected a huge participation in the novel initiative, said Javadekar.
By: Express News Service | Pune | Published:August 31, 2015 1:37 am
In a bid to create forest and environmental awareness among residents, the department of forests
has initiated an online competition on Environment, Climate Change and Forest for schools and
colleges in the city. The website for this pilot project was inaugurated Sunday by Union
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar at Van Bhavan, Pune.
The government was constantly trying to encourage forest and environmental awareness among
residents and expected a huge participation in the novel initiative, said Javadekar.
Forest officials said that the exploitation of natural resources and environment for the benefit of
the human race was affecting the environment at an alarming rate.
Global warming has increased, many species have become extinct and many more are in
danger. Our children are unaware about the trees and their usefulness. This is a subject of great
concern and many governments and private agencies are taking this up as an issue of world
importance. This is one small step, said the forest officials.
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The department said it would check whether the pilot project resulted in increased awareness and
participation in the save environment initiatives.
We on behalf of department of forest , Ministry of Environment and Forest, humbly appeal to
all management members, principals and heads, teachers and parents of various schools and
colleges to support this drive by encouraging maximum number of students to take part in this
competition to make it a grand success, said the officials.

Rains wreak havoc in east India
75 Killed As Landslides, Flooding Cripple Life In Bengal And Manipur

The toll of the recent heavy rains and floods in eastern India crossed 75 on Sunday . Fifty
deaths have been reported in West Bengal, owing to lightning, wall collapse, electrocution, snake
bite and drowning. Odisha reported a total of five deaths, whereas Saturday's landslide in
Manipur killed 20 people.
Heavy to moderate rains continued to lash parts of eastern India even as the depression over
Gangetic West Bengal prompted a forecast of heavy rain in different places. Rivers are
approaching danger levels as dams release water, creating a floodlike situation. All of Bengal's
deaths have been reported from the state's south, where a large number of people have been
rendered homeless. Over 36 lakh people from more than 12 districts have been affected, said the
disaster management department. CM Mamata Banerjee was compelled to put off her north
Bengal tour to oversee relief efforts.
Several districts, including North and South 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Burdwan and
Howrah, have been affected. Disaster management teams are working on a war footing, the CM
said.
Communication systems and transportation have been hit hard, with reports of building
collapses from various places. Fishermen have been warned not to venture out into the sea on the
Bengal coast. Nearly two lakh houses and 4,72,645 hectare of crops have been damaged. Over 2
lakh people have taken shelter in 1537 relief camps.
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Jharkhand continued to reel under torrential rain for the third consecutive day on Sunday as
district administrations and the state disaster management department went on high alert. Fire
and emergency services, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Army and BSF units have
also been mobilized.
Till evening, all major rivers, including Swarnarekha and Kharkai, were flowing a little
under danger level. Water levels in reservoirs are rising steadily , but are under danger mark,
colonel Sanjay Srivastava, deputy secretary of the state disaster management department told
TOI on Sunday . Though no loss of life have been reported, several mud houses were swept
away , Srivastava said.
Light to moderate rains were reported in Guwahati between Saturday and Sunday in Assam,
Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. However, Manipur remained
dry after flash floods and landslides that killed 20 people on Saturday . The Met department has
forecast heavy rain over the next few days in Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal.
The Met department also warned of heavy rainfall in north Chhattisgarh late on Sunday
night. It could continue till Tuesday , IMD Raipur Director M L Sahu said.
In Odisha, over five lakh people have been affected by floods following cyclone Komen-
induced rains, official sources said. Weather officers predicted moderate rainfall in the state this
week.
August 3, 2015
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Landslip leaves 500 stranded in Uttarakhand

At least 500 people were left stranded after a landslip blocked a highway in Uttarakhand on
Saturday. Triggered by rain, Gangotri highway was blocked by stones and rocks falling from a
hill, causing tourists and pilgrims to wait for hours for it to be reopened.
We were coming from Gomukh and we were told that for more than an hour a landslip has
taken place from the top and the rain hasnt stopped. Trees have fallen and rocks are falling,
which has jammed the road, said one stranded person, Suri in Uttarkashi town.
Disaster management officer, Devendra Patwal, said rocks were still falling on the reopened
route.
We are trying to open the route but continuous falling of rocks is causing a hindrance. I have
been informed that the route has been opened but the rocks continue to fall. One has been injured
and taken to hospital, said Mr. Patwal.
One resident, Siroru Lal described what happened.
There is a big landslide and from the top it is sliding downwards and falling over the houses.
Now the land is sliding from the other part also and the village is in danger, said Lal.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Kangra, Sudesh Kumar Mokhta, said those affected will be
compensated. - ANI
GSI to install warning devices in landslide-prone areas

Seema Sharma,TNN | Aug 4, 2015, 09.58 PM IST
DEHRADUN: To ensure safety of defence personnel deputed at strategic places in landslide-

prone areas of the state, the defence ministry has asked the Geological Survey of India (GSI) to
conduct a study and set up early warning devices in such places.
The pilot project - to be funded by the defence ministry -- will be implemented in Narender
Nagar town of Tehri Garhwal.
Giving details, VK Sharma, additional director general GSI told TOI, "Defence personnel are
posted at several strategic places in the state. However, any natural disaster poses a threat to their
life as well as the safety of army equipment such as tanks. We've asked the GSI to conduct a
study on underground vibrations before mounting early warning devices in the state."
Sharma said they would undertake a visit in Narender Nagar after September.
"Once the study is completed, we will purchase the required instruments," he added.
1784 wild animals have died in rains and floods: Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar
PTI Aug 4, 2015, 05.50PM IST
195
NEW DELHI: 1784 wild animals including lions have died recently due to excessive rains
and floods in the country,Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar informed Lok Sabha in a
written reply.
"1,784 animal have died which includes ten Asiatic Lion, 87 Spotted Dear, 1670 Blue Bull, nine
Black Buck, six wild Boar, one Porcupine and one Jackal," the minister said.
The minister said that it provides central assistance sought by the concerned state government for
activities including rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals under various Centrally Sponsored
Schemes of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats, Project Elephant and Project Tiger for
various activities related to habitat improvement including soil and moisture conservation and
water development activities.
State disaster management department gets Rs 90-crore grant from Centre

Gaurav Talwar,TNN | Aug 5, 2015, 10.05 PM IST
DEHRADUN: With the Centre recently revising items and norms of assistance to be provided
from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), the state disaster management department has
received the first instalment of Rs 90 crore under the centrally-sponsored scheme.
The grant will be used to provide immediate relief to people affected by natural calamities such
as cyclones, drought, earthquakes, fire, floods, tsunami, hailstorms, landslides, cloud burst and
pest attack.
Significantly, an allocation of Rs 180 crore has been made by the 14th Finance Commission for
the SDRF in the state for the current financial year.
Giving details, Santosh Badoni, deputy secretary, disaster management department, told TOI,
"We've received the first instalment of Rs 90 crore for the SDRF from the Centre. The second
instalment of a similar amount will be given in November or December after a request is made
by the state government."
Badoni said the money would be used to make ex-gratia payment to families of deceased
persons, immediate restoration of public infrastructure, buying equipment etc. He further said
new satellite phones for districts would also be bought from the fund.
Notably, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had recently revised the items and norms of
assistance to be provided from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster
Response Fund (NDRF) for the period 2015-20. Following this, the ex-gratia payment to
families of deceased persons has also been fixed at Rs 4 lakh, while the ex-gratia payment for
loss of a limb of eye during a disaster has been revised at Rs 59,100.
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Gujarat pegs damage figure at Rs 2,000 crore in recent flood

So far, the state government has issued aid to the tune of Rs 1.24 crore towards 41 deaths of a
total 72 reported cases. More than Rs 1,317 crore has been doled out in cash.
By: Express News Service | Ahmedabad | Published:August 6, 2015 4:09 am
With three villages in Banaskantha district almost washed out and over 80,000 animals dead, the
state government has put primary damage figures for the last weeks flood that affected north
Gujarat and Kutch region in the range of Rs 1,500 to 2,000 crore.
While state government has not made clear if aid from the Union government is required, it will
submit, within the next three days, a primary memorandum to the central government about the
situation. This will be followed by a detailed report. Along with a total of 72 deaths in four
districts Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana and Kutch a huge number of cattle deaths have
been recorded.
A total of 81,480 cattle deahts have been reported from the affected districts, said government
spokesperson and Health Minister Patel. Three villages in Dhaner belt of Banaskantha district,
have been totally washed out.
Rivers here have reported a change in stream direction, said Patel adding, that the government
has been considering allotment of new land for relocation of these villages. When contacted
Banaskantha additional collector M Mistry said, We need to check files for 3 villages that have
been badly washed out.
Urban Housing Development minister Shanker Chaudhary, who has been put in-charge of relief
operations in Banaskantha said, Shortage of milk for the dairies for short-term operation in the
region is likely to be felt due to deaths of cattle. One of the biggest milk cooperatives Banas
Dairy operates from the region.
Arrangements for proper burial of the animals have been made to avoid outbreak of any
disease, said Patel. Senior cabinet ministers will visit affected districts later this week to
prepare the full and final report.
So far, the state government has issued aid to the tune of Rs 1.24 crore towards 41 deaths of a
total 72 reported cases. More than Rs 1,317 crore has been doled out in cash.
Bengal flood situation improves, death toll at 85

CM Mamata Banerjee demands adequate funds from the Centre for post-flood work
Press Trust Of India | Kolkata August 5, 2015 Last Updated at 20:33 IST
197
The flood situation in West Bengal showed further improvement today on account of little or no
rainfall since yesterday and a reduced quantity of water discharge from barrages upstream, even
as the death toll rose to 85.
Two more deaths were reported today, taking the toll to 85, Disaster Management Department
sources said. "Altogether, 2,546 relief camps have been set up to shelter over 4.56 lakh
marooned people and nearly 667 medical camps opened," the sources said, adding the total
number of affected people was nearly 63 lakh.
As many as 1,12,235 houses were damaged and 3,78,184 houses damaged partly. Crop over an
area of 8,20,435 hectares has been damaged.
The chief minister has demanded adequate funds from the Centre for post-flood work. She has
sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during her visit to Delhi on August
11 and 12 to place her demands for flood damages from the National Disaster Relief Fund.
Banerjee, who blamed the DVC for an 'abnormal' release of water for the aggravated flood fury,
said she would raise the issue during his meeting with the PM.
The affected areas included 235 blocks, 53 municipal bodies, two municipal corporations and
781 gram panchayats (GPs) covering 16,414 villages.
So far, 10,089 cattle heads were lost, the sources said, adding shelter for those surviving would
be made after the water recedes.
Steps were also being taken to protect the affected people from health hazards, while medicines
and drinking water pouches were being distributed, sources said.
Drought causing distress migration from Telangana

Deccan Chronicle | August 07, 2015, 01.21 am IST
Hyderabad: The ongoing drought is fuelling distress migration from districts in Telangana, a
trend that was witnessed in the early 2000s. The severe drought conditions for the second
consecutive year have led to crop failure, mounting debts, chronic unemployment and failure of
the NREGA scheme, especially in the districts of Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda and Adilabad,
forcing large-scale exodus of farmers and others.
The state government now fears that the crime rate will increase as earlier experiences suggest
that whenever there have been droughts, the crime rate in the state has gone up, especially in
rural and interior areas.
As per official estimates, Mahabubnagar tops the list with over 10 lakh rural population
migrating to Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts in search of livelihood, mostly as daily-wage
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labourers, watchmen in colonies, apartments, shops etc. besides engaging in granite and
construction industry on the citys outskirts.
Mahabubnagar is followed by Medak at eight lakh, Nizamabad at seven lakh and Adilabad at
five lakh. The severe drought conditions will hit not only the agriculture sector but would also
lead to several social problems. There will be large-scale migration of people from rural areas to
urban areas. There were instances earlier of increased crime rates where drought migrants had
settled because of poverty and unemployment. The roads and highways surrounding villages and
interior areas witness a high number of theft cases with travellers on roads being attacked for
money and other valuable items, said an official of the Agriculture department, which prepared
a report on adverse impacts of drought.
Citing instances, he said that the districts of Adilabad, Nizamabad, Medak and Warangal had
recorded 60 per cent higher crime rates between 2000 and 2004 due to consecutive droughts,
with most being road-side thefts near Khanapur, Basar, Ramayampet, Dichpally etc.
The other social problem being witnessed on account of drought is increasing school dropouts in
government schools in rural areas due to the families migrating to urban areas.
Its difficult to earn even `100 per day in villages in drought conditions. But in Hyderabad, we
can earn up to Rs 500 per day as daily-wage labourers easily and working as watchmen, security
guards etc., said Shivanna, a small farmer from Mahabubnagar district.
'Make disaster study must for Uttarakhand hydel projects'

Vishwa Mohan & Pradeep Thakur,TNN | Aug 17, 2015, 07.09 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Flagging direct correlation between development activities and disaster in
ecologically sensitive regions, a home ministry's body - National Institute of Disaster
Management (NIDM) - has urged the government to carry out 'Disaster Impact Assessment' of
proposed hydro-power projects in such fragile zones before giving its clearance.
It said the comprehensive 'Disaster Impact Assessment' of proposed hydro-power plants should
be made mandatory along with the existing practice of 'Environmental Impact Assessment' (EIA)
for project clearance.
Though the NIDM, in a recent study, elaborated how largescale deforestation and developmental
activities had contributed to the Uttarakhand disaster in 2013, it specifically noted the
vulnerability of the state due to existing hydro-power projects and suggested that the government
should look for alterative sources of renewable energy like solar, wind and bio-mass in the
Himalayan region than depend on hydroelectricity.
At present, the environment and forests ministry through 'environmental appraisal committees'
carries out EIA for projects including hydro-power before giving its green clearances. The
assessment is used as a tool to identify environmental, social and economic impacts of a project
prior to decision-making.
The EIA, made mandatory under the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986, is carried out for all
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mining, industrial, thermal power, river valley, multi-purpose dams, irrigation, hydro-electric,
infrastructure and nuclear projects.
But there is no concept of 'Disaster Impact Assessment' which can be an important guide and
preparatory mechanism for crisis management. The DIA can be made on the basis of a
comprehensive analysis of the potential impacts that may result as consequence of a disaster.
The NIDM's suggestion to have DIA of hydro-power projects assumes significance as it clearly
sees such projects as recipe of disaster. It noted that in the June 2013 floods, the muck dumped
by the 330 mw Srinagar hydro-electric project might have intensified the factors responsible for
causing damage downstream.
The study, carried out by experts of the NIDM, also pointed out that "hydro-power projects are
blamed for disturbing ecological balance in the sensitive fragile zone of Himalayas, leading to
more landslides and other associated risks".
Though the institute left the question whether the government should at all go for hydro-power
projects in Uttarakhand to the expert committee of the environment ministry that has been
examining it under direction of the Supreme Court, it supported the concerns of
environmentalists who have been opposed to dams and big reservoirs in ecologically fragile
regions.
In its 184-page study on 'Uttarakhand Disaster 2013', the NIDM study said, "The impact of
hydro-power projects on environment, ecology, biodiversity and economic and social life of the
region has always been a matter of concern. In this context, the observation made by the
Supreme Court of India is very significant."
Taking note of experts' views, the Supreme Court had in August 2013 stayed construction of all
hydro-power projects in Uttarakhand in the wake of the disaster and also restrained the
environment ministry from granting clearance to such projects until further orders.
Is the Maggi saga stifling food companies?

Over the past several months, new product launches have slowed as companies are growing
increasingly anxious about regulatory oversight
Nivedita Mookerji | New Delhi July 30, 2015 Last Updated at 22:30 IST
The list of food companies that are cutting back supply, withdrawing products from the market
and putting new launches on hold is getting longer by the day. In the latest such incident, a
leading poultry company has curtailed the supply of processed chicken to retailers after it came
under the scrutiny of the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India, or FSSAI.
Over the past two months, several food items, which were not approved by the regulator, have
been pulled out from the market. The future too looks grim. Usually a time for launches, the
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festival season is unlikely to see too many new products, given the huge pile of pending
approvals with FSSAI.
In the wake of the Maggi noodles saga, the food industry seems to be taking a step back from
growth. The Maggi scare, which was prompted by the presence of taste enhancer monosodium
glutamate, or MSG, and excessive lead in some samples, led to FSSAI ordering a nationwide
recall of the product last month. Switzerland-based Nestle, which makes the instant noodles, was
also asked to close its manufacturing plants in India.
UNHEALTHY MIX?
Products under FSSAI scanner, besides noodles and pasta
Kellogg's Special K-Red Berries (Kellogg's India)

Chicken Arabic style kofta, Crispy Chicken Burger patties (Venky's India)
Egg mayonnaise salad dressing variants, natural vinegar (Field Fresh Foods)
More than 30 syrups, toppings, sauces, drink mixes (Tata Starbucks)
Milky and cocoa spreads (Ferrero India)
Several vitamins and nutrients (Swiss Garnier Life Sciences)
Source: FSSAI website

Note: Most products have been found with excessive amount of sugar, caramel, salt, heavy metals
or iron filings
While Nestle is now fighting the FSSAI order in the Bombay High Court, the recalls and cut-
backs point to another problem: unease in the industry. The unease could only increase, given
that Nestle has for the first time in about two decades run into the red, owing to the Maggi mess,
as its April-June quarter numbers showed.
Without mincing words, Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal at a conference
organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry earlier this month said FSSAI was creating
"an environment of fear in the industry.'' FSSAI needed to streamline its regulations as the steps
taken by the regulator were "stopping innovations in the processing sector, she said, adding that
the industry was in the midst of a "fear psychosis''.
Throwing a scare
Is the fear real? Clearly, Nestle, the company at the centre of the crisis, is worried about restoring
confidence in brand Maggi, which makes up for 30 per cent of its India revenue at Rs 2,500
crore. Having announced it was destroying Maggi noodles worth Rs 360 crore following the
FSSAI order, the group replaced its CEO Etienne Benet with Suresh Narayanan from the
Philippines.
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On whether there's an environment of fear in the industry, Piruz Khambatta, chairman of the
national food processing committee at CII, says there's risk in any business, whether it is food,
taxi aggregation or any other. Rather than live in fear, "the industry must learn to manage and
mitigate risk," he adds.
The risk from a recall could be many. Sanjay Kedia, country head and CEO of Marsh India, an
insurance and broking and risk management firm which has been looking at the food industry
closely after the Maggi controversy, says, "the possible stress on balance sheet can be very high
due to any possible government action in the food and beverages industry.''
Until now, a lot of F&B companies, says Kedia, were operating oblivious to the bearing food
recalls could have on their cash flows. To safeguard against such risks, Kedia suggests "evolved
insurance solutions" like contaminated products insurance that can cover costs involved in case
of recall, contamination, packaging problems and legal liabilities.
Even as companies and experts wake up to risk management, the government has begun to
communicate with the industry to understand its side of the story.
On Monday, top officials of the health ministry and FSSAI had a meeting with senior members
of the food industry to discuss the regulatory mechanisms and product approval processes,
among other things. Also, FSSAI is setting up its own house in order by filling up vacancies. It
recently appointed former agriculture secretary Ashish Bahuguna as its chairman, after months
of that post lying vacant.
FSSAI CEO Yudhvir Malik could not be contacted for this report, but company executives say
the lacuna in the regulatory system is adding to the nervousness. "Without sufficient number of
accredited laboratories and infrastructure resources, how can FSSAI order a recall like it did in
the case of Maggi noodles?'' asks an industry source.
Many people have also questioned whether the tests conducted by FSSAI on food samples were
trustworthy as global tests for the same product did not show any contamination.
Problems galore
Still, the FSSAI clampdown has not been entirely uncalled for. For long, the Indian food industry
has been half-hearted about adhering to regulatory guidelines. In the first five months of 2015,
according to Wall Street Journal, the US food regulator has rejected more snack imports from
India than from any other country.
Delhi-based Centre for Science & Environment had called the Maggi development a wake-up
call for food & beverage companies. "I am happy that regulators are testing food products and
taking action. As long as you don't test, you will not know what is going into these," CSE
Deputy Director-General Chandra Bhushan says. It was CSE that had first raised the issue of
pesticides in aerated beverages 12 years ago, prompting the then government led by Atal Bihari
Vajyapee to set up a joint parliamentary committee to investigate the matter.
It was then that the government got active on the Food Safety & Standards Act, which mandates
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what should go into packaged foods and to what extent. An industry source says most large
companies are aware of the regulatory processes, and smaller companies are becoming cautious
now.
Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has made it clear that the government
does not want to create "panic or inspector raj". "Investors should not fear. There are many good
companies, but those in the wrong should be aware that the government is watching," he says.
Still, questions remain on how and by when FSSAI would be in a position to scrutinise the food
industry in a comprehensive way, rather than through the present method of tests in ad hoc labs
across states.
August 21, 2015
Tripura, Mizoram ready to implement food security Act

The Tripura and Mizoram governments have almost computerised their Targeted Public
Distribution System (TPDS) to implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA), official
sources in the two States said.
We will start implementing the food security act from next month. Our necessary preparation
are almost completed, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said.
He said: The Tripura government has been demanding universalisation of PDS and distribution
of 14 essential items to people through the PDS.
Mizoram Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs minister John Rotluangliana said in Aizawl
that the State government would start implementing the NFSA from October.
Over 95 per cent of the 960,000 ration cards in Tripura have been already digitised. The
remaining computerisation works and setting up of call centres are now under process, State
Principal Secretary (food and civil supplies) S.K. Rakesh told reporters.
He said: With the completion of the remaining work, the NFSA will be implemented in Tripura
from September as per the State governments decision.
The official said that creating infrastructure, and necessary computerisation of entire TPDS, cost
around Rs.11 crore, with the Central government providing 90 per cent of the expenses.
In Mizoram, so far, over 98 percent of the total 241,272 ration cards have been digitised.
Mizoram minister John Rotluangliana said: Around 706,000 of the States more than 10 lakh
people will be covered by the food security scheme. This included around 1.36 lakh most poor
people under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) scheme.
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The minister said that for people left out from the food security scheme, the State government
would make arrangement to give rice at cheaper price.
The Union government had asked all states and union territories to implement the NFSA from
September. But, according to a Central government report, the NFSA has been implemented by
only 13 States and two Union Territories.
Most north-eastern States are yet to complete the computerisation of the entire TPDS and setting
up call centres, both mandatory to implement the Act.
Under the NFSA, which came into force on July 5, 2013, each eligible person would get 5 kg
food grain a month at Rs.3 per kg for rice, Rs.2 per kg for wheat and Re.1 per kg for coarse
cereals through the State governments.
The NFSA entitles up to 75 percent of the rural population and up to 50 per cent of the urban
population to receive food grain at subsidised prices.
The NFSA was passed by parliament when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance
government was in power at the Centre. The deadline for implementing the same has been
extended thrice. - IANS
August 4, 2015 12:59 IST

