Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର)

Why materials flow beyond borders but not humankind?

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

Companies that operate and profit extraterritorially must be accountable extraterritorially. The Supreme Court judgement on jurisdiction is a welcome step in making that possible

[Foil Vedanta @FoilVedanta]

Financial Conduct Authority & City of London must initiate proceedings against Vedanta or remain complicit in enabling and mitigating these abuses.... as justice risks being restricted by economic and institutional barriers of territoriality. @Docuwallah https://t.co/M1xfgvFPKS

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

Madras High Court upholds tax demand against Vedanta over payments to foreign parent company. The Court dismissed three tax appeals filed by Vedanta and upheld an order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
https://t.co/tktxC0oZRa

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

Villagers from Balda and Banur villages allege that Kalinga Alumina Limited, an Adani subsidiary, the panchayat, and district officials colluded to forge the signatures of dead, injured, and absent people on resolutions that consented to the mining. The villagers have now alleged that, despite lodging a detailed complaint months ago in February, the police have not yet registered an FIR against Kalinga Alumina Limited, the panchayat, and district officials, whom they accuse of colluding to divert 157.2 hectares of forest land over which they had traditional and spiritual rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The local police and the office of the Superintendent of Police in Koraput were unavailable for a comment. https://t.co/n9odjTxVfu

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

Vedanta’s Zambian mines are “one of the few operations positioned to help meet US demand for copper,” Delaware-registered CopperTech said in the prospectus. The company said it is placed “to capitalize on what we believe will be an unprecedented copper demand cycle.”

KCM plans to spend $2.7 billion by early next decade and aims to more than double copper output to 270,000 tons a year, with a third of that volume due to come from smelting metal supplied from other mines, the prospectus said. The funds from the offering will be applied toward completing the underground Konkola Deep operation, which is crucial to the company’s prospects of hitting the ambitious growth target, the prospectus said. https://t.co/QpFC3u4IG6

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

"The police force came at 2 am in the night. I stepped out of my house, and they hit me with the butt of a rifle. Yes, they hit me with a rifle. "

A must-watch report by BBC India journalists Antariksh Jain and Vishnukant Tiwari, who travelled to the Sijimali Hills in Odisha to understand the lives of local communities, what is at stake, and why many villagers are resisting a proposed bauxite mine by Vedanta, one of India's largest mining companies.

The Sijimali Hills contain vast reserves of bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminium. However, many Adivasi and Dalit residents say the forests are sacred and fear the project could affect their land, water sources, livelihoods, and way of life.
The report also examines allegations of human rights abuses and the concerns being raised by local communities.

Vedanta told the BBC that the mining project will not impact flowing streams or groundwater and will have only a limited environmental impact.

https://t.co/R8JiYxVWNG

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

Concern over ecological damage
According to the EIA, the Sijimali bauxite mine is a green field project (a project that is being developed from scratch.) It says the mine will bring jobs and development to the local people, while causing very little environmental damage. But environmental experts disagree. “EIA is done by the mining company itself, so it usually favours the company,” says Samarendra Das. He says these assessments are often based on incomplete data and limited studies.

The NLSIU study also found serious gaps in the draft EIA. According to the report, the mine could cause long-lasting and irreversible damage to forests, wildlife, and water sources.

Villagers have also raised similar concerns. “In the public hearing, we raised concerns that blasting could disturb the natural springs in the mountains. If those springs dry up, how will we irrigate our fields? What will we eat?” says Naik. “But they dismissed our concerns, saying they were not scientific.” “We know these mountains better than anyone. In Sijimali alone, there are more than 1,000 streams,” says Naik.

“Impact assessments in India measure everything through numbers and matrices. But they do not look at how people actually experience their environment. Cultural values, spiritual relationships with land and water, none of this can be captured by a checklist. If a community’s way of life is destroyed, that is also an impact,” says Das.

“We saw this in Niyamgiri, where the Dongria Kond’s sacred mountain was protected by the Supreme Court, and it’s said to force a mine here would be cultural genocide,” says Das. “The same is true for Tijimali.”

https://t.co/5EpaTFDKZl

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

In 2002, the year before the FSA allowed Sterlite to reconsitute itself as Vedanta Resources plc, India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) - the regulatory body for foreign exchange transactions - served a "show cause" notice on three of the Agarwal family.

The notice was a demand that the Sterlite directors answer allegations of using their holding companies to avoid paying domestic taxes on foreign exchange transactions. It was a polite way of saying there was  prima facie evidence, dating back to 1993, that the Agarwals had been guilty of  money laundering on a vast scale.

The case meandered through the Indian judicial system over the next seven years, while the Agarwals employed some of the country's best-paid lawyers, to stall a final judgment.

