Cement, Energy and Environment

families will be provided an annuity income from the net income, but this could take as long as three years in capital– intensive investments such as mining. The proposal will ensure income support till the time the venture starts to make profits, but mining companies will be allowed to claim these as expenditure profitable. on turning "We are considering a proposal whereby mining companies may be asked to ensure that all the affected people start getting atleast the amount guaranteed under NREGA from the day mine lease is issued," said an official or the mines ministry involved in finalizing the draft of the new Mines and Minerals (development and regulation) Bill. The minimum wage under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act"(NREGA) is Rs. 100 a day, and under the proposal each member of the family will receive this amount. The draft of the new Bill has proposed an annuity equal to 26 per cent of the profit after tax (PAT) of a mining operation or sum equivalent to royalty paid (whichever is higher) as compensation to project-affected persons. The suggestion has found favour with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also heading a group of ministers (GoM) that is finalizing the draft mining legislation. Under the proposed changes, mining companies would also be allowed to set off or adjust payments made to land losers in the initial years of mining against profits generated subsequently. "This will prevent excessive burden on companies," said the official quoted earlier. The funds collected from mining operations (both initial payment and profit) will be pooled into a fund by District Mineral Foundation to ensure equitable distribution within the district. The minimum amount payable to affected persons will be daily amount payable under NREGA. The proposal of 26% profit sharing has already been opposed strongly by mining companies which feel that it will render operations unproductive. "I feel that royalty-linked compensation mechanism will work better than profit-sharing formula as it will ensure availability of funds on a continuing basis and will be easy to calculate with revision as royalty rates are revised," said R K Sharma, Secretary General, Federation of Indian Mineral Indian Industries (FIMI). "The proposal of (26 per cent profit sharing) will be a big deterrent in attracting investment in the mining sector. Besides, it will incentivise people to remain unproductive," said Siddharth Rungta , President. Rungta Mines. The company has large mining operations in Orissa. Courtesy: The Economic Times, New Delhi, 11.11.2010. GLOBAL TROPICAL FORESTS THREATENED BY 2100 By 2100, only 18%- 45% of the plants and animals making up ecosystems in global humid tropical forests may remain as we know them today, according to a new study led by Greg Asner at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology. The research combined new deforestation and selective logging data with climate-change projections. It is the first study to consider these combined effects for all humid can help conservationists pinpoint where their efforts will be most effective. "This is the first global compilation of projected ecosystem impacts for humid tropical forests affected by these combined forces," remarked Asner. "For those areas of the global projected to suffer most from climate change, land managers could focus their efforts on reducing the pressure from deforestation, thereby helping species adjust to climate change, or enhancing their ability to move in time to keep pace with it. On the flip side, regions of the world where deforestation is projected to have fewer effects from climate change could be targeted for restoration." Tropical forests hold more than half of all the plants and animal species on Earth. But the combined effect of climate change, forest clear cutting, and logging may force them to adapt, move, or die. The scientists looked at land use and climate change by integrating global deforestation and logging maps from satellite imagery and high-resolution data with projected future vegetation changes from 16 different global climate models. Then , they ran scenarios on how different types of species could be geographically reshuffled by 21 00. They used the reorganization of plant classes, such as tropical broadleaf evergreen trees, tropical drought deciduous trees, plus different kinds of grasses as surrogates for biodiversity changes. For Central and South America, climate change could alter about two-thirds of the humid tropical forests biod iversity - the variety and abundance of plants and animals in an ecosystem. Combine that scenario with the tropical forest ecosystems, and current patterns of land-use 92