Kasturirangan Committee recommendations, was one of the major suggestions coming from the
MPs representing these six States. But everyone talked about sustainable development as well.
And to that end, we will have yet another meeting next week, Mr. Javadekar said.
ESZ demarcation.
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Concerns of States
Centre proposes to develop 200 city forests in the country in next five years
NEW DELHI: As part of its effort to increase and protect green cover in urban areas, the Centre
has proposed to develop 200 'city forests' in the country in next five years and launch a 'school
nursery' scheme to create awareness about environment protection.
Idea is to develop at least one 'city forest' initially on forest land, ranging from 20 hectare to 100
hectare, in cities having municipal corporations.
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"The environment ministry will provide one time financial support for development of these city
forests", said Union environment and forests minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday.
Responding to a Parliament Question, the minister in his written response informed the Lok
Sabha that the scheme, namely "Nagar Van-Udyan Yojana", was proposed to be launched on
pilot basis.
"The scheme aims to create 200 city forests in the country in next five years", he said.
Referring to the 'school nursery' scheme, he said, "It is proposed to create small nurseries in
schools involving students from class six to class nine. The main objective is to create awareness
about environment and help students identify and learn about the various benefits of trees and
plants".
Under this scheme, 1,000 schools of the country will be selected every year and each will raise at
least 1,000 saplings by involving students. Selected schools will receive grant of Rs 25,000 in the
first year and Rs 10,000 per year for the subsequent two years.
Centre plans to adopt new sand mining policy for forest areas
Press Trust of India | Ahmedabad August 10, 2015 Last Updated at 00:24 IST
Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar said on Sunday the Centre plans
to adopt a new policy to allow sand mining in forest areas to stop flood waters from flowing into
forests.
Javadekar made the announcement while referring to recent deaths of 10 Asiatic lions and other
wild animals due to floods in Amreli district in June. He said sand mining in rivers passing
through protected forest land has been banned by the Supreme Court.
Due to floods in Amreli recently, 10 lions and other wild animals died. According to the
Supreme Court order, you cannot excavate silt gathered in rivers passing from the forest area. As
a result, large amount of silt has gathered in such rivers across the country, Javadekar said at a
press conference.
As a result, river beds have become shallow and flood waters eventually flow into nearby
forests. If we don't remove this silt, forests will eventually vanish and flood will keep happening.
Thus, there is a need to remove this silt. Therefore, we have prepared a sustainable sand mining
policy to allow sand mining in forest areas for this purpose. We will also inform the court about
it to seek its permission.
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The minister also claimed that his ministry cleared at least 35 projects in Gujarat, which had not
been given clearance.
When the Congress was in power at the Centre, they stalled many projects in Gujarat. During
the last 15 months, we cleared 35 such projects of the Gujarat government. Many of these
projects were stuck in this ministry since 2007, Javadekar said.
Some of these projects which received environmental clearances include the 800 MW extension
at Vanakbori thermal power station, drilling of 103 wells in Vadodara by the ONGC,
development of Dholera SIR and a limestone mining project in Rangpur village of Junagadh,
Javadekar said.
Government launches School Nursery Scheme to increase green cover; 10,000 schools will
be covered in next three years
Aug 10, 2015, 04.39 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Seeking to bring students closer to nature and inculcate in them a sense of
urgency to protect environment, the Union environment and forests ministry on Monday
launched the 'School Nursery Yojana' which would involve children in raising saplings in
nurseries created inside their school campuses.
Ten thousands schools will be covered across the country under the scheme in next three years.
The selected schools will receive grant of Rs 25,000 in the first year and Rs 10,000 per year for
the subsequent two years.
Under the scheme, students will sow seeds and grow saplings in the school nursery as part of
practical exercise for Biology classes or as their extra-curricular activities.
The students will also carry out tree census in their school and the locality under this Yojana.
One thousand schools will be covered under this scheme in the first year of its launch.
"It will be expanded to cover around 5,000 schools next year and to about 10, 000 schools in the
third year', said the Union environment, forests and climate change minister Prakash Javadekar.
Addressing the students at the function to launch the scheme here at Talkatora Stadium,
Javadekar said that there can be no better combination than that of students and trees.
"The School Nursery Yojana will enable schools to distribute saplings to students to plant in
their homes and surrounding areas and create an army of young 'green warriors'. Through the
Yojana, the ministry will support schools to provide all the essential facilities for raising of
saplings for use of students and schools", said the minister.
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A school Nursery will have a small space of a minimum of 100 sq meter for preparing beds for
raising saplings and for nursery-related activities, including preparing, planting a mixture of
good earth, soil and manure, filling earthen pots and storage of seeds.
Each School Nursery is expected to create a 1,000 saplings every year. The schools will be
encouraged to take up composting, rain water harvesting and water recycling to inculcate best
practices in young minds under this scheme.
Urging every student to plant a tree each, Javadekar said every school must earmark space to
prepare a small nursery where the saplings could be planted.
He urged students to enjoy working with soil and seeds and also carrying a sapling for planting
in their home, or neighborhood and nurture it.
The minister also presented a sapling and a packet of seeds to students from each school for
planting.
Over 2,500 students from more than 60 participating schools received saplings of their choice
from a wide range of species including medicinal plants at the occasion of the launch of the
Yojana. Around 5, 000 saplings were distributed to school students on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, environment and forest minister of Delhi, Asim Ahmed Khan said life
can be sustained only through trees and we can control pollution only through trees.
August 12, 2015
Forest cover declines in 12 states and UTs: Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar
PTI Aug 11, 2015, 04.43PM IST
NEW DELHI: The forest cover of 12 states and Union Territories has declined by over 1200 sq
kms due to a variety of reasons including encroachment and mining, Lok Sabha was informed
today.
Replying to a question, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said as per India State of Forest
Report 2013, the total forest cover in the country is 697,898 sq km, which is 21.23 per cent of the
total geographical area of the country.
"There is a net increase of 5871 sq km in the forest cover of the country as compared with India
State of Forest Report 2011," he said.
Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram,
Karnataka,Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Andaman and Nicobar Islands have reported
decline in forest cover due to encroachment, open cast mining, drying up of mangroves after
tsumani and shifting cultivation practices.
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Himachal to launch bamboo-based livelihood project

IANS | Aug 14, 2015, 09.44 AM IST
SHIMLA: Keeping in view the multiple uses of bamboo and its products, Himachal Pradesh's
forest department will soon launch a bamboo-based livelihood project, it was announced on
Thursday.
The project will be based on people participation through integration by involving forest,
agriculture and animal husbandry departments and corporations like state Forest Development
Corporation and Handicraft and Handloom Corporation, said forest corporation vice chairman
Kewal Pathania at a meeting here to explore the possibilities of bamboo-based livelihood
options.
The project would be launched in various potential areas, especially in Kangra, Hamirpur,
Chamba, Solan, Bilaspur, Mandi and Sirmaur districts, said Pathania, adding bamboo could
become a source of livelihood support to the rural community by augmenting their skill for the
propagation value addition and assured marketing.
In some parts of the state, bamboo is also being used to channelise the water flow, besides
manufacturing other useful products.
Pathania said bamboo was available in huge quantity in the state and its species grow much
faster than most of the hard woods and spreads into other areas.
Also, he said, bamboos could be harvested every four year on rotation for its sustainable supply
from the forest as well as in private land.
GPS-aided cameras to keep track of Gir lions

Himanshu Kaushik,TNN | Aug 14, 2015, 03.30 AM IST
AHMEDABAD: The state forest department is getting ready to install GPS-aided 'camera traps'
a network of remotely operated system with motion and infrared sensors in the Gir
sanctuary. This will allow paperless monitoring of wildlife, especially lions, and for conducting
habitat studies.
A senior forest department officer said the department plans to install around 250 cameras. The
entire network is expected to be ready for use by October this year.
The cameras will be installed in every 4 sq km area of the sanctuary and in places where
visibility is very poor. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Gujarat forest department,
assisted by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), will use software to track the movement of
not only the lions and other animals but also beat guards.
The ZSL will give 1 lakh (around Rs 1 crore) to the state government for setting up the new
monitoring system. Funds for this will also come from the state government and the Centre, said
an official.
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The ZSL and the forest department had signed a memorandum of understanding for protecting
the Asiatic lion and its habitat. In 2014, the ZSL had launched 'Lions400' campaign to raise
funds for saving the Asiatic lion.
Y V Jhala, head of WII's animal ecology and conservation biology division, said that earlier a
Gir lion was given as gift to the ZSL for its zoo. In return, the ZSL raised funds and decided to
support the move to install GPS-aided camera traps in Gir.
Jhala said the advantage of these traps is that they can record accurate data and help the forest
department keep watch on poaching and illegal activities, besides ensuring that forest beat guards
visit their designated zones. These cameras will be camouflaged and will not disturb even birds.
He said the battery in each camera will have to be replaced every 15 days.
Jhala said the new system will help beat guards record any illegal activity in real time and upload
it to the server for officials to take necessary action immediately.
Deforestation triggers off man-animal clash

TNN | Aug 20, 2015, 02.23 AM IST
Karwar: The continuous destruction of forests in Uttara Kannada district is leading to a conflict
between man and wild animals.
In most cases, the animals intrude into human habitation in search of food. Even in the urban
areas, the number cases of snakes, pythons and the leopards entering into houses has increased.
The main reason behind this is the continuous destruction of forest and non-availability of food
and water in the forest, says Nagesh Naik, a farmer. "We can't stop snakes from entering into
human inhabitation. But, the intrusion of panthers, elephants, bears, and samba deer can be
stopped if the forest department take takes precaution," he said.
But, the forest officials deny it. "Water and the crops like sugarcane attracts the animals like
pythons, panthers, leopards and bears to human habitation. In Haliyal taluka, we discourage
people from growing paddy and sugarcane on the borders of the forest to avoid the elephant
attacks," said Shrinivasalu, DCF, reserved forest, Dandeli. In most of the cases, they are being
caught and sent back to the forest, he said. "In normal cases, the snakes do not attack the people
on their own unless we disturb them. Fortunately, people have the awareness not to kill them.
Instead of killing them, inform the forest officials," said Mahesh Naik from Avarsa, who has
caught thousands of snakes and released them in the forest.
In most cases, farmers, in a bid to protect their crops, have electricity in the fence wires which
often leads to the death of the animals like elephants. "People should be refrained from doing
this, because it is a punishable act," said the forest official.
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INDIAS FOREST POLICY PROTECTS TRIBALS RIGHTS, CUSTOMS

Friday, 21 August 2015 | NADIYA CHAND KANUNGO | in Bhubaneswar
India is one of the frontrunners in the globe, where a forest policy has been in vogue since long
ago. The tribal rights were very much respected during the British regime. The written
documents on forest policy were revised twice for protection of forests in 1952 and 1988 by the
Government of India after independence. The regular working plans of forests were made for
scientific management of forests and forest resources.
The forest policy revised in 1988 recommended that the country should maintain one-third of its
total land areas and 25 per cent in plains. In the policy, the forests were categorically classified
into four categories, where scientific management of forests, including the tribal welfare, was
clearly given importance.
The forest is a State subject, but the Government of India retains the overall control over forest
resources and a uniform policy applies to all provinces for management of forests. There are
various physiographic as we as geographic features of the country, where variable ecological
systems are noticed. In respect of Odisha, the State is broadly classified into four physical
divisions. First is the Eastern Ghat region; second the mountains or hills; third the sea coasts and
fourth the coastal plains. All these four aspects need physical protection for preventing soil
erosion, landslides and floods. At present, the climate change impact has created much concern
all over the globe. The whole world now believes that destruction of physiographical resources
is the prime cause behind climate change disasters. It is a good gesture that the Government of
India has laid much emphasis on protection of forests and their regeneration.
There are 62 types of tribes living in Odisha with each having its own way of life and culture.
But one common thing in them is they believe forests to be a representative of god and worship
nature, what is called Kheman.
They believe that forests give them rain, water, food, medicine and cloth. They get their
livelihoods from forests. So they do not destroy the forests. There is annual function of
worshiping of forests by every tribal clan. Such tribal customs are recognized in the forest policy
of India of 1952. The policy is a written document which envisages scientific management of
forest resources of India in such a manner that the sociocultural and economic needs of the
tribals are protected.
Forests are a rich storehouse of resources. We get many major and minor forest produce from
forests including timbers and bamboos. The minor forest produce or the non timber forest
produce are different kinds of edible fruits and foods, oil sheets, resin, lac, honey, wax,
medicinal plants of different kinds and mushrooms etc.
Besides, forests also protect us from natural disasters like cyclone. They help enrich the ecology
and biodiversity. Once upon a time, forest revenue was the major revenue of the various States in
India. Forests are major assets of the tourism industry.
Since pre independence period, the provisions of village forests to meet the public demands,
especially of forest dwellers, were there. The locals were entitled to collect various forest
produce to fulfill their domestic needs like firewood, small size timbers for construction and
repair of houses and agricultural implements, fruits, flowers, herbs, oil seeds and cattle feeds, etc.
Even the locals had the rights of hunting and snaring animals for meat. But hunting and snaring
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was prohibited with the enactment of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, Odisha Forest Act 1972
and Forest Conservation Act 1980 and other related rules.
The Forest Rights Act recognizes the rights of the tribals and local inhabitants inside forests over
land and collection of various forest produce. Now, the Odisha Government claims that the State
tops among all other provinces of India in solving land rights rows of tribals and forest dwellers.
The Van Mahotsav and tree plantation week is being observed since 1950 when late Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister of India and late Dr KM Munshi was the Union
Agricultural Minister. The forest was then included in the Ministry of Agriculture and was not a
separate portfolio. The tree planting ritual is meant to maintain ecological balance and make up
for the loss of major forest cover due to urbanization and industrialization and mining activity.
Supreme Court panel says no to mega rail link through Western Ghats
August 24, 2015 2:45 pm
The Rs 2,315-crore Hubli-Ankola railway line, cutting across the Western Ghats in Karnataka,
has been shown the red signal by a Supreme Court panel on forest and wildlife, which said that
the projects huge and irreparable ecological impact would far outweigh its actual tangible
benefits.
Last August, Railways Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, who

is also a senior BJP leader from Karnataka, had claimed that he was in touch with Environment
Minister Prakash Javadekar on the issue and that the 168-km rail link project conceived in
1998 primarily to transport iron ore from the Bellary-Hospet mines would be cleared in a
year.
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However, in its report submitted earlier this month, the Supreme Courts Central Empowered
Committee (CEC) underlined that the net present value of the modified requirement of 727
hectares of forest land for the project works out to Rs 7,426 crore ? more than triple the project
cost.
These figures most effectively demonstrate the extraordinary high ecological and economic
value of the forest land involved in the project, it said, recommending that the apex court may
direct the Environment Ministry not to reconsider or approve the project it had earlier rejected.
MoEF officials refused to comment as the matter was sub-judice.
The proposal was rejected by the Environment Ministry in 2004 but revived with modifications
in 2006. Pushing the rail link in 2008, the Karnataka government claimed it was inevitable that
the Western Ghats has to be pierced through at some point to ensure this connectivity between
coastline and eastern plains of the state.
The CECs opinion follows a series of adverse reports the project has attracted since its
foundation stone was laid by then prime minister A B Vajpayee in May 2000.
In 2002, the Karnataka forest department observed that no national interest would be served by
dissecting the forest landscape of Uttara Kannada with a new rail link when the potential of the
existing alternatives such as Hubli-Vasco, Hospet-Chennai and Hospet-Vizag lines was yet to be
tapped fully due to the low volume of iron ore traffic.
It further reasoned that the deposit of Bellary-Hospet itself would not last beyond 20 years,
making mining economically unviable.
But by then, the Railways had already started work on the project in a non-forest stretch. In
2003, the then Karnataka forest chief reiterated that the forest and terrain really do not permit a
railway line but the proposal has to be considered in the light of more than one commitment
already made by the state government and the Railways Ministry.
Submitting the proposal to the Union Environment Ministry, Karnatakas then principal secretary
(forest) acknowledged that the rail link will further fragment the forest and expose fresh areas to
anthropogenic pressure, before concluding that these appear inevitable given the importance of
the line.
In May 2004, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Environment Ministry observed that
the project for transporting mainly iron ore has not much justification while this will simply
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be a tragedy on the prime forests of the Western Ghats. Accordingly, the ministry rejected the
proposal.
In the following months, the Railway Ministry mounted pressure, underlining the importance of
the project in view of increasing global demand for iron ore. In September, the FAC asked the
Karnataka government to critically revise the proposal. The Railway ministry modified the
proposal in 2005, reducing the forest land requirement to 720 hectare.
In 2006, two NGOs approached the CEC which found that though the project was rejected, work
was in progress on a 40-km non-forest stretch. Before CEC could take action, 80 per cent of
earth and bridge works up to 47 km between Hubli and Kiravatti was complete.
In 2011, the state government engaged the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to prepare a
technical report. Recommending a Rs 450-crore mitigation plan, the IISc report said in 2012 that
the proposed link would cut through a key elephant corridor and trigger conflict, while removal
of trees would lead to a loss of 2.25 lakh tonnes of carbon and annual sequestration potential of
upto 3,696 tonnes.
Between 2006 and 2013, the CEC held seven hearings and meetings on the project. During this
period, the Railways proposed to implement the project in stages while Karnataka further
reduced the total forest land requirement to 687 hectare.
Dismissing the reduction in forest-land requirement, the CEC said that no amount of mitigation
measures would be adequate to contain the severe adverse impact on the biodiversity-rich dense
forest of Western Ghats.
However, it said that the MoEF may divert five hectares of fringe forest land for the Hubli-
Kalaghati stretch of the proposed link as sought by the Railways if the latter confirmed that the
segment would be commercially viable by itself.
13 YEARS, MANY TWISTS AND TURNS
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Present road routes from Ankola to Hubli.
2002: Karnataka forest department says no national interest would be served by dissecting forest.
2003: Karnataka forest chief says forest and terrain do not permit railway line.
2004: Environment Ministry panel says project will be a tragedy on the prime forests.
2005: Railways cuts forest requirement to 720 hectares.
2006: CEC finds work in progress on a 40-km non-forest stretch.
2012: IISc says link would cut through elephant corridor.
2006-2013: Railways says will implement project in stages, Karnataka cuts forest requirement to
687 hectares.
2015: SC panel says no amount of mitigation measures would be adequate to contain the severe
adverse impact on the biodiversity-rich dense forest.
Grow plants if you want to curb urban heat: Nasa

IANS | Aug 27, 2015, 10.46 AM IST
WASHINGTON: The presence of vegetation in urban areas - along the roads, in the parks and in
your neighbourhood - can limit city heat effect to a great extent, says a Nasa study.
Using multiple satellites' observations, researchers found that areas in the US covered in part by
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concrete surfaces had a summer temperature 1.9 degrees Celsius higher than surrounding rural
areas.
In winter, the temperature difference was 1.5 degrees Celsius higher in urban areas.
At the human level, a rise of one degrees Celsius can raise energy demands for air conditioning
in the summer from five to 20 percent.
"This has nothing to do with greenhouse gas emissions. It is in addition to the greenhouse gas
effect. This is the land use component only," said Lahouari Bounoua, research scientist at
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The urban heat island effect occurs primarily during the day when urban impervious surfaces
absorb more solar radiation than the surrounding vegetated areas, resulting in a few degrees
temperature difference.
The urban area has also lost the trees and vegetation that naturally cool the air.
"Anywhere in the US, small cities generate less heat than mega-cities," Bounoua said.
The reason is the effect vegetation has on keeping a lid on rising temperatures.
"The amount and type of vegetation plays a big role in how much the urbanisation changes the
temperature," added research scientist and co-author Kurtis Thome.
As a by-product of photosynthesis, leaves release water back into to the atmosphere in a process
called evapotranspiration, which cools the local surface temperature the same way that sweat
evaporating off a person's skin cools them off.
Trees with broad leaves have more pores to exchange water than trees with needles, and so have
more of a cooling effect.
"So even though 0.3 degrees Celcius may seem like a small difference, it still may have impact
on energy use," Bounoua said, especially when urban heat island effects are exacerbated by
global temperature rises due to climate change.
Understanding the tradeoffs between urban surfaces and vegetation may help city planners in the
future mitigate some of the heating effects, the authors noted in a paper that appeared in the
journal Environmental Research Letters.
E-payment module launched to collect fund for increasing green cover
NEW DELHI: Government on Thursday launched an e-payment module to accept compensatory

amount for diversion of forest land in the country. It will cut delays and bring transparency in the
system which is meant for collecting fund from user agencies which diver forest land for 'non-
forest' purpose.
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Any user agency which diverts forest land for non-forest purpose is, at present, required to
deposit prescribed amount to the government body. This amount - managed by an ad-hoc body,
Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) - is supposed
to be utilized to mitigate impact of diversion of forest land.
The verification of receipt of compensatory levies in the ad-hoc CAMPA has, till now, been
done manually. The current system, however, involves various steps, making it a time-taking
process. The launch of e-payment module will now end such delays.
Launching the new system, Union environment ministry Prakash Javadekar said the technology
must be used to the advantage of all. "The government's endeavour has been to simplify
administrative procedures, without compromising on environmental safeguards," he said.
The deposit of compensatory levies through the e-portal will be optional till August 31. The
payment will, however, be accepted only through the e-module from September 1.
The CAMPA was created by the government under the Supreme Court order of October, 2002.
So far, Rs 38,000 crore has been accumulated with the ad-hoc CAMPA.
This fund is meant for carrying out reforestation and other related activities including protection
of forest area and wildlife conservation. The collected amount, however, remains unspent in
absence of an institution mechanism to disburse the money to states.
The government had introduced the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Bill in Lok Sabha
during the budget session in May. The proposed legislation seeks to pave the way for expeditious
utilization of the fund, which has been kept unused for years, for increasing forest cover in the
country.
The Bill, once passed by the Parliament, will also create an institutional mechanism for use of
fresh accrual of the money that would be collected in future for diversion of forest land for non-
forest use.
The purpose of the proposed legislation is, therefore, to provide safety, security and transparency
in utilization of these amounts.
Drone used for plantation on the banks of Vishwamitri river

