Vedanta Bal Chetna Project expanded in Rayagada

Looking at the importance of education and in an attempt to improve the nutritional status of the children, Vedanta Bal Chetna Anganwadi project will now cover 29000 more children in Rayagada district alone. This became possible after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Mr. Nitin Bhanudas Jawale, Collector – Rayagada, Mr.Balakrushna Rath, State Project Head – Vedanta Foundation and Dr. Mukesh Kumar, President & Chief Operating Officer – Vedanta Aluminium Ltd., Lanjigarh.
The MoU–signed on 17th March 2011–will support, in its second phase, an additional 29000 children of 478 Anganwadi Centres under Public-Private-Partnership Project. Till now, Vedanta foundation has been providing support to 1014 Anganwadi centres in Kalahandi & Rayagada Districts covering about 47,000 children. Now the number of children will increase up to 76000 in 1492 Anganwadi centres.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Mukesh, President and COO, Vedanta Aluminium Limited, Lanjigarh, said, “This project will help the deprived children of Rayagada get access to basic education and health care facility. Children are the future of this place and giving them basic education and food is Vedanta’s aim.”
The prime object of behind the project is to make all pre-school Anganwadi Children socially and psychologically productive and ensure 100 percent enrollment in formal schools.
According to the MoU, the additional project will cover Anganwadi centres in Muniguda, Bissam Cuttack, Kolonara, K.Singpur, Rayagada, Rayagada Muncipalty and Ramanaguda block. All these centres cover about 29,000 children. Less privileged children love to come to the Anganwadi Centers as they get quality education in a playful method along with nutritious food.
Ms. Sanghamitra Kanungo, DSWO, Mr. Manoj Kumar Gouda, Chief Co-ordinator, Vedanta Foundation were also present during signing of the MoU.
Vedanta Foundation has tied up with Government-run Anganwadi centers to give a proper pre-schooling education along with nutritional additives in the government supplied food to the children. The project mainly focuses on overall development of children like Cognitive development, sensory development, Language development, Physical development and social development with special emphasis on Education, Neutrition and Health Care.

UPA Govt tweaks rules to clear Jindal project

Courtsey: DNA

Sreejiraj Eluvangal | Place: New Delhi


The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) seems all set to add to the scams and scandals surrounding the UPA government at the Centre thanks to a controversial clearance given to Congress MP Navin Jindal’s proposed steel and power plant in Orissa.
Documents with DNA show that the MoEF issued a circular to change a few words of the guidelines of the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 only to allow the withdrawal of a showcause notice issued to the Jindal project.
This notice, that made headlines when it was issued in November 2010, asked why the earlier issued environmental clearance may not be quashed because Jindal had started construction at the site before the forest clearance — the supplement to the mandatory environment clearance — was given.
Documents show that the provision of the Forest Act that was quoted by the MoEF to legitimise the transgressions of Jindal and withdraw the show cause notice was created only on January 6, 2011 — two months after the showcause notice was issued.
Documents also show that the provision (made through a circular) was scrapped on 17 February, 2011 — exactly a week after the notice to Jindal was withdrawn.
This makes it clear that the circular was issued purely for the benefit of Congress MP Navin Jindal’s project alone.
Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) had filed for environmental clearance for a 6 million tonne steel plant and a medium-sized integrated power plant in Kerjang, in Anjul district of Orissa in 2006.
The firm got environmental clearance in 2007, with the condition that no development should start till the other half of that clearance, a ‘forest clearance’, was also granted.
But Jindal started construction before the forest clearance was obtained and this was pointed out by Biswajit Mohanty, wildlife activist and member of the National Board for Wildlife, to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh last October.
A month later, the MoEF issued the showcause notice to Jindal.
However, on January 6, 2011, the MoEF issued a circular that changed certain words in the Forest Act that legalised the violations and weakened the case against Jindal.
Documents with DNA show that the original guidelines of the Forest Act, which were in force when the showcause notice was issued to Jindal for breaching the conditions of environmental clearance, said: “work should not be started” till the project gets the requisite forest clearance.
However, in its circular, the MoEF changed this phrase to: “it is advisable that work should not be started” till forest clearance is granted.
After the circular was issued, Jindal officials pointed out to the MoEF that its own circular indicated that the provision was not binding on them. Based on this argument, the MoEF withdrew the showcause notice to the Jindal project on Feb 10, 2011. Seven days later, the circular was scrapped.
To a question in Parliament as to how many projects were cleared during the time the circular was in existence (a little over a month), Ramesh pointed out that only one project had been cleared: Jindal’s Angul project.
“This is all very, very fishy,” says Mohanty, a noted conservationist known for his contribution to saving Orissa’s sea turtles. “This case needs to be probed. You can’t bring in a circular to help just one company and then withdraw it and not let any other company take advantage of it,” he says.
Mohanty, who maintains Ramesh is the best environment minister India has ever had, says the ministry’s actions are starting to smack of arbitrariness. “You can’t have one yardstick for Vedanta (Resources) and another where a ruling party MP is involved.”
This whole incident indicates that Ramesh, who has a clean reputation otherwise, has his limitations when faced with powerful groups within his party.
Jairam Ramesh did not respond to request for comments on the matter.

