BIO-LD TALKS

 Capping intense and protracted negotiations that ran for several hours, the Convention on Biological Diversity early today passed the decision to double the biodiversity related funding to developing countries for implementing its goals on conservation.

Developed countries agreed to double funding to support efforts in developing states towards meeting the internationally-agreed Biodiversity Targets, and the main goals of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, a statement issued by the CBD said.

Using a baseline figure of the average annual national spending on biodiversity between 2006 and 2010, developed countries said they would double biodiversity-related international financial flows by 2015. The Conference of Parties (COP) also set targets to increase the number of countries that have included biodiversity in their national development plans, and prepared national financial plans for biodiversity, by 2015, it said.

All parties agreed to substantially increase domestic expenditures for biodiversity protection over the same period. These targets and progress towards them will be reviewed in 2014, it said.

The breakthrough came after several hours of negotiations to reach an agreement on the issue of resource mobilisation (biodiversity funding), which had been the bone of contention during the conference.

The Plenary of the conference began yesterday evening to adopt the decisions but it had to take a break soon to enable the negotiators to thrash out an agreement on the delicate issue of funding.

The funding issue cast its shadow on other matters as well when they were taken up for adoption at the Plenary. With the EU and some others raising objections to certain parts of documents, the matters concerning resource mobilisation, ecosystems restoration, capacity building and the budget of the convention were kept pending by Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, who chaired the Plenary in her capacity as the president of the CBD, for consideration later before announcing the break.

All other matters, 30 of them, had a more or less smooth adoption as consensus was arrived at during deliberations held in the working groups.

India, which assumed presidency of the convention, took the lead in helping the countries to arrive at an agreement on the issue of funding.

The negotiations continued till the small hours of today and the Plenary, when it resumed, passed the decisions on all the pending issues, including funding.

“It is a tremendous matter of pride that we hosted, probably the largest conference that India has had. Over 14,000 delegates, 172 countries participated, 80 ministers,” Natarajan told reporters after the conclusion of the Plenary.

“I think the most important achievement of the conference is that we made it our goal to achieve the unfinished work that was done in Japan which was resource mobilisation, which was very difficult target that we set for ourselves. However, after intense negotiations and tremendous efforts by the entire team and great coordination from all the parties, we did manage to achieve the goal,” she said.

Asked how she proposed to carry out the work during India’s presidency for the next two years, she said the decisions taken at the convention would be taken forward and focus on resource mobilization and achieving the biodiversity targets.

Other key decisions taken at the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 11) include new measures to factor biodiversity into environmental impact assessments linked to infrastructure and other development projects in marine and coastal areas, the CBD release said.

Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity said: “These results, coming in a period of economic crisis, demonstrate that the world is committed to implementing the CBD.  We see that governments are moving forward in implementation and seeing biodiversity as an opportunity to be realized more than a problem to be solved.”

“We now need to move forward in the next two years, under the able leadership of India, the COP 11 president, to consolidate this work and to advance further.  I look forward to other pledges in support of the Hyderabad call for Biodiversity Champions that will allow us to realize our goals” he said.

For the first time, developing countries at COP 11, including India and several African states, pledged additional funds above and beyond their core funding towards the work of the CBD.

The conference also saw the launch of the Hyderabad Call for Biodiversity Champions. The programme will accept pledges from governments and organizations in support of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity.  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced USD 50 million as part of the programme when he addressed the conference on October 16.

The Global Environment Facility, the financial mechanism of the Convention, for the first time, was provided with an assessment of the financial resources required to meet the needs of developing countries for implementing the Convention, the CBD release said.

Tatas return to Nagpur after 125 years with reality project

The Tatas who started their first venture in
1877 with a textile company, Empress Mills by Jamshedjee Tata here in
ctity and folded up years later, have announced a major housing
project, in city, today.
  Tata Reality and Infrastructure Ltd, a 100 percent subsidiary of
Tata Sons, today launched a residential property +Capitol Heights+
having 352 flats besides shopping mall, cinemex and other facilities
and amenities. +There will be 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4 and 4.5 BHK apartments on sprawling
9.90 acres of land in Rambagh near Medical College, in southen part of city,  Head
Sales and Marketing, Cyrus Engineer, told a press conference, today.
  A vehicle free podium, jogging tracks, children play parks, cycling
tracks will be unique features of the project. A retail mall, swimming pool and food
courts will be within the project.The project is due for completion
and will be fully operational by the year 2014.Tata Reality will
oversee and run the management of property for a period of 10 yeas
after competion or occupancy, Engineer said. The minimum size of the
apartment will be 1350 sq ft.

Builder's attempt to grab DP Road foiled

Finally the Sub Divisional Officer of
Yavatmal Milind Shegaonkar has, on Friday, ordered the Yavatmal
Tehsildar to demolish and seize the illegally errected permanent
decorative arch, gate and wall fence immediatley from the public
Development Road passing along the boundary of Samadan Nagar layout in
the vilalge Bhosa which was approved by the Additional Collector in
the year 2000.