Prashant Rupera,TNN | Aug 30, 2015, 04.48 PM IST
VADODARA: A new technology for plantation was recently used as part of the 'Vaho
Vishwamitri Abhiyan'.
During a programme, drone was used for spraying seed balls by a young team to carry out tree
plantation on the banks of river Vishwamitri.
'Vaho Vishwamitri Abhiyan' - the call to revive Vishwamitri river - is an effort to bring life back
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to the ancient Vishwamitri river that passes through the heart of Vadodara.
The campaign aims to start a grassroots movement for reviving the Vishwamitri river and its
watershed from Pavagadh to Gulf of Khambhat including villages, towns and Vadodara city.
"As part of the Vaho Vishwamitri Abhiyan, we organize several tree plantation workshops every
year. A bio-shield around the river system is an integral and important part for the holistic
revival of the river," said Dr MH Mehta, president of National Bioshield Society and Vaho
Vishwamitri Abhiyan
"A scientific bio-shield is proposed on both the banks of the river with nearly 90 lakh shrubs and
trees. We had been working on development and application of seed ball technology to support
such plantation. But the new challenge was to use drone for seed balls spraying," he said.
"It was exciting for all to see that this was successfully done at this workshop which was
attended by more than 500 students and also special invitees like ISRO, Rama Krishna Mission
among others," he said.
August 3, 2015
High-powered panel formed for Smart Cities Mission
The Government has constituted a High-Powered Steering Committee (HPSC) with Chief
Secretary Manoj Kumar Parida as its Chairman for Smart Cities Mission in the Union Territory
of Puducherry.
Finance Secretary and thirteen others including District Collector, Puducherry and Municipal
Commissioners were made members to the committee. According to an official notification, the
High-Powered Steering Committee will provide guidance to the Mission and provide State level
platform for exchange of ideas pertaining to development of Smart Cities.
The committee will also oversee the process of first stage intra-State competition on the basis of
stage-1 criteria and review the Smart City Proposal (SCP) which is to be sent to the Ministry of
Urban Development for participation in the challenge.
The Secretary to Government (Town Planning) will be the State Mission Director for the Smart
City Mission in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
The High-Powered Steering Committee shall meet often or as and when it is necessary, the
notification added.
Chief Secretary to be its Chairman and Secretary to Government (Town Planning) the State
Mission Director
Aug 5 2015 1:16AM
Centre approved 42 tourism projects in 3 yrs

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New Delhi, August 4
The Union Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned 42 projects for Jammu and Kashmir during 2012-
15.
Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma informed the Lok Sabha that while two projects were
sanctioned in the financial year 2014-15, 15 were sanctioned in 2013-14 and 25 projects were
sanctioned in 2012-13.
The total amount sanctioned for the projects was Rs 96 crore.
While four of the projects have been completed, work on 38, including two sanctioned in 2014-
15, is in progress.
The Union Minister informed the House that the Ministry provided financial assistance to the
state government and Union Territory Administrations for various tourism projects. This was
subject to availability of funds, inter see priority, liquidation of pending utilisation certificates
against the funds released earlier and adherence to the relevant scheme guidelines.
Also, under the new plan schemes, Swadesh Darshan and National Mission on Pilgrimage
Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive, consultation with the state government
concerned and meetings of the Mission Directorate are held at regular intervals for consideration
of the projects, Mahesh Sharma added.
Need to build environmentally friendly houses

August 4, 2015
Why not build houses the environmentally friendly way? That is a question an increasing number
of people across the developing world - environmentalists, town planners, architects and others -
have been asking of late.
For those in the business of building houses, the question is more pertinent and the one they have
been asking of themselves as well as of others. Understandably so, because the ramifications of
what we build and what materials we use are far-reaching and long-term, as it affects the energy
consumption of a building.
"I think when designing we should not lose the context and purpose of our existence. We are all
designing as if there is no tomorrow and consuming as if ours is the last generation on the
planet," Delhi-based architect Akshay Kaul rued while speaking to IANS.
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Kaul's observation came in the context of increasing use of glass in the buildings, especially the
facades, in India over the last two decades.
"Glass came in fashion in colder European countries as it allowed more sunlight and helped keep
buildings warm. In warmer countries such as India, excessive use of glass increases energy
demand of the building as it radiates a lot of heat," K.T. Ravindran, dean of the School of
Planning and Architecture here, told IANS.
"Glass affects a building's environment as well as the environment outside by radiating heat,"
said Ravindran, former chairman of the Delhi Urban Art Commission, adding: "People are doing
it because they think it is in vogue."
The observation is echoed by Kaul, who specialises in the field of ecological planning and
sustainable architecture and has more than 20 years' experience in India and the US.
"Most buildings in India were green almost until two or three decades ago. The trend changed as
we started imitating buildings from the West, which had facades essentially of glass," said Kaul.
"It is like first creating a furnace and then cooling a building - in the process sending heat out
once again and using energy in the form of electricity to cool the building.
"The electricity comes from either drowning villages or towns and dislocating people or
submerging arable land or depleting natural resources," Kaul emphasised.
The green building movement has taken off in the past 10 years. According to Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED(r)), which certifies green building standards, over 3.6
billion square feet or 69,000 buildings have so far been certified in 150 countries.
By definition, the design of green buildings minimises impact on the environment by reducing
the use of energy and water. Environmental disturbance is also limited during the building
process and by the choice of the building site.
Kaul is however not completely against the use of glass in making a building green.
"The problem is not glass but how much glass. Glass unfortunately means a lot of glare and heat
in our climatic context," he added.
Manish Bagga, senior architect at Gurgaon's Arcop Associates, agreed.

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"You cannot do without glass. You can't have a totally opaque building. Instead, the amount of
heat coming in can be regulated through judicious use - the right combination of glass and
opaque masonry," Bagga told IANS.
Another option, according to him, is to use low emissivity or Low-E glass which is expensive but
pays in the long run as it does not allow in heat.
"Avoid glass in south and west direction as the sunlight is intense when the sun is in the southern
and western direction. Use it in the eastern direction as sunlight is mild in the morning," Bagga
explained.
Insulation on the rooftop with material such as expanded polyethylene can prevent a building
from heating up.
According to Ravindran, one of the leading voices in the country on urban design, a badly
planned structure not only drains its own energy resources but also affects the surrounding
environment.
On the other hand, several studies have found that better indoor environmental quality translates
into occupants' better physical and mental health.

Isro to map 500 towns for smart city programme
Diversifying its `Bhuvan' (geospatial platform) application service which can be a key tool
to implement India's smart city programmes, the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) has
tied up with the Union urban development ministry for mapping over 500 towns and cities to
make a base plan for better urban planning and management.
The move will help town planners prepare master plans for many fast urbanizing local
bodies, keeping in view the topography and available natural resources in the surrounding areas.
The mapping is being currently done for municipal local bodies with a population of more
than one lakh.The country's space agency will also map and provide management plans for
heritage sites and monuments of national importance.
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We have tied up with the ministry of urban de velopment to map over 4,041 areas which
include around 500 urban local bodies. After mapping these cities and towns, we can prepare a
base plan. This can help urban planners prepare a better master plan, said V K Dadhwal,
director of ISRO's national remote sensing centre.
Speaking about additional features incorporated in `Bhuvan', Dadhwal noted that Isro has
diversified operations under `Bhuvan Application Services': like 1 metre satellite images for
more than 300 cities in the country , 3D city models with extrusions of the buildings and virtual
city models.
Lauding ISRO scientists for launching such additional features, the minister of state in the
Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said that Bhuvan is India's
Google and urged the scientists to increase the social acceptability of the projects.
He was speaking at an event, organized on the occasion of National Remote Sensing Day
which is celebrated on the birth anniversary of legendary scientist Vikram Sarabhai.
A series of diversified `Bhuvan' application services, relevant for many ministries, was also
released on the occasion.
A house for Mr and Ms migrant

Urban housing is not only about building shelters in silos but about accommodating hopes
Sanjeev Sanyal August 13, 2015 | UPDATED 12:22 IST
With India's urban population expected to grow exponentially over the next couple of decades,
urban housing will be a central issue for the government. Unless this is urgently and
imaginatively tackled, Indian cities will be overwhelmed by slums and squalor. However, the
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response must avoid static policies and think in terms of creating dynamic ecosystems that allow
waves of people to climb the social and economic ladder.
To understand the problem, we first need to understand why people are migrating to cities. It is
not due to a lack of housing back in the village. Indeed, a higher level of schooling and family
income will tend to increase the likelihood that a rural person will move to the city. So why do
they put up with all the hardships in the city? Migrants move to the city because they see it as a
way to enter the modern economy so that they and their children have a fighting chance of
climbing the social and economic ladder. So the trick is to design housing policy in a way that
allows migrants to climb the ladder. Here are some illustrations of how this framework changes
policy.
First, we need to solve the "first night" problem-where does a newly arrived migrant spend
his/her first night? In most cases it will be a slum where the migrant knows someone. The slum
then becomes the ecosystem that provides social linkages, information on job opportunities and
so on. It is an essential step through which new migrants are absorbed into the urban landscape.
Therefore, if city planners wish to avoid unregulated slums, they need to design urban spaces
that serve this need.
One way to resolve this problem is to build very basic rental housing. These should include
dormitories with clean sanitation and catering facilities. Bleeding heart activists tend to see rental
dormitories as somehow condemning the poor migrant to a demeaning life. But this is a static
view that ignores the very real "first night" problem. The current approach of selling subsidised
Low Income Group flats does not help. The new migrant and the poor are not in a position to
invest in real estate even if it is subsidised. They simply need a place to stay while they find their
niche in the city.
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The next step is to think of how people can constantly move up the housing ladder. This is not
merely a matter of creating different levels of housing stock but about financing, property rights
and secondary markets. It is meaningless to give subsidised housing to the urban poor if they are
not given ownership rights that can be traded in the secondary market to climb the housing
ladder (or liquidated, if necessary, to meet some financial need). After all, housing is not just
about shelter but is usually the single largest asset for most people. Singapore has arguably the
world's most successful public housing scheme and the whole system is based on a robust
secondary market. Contrast this with the presumption in India that strong property rights
somehow favour the rich because they own more property. The rich will always find ways to
defend their real estate; it's the poor and the middle class that benefit from clear property rights.
Another implication of the dynamic ecosystem framework is that housing is evaluated in relation
to the access to various urban amenities-schools, hospitals, public transport and, most
importantly, job opportunities. If the migrants merely wanted shelter, they would just go back to
the village. In other words, it is not about shelter but access to the wider urban ecosystem. The
housing issue, therefore, is not about creating neat silos of residential buildings but about
accommodating aspirations and dreams.
Only 10 per cent buildings quake-proof

Aug 27, 2015 |
The Delhi high court on Wednesday criticised the Centre and the Delhi government over their
apathy towards the issue of 90 per cent of buildings in the capital being structurally unsafe to
withstand earthquake.
The court directed the Centre and Delhi government to give a status report on action taken to
ensure structural integrity of buildings here, saying they were waiting for a disaster to happen.
A division bench of Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said, Union of India and
Delhi government are not interested (in the issue). And MCD is allowing all kinds of rampant
illegal construction. The court also asked them to file their response within two weeks.
The court said, Only 10 per cent of buildings in MCD areas comply with earthquake safety
norms. That means 9 out of 10 buildings will be flattened in case of an earthquake. So, how
much population will be wiped out?
This alarming position has revealed that only 25 per cent of the capitals areas are planned or
approved while the rest 75 per cent is unplanned or unauthorised. There are 17,000 unauthorised
colonies here with no layout plan but they are in the process of regularisation by the
government, it added.
The affidavit filed by the MCD said, The corporation is planning to seek help of IIT-Delhi,
Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, RITES, Indian Association of Structural
Engineers Association etc to suggest ways and means of ascertaining the structural integrity of
these buildings.
It also said that old buildings and buildings in unplanned areas do not have the record of their
design and drawing details.
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The corporation is planning to launch a public awareness programme in which people living in
buildings of about 30 or more years old will be asked to obtain structural fitness certificate for
their building, it added.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Arpit Bhargava seeking directions to immediately
determine seismic stability of buildings in Delhi. The PIL has also sought direction to the
authorities to take consequent remedial measures in a time bound manner in larger public
interest.
Forest dept promotes bullet-proof bamboo for building houses

Vineet Upadhyay,TNN | Aug 26, 2015, 10.36 PM IST
NAINITAL: To promote safe housing which will be fire, water and quake-proof, the forest
department is planning to promote a hybrid of bamboo, called 'Reinforcement Compact Bamboo
Material' or 'Bullet proof Bamboo Board', which is currently being used to build army bunkers.
The material, commonly known as defensive grade, is now being used by the forest department
to build its interpretation centre in Haldwani.
Officials from the forest department told TOI that limited amount of concrete is required during
construction when this material is used.
Parag Madhukar Dhakate, divisional forest officer, Tarai West said, "The idea originated from a
suggestion by a senior official at the Centre that we can also implement this in our state.
Actually, the material and technology was put in practice by North East Centre for Technology
Application and Reach (NECTAR) before we got to know about it."
The central government had cleared the establishment of NECTAR at Shillong, Meghalaya
under Department of Science and Technology with a total expenditure of Rs 292 crore during
12th Plan period in 2012.
"Earlier, the NECTAR was only a research wing which did not have lab-to-land connection, but
later, its innovations, in particular with bamboo, became popular and useful," added the DFO.
The lab grew different hybrids of bamboo and tested them for change to climate and quakes. The
'Reinforcement Compact Bamboo Material' was found to be one of the most resilient bamboo,
which could be used in construction in places prone to quakes.
Architects from a private company, which is building the interpretation centre for the forest
department, said that the material provides shock cover to the structure due to which life of the
building is prolonged and the technique and the material will prove to be a good alternative to
concrete houses in the hill state.
"Since bamboo is the prime material used in construction of such buildings, it is safe for hill
districts instead of concrete structures," said the DFO.
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TOI was first to report in June that more than 15% of buildings in the urban areas of Nainital and
Mussoorie can collapse and create huge damage if an earthquake strikes the two popular hill
stations. The fact was revealed in a study carried out by the Dehradun-based Disaster
Management Mitigation Centre (DMMC) which surveyed 3,344 structures in Mussoorie and
2,865 buildings in Nainital.
The report also revealed that people in the Uttarakhand hills, which fall in the high-risk seismic
zones IV & V, are dismantling their traditional wood and stone roofed houses, which were
earthquake-safe, and replacing them with modern cement and concrete structures which were
more vulnerable in case of seismic activity.

Centre unveils list of 98 smart cities; UP, TN strike it rich
Mission a safe bet, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu assures investors.
Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday urged local and international
investors to put their money on the Smart City Mission, assuring them that it was a safe bet.
Mr. Naidu unveiled a list of 98 cities with Uttar Pradesh taking the largest share of developing 13
smart cities followed by Tamil Nadu, which qualified to develop 12.
Both national and international investors are looking for opportunities in the backdrop of the
recent financial crisis, said Mr. Naidu. People are searching for safe investments. I offer smart
cities as the safest investment because land is going to be there, structures are going to be there,
so the returns are assured.
With an aim to achieve inclusive growth, the Smart City Mission promotes integrated city
planning, where the governments policies such as Swachh Bharat Mission and Atal Mission for
Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation complement each other.
Taking a tough stance over the delay of project approvals at the State-level, Mr. Naidu said the
new parameters set by the Ministry have created a perform or perish situation where municipal
councils cannot afford to miss this opportunity of recasting the countrys urban landscape. The
Ministry will impose fines on States that violate the timeline of 60 days of finalising the projects.
I held three consultations with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Defence Ministry and the
Ministry of Environment, Mr. Naidu said.
Of the 98 cities and towns that five years down will graduate into smart cities, 24 are capital
cities, another 24 are business and industrial centres, 18 are culture and tourism influenced areas,
five are port cities and three are education and health care hubs.
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The missed ones
Nine cities, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Shimla, Puducherry, Daman, Patna, Itanagar,

Thiruvananthapuram and Gangtok did not qualify for being a smart city. This non-inclusion
goes to prove that the selection in the first stage of competition was not swayed by the status or
importance of the cities and the selection was objective and as per the stipulated criteria, Mr.
Naidu said.
Mr. Naidu said the Urban Development Ministry would provide Rs. 100 crore to each city over
the next five years.
The success of the governments Smart City Mission is largely dependent upon the finance
generation at the State-level as well as private investments. The Centre has set aside Rs. 48,000
crore for the mission and the money will be released to urban local bodies at frequent intervals in
the next five years. The Centre has asked the State governments to generate the rest of the Rs.
48,000 crore as the grand total of the mission is estimated at Rs. 96,000 crore.
Full list of Smart Cities
Name of No. of Names of selected Population of

Sl.No.
State/UT citiesshortlisted cities Cities
Andaman &
1. 1 Port Blair 1,40,572
Nicobar Islands
1.18,78,980/ 2.
1. Vishakhapatnam/ 2.
2. Andhra Pradesh 3 3,74,260/ 3.
Tirupati/ 3. Kakinada
3,50,968/
Arunachal
3. 1 Pasighat 26,656
Pradesh
4. Assam 1 Guwahati 9,62,334
5. Bihar 3 1. Muzaffarpur/ 2. 1. 3,93,724/ 2.

Bhagalpur/ 3. 4,10,210/ 3.
227

Sl.No.
Biharsharif 2,96,889
6. Chandigarh 1 Chandigarh 10,55,450
1. 10,47,389/ 2.
7. Chhattisgarh 2 1. Raipur/ 2. Bilaspur
3,65,579
8. Daman and Diu 1 Diu 23,991
Dadra and
9. 1 Silvassa 98,032
Nagar Haveli
New Delhi Muncipal

10. Delhi 1 2,49,998
Council
11. Goa 1 Panaji 1,00,000
1. 2,92,797/ 2.
1. Gandhinagar/ 2. 55,77,940/ 3.
Ahmedabad/ 3. Surat/ 4. 44,67,797/ 4.
12. Gujarat 6
Vadodara/ 5. Rajkot/ 6. 17,52,371/ 5.
Dahod 13,23,363/ 6.
1,30,530
1. 3,02,140/ 2.
13. Haryana 2 1. Karnal/ 2. Faridabad
14,14,050
Himachal
14. 1 Dharamshala 22,580
Pradesh
228

Sl.No.
15. Jharkhand 1 Ranchi 10,73,427
1. Mangaluru/ 2. 1. 4,84,785/ 2.
Belagavi/ 3. 4,88,292/ 3.
Shivamogga/ 4. Hubbali 3,22,428/ 4.
16. Karnataka 6
- Dharwad/ 5. 9,43,857/ 5.
Tumakuru/ 6. 3,05,821/ 6.
Davanagere 4,35,128
17. Kerala 1 Kochi 6,01,574
18. Lakshwadweep 1 Kavaratti 11,210
1. 19,22,130/ 2.
21,95,274/ 3.
1. Bhopal/ 2. Indore/ 3.
12,16,445/ 4.
Madhya Jabalpul/ 4. Gwalior/ 5.
19. 7 11,59,032/ 5.
Pradesh Sagar/ 6. Satna/ 7.
2,73,296/ 6.
Ujjain
2,80,222/ 7.
5,15,215
1. 11, 19, 000/ 2.

14,86,000/ 3.
1. Navi Mumbai/ 2.
18,41,000/ 4.
Nashik/ 3. Thane/ 4.
1,24,00,000/ 5.
Greater Mumbai/ 5.
7,45,000/ 6.
20. Maharashtra 10. Amravati/ 6. Solapur/ 7.
9,52,000/ 7.
Nagpur/ 8. Kalyan-
24,60,000/ 8.
Dombivilli/ 9.
15,18,000/ 9.
Aurangabad/ 10. Pune
11,65,000/ 10.
31,24,000/
229

Sl.No.
21. Manipur 1 Imphal 2,68,243
22. Meghalaya 1 Shillong 3,54,325
23. Mizoram 1 Aizwal 2,91,000
24. Nagaland 1 Kohima 1,07,000
1. Bhubaneshwar/ 2.
25. Odisha 2 1. 8,40,834/
Raurkela
26. Puducherry 1 Oulgaret 3.00,104
1. 16,18,874/ 2.
1. Ludhiana/ 2.
27. Punjab 3 8,68,181/ 3.
Jalandhar/ 3. Amritsar
11,55,664
1. 30,73,350/ 2.
1. Jaipur/ 2. Udaipur/ 3. 4,75,150 3.
28. Rajasthan 4
Kota/ 4. Ajmer 10,01,365/ 4.
5,51,360
29. Sikkim 1 Namchi 12,190
1. Tiruchurapalli/ 2. 1. 9,19,974/ 2.
Tirunelveli/ 3. 4,74,838/ 3.
Dindigul/ 4. Thanjavur/ 2,07,327/ 4.
30. Tamil Nadu 12 5. Tiruppur/ 6. Salem/ 2,22,943/ 5.
7. Vellore/ 8. 8,77,778/ 6.
Coimbatore/ 9. 8,31,038/ 7.
Madurai/ 10. Erode/ 11. 5,04,079/ 8.
230

Sl.No.
Thoothukudi/ 12. 16,01,438/ 9.

Chennai 15,61,129/ 10.
4,98,129/ 11.
3,70,896/ 12.
67,27,000
1. Greater Hyderabad 2. 1. 67,31,790/ 2.