Among these lawyers was Mr P Chidambaram, who pleaded for Sterlite in a 2003 Bombay High Court case related to the ED's allegations. The following year, Chidambaram became a director of Vedanta's London board, and immediately afterwards was elevated to the powerful position of India's Finance Minister. https://t.co/0krjE01JaN

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

Enforcement Directorate searches against Vedanta Group in FEMA case - https://t.co/KrYcj7mRLD

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

A key memo from May 2025 showed its WA iron ore operations, which account for 30 per cent of its global emissions, were lagging well behind that target.

Mining giant BHP quietly shelved billions of dollars of green projects despite promising the public it was committed to cutting emissions and telling its board climate action was "urgent" and any delays would "risk" its reputation. https://t.co/fl6KrVk4a8

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

"I am worried if I cannot get employment by the end of this year I will have to move back to my village in the middle of nowhere and begin a minimum wage-life where I will be trapped".
The experts are talking about a "lost generation" as more than one million under-24-year-olds are left in limbo, without a job or a training course that should lead them to one.
https://t.co/GSh8jfPz8t

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

In India, which tends to be drier during El Niño periods, the government has already held preparatory meetings. Vimal Mishra, a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, said his country did not face risks on the same scale as it did more than a century ago. “If one year the monsoon fails, we won’t see famine,” he said. He cited India’s public distribution system, which guarantees access to basic staples at subsidized prices.
But Dr. Mishra said India, like other countries, still faced risk. If there is very little rainfall, people will draw down on savings. They’ll spend less. They’ll close down businesses. During droughts, school dropout rates rise. “It has a direct impact on the growth rate of India’s economy,” he said. https://t.co/Rt9Rh6xzuC

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

Anger is growing over alleged safety violations in the wake of China's worst mining disaster in more than 15 years.
At least 82 people were killed and more than 120 injured after an explosion on Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine in Shanxi province, the heart of China's huge mining industry.
For many in China, the tragedy harks back to the 2000s, a period of regular, deadly coal mining disasters, which is widely thought to have been left in the past.
Those concerns are now reignited and playing out on China's tightly-controlled internet, with people calling for justice and questioning how this happened: "It's so heartbreaking, so many precious lives lost. When will we truly put safety first?"
Authorities say the cause of the disaster is still under investigation, but initial findings show Tongzhou Group, the company operating the privately-owned coal mine had committed "serious illegal violations".
At a news conference on Saturday, they pledged to conduct a "rigorous" investigation and "severely punish" those found responsible. https://t.co/v8kChFaDHp

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

"I smelled sulphur, the same smell you get from blasting. I shouted at people to run. As we were running I could see people collapsing from the fumes. Then I blacked out too," he said.
"I lay there for about an hour or so before I came round on my own. I woke up the person next to me and we got out together." There were 247 workers reportedly on duty when the blast happened at 19:29 local time on Friday (22:29 GMT), with more than 100 people reportedly pulled to safety and hundreds of rescuers sent to the site.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for no effort to be spared in efforts to treat the injured and search for survivors, and asked the government to investigate the cause of the blast and hold those responsible to account.
Twenty-seven people remain in a local hospital, with one in critical condition, while the rest have minor injuries. Most were affected after inhaling poisonous gas, according to state media, though it is not clear what type of gas it was.
https://t.co/EOxxOGjF3v

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

Vedanta Limited on Thursday informed stock exchanges that the Supreme Court has ruled against its arm, Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd. (TSPL), in a case related to alleged misdeclaration of power availability, resulting in a penalty payout of nearly Rs 127 crore along with applicable late payment surcharge. According to the disclosure, the Supreme Court “upheld the alleged penalty on TSPL for misdeclaration of availability for January 2017 in terms of the Grid Code, along with the applicable Late Payment Surcharge.”

https://t.co/hZeOWVapp5

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

When the Justice Department indicted India’s richest man in the final weeks of the Biden administration, prosecutors described an “elaborate” bribery scheme involving “corruption and fraud at the expense of U.S. investors.”

Now, according to several people with knowledge of the case, the Justice Department is planning to drop the charges altogether.

The reversal came after the Indian billionaire, Gautam Adani, hired a new legal team led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., one of President Trump’s personal lawyers.

Mr. Giuffra’s efforts on Mr. Adani’s behalf culminated in a previously unreported meeting last month at the Justice Department’s headquarters in Washington, according to people familiar with the meeting. Mr. Giuffra ticked through about 100 slides outlining why prosecutors lacked basic evidence, as well as the jurisdiction even to bring the case, one of the people said.

