Dec/04/2011

Anand committee to examine experts' reports on dam safety

Effort is to submit report to Supreme Court in January

The five-member Empowered Committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand, at its meeting here on Monday, will examine the reports it has received from various agencies it constituted to go into the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala.

In December last, the committee conducted a spot inspection of the dam. It also heard the views of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Centre on the issues framed by it. Subsequently, it entrusted studies in the dam, including marine and naval diving tests to reputed institutes. On receiving their reports, the committee sought some clarifications and a reply is awaited.

The tests and studies undertaken are: scanning the upstream face of the dam using a remote-operated vehicle and digital camera by the Central Soil and Materials Research Station (CSMRS), Delhi; a non-destructive test by the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune; a cable anchor stress test; a study by the Geological Survey of India; a bathymetric survey by the CWPRS; material testing by the CSMRS and the CWPRS; a seepage study by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC); a flood study by the Central Water Commission (CWC); taking cores and testing them by the CWPRS/CSMRS; in situ tests by the CWPRS; a stability check by the CWPRS and checking of measuring instruments used in the dam.

Internal session

Informed sources told The Hindu that the committee on Monday was expected to examine the various reports and come to a conclusion so that it could submit its report to the Supreme Court in the middle of January next. As it is only an internal meeting, the session is not open to lawyers, though Kerala filed an application insisting that the parties be given an opportunity of oral hearing again.

The other members on the panel are Justice K.T. Thomas, retired Supreme Court Judge representing Kerala; Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, retired Supreme Court Judge representing Tamil Nadu; C.D. Thatte, former Secretary to the Ministry of Water Resources; and D.K. Mehta, retired Chief Engineer, CWC.

Meanwhile, Kerala also urged the panel to review its order rejecting permission to produce additional evidence on safety of the dam based on the evidence of two experts, Dr. D.K. Paul and Dr. M.L. Sharma. The panel on August 31 rejected Kerala's application on the ground that the Supreme Court in 2009 had not taken these reports on record.

In its review application, Kerala said the committee ought not to have relied on the court order as there was no bar on its receiving evidence which related to the issues of seismic threat to the dam.

By another application, Kerala wanted the committee to provide the State full opportunity to address it orally on all the five issues framed and six additional issues suggested. The State sought supply of photocopies of the study reports and test results to be finalised by experts/agencies on the directions of the committee.

However, Tamil Nadu has strongly opposed Kerala's application saying, “It is wholly untenable and is only an attempt to delay the submission of the final report by the Empowered Committee. There is no merit and the same deserves to be rejected. The application, in effect, amounts to seeking a retrial of the suit before the Empowered Committee which is wholly impermissible.” Further, Kerala was mixing up the issue of adversarial/investigatory powers and submitting that this committee should follow the same before presenting the report to the Supreme Court. The entire attempt by Kerala was “to erroneously interpret” the order of the Constitution Bench as though it had directed the committee to adopt both the adversarial and investigative methods before rendering its report, Tamil Nadu said.

Porfirio wins Golden Peacock

2010 Group 2 Question:

Film star Surya presenting Best Film Award for film Porfirio to director Alejandro Landes at closing ceremony of 42nd International Film Festival of India in Panaji, Goa on Saturday. Producer Francisco Aljure also seen

Director Alejandro Landes hails it as happiest day of his life

Colombian film Porfirio, directed by Alejandro Landes and produced by Francisco Aljure, won the coveted Golden Peacock Award at the 42nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, 2011, out of 14 films from different countries in the competition section.

The film is a true story of an air pirate's struggle for dignity as he is confined to a wheelchair after the police shoot him in the back and show little willingness to compensate him.

Tamil film actor Surya, chief guest for the closing ceremony on Saturday, presented the award and citation to Mr. Landes as well as a cash prize of Rs. 20 lakh each and certificates to Mr. Landes and Mr. Aljure.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting C.M. Jatua, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, Secretary for Information and Broadcasting D.P. Reddy, IFFI Director Shankar Mohan and a number of dignitaries from the film industry, national and international, were present.