31. Telangana 2
Greater Warangal 8,19,406
32. Tripura 1 Agartala 4,00,004
1. 8,87,871/ 2.
8,74,408/ 3.
1. Moradabad/ 2.
7,05,478/ 4.
Aligarh/ 3.
9,03,668/ 5.
Shaharanpur/ 4.
5,05,693/ 6.
Bareilly/ 5. Jhansi/ 6.
27,65,348/ 7.
33. Uttar Pradesh** 12 Kanpur/ 7. Allahabad/
11,12,544/ 8.
8. Lucknow/ 9.
28,17,105/ 9.
Varanasi/ 10.
11,98,491/ 10.
Ghaziabad/ 11. Agra/
16,48,643/ 11.
12. Rampur
15,85,704/ 12.
3,35,313
34. Uttarakhand 1 Dehradun 5,83,971
1. 36,541/ 2.
1. New Town Kolkata/
6,33,704/ 3.
35. West Bengal 4 2. Bidhannagar/ 3.
5,71,000/ 4.
Duragapur/ 4. Haldia
2,72,000
*Jammu and Kashmir has asked for more time to decide on the potential Smart City.
** 12 cities have been shortlisted from Uttar Pradesh against 13 cities allocated to the State.
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305 cities identified under 'Housing for All' scheme

The government has identified 305 cities and towns across nine states for implementation of its
ambitious Housing for All scheme.
As many as 305 cities and towns have been identified in nine states for beginning of construction
of houses for the urban poor under the scheme, said a senior housing and urban poverty
alleviation (HUPA) ministry official.
The HUPA ministry would provide assistance of over Rs 2 lakh crore over the next six years for
enabling 20 million urban poor own their own houses.
The selected cities and towns are in Chhattisgarh (36 cities/towns), Gujarat (30), Jammu and
Kashmir (19), Jharkhand (15), Kerala (15), Madhya Pradesh (74), Odisha (42), Rajasthan (40)
and Telangana (34).
Under the Housing for All initiative of the central government, named as Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana and launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25 this year, 20 million houses
are targeted to be built for the poor in urban areas by 2022, coinciding with 75 years of
Independence.
Besides these nines states, the official said, six more states have signed Memorandum of
Agreement (MoA) with the Ministry committing themselves to implement six mandatory
reforms essential for making the housing mission in urban areas a success.
The states that have so far agreed to implement the mandatory reform measures are Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,
Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttarakhand.
By signing the MoA, the states agreed to make necessary changes including doing away with the
requirement of separate non-agricultural permission in case land falls in residential zone
earmarked in Master Plan of city or town and preparing or amending Master Plans earmarking
land for affordable housing, among others.
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Formulate scheme for disposal of e-waste: NGT to MoEF

The National Green Tribunal has directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to
convene a meeting of various stakeholders and propose a scheme for environment-friendly
disposal of e-waste.
A bench headed by Justice U D Salvi directed MOEF along with Central Pollution Control
Board and Bureau of Indian Standards to hold a meeting within two weeks.
"MoEF shall be the convener of the meeting and shall inform the concerned parties about the
date and venue of the meeting at the earliest preferably within two weeks," the bench said.
The matter has been listed for next hearing on September 22.
The tribunal was hearing a plea by NGO Toxics Link which claimed that tonnes of second-hand
or used goods are being dumped in India leading to a pile-up of e-waste.
The NGO had sought a direction to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to submit a
report on the exact quantities of goods being dumped in the country under the Export Import
Policy of India (2013-2014).
Quoting a 2011 Rajya Sabha report, which said that "India had been a destination for industrial
wastes", the plea had also sought information on how these used goods were being recycled and
whether this was being done in an ecofriendly manner.
Electronic waste is discarded electrical or electronic devices which includes discarded

computers, office electronic equipment, entertainment device electronics, mobile phones,
television sets and refrigerators.
E-waste Rules, 2011 apply to every producer, consumer or bulk consumer involved in the
manufacture, sale, purchase and processing of electrical and electronic equipment or
components.
August 21, 2015

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e-waste, plastic scrap filling State coffers

Ditched computers and smartphones are fast raking in money for the cash-strapped coffers of the
Kerala government.
Clean Kerala Company, a State-run agency under the Department of Local-Self Government, has
contributed about Rs.25 lakh to the exchequer through sale of recyclable e-waste and plastic
scrap collected from 43 local bodies across the State and 15 government and private institutions
since October last year.
The companys strategy to earn money from waste seems to have hit the bulls eye as the local
bodies are now competing each other to sell plastic waste, with a few even selling it for a higher
price to private players.
Forty-three local bodies sold 163 tonnes of plastic waste at Rs.2 a kg to us while 15 institutions
contributed 118 tonnes of e-waste that included computers, laptops, television sets, and
refrigerators at Rs.5 a kg, said Kabeer B. Haroon, Managing Director of the company.
We sell plastic scrap and e-waste to private companies short-listed through a tendering process
at Rs.5 and Rs.22 a kg respectively. Care was taken to include a key provision in the agreement
that they should take the hazardous content of the e-waste and not leave it here, he added.
Impressed by the revenue possibilities emerging through the sale of e-waste, four municipalities
and three corporations have now agreed to join hands with the company to sell their electronic
scrap at Rs.5 a kg. These include Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram corporations and
Attingal, Koothuparamba, Kottakkal, and Nedumangad municipalities.
Mr. Haroon said plastic waste was being transported to the collection unit of the company at
Erode and Tiruchirappalli. The e-waste was being taken to the Hyderabad facility of the
company involved in the process.
The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation came first among the local bodies selling plastic waste
(41,090 kg) since October followed by Kozhikode (26,840 kg) and Kannur (14,503 kg). Kerala
University led the list of institutions that sold e-waste (38,370 kg) followed by Cochin University
of Science and Technology (43,235 kg) and Thiruvananthapuram Corporation (12,840 kg).
of self-annihilation: Centre for Science and Environment report

PTI Aug 4, 2015, 10.28PM IST
NEW DELHI: Telangana and Andhra Pradesh may be on a path of "self-annihilation" as the two
states have embarked on a "reckless" race for attracting industrial investment while putting all
green concerns on the backburner, a green body has said.
"Telangana, India's newest state, and Andhra Pradesh may very well be on a path of self-
annihilation.
234
"The two states have embarked on a reckless race for attracting industrial investment, putting all
environmental concerns on the backburner and creating a potential trigger for a conflagration
between industry and agriculture," Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said in its science
and environment weekly.
The report noted that both the states were "outdoing" each other to offer packages of
unprecedented goodies, including assured clearance of large investment proposals, single-desk
clearance, self-certification, protection from inspections, priority allocation of water, land and
uninterrupted power.
"Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are primarily agrarian states. The state governments should have
carefully examined the issues in their states before formulating policies that grant the right to
clearances without sufficient checks and balances and allocating large amounts of water and land
to industry.
"This is all the more important because this model has not worked for other states and can trigger
conflicts while depleting natural resources irreversibly," Richard Mahapatra, Down to Earth's
Managing Editor, said.
The report said that while industry has hailed the policies as 'imaginative and innovative',
environmentalists and activists are "appalled".
"The states are witnessing rampant pollution of natural resources, a prolonged agrarian crisis (in
Telangana) and a host of other unresolved issues which need to be addressed," the report said.
Noting that the provisions of Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self-Certification
System (TS-iPASS) is "astounding", the report said the policy mandates that permissions and
licences will be given within 15 days for big projects and if no decision is taken during this
period, it will be deemed to have been given.
The report said that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's policies too are
aimed at the same bounty as the state is offering a land bank of half a million hectares, and is
trying to attract an investment of Rs 2 lakh crore. "Like Telangana, the state is offering its natural
resources uninhibitedly," it said.
When contacted, senior officials of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana declined to respond on the
matter saying they will be able to comment only after going through the report.
August 10, 2015 05:51 IST
AP, TS industry packages are recipes for eco disaster: CSE report
235
Both States will face a challenge in providing water and power to the industry, which will
happen at the cost of farmers and common people
The latest reckless race between the two Telugu States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for
attracting industrial investment could prove to be a disaster for environment and agriculture,
warns a report prepared by the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
The report by the popular public interest research and advocacy organisation, says both States
may very well be on a path of self-annihilation with their aggressive offers of best packages for
industries and fast tracking their clearances, putting all environmental concerns on the
backburner and triggering a conflagration between industry and agriculture.
Outdoing each other
Both the States are outdoing each other to offer packages of unprecedented goodies -- assured
clearance of large investment proposals, single-desk clearance, self-certification, protection from
inspections, priority allocation of water, land and uninterrupted power, the report says.
While industry has hailed the policies as imaginative and innovative, environmentalists and
activists are appalled as the two States are already witnessing rampant pollution of natural
resources and a prolonged agrarian crisis.
The Telangana government has cleared 17 investment proposals on June 22, amounting to
Rs.1,500 crore within 10 days of application this was the fastest grant of approval in the
country - in line with its new industrial policy. The policy titled Telangana State Industrial
Project Approval and Self-Certification System (TS-iPASS), announced on June 12, states that it
will make Telangana the worlds most investment-friendly State.
Astounding provisions
The provisions of TS-iPASS make it astounding, the report notes. The policy mandates that
permissions and licences will be given within 15 days for big projects, and if no decision is taken
during this period, it will be deemed to have been given.
The government promises to clear all proposals for projects which have an investment of over
Rs.200 crore within 15 days, while other projects will have to be approved in a month.
The new State offers a land bank of nearly a million hectares and a 10 per cent water allocation
from all sources for industrial use through its new policy. It promises minimum inspection,
maximum facilitation, under which the States regulatory checks and balances have been diluted
to a great extent. Minimum inspection translates into inspection every three to four years with a
one-month notice, and no random inspection without a cause. The policy encourages self-
certification and automatic renewals. Having rolled out a red carpet for investors, the State
expects to attract an investment of 5 lakh crore by the year 2020.
Land bank
236
Matching the TS-iPASS, Andhra Pradesh too, has come up with similar bounty. The State is
offering a land bank of half a million hectares and is trying to attract an investment of Rs 2 lakh
crore. Like Telangana, the State is offering its natural resources uninhibitedly. Privileges offered
by the AP government to industrialists include reimbursing one rupee for every unit of power
consumed and permission to store water in government-owned reservoirs.
Such offers are recipe for conflicts, environmental and agricultural crisis besides shrinking the
natural resource base, the CSE report says.
Agrarian crisis
Telangana has been facing a severe agrarian crisis and has as many as 89 per cent of farmers
families in debt. A farmer, quoted in the report, says that she spent Rs.40,000 on digging a bore
well without finding water.
Her husband committed suicide due to debt. In Andhra Pradesh, however, agriculture pays but
most farmers are unwilling to part with their land.
The report says both States will face a challenge in providing water and power to the industry
which will happen at the cost of farmers and common people. The report points out that this
could lead to a conflict between industry and agriculture.
Quotes Jharkhand and
Chhattisgarh example
Analysing the impact of rapid industrialisation in States such as Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh
the report contends that such industrialisation did nothing to change the economic status of these
States.
In Chhattisgarh, industrialisation led to the shrinking of forest cover while in Jharkhand, the
number of households with outstanding debt increased by nearly 9 per cent in 10 years (2003-
13), a period that coincides with the States targeted industrial growth.
Both Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh governments tabled in their Assemblies deficits of Rs.2,184.6
crore and Rs.5,761 crore respectively, for the financial year 2014-15 despite pursuing pro-
industrial policies.
Both States will face a challenge in providing water and power to the industry, which will
happen at the cost of ryots and common people
POSCO and Uttam Steel & Power to build steel plant in Maharashtra
237
The 3 MTPA integrated steel plant will be set up at Satarda in two phases
Shree Uttam Steel and Power, a part of Uttam Galva Group, and Posco Korea, on Tuesday
agreed to set up an integrated steel manufacturing facility under a joint venture (JV) arrangement
in Maharasthra. The plant the first Indian facility for the global giant whose $12-billion
proposed project in Odisha has been stuck in regulatory tangles for a decade would be built
with an estimated investment of $3-billion steel plant at Satarda inMaharashtra .
The companies signed a memorandum of agreement, which is the first step in establishing a JV,
in Mumbai on Tuesday. "The proposed JV plans to set up three million tonne per annum
integrated steel plant at Satarda in Maharashtra in two phases," the company's said in a press
release.
Uttam Galva has been associated with Posco across various aspects of the steel business over the
years.
"Today's signing signals our intention to further advance our collaboration with Posco to a higher
level on the value chain. Also we feel that the future of the Indian steel industry is bright and we
are poised to as a nation make a quantum leap on the global steel stage," said Ankit Miglani,
director, Uttam Galva.
To start with, Miglani family will hold majority stake of 80 per cent and Posco will hold
remaining 20 per cent in the JV. The terms will be revisited as the project progresses, Miglani
said. The debt equity ratio is 2:1 and the work on project will start in mid-2016, he added.
Shree Uttam Steel & Power is fully-owned by the Miglani family, who are the co-promoters of
Uttam Galva Steels with ArcelorMittal. Uttam Galva shares saw a spurt in volume on BSE and
the stock closed at Rs 40.85 apiece, up 7.93 per cent from previous close.
This is the second major manufacturing facility announced in Maharashtra within a week, after
Taiwans contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn this weekend announced a $5 billion
investment for a plant in the state.
Land Bill: Govt capitulates on social impact, consent clauses

238
Ruling party MPs suggest changes to six of the nine amendments proposed by govt to the 2013
Act
The government is set to relent on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015. On Monday, the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members of a parliamentary joint committee on the Bill suggested
amendments that effectively bring back the social impactassessment and consent clauses,
hallmarks of the United Progressive Alliance government's 2013 Act.
Arguing that these clauses made the 2013 Act cumbersome, the government had excluded these
from its land Bill ordinance, promulgated at the end of December 2014 and re-promulgated
thrice after that. It had also brought a Bill to this effect in Parliament.
At a meeting of the 30-member joint select committee on Monday, all 11 ruling party MPs
suggested changes to six of the nine amendments proposed by the government to the 2013 Act.
The BJP, along with its allies, has 14 members in the committee, while Opposition parties have
16.
The committee's deliberations have seen BJP allies such as the Shiv Sena oppose the
government's amendments to the 2013 Act.
Now, the joint committee members will vote on each clause of the Bill. The move by the panel's
BJP members has paved the way for a more consensual report than expected earlier. The
committee has sought two more days and will now submit a report on Friday.
The development will also facilitate states to come up with a more reformist land Bill, as
discussed at a NITI Aayog meeting earlier this month.
The BJP's changed strategy on the Bill, a tactical move in view of the coming Bihar Assembly
polls, will assuage not just the discontent within the party over the issue but also Sangh Parivar
outfits, which have been opposed to deletion of the consent and social impact assessment
clauses. Many in the party were wary of the Opposition's charge that the 2015 Bill was anti-
farmer.
239
CONCEDING GROUND
The provisions of consent and social impact assessment under the land acquisition law will
not apply to acquisition of land under the following laws even if the NDA withdraws its
ordinance:
The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958
The Atomic Energy Act, 1962
The Damodar Valley Corporation Act, 1948
The Indian Tramways Act, 1886
The Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885
The Metro Railways Act, 1978
The National Highways Act, 1956
The Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines Act, I962
The Requisitioning and Acquisition of lmmovable Property Act, 1952
The Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948
The Coal Bearing Areas Acquisition and Development Act, 1957
The Electricity Act, 2003
The Railways Act, 1989
The Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram and
Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, all Sangh Parivar outfits, were opposed to the amendments. Of the 672
representations made before the panel, 670 opposed the amendments being brought by the
government, especially changes in the norms pertaining to the consent and social impact
assessment clauses.
The National Democratic Alliance government's Bill exempted five categories - defence, rural
infrastructure, affordable housing, industrial corridors, and infrastructure projects, including
public-private partnership (PPP) projects in which the central government owned land - from
consent and social impact assessment. Also, the Bill allowed the government to exempt projects
in these five categories from social impact assessment provisions and restrictions on the
acquisition of irrigated multi-crop land and other agricultural land. Under the Act, irrigated
multi-crop land couldn't be acquired beyond the limit specified by the government.
The BJP members also moved amendments for withdrawal of the terminology "private entity",
stated as "private company" in the 2013 law.
Of the 15 amendments in the NDA Bill, nine were substantial in nature; these had been opposed
240
by the Congress and other Opposition parties. Another point of contention was prosecution of
officers; this is likely to be restored to the 2013 Act to ensure offending officers are prosecuted.
Also, there was disagreement on the amendment regarding industrial corridors, which allowed
the government to further acquire a km of land on each side of designated railway lines or roads
in the case of industrial corridors. This, too, had been dropped, sources said. The government can
only acquire land for such projects if the ownership isn't transferred to a private company or
a PPPentity. At its next few meetings, the joint committee will consider the remaining clauses,
the most important being the return of land unutilised for five years. With the odds stacked
heavily against it, the government is likely to concede to the Opposition's demand to water this
down to two to three years.
Apart from the Shiv Sena, another ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal, has persistently opposed the
government's amendments at the NITI Aayog meeting. The Akali Dal, however, doesn't have
any representation in the committee.
LAND ORDINANCE
The government can continue to acquire lands without consent and SIA for the following
types of activities if the projects are not carried out in the PPP mode or by a private
company
TRANSPORT
Roads and bridges

Ports
Inland waterways
Airports
Railway tracks, tunnels, viaducts and bridges
Urban public transport
ENERGY
Electricity generation, transmission and distribution

Oil pipelines
Oil/Gas/LNG storage facilities
Gas pipelines
WATER AND SANITATION

241
Solid waste management

Water supply pipelines
Water treatment plants
Sewage collection, treatment system
Irrigation (dams, channels, embankments)
Storm water drainage system
Water harvesting and conservation
COMMUNICATION
Telecommunication fixed network and towers
SOCIAL AND COMMERCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Education institutions
Hospitals, medical colleges, diagnostic chains
Three- star or higher-star hotels on the periphery of 1-million-plus cities
Common infrastructure for industrial parks, SEZs, tourism facilities, agricultural
markets
Fertilisers
Post-harvest infrastructure
Terminal markets
Soil testing laboratories
Cold chains
Projects involving agro-processing
Marketing infrastructure for agriculture, dairy, fisheries and meat processing
Projects for industrial corridors
Mining activity
National investment and manufacturing zones
Projects for sports, health care, tourism, transportation or space programme
Defence projects and installations
Govt corrects typos, draft errors in UPA's land law

Mistakes Defeat Its Pro-Poor Tilt
242
The NDA government's rewrite of the land bill, though slammed for being anti-farmer,
attempts to correct more than 50 drafting and typographical errors, omissions and contradictions
that actually defeat the law's pro-poor intent by denying farmers and tribals benefits of fair and
enhanced compensation.
Apart from political battles over consent and social impact clauses, the 2013 land acquisition
and rehabilitation Act is riddled with missing or misapplied articles, poor punctuation and
omissions that undermine compensation, eligibility and acquisition norms and render them
vulnerable to legal challenges.
Careless draftsmanship like failure to distinguish change of ownership of land acquired

under the Act being subject to permission of the government from any acquisition in general can
lead to legal battles that can stall compensation and acquisition.The mistake makes Section 100
over-inclusive, preventing transfer of property under any provision whatsoever and needs to be
redrafted, the government has said in observations made available to the joint committee of
Parliament examining the 2013 Act.
More problematically , the 2013 law omits specific mention of tribal areas with regard to a
bar on acqui sition in violation of any law relating to land transfer in the important Section 2(2)
that deals with exemptions, restricting the clause's application to scheduled areas.
The critical reference to tribal areas under the sixth schedule is missing in no less than
three places in the Act, including with reference to the need to seek concurrence of gram sabhas
and panchayats central to the law's purported objective of protecting disadvantaged sections
from unfair or arbitrary acquisition.
Under the 2013 Act, req uisition is not defined even though it has a specific meaning in
terms of assuming control or taking over a property for a limited time during which the title
remains with the owner. Yet, this is not conveyed by Section 22(1) in the UPA era law, requiring
a specific insertion that all persons with any interest in the land being considered for acquisition
be listed after the date of notice issued under sub-section 2 of Section 2.
243
Even obvious conditions such as the need to exclude the time period of a stay or court
injunction while calculating 12 months within which compensation must be disbursed need to be
added.
Strangely , assessment criteria to determine market value of land where registered sales are
not easily available do not include the average sale price for similar land in the same village.
Instead, the collector is directed to consider the nearest village or vicinity area. A diligent official
can, at least in theory , beat the imprecise drafting but mere mention of a vicinity area lacks
legal specificity .
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com
Environment ministry to look into JNPT land issue

SANJAY BANERJEE,TNN | Aug 31, 2015, 12.21 AM IST
244
NAVI MUMBAI: The JNPT is taking a fresh look into the PAP compensation issue, which has
been put on hold currently, as a major chunk of land is under the coastal regulation zone I (CRZ-
I). The issue is said to have been discussed in a meeting between the state chief secretary, Cidco
MD and PMO on Monday.
JNPT sources said that the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has to determine if a
part of the 111 hectare land allotted by JNPT to PAPs falls under the CRZ-I. Second, the MoEF
should take a call on the additional 47.24 hectares, alloted by the Centre, which was under CRZ-
I. Hence, the final stage of compensation depends on the MoEF's decision.
In case the entire 158.24 hectares gets the green nod, the land would be converted into developed
plots.
However, if the MoEF does not give its approval, either the Union shipping ministry will have to
release additional land in the JNPT influence area or to seek FSI from the state government in
lieu of the plots to be provided, the source added.
Currently, 1.5 FSI is available, however, a state cabinet nod would be required for 2 FSI, for
which JNPT would have to make the payment.
Environmental Clearances to Mining PSU
Delhi August 3, 2015 Last Updated at 00:20 IST

Mining leases are granted by the State Governments. Environmental Clearances are given by the
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change or the State Environment Impact
Assessment Authority. Therefore, the details of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) which have
been closed/ are on the verge of closure due to want of environmental clearance in various states
are not maintained centrally. However, no PSU of the Ministry of Mines has been closed/ is on
verge of closure for want of environmental clearance.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the Environment
Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
which deals with the process to grant Environmental Clearances. The projects of mining with
mining lease area equal to or greater than 50 ha are handled at the level of MoEFCC for grant of
EC. The projects with mining lease area less than 50 ha are handled by the respective State
Environment Impact Assessment Authority.
Time lines have been prescribed under the EIA Notification, 2006, according to which terms of
245
Reference (TOR) shall be conveyed by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) within thirty
days of the receipt of Form-I to the Project Proponent. Thereafter, as per the TORs issued, the
project proponents are required to comply with the conditions mentioned in the TORs which
inter-alia include collection of base-line data, approved mine plan, conducting public
consultations, and submission of final EIA/ Environment Management Plan (EMP) Reports to
the Ministry of Environment and Forests along with all the relevant documents.
On receipt of final EIA/EMP report after the public consultation, the project is appraised by the
EAC in a transparent manner in a proceeding to which the Proponent is invited for furnishing
necessary clarification in person or through an authorized representative. Thereafter, the EAC
makes appropriate recommendations of the proposal and the Ministry takes the final decision
with regard to Environmental Clearance as per the EIA Notification, 2006. This decision is
conveyed to the Proponent within forty five days of the receipt of the recommendations of EAC.
In other words, the decision is to be conveyed within one hundred five days from the receipt of
the final EIA/EMP report/requisite documents from the Project Proponent.
This information was provided by The Minister of State for Mines and Steel Shri Vishnu Deo Sai
in Reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Australian court rejects green nod to $16-bn Adani project
Adani Group attributed the ruling to a 'technical legal error'; Commonwealth Bank withdraws
from the project
Dev Chatterjee | Mumbai August 6, 2015 Last Updated at 00:45 IST
An Australian federal court on Wednesday rejected the government's environmental clearance to

the $16-billion (Rs 1 lakh crore) Adani coal mining project for not taking into consideration two
endangered species, the yakka skink and the ornamental snake.
Within hours of the ruling, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia withdrew as an advisor to the
project.
Analysts said this would hit Adani Minings ability to raise funds.
With no bank ready to finance the project, it will become difficult for Adani to go ahead with
246
the project. They will have to write off close to a billion dollars already invested, said Tim
Buckley, director of energy finance studies at the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial
Analysis in Sydney.
When contacted, the Adani Group said it would continue to pursue the project. It is regrettable
that a technical legal error from the federal environment department has exposed the approval to
an adverse decision. It should be noted the approval did include appropriate conditions to
manage the protection of the yakka skink and the ornamental snake, an Adani statement said.
Adani will await the minister and his departments timely reconsideration of its approval
application, the statement added. The Australian project involves mining coal in the hinterland,
transporting it to the coast, and shipping it to customers in Asia. The Adani group has invested
$2 billion (Rs 12,738 crore) in acquiring the Abbot Point port and another $1 billion (Rs 6,369
crore) in buying land and securing approvals for the coal mine and railway.
Local environmental activists have campaigned against the project saying the dredging will
destroy the Great Barrier Reef, a world heritage site. Coal prices have also fallen by 56 per cent
in the last four years, making the project unviable.
Barring the Adani and GVK groups, other energy entities have abandoned their coal mining
projects in Australia. A few weeks ago, the Adani group had withdrawn its external contractors
at the mining site, leading to speculation the group was abandoning the project.
"This is a devastating blow to Adani, and leaves their plans to build Australia's biggest coal mine
and a new export terminal hanging by a thread, said Julien Vincent, executive director of
Market Forces.
"Commonwealth Bank was in line to be a leading lender to Adani's coal mine. Adani has lost the
credibility that a major Australian institution's support brought to the project," she added.
Some of the worlds biggest banks have decided not to invest in the project citing environmental
concerns.
247
GREAT BARRIER GRIEF
Environmentalists hailed the ruling against the mine

