That's all, Your honour! : August 22-28

1. Vedanta Alumina was given a clearance to mine for bauxte ores in the Niyamagiri hills of Orissa. The central government rejected that clearance this week, citing legal reasons. The Hindu's editorial on this issue says "The 72 million tonnes of bauxite ore deposits estimated to be available in Niyamgiri hills can feed the aluminium refinery of Vedanta Alumina Limited in Lanjigarh only for about four years at the expanded capacity being created." And hence goes on to argue that there is really no need to cause such a huge damage to the local tribals and to the environment too. This article by Ashok Mallik is strongly recommended, for gaining a better understanding of the Vedanta issue, because this piece gives a complete pespective of Orissa's economic background and helps us understand why Vedanta was needed in the first place. Jairam Ramesh is now gaining a nick name "Non Clearance Minister" too! Currently, he is also locking horns with Civil Aviation ministry on the Navi Mumbai Airport plan. And when tribals are involved, can our dear leader Shri Rahul Gandhi be far away? He visited these tribals and told them that he is their "soldier" in New Delhi. In case you are wondering, what he has done to "soldier" their cause, keep wondering because there is nothing he did! A pre-planned trip to Niyamagiri hills, coincided with the announcement of rejection of clearance (well, is it a mere coincidence? :D), and Nidhi Razdan of NDTV asked a panelists- "Is this a defining moment in Rahul Gandhi's career, like some seem to suggest". Who the "some" are - we will never know! Best headline - "Rahul Finally becomes a Gandhi".

2. After stealthily inserting clauses according to its will, in the Nuke Liability bill, the central govt., early last week was gracious and generous enough to let us know that it will contact the opposition parties and take their views into consideration. Sensing that its utter disregard for basic norms or writing a law will not see the light of the day, the government had to agree to 18 amendments in the bill and only then was it finally passed in the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister, as is his wont, has waxed eloquent on the need for this deal, and how history will judge blah blah. However, we have been made to quickly forget that it is a cabinet meeting chaired by this very Prime Minister, which sought to bring in changes to the bill, without informing any of the stake holders in this country. Why did the government resort to such cheap measures, on this aspect, is what needs to be questioned. Alas, that is history now!

3. So while, 45 more people were injured in Kashmir, and another teenager died, our Home Minister had these golden words to say " We hope to find elusive starting point in Kashmir soon". The hope is not even to find a solution - the hope is to find a starting point still ! 3 months of unrest and we are stil trying to "find the elusive starting point." That's all, your honour!