115-643: The coal allocation scam, dubbed in the media as Coalgate , is a major political scandal concerning the Indian government's allocation of the nation's coal deposits to public sector enterprise (PSEs) and private companies. In a draft report issued in March 2012, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) office accused the Government of India of allocating coal blocks in an inefficient manner during
230-544: A CBI enquiry. Income Tax Department also started an enquiry based on the reference by the two BJP MP's. There were leaks of the report in media in March 2012 which claimed the figure to be around ₹ 10,600 billion (US$ 130 billion). It is called by the media as the Mother of all Scams . Discussion about the issue was placed in the Parliament on 26 Aug 2012 by the prime minister Manmohan Singh with wide protests from
345-560: A cover-up ". Such usage has been criticized by some commentators as clichéd and misleading. James Stanyer comments that "revelations are given the 'gate' suffix to add a thin veil of credibility, following 'Watergate', but most bear no resemblance to the painstaking investigation of that particular piece of presidential corruption ". Stanyer links the widespread use of -gate to what the sociologist John Thompson calls "scandal syndrome": [A] self-reproducing and self-reinforcing process, driven on by competitive and combative struggles in
460-478: A "pit", and above-ground mining structures are referred to as a " pit head ". In Australia , "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine. Coal mining has had many developments in recent years, from the early days of men tunneling, digging, and manually extracting the coal on carts to large open-cut and longwall mines. Mining at this scale requires the use of draglines , trucks, conveyors , hydraulic jacks , and shearers. The coal mining industry has
575-705: A 70% increase over the 20 years since 1999. In 2018, the world production of brown coal (lignite) was 803.2 Mt, with Germany the world's largest producer at 166.3 Mt. China is most likely the second largest producer and consumer of lignite globally although specific lignite production data is not made available. Coal production has grown fastest in Asia, while Europe has declined. Since 2011, world coal production has been stable, with decreases in Europe and US offset by increases from China, Indonesia and Australia. The top coal mining nations are: Energy production from coal mining
690-557: A Jindal Group company. On 11 June 2013, CBI has booked former Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao and Congress MP Naveen Jindal for alleged cheating, graft and criminal misconduct in its 12th FIR in the coal blocks allocation scam. In response to the Times of India story there was an uproar in Parliament, with the BJP charging the government with corruption and demanding a court-monitored probe into coal allocations: 'The CWG scam
805-615: A block allotted to SKS Ispat and Power. Ajay Sancheti's SMS Infrastructure Ltd. was allegedly allocated coal blocks in Chhattisgarh at low rates. He is a BJP Rajya Sabha MP and is believed to be in close relation with Nitin Gadkari . According to the CAG, the allocation of the coal block to SMS Infrastructure Ltd. has caused a loss of Rs. 10 billion. Vijay Darda, a Congress MP, have been accused of direct and active involvement in
920-525: A block on 12 January 2007, and was awarded it on 17 June 2009, is sitting on reserves of 70.74 million tonnes. The reserves it controls are more than the combined reserves held by much larger companies – Gujarat Ambuja and Lafarge. Gupta, who belongs to the Rashtriya Janata Dal headed by Bihar leader Lalu Prasad Yadav , was the minister of state for corporate affairs in UPA-I when his party was
1035-467: A coal seam occurring near the top of a ridge or hill, the entire top is removed in a series of parallel cuts. Overburden is deposited in nearby valleys and hollows. This method usually leaves the ridge and hilltops as flattened plateaus. The process is highly controversial for the drastic changes in topography, the practice of creating head-of-hollow-fills , or filling in valleys with mining debris, and for covering streams and disrupting ecosystems. Spoil
1150-598: A company in Panama. In Pakistan , the Panama Papers case , or Panamagate case , resulted in the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from holding public office for 10 years. These conspiracy theories have been given the -gate suffix by both supporters and critics of them. The suffix has also been commonly used in the context of popular media, including satirical usage by television pundits and viewers of reality shows. Coal mine Coal mining
1265-696: A constituent of the Congress-led coalition with 21 seats in Lok Sabha. However Mr Gupta maintains he had no involvement in IST Steel and denies influencing the coal-block allocation process. Congress. MP, Naveen Jindal 's Jindal Steel and Power got a coalfield in February 2009 with reserves of 1500 million metric tonnes while the government-run Navratna Coal India Ltd was refused. On 27 February 2009, two private companies got huge coal blocks. Both
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#17327732663891380-405: A fourth of the world's energy. Coal extraction methods vary depending on whether the mine is an underground mine or a surface (also called an open cast) mine. Additionally, coal seam thickness and geology are factors in the selection of a mining method. The most economical method of coal extraction for surface mines is the electric shovel or drag line. The most economical form of underground mining
1495-403: A greater proportion of the coal deposit than underground methods, as more of the coal seams in the strata may be exploited. This equipment can include the following: Draglines which operate by removing the overburden, power shovels, large trucks in which transport overburden and coal, bucket wheel excavators, and conveyors. In this mining method, explosives are first used in order to break through
1610-440: A land use condition is not equal to the original use. Existing land uses (such as livestock grazing, crop and timber production) are temporarily eliminated in mining areas. High-value, intensive-land-use areas like urban and transportation systems are not usually affected by mining operations. If mineral values are sufficient, these improvements may be removed to an adjacent area. Strip mining eliminates existing vegetation, destroys
1725-440: A large dining-room table, but with hydraulic jacks for legs. After the large pillars of coal have been mined away, the mobile roof support's legs shorten and it is withdrawn to a safe area. The mine roof typically collapses once the mobile roof supports leave an area. There are six principal methods of underground mining: Coal is mined commercially in over 50 countries. 7,921 million metric tons (Mt) of coal were produced in 2019,