They say the project threatens two vulnerable species and endangers the Great Barrier
Reef
The project is estimated to cost up to $16 billion (Rs 1 lakh crore)
Adani plans to build the coal mine and ship the coal out through the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest collection of corals on earth, making up thousands
of individual reefs of all shapes and sizes, alongside hundreds of exotic islands
Sinking island nation calls for coal mining ban
Reuters | Aug 14, 2015, 05.40 AM IST
OSLO: The president of the low-lying Pacific island nation of Kiribati called on Thursday for a
global moratorium on new coal mines to slow global warming and a creeping rise in world sea
levels.
Kiribati's 1,00,000 people live on 32 atolls in the central Pacific, most of which are less than six
metres above sea level and are suffering coastal erosion as the world's ice caps melt. "Let us join
together as a global community and take action now," President Anote Tong wrote in a letter to
world leaders, ahead of a UN summit on climate change in Paris in December. "I urge you to
support this call for a moratorium on new coal mines and coal mine expansions," he wrote.
A draft negotiating text for the Paris meeting of world leaders, due to agree a UN climate pact,
include options for cutting carbon emissions to net zero, perhaps by 2050 or 2100. No mention is
made specifically of coal mining. When burnt, coal releases more heat-trapping gases than oil or
natural gas. That has increasingly made it the target of calls for a shift to renewable energies such
as wind or solar power to stem global warming.
Welcoming Tong's appeal, Nicholas Stern, of the London School of Economics and president of
the British Academy science group, said coal caused both warming and air pollution. "The use of
coal is simply bad economics, unless one refuses to count as a cost the damages and deaths now
and in the future from air pollution and climate change," he said in a statement. Among other
appeals, Pope Francis said in an encyclical in June that the use of "highly polluting fossil fuels
needs to be progressively replaced without delay", at odds with some investments in coal by the
US Catholic church. The head of environmental group Greenpeace, Kumi Naidoo, who was
visiting Kiribati on Thursday, said 80% of coal reserves should be left in the ground. "We know
248
the science and we know the end of the age of coal is coming," he said.
Last year, Kiribati bought 6,000 acres of land on higher ground in Fiji to back up food
production, under threat from erosion and storms blowing salt water onto farmland.
How Adani group can get its $7.2 billion coal mine project in Queensland back on track
Binoy Prabhakar, ET Bureau Aug 20, 2015, 03.52AM IST

Last December, Jeyakumar Janakaraj, the chief executive of Adani Australia, was indubitably
upbeat in a conversation by phone with ET. "Never in the history of Indian business has a
company gone to a developed country and established itself so well," he said.
The assuredness of Janakaraj was at odds with the erratic progress of the Ahmedabad-based
company's ambition to build a giant coal mine project in the Queensland state in Australia.
Adani's attempts to start work on the Carmichael coal mine located in the Galilee Basin had
repeatedly been hobbled by irrepressible environmental opposition.
249
But that was history, according to

Janakaraj. "We have all environmental approvals. We have strong partners," he said. The only
barrier that remained to be crossed, he said, was raising debt for the project.
This wasn't bluster. In July 2014, Adani had managed to secure approval from Australian
environment minister Greg Hunt's office. The company then hired American consulting firm
Parsons Brinckerhoff and Korean construction company Posco, which it counted as an investor
too, as project managers. It awarded a $2 billion contract to Australian miner Downer to dig up
coal. There was the possibility of the Queensland government investing in the project. After
languishing for four years, the project seemed finally set to take off.
250
The threat of environmental opposition still dangled, but Janakaraj was dismissive. "Not a single
project approval has been given and overturned in Australia," he said. "This is not India, where
after 20 years of mining, they come and say everything is illegal and stop mining."
In the Depths
Subsequent events proved otherwise. The shadow of doubt that long hung over the project has
grown into a cloud of uncertainty due to a series of setbacks that has visited on it in recent
months (see Series of Obstacles...). On August 5, an Australian court overturned minister Hunt's
approval. Less than a week later, Standard Chartered Bank ended its role as a financial adviser to
Adani, joining a host of international banks that have steered clear of financing the $7.2 billion
project.
Even before these impediments, Adani had admitted to bourses it had halted work at the project
site due to delay in approvals. It also suspended Parsons Brinckerhoff and Posco and began
sacking workers. Only a skeletal staff reportedly remains in Australia.
These events have put a big question mark over the future of the project. "The project is now
dead in the water," said Tim Buckley, director of energy finance studies at the Institute for
Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, in an interview with the BBC.
Adani declined to comment for this article. A spokesman for Downer said the contract with
Adani remains in force, but offered no further comment. Publicly, Adani remains defiant though.
It attributed the court ruling to a "technical legal error" and said it was confident the matter
would be resolved.
The environment department under Hunt called the ruling a "technical, administrative" issue. It
said it would take six to eight weeks to prepare new advice and supporting documents for Hunt.
But Shani Tager, an activist for environmental group Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said the
ruling was a significant blow for the project. "The mine no longer has the approvals or the
finance it needs to be developed."
Nevertheless, these are early days to conclude that it is the end of the road for the project. There
is too much at stake. Adani spent $2.7 billion in a cash and royalty package to acquire the
Carmichael coal mine in 2010 from Linc Energy of Australia as it looked to expand its energy
business (Janakaraj said the company has spent another $1 billion).
The project was, by all accounts, a prize catch. The Galilee Basin boasts of 7.8 million tonnes of
coal, which makes it the single largest tenement in Australia in terms of coal resources,
according to a project report prepared by Adani. "There is not a single mine in the world that has
this kind of reserves," Janakaraj said in December.
The project would spawn the largest coal mine in Australia and possibly the largest in the world.
To give an idea of scale, the land allotted to Adani is equal to the size of Singapore.
As Adani envisioned the project, coal would be carried through a rail line built by Posco to the
port of Abbot Point, where it had permission to build a terminal to export coal. The company
aimed to produce as much as 40 million tonnes of thermal coal in the first phase and 60 million
tonnes in the second. Twothirds of the total coal will be shipped to India, of which, half will be
251
used by power plants owned by Adani and the rest sold to competitors. The remaining one-third
of coal will be exported to South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
The coal itself was found to be superior to what was mined in India. Coal in India is of poor
quality owing to a high ash content, which essentially means it contains less energy per kg.
Independent authority to check mining: NGT
The bench has directed the secretaries of the state environment department and the SEIAA to
appear personally before the tribunal.
By: Express News Service | Pune | Updated: August 19, 2015 2:39 am
An independent authority may soon monitor digging for minor mineral excavation or quarrying
in the state under the directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). An independent authority
will do justice to enforcement as the collector cannot be expected to regulate it stated the NGT
in a hearing in Pune last week.
The bench has sought an explanation from the state environment department and the State
Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) for their failure to set up a mechanism to
ensure sand and minor mining activities complied with environment clearance conditions. The
NGT was considering whether the district collector, in whose name the SEIAA issued
environmental clearances could be expected to regulate violations, and whether there was any
mechanism to ensure legal action against such offenders. The bench held that the collector being
the project proponent, could not be expected to regulate it.
The state environmental appraisal committees TC Benjamin said that it was the need of the hour
to have an independent authority to check illegal mining as several cases were coming up.
In the absence of a proper enforcement mechanism, it is difficult to ensure compliance to the
conditions enumerated in the environmental clearances there is more possibility of
exploitation of the situation by those indulging in murky business, the NGT bench of Justices V
R Kingaonkar and Ajay A Deshpande has observed in an order.
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The bench has directed the secretaries of the state environment department and the SEIAA to
appear personally before the tribunal at the next hearing on September 10 and explain why there
was no compliance to its May 15 ruling that had sought an enforcement mechanism.
Activist Paramjeet Singh Kalsi had filed an application arguing that such mining activity was
affecting the river system, including river banks and river beds, and polluting rivers. Kalsis
application was over alleged large-scale violation of environmental clearance conditions by sand
mining agencies.
August 3, 2015
Disposal of endosulfan faces new hurdle

fficial efforts to safely dispose of endosulfan stocks stored in the Plantation Corporation of
Kerala (PCK) godowns in Kasaragod and Mannarkad have met with a new hurdle with the
Ernakulam district administration refusing to conduct the process on the premises of the
Hindustan Insecticides Limited (HIL) at Udyogamandal on the outskirts of Kochi citing possible
public opposition. The public sector HIL had earlier agreed to detoxify the stock at
Udyogamandal and dispose of it at Ambalamugal.
It was on Saturday when officials of the Endosulfan Rehabilitation Cell of the State government
met Ernakulam District Collector M.G. Rajamanickam that he expressed concern over the
disposal of endosulfan in the outskirts of Kochi. The Collector told the officials to invite global
tender to dispose it of outside the State. When contacted by The Hindu , cell officials said they
would take a decision after consulting the State government and HIL authorities.
In all, 1,914 litres of the banned pesticide is stored in PCK godowns. While Rajapuram, Periya
and Cheemeni godowns of PCK are storing 1,500 litres, Mannarkkad godown keeps the rest. The
State government had earlier set a deadline of December 12, 2014 to declare Kerala endosulfan-
free.
Now, close to nine months after the deadline, government agencies are confused about the way
ahead.
Though global tenders had been invited earlier for the task, no agency responded. Earlier efforts
to take the barrels outside the State to dispose them also failed due to the lack of bidders. It was
after long persuasion that the HIL agreed to undertake the safe disposal of the banned pesticide.
The pesticide stock was transferred into high density polythene drums last year as an additional
safety valve in the face of the continuing delay.
Muhammed Asheel, nodal officer of the Endosulfan Rehabilitation Cell, told The Hindu that
more consultations were required to decide on the way ahead. We will conduct the disposal
253
only in a transparent and fair manner using the latest technology without causing any safety
concerns. The anxieties of the Ernakulam district administration will be take care of, he said.
The situation is turning complex with residents of Kasaragod and Mannarkkad preparing for
agitations seeking measures against the possible leak of the pesticide, which was brought long
back for aerial spraying at the plantation estates. The government had promised to dispose of the
stock in compliance with the United Nations guidelines.
We will conduct the disposal in a transparent and fair manner without causing any safety
concerns, said a nodal officer of endosulfan rehabilitation cell.
No pesticide spraying while flyers are on board: NGT

PTI Aug 3, 2015, 03.43PM IST
NEW DELHI: Heeding to the plea of a United States-based neurologist, the National Green
Tribunal today directed the Centre to ensure that no disinfectant fumigation is carried out in
aircraft while passengers are onboard.
"You are supposed to kill mosquitoes not the human beings. You cannot take risk with the health
of the people.
"Carry out the disinfectant fumigation prior to loading of passengers or when the aircraft is
empty," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar said.
The green panel directed the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil
Aviation to issue neccessary directions in this regard.
The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by Dr Jai Kumar, a neurologist and director of the Primary
Stroke Centre at Baylor Hospital in Texas.
Kumar had contended that spraying of pesticides on planes with chemicals like phenothrin, an
organo-phosphorus neurotoxin, was injurious to human health as their use carries risk of
causing cancer and auto-immune diseases like lupus, Parkinson's disease and memory loss.
According to the petitioner, while all other airlines have stopped spraying of pesticides, this
practice is prevalent in all the Indian airlines operating internationally.
August 13, 2015
Spices board drive against use of chemical pesticides

The Spices Board of India will start a campaign in the Cardamom Hill Reserve (CHR) areas
against the use of chemical pesticides in plantations as pesticide residues in the produce and by-
products may hit export orders as well as internal market.
A team of scientists and officers will visit 34 cardamom-growing villages to sensitise farmers in
adopting better pest control measures in farming. This is to create a steady export and internal
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market to benefit the farmers as the European Union is firm on the quality of the produce, said a
spices board official.
Farmers due to ignorance use red-labelled and banned pesticides without adequate advice and
pesticide residue in the produce would be a factor in determining the market in future. The
campaigns will be conducted from August 18 to 22 and September 1 to 5.
In the wake of the ban on Maggie noodles, stakeholders in the Indian cardamom sector are
concerned over the high use of pesticides in farming. The board has constituted seven teams of
scientists and officers for the programme, to be conducted at four to five locations in each
village.
Effective pest management without disturbing the ecosystem, reduced environmental pollution,
and eliminating direct and indirect health hazards are the objectives of the programme.
India space mission: After launching UK satellites Isro will soon launch US satellite
August 4, 2015 05:16 BST
The last launch of PSLV-C28 saw the vehicle place five UK satellites in orbit on 10 July,
2015.(Isro)
In what is seen as an acknowledgement of its cost-effective technology, India's space agency will
launch a US satellite using its polar satellite launch vehicle.
"US will be the 20th country to sign up for a commercial launch by India," said Indian Space
Research Organization (Isro) chairman A S Kiran Kumar, on the sidelines of the 5th convocation
of AMET University.
Early in July, the able workhorse of the agency, the PSLV-C28 placed in orbit five satellites
from the UK in its 30th flight.
The vehicle has proved its reliability and versatility by launching satellites into a variety of orbits
including polar Sun Synchronous, Geosynchronous Transfer and Low Earth ones.
The UK satellite launch on July 10 was part of an agreement between DMC International
Imaging (DMCii), a wholly owned subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL),
UK and Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of Isro.
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The launch was Isro's heaviest commercial one with a total payload of 1,440 kg.
The PSLV-XL variant was similar to the ones that launched Chandrayan and Mangalyan, the
moon and Mars orbiters.
India has so far launched 45 satellites for 19 nations.
Through 29 successful flights during the 1994-2015 period, the PSLV has launched a total of 77
satellites with a total mass of over 30 tonnes, of which 4 tonnes (about 14%) comprise 45
satellites for customers from abroad, many of which are space-faring nations.
Isro is now gearing up for the launch of its 2.2 tonne GSLV-Mark-II this month-end. It will test
India's indigenously developed cryogenic engine CE-7.5 and pave the way for the next
generation vehicle Mark-III launch by the year-end. The geo-stationary launch vehicle has been
tested successfully.
Kumar also indicated that the agency was studying a mission to Venus following the success of
the Mars orbiter MOM.
The Mars orbiter which has long outlasted its six-month target sent home images of Mars after a
blackout following a solar conjunction period from late May to early July.
Isro to launch 25th communication satellite

Will have capability to beam data on mobile devices
BS Reporter | Bengaluru August 27, 2015 Last Updated at 00:40 IST
India will launch its 25th communication satellite on Thursday, which will have the capability to
beam multimedia content at high speeds to mobile devices.
The satellite, GSAT-6, will carry a six-metre unfurlable antenna that allows beaming data on S
band frequency to a distributed mobile audience across the country. The satellite will also have
C band transponders that will be used for secure communication for the defence forces.
Indian Space Research Organisation has built the 2.1-tonne GSAT-6 satellite, the 12th in the
GSAT series, on its own. Isros earlier plan to build the GSAT-6 satellite with S band
transponders jointly with Devas Multimedia, a start-up floated by former Isro officials, was
scrapped in 2012 on charges that S band spectrum was being offered to the private firm at cheap
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rates. A panel absolved former Isro chairman Madhavan Nair and other officials including
forAntrix Corp CEO K R Sridhara Murthi of procedural lapse. In March, CBI filed a case against
Murthi and Devas officials of cheating and money laundering of Rs 578 crore into the company.
Devas has approached the international court of arbitration in Paris against Antrix for scrapping
the deal.
On Thursday, the GSAT-6 satellite will be launched from the home-grown Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle D6 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh. A six-
metre antenna, the largest designed by Isro, will be used for five spot beams. Spot beams help
improve utilisation of spectrum frequency, reducing duplicity of transponders and giving better
coverage across the country.
After this August launch, every year we will have two GSLV MkII launches. The satellites are
commercial in the sense it will be used for applications, A S Kiran Kumar, chairman of Isro,
had told Business Standard in a recent interview.
This will also be the second GSLV with a indigenous cryo upper stage critical for launching
heavier communication satellites into space. Isro tested a demonstrator of new GSLV Mk-III
early this year that could potentially be used to hurl 4-tonne satellites and a manned space
mission in future.
Foundation stone of technology based toilet project laid

TNN | Aug 3, 2015, 06.46 AM IST
VARANASI: Foundation stone of the country's first technology based toilet project with
behaviour trackers- 'remote monitoring and waterless urinal'- was laid by mayor Ram Gopal
Mohaley at Rani Bhawani Jay Narayan Balika Vidyalaya and also Rajendra Prasad Ghat. Apart
from them another toilet complex will come up at Luxa market.
While addressing the function Mohaley said, "Open defecation is still a serious problem in the
country. Construction of technology based toilet project with behaviour trackers and waterless
urinal under the Swachh Varanasi project will help in checking this problem by providing toilet
facilities with on-site sewer technology and covering the critical aspect of monitoring behaviour
change."
Informing about the project, regional director of RB South Asia Nitish Kapoor said, "Swachh
Varanasi is a project under 'Banega Swacch India' initiative. It aims at creating a replicable and
sustainable model integrating technology, an efficient operating model and community
mobilization. The first of their kind toilets with usage trackers will help monitor progress against
257
sanitation behaviour change objectives."
He said the innovative technology will enable evidence-based real-time monitoring of toilet
usage. It will capture essential data such as usage of toilets, usage of water to clean toilets by
users and hand-washing by users. Toilets will be designed keeping in mind the gender sensitivity
and needs of differently-abled and will also reduce the usage of artificial light. Natural light will
be encouraged without intruding privacy, he added.
According to him, features such as incinerators sanitary-pad disposal, mirrors, exhaust fans and
soaps for hand washing will be provided at the toilets. A portable superstructure which can be
shifted to another site when the water level increases has been proposed for the site at the ghat.
The on-site sanitation technologies include fecal sludge treatment technologies and waterless
urinal technologies. The proposed technologies need negligible maintenance, handling and are
independent of sewer network.
Aug 04 2015 : The Economic Times (Delhi)

On Mission Swachh Bharat, Reckitt Homes in on Varanasi
To begin with, co will set up toilets at ghats in Varanasi with low water usage and on-
site sanitation tech
Enthused by the response to . 100-crore Banega Swachh India proits ` ject launched by
Reckitt Benckiser India in September, the maker of Dettol soaps and Lizol cleaners is now
adopting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency to launch a Swachh Varanasi
programme.
The Banega Swachh India campaign was timed right after Modi kicked off the high-profile
Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan in October and has led to higher sales of the company's products,
including Dettol hand wash, Lizol disinfectant floor cleaner, Harpic toilet cleaner and Colin
surface cleaner.
258
This takes the Dettol Banega Swachh India project to the next level. There's a lot of
emphasis on Varanasi, which seems to be leading the country's cleanliness drive, Reckitt
Benckiser regional director, South Asia, Nitish Kapoor told ET.Varanasi is an interesting place
to scale up the Swachh India campaign given its heritage and challenges.
Projects like these do translate into consumers buying more hygiene products but the big
impact will be in the long term.Our immediate priority is to change consumer behaviour,
Kapoor said. He added the Swachh Varanasi project will span several activities and will be part
of the . 100 crore that will be spent on the cleanli` ness campaign over five years. The Swachh
Varanasi projec will start by setting up toilets at the ghats of the Ganga in Varanasi with low
water consumption, cloudbased remote monitoring, on-site sanitation technology and the ability
to keep track of the number of people using the facilities.
The project has been launched along with NGOs Charities Aid Foundation and SEED and
Dure Technologies, a Genevabased company that provides technology products and solutions for
public health and social development. The site at the ghat will have a portable superstructure
which can be taken down when the water levels rises and shifted to another site.
Under the campaign, starting this month end, Reckitt Benckiser will host programmes in
schools and villages in several towns and cities, including Varanasi, aimed at encouraging
cleanliness and hygiene.
Analysts and industry observers say upping the cleanliness quotient would directly benefit
Reckitt Benckiser. Pinaki Ranjan Mishra, partner and national leader at consulting firm EY,
which ad vised the company on the campaign, said: The project is aligned with Reckitt
Benckiser's portfolio and does impact the firm positively . Hygiene brands are Reckitt
Benckiser's core portfolio so the project fits in with the larger objective.
Reckitt Benckiser also hopes to leverage low-priced products to drive volumes in urban and
rural markets and align them with its Swachh drive. The new products, to be launched in
November, will be a germ protection bar and a multi-purpose bathroom cleaner in powder form
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the first time the company has developed and tested such products anywhere in the world. It has
traditionally focused on urban, premium category products.
Toilet in house made mandatory for contesting in Bihar panchayat polls

The Bihar legislative Assembly on Wednesday passed a legislation incorporating a provision
making it mandatory for candidates contesting panchayat polls in Bihar to have toilets at their
houses.
The provision has been incorporated in the Bihar Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2015 which
was passed by the Assembly by a voice vote amid ruckus created by the opposition BJP
members.
It has been noted that people in rural areas, including women, have to go in open areas to
relieve themselves due to lack of toilets at their households which lead to pollution, State
Panchayati Raj minister Vinod Prasad Yadav said outlining the objectives for the amendment in
the Bill.
260
The candidates desiring to contest panchayat polls from January 21, 2016, must have toilets at
their households, he said.
The House also passed two other bills- Bihar State Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and
Aryabhatta Knowledge University Bill, 2015- during the post-lunch session, which was marred
by ruckus created by opposition BJP members after Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary rejected
their demand for an adjournment motion to discuss the alleged medical scam to the tune of over
Rs 100 crore in Bihar.
The adjournment motion was moved by the Leader of Opposition Nandkishore Yadav, who also
wanted to know about the Speakers ruling on the suspension of rebel JD(U) MLA from
Chhatapur Niraj Kumar Singh Bablu from the House till August 7, to which Mr. Chaudhary said
the matter was settled as the suspension was revoked.
Unconvinced by the Speakers decision to not allow the adjournment motion, BJP MLAs trooped
in the Well and raised slogans against the State government.
Mr. Chaudhary adjourned the House till 11 A.M. on Thursday after passage of three legislations.
PTI
89.6% of deaths in slums due to respiratory diseases, reveals IIPS survey

