Education & Jobs Crucial As Cambodia Records Pro-Poor Growth

30/03/2017 0 Comments read Education, Environment & Development, Features, Gender

Children await the arrival of King Norodom Sihamoni on the streets of Siem Reap. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Siem Reap/Battambang (Cambodia), 30.03.2017 (IDN) – The once conflict ridden, impoverished country of Cambodia has made significant strides towards stability and progress, but it is still facing several socio-economic development challenges.

In 2016, it became a lower middle-income country after recording an annual average economic growth of seven percent over the past decade. “The country’s economy has trebled and the number of people living in poverty has halved in the last 15 years. We have to set development issues in the context of those successes,” says Nick Beresford, United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Cambodia Country Director.

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Protests in Australia Against Adani Coal Mining Project

03/12/2016 0 Comments read Business and Trade, Environment & Development

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 03.12.2016 (Economic and Political Weekly): While serious questions remain on the commercial viability and environmental feasibility of the Adani Mining Pty Ltd’s (AMPL) A$21.7 billion Carmichael coal mine, rail and port projects in the state of Queensland, the company is confident of commencing construction between July and September 2017. The projects’ headquarters will be based in Townsville, in north Queensland.

AMPL, a subsidiary of India-based Adani Enterprises, on 10 November 2016 crossed one of the major hurdles with the Queensland Parliament passing the Environmental Protection (Underground Water Management) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill, 2016 and the amended Water Legislation Amendment Bill, 2015 (Queensland Parliament 2016, 2015). The amended legislation means that companies that had already undergone scrutiny through an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the Land Court would still require a water licence, but that would not go through the public objection process.

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Mining nod for Adani’s Australia project stirs debate

18/04/2016 0 Comments read Business and Trade, Environment & Development

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 18.04.2016 (India Climate Dialogue): As coal prices slump and demand dips — and notwithstanding the continuing legal challenges by environmental and indigenous groups — the Queensland government has approved three mining leases for Adani Mining Pty Ltd’s (AMPL) Carmichael coal mine, rail and port project. Touted as Australia’s largest coal mine, the AUD 16.5 billion (USD 12.5 billion) project has been labelled “commercially unviable”. There are fears that it could also impact local communities as well as the Great Barrier Reef.

The three mines for which leases were granted on April 3, 2016 contain an estimated 11 billion tonnes of coal that can be used for power plants. AMPL, a subsidiary of India-based Adani Enterprises Ltd, has announced that it hopes to begin construction next year and focus “on the conclusion of second tier approvals and resolution of legal challenges”.

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