Tag: Tamil Nadu

After deadly smelter protests, arrests stoke tension in Thoothukudi

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Eleven days after police in Tamil Nadu fired on protesters seeking the shutdown of a copper smelter owned by London-listed Vedanta, killing 13, residents say people suspected of involvement in the demonstrations are being targeted in a wave of arrests.

More than 10 people have been picked up by the police in raids over the last four days in and around the port city of Thoothukudi, according to lawyer E. Athisayakumar, who is working along with other local lawyers to release those detained. Police confirmed that arrests were taking place.

The crackdown highlights the tensions that continue to fester despite the Tamil Nadu state government’s order to permanently shut down the smelter, on environmental grounds, in the aftermath of the deadly protests – a move that sources say the company may appeal.

The district administration says the area is returning to normality, with shops and businesses reopening and buses running. But some residents say deep divisions remain in the city and surrounding villages between the protesters, the authorities and Vedanta employees.

“We are scared that the police will randomly drop by and pick us up without explanations,” said 44-year-old local man S. Kasirajan. Eight other residents who spoke to Reuters said they too were living in constant fear of arrest.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Office and the head of the state police did not respond to emails seeking comment on the total number of people detained, or whether the authorities planned to arrest more people. D. Jayakumar, a senior minister who has previously spoken on behalf of the state government, said he did not want to offer an immediate comment.

Lawyers said those arrested were accused of breaching orders banning gatherings that had been made in the run-up to the May 22 demonstration, and of protesting without permission.

Police said more than 80 generic complaints, which did not name the accused, had been filed by residents at a local police station – allowing them to arrest anyone they suspected of involvement in what they described as “anti-social activities”.

EARLY MORNING RAIDS

More than 150 people held in the days following the violence have been bailed by the courts after lawyers filed petitions seeking their release, said A.W.D. Thilak, the head of the Thoothukudi Bar Association.

Among those arrested in recent days were three men picked up in a village near Thoothukudi early on Thursday for breaching the orders banning gatherings that were imposed on May 22, according to police and the men’s families.

P. Parthiban, a 27-year old welder from the village Meelavitaan, was taken from his home at 3:15 a.m., a family member told Reuters.

T. Balasingh, 30, who runs a shop in the village, was dragged by his collar to a jeep parked outside after police broke into his house, his mother T. Jayaleela said.

None of the 15-20 policemen were in uniform, family members of both men said.

When family and friends of Balasingh went to the police station where a case against him was filed, a police inspector pointed at some of those present in the station and said “I’ll pick you, you and you up”, Jayaleela said.

“He intimidated us and asked us to leave immediately, and said he was going to pick up 10 more people from our village,” she said.

When contacted by Reuters the inspector, M. Hariharan, confirmed the incident, saying he knew the people in his district who had broken the law.

“The investigations are on, and we will detain anyone who breached the law,” Hariharan said.

INQUIRY LAUNCHED

Witnesses told Reuters that police gave no warning before opening fire with live ammunition at a crowd of tens of thousands of people, and they appear to have ignored police rules on quelling protests. Ten people were killed on the day and three more have died since.

The state government has announced an investigation headed by a retired magistrate into what was India’s deadliest environmental protest in more than a decade, and the federal home ministry has requested a report. But authorities have declined to comment further on the progress of the investigation or any possible action against police involved.

A working group of United Nations’ human rights experts on Thursday condemned the “apparent excessive and disproportionate use of lethal force by police” against the protesters.

People in Thoothukudi protested against the operation of Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper smelter, one of India’s only two major copper smelters, after it had announced plans to double its capacity.

The demonstration on May 22 quickly got out of hand as numbers swelled to at least 50,000 and the protesters reached district government offices. A senior administrative official said the protesters had been given permission to rally in a park, but not march on the district headquarters which the authorities viewed as “a siege”.

The escalation also revealed a split among the protesters themselves, people on both sides said, with those from the city wanting to abide by the restrictions for fear of violence, while many from the villages nearer the smelter wanted more radical action.