A huge 89.6 per cent of people living in slums die of respiratory diseases followed by digestive
problems (41.6 per cent) and aches and pains (37.8 per cent), reveals a survey of slums in
Mumbai by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS). The study, which had
asked if any member of the household had suffered from the listed morbidity in the past one
year, was conducted by the Population-Human Settlement-Environment Centre (Pop-Envis) of
IIPS under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. The others
included eye- related problems (20.7 per cent), blood pressure or heart problems (12.8 per cent),
skin problems (12.5 per cent) and diabetes (9 per cent).
The paper says that while cold and cough, seasonal flu and diarrhea are common diseases in the
slum areas, most of these slums do not have public hospitals nearby and go to local quacks for
treatments.
According to the authors, the survey scientifically selected slum households from six wards that
belong to two zones of slum concentration in the Mumbai metropolitan region, that is, one zone
with higher concentration of slum population and second zone with lower concentration of slum
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population. The sample size was calculated based on 42.6 per cent slum population in Mumbai
according to Census 2011.
The study shows that the reported pollution problems include sound (46.6 per cent), foul smell
(72.7 per cent) and smoke (32.8 per cent).
Garbage dumping bins are present, generally in the middle or nearby slums, which mostly
overflow with garbage leading to scattered garbage thrown on the ground nearby causing foul
smell and flies. The municipality provides garbage clearance services in most of the notified
slums, but that is irregular and unsatisfactory. Unauthorised slums have no proper system of
garbage disposal and most slums experience water-logging during monsoon, says the study.
It further revealed that while clean fuel, that is, gas is mainly used for cooking, most households
do not have a separate kitchen and chimney facility. While 76 per cent use LPG, 48 per cent use
kerosene and 14 per cent use wood or dung cake. The perceived unclean slum surrounding stands
at 43.8 per cent, whereas the perceived poor cleanliness of community toilets figures at 83.5 per
cent. This despite the fact the the mean monthly expenses for using community toilet is Rs 76.
With 85 per cent of the community toilets having irregular water supply, the paper says that none
of the community toilets surveyed has adequate water facility inside the toilets and people have
to carry water with them. The toilets are generally in poor condition, primarily because of lack of
care by the users and poor maintenance by the municipality. It is more troublesome for children
and the elderly, who have to be accompanied by someone to carry water to the toilets. In
authorised slums, toilets are cleaned by the municipality and since the services are not regular,
almost all slums surveyed have a private party to regularly clean the toilet on payment basis,
ranging from Rs 10-20 per household every month. Toilets also lack disposal facility, facility for
hand wash or bathing, it says.
The study also shows that while most residents of authorised slums know about the slum
rehabilitation scheme, they have poor experience and apprehensions about the slum transition
camps as they are not well-structured for families to live and it especially affects those who work
from home or have businesses set up at home.
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They also fear that the contractor and mediators may take a share of this slum development
project and will use low quality materials, and may take money for allotments of houses within
the building, it says.
Aug 10 2015 1:52AM
Pune district 2nd in state in fighting open defecation: UNICEF survey

178 villages in the district have achieved 100% open defecation free status; Sindhudurg tops the
list.
Updated: August 8, 2015 2:49 am
Pune district has figured second on the list of districts in the state where a large number of
villages have achieved cent per cent Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, according to a recent
survey by the UNICEF.
With 178 villages in the district achieving 100 per cent ODF followed by another 251 villages
achieving 99 per cent, the survey puts the district only second to Sindhudurg, where 205 villages
have achieved the 100 per cent target.
According to the survey, Pune district comprising a total of 1,404 villages in 13 talukas, has
overall scored 82 per cent on ODF, thus standing first in the division.
The UNICEF survey was carried out in several states on the basis of a uniform definition set by
the ministry of water and sanitation as part of the Union governments campaign to rid the
country of open defecation.
A UNICEF survey in 2011 had said that 58 per cent of the worlds population practising open
defecation lived in India, after which the Union government had undertaken such surveys in all
the states.
In Pune district, almost all the villages saw above 50 per cent of ODF. We are prompting others
to take up the drive so that we are able to achieve the 100 per cent target soon, said a senior
Zilla Parishad official.
Recently, the state governments water and sanitation departments principal secretary Rajesh
Kumar had lauded the district for the feat.
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The standard definition of ODF, as set by the ministry, says there should be no visible faeces in
the environment/village and every household as well as public/community institute must have a
toilet.
The ministry had said that an important objective of the Swachh Bharat Mission was achieving
and sustaining the ODF status.
The survey has been carried out as per this definition, said the Zilla Parishad (ZP) official.
ZP officials said the baseline survey in 2012 had put the percentage in Pune district at 74, which
has now touched 82 per cent.
In the state in 2012, overall ODF was 48 per cent, which has now gone up to 58.1 per cent
following a 10 per cent rise over the last four years.
According to the survey, there were 12 lakh households with toilet blocks in 2012, which has
gone up to 18 lakh.
It says 11 districts have achieved 100 per cent ODF status while eight districts are below 50 per
cent.
Meanwhile, Pune Zilla Parishad has launched an aggressive campaign to achieve the 100 per
cent target before the 2019 deadline.
'City rankings not part of Swachh Bharat mission'

The Swachh Bharat Mission is being implemented in all the 4,041 statutory cities and towns in
the country while the rankings released on Saturday pertained only to 476 cities
The government on Sunday sought to de-link the city rankings for 2014-15, issued a day ago,
from the Swachh Bharat Mission launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modiin October 2014.
The rankings, released as part of Swachh Bharat, showed several capital cities and other
important towns as well as municipalities as laggards in the cleanliness pecking order.
"Swachh Bharat ranking of 476 cities across the country released yesterday (Saturday) was not
based on the progress achieved by respective cities under the Swachh Bharat Mission launched
in October last year,'' said a statement from the urban development ministry, which
commissioned survey.
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According to the rankings, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), which covers only the elite
parts of the city in the Lutyens zone, was at 16 th position, while Municipal Corporation of Delhi
(MCD) area, making up for most of the capital region, was ranked a dismal 397 th out of a total
of 476 surveyed. Varanasi, the constituency from where Modi won in the Lok Sabha elections
last year, is at 418 th position. Uttar Pradesh showed only one city, Etawah, in the top 100.
The Swachh Bharat Mission is being implemented in all the 4,041 statutory cities and towns in
the country while the rankings released on Saturday pertained only to 476 cities, each with a
population of above 100,000, it added.
Data collection for the rankings had started in January 2014, much before the Swachh Bharat
Mission was launched in October 2014, the statement clarified. "Out of the five agencies
involved in the survey, four of them completed the survey in August 2014 - before Swachh
Bharat Mission was launched."
To reiterate that the latest rankings are not a sign of failure of Modi's mission, the statement said,
"The survey results reflected the situation mostly prevailing in the 476 cities and towns before
the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission in respect of open defecation and solid waste management
practices."
Capital cities performed badly, with Kolkata at 56 th , Chennai 61 st , Shimla 90 th , Bhopal 106
th , Greater Mumbai 140 th , Srinagar 152 nd , Lucknow 220 th , Hyderabad 275 th ,
Gandhinagar 310 th , Jaipur 370 th and Patna at 429 th . Other important cities such as Surat was
at 63 rd position, Ahmedabad at 79 th, Darjeeling 129 th , Tirupati 137th, Agra 145 th , Srinagar
152nd, Dehradun 360th, Ajmer 401 st and Amritsar at 430 th.
The survey showed Mysuru on the top with three more from Karnataka - Hassan, Mandya and
Bengaluru - figuring in the list of 'the best 10' in the country. West Bengal had 25 cities/towns in
the first 100, according to the survey.
August 4, 2015
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Raj worst-hit by water contamination: Minister

Saurabh Sharma,TNN | Aug 6, 2015, 05.54 AM IST
JAIPUR: Union minister for drinking water and sanitation Birendra Singh said that Rajasthan is
worst affected by water contamination in the country and 22,254 habitations in the state are yet
to be provided with safe drinking water.
Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha on August 3, the minister presented the dismal picture of
drinking water in Rajasthan. He said that there are 7,056 habitations in the state which are
severely affected by fluoride.
Apart from that, there are 14 iron-affected habitations, 13,814 salinity (dissolved solids) affected
and 1,370 nitrate affected habitations which are yet to be provided with potable water in
Rajasthan.
The minister further added that the reason for water contamination is excess of arsenic, fluoride
and iron in nature.
The nitrate contamination in drinking water is due to leaching from toilets and excessive use of
fertilisers.
The minister's revelation is extension of Union water resources ministry's report which
highlighted that villages in Rajasthan are worst off in contaminated water. The report also noted
that a huge population is at the risk of a serious health condition like skeletal fluorosis.
The fluoride contamination also affects the teeth and bones and excessive long-term exposure
causes abdominal pain, excessive saliva, nausea, vomiting, seizures and muscle spasms.
The Union health ministry has also urged the Rajasthan government to ensure the supply of safe
drinking water in these habitats.
However, the Centre shifted the complete onus on state asserting that rural drinking water is a
state subject. It issued an advisory for providing safe drinking water through piped water supply
schemes preferably from surface water sources in case of arsenic and fluoride-affected
habitations.
Meanwhile, the state government is already working to set up community water purification
plants to provide 8-10 litres per capita per day (LPCD) of safe drinking water for drinking and
cooking purposes in areas affected by fluoride, arsenic, heavy metals and pesticides in the state.
"The chief minister had recently asked the collectors to ensure that these plants are installed
immediately and remain operational," said a PHED official.
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Action soon against industrial units polluting Ganga: Govt

PTI | Aug 6, 2015, 01.29 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Government has asked the pollution control boards to initiate action against
industrial units discharging contaminated effluents in river Ganga, Union Minister Uma Bharti
informed Lok Sabha on Thursday.
She said the government has asked the pollution control boards to initiate action against such
industrial units, in a bid to stop untreated water from flowing into the Ganga.
During the question hour, the water resources, river development and ganga rejuvenation
minister said her ministry would soon finalise a plan in this regard and send it to the cabinet for
approval.
The government has launched the ambitious 'Namami Ganga' programme to rejuvenate the river
which was fully funded by the Centre.
"We are committed to clean Ganga," Bharti said while adding that the people's representatives
and the society as a whole needed to work together in this direction.
Bharti said the government proposes to encourage public participation, especially of those living
on the banks of the Ganga and nearby areas in its efforts to rejuvenate the river.
An Eco Task Force is being raised which will be primarily manned by ex-servicemen living on
banks of Ganga to aid local participation, she said.
Apart from rejuvenation of Ganga, the programme also covers all the tributaries of the river.
"Yamuna Action Plan, Gomti Action Plan, Damodar Action Plan are already under operation and
work on Ramganga and Kali is under implementation," Bharti said.
Under the programme, an amount of Rs 528 crore has been earmarked for public participation,
including towards raising of Ganga Task Force, for a five-year period (2015-2020). Till end of
June, Rs 91.75 lakh has been spent.
To a query that less amount has been spent so far, the Minister said enough was being spent and
money would be further spent on the cleaning efforts "wisely".
70,000 kids suffering from diarrhoea: Survey

TNN | Aug 7, 2015, 03.13 AM IST
JAIPUR: The health department found over 70,000 children suffering from diarrhoea in a door-
to-door survey of houses conducted in the state.
267
The survey started from July 27 under Intensied Diarrhoea Control Fortnight (IDCF). Till
August 6, the health workers found 70,000 children suffering from diarrhea. The ailing children
were provided with ORS and zinc tablets for treatment.
"Diarrhoea is caused by unhygienic practices and it is caused by drinking contaminated water," a

health department official said.
The impact of unhygienic practices and contaminated water on children's health could be gauged
from the fact that the state is worst-affected by contaminated water, which was revealed by
Union minister for drinking water and sanitation Birendra Singh in Rajya Sabha recently.
The health department has a target to conduct a survey of 70 lakh children in the state in 14 days
of ICDF ending Saturday.
According to WHO, diarrhoea occurs world-wide and causes 4% of all deaths and 5% of health
loss to disability. It is most commonly caused by gastrointestinal infections which kill around 2.2
million people globally each year, mostly children in developing countries. The use of water in
hygiene is an important preventive measure but contaminated water is also an important cause of
diarrhoea. Cholera and dysentery are sometimes life threatening forms of diarrhoea."
"It (diarrhoea) is more common when there is a shortage of clean water for drinking, cooking and
cleaning and basic hygiene is important in prevention. Water contaminated with human faeces
for example from municipal sewage, septic tanks and latrines is of special concern. Animal
faeces also contain microorganisms that can cause diarrhea," the WHO says.
The health department claimed that they have distributed packets of ORS to 31 lakh children in
the state so far in the past 12 days.
Moreover, the healthcare workers gave advice to 21lakh children to take balanced diet after they
were tested for malnutrition.
The health department would prepare a complete report on the children found suffering from
diarrhoea and malnutrition after IDCF would be completed on August 8.
Yamuna pollution: Parliamentary panel for better waste management infrastructure in Agra
Last Updated: Sunday, August 9, 2015 - 11:31
New Delhi: To tackle degradation of the Yamuna, a Parliamentary panel has recommended
strengthening of solid and liquid municipal waste management infrastructure in Agra and
268
preventing bathing of animals in the river and other water bodies around Taj
Mahal"immediately".
"The degradation of Yamuna bed is quite evident and is visible to the naked eye. The committee
is unhappy to note that not only is the capacity of the sewerage plants inadequate but some of
these plants are not functioning to their full capacity or have to run on DG sets," the committee
chaired by former Union Minister Ashwani Kumar said in its report.
It also said the concerned authorities should ensure that there is no dumping of solid or liquid
waste from within the municipal limits of Agra into the Yamuna without requisite treatment.
"The committee recommends that steps should be taken to strengthen the management of solid
and liquid municipal waste infrastructure of Agra city," the committee said.
It said waste water and sewage surrounding the Taj Mahal should be properly treated before
being discharged in the designated areas.
"Necessary steps should also be taken to stop the bathing of buffalo and other animals in the
river Yamuna and water bodies around the Taj Mahal immediately," the panel said in the report.
Observing that solid waste collection and disposal mechanism is "inadequate", the panel said
sewerage network covers only half the city area.
The committee was informed that nine plants have been constructed to treat sewerage flowing
into Yamuna, while one was under construction.
The committee was informed that the total capacity of these Sewerage Treatment Plants was
220.5 million litres per day, with some of the older ones not working to their full capacity.
Noting that the Taj Mahal is losing its sheen because of lack of water body behind it, the
committee felt construction of the proposed Agra barrage can permanently solve the water crisis
in the city and also present a more scenic view of the 17th century monument to the tourists.
The committee also suggested a survey for mapping water sources in the region.
"The committee recommends that a survey should be undertaken for mapping the sources of
water in the Taj Trapezium Zone area at the earliest," it said.
269
It also recommended exploring all options to devise a mechanism to channel water at least to the
periphery of Taj Mahal. It suggested that the matter could be taken up with the Union Water
Resource Ministry and Irrigation Ministry.
Though the panel was told that the only leather factory had an effluent treatment plant, it asked
the government to ensure that the tannery does not pollute the river.
Scientists find green solution for PoP idols

Meenakshi Rohatgi,TNN | Aug 14, 2015, 12.38 AM IST
PUNE: Scientists at the city-based National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) have found a more
environment-friendly solution for household and big Ganapati idols made from plaster of Paris
that are taken for immersion on Anant Chaturdashi.
The liquid solution called 'Jal Abhishek', for sentiments' sake, can dissolve the idols and the
residue can be used as a fertilizer. Pune Municipal Corporation can thus ensure that idols handed
over at hundreds of immersion tanks are disposed of with dignity.
Five idols were immersed in the solution and they dissolved in an hour at a recent trial in Kasba
Vishrambaug ward office. Mayor Dattareya Dhankawde, civic officials and nearly 100
representatives of Ganapati mandals were present.
According to NCL officials, a solution made of ammonium bicarbonate, a common rising agent
used by bakeries, can dissolve idols made of plaster of Paris (PoP) which would produce sludge
and calcium sulphate, a widely used fertilizer.
"About 20% ammonium bicarbonate, in the powder form, will be dissolved in water to make this
solution. Plaster of Paris is made of gypsum and will react with this solution to form calcium
sulphate which can be used as a fertilizer and sludge or calcium carbonate that can make chalk,"
said senior NCL scientist Shubhangi Umbarkar.
The focus was on using a chemical which would not harm the environment. "We experimented
with baking soda which is sodium bicarbonate, but sodium sulphate, the by-product, was
unusable," added Umbarkar.
The project is the effort of one and half years, involving the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC),
Cummins India and the NCL to stop pollution of the city's water bodies on immersion day. After
last year's Ganeshotsav, over three lakh idols were immersed in rivers and tanks, according to
civic officials.
"We had been trying to identify a bio-degradable material to make idols in order to save our
270
environment and our water bodies. However, the limited availability of the identified raw
material challenged us to look for a more sustainable solution. Through efforts from NCL
scientists, we have a solution to dissolve PoP. The liquid generated from the process can directly
be used to water the city's green spaces and the solid can be used to make chalk," said S
Ravichandran, head of corporate responsibility, Cummins Group in India
The civic body will have a pilot project for this year, Suresh Jagtap, head of the solid waste
management at PMC, said. "We will take it to the people so that there is increased acceptance
among Ganesh mandals."
"Our efforts have borne fruit. It will be presented before the standing committee and the cost and
other factors will be worked out. The civic body will transport idols from the tanks to the
centralized place where the process will be followed," said Ketaki Ghadge, medical officer at
PMC.
Mahesh Suryawanshi, treasurer, Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati Mandal said, "We encourage the
use of eco-friendly Ganapati idols, but will now spread awareness about this solution."
City groundwater depleting, at risk of contamination

At present, 27 million gallon daily (MGD) of water is pumped out daily by 224 heavy lift pumps
to meet the requirement of the expanding Jammu city
Potable water requirement of the city is 47 MGD while the supply is close to 45 MGD. The
winter capital faces shortage of 2 MGD
According to a study conducted by the PHE Department, out of the 22 major towns in the region,
14 are facing acute water crisis while five others are on verge of facing reduced supply
Tube wells are poorly designed and constructed, and are mostly located near drains, canals and
ponds and as such they are vulnerable to contamination, said a PHE official
Jammu, August 23
Greater reliance on heavy tube wells to meet the drinking water requirement of the city and
unscientific exploitation is slowly depleting and polluting groundwater here.
It could also jeopardise future water supply in the city as the government has failed to develop
any alternative source of potable water.
J&K is already facing flak for reckless exploitation of underground water from
environmentalists, who have been questioning the massive project launched since 2005 to dig
tubewells to meet the rising water demand of the people.
A senior engineer in the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department said the city had abundant
quality ground water resource but massive drilling projects created a pathway for its
contamination.
271
Tube wells are poorly designed and constructed, and are mostly located near drains, canals and
ponds and as such they are vulnerable to contamination, the official claimed.
At present 27 million gallon daily (MGD) of water is pumped out daily by 224 heavy lift pumps
to meet the requirement of the expanding city.
Potable water requirement of the city is 47 MGD while the supply is close to 45 MGD. The
winter capital faces shortage of 2 MGD.
According to a study conducted by the PHE Department, out of the 22 major towns in the region,
14 are facing acute water crisis while five others are on verge of facing reduced supply of water.
The government is not thinking of future impact. Punjab is an example of what unlimited
exploitation of water will lead to. There is a reckless exploitation of ground water, which is not a
good option for long term. It will deplete the resource and affect every sector, said Bushan
Parimoo, who runs a non-governmental organisation Environmental Awareness Forum.
Apart from the Tawi, ground water is the only avenue available for the government to meet the
drinking water requirements of the temple city.
Chief Engineer, PHE, RK Gandotra, however, said tube wells were dug after a proper survey.
We conduct a detailed study before the pumping station is given approval and if there are any
loopholes they are being corrected. We too are concerned about excess use of groundwater and
alternate plan is being formulated to divert the Chenab water, Gandotra said.
Jammu and Kashmir had launched a massive project to tap water resources in 2005 and in the
last decade hundreds of pumping stations have been dug up. However, repeated electro-
mechanical faults were leading to breakdown of machinery, which affected drinking water
supply in several localities.
World glaciers melting at record rates: Study

Subodh Varma,TNN | Aug 3, 2015, 05.53 PM IST
NEW DELHI: A worldwide study has revealed that during 2001 to 2010, glaciers lost ice at an
alarming two to three times the average for the 20th century. Such is the scale of ice loss that the
scientists predict that even if global warming were to stabilize, the ice loss would continue.
Melting glaciers, known to be caused by rising global temperatures, pose a global threat to fresh
water systems, like rivers and lakes. Billions of people live in plains fed by glacier and snow
melt fed rivers, as in India. If these rivers were to start drying up, there would be calamitous
272
consequences as agriculture would collapse.
READ ALSO: Everest glaciers may disappear by 2100
Data on glacier changes for the past more than 120 years was compiled by the World Glacier
Monitoring Service, located at the University of Zurich. In this study, observations of the first
decade of the 21st century (2001-2010) were compared to all available earlier data from in-situ,
air-borne, and satellite-borne observations as well as to reconstructions from pictorial and written
sources. The Service also collected data from its National Correspondents in more than 30
countries. The study is published in the Journal of Glaciology.
READ ALSO: 'Glaciers are melting in eastern Himalayas'
"The observed glaciers currently lose between half a metre and one metre of its ice thickness
every year - this is two to three times more than the corresponding average of the 20th century",
explains Michael Zemp, Director of the World Glacier Monitoring Service and lead author of the
study. "Exact measurements of this ice loss are reported from a few hundred glaciers only.
However, these results are qualitatively confirmed from field and satellite-based observations for
tens of thousands of glaciers around the world."
READ ALSO: Study blames humans for most of melting glaciers
According to the international author team, the current rate of glacier melt is without precedence
at global scale, at least for the time period observed and probably also for recorded history, as
indicated also in reconstructions from written and illustrated documents. In addition, the study
shows that the long-term retreat of glacier tongues is a global phenomenon. Intermittent re-
advance periods at regional and decadal scales are normally restricted to a subsample of glaciers
and have not come close to achieving the Little Ice Age maximum positions reached between the
16th and 19th century. As such, glacier tongues in Norway have retreated by some kilometres
from its maximum extents in the 19th century. The intermittent re-advances of the 1990s were
restricted to glaciers in the coastal area and to a few hundred metres.
READ ALSO: Melting glaciers giving rise to new lakes in Himachal Pradesh
In addition, the study indicates that the intense ice loss of the past two decades has resulted in a
strong imbalance of glaciers in many regions of the world. "These glaciers will suffer further ice
loss, even if climate remains stable", explains Michael Zemp.
Can Ken-Betwa river link project turn the tide on December deadline?
273
Chhatrasal: Assassination of a national parkLetters: Water woesNitin Desai: The wrong land
warUS bribery case: SMC Infra-SPML joint venture executed Goa water projectRejected by
experts, Dibang hydro project gets green nod
The Ken-Betwa river interlinking project, which is the first such in the country, might miss its
December deadline as it is unlikely to receive all the required environmental clearances by then.
Union Minister of State for Water Resources Sanwar Lal Jat had, on July 13, declared that work
on the ambitious project, linking Ken river in Madhya Pradesh to Betwa river in Uttar Pradesh, is
expected to start by year-end and will be developed as a model link project.
Sources at the National Water Development Agency(NWDA) told Business Standard that the
revised environment impact assessment (EIA) report was given by it on July 22. He added that
NWDA was expecting the environment ministry to give a green signal to the project by the end
of August whereby, it will petition for techno-economic clearance.
Initially mooted in the early 1980s, the project was actively taken up by the National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It was then challenged
in the Supreme Court, which finally gave the nod in 2013. The UPA government wasn't too keen
and the group of ministers (GoM) constituted under Pranab Mukherjee never met.
The project was allotted Rs 100 crore in 2014-15 to expedite preparations of detailed project
reports (DPRs). According to the water resources ministry, approximately 35 million hectare (ha)
of additional irrigation potential, and 34,000 megawatt (Mw) hydro power generation are the
likely benefits envisaged under the project, apart from the incidental benefits of flood
moderation, navigation, drinking water supply, fisheries, salinity and pollution control.
An area of 127,000 ha in the Raisen and Vidisha districts of Madhya Pradesh will be benefited.
Also, the annual irrigation to 47,000 ha will be en route to the drought-prone Chhatarpur and
Tikamgarh districts of Madhya Pradesh, and Hamirpur and Jhansi districts of Uttar Pradesh.
The first stage of the project involves transferring 591 million cubic meters (mcm) of surplus
water in the Ken basin through a 231.45-km canal to the Betwa river.
274
It also includes the construction of Daudhan dam and a small hydroelectric plant in the middle of
the Panna Tiger Reserve, one of the country's most successful tiger reserves. The Rs 9,393-crore
project involves 9,000 ha, half of which is wooded. If the project is cleared, 10 per cent of the
tiger reserve will be taken away. A source at NWDA said the revised EIA report did not make
any changes to the land requirement.
NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE PLAN
HIMALAYAN COMPONENT
Pre-feasibility studies done
Manas-Sankosh- Teesta-Ganga link