1840-466: A letter to the coal secretary on 6 February 2008, recommending allotment of coal blocks to the company. However, Sahay denied these allegations, citing that the coal block was allocated to SKS Ispat, where his brother was only an "honorary director". On 15 September 2012, an Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) headed by Zohra Chatterji (Additional Secretary in Coal Ministry ) recommended cancellation of
1955-559: A long history of significant negative environmental impacts on local ecosystems, health impacts on local communities and workers, and contributes heavily to the global environmental crises, such as poor air quality and climate change . For these reasons, coal has been one of the first fossil fuels to be phased out of various parts of the global energy economy . The major coal producing countries, though, such as China , Indonesia, India and Australia , have not reached peak production, with production increases replacing falls in Europe and
2070-447: A method that currently accounts for about 60 percent of world coal production. In deep mining, the room and pillar or bord and pillar method progresses along the seam, while pillars and timber are left standing to support the mine roof. Once room and pillar mines have been developed to a stopping point limited by geology, ventilation, or economics, a supplementary version of room and pillar mining, termed second mining or retreat mining ,
2185-656: A proposed pardon of the Watergate criminals and Vietnam War draft dodgers . Subsequently, he coined numerous -gate terms, including Billygate , Briefingate, Contragate , Deavergate, Debategate , Doublebillingsgate (of which he later said "My best [ -gate coinage] was the encapsulation of a minor ... scandal as doublebillingsgate"), Frankiegate, Franklingate, Genschergate, Housegate, Iraqgate , Koreagate , Lancegate , Maggiegate, Nannygate , Raidergate, Scalpgate, Travelgate, Troopergate , and Whitewatergate . The New York magazine suggested that his aim in doing so
2300-491: A result of coal allocations, then, between 2005 and 2009 are seen by the CAG as being the responsibility of the Government. The answer to this question turns on whether the Government could institute competitive bidding by an administrative decision under the current statute or whether it needed to amend the statute to do so. The CAG devotes ten pages of its report to reviewing the legal basis for an auction, and comes to
2415-589: A result of occupational exposures is coined occupational hearing loss . To protect miners' hearing, the US Mine Safety and Health Administration 's (MSHA) guidelines for noise place a Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for noise at 90 dBA time-weighted over 8 hours. A lower cutoff, 85 dBA, is set for a worker to fall into the MSHA Action Level which dictates that workers be placed into hearing conservation programs. Noise exposures vary depending on
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#17327732663892530-585: A small capacity/late stage project and a large capacity/early stage project?) it is unsurprising that in reviewing the allocation process from 1993 to 2005 the CAG says that "there was no clearly spelt out criteria for the allocation of coal mines ." In 2005 the Expert Committee on Coal Sector Reforms provided recommendations on improving the allocation process, and in 2010 the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act), 1957 Amendment Bill
2645-424: A system known as Tangentopoli . The term derives from tangente , which means ' kickback ' (e.g., bribery given for public works contracts), and -(o)poli , meaning 'city'. Examples of snowclone-like use of -opoli include Bancopoli (a financial scandal) and Calciopoli (a 2006 Italian football scandal). These scandals have been given the -gate suffix. The controversy
2760-757: A veritable "who's who" of Indian commerce, ensured that the topic of coal allocations would be one of the most written about stories of 2012. On 22 March, the Times of India broke the story on the contents of the Draft CAG Report: NEW DELHI: The CAG is at it again. About 16 months after it rocked the UPA government with its explosive report on allocation of 2G spectrum and licences, the Comptroller & Auditor General's draft report titled 'Performance Audit of Coal Block Allocations' says
2875-494: Is (to the tune) of Rs 700 billion, 2G scam is Rs 1.76 trillion ( short scale ). But, now the new coal scam is Rs 10.67 trillion ( short scale ). It is a government of scams... from airwaves to mining, everywhere the government is involved in scams,' party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters. On 31 May 2012, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) based on a complaint of two Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Prakash Javadekar and Hansraj Ahir directed
2990-550: Is a list of scandals or controversies whose names include a -gate suffix, by analogy with the Watergate scandal , as well as other incidents to which the suffix has (often facetiously) been applied. This list also includes controversies that are widely referred to with a -gate suffix, but may be referred to by another more common name (such as the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal , known as "Bountygate"). Use of
3105-575: Is accomplished by drilling holes into the overburden, filling the holes with explosives, and detonating the explosive. The overburden is then removed, using large earth-moving equipment, such as draglines , shovel and trucks, excavator and trucks, or bucket-wheels and conveyors. This overburden is put into the previously mined (and now empty) strip. When all the overburden is removed, the underlying coal seam will be exposed (a 'block' of coal). This block of coal may be drilled and blasted (if hard) or otherwise loaded onto trucks or conveyors for transport to
3220-427: Is commonly started. Miners remove the coal in the pillars, thereby recovering as much coal from the coal seam as possible. A work area involved in pillar extraction is called a pillar section. Modern pillar sections use remote-controlled equipment, including large hydraulic mobile roof-supports, which can prevent cave-ins until the miners and their equipment have left a work area. The mobile roof supports are similar to
3335-418: Is dedicated to mining activities until it can be reshaped and reclaimed. If mining is allowed, resident human populations must be resettled off the mine site; economic activities, such as agriculture or hunting and gathering food and medicinal plants are interrupted. What becomes of the land surface after mining is determined by the manner in which the mining is conducted. Usually reclamation of disturbed lands to
