GHAZIABAD: A National Green Tribunal-ordered inspection of the Yamuna floodplains lying between Delhi and Ghaziabad has found largescale violations by miners, corroborating a TOI report on Nov 30 last year about an embankment being built across the river to illegally dredge sand.The joint committee report, submitted to NGT after surprise inspections on both Delhi and UP sides of Yamuna earlier this month, pointed out that though the mining lease was legal, the mining area breached legal boundaries with construction of illegal ramps. Miners, it added, operated heavy machinery within the river’s flow and ignored Delhi-NCR’s GRAP rules, continuing operations even during periods when all mining activities were prohibited to curb pollution.After taking note of the TOI report, NGT’s principal bench, headed by chairperson Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel, had consolidated all pending cases on sand mining around Yamuna. It directed the formation of the joint committee — comprising representatives from Central Pollution Control Board, ministry of environment, forest and climate change and Commission for Air Quality Management — on Nov 20 this year.

In its report dated Dec 19, the panel painted a bleak picture of the Yamuna floodplains, particularly in Ghaziabad’s Navraspur area of Loni. Here, mining was found to have taken place in the very centre of the river, up to 110 metres beyond the legal lease boundary. The violations included excavation of up to 15-20 feet in the riverbed using machinery deployed using the illegal access ramps – the TOI report had pointed out that the ramps were built by laying sandbags across the river’s flow – and absence or submergence of boundary pillars meant to demarcate legal mining zones. The committee also found a weighing bridge and an office around 200m from the legal lease area.The panel was also critical in its assessment of administrative lapses. It highlighted that there was no curb on mining activity when GRAP III was in force. The committee also found evidence of night-time operations. Other environmental conditions that were ignored included the absence of required plantation drives, no submission of environmental audits or compliance reports every six months, and the lack of solar lighting. Diesel generator sets were also operated beyond their permitted capacity, sewage management was found wanting, the report pointed out. The lapses, the report said, increased the risk of long-term ecological damage to the river and its floodplains.An official from the mining office in Ghaziabad acknowledged the violations. “In 1.8 hectares of the Yamuna floodplains in Navraspur, a short-term mining permit was given for six months in May, but it excluded the three-month monsoon period when mining is banned. However, there were instances of violations of environmental norms for which we have issued a show-cause notice to the lessee. After their reply on the charges levelled against them, action, which includes the imposition of a penalty, could be imposed,” the official said.Apart from laying down violations, the panel recommended that both Delhi and UP authorities take urgent steps to rein in illegal mining. It called on the mining office in Ghaziabad to act against mining conducted outside lease areas. It also advised against granting short-term mining leases that are less than two years. “UPPCB, Ghaziabad, and the Ghaziabad mining department may take necessary action against the mining done during the GRAP-III period. The Ghaziabad mining department may be requested to discourage granting sand mining leases with a duration of less than two years. The DM, through the mining department, shall ensure that no mining is carried out in the mainstream of the river Yamuna,” the tribunal ordered on Dec 23.

The Kotharis have travelled to 14 countries in four years

From Vadodara and Ahmedabad, a small band of 70-plus Indians is rewriting the script of retirement – skydiving, scuba diving, bungee jumping, even trekking across Antarctica’s frozen expanse.Gautam Kothari, 74, has lost vision in one eye. His wife Beena, 72, cannot walk long distances. Together, they have leapt from aircraft, plunged into oceans, and dangled over canyons. The Kotharis stood at the edge of the world in polar cold. They cruised icy waters, met a lone lighthouse family in one of the planet’s remotest outposts. In four years, they have travelled to 14 countries. Experiences many half their age postpone for “someday”. “In 2022, we leapt out of the skies in Russia,” Gautam said. “Icy wind hit us. Earth below looked fascinating. Neither of us was nervous even for a moment.” Heart ailments to knee replacements, nothing stops these senior citizens New Zealand followed. A bungee jump in 2024. Then Egypt. The Red Sea. Scuba diving. “My family warned me about pressure on my heart,” Gautam said. “But I was adamant about seeing the underwater world.”They have chased auroras in Iceland. Drifted above Egypt in a hot-air balloon. Stayed in Indonesia’s rainforests. Watched gorillas in Uganda. Glided over a frozen Siberian lake. Every detail planned by hand. Destinations. Flights. Rooms. Routes. “We do everything ourselves,” Beena said.Another Amdavadi couple follows that rhythm. Deval Thakor, 77, and his wife Daksha, 76, took on Antarctica after earning the label of “senior citizens”. They skydived in California too. “Age is just a number,” Thakor said. “Journeys matter more than possible hardships.”Then there are Nautam Vakil, 78, and his wife Neeta, 82. Neeta’s knee replacement did not stop them from taking the Alpine Tour in Japan this year. “We believe in living with high spirits,” Vakil said.Back in Vadodara, Gautam still runs an industrial electrical products business. For the couple, travel feeds curiosity. “We want to live every moment,” Gautam said, adding, “Meet new people. Explore different cuisines.”The bucket list remains unfinished. Namibia’s desert is next for the Kotharis. Egypt and Jordan await the Thakors, after they “travelled from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kutch to Arunachal Pradesh in our car”. Time keeps moving. The Kotharis, Vakils and Thakors move faster.

