India, Belarus to strengthen bilateral ties: Lok Sabha Speaker
Belarus, June 13 : Expressing India's firm commitment in strengthening the already warm relations with Belarus, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Wednesday emphasized on enhancing commercial and economic relations between the two countries.
"India and Belarus are time-tested friends and good feelings between the two countries need to be supported by the enhancement in commercial and economic cooperation," she said after meeting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Mahajan is leading an Indian Parliamentary Delegation comprising of Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Jayshreeben Patel, K. Keshava Rao, Arvind Sawant and G.V.L. Narasimha Rao to Belarus, Latvia and Finland.
She said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's use of the term "security" at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit implied not merely territorial security but also security in other areas.
"The Government of India is well aware that our defence cooperation with Russia has always included Belarus and its production facilities in the background. We are keen on furthering this relationship by establishing joint ventures in the fields of mutual interest and benefit," she said in a statement issued by Lok Sabha Secretariat.
Keeping in mind India's SMART cities programme, she welcomed Belarusian technology for not just SMART transportation but also for SMART water, electricity, sewage disposal and green buildings.
During the discussion, the Belarus President emphasized the need to give a firm direction to the India-Belarus bilateral relations so that they may evolve in the right manner in the future.
"The two countries already have convergent views on most issues and support each other in all multilateral fora, but their commercial relations need a further push. Promoting joint ventures and mutual investment is the way forward," he said.
Mahajan assured Lukashenko of her support and willingness to convey Belarusian concerns to the Indian government.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Illegal sand mining has created environmental crisis in National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday said rampant illegal riverbed sand mining has created an "environmental crisis" and wreaked "havoc" in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, causing a grave risk to the gharial (long-snouted crocodile) preservation project.
Slamming the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for their utter failure in dealing with the issue, the apex court directed them to install high-resolution Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras along all routes frequently used for illegal sand mining in the area.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed that live feed of such surveillance cameras shall be placed under the direct control, supervision and operational oversight of the superintendent of police or the senior superintendent of police of the concerned district and the divisional forest officer.
It said these officers shall ensure continuous and effective monitoring of the CCTV feeds by designating appropriate officers.
"It can't be gainsaid that the issues involved are of great concern in as much as the rampant illegal mining activities in the river bed have created an environmental crisis and havoc in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary causing a grave risk to the very project of gharial preservation of which the state governments themselves were proponents and were under an obligation to foster and promote," Justice Mehta said while pronouncing the order.
The bench directed the authorities in these three states to initiate prompt and necessary action under law if any instance of illegal mining or allied activities comes to light.
It said the authorities shall ensure seizure of vehicles or machinery found involved in illegal sand mining and also initiate prosecution of persons involved in it.
The bench, which passed several other directions, posted the matter for hearing on May 11.
The top court passed the order in a suo motu case titled 'In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife'.
The National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400-sq km tri-state protected area.
Besides the endangered gharial, it is home to the red-crowned roof turtle and the endangered Ganges river Dolphin.
Located on the Chambal river near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the sanctuary was first declared a protected area in Madhya Pradesh in 1978 and now constitutes a long and narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states.
On March 13, the top court took suo motu cognisance of news reports about rampant illegal sand mining on the banks of the Chambal river.