Three year old Rekha can see the world again

It was a touchy sight of an emotional father Sudan Patel, 36, who saw her three year old daughter recovered fully after a dog bite her left eye which had caused severe damage. And why not, his daughter Rekha was on the verge of losing her one eye before she could behold the beautiful world around her.

The situation cropped up when a dog bite Rekha's left eye causing severe injury. However, everything went smoothly after medical team of Vedanta Aluminium Limited, Lanjigarh spotted the girl immediately, assured the family of bearing the medical cost, and sent Rekha to L V Prasad Eye InstitutePatia, Bhubaneswar. Later on it was discovered that the operation will be conducted at a subsidised price as the uncle of the patient is a BPL cardholder.

Expressing his gratitude Sudan Patel, father of Rekha said, “I have lost hope to cure my daughter. My daughter would have lost her left eye. I am thankful to my God and also to Vedanta for helping my daughter, so that I could take her to LV Prasad Eye Institute . My daughter is recovering gradually. Doctors said that she will not only get back her sight, she will be completely cured with the help of plastic surgery.”

Rekha belongs to a very poor family; her father Sudan Patel has a small shop of vegetable near the VAL’s alumina refinery plant gate.

MoUs create 39,000 jobs in Orissa

Vedanta Aluminium Ltd has been the biggest job creator in aluminium sector

Companies that have signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the Orissa government have created employment for 39104 people in the state by the end of December 2010.
In all, the state has inked MoUs with 88 companies across sectors like steel, power, aluminium, cement and downstream industries.
Topping the list of employment is the steel sector which has generated 31164 jobs which includes employment for 22399 people from the state and 8765 people from outside the state.
Next to steel is the aluminium sector which has engaged a total of 5474 people including 3657 from the state and the remaining 1817 outside the state. Investment worth Rs 11017 crore has been grounded in this sector.
In the aluminium sector, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) has been the biggest job creator, generating over 5000 jobs through its one million tonne per annum (mtpa) refinery project and 75 MW captive power plant (CPP) at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district and aluminium smelter complex at Burkhamunda near Jharsuguda with a smelter capacity of 0.25 mtpa and a 675 MW CPP.
At its refinery plant, VAL has employed 2523 people from Orissa and 1091 persons from outside the state. Similarly, 1026 people have been engaged from the state for VAL's smelter plant while 686 others have been hired outside the state. VAL's total investment on the refinery plant and smelter complex stands at Rs 9084 crore.
Aditya Aluminium Ltd has invested Rs 1875 crore on its one mtpa alumina refinery at Rayagada and a 0.26 mtpa smelter plant cum 650 MW CPP at Sambalpur. The company has created jobs for 63 people from the state and 34 others outside the state.
In the cement sector, the total employment generated stands at 1502 by the end of December last year. OCL Cement Ltd has generated employment for 1494 people and the company has invested Rs 697.46 crore out of a total project cost of Rs 850 crore for its 1.10 mtpa cement manufacturing unit at Rajgangpur.
The other two investors in the cement sector- Ultratech Cement Ltd and ACC Cement Ltd have made negligible progress on their projects in the state. Ultratech Cement Ltd which had signed an MoU with the state government on November 10, 2006 for setting up a 3.5 mtpa cement plant and 50 MW CPP in Sundergarh district has not made any physical progress in view of non-availability of limestone.
The company has applied for extension of the MoU period.
Similarly, ACC Cement which had proposed to set up a 0.5 mtpa cement unit and a 75 MW CPP in Sundergarh district at a cost of Rs 132 crore and had signed MoU with the state government on November 10, 2006, has also been unable to make physical progress due to non-availability of limestone. It has also applied for extension of the MoU period.
In the power sector, the Independent Power Plants (IPPs) have generated employment for 964 people.
While Sterlite Energy Ltd has commissioned the first unit (600 MW) of its 2400 MW IPP, four other IPPs- GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd, Monnet Power Company Ltd, Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd and Ind-Barath Energy (Utkal) Ltd have started construction.

Courtsey: Business-standard