Another slide also offered the government a sweetener: If prosecutors dropped the charges, Mr. Adani would be willing to invest $10 billion in the American economy and create 15,000 jobs, echoing a pledge he made in the wake of Mr. Trump’s election.

While prosecutors later told Mr. Giuffra that the $10 billion investment would play no role in the resolution of the case, his offer received a favorable response from at least one senior Justice Department official at the meeting, according to the people familiar with the meeting.

The charges were originally brought against Mr. Adani by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn.

https://t.co/f8ahZ73t7B

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

"British Steel has a bright future, with a world class highly skilled workforce making strategically important steels for the UK's rail and infrastructure," they said.
"The government must also take actions to ensure that all government-funded projects use UK steel." https://t.co/kHpnRFqMSt

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

India is one of the world’s largest importers of gold, with domestic demand heavily dependent on overseas purchases. Since these imports are paid for in dollars, large-scale gold buying increases pressure on India’s import bill and foreign exchange reserves.

The concern becomes more significant when global crude oil prices are elevated, as India also imports nearly 85 per cent of its oil requirements. Rising oil and fertiliser costs due to the West Asia conflict have already increased pressure on dollar outflows.

Reducing discretionary imports like gold can help ease pressure on the rupee, improve trade balances and preserve forex buffers during periods of global volatility.

“When there is pressure on the supply chain, difficulties increase despite various measures by the government to overcome the crisis,” PM Modi said.

India’s forex reserves remain strong

Despite the cautionary appeal, India’s foreign exchange position remains robust and among the strongest globally.

According to the Reserve Bank of India’s latest half-yearly reserves management report, India’s forex reserves stood at $691.11 billion at the end of March 2026, enough to provide nearly 11 months of import cover.

The report also showed that gold’s share in India’s forex reserves rose to 16.7 percent at the end of March, up from 13.92 percent in September 2025, reflecting higher gold valuations and the RBI’s continued diversification strategy.

India held 880.52 metric tonnes of gold reserves by March-end, with over two-thirds, 680.05 metric tonnes, now stored domestically. Over the past two years, the RBI has steadily repatriated gold previously held overseas, strengthening domestic reserve security.

The rise in gold holdings mirrors a wider global trend, with central banks increasing bullion reserves as a hedge against geopolitical and financial uncertainty.

Along with postponing gold purchases and foreign travel, PM Modi also urged citizens to reduce petrol and diesel consumption by using metro rail, car-pooling, EVs and railway freight services. https://t.co/n6A0wFLr9h

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

One of the most significant provisions under the Act mandates consultation and consent of gram sabhas before land acquisition, rehabilitation or displacement in tribal regions. The legislation also seeks to legally protect the traditional rights of tribal communities over jal, jungle and zameen (water, forests and land).

With 22.8 per cent of the state’s population being tribals, the implementation of PESA is expected to directly benefit lakhs of tribal families living in 2,022 gram panchayats spanning across 117 blocks in nine tribal-dominated districts of the state. https://t.co/a79GQIjYPY

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

"We are deeply disappointed and disheartened, and express our strongest disapproval at the manner in which the Odisha State judiciary has, in fact regressed to a colonial mindset by imposing such onerous, degrading and humiliating conditions, whic are ex-facie violative of the human rights. Such conditions, far from advancing the cause of justice, strike at the dignity of the accused, and proceed on the premise of guilt, which is completely impermissible in law," the Court observed. https://t.co/j4GkjPeH9E

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

~In a letter to Vedanta Aluminium on Wednesday, the Burla irrigation division stated, “A penalty is hereby imposed for the unauthorised extraction of water, and a demand is hereby raised, which must be complied within the stipulated time period of one month. Failing to comply with the above directions shall invite strict legal action as per the Orissa Irrigation Act and Rules 1959 & 1961.”

Sources within the irrigation department indicated that the charges were imposed following reports of unauthorized water extraction from Kherwal Nallah, a tributary of the Bheden river. This extraction reportedly occurred without proper permission and the absence of flow measurement systems.

The department has classified the matter as "urgent" and instructed the company to settle the dues within the specified timeframe. Failure to do so will result in strict legal action under the Orissa Irrigation Act and relevant rules.~
https://t.co/EU6bLCWwAl
#bringanilagarwal2justice #bringvedanta2justice

[Samarendra Das (ସମରେନ୍ଦ୍ର) @Docuwallah]

"I have run to the bank several times, and the people there told me to bring the account holder to withdraw money deposited in her name. Though I told them that she had died, they did not listen to me and insisted on bringing her to the bank. Therefore, out of frustration, I dug the grave and brought out her skeleton as proof of her death," an illiterate Jeetu Munda told reporters. https://t.co/Sw816wScPV