Vedanta Resources, in which Indian-born resources magnate Anil Agarwal has a controlling stake, has been accused by local residents and environmentalists of polluting the city’s air and ground water. The company has denied it is in breach of any environmental laws, and has called the protesters’ deaths “absolutely unfortunate.”

Two sources close to the company told Reuters Vedanta was working on a legal challenge to the closure of the plant by the state government, but would not proceed until local tensions have eased.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Centre notifies Cauvery Water Management Authority

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Centre on Friday notified the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) for implementation of the Cauvery Water Tribunal Award on sharing of waters between Tamil Nadu, Karanataka, Kerala and Puducherry.

The action comes less than a fortnight after the Supreme Court gave its nod for CWMA for the implementation of the 2007 Cauvery Tribunal Award after the government placed the scheme following the completion of Karnataka assembly elections. It had earlier taken the stand that it was not in a position to formulate the scheme in view of the sensitivity of the state elections.

CWMA will consist of a Chairman, two whole-time members, two part-time members and four part-time members from states concerned and its decisions for implementing the Tribunal award, as modified by the Supreme Court, shall be final and binding on all states, the notification said.

Water Resources Secretary U.P. Singh had told IANS earlier that the ministry’s notification for setting up CWMA and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) will come out on Friday.

On May 18, a bench of the Supreme Court had observed that the draft scheme was in consonance with the dictum and directions in the Award, as modified by the court and also in conformity with Section 6A of the 1956 Act.

It asked the Centre to take the scheme forward to its logical end in accordance with law with utmost dispatch and notify it before the monsoon season sets in on June 1.

Replying to a question, the Water Resources Secretary said what was being notified was what the Supreme Court had accepted and the Court, in its judgement, has brought out the entire scheme actually

Asked about further steps, Singh said the ministry will be writing to the states concerned to nominate their representatives on the authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee.

“I have also requested Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture to nominate their officer and there are a few officers to be nominated by our ministry. As soon as we get the nomination from states and Agriculture Ministry, then we will constitute the authority and the committee,” he said.

He said the authority will take shape in a few days time.

Under the draft scheme presented to the court, the authority, which will be headquartered in Delhi, would the be sole body to implement the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award on distributing the river waters between the states, as modified by the apex court. The Centre would have no say in it except for issuing administrative advisories to it.

The CWMA will be assisted in the discharge of its functions by CWRC located in Bengaluru, mandated to collect daily water levels, inflows and storage position at Hemavathy, Harangi, Krishnarajasagara, Kabini, Mettur, Bhavanisagar, Amaravathy and Banasurasagar reservoirs.

Clearing the draft scheme, the court rejected the suggestion/objections to the scheme by Karnataka and Kerala.

It had said that the CWMA will be bound by the contours regarding apportionment of river water in terms of the Award.

While doing so, the authority is “expected to take into account all factors that may be relevant at the given point of time, including to identify the situation of distress in the basin caused due to identifiable factors before quantifying the water quantity for being released or allotted to the party States/UT for the relevant period”.

The authority is vested with the power and duty to “do any or all things necessary, sufficient and expedient for securing compliance and implementation of the final decision and directions of the tribunal further modified by Supreme Court order” of February 16.

The CWMA has been vested with the powers to supervise the storage, apportionment, regulation and control of Cauvery waters; supervision of operation of reservoirs and with regulation of water releases with the assistance of Regulation Committee; and regulated release by Karnataka at the inter-state contact point at Billigundulu gauge and discharge station, located on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border

The CWRC will have five members apart from the Chairman and the member-secretary, with the whole-time members including a member (water resources) and a member (agriculture).

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Xiaomi to start manufacturing television sets in India, says report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Chinese technology giant Xiaomi may soon manufacture television sets in India, reported The Economic Times.

The company, the report said, will start the manufacturing process from the next quarter in partnership with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn.

