South Asia

India: Vedanta Orissa projects ban must be upheld

Kailash — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:26:07 +0100

Ongoing attempts by UK-based mining company Vedanta Resources to overturn an Indian government decision blocking a proposed bauxite mine and expansion of an alumina refinery in Orissa should not be allowed to succeed, new report by Amnesty International says.

The report, Generalisations, Omissions, Assumptions [http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA20/036/2011/en], reveals that the company has failed to adequately consider the human impact of its proposed projects with an investment of US$ 1,7 billion in Orissa.

“Vedanta’s mine and refinery expansion projects must not be allowed

Climate Changes Bring Harsh Reality for Native Americans

whit — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:31:39 +0100

NEW YORK, Aug 4, 2011 (IPS) – In Shishmaref, an Inupiaq village on an Alaskan barrier island north of the Bering Strait, a way of life is gradually disappearing due to higher temperatures, rising sea levels, declining numbers of sea animals to hunt, and shrinking shorelines wrought by climate change.

The effects of climate change may be felt across the globe, but in the United States, compared to the general population, indigenous peoples feel the impact disproportionately, a report published Wednesday by the National Wildlife Federation concluded.

Because they are dependent on it for th

UN rejects Bangladesh government's view

whit — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:41:18 +0100

The general segment of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) session rejected the official position of Bangladesh government on the non-Bangalee people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), and adopted the report of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The Bangladesh government, represented by Abul Kalam Abdul Momen, raised its concern over the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) going beyond its mandate in dealing with the issue of implementing the CHT Peace Accord, on the ground that there are no indigenous people in CHT.

The government

India: Toxic sludge leak from Vedanta’s red mud pond threatens rural communities

Kailash — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:33:32 +0100

\Over 4,000 families in India face serious risk from threats of leaks from Vedanta’s red mud pond as the rainy season begins in June.

Bangladesh: Ban Open-Pit Coal Mining, Save Forests and Farms

Kailash — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 09:53:04 +0100

British company is trying to sell a bill of goods to one of the world’s poorest countries, Bangladesh.

Global Coal Management Resources (GCM) wants to bulldoze 12,000 acres of Bangladesh’s most productive agricultural land and replace it with one of the world’s largest open-pit coal mines.

By their own account, they would forcibly displace 40,000 people in the Phulbari region, including at least 2,200 Indigenous people whose history in the area dates back 5,000 years.

India's mineral wealth obtained by violating tribal rights, says ILO study

Kailash — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 09:40:12 +0100

New Delhi – Indian law automatically assumes that all minerals found underground are state property.
The ministries of environment and coal may still be bickering over the classification of ‘ go’ and ‘ no- go’ areas for mining , but an International Labour Organisation (ILO)- funded report on India’s indigenous population claims that more than half the country’s mineral wealth is obtained by violating the rights of tribals.

‘India and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’, a report prepared by the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact with the ILO’s support, states that minerals found in adivasi or tri

Indian activists risk death to expose illegal logging, pollution and mining

whit — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 11:18:37 +0000

The recent death of Indian environmentalist Amit Jethva was the latest in a growing number of disturbing incidents of brutality and violence against activists, report Ambika Hiranandani and Tom Levitt

On 20 July 2010, forest campaigner Amit Jethva was shot dead at point blank range by two assailants on motorbikes as he was leaving Gujrat High Court following a meeting with his lawyer.

In a country facing an acute environmental crisis as it rapidly industrialises, his assassination was no stray incident but one of a rising number of attacks on activists.

India examines cost of mining more closely

Kailash — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 12:10:38 +0000

India examines cost of mining more closely

Environmental impact assessments have halted projects in sensitive areas

Citing the need to protect the environment and local residents, Indian courts and government bodies have started blocking – or even cancelling – a growing number of industrial projects.

UK pension funds slam Vedanta on ESG issues as share price tanks

Kailash — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 21:16:48 +0100

A group of UK pension funds has slammed Vedanta Resources, the FTSE100-listed metals and mining group, for ignoring shareholder lobbying on ESG issues after the company’s share price slid by 10% last week — wiping £300m off its market capitalisation — following an Indian government body ruling against a controversial mining project. The UK’s Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, which represents 52 schemes with a combined £90bn (Euros100bn), said the share price plunge demonstrated the financial risk of poor management of ESG issues.

Ivanhoe Monywa mine evades sanctions via Singaporean bank

Kailash — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:44:42 +0100

Chiang Mai — Myanmar Ivanhoe Copper, the blacklisted joint venture that runs Burma’s largest mine, uses Singaporean bankers to evade Western sanctions against Burma when it receives payments for copper from the controversial Monywa mine, a copy of a copper sales contract reveals.

Monywa, a city in Burma’s northwestern division of Sagaing, is about 140 kilometres from Mandalay on the eastern bank of the Chindwin River.