3450-490: Is done through a mechanism of Inter-Ministerial Group called the Screening Committee ... The Screening Committee had been constituted by means of administrative guidelines. Since, under the current dispensation, the allocation of coal blocks is purely administrative in nature, it was felt that the process of auction through competitive bidding can also be done through such administrative arrangements. In fact, this
3565-516: Is highly concentrated in certain jurisdictions, which also concentrates much of the social and economic impacts of the industry to these regions. The industry directly employs over seven million workers worldwide, which, in turn, creates millions of indirect jobs. In several parts of the world, producers have reached peak coal as some economies shift away from fossil fuels to address climate change. A 2020 study found that renewables jobs could feasibly be created in these geographies to replace many of
Indian coal allocation scam - Misplaced Pages Continue
3680-484: Is mostly used to generate electricity, and 75% of annual coal production is exported, mostly to eastern Asia. In 2007, 428 million tonnes of coal was mined in Australia. In 2007, coal provided about 85% of Australia's electricity production. In the fiscal year 2008/09, 487 million tonnes of coal was mined, and 261 million tonnes was exported. In the fiscal year 2013/14, 430.9 million tonnes of coal
3795-417: Is partially economically recoverable. Coal refuse is distinct from the byproducts of burning coal, such as fly ash . Piles of coal refuse can have significant negative environmental consequences, including the leaching of iron, manganese, and aluminum residues into waterways and acid mine drainage . The runoff can create both surface and groundwater contamination. The piles also create a fire hazard, with
3910-593: Is placed at the head of a narrow, steep-sided valley or hollow. In preparation for filling this area, vegetation and soil are removed and a rock drain constructed down the middle of the area to be filled, where a natural drainage course previously existed. When the fill is completed, this underdrain will form a continuous water runoff system from the upper end of the valley to the lower end of the fill. Typical head-of-hollow fills are graded and terraced to create permanently stable slopes. Most coal seams are too deep underground for opencast mining and require underground mining,
4025-436: Is referred to as 'overburden' and is removed in long strips. The overburden from the first strip is deposited in an area outside the planned mining area and referred to as out-of-pit dumping. Overburden from subsequent strips is deposited in the void left from mining the coal and overburden from the previous strip. This is referred to as in-pit dumping. It is often necessary to fragment the overburden by use of explosives. This
4140-515: Is removed and overburden dumped to the side. Dust, vibration, and diesel exhaust odors are created (affecting sight, sound, and smell). Residents of local communities often find such impacts disturbing or unpleasant. In case of mountaintop removal , tops are removed from mountains or hills to expose thick coal seams underneath. The soil and rock removed is deposited in nearby valleys, hollows and depressions, resulting in blocked (and contaminated) waterways. Removal of soil and rock overburden covering
4255-712: Is still common, with 4,000 new cases of black lung every year in the US (4 percent of workers annually) and 10,000 new cases every year in China (0.2 percent of workers). The use of water sprays in mining equipment reduces the risk to miners' lungs. Build-ups of a hazardous gas are known as damps, possibly from the German word Dampf which means steam or vapor: Noise is also a contributing factor to potential adverse effects on coal miners' health. Exposure to excessive noise can lead to noise-induced hearing loss . Hearing loss developed as
4370-510: Is the basis of our earlier legal advice. This according to the administrative Ministry has been questioned from time to time for legal sanction. If provision is made for competitive bidding in the Act itself or by virtue of rules framed under the Act the bidding process would definitely placed on a higher level of legal footing. So while the CAG certainly makes the case that the Government had legal grounds on which to introduce competitive bidding into
4485-464: Is the long wall, which involves using two spinning drums with carbide bits that runs along sections of the coal seam. Many coals extracted from both surface and underground mines require washing in a coal preparation plant . Technical and economic feasibility are evaluated based on the following: regional geological conditions; overburden characteristics; coal seam continuity, thickness, structure, quality, and depth; strength of materials above and below
4600-470: Is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United Kingdom and South Africa , a coal mine and its structures are a colliery , a coal mine is called
4715-435: Is used for both thermal and metallurgical coals . In New South Wales open casting for steam coal and anthracite is practiced. Surface mining accounts for around 80 percent of production in Australia, while in the US it is used for about 67 percent of production. Globally, about 40 percent of coal production involves surface mining. Strip mining exposes coal by removing earth above each coal seam. This earth to be removed
Indian coal allocation scam - Misplaced Pages Continue
4830-404: Is yet to start should be cancelled. In 2015, Coal auction helped state government earn 80,000 Crore (80,000,000,000 INR ) after sales of 11 coal blocks. "In July 1992 Ministry of Coal, issued the instructions for constitution of a Screening Committee for screening proposals received for captive mining by private power generation companies." The Committee was composed of government officials from
4945-521: The -gate suffix has spread beyond American English to many other countries and languages. The suffix -gate derives from the Watergate scandal in the United States in the early 1970s, which resulted in the resignation of US President Richard Nixon . The scandal was named after the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. , where the burglary giving rise to the scandal took place;
5060-491: The Industrial Revolution , and coal provided the main source of primary energy for industry and transportation in industrial areas from the 18th century to the 1950s. Coal remains an important energy source. Coal is also mined today on a large scale by open pit methods wherever the coal strata strike the surface or are relatively shallow. Britain developed the main techniques of underground coal mining from
5175-616: The Present value of the windfall gain will be dramatically smaller (perhaps one tenth) of the windfall gain stated in the CAG Report. While the headline number of ₹ 10,673 billion (US$ 130 billion) was sure to attract the attention of the public, in the Annexures to the report the CAG listed the windfall gains by company, allowing readers to see who exactly benefited from the allocation program, and by how much. The resulting list,
