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According to the steel ministry, some concessions or exemptions should be given to state-owned companies like Steel Authority of India and National Mineral Development Corporation. They deserve special consideration because of the "historical role" they played in accepting "social obligations" in different, especially extremely backward, parts of India. According to people's movements and non-governmental organisations who speak for the communities and vulnerable groups affected or liable to be affected by mining, the answer is sharply different. They emphasise the high human and social costs of displacement caused by "development" projects, which have uprooted 45 million people since Independence without resettling, leave alone rehabilitating, a large majority of them. Mining, like dams, industries and highways, is responsible for a large chunk of this damage.

There is all too much secrecy and too little open discussion in the political and electoral arenas. Obama's annual weapons destruction report does not tell Americans why he refuses to sign either treaty.

DEMOCRATS AGAINST MINING AND JOBS

The founding fathers were very concerned about the danger of democracy and spoke quite openly about the need to construct the democratic institutions so that threat would be contained.  That's why the Senate has so much more power than the House, to mention just one example.

When she was only five years old, Song Kosal, was a little girl growing up in Cambodia. 300 grams of TNT exploded. A GYATA 64 anti-personnel mine produced by Hungary changed her life. She survived and in her mid twenties, her poster-size picture was carried down a run-way by girls and women from a Cambodian community in Norway at the South Norway Museum of Modern Arts at the Miss Landmine Cambodia finale-in-exile on November 14th. Song Kosal heard the news that her government had banned the Miss Landmine Contest only days before the event was supposed to take place.

The bet was audacious from the beginning, and given the miserable, low-down tenor of contemporary politics, not unfathomable: Could you divide the country between greedy geezers and everyone else as a way to radically alter the social contract? But in order for the Republican plan to turn Medicare, one of most popular government programs in history, into a much-diminished voucher system, the greed card had to work. The plan's architect, Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, drew a line in the actuarial sand: Anyone born before 1957 would not be affected. They could enjoy the single-payer, socialized medical care program that has allowed millions of people to live extended lives of dignity and decent health care. And their kids and grandkids? Sorry, they would have to take their little voucher and pay some private insurer nearly twice as much as a senior pays for basic government coverage today. In essence, Republicans would break up the population between an I've Got Mine segment and The Left Behinds. Again, not a bad political calculation. Altruism is a squishy notion, hard to sustain in an election. Ryan himself has made a naked play for greed in defending the plan. "Seniors, as soon as they realize this doesn't affect them, they are not so opposed," he has said. Well, the early verdict is in, and it looks as though the better angels have prevailed: seniors are opposed. Republicans: Meet the Fockers. Already, there is considerable anxiety - and some guilt - among older folks about leaving their children worse off financially than they are. To burden them with a much costlier, privatized elderly health insurance program is a lead weight for the golden years.

"This legislation would undo decades of public land protections by opening up an area the size of Wyoming to new industrial activity. It would allow some of the country's most pristine and spectacular landscapes to be exploited, including the vast majority of undisturbed national forests. "Mining, logging and drilling are already permitted in more than half of our national forests and other public lands. This bill would open the door to such activity on most of the rest. As a result, valuable fish and wildlife could be lost and clean drinking water for millions of Americans compromised. "This legislation would undo the nation's tradition of managing these lands with a balanced approach. It would also disregard years of work by lawmakers from both parties to craft proposals with diverse stakeholders to safeguard these undeveloped areas. In addition, the bill would eliminate interim protections on wild places that people use and enjoy. We urge Members of Congress to oppose H.R. 1581."

Nike: Just don't do it!