NEW DELHI: As the controversy over its November 20 order on the Aravali hills refuses to die down and environmentalists and citizens oppose the verdict, Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the issue and registered a case which will be taken up on Monday. The cause list put up on the Supreme Court website says suo motu civil case regarding ‘Definition of Aravali Hills and Ranges and Ancillary Issue’ will be taken up by a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices J K Maheshwari and A G Masih.The apex court, in its Nov ruling, had accepted the expert committee’s definition of Aravali Hills and Ranges in the context of mining as any landform located in the Aravali districts having an elevation of 100m or more, measured from the local relief. Aravali Range has been defined as two or more Aravali Hills, located within 500m from each other.The definition of Aravali Hills and Ranges was given by a committee comprising secretary, MoEFCC; secretaries of the department of forests of NCT, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat; a representative from Forest Survey of India, central empowered committee, Geological Survey of India and joint secretary, MoEFCC.Raising questions on SC’s ruling, environmentalists alleged that it would lead to massive mining as the activity would be allowed on hills with height less than 100m.Aravalis would lose continuity and integrity, amicus had arguedDuring the hearing of the case, senior advocate K Parameshwar, who was assisting the court as amicus, had objected to the definition and contended that all hills below 100m would be opened up for mining and as a result the Aravali Hills and Ranges would lose their continuity and integrity. “If the definition as suggested by the Committee is accepted, it would totally endanger the environment and ecology of the mountains,” he had submitted, which was also incorporated in the order.Against his submission, additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati had contended that if the definition of Aravali Hills and Ranges as suggested by the FSI (slope of 3 degree or more) is accepted, it would exclude large areas. If the definition suggested by the committee is adopted, she submitted, a larger area would be included as part of Aravali Hills and Ranges.

China’s industrial firms saw their profits drop by 13.1 per cent in November, from last year, marking the steepest decline in over a year. This fall came despite strong exports, putting focus on country’s ongoing economic struggles and increasing pressure for more government support. The National Bureau of Statistics released these figures on Saturday, as quoted by Reuters.The decline was worse than October’s 5.5 per cent. This trend comes as China faces persistent factory-gate deflation and weak consumer spending. For the first 11 months of the year, industrial profits barely grew, showing just a 0.1% increase compared to the previous year’s 1.9% growth.“The profit numbers show a broader cooling in economic activity in the fourth quarter, mainly due to the drag from soft domestic demand,” said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. However, Xu remained cautiously optimistic about future profits, suggesting companies might find more opportunities overseas.Despite this, there were some industries that managed to register gains. The automobile industry posted a 7.5 per cent rise in profitability, while the high tech industry posted a 10 per cent rise. A massive decline of 47.3 percent in profitability was seen in the coal mine industry.An estimate by the think tank, Rhodium Group, quoted by Reuters, indicated a growth of 2.5 per cent to 3 per cent in the Chinese economy for the year, which is approximately half the officially-hinted growth.Chinese policymakers are now promising more support. At a recent meeting, they pledged to maintain “proactive” fiscal policies next year. The government has also committed to improving employment, boosting consumption, stabilizing prices, and helping the struggling property market.NBS Chief Statistician Yu Weining noted that industrial firms still need stronger support, especially given the uncertain global environment and ongoing changes in growth drivers. The data covers companies earning at least 20 million yuan ($2.85 million) in annual revenue from their main operations.

The protest led by the Hindu community against the killing of a Hindu man in a communally charged environment in Bangladesh was disrupted by the Khalistani miscreants outside the Bangladesh High Commission in London.Indian and Bangladeshi Hindus were outside the Bangladesh High Commission in London on Saturday when a handful of Khalistanis showed up outside in support of Bangladesh.Shattered by horrific lynchings of Dipu Chandra Das and Amrit Mondal, trapped and persecuted Hindus in Bangladesh are sending out an SOS to India to open the borders to escape Islamist mob fury. The fears were accentuated on Thursday by the groundswell of support to Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Tarique Rahman, who’s considered a hardliner.VIDEO TOI reached out to a cross-section of Hindus residing in Rangpur, Chittagong, Dhaka and Mymensingh and spoke to them on Whatsapp call with the help of exiled Bangladesh Sanatan Jagran Macha leader, Nihar Haldar, accused of sedition along with former ISKCON monk, Chinmoy Krishna Das.The ripples could be felt in refugee pockets of Gadchiroli, Chandrapur in Maharashtra and Pakhanjur in Chhattisgarh, where Hindu immigrants from erstwhile East Pakistan were settled. Dr Subodh Biswas, president of Nikhil Bangla Samanbay Samiti, an organisation of former East Pakistan refugees, says, “Why don’t Hindu organisations get proactive? India is the only country where Hindus of Bangladesh can bank upon during a crisis. More Hindus will be killed, but borders remain shut. We plan to stage protests at the border.”“There are 2.5 crore Hindus in Bangladesh. It’s not a small number. Hindu organisations in India are doing nothing more than lip service. We are staring at a holocaust,” said a Sanatan Jagran Macha activist requesting anonymity. It’s not that there will be Hindu exodus after borders open, but we will be at least insulated from violence, said a resident of Mymensingh. “We are living the worst nightmare. Opening the Indian borders will at least create an escape route for those facing persecution,” said a Hindu from Dhaka. Many lead a hand-to-mouth existence in Bangladesh, including those like Dipu Chandra Das’ family.The acrimonious exchanges between India and Bangladesh in the past few weeks came to a head on Friday with India slamming Dhaka for “unremitting hostility” against minorities – including Hindus, Christians and Buddhists – in the country at the hands of extremists.Calling it a matter of grave concern, ministry of external affairs (MEA) condemned the recent killing of a Hindu youth in Mymensingh and stressed that the perpetrators of the crime must be brought to justice.Asked about the return of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman to Dhaka after 17 years, the Indian govt only said it should be seen in the context of India’s call for efforts to ensure free, fair and inclusive parliamentary polls in Bangladesh.