5290-526: The "legal footing" of competitive bidding would be improved if the statute were amended to specifically provide for it. i.e. there were some questions around the legality of using an administrative decision as the ground for an auction process under the current statute. Quoting the Law Secretary in August 2006: there is no express statutory provision providing for the manner of allocating coal blocks, it
5405-628: The Bank Guarantees (BG) of the companies that did not develop allotted coal blocks. Zohra Chatterji, additional secretary, coal ministry was named as Chairman of the IMG. Other IMG members include representatives from power, steel, departments of economic affairs, industrial policy and promotion, and law and justice. Significantly, the decision was taken after the CVC had already ordered a CBI enquiry into alleged irregularities. As of 26 September 2012,
5520-406: The CAG estimated the "windfall gain" to the allocatees was ₹ 10,673 billion (US$ 130 billion). The CAG Final Report tabled in Parliament put the figure at ₹ 1,856 billion (US$ 22 billion) On 27 August 2012 Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh read a statement in Parliament rebutting the CAG's report both in its reading of the law and the alleged cost of the government's policies. While
5635-481: The CBI to investigate the matters in a First Information Report (FIR), the first step in a criminal investigation. These FIRs accuse them of overstating their net worth, failing to disclose prior coal allocations, and hoarding rather than developing coal allocations. The CBI officials investigating the case have speculated that bribery may be involved. The issue has received massive media reaction and public outrage. During
5750-627: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is currently investigating the abnormalities and criminal conspiracy in their allotment. The agency has filed 14 FIRs and two preliminary enquiries so far in this connection. In this backdrop, an inter-ministerial group (IMG) of the coal ministry met on 24 October to consider the fate of 30 coal blocks, including those being investigated by the CBI. Of the mines recommended for de-allocation, two blocks – Amarkonda Murgadangal and Ramchandi Promotional (coal-to-liquid mine) belongs to Naveen Jindal-promoted JSPL and
5865-498: The IMG had reviewed 31 coal blocks. Out of these, it recommended de-allocation of 13 coal blocks and encashment of bank guarantees of 14 allottees. The coal ministry on Thursday decided to de-allocate 11 captive coal blocks including three mines of Jindal Steel and Power, besides forfeiting the bank guarantees of six firms and asking five to expressly furnish bank guarantees. The ministry has been facing intense flak over alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks since 1993 and
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#17327732663895980-544: The Ministry of Coal, the Ministry of Railways, and the relevant state government. "A number of coal blocks, which were not in the production plan of CIL and … SSCL, were identified in consultation with CIL/SSCL and a list of 143 coal blocks were prepared and placed on the website of the MoC for information of public at large." Coal allocation guidelines The guidelines for the Screening Committee suggest that preference be given to
6095-1489: The Rajgamar Dipside (South of Pulakdih Nala) coal block jointly allotted to Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd among others. With the fresh round of de-allocation, the total number of blocks cancelled stands at 51 as the government had earlier de-allocated 40 blocks. The ministry is preparing to inform the companies impacted by the decision. As per the IMG's recommendations steel maker SAIL is among the five companies to lose bank guarantees for delay in developing allotted blocks. Other firms include Abhijeet Infrastructure, Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation, Tenughat Vidyut Nigam and Chaman Metaliks. DE-ALLOCATED BLOCKS - COMPANIES COAL BLOCKS STATE Jindal Steel and Power Amarkonda Murgadangal Jharkhand, Jindal Steel and Power Ramchandi Promotional Block(CTL) Orissa .Jindal Steel and Power & Urtan North Madhya Pradesh, Monnet Ispat and Energy .Rungta Mines, OCL India Radhikapur (West) Orissa and Ocean Ispat, Strategic Energy tech System North of Akrapal (CTL) Orissa Ltd (A Tata-Sasol JV company), Birla Corporation Bikram Madhya Pradesh .Sunflag Iron and Steel Khappa & Extension Maharashtra & Dalmia Cement Monnet Ispat and Energy Rajagamar Dipside Chhattisgarh & Shri Virangana Steels Ltd, Rathi Udyog Limited Kesla North Chhattisgarh, Castron Brahmdiha Jharkhand, Maharashtra State Mining Corp Warora Maharashtra . List of %22-gate%22 scandals and controversies This
6210-539: The Strategic Energy tech System Limited, which is a joint venture between the Tata group and South African firm Sasol has also been de-allocated. The Radhikapur (West) block allocated jointly to Rungta Mines, OCL India and Ocean Ispat, Bikram mine allotted to Birla Corporation, Khappa and Extension block allocated to Sunflag Iron and Steel and Dalmia Cement have been cancelled. The ministry has decided to de-allocate
6325-812: The U.S., Examples include the Sago Mine disaster of 2006, and the 2007 mine accident in Utah 's Crandall Canyon Mine , where nine miners were killed and six entombed. In the decade 2005–2014, US coal mining fatalities averaged 28 per year. The most fatalities during the 2005–2014 decade were 48 in 2010, the year of the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in West Virginia, which killed 29 miners. Chronic lung diseases, such as pneumoconiosis (black lung) were once common in miners, leading to reduced life expectancy . In some mining countries black lung
6440-624: The US Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) show that between 1990 and 2004, the industry cut the rate of injuries by more than half and fatalities by two-thirds. But according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , even in 2006, mining remained the second most dangerous occupation in America, when measured by fatality rate . These numbers, however, include all mining activities, and oil and gas mining contribute to
6555-692: The Union minister for corporate affairs and secured it about a month after his tenure ended along with that of his government. The company in question is IST Steel & Power – an associate company of the IST Group, which is owned and run by Premchand Guptas two sons Mayur and Gaurav. IST Steel, along with cement majors Gujarat Ambuja and Lafarge, was allocated the Dahegaon/Makardhokra IV block in Maharashtra. The company, which applied for