Chairman of the International Competition Jury Adoor Gopalkrishnan said the selections were entirely unanimous. The other members of the Jury were film museum curator Laurence Kardish, directors Lee Yong Kwan, Tahmineh Milani and Dan Wolman.

The Silver Peacock Award for the Best Director with a cash prize of Rs.15 lakh went to Asghar Farhadi for the film from Iran “Jodaeiye Nader az Simin”(Nader and Simin: A Separation). Martine Aramand received the award from Chief Minister Kamat on behalf of Mr. Farhadi.

Malayalam film Adaminte Makan Abu (Abu, Son of Adam), an Indian film directed by Salim Ahmed, which combines the universal values of religion, nature and humanity, won the Special Jury Award and a cash prize of Rs.15 lakh.

“HAPPIEST DAY”

An elated Mr. Ahmed said that it was the happiest day of his life and that he would utilise the prize money for “Oscar promotion of the film.”

Russian actor Nadezda Markina, who starred in Elena by Andrei Zvyagintsev, bagged the best female actor prize for her subtle and restrained performance while Israeli actor Sasson Gabay, of Israeli film Restoration directed by Joseph Madmony, bagged the best male actor award. Both the prizes carried Rs. 10 lakh each and certificates.

Mr. Surya said India was a huge country with diverse regional cinema. However, a lot of very good regional films did not get enough focus, he regretted.

According to him, a huge pool of talent thus remained unrecognised, and called for sharing of the content across the country and globally for wider recognition.

He also spoke of the need for more exposure to films having great content but often made on shoe-string budgets by lesser known producers and directors and without stars.

COMMON PLATFORM

The IFFI came to a close with the screening of French director Luc Besson's film ‘The Lady.' This film recounts veteran Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political and personal struggles and stars Hollywood actress Michelle Yeoh.

TRIBUTE TO FILHO

A one-minute silence was observed as tribute to Brazilian director Oscar Maron Filho, who passed away during the festival.

The 11-day festival was inaugurated by Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan on November 23 in Margao.

Australia’s ruling party favours uranium sale to India

Australia’s ruling Labor on Sunday voted to overturn a decades-old ban on uranium sale to India, paving the way for Canberra to supply yellowcake to a nation outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Delegates at the 46th national conference of the Labor in Sydney endorsed Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s plan to export uranium to India, with 206 of them voting in favour and 185 against.

Ms. Gillard, while moving a motion to change the party’s policy on the issue, said that clearing the move would boost trade and enhance Australia’s ties with India.

“We are at the right time in the history of the world to seize a new era of opportunity in this, the Asian century,” she said.

“We need to make sure that across our regions we have the strongest possible relationships we can, including with the world’s largest democracy, India,” she said.

The landmark policy change came after a fiery debate, with Gillard, who was supported by Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, Defence Minister Stephen Smith and South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, saying that it was not rational that Australia sells uranium to China but not to India.

She also faced opposition from some of her own ministers.

Australia has almost 40 per cent of the world’s known uranium reserves but has not been supplying the yellowcake to non-NPT signatories. India has been requesting Canberra for long to overturn it ban on exporting uranium to it.

Labor’s move came as anti-uranium protesters demonstrated at Sydney’s Darling Harbour Convention Centre, from where they were ejected before the debate went into full swing.

The vote on the issue brought to the fore deep divisions within the Labor, with Transport Minister Anthony Albanese among those opposing any sales to India.

Mr. Albanese told the conference that the Labor should not be seeking to expand the uranium export as Japan had witnessed a major nuclear disaster at Fukushima just months back following a massive earthquake and tsunami there.

“I say that until we have resolved the issues of nuclear proliferation and we have resolved the issue of nuclear waste we should not change our platform to further expand our commitment to the nuclear fuel cycle,” Mr. Albanese said. “I ask you delegates to stick with principle.”

