Many die in India temple stampede, police say

BBC News - Many die in India temple stampede, police say: "Many die in India temple stampede, police say
An unidentified woman is comforted after a stampede at a temple in Kunda, 180 kilometers (112 miles) southeast of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh - March 4, 2010
Most of those gathered at the ceremony were from nearby villages

At least 63 people have died in a stampede after the gate of a Hindu temple collapsed in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, police say.

Dozens more were injured in the panic at the temple in Pratapgarh district, 650km (400 miles) south-east of Delhi.

All of the dead identified so far are women and children, police say. The temple gate was still being built.

Hundreds of people have been killed in stampedes at crowded Indian temples in recent years.

'Counted all the bodies'

Thursday's disaster happened at a popular Ram Janaki temple in the town of Kunda in Pratapgarh district, about 25km (15 miles) north of the city of Allahabad.

The temple is owned by a Hindu holy man, Jagadguru Kripalu Ji Maharaj, who police say was marking the anniversary of the death of his wife with a ritual feast.

INDIA STAMPEDES
January 2010: Seven people die at festival on Ganges in West Bengal
September 2008: More than 220 people die at temple in Jodhpur
August 2008: At least 140 people die at temple in Himachal Pradesh
March 2008: At least eight people killed at temple in Madhya Pradesh
January 2005: Up to 300 people die on pilgrimage to Maharashtra temple

Timeline: Most deadly stampedes
In pictures: Indian stampede

Thousands of people had gathered for the ceremonial feast and free distribution of clothes - the stampede occurred when people scrambled to collect the offerings being handed out.

Local journalists told the BBC they were mostly poor people from local villages.

Police officials said an iron gate leading to the temple complex collapsed, leading to a crowd surge.

'We have now counted all the bodies and they include 37 children and 26 women who had come to collect free gifts,' assistant superintendent of police SP Pathak told AFP news agency from the scene of the disaster.

The BBC's Ram Dutt Tripathi in the state capital, Lucknow, said the temple gate was under construction when it collapsed.

Investigation

Emergency teams and ambulances were rushed to the site, some from neighbouring districts and the injured have been taken to hospitals.

Hundreds of people gathered at local hospitals for news of their relatives.

'She had just wandered in to see what was happening,' 38-year-old Gudal, whose seven-year-old daughter died in the stampede, told the Associated Press news agency.

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state, Ms Mayawati, has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Government officials say it appears that the organisers of the event had been unprepared to deal with the size of the crowd.

Eyewitnesses say it took a while for help to arrive and there was no-one on hand initially to offer them any assistance.

There have been a number of similar accidents in India in which large numbers of people congregate in an area ill-equipped to handle big gatherings.

In 2008, nearly 300 people were killed in stampedes and scores injured in two different Hindu temples in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh states."

India/ Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership

In January, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) of India announced renewable energy certificate (REC) norms in an attempt to encourage investments in the renewable energy sector. A REEEP-funded project together with IREDA is currently working to outline the specifics of the implementation.

According to the new norms, the regulator will designate a central agency to issue RECs to generators who can sell them to green energy-deficient states utilities, so they can meet their renewable purchase obligations at lower cost. There will be two categories of certificates, solar certificates and non-solar certificates.

RE generators will have two options – either to sell the renewable energy at a preferential tariff fixed by the concerned Electricity Regulatory Commission or to sell the electricity generation and environmental attributes associated with RE generation separately.

The Electricity Act 2003 requires each state commission to specify a renewable purchase obligation (RPO) - a quota of RET – for the State. However, the uneven distribution of renewable energy potential discouraged States (like New Delhi) with lesser renewable energy generation sources from setting higher RPOs; whereas states such as Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu where there is high potential were not encouraged to harness that potential beyond their quota.

The new norms create incentives which should go part-way to solving this problem. By creating a market for green certificates at a national level, States with low RE potential will be enabled to reach their quota at less expense by buying certificates from States where RET can be generated at a low cost. Renewable Energy generators in the States with high potential are simultaneously encouraged to overproduce against their own State quota.

This will help India to meet its national RES target. As at 31st July, 2009, renewable energy sources constituted only about 8.5% of the total generation capacity of India. In terms of actual generation, the share of renewable is estimated to be in the range of 3.5% of the total. The National Action Plan of Climate Change (NAPCC) has set the target of 5% renewable energy purchase for FY 2009-10, which will increase by 1% per year for the next 10 years.

The REEEP project supporting the design of the Indian Renewable Energy Certificates has the support of the Sustainable Energy Regulation Network (SERN), a sub-network of REEEP, and is being implemented by IREDA.