6670-610: The United States and proposed mines under development. The coal mining industry employs almost 2.7 million workers. The History of coal mining goes back thousands of years, with early mines documented in ancient China, the Roman Empire and other early historical economies. It became important in the Industrial Revolution of the 19th and 20th centuries, when it was primarily used to power steam engines, heat buildings and generate electricity. Coal mining continues as an important economic activity today, but has begun to decline due to
6785-508: The Urtan North block also allocated to JSPL along with Monnet Ispat & Energy . All allottees had been issued show-cause notices and were asked to furnish their views to the IMG. The decisions have been taken after careful consideration, a top coal ministry official told The Indian Express. Coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal is learnt to have approved the recommendations of the IMG. Another coal-to-liquid block – North of Akrapal allocated to
6900-401: The affairs of three companies JLD Yavatmal Energy, JAS Infrastructure & Power Ltd., AMR Iron & Steel Pvt. Ltd, which received coal blocks illegally by means of inflating their financial statements and overriding the legal tender process. UPA partner Rashtriya Janata Dal 's leader Premchand Gupta's sons' company, new in the steel business applied for a coal block when Premchand Gupta was
7015-420: The allocates, and two de-allocated blocks were subsequently reallocated (2003 and 2005) to others. Hence, 194 coal blocks, with aggregates geological reserves of 44.44 billion metric tons, stood allocated as at 31 March 2011. Source: Draft CAG Report, Table 5.1. Given the inherent subjectivity in some of the allocation guidelines, as well as the potential conflicts between guidelines (how does one choose between
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#17327732663897130-493: The allocation it can do so." In September 2012, it was revealed that Subodh Kant Sahay, Tourism Minister in the UPA government sent a letter to prime minister Manmohan Singh trying to persuade him for allocation of a coal block to a company, SKS Ispat and Power which has Sudhir Sahay, his younger brother, as honorary Executive Director. The letter was written on 5 February 2008. On the very next day, Prime Minister's Office (PMO) sent
7245-594: The blocks were in Orissa and while one was over 300 mega metric tonnes, the other was over 1500 mega metric tonnes. Combined worth of these blocks was well over Rs 2 trillion ( short scale ) and these blocks were meant for the liquification of coal. One of these blocks was awarded to Jindal. Naveen Jindal's Jindal Steel and Power was the company which was allotted the Talcher coal field in Angul in Orissa in 2009, well after
7360-532: The coal allocation process, saying that there was "no legal impediment" to doing so perhaps overstates their case. If the most important charge made by the CAG was that of the Government's legal authority to auction the coal blocks, the one that drew the most attention was certainly the size of the "windfall gain" accruing to the allocates. On pp. 32–34 of the Draft Report, the CAG estimates these to be ₹ 10,673 billion (US$ 130 billion) with details in
7475-581: The coal mining jobs as part of a just transition ; however, renewable energy was not suitable in some of the geographies with high concentrations of miners, such as in China, which is far and away the leading coal-mining nation. Coal refuse (also described as coal waste, rock, slag, coal tailings, waste material, rock bank, culm, boney, or gob ) is the material left over from coal mining, usually as tailings piles or spoil tips . For every tonne of hard coal generated by mining, 400 kg (880 lb) of waste material remains, which includes some lost coal that
7590-497: The coal preparation (or wash) plant. Once this strip is empty of coal, the process is repeated with a new strip being created next to it. This method is most suitable for areas with flat terrain. Equipment to be used depends on geological conditions. For example, to remove overburden that is loose or unconsolidated, a bucket wheel excavator might be the most productive. The life of some area mines may be more than 50 years. The contour mining method consists of removing overburden from
7705-863: The coal resource may cause burial and loss of topsoil, exposes parent material, and creates large infertile wastelands. Soil disturbance and associated compaction result in conditions conducive to erosion. Soil removal from the area to be surface-mined alters or destroys many natural soil characteristics, and reduces its biodiversity and productivity for agriculture. Soil structure may be disturbed by pulverization or aggregate breakdown. Top 10 hard and brown coal producers in 2012 were (in million metric tons): China 3,621, United States 922, India 629, Australia 432, Indonesia 410, Russia 351, South Africa 261, Germany 196, Poland 144, and Kazakhstan 122. Coal has been mined in every state of Australia, but mainly in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It
7820-487: The complex itself was named after the "Water Gate" area where symphony orchestra concerts were staged on the Potomac River between 1935 and 1965. The suffix has become productive as a libfix and is used to embellish a noun or name to suggest the existence of a far-reaching scandal , particularly in politics and government . As a CBC News column noted in 2001, the term may "suggest unethical behaviour and
7935-429: The developed world. Modern coal mining in the US has an average 23 deaths per year due to mine accidents (2001–2020). However, in lesser developed countries and some developing countries, many miners continue to die annually, either through direct accidents in coal mines or through adverse health consequences from working under poor conditions. China , in particular, has the highest number of coal mining related deaths in
8050-455: The disruptive activities of blasting, ripping, and excavating coal. Stripping of overburden eliminates and destroys archeological and historic features, unless they are removed beforehand. The removal of vegetative cover and activities associated with the construction of haul roads, stockpiling of topsoil, displacement of overburden and hauling of soil and coal increase the quantity of dust around mining operations. Dust degrades air quality in
8165-414: The energy sector. In this way, the rights for the use of the coal block ultimately passed on to KSK. Reacting to this, Jagathrakshakan admitted to getting a coal block, and said that, "It is true that we got a coal allocation but it was a sub-contract with Puducherry government and then we gave it away to KSK company. Now, we have got nothing to do with the allocation but if the government wants to take back