He was backed by speakers like former anti-nuclear campaigner Peter Garrett, backbench firebrand Doug Cameron and Left factional convener Stephen Jones.

While moving the motion, Ms. Gillard admitted that there were internal differences in the party, but said uranium sale to India was in Australia’s national interest.

“We are not a political party that shirks hard decisions,” Ms. Gillard told conference. “At this conference we should take a decision in the national interest.”

She contended that Australia could sell uranium to India without breaching its obligations under the NPT as any agreement in this regard would include strict safeguards to minimise proliferation risks.

The policy change was seconded by South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill.

Former Prime Minister John Howard had approved uranium sales to India in 2007 but that policy was reversed by the incoming Rudd Government that time, because it was inconsistent with Labor’s longtime ban on selling uranium to countries outside the NPT.

ILO's Asia and the Pacific Regional Meet opens today

Will focus on how employment, economic progress can be safeguarded

The 15th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting (ARPM) of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) gets underway here on Sunday amid concerns of huge unemployment among youth in the region, a widening gender gap and the promise of green jobs.

About 500 people, including Ministers, representatives of workers' and employers' organisations, and academics from more than 46 countries in Asia, the Pacific and the Arab States are slated to attend the four-day deliberations.

The main thrust of the meeting will be how employment, economic and social progress can be safeguarded in the face of the uncertain global economic outlook, according to the ILO.

Director-General of the ILO, Juan Somavia in a statement set the tone by saying that, “The existing unbalanced growth cannot continue. It has failed to deliver jobs of the quality and quantity needed to assure women and men and their families a decent life. Today, unemployment levels in Asia and the Pacific have yet to reach the pre-crisis low of 76.9 million in 2007. Nearly 60 per cent of the region's workers are in vulnerable employment. The crisis of youth employment demands urgent action. Young people make up around 20 per cent of the region's population but are half of the jobless.”

A report on the Asia-Pacific Labour Market Update produced for the ILO's 15th ARPM, says that the global outlook is increasingly uncertain. Asia will not be immune from turbulence and weak demand.

While the region's economic performance remains positive – in some countries impressively so – there are signs of slowing growth, with economic and social vulnerabilities appearing in both industrialised and developing Asia.

Stressing social protection for workers, the report admits that while a high level of coverage is ultimately desirable, it is not necessarily indicative of a household's ability to pay. In this regard Thailand stands out. Not only does its scheme cover almost 95 per cent of the population but the share of total health expenses paid “out-of-pocket” by households is low, at less than 20 per cent. In contrast, in China, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam, “out-of-pocket” payments account for 35 per cent to 55 per cent of total health expenditures.

Women face wide gaps in both economic participation and earnings in the region. In Pakistan the difference was 33.7 percentage points in labour force participation and 45 per cent in wages, the highest for both indicators among the sample of countries. In Nepal, male-female inequality in wages is among the highest (40.5 per cent) but among the lowest when it comes to labour force participation (7.4 percentage points).

The report said that moving to a low-carbon, sustainable development path opens up new opportunities for investment, business ventures and the creation of “green jobs.” In Bangladesh, environment-related jobs (both direct and indirect) already represent about 10 per cent of all employment opportunities, with sustainable transport (45 per cent) and climate adaptation activities (35 per cent) accounting for most of these new employment opportunities. The government is spending about $ 2 billion a year on sustainable development, which should create about 1.7 million new jobs.

New jobs in China

In China, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences projects that about 30 million new jobs will be created between 2005 and 2030 in forestry and the energy sector, based on current energy efficiency promotion policies, reduced emissions and the protection of the ecosystem.

Unemployment among the youth is a serious concern. A lack of decent and productive jobs for young people is a drag on Asia's economic potential, and may also threaten social stability, the report said.

Compared to adults, young people are at least three times more likely to be unemployed in the region as a whole and nearly five times more likely in South-East Asia and the Pacific. In light of the projected deceleration in economic growth in the region, the report predicts that the pace o