Delhi will soon get another forest

As part of its "Green Delhi" drive, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit formally inaugurated a new city forest to come up at Chhawla village on the bank of Najafgarh drain in southwest Delhi on Saturday. On the occasion, over 160 children went about planting 1,000-odd saplings in the designated space. Some 12,000 more saplings are to be planted at the site over the next few weeks.
In all, the Delhi government plans to set up nine forests in different parts of the city during the drive.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms Dikshit said that Delhi was one of the greenest capitals in the world. Delhi would soon have 32 city forests, she said. Nine of them were set up last year whereas 14 were in existence before that. With this, Delhi’s green cover would go up beyond 20 per cent of its total area, she said.
Chhawla city forest is being developed on a 12-hectare piece of land which belonged to the department of irrigation and flood control.
This has now been handed over to the department of environment which has constructed a boundary wall around the land.
The location was chosen keeping in view the need for urban recreation and quality green spaces in the city from the point of view of the environment.
It would also act as potential habitat for resident and migratory wildlife in urban and nearby areas. Among tree species that will find a home at the new forest are neem, jamun, arjun, kajalia, amaltas, shisham, begonia, bakain etc.

India can't settle impasse over US nuke deal

A meeting Wednesday between the Indian government and its communist allies failed to settle an impasse over a landmark nuclear deal with the United States. Faced with a choice of breaking with the communists and heading to early elections or abandoning the deal, seen as a cornerstone in the strengthening partnership between New Delhi and Washington, the government chose to stall for more time. "The committee completed its discussions on all aspects of the Indo-U.S. civil nuclear cooperation agreement. The next meeting of the committee, to be convened in due course, will finalize its findings," said Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, reading from a terse prepared statement after the meeting. He declined to answer questions. Mukherjee represented the governing Congress party at the hour-long talks with leaders of the communist parties and heads of several smaller members of the ruling coalition. The nuclear deal would reverse three decades of American policy by allowing the shipment of atomic fuel and technology to India, which has not signed international nonproliferation accords and has tested nuclear weapons. India, in exchange, would open its civilian reactors to international inspections. While the government appeared to be trying to stall, its time could be running out. U.S. officials said earlier this year that with American elections coming up _ and no guarantee the next American administration will keep the deal on the table _ India needed to complete its end of the pact before the U.S. Congress starts its summer break in July because many lawmakers will be busy campaigning in the fall. The deal has faced stiff opposition from India's communist parties, which don't want to see New Delhi drawn closer to Washington. The communists, who prop up the government from the outside, have threatened to withdraw their support if the current administration presses on with the nuclear pact, a move that could topple the government and lead to early elections. For India to move ahead with the deal it needs to sign a separate deal with the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency that's needed before the U.S. Congress can approve the pact. There was no change of heart from the communists after the talks. "We will not allow this government to go for the IAEA board approval," said Debabrata Biswas, a senior communist official who attended the meeting. With no concessions from the communists, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be forced to either move forward without their support _ a risky political move _ or abandon the much touted nuclear agreement. There had been intense political maneuvering ahead of the meeting, with Congress holding a series of talks with its coalition partners in a bid to determine if they had the support to break with the communists. But the move, spearheaded by Singh, who has staked his reputation on the deal, was dealt a blow by the release of figures last week that put inflation at 11.05 percent, a 13-year high _ dampening the appetite of the political parties for early elections. For U.S. President George W. Bush, the deal would be a major foreign policy success amid the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For India, it would provide much-needed nuclear fuel for its energy-hungry economy. ___
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US-India nuclear deal hits a fresh snag

The passage of a landmark nuclear deal between India and the United States has hit a fresh snag with senators in Washington piling the pressure on New Delhi to keep its distance from Iran, officials said.
Although the US Congress agreed in December to let talks on the energy deal move forward, Indian and US officials are still at odds over the fine print of an accord seen as the centrepiece of a new post-Cold War relationship.There was some cause for optimism after talks in Washington earlier this week, with Indian diplomats saying problem issues like the treatment of spent fuel and India's right to test nuclear weapons could be overcome.
But in the aftermath of the talks on how India should get previously forbidden nuclear technology, seven US senators wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh telling him not to cosy up too much with Iran.
Washington is trying to isolate Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme and alleged support for terrorism. "We are deeply concerned by India's increasing co-operation with that country," said the letter, which was widely published in the Indian media.
The senators-who still have a say over whether the nuclear accord can go through-objected to "the exchange of visits between high-level officials, enhanced military ties, and negotiations of agreements to establish closer economic relations." The text also singled out India's hopes to buy Iranian gas via a multi-billion dollar pipeline-a project which, like the nuclear energy deal with the US, is seen as crucial for energy-hungry India to fuel long-term economic growth.
These problems, the senators said, "have a significant potential to negatively affect the relationship between the US and India." Indian officials, however, are putting on a brave face over the letter-the second in as many months.
"It is a pressure point no doubt, but I would not regard it as a deal breaker," a senior government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
But an Indian foreign ministry official said the US pressure over how his country chooses to conduct its traditional non-aligned foreign policy could leave the government exposed to more domestic criticism over the deal.