Jogighopa-Teesta-Farakka link
Farakka-Sunderbans link
Ghagra-Yamuna link
Sarda-Yamuna link
Sone Dam-Southern tributaries of Ganga link
Kosi-Ghagra link
Kosi-Mechi link
Draft feasibility report completed
Yamuna-Rajasthan link
Farakka-Sunderbans link
Ganga (Farakka)-Damodar-Subarnarekha link
Subarnarekha-Mahanadi link
Chunar-Sone Barrage link
Rajasthan-Sabarmati link
Gandak-Ganga link
Peninsular Component
Feasibility report completed
Ken-Betwa link
275
Mahanadi (Manibhadra)-Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) link

Godavari (Inchampalli) - Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link
Godavari (Inchampalli)-Krishna (Pulichintala) link
Godavari (Polavaram)-Krishna (Vijayawada) link
Krishna (Almatti)-Pennar link
Krishna (Srisailam)-Pennar link
Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) -Pennar (Somasila) link
Pennar (Somasila)-Palar-Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link
Cauvery (Kattalai)-Vaigai-Gundar link
Parbati - Kalisindh - Chambal link
Par-Tapi-Narmada link
Damanganga-Pinjal link
Pamba-Achankovil-Vaippar link
'One-stop solution' to Yamuna woes

Jayashree Nandi,TNN | Aug 13, 2015, 01.42 AM IST
NEW DELHI: The BJP-led Union government and the AAP government in Delhi may be at
loggerheads on most issues but they have, surprisingly, decided to launch a special purpose
vehicle for Yamuna together. Over 20 years after the first Yamuna Action Plan was kicked off to
clean up the river and several other projects costing thousands of crores failed massively, this
SPV is being developed to speed up Yamuna's makeover.
Sources in the Union ministry of water resources told TOI that the SPV will function on the lines
of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and will singularly carry out and monitor "development" of
the river in its 22km stretch in Delhi. This area is shared by various land owning agencies, Delhi
Development Authority, municipal corporations, irrigation, forest department and Delhi
government, but the SPV will now take charge of the entire space, thus ending the "multiplicity
of agencies".
SPV will deal in part with cleaning the river but focus mainly on riverfront development, water
management and rainwater harvesting on floodplains. The ongoing Yamuna Action Plan III may
also be merged with it. As for revenue generation, that plan is yet to be worked out.
"All projects for Yamuna cleaning are currently running on government funds. International
loans are, after all, also government liability. To begin with, the same funding sources will be
tapped, but later revenue can be generated by selling treated water or through certain commercial
activities on the riverfront. It's too early to say what can generate revenue here. The objective of
276
the SPV is to remove all hurdles in the way of implementing various projects on Yamuna," said a
senior Union ministry official.
Sabarmati in Ahmedabad was also developed by the Sabarmati Riverfront Development

Corporation Ltd, an SPV launched by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in 1997. Officials
clarify that the SPV for Yamuna will have almost equal representation of officials from the Delhi
government and the Centre.
Rivers experts and environmentalists, however, are hopeful and concerned at the same time.
They welcome the fact that a single body for Yamuna would mean better coordination of
activities, but they are unsure about the nature of riverfront development to be carried out. There
is also anxiety over whether the SPV will implement National Green Tribunal's Mailey se
Nirmal Yamuna 2017 that already lays out a plan for decentralized water treatment targeting
unsewered areas and developing a strategy to ensure ecological flow in the river.
"I don't understand why the state isn't just focusing its energies on implementing NGT's orders
on Yamuna. An SPV may be welcome because it brings agencies under one head but there needs
to be more clarity on what will they do about the river," said Manoj Misra of Yamuna Jiye
Abhiyan. He added that the Sabarmati riverfront is actually a 10.5km length of channelized
Narmada water "which has compromised the integrity of the Sabarmati in a material manner.
God forbid that Yamuna is ever developed in such a manner in Delhi or anywhere else".
C R Babu, professor emeritus, Delhi University, who had chaired an expert committee
constituted by National Green Tribunal, had recommended that DDA's Yamuna riverfront
development plan be scrapped as it could reduce the river's flood carrying capacity and cause
pollution. He had recommended that the entire stretch be declared a conservation zone instead. "I
don't know what an SPV will do. The Centre has failed to do anything for Ganga. They are
bound by NGT orders on Yamuna. Why aren't they implementing them?" Babu said.
'Body to submit report on Saraswati river in 6 months'

TNN | Aug 13, 2015, 05.11 AM IST
NEW DELHI: The Rajasthan River Basin and Water Resources Planning Authority
(RRBWRPA), tasked with the responsibility of reviving the mythical Saraswati river is likely to
submit its report to the state government in six months.
"We would be coordinating with ISRO, Central Ground Water Board, State Ground Water
Board, another agency working in the area of arid zone paleo-channels institute and National
Institute of Hydrology, to give a report to the government... We will take three to six months to
analyse the facts and prepare a detailed report," Sriram Vedire, chairman, RRBWRPA said.
The authority was constituted by the Government of Rajasthan to look into various issues
277
connected with river basins including intra-basin river water transfer.
It was primarily given the task of reviving Saraswati river, believed to have existed in ancient
times.
Citing evidences of ISRO maps and Central Ground Water Board data, Vedire said that paleo-
channels (remnant of an inactive river) exist on the assumed course of Saraswati river.
"The data of Central Ground Water Board and ISRO satellite maps indicate that there are paleo-
channels flowing under the ground... However, it has to be further analysed and studied whether
these channels are Saraswati river," he said.
Stressing the importance of reviving of paleo-channels, he said that the step can help in
recharging water, in a big way.
"In Rajasthan that paleo channel is assumed as Saraswati (river), which we are trying to revive.
By reviving that, the ground flows will become natural flows above the ground. So, there will be
recharge of surplus flow that comes on the surface from the ground. So, it is a mutual
contribution, where the surface water would recharge the ground water and ground flow will
come as a natural spring flow."
He mentioned that the paleo-channels are located anywhere between 300 and 600 feet.
Vedire, who is also member of the Task Force on Interlinking of Rivers of the Union Water
Resources Ministry, said that the National Watar Development Agency (NWDA) has been asked
to conduct water balance studies for Mahanadi and Godavari river basins for updating
information on projected water usage and water yield of the rivers. PTI
India and Israel to sign MoU on water management ahead of President Pranab Mukherjee's visit
to Tel Aviv
NEW DELHI: India and Israel will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation
in the fields of water conservation, water use efficiency, waste water treatment and river
rejuvenation ahead of the President Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Tel Aviv in October.
Israel's deputy chief of mission in New Delhi, Dana Kursh, on Thursday said a host of meetings
were held with top Indian policy-makers to understand where and how her country can cooperate
with India in the fields of water conservation and river rejuvenation.
"A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries is going to be signed in a
few weeks with respect to water management", said Kursh while responding to questions at a
press conference on Israeli capabilities in the field of water technologies and cooperation
278
between India and Israel.
Two Israeli experts Oded Distel, head of Israel NewTech programme, and Yoram Oren, one of
the country's leading water experts from Ben Gurion University attended the conference and
shared their views as to how Israel can help India in managing its water resources with the help
of Israel's expertise and innovations in the fields of water conservation and water use efficiency.
Oren and Distel on Thursday held meetings with officials of the Union ministry of water
resources and Ganga rejuvenation and discussed specific areas for collaboration while providing
insights on the key issues facing the world's water and ecological system.
These experts are in India to promote Watec 2015, world's biggest Conference on Water
Technologies and Environmental Control, which is scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv on
October 13-15 and to promote investment of Indian companies in Israel.
Both of them will on Friday visit Kanpur and look at how industries and local civic bodies
discharge their waste water into the river Ganga.
CPCRI research findings get international recognition

Mangaluru, Aug 19, 2015, DHNS
Water Environment Federation, Chicago, USA has recognised the research findings of
Central Plantattion Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), Kasaragod and has selected it as
the 2015 recipient of the WEF McKee Groundwater Protection, Restoration, or sustainable
use.
The institute will be honoured with the prestigious award for its contribution in developing
environmentally compatible filtration mechanisms for rainwater harvesting system. The award
will be presented on September 29 at Chicago, USA.
CPCRI Director Dr P Chowdappa said rainwater harvesting is the most sustainable method to
overcome water scarcity, incorporating all types of water demands.
However, a hydraulically efficient, environmentally compatible and cost effective filtration

mechanisms have not been thus far developed in tandem with quality enrichment of rainwater in
its various forms, he said.
In this regard, three filter devices, viz, stormwater horizontal filter, roofwater vertical filter and
recharge dual flow filter were developed by the institute and is now recognised by the world, he
added expressing delight, for the award comes at the time of the institutess centenary
celebrations.
The Director, hoped that the countrys findings would help improve the availability of potable
279
water and the diminishing ground water resources all over the world.
August 24, 2015

Mahadayi dispute: Karnataka to seek out-of-court settlement
Siddaramaiah to lead panel to Delhi to meet Prime Minister today
Leaders of all parties in Karnataka, who met on Sunday ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Monday, resolved to seek his intervention for an out-of-court settlement of
the Mahadayi inter-State water dispute.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who will lead the all-party
delegation to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister, said leaders of all parties had discussed the issue
in detail and had decided to convince Mr. Modi on resolving the row.
We will apprise the Prime Minister on the importance of the Mahadayi issue and the problems
faced by people of the region. We will request him to call a meeting of the Chief Ministers of
Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka and mediate to solve the issue through an out-of-court
settlement, he said.
Other issues
Apart from the Mahadayi issue, the State will also seek the Centres assistance in addressing the
problems faced by farmers due to the drought situation, the issue of sugarcane, grapes and
pomegranate growers, and the problems faced by farmers in the sericulture sector.
Leader of Congress in Parliament M. Mallikarjun Kharge, who recalled the intervention of the
late Indira Gandhi in resolving the Telugu Ganga project dispute, said the Prime Minister should
convince the Chief Ministers of Goa and Maharashtra.
The former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa suggested that the Chief Minister talk to the
Opposition leaders in Goa and Maharashtra. The BJP MPs and Union Ministers will speak to the
Chief Ministers of these States, he said.
The meeting was attended by representatives of all parties, MPs and Union Ministers along with
farmers leaders and seers spearheading the protest in North Karnataka.
JD(S) floor leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, who did not attend the meeting on Sunday, wrote to the
Chief Minister extending support. He said he would not be part of the delegation due to health
issues.
Farmers protest
Farmers, who have been protesting seeking an early settlement of the Mahadayi issue in north
Karnataka, staged a demonstration outside the Vidhana Soudha on Sunday.
280
A minor scuffle ensued between protesters and the police when the farmers tried to barge into the
premises of the Vidhana Soudha. In the melee, a woman activist sprained her ankle.
August 27, 2015
Telangana seeks rightful share of Krishna river waters

Claiming before the Supreme Court that the right to access water is a human rights issue, the
Telangana government on Wednesday sought fresh allocation of the disputed waters of the
Krishna river.
In a hearing before a Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra, the State said previous dispute
proceedings and orders of the Krishna Water Tribunals should be set aside in the light of the
bifurcation of the State of Andhra Pradesh and formation of the new State of Telangana. In a
fresh writ petition, Telangana sought the issuance of a mandamus to Union government to notify
the setting up of a fresh tribunal under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act of 1956 to
decide the issue the sharing of the river water among the four neighbouring States of
Maharashtra, Karnataka, AP and Telangana.
It said that under the 1956 Act, the Union, once it gets a complaint or a reference in relation to
the sharing of water between two States, has to refer the case to a tribunal formed under the
statute.
Telangana said it has no other forum to address its grievance for a fresh allocation of the river
water on the basis of its identity as a separate State. It said that Telangana is restricted by the
terms of reference of Section 89 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014, which
considers only the prospect of carving out its share of the Krishna water from Andhra Pradeshs
share.
Prima facie opposing the petition, the States of Maharashtra and Karnataka said the interests of
Telangana were represented by the undivided Andhra Pradesh, and there cannot be any new
proceedings for fresh allocation of the water.
The Bench decided to post the matter for hearing on September 10, but did not issue any notice.
In an earlier hearing, the Supreme Court had compared the plight of Telangana to that of an
unborn child whose interests were not represented before the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal
- II.
No merit in the plea for fresh allocation, say Maharashtra, Karnataka
Wildlife board clears 81 projects, 9 are in tiger parks

Aug 3, 2015, 12.17 AM IST
NEW DELHI: The National Board for Wildlife (NBW), the apex body which clears projects
around protected areas, has okayed 81 proposals in different parts of the country in the past
seven months. More than 50% of such clearances, incidentally, were for projects in four BJP-
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ruled states.
Though all the projects got clearances well within the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act
where project proponents have to adhere to certain dos and don'ts, the numbers may draw
attention of wildlife conservationists who have been asking the government to go slow and
strengthen institutional mechanisms to monitor compliance.
The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), however, had to take up these projects on priority as
most of them got stuck due to policy paralysis that gripped UPA-2 towards the end of its second
term when it did not even re-constitute the board when its term had ended in September 2013. It
was finally re-constituted by the Narendra Modi government in July last year.
The board's nod is needed for all projects which are to come up in the vicinity of wildlife
sanctuaries, national parks or protected areas in any part of India.
The standing committee of the board, chaired by Union environment and forests minister
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Prakash Javadekar, has in the past one year met four times and taken up over 280 proposals.
Though the maximum number of clearances came from its first meeting last year, the board in its
three meetings held this year gave green signals to 81 projects.
Out of the projects cleared in 2015, nine projects fall under 'tiger reserves' and 27 projects are
close to wildlife sanctuaries. The cleared projects include proposal for establishment/expansion
of coal-based power plants in Tamil Nadu (Tuticorin), Telangana (Khamman), Uttar Pradesh
(Unchahar) and Madhya Pradesh (Budhni in Sehore district) besides a number of roads, railway,
telecommunication and irrigation projects in different states. The cleared projects also include
construction of South Asian University at Maidan Garhi near Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary in
New Delhi, underground crude oil pipeline of Indian Oil Corporation in vicinity of Balaram
Ambaji and Jessore Sloth Bear sanctuary in Gujarat and an aerial passenger ropeway between
Ghangaria and Hemkund Sahib in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
Eleven out of 20 private projects which got clearance from the NBWL this year are in Haryana.
Eight of such clearances are meant for setting up petrol pumps in different districts of the state.
With Modi as PM, will Centre echo Gujarat opposition to shifting of lions?
Amit Bhattacharya & Vishwa Mohan,TNN | Aug 3, 2015, 12.30 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Is the Centre under NDA dispensation preparing to change its long-held position
that Asiatic lions need a second home outside Gujarat's Gir sanctuary, and instead tilting towards
the view of the state government which has steadfastly opposed the idea?
Sources in the ministry of environment and forests said the Union government is likely to present
a fresh stand before the Supreme Court in response to a PIL filed against the relocation of a batch
of lions to the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.
How the Centre nuances its response before the court remains to be seen, particularly since the
environment ministry, under previous regimes, was involved in conceptualizing and facilitating
the relocation project.
The PIL, filed by Rajkot-based NGO Wildlife Conservation Trust, is the third legal challenge
mounted against the Supreme Court judgment of April 15, 2013, in which the court had
pronounced that the lion relocation plan was in the best interest of the species. "No state,
organization or person can claim ownership or possession over wild animals," the court had
observed.
Gujarat government, whose subsequent petitions against the judgment were dismissed by the
court, has exhausted its legal options in the case. The PIL, therefore, could well be the last legal
challenge against the SC's verdict.
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It is learnt that ministry officials, under guidance from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL),
are preparing their response which may factor in the 'sensitivities' involved in translocating the
big cats from Gir in Gujarat, the only place where free-roaming Asiatic lions are found.
TOI's formal queries to the ministry on the issue went unanswered. Officials said since the
matter was in the court, the ministry would not like to comment on the issue.
"The Union environment ministry took a position in court. How can it go back on it?" asks
wildlife biologist Ravi Chellam, an expert on Gir lions and one of the moving forces behind the
relocation project.
"The Supreme Court, in its wisdom, did not stay its order while admitting the various challenges
against its judgment," says Chellam. "So, the court's ruling of April 15, 2013, stands. It's high
time the order is implemented."
In the judgment, the court had asked for an expert committee to be formed to prepare an action
plan for the translocation. The 12-member committee comprised wildlife experts and officials,
including the chief wildlife wardens of Gujarat and MP.
After accounting for comments and objections from members, particularly the official from
Gujarat, the committee submitted a 56-page draft action plan to the ministry in April this year. It
laid out a detailed plan on which Gir lions should be captured and how the animals should be
"soft-released" in Kuno. It proposed that eight to 10 lions, including five to seven females and
their cubs, be translocated.
The plan has been pending approval since April.
The lion translocation plan was mooted in 1993 as experts felt that Asiatic lions, restricted to Gir,
were vulnerable to epidemics and natural disasters events such as the floods that hit the region
a little more than a month ago and killed at least 13 of the big cats. "A second home away from
Gir is like an insurance policy for the lions' survival," says Chellam.
Gujarat, where lions are often linked with Gujarati pride, has been bitterly opposing the plan.
Ajay Dubey, a Bhopal-based RTI activist who filed a contempt petition last year seeking
implementation of SC's order on lion relocation, alleges that the Centre's likely change in stance
on the issue was linked to Narendra Modi's elevation as prime minister.
"Rs 400 crore of public money has been spent since 1993 on developing Kuno as a prime lion
habitat. Who will account for that?" he asks.
Meanwhile, no date of hearing has been fixed in the PIL filed by Wildlife Conservation Trust
against the relocation. "The court had asked six parties to file their replies to our petition. Only
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Gujarat government has responded. The replies of the others, including the Centre, is awaited,"
said WCT's counsel T Gokani.
Caught on camera: Vulture chicks dying without food

The Maharashtra government plans vulture restaurants, providing carcasses of cattle for the
birds to feed on at specific places, especially during the breeding season.
Written by Anuradha Mascarenhas | Pune | Published:August 3, 2015 2:58 am

Gyps critically endangered
Distressing evidence recorded for the first time by still cameras installed in nests of white-
rumped vultures, on big trees in the Western Ghats, shows chicks of the critically endangered
species starving to death.
This has led the Maharashtra government to plan vulture restaurants, providing carcasses of
cattle for the birds to feed on at specific places, especially during the breeding season. While the
state has four such nesting sites currently, only one, at Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary in Raigad
district, is active.
In a unique initiative, the Maharashtra forest department and ELA Foundation had used the
services of expert mountaineers (including some who have climbed Mount Everest) to install
digital trap cameras with daylight and infrared night vision in the occupied nests of vultures, both
on high trees and tall, inaccessible cliffs in the Western Ghats. The observations lasted from
March to May this year.
The cameras recorded that seven vulture chicks, barely two-three months old, had died after
waiting for parents to get back with food for 10 days, in May this year. The video footage from
these cameras also showed that when the concerned parent vulture tried rectal probing of the
chicks to get them to defecate, they could not do so as their bowels were empty.
The cameras recorded 55 Gyps vultures at the three main study sites in the Western Ghats. The
chicks died at Chirgao village in Raigad district.
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A total of 11 visits to the site were made between February and May 2015 and 19 nests identified
with 14 chicks, Sunil Limaye, Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife Division (Pune), told The
Indian Express. A total of 17 nests were found active on March 15 this year, said Dr Satish
Pande, ornithologist and founder of ELA foundation. Out of these, 14 had chicks of 6 to 8 weeks
age at the onset of the study. By May 2015, seven chicks had died.
This was mainly because there was no food. The breeding season is in the winter months and
while adult vultures can stay without food for a few months, the chicks need to be fed, Dr Pande
said.
One of the aims of their study was to obtain scientific data on the ecology, breeding and
behaviour patterns of vultures for conservation of two endangered species Gyps bengalensis
and Gyps indicus.
The Gyps vultures numbers have crashed 95 to 99 per cent in the past decade globally, mainly
due to the use of Diclofenac, a painkiller drug, in veterinary practice.
The vultures who eat carcasses of animals treated with diclofenac soon die of kidney failure.
While the manufacture of veterinary diclofenac was banned in 2006, the drug formulated for
humans is still available. Recently the Drug Controller General Authority of India approved the
draft to make diclofenac available for humans only in 3 ml vials instead of 10-15 ml vials, said
Dr Vibhu Prakash, principal scientist, Bombay Natural History Society.
We would buy dead cattle, ensure they are diclofenac-free and then feed them to vultures at the
vulture restaurants, Limaye said.
Villagers step in to save Kaziranga rhinos