8280-481: The entire world only produces 7.8 billion tons annually, with India being responsible for 585 million tons of this amount. Under the program, then, captive firms were allocated vast amounts of coal, equating to hundreds of years of supply, for a nominal fee. Out of the above 216 blocks, 24 blocks were de-allocated (three blocks in 2003, two blocks in 2006, one block in 2008, one block in 2009, three blocks in 2010, and 14 blocks in 2011) for non-performance of production by
8395-571: The fatalities occurring in the first half of the 20th century. 3,242 died in 1907, the worst year ever; in 2020 there were five. Open cut hazards are principally mine wall failures and vehicle collisions; underground mining hazards include suffocation, gas poisoning, roof collapse, rock burst , outbursts , and gas explosions. Firedamp explosions can trigger the far more dangerous coal dust explosions, which can engulf an entire mine. Most of these risks are greatly reduced in modern mines, and multiple fatality incidents are now rare in most parts of
8510-460: The financial frauds and follow the money trail. The story listed the following companies as the leading beneficiaries of the coal allocations: In September 2012, several news reports alleged that family of S Jagathrakshakan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting in the UPA government is a part of a company named JR Power Gen Pvt Ltd which was awarded a coal block in Odisha in 2007. It
8625-584: The following conclusion: In sum there were a series of correspondences with the Ministry for Law and Justice for drawing conclusion on the legal feasibility of the proposed amendments to the CMN Act/MMDR Act or through Administrative order to introduce auctioning/competitive bidding process for allocation of coal blocks for captive mining. In fact, there was no legal impediment to introduction of transparent and objective process of competitive bidding for allocation of coal blocks for captive mining as per
8740-443: The following table: The table employs the following calculations for windfall gain: Although the windfall gain/ton is fairly modest ₹ 322 (US$ 3.90), because of the vast size of the coal allocations, the total figure for the windfall gain is very large. The figure stated as a windfall gain would in fact accrue to the allocatee over the life of the reserve, which would likely exceed 100 years. Thus, using any reasonable discount rate,
8855-501: The former Yugoslavia . The term is also used in Mandarin Chinese with the suffix -mén ( simplified Chinese : 门 ; traditional Chinese : 門 ; lit. 'door', 'gate'). Some commentators have characterized this use of the -gate suffix as a snowclone . But Geoffrey Pullum , the coiner of the term snowclone , considers that it is only a "lexical word-formation analog". Martha Brockenbrough ,
8970-500: The founder of The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, said that no one should aspire to write with cliches and that although they do help to get a lot of complicated things across in few words, they are not a good way to get people to keep reading what you're writing. The use of a suffix in this way is not new. -mandering has long been used as a suffix by a politician's name in analogy with gerrymandering ( "Henry-mandering"
9085-457: The genetic soil profile, displaces or destroys wildlife and habitat, alters current land uses, and to some extent permanently changes the general topography of the area mined. Adverse impacts on geological features of human interest may occur in a coal strip mine. Geomorphic and geophysical features and outstanding scenic resources may be sacrificed by indiscriminate mining. Paleontological, cultural, and other historic values may be endangered due to
9200-401: The government has extended "undue benefits", totalling a mind-boggling Rs 10.67 trillion ( short scale ), to commercial entities by giving them 155 coal acreages without auction between 2004 and 2009. The beneficiaries include some 100 private companies, as well as some public sector units, in industries such as power, steel and cement. The Income Tax Department was also roped in to look into
9315-450: The immediate area, has an adverse impact on vegetative life, and constitutes health and safety hazards for mine workers and nearby residents. Surface mining disrupts virtually all aesthetic elements of the landscape. Alteration of land forms often imposes unfamiliar and discontinuous configurations. New linear patterns appear as material is extracted and waste piles are developed. Different colors and textures are exposed as vegetative cover
9430-455: The individuals supposedly involved. -ghazi may be seen as carrying an ironic or self-effacing connotation in its usage, implying that the event described has the appearance and media coverage of a scandal, but does not actually amount to much in a grander sense. Like the -gate suffix, the Italian -opoli suffix emerged in Italian media from investigations in the 1990s that uncovered
9545-489: The initial CAG report suggested that coal blocks could have been allocated more efficiently, resulting in more revenue to the government, at no point did it suggest that corruption was involved in the allocation of coal. Over the course of 2012, however, the question of corruption has come to dominate the discussion. In response to a complaint by the BJP, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) directed
9660-460: The late 18th century onward, with further progress being driven by 19th-century and early 20th-century progress. However, oil and gas were increasingly used as alternatives from the 1860s onward. By the late 20th century, coal was, for the most part, replaced in domestic as well as industrial and transportation usage by oil , natural gas or electricity produced from oil, gas, nuclear power or renewable energy sources. By 2010, coal produced over
9775-552: The legal opinion of July 2006 of the Ministry of Law and Justices and this could have been done through an Administrative decision . However, the Ministry of Coal went ahead for allocation of coal blocks through Screening Committee and advertised in September 2006 for allocation of 38 coal blocks and continued with this process until 2009. Other parts of the report, however, suggest that while an administrative decision might be sufficient legal basis for instituting competitive bidding,
9890-404: The majority of fatalities. Coal mining resulted in 47 fatalities that year. One study, though, has suggested that hazards of modern mining are now more accretive with workers facing long-term health impacts, such as sleep deprivation, that build up over time. Strip mining severely alters the landscape, which reduces the value of the natural environment in the surrounding land. The land surface
