Revision petition, ordinance in pipeline to resume mining in Goa: Minister
Panaji, May 26: The Central government will soon file a revision petition in the Supreme Court seeking direction to resume mining operations in Goa, which stands banned following directions from the apex court in March this year, a Union Minister said on Saturday.
Talking to reporters at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s state headquarters here, Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik said an ordinance could also be issued by the Centre to pave the way for resumption of mining activity in the state.
"We are working hard to resume mining in Goa. Work is on fast-track. The state government is in touch with the Centre over the issue," Naik told the media.
"The (option of) ordinance is also there. It is a matter of livelihood of our people. We have convinced the Centre about our case."
On March 15 this year, the Supreme Court had banned all mining activity, including transportation of iron ore from Goa's 88 mining leases, and directed the state government to re-issue the leases.
Mining was first banned in 2012 following a series of ban orders from the state government, central government and the Supreme Court, after a Rs 35,000-crore illegal mining was revealed by a judicial commission.
The ban was later lifted in 2014, but the apex court while reprimanding the state government over hurried renewal of mining leases in favour of same mining companies linked to the scam, scrapped all the 88 operational mining leases, and directed the state government to issue the leases afresh as per the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act, which mandates auctioning of major mineral resources.
The mining ban has resulted in a lot of pressure on the ruling parties, with locals residing in the mining belt -- which is spread over nearly one-third of the 40 assembly constituencies -- urging their elected representatives to resume operations at the earliest.
Earlier this week, Vijai Sardesai, Town and Country Planning Minister in the BJP-led coalition government and president of the Goa Forward Party, issued a warning to the BJP that his party would rethink supporting the BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections if the mining crisis was not resolved at the earliest.
The BJP has 14 MLAs in the 40-member Goa Legislative Assembly and currently occupies the treasury benches with the help of three MLAs each from Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, as well as three Independent MLAs.
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SGPC writes to Mann, seeks ban on 'Emergency' in Punjab a day before release
Amritsar, Jan 16 (PTI): The SGPC on Thursday wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking a ban on the release of Kangana Ranaut's movie 'Emergency' saying it "tarnishes" the image of Sikhs and "misrepresents" history.
Actor and BJP MP Ranaut's 'Emergency' is slated to release in cinemas on January 17.
In the letter to Mann, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami expressed strong objection to Ranaut's film.
Dhami said that if the film is released in Punjab, it will spark "outrage and anger" in the Sikh community and therefore it is the responsibility of the government to ban its release in the state.
The SGPC, an apex gurdwara body, had earlier also protested the film.
"It has come to our attention that the movie 'Emergency' produced by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut is going to be released on 17th January 2025 in cinemas in different cities of Punjab and the tickets have also started to be booked," its letter to Mann read.
Dhami said the SGPC had also protested the release of the movie in a letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary on November 14 last year.
"But it is sad that the Punjab government has not taken any step till now. If this film is released on January 17, 2025, then it is natural to create outrage and anger in the Sikh world," the current letter read.
Dhami said the SGPC will submit a letter also to all the deputy commissioners in Punjab, seeking a ban on the film in the state.
The SGPC denounced the "character assassination" of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Khalistani militant killed in 1984 in a military operation.
"If this film is released in Punjab, we will be forced to strongly oppose it at the state level," Dhami said.
In August last year, the SGPC sent a legal notice to the producers of the 'Emergency' film, alleging that it "misrepresented" the character and history of Sikhs, and asked them to remove the objectionable scenes depicting "anti-Sikh" sentiments.
In the notice, the producers of the film, including Kangana Ranaut, were asked to remove the trailer released on August 14 from all public and social media platforms and tender a written apology to the Sikh community.
The SGPC objected to film writing separate letters to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification.
