Business
Misplaced activism undermining development: The Hasdeo story

What does Parsa in Hasdeo, Chhattisgarh, have in common with the northwest German village of Lutzerath or Brasilia in Brazil? They are hubs for protests against coal mining, with well-funded activists taking the forefront citing lack of protection for indigenous reserves.
In Chhatisgarh, the ‘adivasis’ (tribals) in Hasdeo have been resisting the destruction of their lands because of the coal mines in which Rajasthan government’s owned power company, Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited, has invested heavily for commissioning of 4,400 MW of thermal power stations.
They are supposed to source coal from its three Parsa East-Kanta Basan (PEKB), Parsa and Kente Extension Coal Blocks with annual production of close to 30 million tonnes.
However, it has been able to produce only half of it from the first phase of PEKB Block while both Parsa and Kente Extension coal blocks have failed to take off, courtesy the protests.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, indigenous groups have held many protests to pressure lawmakers into strengthening protection for indigenous reserves and limit illegal activity by miners and ranchers encroaching on their territory.
In Germany, protestors in Lutzerath are protesting the planned expansion of a nearby coal mine as they believe that the village has long been doomed to disappear to allow the gigantic Garzweiler open-pit lignite mine to expand further.
But Parsa’s case differs from Brazil and Germany. The vast majority of Brazil’s electricity is produced by hydro power with just 3 per cent coming from coal, some of which is imported.
Germany, on the other hand, is planning to abandon coal by 2030 as part of the transition away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner energy sources.
In India, the major production of electricity is achieved through coal, which is around 75 per cent of the total power generation. India’s per capita electricity consumption is half of Brazil, one-fourth of China and sixth of Russia among BRIC nations.
India has the fifth largest coal reserves in the world and it is the most affordable fuel for the developing nation.
Also, unlike Brazil, Parsa’s units are not illegal. The five petitions filed by protestors against the coal mines in Parsa at the Chhattisgarh High Court have been rejected.
But both the mines are still facing the heat of the protests, making the financial condition of hundreds of families, who willingly offered their land for the critical mine project a couple of years ago, worse.
Locals are neither able to carry on their agriculture activities nor are there any job prospects due to delayed mining projects. They are compelled to live on the money they received as compensation for their land.
Besides, thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the underdeveloped region, Rajasthan power utility is estimated to pay nearly Rs 2,000 crore to the Chhattisgarh government in terms of various taxes and royalties. Hence, it is critical for the financially weak state-owned power utilities to have captive coal blocks since there are unable to afford expensive imported coal.
But what the activists behind this smear campaign, who the locals believe are sponsored, don’t understand is that Rajasthan will plunge into severe power crisis if it fails to kickstart coal production from the second phase of PEKB Block where it is not possible to recover coal anymore from the first phase. Also, coal production from Parsa and Kente Extension blocks is critical for Rajasthan’s energy security in the future.
A senior official from Ventura Securities last week said steep electricity prices will not only affect households but also have an impact on the overall economy as well. Especially at a time, when the country is trying to be self-sufficient and self-reliant and is in the process of becoming a stiff competitor to international market giants like China.
As far as environmental hazards go, to say that the economic landscape for coal mining has changed dramatically in the past two decades won’t be incorrect.
According to a report by Coal Ministry in 2021, the government has put major thrust on sustainable development in coal mining and is taking multi-pronged action on both environmental and social fronts.
The Coal Ministry has moved forward with a comprehensive sustainable development plan and has initiated its speedy implementation.
Primary focus is on making immediate social impact through Out of Box measures, besides regular environmental monitoring and mitigation during mining operation.
PEKB, Parsa and Kente Extension blocks will be operated by long-term agreement for Mine Development and Operations (MDO) instead of conventional and inefficient short-term contracts for coal excavation.
In the case of MDO model, the mine developer and operator must ensure “responsible mining” practices. This compels mining companies to address the interests of all the stakeholders, including the local community and the government.
According to Indian legal and regulatory frameworks, the lease holder of the coal mine must compensate for tree felling by even higher afforestation. Both PEKB Block’s second phase and Parsa blocks have received all the approvals from the local communities, state and Central government authorities.
Rajasthan is facing hurdles on account of misinformation spread by a handful of professional activists targeting the development of its coal blocks.
The debaters are arguing that Rajasthan’s coal blocks will affect the biodiversity of Hasdeo forests by undermining Rajasthan’s impressive records in afforestation.
Rajasthan power utility has planted more than eight lakh trees to compensate for the impact on the local ecology to make PEKB Block the model mine in the country.
Rajasthan’s power utility is one of the first mining lease holders to deploy heavy duty tree transplanters to relocate more than 9,000 trees instead of cutting them down. Further, Chhattisgarh’s Forest Department has already planted more than 60 lakh trees.
In absence of desired support from the locals of the mining areas, resourceful activists have launched big budget social media campaigns. In April 2022, project-affected people came together in large numbers to urge the Chhattisgarh government to allow Rajasthan for its mining operations. However, the situation is still far from desirable.
National
BJP accuses Congress of opposing voter verification to shield fake votes in Bihar

