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The Hindu Editorial – 10.02.2018
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The Supreme Court order to halt the murky course that mining has taken in Goa should help restore some balance to the exploitation of iron and manganese ore in the ecologically fragile State. As the court observed this week in the Goa Foundation case, commercial mining activity can be rapacious in the absence of clearly laid down and strictly enforced conditions. This is exactly what has happened in Goa, with the State government displaying shocking disregard for rules and processes while renewing licences for a second time in 2015. It inexplicably chose not to exercise its right to view the licences as fresh leases that require new environmental impact assessments. The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Goa invited a cloud of suspicion by hastily launching the renewal of licences just a day after it unveiled a Grant of Mining Leases Policy on November 4, 2014. Quite extraordinarily, it issued 31 orders on a single day, January 12, 2015, apparently to preempt the Centre’s Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance that came into force the same day. Now that the Supreme Court has ordered the termination of 88 licences, grant of fresh licences and proper accounting of the losses, mining activity in its entirety should begin on a clean slate. Future decisions should be guided solely by the true cost to the environment and to human health. Goa has argued that the mining industry is crucial to its economy as it brings in foreign exchange, provides employment and supports a transport industry. Yet, it is also true that the ore mined in the State is low in iron, reducing its value to the domestic steel industry. Given that mining has a severe destructive impact on the ecology, resumption of large-scale activity should await a scientific audit of how sustainable it is. Any more mining should also account for the loss of employment while calculating economic gains. Just last year, public protests over contaminated groundwater and fouled air, as in Sattari taluk, underscored the need for strict environmental controls. It is relevant to point out that the Union Environment Ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee found in 2013 that many of the past leases had been issued without the approval of the National Board for Wildlife, and miners had extracted ore in excess. The requirement for clearance from the Central
Ground Water Board was ignored. Going forward, the Environment Ministry must display zero tolerance to such violations, reversing its indefensible decision of 2015 to lift its own abeyance order issued against unsustainable mining. The Supreme Court’s directions provide Goa with an opportunity: to change course and become a mainstream tourist State. It can regain its position as a top destination for global visitors and broaden employment in services. Tourist charters need to replace its open cast mines and dust bowls.
The decision of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) to form a new coalition government is no surprise. Since the emergence of the CDU’s Angela Merkel as German Chancellor in 2005, both have cohabited in a coalition for eight years. After the two parties registered their worst showing in the September 2017 general elections, they lost whatever little appetite remained to rule together. The SPD had declared it would stay in the opposition, rebuild the weak organization and re-establish its core left-wing identity. The latest arrangement is a result of political pragmatism and a willingness to accord primacy to the national interest, despite ideological differences. Germany had come close to calling another election after the conservatives failed to reach an understanding with the greens and the liberals late last year. That meant a minority government was the only alternative, one that did not appeal either to Ms. Merkel or her party. Inexorably, there was a rethink. The process was helped by a common concern within the CDU and the SPD, namely, the risk of ceding space to the deeply eurosceptic, anti-immigrant and extreme right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which surprised everyone by winning almost 13% of the vote. The wider implications for the European Union of the political stasis in Germany had also begun to weigh on the continent’s leaders. Some voiced the wisdom of revisiting the grand coalition proposal. The alliance now being stitched up is cause for at least some cheer, if not celebration. But there is disillusionment in both party camps that far too much has been conceded to the other party in the recent talks. The SPD has bagged six ministries, including finance. This has annoyed fiscal hawks among the conservatives, who are against Berlin loosening its purse strings to prop up ‘profligate’ eurozone member-states. The coalition’s agreement on greater spending on schools, pensions and infrastructure draws heavily upon SPD programmes. This is likely to find public favour, given Germany’s huge budget surplus and the need to boost domestic consumption. But there is a flip side to the pragmatic compromise the parties have struck to safeguard the political middle ground. This is the risk that voices of dissent could veer to the extremes. Surveys indicate that the AfD’s vote share in September had less to do with its political appeal than with dissatisfaction with the state of affairs. In any case, the coalition is not yet a done deal. The joint programme must first be approved by SPD delegates in a party referendum. The divisions within the party over SPD leader Martin Schulz’s possible induction as Foreign Minister may forebode a turbulent time ahead.
1). Fragile (Adjective)
Definition: easily destroyed or threatened
Synonyms: tenuous, easily broken, easily destroyed, easily threatened, vulnerable
Usage: you have a fragile grip on reality
2). Rapacious (Adjective)
Definition: aggressively greedy or grasping
Synonyms: grasping, greedy, avaricious, acquisitive, covetous, mercenary, materialistic, insatiable, predatory, voracious, usurious, extortionate
Usage: rapacious landlords
3). Preempt (Verb)
Definition: take action in order to prevent (an anticipated event) happening; forestall.
Synonyms: forestall, prevent
Usage: the government pre-empted a coup attempt
4). Solely (Adverb)
Definition: not involving anyone or anything else; only
Synonyms: only, simply, just, merely, uniquely, exclusively, entirely, completely, absolutely, totally
Usage: he is solely responsible for any debts the company may incur
5). Fouled (Verb)
Definition: dirty; pollute
Synonyms: dirty, soil, stain, blacken, muddy, begrime, splash, spatter, smear
Usage: factories which fouled the atmosphere
6). Abeyance (Noun)
Definition: a state of temporary disuse or suspension
Synonyms: suspension, a state of suspension, a state of dormancy, a state of latency
Usage: matters were held in abeyance pending further enquiries
7). Appetite (Noun)
Definition: a strong desire or liking for something
Synonyms: craving, longing, yearning, hankering
Usage: her appetite for life
8). Pragmatism (Noun)
Definition: a pragmatic attitude or policy
Synonyms: efficient, logical, realistic.
Usage: ideology had been tempered with pragmatism
9).Hawk (Noun)
Definition: a person who advocates an aggressive or warlike policy, especially in foreign affairs
Synonyms: belligerent, chauvinist
Usage: severe limits were put on the peace plan by party hawks
10). Profligate (Adjective)
Definition: recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources
Synonyms: spendthrift, improvident, prodigal, immoderate
Usage: profligate consumers of energy
11). Disillusionment (Noun)
Definition: a feeling of disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as one believed it to be.
Synonyms:
Usage: the high abstention rate at the election reflected the voters’ growing disillusionment with politics
12). Stasis (Noun)
Definition: a period or state of inactivity or equilibrium
Synonyms: abnormal state, inactive
Usage: long periods of stasis
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This post was last modified on February 10, 2018 11:45 am