10005-535: The media and political fields and giving rise to more and more scandals which increasingly become the focus of mediated forms of public debate, marginalizing or displacing other issues and producing on occasion a climate of political crisis which can debilitate or even paralyse a government. The adoption of -gate to suggest the existence of a scandal was promoted by William Safire , the conservative New York Times columnist and former Nixon administration speechwriter. As early as September 1974, he wrote of "Vietgate",
10120-461: The method of extraction. For example, a study has found that among surface coal mine operations, dragline equipment produced the loudest sound at a range of 88–112 dBA. Within longwall sections, stageloaders used to transport coal from the mining face and shearers used for extraction represent some of the highest noise exposures. Auxiliary fans (up to 120 dBA), continuous mining machines (up to 109 dBA), and roof bolters (up to 103 dBA) represent some of
10235-465: The mining workforce. in 2015 US coal mines had 65,971 employees, the lowest figure since EIA began collecting data in 1978. However, a 2016 study reported that a relatively minor investment would allow most coal workers to retrain for the solar energy industry. Coal mining has been a very dangerous activity and the list of historical coal mining disasters is long. In the U.S., 104,895 coal miners were killed in mine accidents since 1900, 90 percent of
10350-513: The monsoon session of the Parliament, the BJP's leader Hansraj Ahir protested the Government's handling of the issue demanding the resignation of the prime minister and refused to have a debate in the Parliament. The deadlock resulted in Parliament functioning only seven of the twenty days of the session. The Parliamentary Standing Committee report on Coal and Steel states that all coal blocks distributed between 1993 and 2008 were done in an unauthorized manner and allotment of all mines where production
10465-469: The noisiest equipment within continuous mining sections. Exposures to noise exceeding 90 dBA can lead to adverse effects on workers' hearing. The use of administrative controls and engineering controls can be used to reduce noise exposures. Improvements in mining methods (e.g. longwall mining), hazardous gas monitoring (such as safety-lamps or more modern electronic gas monitors), gas drainage, electrical equipment , and ventilation have reduced many of
10580-590: The open pit methods, due to thickness of the seam 20–25 metres (60–90 feet). Coals occurring below 90 m (300 ft) are usually deep mined. However, there are open pit mining operations working on coal seams up to 300–460 metres (1,000–1,500 feet) below ground level, for instance Tagebau Hambach in Germany. When coal seams are near the surface, it may be economical to extract the coal using open-cut , also referred to as open-cast, open-pit, mountaintop removal or strip, mining methods. Opencast coal mining recovers
10695-421: The operation reaches a predetermined stripping ratio (tons of overburden/tons of coal), it is not profitable to continue. Depending on the equipment available, it may not be technically feasible to exceed a certain height of highwall. At this point, it is possible to produce more coal with the augering method in which spiral drills bore tunnels into a highwall laterally from the bench to extract coal without removing
10810-472: The opposition. According to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, this is a leak of the initial draft and the details being brought out were observations which are under discussion at a very preliminary stage. On 29 May 2012, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offered to give up his public life if found guilty in this scam. At the end of June 2012, coal ministry decided to form an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG), to decide on either de-allocation or forfeiting
10925-408: The overburden. Mountaintop coal mining is a surface mining practice involving removal of mountaintops to expose coal seams, and disposing of associated mining overburden in adjacent "valley fills." Valley fills occur in steep terrain where there are limited disposal alternatives. Mountaintop removal mining combines area and contour strip mining methods. In areas with rolling or steep terrain with
11040-482: The period 2004–2009. Over the summer of 2012, resulting in a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into whether the allocation of the coal blocks was in fact influenced by corruption. The essence of the CAG's argument is that the Government had the authority to allocate coal blocks by a process of competitive bidding, but chose not to. As a result, both public sector enterprises (PSEs) and private firms paid less than they might have otherwise. In its draft report in March
11155-425: The potential to spontaneously ignite. Because most coal refuse harbors toxic components, it is not easily reclaimed by replanting with plants like beach grasses. The use of sophisticated sensing equipment to monitor air quality is common and has replaced the use of small animals such as canaries, often referred to as " miner's canaries ". In the United States, the increase in technology has significantly decreased
11270-490: The power and steel sectors (and to large projects within those sectors). They further suggest that in the case of competing applicants for a captive block, a further 10 guidelines may be taken into consideration: Results of the coal allocation program The response submitted in response to the 2011 PIL at Orissa on the allocation process between 2003 and 2009 was spectacular, with some 44 billion metric tons of coal being allocated to public and private firms. By way of comparison,
11385-399: The risks of rock falls, explosions, and unhealthy air quality. Gases released during the mining process can be recovered to generate electricity and improve worker safety with gas engines . Another innovation in recent years is the use of closed circuit escape respirators , respirators that contain oxygen for situations where mine ventilation is compromised. Statistical analyses performed by
11500-418: The seam for roof and floor conditions; topography, especially altitude and slope; climate; land ownership as it affects the availability of land for mining and access; surface drainage patterns; groundwater conditions; availability of labor and materials; coal purchaser requirements in terms of tonnage, quality, and destination; and capital investment requirements. Surface mining and deep underground mining are
11615-565: The seam in a pattern following the contours along a ridge or around the hillside. This method is most commonly used in areas with rolling to steep terrain. It was once common to deposit the spoil on the downslope side of the bench thus created, but this method of spoil disposal consumed much additional land and created severe landslide and erosion problems. To alleviate these problems, a variety of methods were devised to use freshly cut overburden to refill mined-out areas. These haul-back or lateral movement methods generally consist of an initial cut with