New Delhi, June 27: Following Congress’ objection to the Election Commission of India’s special revision of the state’s voter list ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar, the BJP has launched a sharp counterattack, accusing the grand old party of attempting to protect fake voters.
BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal defended the ECI and called Congress’ objections baseless.
“The Election Commission is an independent body which works independently. It is its responsibility to ensure that elections are conducted with complete transparency. If any political party opposes this, it is wrong. Fake voting can be prevented by the revision of the voter list. Voters who have died will be identified. This process will also make it clear whether the voter is actually in Bihar or voting somewhere else. This is a very necessary step for transparency. I congratulate the Election Commission for this,” Jaiswal said.
Bihar Congress president Rajesh Kumar on Thursday criticised the ECI for initiating the voter list revision process in a limited time frame.
He alleged that the move is part of a conspiracy to suppress the electoral rights of marginalised communities.
Reacting strongly to these allegations, BJP leader and Minister Nitin Nabin questioned Congress’ intent behind opposing the exercise.
“I say that Congress should clarify what exactly they are objecting to. If genuine voters are being verified and fake voters are being removed, is Congress sitting here to commit fraud? I want to ask the opposition members who are opposing this, are you trying to gain power through fake votes? Such fake voters will definitely be stopped, and the parties doing fraud will also be taught a lesson,” Nabin asserted.
The ECI has issued instructions for holding Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, where polls are to be held by year-end. This means electoral rolls for the state will be prepared afresh.
The special voter list inspection has been undertaken by the ECI as a standard pre-election procedure to ensure the accuracy of electoral rolls.
Officials have stated that the process will help remove deceased or duplicate voters and correct errors, ensuring a fair and transparent election.
Crime
Kerala HC judge files complaint of theft at his residence, police probe on

Kochi, 27 June: The Kochi police have received a theft complaint from Kerala High Court Judge, Justice A. Badharudeen, according to officials on Friday, stating that six sovereigns of gold were missing from his residence.
The complaint, which was filed on Thursday, mentions that the gold has been stolen from the judge’s bedroom. The police have registered an FIR under Section BNS 305.
What has surprised many is that the thief has decamped with gold from a high-security guarded house located in the heart of the commercial capital of the state.
The judge registered the complaint with the Kalamassery police under which his residence falls.
After the preliminary probe, the police are now planning to prepare a list of those who need to be spoken to, as this incident occurred in the bedroom of the senior judge.
More details are awaited.
The incident has raised concerns regarding the security situation in the state. The Congress-led UDF has been accusing the state government of failing to curb the crimes.
It has been found that Kerala is a haven for organised gangs hailing from neighbouring states who specialise in robbing homes, and the cases against non-Keralaite thieves are also on the increase.
According to information prepared by the home department, which was placed before the Assembly last year, it showed 192 cases of theft involving non-Keralites were registered in 2021, and the numbers have been steadily increasing. This rose to 360 in 2022.
In 2023, the number increased further to 519, and by September 2024, a total of 307 such cases were registered. But the image of the Kerala Police got a boost when over 1,350 thieves during this period were put behind bars.
However, with regards to the case being registered in the burglary at the home of a judge, the police appear to have a tough job ahead.
Likewise, with other crimes also on the increase, the Ernakulam Police have come out with a directive to landlords who are seeking to rent out their properties. The police have urged the landlords to get a police clearance certificate from the prospective tenants from their local police station where they stayed.
National
Thackeray brothers will jointly hold one anti-Hindi protest: Sanjay Raut

New Delhi, June 27: Amid plans to hold two protests against imposition of Hindi in schools in Maharashtra, senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Friday announced that there would be only one demonstration and the two Thackeray brothers would participate in it together.
Even though there has been no formal announcement on this till now by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) or the Shiv Sena (UBT), but Sanjay Raut’s post on X, in which he has also put up a picture of the two cousins together with a photograph of the late Bal Thackeray in the background, has fuelled speculation of rapprochement between Uddhav and Raj Thackeray and the possibility that they might hold the protest jointly.
Earlier, close to Raj Thackeray’s birthday Uddhav Thackeray had also hinted at a rapprochement between them but nothing concrete had come out of it.
On Thursday MNS chief Raj Thackeray announced the change in morcha date to July 5 instead of July 6 to protest the imposition of Hindi in Marathi and English-medium schools for classes 1 to 5 in Maharashtra.
This was done as the auspicious Ashadhi Ekadashi falls on July 6 when the devotees fast for the day and walk all the way to Pandharpur to pay tribute to the presiding deity Vitthal.
Significantly, Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday extended his party’s support to a morcha organised on July 7 in Mumbai by The Tribhasha Sutra (Three language formula) committee.
Raut’s post is significant because even though both the brothers and their parties had declared that they would not allow the imposition of Hindi, they had announced two different protests.
Insiders from both the parties said that efforts are on to fight as one, in order to avoid a split in the Marathi speaking people opposing the imposition of Hindi.
Now, it remains to be seen whether Sanjay Raut’s post was his own initiative or whether it had the blessings of the leaders of both the parties and the two estranged brothers have finally decided to come together for a cause close to their heart and fight for it jointly.
-
Crime3 years ago
Class 10 student jumps to death in Jaipur
-
Maharashtra9 months ago
Mumbai Local Train Update: Central Railway’s New Timetable Comes Into Effect; Check Full List Of Revised Timings & Stations
-
Maharashtra9 months ago
Mumbai To Go Toll-Free Tonight! Maharashtra Govt Announces Complete Toll Waiver For Light Motor Vehicles At All 5 Entry Points Of City
-
Maharashtra9 months ago
False photo of Imtiaz Jaleel’s rally, exposing the fooling conspiracy
-
Crime9 months ago
Baba Siddique Murder: Mumbai Police Unable To Get Lawrence Bishnoi Custody Due To Home Ministry Order, Says Report
-
National News9 months ago
Ministry of Railways rolls out Special Drive 4.0 with focus on digitisation, cleanliness, inclusiveness and grievance redressal
-
Maharashtra8 months ago
Maharashtra Elections 2024: Mumbai Metro & BEST Services Extended Till Midnight On Voting Day
-
National News9 months ago
J&K: 4 Jawans Killed, 28 Injured After Bus Carrying BSF Personnel For Poll Duty Falls Into Gorge In Budgam; Terrifying Visuals Surface