According to the report, the firm is taking the step with the aim of dominating sales during the upcoming Diwali season. Making the television sets within the country is expected to provide tax benefits to the company, the report said.

“Xiaomi’s target is to become the largest online television brand before it expands into multi-brand stores. Local manufacturing will not only provide some relief in taxes, which will boost its margins, but it will also help them to control the supply chain and ensure more availability of televisions,” an executive was quoted saying in the report.

While the company, which is the biggest smartphone seller in India is planning to spread its dominance in the television market, it is unlikely to decrease the price of its television sets, the report said.

The company is not alien to operating manufacturing units in the country. As per the report, 95% of the company smartphones sold in India are locally manufactured.

The report added that it has six third-party plants in the country that assemble smartphones and additionally has announced a printed circuit board assembly unit in partnership with Foxconn at its Tamil Nadu facility.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Vedanta slips nearly 2% in trade post Sterlite plant shutdown

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Vedanta stock on Tuesday opened with a 5.54% loss after the Tamil Nadu government ordered permanent shutdown of Vedanta Resources’ Sterlite plant at Tuticorin on Monday.

State Industrial Promotion Council of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) wrote to the company on Tuesday stating that since there have been a series of agitations surrounding Sterlite Copper, the land price for the allotment will be refunded as the expansion approval stands cancelled.

After the opening, the stock managed to erase a loss of more than a percent and was trading with nearly a loss of 4%. Yet, it was the top index loser.

The stock was further trading off lows with a 2.48% loss, as of 10:10 am and a 1.22% loss as of 12:37 pm. The stock remained the top index loser in intraday trade.

Towards the close, the stock has recovered from its lows and is trading at nearly a percent loss, as on 03:11 pm.

Tamil Nadu government issued the order after people in Tuticorin took to streets, demanding the closure of the copper smelter on environmental grounds.

Terming the closure of the plant an “unfortunate development”, Vedanta said it would study the situation and decide on a future course of action.

The smelter, which has a carrying value of Rs 2,130 crore, accounts for about 46% of India’s copper smelter capacity and about 2% of global copper capacity.

The stock has been trading in the red for the past five days.

Demonstrations against the copper plant, one of India’s biggest, have been going on for more than three months, with protesters alleging that it is a major source of pollution and risk to fisheries.

“This can lead to investors becoming more conscious against investing in the company which can hurt long term sustainability of some of the businesses,” said Shriram Subramanian, managing director of proxy advisory firm InGovern, to Reuters, adding that the violence in Tamil Nadu suggested they weren’t listening to concerns about the environment and health issues.

The company has been facing many problems in India.

Several cases have been filed against the Tamil Nadu plant since it started in 1996, and the Supreme Court in 2013 had even fined the company about $18 million for breaking environmental laws.

In the following year,  Vedanta lost a battle to mine bauxite in the lushly forested area, Niyamgiri hills in Odisha state, that the Dongria Kondh tribe there considers sacred.

The rejection forced the company to not only import expensive bauxite for an aluminium plant in the same state but to also delay its expansion.

Agarwal, who holds a 71.4 percent stake in Vedanta, told the Financial Times in an interview published on Wednesday that he plans to step back from running the company.

(With inputs from Reuters)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Tamil Nadu orders shutdown of Sterlite’s Tuticorin plant

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Tamil Nadu government has ordered permanent shutdown of Vedanta Resources’ Sterlite plant at Tuticorin on Monday.

The order was issued after protests demanding the closure of the copper smelter run by the London-listed company on environmental  grounds.

Terming the closure of the plant an “unfortunate development”, Vedanta said it would study the situation and decide on a future course of action.

Vedanta Resources’ stock was down about 12% at 1755 IST on the London Stock Exchange.

HSBC said the closure could negatively impact Vedanta’s EBITDA for FY19 by about 4%, and its fair value by about 6%. The copper smelter contributed about 5% to Vedanta’s consolidated EBITDA for FY18, which amounts to Rs 1,370 crore.