Guwahati, August 3
Vigilant people living in fringe areas of the Kaziranga National Park (KNP), a UNESCO World
Heritage Site in Assam, are making a significant contribution in protecting endangered one-
horned rhinoceros from poachers.
Faced with relentless threat from poachers, the KNP authorities in coordination with the Assam
police have mobilised local villagers and revived the village defence parties (VDP) for
strengthening vigilance around the park areas.
An official said VDP members guarded the area throughout the year under harsh conditions. In
an effort to encourage their contribution towards protection of animals, Aaranyak, a society for
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conservation of biodiversity, in association with the Assam police have distributed raincoats,
shoes and torches among VDPs of 14 villages in the Jokholabandha area near the KNP.
Sub-Divisional Police officer Gaurav Upadhyay said: In the past year, rhino poaching has
declined considerably due to the combined and diligent efforts of the administration, VDPs and
conservation groups like Aaranyak.
Rhino poaching was fast becoming an almost uncontrollable crime. Poachers would easily enter
the KNP from civil areas in Jokholabandha and hide inside the forests and villages close to
Kaziranga overnight and hunt down protected animals like the one-horned rhino.
The police started motivating locals to act as guards, which helped curb poacher traffic to a great
degree. The VDPs are encouraged to keep an eye on all newcomers and engage them in
conversation to know about their whereabouts.
Kaziranga is home to over 2,000 one-horned rhinos, besides other animals like Royal Bengal
Tiger, Asiatic buffaloes, elephants, deer species, etc.
August 4, 2015 12:59 IST

Kasturirangan Committee recommendations, was one of the major suggestions coming from the
MPs representing these six States. But everyone talked about sustainable development as well.
And to that end, we will have yet another meeting next week, Mr. Javadekar said.
ESZ demarcation.
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Concerns of States
Experts converge at WII in bid to protect tiger habitats beyond reserves

Seema Sharma,TNN | Aug 5, 2015, 10.03 PM IST
DEHRADUN: During the tiger census last year, 22% of the of big cats in the country were found
to roam in areas that were not tiger reserves or protected forests. Now, an international effort has
begun to better protect tigers that roam the forest divisions of Ramnagar, Haldwani, Terai east
and west, Lansdowne and Haridwar, so these areas can meet global standards for the
conservation of big cats, CA/TS.
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"CA/TS (Conservation Assured/Tiger Standards) is a set of 17 minimum parameters for effective

management of tiger conservation world over. WWF South Asia first came up with this scientific
protocol under its programme, 'Tiger Alive Initiative'. Regions that achieve these standards are
said to be CA/TS-compliant. Once that becomes the case, international attention and funding
become that much easier for tiger conservation programmes from 13 tiger range member
countries and other international donors. We will have the first workshop on CA/TS in
Uttarakhand on Thursday," SP Yadav, deputy secretary general of GTF told TOI.
A panel of the Global Tiger Forum (GTF), the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)
and state forest department will meet on Thursday at the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun
to deliberate on how to plug the gaps in the management of these territorial divisions. Funds for
the purpose will be drawn not only from the Centre but also from international donor agencies.
Yadav explained that the World Bank had first backed the GTF programme, but withdrew from
it in 2008. India, however, has taken the programme forward. Seven tiger range countries - India,
Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia - and several international NGOs
continue to remain members of the GTF.
"Chitwan National Park of Nepal has become CA/TS compliant. Sikhote-Alin in Russia is close
to achieving that status. The terai arch landscape is very important for tiger survival - it extends
from Nepal to Bihar. Uttarakhand forms part of the western terai. From here, we will cover the
entire terai arch. After that, we will focus on South India," Yadav said, elaborating on plans to
conserve tiger habitats. He said the Centre had decided to take up areas outside tiger reserves for
CA/TS. "For the first time, we are taking these territorial divisions that are promising from the
point of view of tiger conservation," he said.
He explained that these are territorial divisions that have never featured as priority areas when it
came to tiger conservation in the past. The fact that the GTF has now focused attention on it will
mean that the state and Centre will also take concrete steps to conserve tigers here.
Once these regions achieve the CA/TS-compliant tag, much international support is expected to
flow in for their conservation, just like Unesco's heritage tag for monuments, Yadav said.
Uttarakhand chief conservator of forests Dhananjay Mohan said, "These territorial divisions of
the state have surpassed many tiger reserves of the country in terms of the tiger population.
Falling under the international evaluation programme of CA/TS will also give them a new
identity."
Surender Mehra, conservator of forests of Terai West, said 85 tigers were spotted in camera traps
in Ramnagar Terai West and Haldwani, and pug marks found in areas without cameras. About
25 tigers were found in Lansdowne; a mother and three cubs that were near adulthood were
spotted in the Haridwar forest division recently.
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"We struggle with an acute manpower crunch and lack of funds. If these problems did not plague
the department, we could keep better vigil and control poaching," Mehra said.
Some things that go into CA/TS-compliance
Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) management: There should be mechanisms in place for dealing
with such conflict, and appropriate mitigation strategies should be planned. Consistent and
transparent compensation measures too should be in place.
Adequate administrative mechanisms: This would be a measure of the staff dedicated to the
purpose, and a check of procedures in place for the conservation of tigers.
Annual operation plans: This would check budget and financial disbursement systems.
Equipment, infrastructure: Any impact of the conservation measures on people in the area should
be mitigated, and facilities in place for it.
Punjab, Haryana to carve out Vulture Safe Zone
Vibhor Mohan,TNN | Aug 7, 2015, 04.26 AM IST
CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana have decided to create a Vulture Safe Zone over 100 km
radius where birds bred in captivity at country's first Jatayu (vulture) centre in the Bir Shikargah
wildlife sanctuary in Pinjore will be released. The proposal aimed at preserving the dwindling
species has been discussed by the two states and a formal notification is expected shortly.
Apart from a survey of the area for availability of food, the wildlife department concerned will
ensure that there is no use of the already-banned drug diclofenac, which reaches vultures through
animal carcasses. As per the plan, a dedicated team of experts and NGOs will be roped in to
ensure safety of the birds once these are set free. The partners will assess the success of the
project and any new threats by monitoring the vulture population with the help of the locals.
"The Haryana wildlife department came up with the proposal so that two vultures (Himalayan
griffons) could be released in their natural habitat but without the danger of banned drugs which
led to their near extinction," said Dharinder Singh, chief wildlife warden, Punjab.
Madhya Pradesh has already decided to come up with a safe zone in the Bundelkhand region last
year. For this, BirdLife in India, in association with Rio Tinto and BirdLife International
identified an area of 30,000 km.
"Although a safe alternative drug, meloxicam is available, the wild population continues to be
under constant threat of diclofenac poisoning, because people are unaware of its link with the
disappearance of vultures. Vultures are known for their scavenger service and help in keeping an
entire area free from diseases like rabies," said Dr Kamal Aneja, a veterinary surgeon.
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In the coming years, adjacent areas could be converted into similar Safe Zones, creating a much
larger diclofenac-free zone and enabling the vultures to once again establish self-sustaining
populations.
Haryana wildlife department has decided to release two vultures to begin with by putting satellite
transmitters on them. In the last one year, 35 vulture nestlings have hatched. Nestlings of the first
clutch are reared by the parents and the nestlings of the second clutch are hand-reared.
As part of the save vulture programme in the country, diclofenac/meloxicam swapping work is
followed up with an extensive education and awareness programme on the value of vultures for
the local community as they act as scavengers and therefore help reduce the risk of disease and
increasing numbers of feral dogs.
India loses 41 tigers in 7 months
Neha Madaan,TNN | Aug 12, 2015, 05.00 AM IST
PUNE: Tiger deaths persisted in the country despite the Union and state governments' efforts
towards conservation.
The country lost close to 41 tigers from January until August 9 this year, similar to the count in
the same period in 2014, reveals fresh data from National Tiger Conservation Authority and
TRAFFIC-India, the wildlife trade monitoring network.
The data further revealed that tigers are dying not just from natural causes, but they are also
being shot to death by authorities in case of man-animal conflicts. Snares and traps, even
poisoning, are other reasons listed in the study.
The data revealed that till August 9, 2014, Maharashtra reported three tiger deaths. Among these,
one tiger was shot dead by sharp shooters of the Chandrapur police. The count of dead tigers in
the state has already reached five this year.
READ ALSO: Bangladesh police kill 6 alleged tiger poachers in gunfight
Big B to be Maharashtra's new tiger conservation ambassador
Vikas Kharge, secretary Revenue and Forest Department (Forests), told TOI that choosing actor
Amitabh Bachchan as the ambassador for its tiger conservation projects is likely to have a
positive outcome for conservation measures.
"We are yet to finalise the modalities and a meeting with the actor will soon take place. He is a
tiger lover and his involvement in the project will have a unique appeal for the masses," he said.
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Kharge added that incidents of tiger poaching have declined in Maharashtra largely due to an
increase in the number of protection measures undertaken. "A special tiger protection force,
comprising a team of 120 personnel, has been employed in each of the four reserves of the state.
For locals' involvement in saving tigers, we have set up village eco-development committees for
community participation in conservation of forest and tigers," he said.
States that have reported the maximum number of tiger deaths include Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Apart from natural death, authorities have pointed out other reasons for tiger deaths in the last
various years, including poaching, in fighting, snares and traps, poisoning by villagers and
shooting. For instance, in January last year, a police official shot dead a tiger near Ooty, Tamil
Nadu. The incident is still being investigated, revealed Tigernet, the official database of the
National Tiger Conservation Authority, under the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
READ ALSO: Tiger numbers grow by 30% in 4 years Can forests sustain India's Big
Cat boom?
Last year, another cause of death cited was poaching by poisoning using organophosphorous
compounds. Other causes included cardio-respiratory failure and even retaliatory killing by
electrocution near Dhamokar at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh.
Three seizures from poachers have already been reported until March this year, two from Pilibhit
in Uttar Pradesh and one from Similipal in Orissa. The seizures from UP included tiger bones,
flesh, and skin, according to Tigernet.
READ ALSO: India's tiger conservation efforts proven right, says YV Jhala
A senior official from the state forest department said that most tiger deaths in the state have
been due to intentional poisoning by villagers. "There have been instances when a tiger was
poisoned by villagers for revenge or out of fear. Tigers usually eat their prey in phases. Villagers
know this and, at times, poison a carcass as they know that the tiger would return to feed on it.
There have also been instances of electrocution of tigers in Vidarbha, when villagers
intentionally left an electrical wire lose, to kill a tiger," he said.
The official added that numerous deaths due to traps have also been reported. "Poachers lay traps
for the animal to step into. These traps usually rupture the bones of the limb that gets stuck in
them. The poachers then take the animal down. The Pardhi community is known for such
poaching methods. They later sell the tiger skin and other parts in local and international illegal
markets," the official said.
A senior National Tiger Conservation Authority said that incidents of shooting by officials are
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restricted to cases of man-animal conflicts. "After following all the advisories and standard
operating procedures by the authority, if the state wildlife warden feels that the said animal is a
threat, it could be put down. However, this happens only in extreme cases," he said.
Supreme Court takes note of plea on cruelty against elephants in Kerala
Tuesday, 18 August 2015 - 7:15pm IST | Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI
The Supreme Court on Tuesday took note of pleas alleging cruelty meted out to
captive elephants in Kerala, particularly in temples, and directed the top wildlife officer to
undertake a headcount of all of them and act against those keeping them without the requisite
permission.
"As far as the present issue is concerned, we are inclined to direct that the Chief Wildlife Warden
shall see to it that all the captive elephants existing in the State of Kerala are counted and in the
absence of obtainment of requisite certificate under Section 42 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act
1972 and the declaration made under Section 40, appropriate action shall be initiated against the
owners," the bench of Justices Dipak Misra and R Banumathi said.
Dealing with charges of cruelty meted to the elephants in Kerala, the court said it would be the
state's obligation to see that registration of the pachyderms is carried out.
"It shall be the duty of the State, the District Committee, Management of the Devaswom, the
Management of the Temple and the owners of the elephants to see that no elephant is meted with
any kind of cruelty and, if it is found, apart from being lodging of criminal prosecution, they
shall face severe consequences which may include confiscation of the elephants to the State," the
bench said.
Referring to the Kerala Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, it said on its
perusal, it was "clear as crystal that it obliges the District Committee to take necessary measures
to ensure that the festival committee constituted for smooth conduct of the festivals or the
persons organising such functions in which elephants are exposed are required to adhere to many
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a measure. The District Committee is bound by the Rules and see to it that the festival
committees follow the same."
It asked "temples or the Devaswom" to get themselves registered with the district committee
within six weeks to ensure that elephants are used properly in religious events. Elephants are
used to participate in religious festivals and processions in Kerala and also to carry the deities.
"We think that they should be registered with the Committee and accordingly it is directed that
the registration shall be done within a period of six weeks from today. The temple and
Devaswom shall, apart from other formalities, also mention how many elephants it is going to
use in any festival," it said.
During the hearing, Solicitor General (SG) Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Centre and the
counsel for Kerala told the bench that the elephants participating in religious festivals and
processions carry the deities and are not covered under the statutory definition of "performing
animals" and hence, do not need to be registered.
"There is no ban on captive elephants taking part in religious festivals," the SG said.
"If elephants carry the deities, then there is no problem. But there should not be any cruelty
towards them," the court said, adding that registration of elephants can be done under the rules
framed under the Wildlife Protection Act.
Earlier, the apex court had asked the Centre and others including Animal Welfare Board to
ensure that no elephant is "treated or meted with cruelty" during religious festivals across the
country. The court had issued notice to the Centre, nine states and the Animal Welfare Board of
India on the PIL seeking steps for protection and welfare of elephants held in captivity including
a complete ban on their sale, gifting and use in religious festivals.
The PIL, filed by six organisations and individuals including Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation
Centre, has said that the number of captive elephants kept by private persons and religious
institutions stood at over 3,000. The figure of captive elephants is more than those which are
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with the forest department, zoos and circus and they were being traded openly and subjected to
cruelty in violation of laws like the Wild Life (Protection) Act and the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals Act, it had contended.
Majority of ecologically sensitive zones still not notified

Environment ministry okays only 26 zones out of 452 proposed
Of the 526 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, the environment ministry has been able to
provide a protective buffer zone, called ecologically sensitive zones (ESZs), to only 26 so far.
According to the national wildlife policy, each of these wildlife zones was to have a protective
zone around it, where polluting and detrimental activities would be restricted.
The ESZ is based on the principles of providing sanctity to protected areas and strengthening the
buffer zones and corridors around such areas.
All forms of infrastructure projects of commercial or public purpose, including mining,

industries and hydro-power projects, are prohibited within such zones, according to the ministry
guidelines.
But data from the Union environment ministry show only 26 such ESZs have been formally
notified so far.
On Tuesday, the environment ministry notified an ESZ around Okhla Bird Sanctuary in Noida,
which has caught public attention because it impacted thousands of home buyers in the countrys
capital. But the vast majority of such proposals for other national parks and wildlife parks are
still in limbo.
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According to a 2006 Supreme Court order, all states and Union Territories were required to send
proposals detailing the site-specific geographical extent of ESZs around environmentally
protected areas falling within their boundaries.
Data from the ministry show 452

proposals have been sent so far.
The highest number of proposals
has been received from Madhya
Pradesh followed by Himachal
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil
Nadu and Karnataka. All UTs
other than Andaman and Nicobar
have proposed one zone each.
Larger states have on an average,
proposed higher number of zones.
Of those, which have been

notified till date, most fall in four
states Gujarat, Goa, Sikkim
and Odisha. Haryana, Jharkhand,
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
have one zone each notified.
Several states such as Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Goa have consistently raised concerns
about creating ESZs. Based on such complaints the Union government consistently asked for
site-specific proposals. According to Supreme Court orders, unless site-specific ESZs are
declared a 10-km area around each of these wildlife zones is treated as an ESZ. But despite
repeated deadlines the states failed to submit their proposals.
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While the states themselves have played truant in sending proposals within stipulated time, the
slow pace by the ministry too cast a shadow on the project. Officials suggest that procedural
complexities were primarily to be blamed for the delays.
Guidelines issued in 2011 said a committee, comprising a field staff of the forest, revenue and
panchayati raj departments and an ecologist would identify an ESZ. The chief wildlife warden
of the state was required to send these to the environment ministry.
However, the number of zones being notified shot up after the National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) government came to power in May last year. In fact, 18 of the 26 ESZs were notified
after NDA took over, though critics complained that in some cases ESZs were demarcated
keeping industrial and polluting industries safe from restrictions, such as in the case of Sikkim.
This has elicited concerned responses from different quarters and allegations of arbitrary and
hurried decision making in the process.
Tiger habitat declined by 41 % in 17 years, says IUCN report

TNN | Aug 25, 2015, 03.47 PM IST
Bhopal/Ahmadabad: Even as Madhya Pradesh's forest and water resources department (WRD)
spar over 5,258 hectares of land that Panna tiger reserve is likely to lose in Ken-Betwa river-
linking project, International Union for conservation of nature (IUCN) in its latest report has
pointed out that Madhya Pradesh and other states of country have lost an alarming 41 per cent of
tiger habitat in last 17 years.
"The Tiger's extent of occupied area is estimated at less than 1,184,911 km, a 41% decline from
the area estimated in 1997. India suffered the most range contraction. While part of the
difference is due to improved data after a decade of intensive tiger conservation efforts, and
improved datasets and techniques, biologists consider the primary cause to be declines due to
poaching and habitat loss," says the report.
It further says "Range decline is considered a strong indicator of population decline. Because an
average of 55 per cent of Tiger Conservation Landscapes consist of non-tiger habitat, the
declines in population and area of occupancy are greater than the 41% estimated, and thus likely
indicate a 50 per cent or greater reduction".
Report warns that a similar reduction could be expected over the next three tiger generations (20-
30 years) unless conservation effort becomes more effective. The survey has also found a
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decrease in tiger range of 12.6% in connecting habitat corridors from 2006-2010.
Though IUCN has not given a state-wise breakup of decline in tiger habitats, officials in the state
forest department claim that Madhya Pradesh is fast losing its dense forests which has been
alarming in the last two years. This has been acknowledged by union ministry of environment as
well.
As per latest estimates of Forest Survey of India (FSI), MP which is among states having the
largest forest cover, has recorded a considerable decrease in its green area including very dense
forest (VDF) and moderately dense forest (MDF), said sources in ministry of environment and
forest (MoEf).
Decrease in dense forest has been reported from Sidhi, Mandla, Satna, Umaria, Jabalpur, Jhabua,
East Nimar, Dewas, Chhindwara, Chhatarpur and Balaghat districts and most of these districts
have dwelling tigers. As per FSI's last report (2011), there had been a decrease of 7km in the
VDF, and 21km in MDF.
Anil Garg, an independent researcher on forest land and expert on land records has accused state
forest department of sending false data to the ministry.
MP has the maximum area under forest cover among all the states in the country as per FSI's last
report. As per records of MoEF and FSI's last report 77,700km (11.24%) of the total 6, 90, 899
km of forest land in the country is in MP. Report indicates that Arunachal Pradesh with
67,410km under forest cover stood next to MP, while Chhattisgarh stood at third position with a
forest cover of 55,870 km.
Despite these reports and protests from the state forest department, bureaucrats of MP are
adamant to pave way for Ken-Betwa river linkage project in Panna putting large tiger habitat at
stake.
In one of the recent developments, Union environment minister proposed to notify Nauradehi
and Rani Durgawati sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh as tiger reserves to compensate 5,258
hectares that Panna tiger reserve will lose in the Ken-Betwa river-linking project.
Water resources department (WRD), which is the nodal department looking after compliance of
this project has moved a note sheet to state forest department seeking its consent. Wildlife
activists have meanwhile launched protest against the proposed terming it disastrous for Panna
tigers.
"This is not a feasible idea. MP government cannot be trusted upon given the pendency of
notification of other two areas as tiger sanctuaries," says activist Ajay Dubey.
A dream project of Narendra Modi, Ken-Betwa river-linking project had been embroiled in
298
controversy over its environment impact assessment (EIA). TOI had reported EIA's report which
mentions presence of Sangai, an endangered brow-antlered deer only found in Manipur, at the
Ken basin. Sangai sighting clause triggered uproar with environmentalists, who called the
assessment report a sham.
Dubey claims "At least 80% of forest land required for the project fall in Panna tiger reserve on
either side of Ken river. If this is the knowledge level of EIA, I am worried about tigers and other
wild animals that may fall victim to the project".
New hope for saving vulture population

TNN | Aug 31, 2015, 06.03 AM IST
PUNE: The Union government has banned multi-dose vials of human diclofenac, which is
expected to give a boost to vulture conservation in the country at the same time prevent its
misuse on cattle.
Three Gyps species of vultures in India had declined drastically, by nearly 99%, over the past
two decades. The recent notification, number 450 in the Gazette of India, published on July 17,
by the ministry of health and family welfare is a big relief to the critically endangered vulture
species, as per a statement issued by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). In association
with UK-based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and several state governments
in the country, BNHS has been trying to conserve the vultures through captive breeding,
research, and advocacy.
According to BNHS' statement, the recent notification has declared that, from now onwards,
diclofenac formulation for human use will be available as single dose vials of three ml only. This
will prevent its misuse on cattle. The inexpensive, non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug is used
to treat pain and inflammation in cattle and humans but is toxic for vultures, according to studies
conducted by BNHS and other organisations.
Vultures, considered nature's most efficient scavengers, primarily feed on dead bodies of wild
animals as well as domestic ungulates. The birds have been dying on a mass scale after feeding
on carcasses that were administered diclofenac 72 hours prior to their death. Vultures suffer from
renal failure and deposition of uric acid on visceral organs due to diclofenac.
The drug was banned by the Drug Controller General of India in 2006 for veterinary use after
sustained efforts by BNHS and other organisations. "However, further surveys by BNHS
revealed that multi-dose vials of the drug meant for humans were still being used on cattle. Till
recently, multi-dose vials for humans were available in 30 ml whereas the advisable dose is three
ml for humans and 10-15 ml for adult cattle, leading to misuse. Subsequently, only three
companies in India had voluntarily ceased production while over 70 others ignored the requests,"
the statement said.
299
BNHS and other organisations brought the misuse to the notice of the authorities nearly four
years ago and persistent advocacy eventually resulted in the notification.
Conservation bid:
The population of three vulture species, namely Oriental White-backed, Long-billed and
Slender-billed Vulture, which were once common (over four crore), started declining in South
Asia since the early 1990s to just about one lakh by 2007. In response to the population crash,
scientists from BNHS and RSPB, along with state forest department have been successfully
running four vulture breeding centres in Haryana, West Bengal, Assam and Madhya Pradesh.
They have also set up lab-based research facility, organised advocacy and field research, such as
carcass sampling, for nearly a decade now.
The Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction consortium, that brought together national and
international experts, was launched in 2011 to help coordinate research, organise advocacy at
public and policy level, and implement actions needed to prevent extinction. Further, as part of
advocacy efforts, proactive attempts are being made to keep at least 100 sq km area of natural
habitats, called Vulture Safe Zones, across the subcontinent, free from diclofenac.

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Updated: August 4, 2015 12:59 IST

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