11730-461: The self-imposed cut off date by the Centre on allocation of coal blocks. The Opposition alleged that the Government violated all norms to give him coal fields. Naveen Jindal, however, denied any wrongdoing. On 15 September 2012, an Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) headed by Zohra Chatterji (Additional Secretary in Coal Ministry ) recommended cancellation of a block allotted to JSW (Jindal Steel Works),
11845-432: The spoil deposited downslope or at some other site and spoil from the second cut refilling the first. A ridge of undisturbed natural material 15 to 20 ft (5 to 6 m) wide is often intentionally left at the outer edge of the mined area. This barrier adds stability to the reclaimed slope by preventing spoil from slumping or sliding downhill. The limitations of contour strip mining are both economic and technical. When
11960-556: The strong contribution coal plays in global warming and environmental issues, which result in decreasing demand and in some geographies, peak coal . Compared to wood fuels , coal yields a higher amount of energy per unit mass, specific energy or massic energy, and can often be obtained in areas where wood is not readily available. Though it was used historically as a domestic fuel, coal is now used mostly in industry, especially in smelting and alloy production, as well as electricity generation . Large-scale coal mining developed during
12075-476: The surface or overburden, of the mining area. The overburden is then removed by draglines or by shovel and truck. Once the coal seam is exposed, it is drilled, fractured and thoroughly mined in strips. The coal is then loaded onto large trucks or conveyors for transport to either the coal preparation plant or directly to where it will be used. Most open cast mines in the United States extract bituminous coal . In Canada, Australia, and South Africa, open cast mining
12190-597: The toned-down Final Report of some 50 pages—was the document that sparked the Coalgate furor. The Draft Report covers the following topics: As far as Coalgate is concerned, the key passages of the Draft Report are in Chapter 5, where the CAG charges that: The most important assertion of the CAG Draft Report is that the Government had the legal authority to auction the coal, but chose not to do so. Any losses as
12305-524: The two basic methods of mining. The choice of mining method depends primarily on depth, density, overburden, and thickness of the coal seam; seams relatively close to the surface, at depths less than approximately 55 m (180 ft), are usually surface mined. Coal that occurs at depths of 55 to 90 m (180 to 300 ft) are usually deep mined, but in some cases surface mining techniques can be used. For example, some western U.S. coal that occur at depths in excess of 60 m (200 ft) are mined by
12420-441: The world, with official statistics claiming that 6,027 deaths occurred in 2004. To compare, 28 deaths were reported in the U.S. in the same year. Coal production in China is twice that in the US, while the number of coal miners is around 50 times that of the US, making deaths in coal mines in China 4 times as common per worker (108 times as common per unit output) as in the US. Mine disasters have still occurred in recent years in
12535-532: Was "rehabilitating Nixon by relentlessly tarring his successors with the same rhetorical brush – diminished guilt by association ". Safire himself later said to author Eric Alterman that he "may have been seeking to minimize the relative importance of the crimes committed by his former boss with this silliness". The usage has spread into languages other than English; examples of -gate being used to refer to local political scandals have been reported from Argentina , Germany , South Korea , Hungary , Greece and
12650-704: Was a major point of discussion and contention during the 2016 presidential election , in which Clinton was the Democratic nominee. In July, FBI director James Comey announced that the FBI investigation had concluded that Clinton had been "extremely careless" but recommended that no charges be filed because Clinton did not act with criminal intent , the historical standard for pursuing prosecution. Clinton claimed that her use complied with federal laws and State Department regulations, and that former secretaries of state had also maintained personal email accounts (however Clinton
12765-470: Was enacted, providing for coal blocks to be sold through a system of competitive bidding. The foregoing supports the following conclusions: The CAG report, leaked to the press in March as a draft and tabled in Parliament in August, is a performance audit focusing on the allocation of coal blocks and the performance of Coal India in the 2005–09 period. The Draft Report, stretching to over 100 pages—far more detailed and containing more explosive allegations than
12880-531: Was mined, and 375.1 million tonnes was exported. In 2013/14, coal provided about 69% of Australia's electricity production. In 2013, Australia was the world's fifth-largest coal producer, after China, the United States, India, and Indonesia. However, in terms of proportion of production exported, Australia is the world's second largest coal exporter, as it exports roughly 73% of its coal production. Indonesia exports about 87% of its coal production. A court in Australia has cited climate change in ruling against
12995-538: Was the only secretary of state to use a private server ). Unlike the official system, which was hacked by the Russians, her private system was never hacked. The event was coined 'fridgegate' with a number of memes being created and the tag '#fridgegate' trending on Twitter. In Malta, Panamagate refers to a March 2016 scandal surrounding Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi with an undeclared trust in New Zealand and
13110-567: Was the same company which formed a joint venture with a public sector company, Puducherry Industrial Promotion Development and Investment (PIPDIC), on 17 January 2007. Barely five days after, PIPDIC was allotted a coal block. According to the MoU , JR Power enjoyed a stake in this allotment. However, JR Power had no expertise in thermal power, iron and steel, or cement, the key sectors for consumption of coal. Later, in 2010, JR Power sold 51% stake to KSK Energy Ventures, an established player with interests in
13225-468: Was used in 1852 ). In recent years, the -gate suffix as a catch-all signifier for scandal has seen some competition from -ghazi , as in "Ballghazi" instead of " Deflategate ", or "Bridgeghazi" instead of " Bridgegate ". The use of -ghazi is a play on the investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attack , which, despite numerous official investigations into the possibility of government cover-ups, has resulted in no criminal charges or major repercussions for
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