Mother of all Scam by UPA I: Thorium Scam. Estimated loot: 48 Lac Crore A mammoth Thorium scam, unearthed by RTI activist, Kodikunnel Suresh and the Statesman Newspaper. It has been stated that 2.1 million tones of monazite, which is equivalent to 195,300 tonnes of thorium at 9.3% recovery, has disappeared from Indian shores after 2004, the year Manmohan Singh became India’s Prime Minister. On 30 November, 2011, Kodikunnel Suresh sought the Prime Minister’s response regarding the export of monazite, whether companies of mining beach swindled it, Reports state that radioactive minerals, vital for nuclear energy programme, are taken out of the country without any restriction, inspite of the Indian Rare Earths being the only organization being authorized to extract thorium from monazite sands. To add to this, private exporters of prohibited minerals are also presented with Special Awards and Certificates of Merit by Chemicals and Allied Products Export Promotion Council of the Government of India. As stated before, Indian Rare Earths Limited is the only authorized body that can extract Thorium because indiscriminate and non-monitored mining can cause severe erosion in coastal areas. The Chief Controller of Mines, which comes under Union Ministry of Mines is the Licencing Authority. However, following the retirement of CP Ambrose, Chief Controller of Mines, on 30 June 2008, the post is being kept open deliberately. It is also stated by sources that Ranjan Sahai, Controller of Mines of the Central Zone, is now allowed to officiate in place of the Chief Controller. He is alleged to be close to mineral industrialists of the private placer. Are we Indians not responsible for keeping mum and letting the loot of unimaginable scale happen before our eyes? Is it Jan Gana Mana or Bharat Bhagya Vidhata??
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 05:59:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015