The smelter, which has a carrying value of Rs 2,130 crore, accounts for about 46% of India’s copper smelter capacity and about 2% of global copper capacity.

Also Read: Under-fire Sterlite responds to violent protests in Tuticorin

Residents and environmental activists say emissions from the plant, India’s second biggest, are polluting the air and water, affecting people’s health.

Resident have been demanding the closure of the plant, said O. Panneerselvam, the deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

“The government will take all steps to permanently shut down the plant,” he told reporters.

Last week, 13 were killed after police opened fire on protesters demanding that the smelter in the port city of Thoothukudi be shut down.

About 102 protesters were also injured in the clashes, while 19 sustained serious injuries. About 98 vehicles, including 20 cars were gutted, and the total loss of property is estimated at Rs 1.27 crore.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Read our extensive coverage on Sterlite Tuticorin protests here.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister says will take all steps to shut down Vedanta’s copper smelter

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Kollywood strike ends, but is the industry out of the woods?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Kollywood’s 48-day-long strike has finally ended. So for the first time in over a month-and-a-half, Tamil films will release on Friday, ending what has been the longest period without a Tamil release.

But even as film buffs get set to catch Prabhu Deva starrer, Mercury, the question remains: Has Kollywood really emerged out of the woods?

On March 1, the Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC) decided to shut shop as a means of protest against digital cinema distributors charging Virtual Print Fees (VPF) of Rs 27,500 per film, per screen for a full run.

Later that month, the latter agreed to cut this fee to Rs 21,500, which did not placate the council. On Tuesday (April 17), the TFPC announced that VPF been reduced to just Rs 10,000 for E-Cinema screens.

A tweet from TPFC member and film producer Dhananjayan Govind announced that henceforth producers would oversee mastering of films, themselves.

While this might seem to have brought curtains down on what has been a 50-day-long drought in a film-crazy state, industry observers say the slashing of virtual print fees may not actually hurt digital film distributors.

The lowered prices, after all, only apply to E-Cinema screens and most cinema exhibitors have already begun making the move to 2K formats which don’t fall under the purview of the agreement.

“They’ve kept their golden goose going – 2K and D-cinema – which have not been touched,” said trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai to CNBCTV18.com, “That will keep them (digital film distributors) going, because more cinema screens across India are converting to 2K and Atmos, than ever before.”

As on date, Tamil Nadu has 1,100 screens, 440 of which are 2K screens. Analysts say that number could hit 550 by the end of 2018. “With such a rapid pace of conversion, slashing VPF rates for only E-Cinema screens and not 2K screens will not hurt digital distributors,” said Pillai.

So that begs the question: Why make such a bargain? Sources close to the development have told CNBCTV18.com that one big reason for both parties to end the stalemate was to avoid big-budget films like Rajinikanth’s Kaala and Kamal Haasan’s Viswaroopam 2 being put on hold.

Another reason could be to provide relief to Rs 440 crore riding on 11 Tamil films stuck in the logjam, awaiting release. Kaala and Viswaroopam 2 alone analysts say, account for Rs 300 crore of these budgets.

Then there’s the scourge of theatre occupancy rates plummeting. “Occupancy had dropped to 20% in some small towns, when the strike was at its worst,” said Abirami Ramanathan, President, Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners’ Association. Ramanathan also points out that an estimated Rs 200 crore has been lost during the 48-day logjam.

But the bone of contention may have only been swept under the rug for now. In a statement to CNBCTV18.com, Senthil Kumar, Co-Founder of digital cinema distributor Qube (which controls 80% of Tamil Nadu’s screens) has clarified that the new arrangement is merely ad-hoc.

“We have agreed to their (producers) demand for VPF at Rs 10,000 for a full run as well as Rs 250 for a show,” the statement says, “This pricing structure will be tried for six months, and before that time ends, we will either make this permanent or tell them that it does not work and revise charges.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

PM asks Finance Commission to reward states that worked to control population

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked the 15th Finance Commission to incentivise the states that have worked to control population after south Indian states strongly opposed the terms set by the constitutional body to divvy up revenues.

