A vociferous protest against big dams reaches its crucial stage when union environment minister Jairam Ramesh was greeted with protest as he was arriving in Guwahti for a public hearing on the NHPC owned big dam in Arunachal Pradesh.
As the Union minister started the public hearing at Machkhowa, ITA, hundreds of local organizations and political parties approached him to register stiff protest again the on going construction of the big dam in Gerukamukh by NHPC in the name of the lower Subansiri hydel project. Citing the expert panel report, these parties and organisations have told the minister that the big dam might spell an ecological disaster for the people in down stream areas.
PermalinkSubmitted by Hayang on Wed, 29/09/2010 - 05:16
--Lame Excuse by NHPC CMD S.K. Garg--
Despite strident protests in Assam with environmental concerns over construction of mega dams, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Chairman-cum-Managing Director S.K. Garg says that the project builders plan to commission three units in March 2012 and the remaining five units by December 2012. This is because Rs 4000 crore of the Rs 9000 crore project has been utilized. That means 40% of the expenses have been made. But is this a reason enough to sacrifice environment and the population of downstream areas which cannot be compensated even if the Indian central government bring all the riches in the world. When land is lost, existence is lost. When existence is lost, the very right to our natural habitat is lost.
In the devastating floods caused by the Tehri dam in Uttarakhand, the central government has promised a package of Rs 500 crore to the state government. That means every year there will be floods, the Indian government will dole out Rs 500 crore. So, within 8 years, Rs 4000 crore will have to be shelved out. If this is the economics involved, Rs 4000 crore is nothing for a rich country like India where many politicians and ministers have pocketed hundreds and thousands of crores. So, the justification of Rs 4000 crore by S.K. Garg sounds to be a lame excuse to keep the industrial corporations who fund the elections happy and satisfied.
Rishi is going to play tabla marathon for seven hours at Leicester City Museum on Fri 20th Nov09 from 5pm till midnight to raise money for BBC Children in Need. Please come and join us to encourage him for this noble cause. He has also set up this web address if you would like to sponsor him directly justgiving.com/rishibeatsthedrummarathon Your support will be highly appreciated. Please circulate this mail to all your friends & relatives who would be interested to see him or to donate towards it.
The Brahmaputra (Tsan-Po in Chinese) river originates on the northern slope of the Himalayas in Tibet, China. It flows eastwards for a length of about 1,130 km and then takes a sharp bend towards south and enters Arunachal Pradesh of India. It travels through Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya and then enters Bangladesh at Bahadurabad Ghat. The segment of the river between Bahadurabad and Aricha, where the river joins the river Padma (as the Ganga is known in Bangladesh), is popularly known as Jamuna in Bangladesh. The total length of the river from the source to the sea is about 2840 km. Within Bangladesh, the channel varies considerably in width ranging from less than 2.0 km to more...
Timothy Das Hanse's brand new Assamese feature film Jibon Bator Logori will be screened at Xankardev Bhawan, Qutub Institutional Area, New Delhi, at 3 pm on Sunday, 15th Nov.
Hanse will be present at the screening organized by the Assam Association.
Incidentally, JBL was recently released through satellite using UFO Moviez technology simultaneoulsy in 25 theatres in Assam, which is a record for the state's cinema, and its Box Office success has come as a refreshing change for the ailing local film industry, which had not seen a commercial success for a long time.
It is what we can describe as a typical family drama with a social message.
- Utpal Borpujari, New Delhi
In a major setback to ULFA, its two top guns have been arrsted in Bangladesh on Tuesday. According to information, ULFA's foreign secretary Sasha Chaudhury and the finance secretary Chitraban Hazarika have been arrested after they came to the DGFI headquerters. However, the Indian authority has yet to disclose it. Details are awaited.
Ranjan Das, President and CEO Indian Subcontinent of the software giant SAP passed away at the young age of 42. It is almost impossible to describe in words his multitude of talents and qualities. Apart from being a brilliant individual and a top notch professional, Ranjan was a wonderful human being with firm family values rooted in humility and compassion.
Ranjan was born to Khagan Das and Malati Das from Hengarabari, Guwahati and completed his early schooling at Dispur Government school and Gopal Boro school.
I first met Ranjan at my mess in Delhi University in 1987 on a dry and hot summer afternoon. Having completed high school from Daly College Indore, he enrolled in the...
In a fresh development in the sensational Parag Das assassination case, the Gauhati High Court has served notices to the accused Mridul Phukan, CBI and the Assam government. The development came up as a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Justi Chalameswar and Justice A N Ansari was taking up a petition moved by Pallav Das challenging the lower court order a few months back where the main accused Mridul Phukan was freed citing lack of sufficient evidence.
An ULFA militant was killed at an encounter with police and army in Kamrup district of Assam on Tuesday. According to information, the encounter took place near Boko in the lower Assam district in the wee hours. Two militants started indiscriminate firing at an army patrol party on the street as they were asked to halt. When retaliated with firing, one of the rebels died on the spot and another managed to flee from the spot. Police claimed to have recovered an AK-56 rifles along with a bag containing some cartridges, Indian currency notes and syringes. The slain militant has yet to be identified and investigation is in progress.
A top ranked irrigation department officers was released hours after he was kidnapped by suspected NDFB rebels from Darrang district on Saturday. According to information, a group of armed miscreants who kidnapped Tangla division's SDO of irrigation department Nur Ahmed from Kawadanga area on Saturday released him later on Saturday. Police investigation is in progress.
Altogether 7 UNLF rebels were killed in a pre-dawn encounter with security forces in Manipur on Sunday. According to information, the encounter took place between a group of heavily armed militants and Assam Rifles jawans near village Sanapat in Imphal East district. An Assam Rifles column were launching a joint operation as they came under attack from the rebels armed with automatic weapons. This has forced the Assam Rifles jawans to retaliate leaving these rebels killed on the spot. A huge cache of explosives and weapons, including rifles, carbines, and small arms, was recovered from their possession.
This is regarding the report submitted by the 6thAssam Pay Commission. From the partial report made public by the Govt., it is apparent that apart from Grade-IV employees of Assam, no one is going to benefit from it. The so-called experts of the Pay Commission with Mr Bhaskar Barua (retd. IAS) and the Mr H S Das, Finance Secretary of Assam at the helm of affairs, have deliberately recommended a report with lot of discrepancies which may be summarised as follows -
1. Employees of the rank of Junior Engineers, Sub-Inspectors, others who are in the equivalent pay scale of 3490-8100...
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