One Satish Narharshettiwar of Wardha, claimed to be the proprietor of
Narharshettiwar Builders and Land Developers, has made wide and
fabulous advertisements both in print and electronic media in the
region and succeeded in attracting many aspiring land investers and
got the plots booked on a fake layout under the banner of ‘Gajanan
Nagari’. He has deployed local unemployed youths for the marketing and
amassed a humge amount to the tune of crores of rupees under the
pretext of booking advance against the plots in a non exixting layout.
Meanwhile he has filed an application to the SDO Yavatmal through four
persons perhaps the real owners of the agriculture land admeasuring
5.89 hectares for getting Non Agriculture (N.A.) permission which was
rejected by the SDO on June 11, 2012 vide his office order no.
52/N.A.P./34/2011-12 despite he has cheated the land investors by
booking the plots on a non existing layout and pocketed their hand
earned money.
To attract the land investors, the builder has daringly encroached a
DP Road of 15 meters left out by the adjoining layout owner and put up
a fabulous entrance arch, strong gate and compound fence. He has also
laid pavement tiles on the encroached public road and converted a part
of it into a garden as if the road belonged to him.
On a complaint received from an alert plot owner, the SDO has ordered
the Deputy Superintendent of Land Records to conduct an on the spot
inspection and report back to him about the factual position.
Accordingly, one A.K. Chavan of the Land Recotrds visited the site and
submitted his findings stating that the builder of ‘fake’ Gajanan
Nagari has encroached the DP Road and converted the same into garden.
He has also confirmed the illegal erection of the permenant welcome
arch, gate and fence precventing the plot owners of the duly approved
layout of Samadan Nagar.
When contacted, the SDO Milind Shegaonkar told that the illegal
structures would be demolished and seized and the department would
file FIR against the builder and others.
‘I have ordered the Tehsildar Arvind Bhagat to get the illegal
structures removed and release the public road from the possession of
the builder for public utility,” Shegaonkar said.
The builder has also cheated the public by booking plots on his bogus
layouts across the district and the District Collector Ashwin Mudgal
is, when contacted, said that a probe would soon be ordered in to the
illegal activities of all the real estate mafias operating in the
district and advised the public not to invest their money on non
existing layout floated by the builder lobbies.

officer-pawar

 For Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, an IAS
officer  having a record like  the controversial Haryana cadre Ashok
Khemka is a strict no-no.
" If I am given a confidential report of an officer to be appointed
for my ministry which speaks of 20 transfers in 40 years, I will not
consider him", he said in an informal chat with reporters at the NCP
state level convention here.
Pawar said he would not consider this as a " good qualification" for an officer.
In reply to a question, he said civil society members had a right to
articulate their opinions but not to level  "wild allegations".
" Very bright" was his sarcastic response when asked how did he view
the future of IAC activist Arvind Kejariwal's political party.

COURT-BAIL

A Special CBI Court here today granted interim bail to VD Rajagopalformer vice-chairman and MD of Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation in Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) Case.

The Court granted 15 days interim bail to the former bureaucrat on the grounds that the demise of his father –in-law today morning, B Ravindranath Deputy Legal Advisor to CBI said adding Rajagopal has to surrender before the court on November 4.

“Earlier he was given bail  to visit his ailing father-in-law with escort. This time he can go without escort. He should surrender before the court on November 4.”

The CBI which is investigating the case arrested Rajagopal on November 13.

Rajagopal, also former Director, Mines and Geology, was managing director of Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation from 2004-09, during the tenure of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

He is the third person to be arrested in the OMC case, after former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, who owns OMC, and the firm’s managing director B Srinivasa Reddy. The two were arrested on September 5.

Industries in state to observe one day bandh on October 25, to protest power hike,,,,,,,,,will also not not pay power bills

Nearly one lakh industries in the state are on war path to protest against the rise in the power tariff and have taken an unanimous decision here today to observe a days state wide bandh on October 25.

This was announced here today at a joint news conference by President of the Chamber of Small Industries Association (COSIA) M R Appa Khambete and Coordinator of the State level Co-ordination Committee Pratap Hogade of the Industrial and Consumer Power consumers.

Representatives of all the Industries Associations from the all over the state today held a day long delibration on the steps to be taken due to the increase in the power tariff and also the ill effects of the same.

The members temper ran high as the industries will have to face undue hardships running their business and industry at this high tarrif the members said.

The industries will perish if the government does not not give a second though to the rise and roll back the rates the members opined.

Ulteimately the consumers are the people who will be worst hit and hence it is absoltutely essential that the increase in tariff is withdrawn they demanded.

They said that there were nearly 58000 LT consumers and 13000 HT consumers of power in the industry using more than 27HP of power who will participate in the bandh and protest the rise in the tariff.

Some of the presidents of the associations from Kolhapur, Pen, Murbad, Bhiwandi, etc etc. said that if the government is adamant and bulldozes through the decision then some of the insustries will surely perish as they cannot sustain the rise in the price.

They pointed out that in the neighbouring states the power was much less than that in the state of Maharashtra as a result of which some of the industries have already started shifting to these states and the trend will continue and intensify with this high tariff.

“Mind you the members said we contribute almost 50% of the revenue earned by the Power Distribution company this fact should not not be ignored by the government”, they said.

They also pointed out that in the last three years there have been revision in tariff at least a dozen times which was unwarranted and this proved a death knell to the industries which are already in the red and suffering due to various factors.

The meeting today also decided that the industries will not not pay their power bill for this month and hereafter till a final decision is taken on the issue of the increase in the tariff.

Asked what next if the government does not not pay heed to their demand the industries representatives who were present for the conference in chorus declared that they would take out a morcha to press for their demands on the Mantralaya and intensify their stir.

5 day old female neonate found in Hingoli district Aurangabad

A 05 day old female neonate found in the Hingoli district had been admitted to the hospital. The incident had created sensation in the region. Police sources said that the Kalamnuri police had admitted the neonate, found in the bushes, to the Hingoli government hospital where, it is recuperating said medical sources. The incident of forced abortion and female foeticide in the Beed district had already struck the headlines since last four months and dozens of USG centers were sealed in the Marathwada region in the recent past.