The Union Government has suggested to the Finance Commission to consider incentivizing States who have worked on population control. Thus, a state like Tamil Nadu, which has devoted a lot of effort, energy and resources towards population control would certainly benefit: PM

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) April 12, 2018

The Prime Minister’s statement comes as states such as Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, among others, have accused the central government of being partial towards states from the north. The chief ministers and political parties of these states said the southern states that have diligently followed population control and development policies and are therefore in a better position than the rest of the country receive lower revenue share compared with northern states.

The bone of contention for the southern states is  the terms of reference that the 15th Finance Commission has set. According to these terms, the 2011 Census – and not the 1971 Census as has been the norm – has been set as the base year to determine how revenue is divided.

Southern states fear that the new base year will harm their interests.

The BJP, which leads an alliance to run the central government,  has been elected to power in several north Indian states.

On Thursday, Modi denied that his government was biased against the southern states, and said these were baseless allegations.

Earlier, Karnataka chief minister K Siddaramaiah opposed the terms of reference of the Finance Commission and asked the southern states to oppose it. “This will further affect the interests of the south, we need to resist,” Siddaramaiah tweeted.

He also asked chief ministers of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Puducherry to resist the move by the commission.

On Tuesday, finance ministers and officials from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka and Puducherry met in Thiruvananthapuram to strongly oppose the terms of reference. Andhra Pradesh finance minister Y Ramakrishnudu had said the Centre arbitrarily decided the terms of reference for the new policy, without consulting state governments.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said it’s time states stood together to demand recasting the terms of reference, as it was necessary to save the federal structure of the Indian Union.

On Wednesday, Kerala finance minster Thomas Isaac told NDTV the South will lose Rs 80,000 crore under the new Finance Commission.

Karnataka agriculture minister Krishna Byre Gowda said all states that performed their duty of bringing down the population in their respective jurisdictions were set to lose out because the plan is to shift the base from 1971 to 2011 Census.

With elections in Karnataka fast approaching and a storm of protests raging in other states, only higher revenues to southern states could defuse the tension.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Centre obliged to implement Cauvery award, says Supreme Court

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Central government for not framing a scheme to implement its verdict on the sharing of Cauvery river water as it declined its plea for deferring the issue by three months.

Asking the government to draft the scheme by May 3, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said: “You must show your bonafide that you will frame a scheme to respect the top court order for the distribution of water.”

“You must file it… they are bound to do it and obliged to it,” Chief Justice Misra told Attorney General (AG) K.K. Venugopal.

As Venugopal said there was some difficulty and they were examining whether the scheme should be headed by an administrative or a technical member, the court said it was not concerned with all that.

After senior counsel for Karnataka said that both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have accepted the top court verdict, the bench said “then tell the people of both the states to maintain calm and peace and co-operate”.

Citing the upcoming election to the Karnataka Assembly and seeking clarifications, the Central government had sought three months’ time to frame the scheme.

Appearing for Tamil Nadu, senior counsel Shekhar Naphade said: “Your order was so clear that even a person having even elementary knowledge of English could understand it. But for reasons better known to the Union of India, they can’t understand it.”

Tamil Nadu moved the top court seeking contempt proceedings against the Central government for its “wilful disobedience” in carrying out its direction to set up a Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) as directed by the top court.

The Supreme Court by its February 16 verdict had slightly modified the 2007 Cauvery award and directed the Central government to frame a scheme for its implementation by March 29.

Tamil Nadu had moved the top court on March 31. At the same time, the Central government too had moved the top court by filing the clarification petition.

The top court had reduced Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water from 177.25 thousand million cubic feet (TMC), which was less than 192 TMC allocated by a tribunal in 2007. Karnataka’s share of water was increased by 14.75 TMC.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow