The Vedanta sell-out notice is not a good sign for Tamilnadu as well as country

by admin Thursday, June 23, 2022 08:22 pm

The Vedanta sell-out notice is not a good sign for Tamilnadu as well as country

When I was a kid there was a film titled Albert Pinto ko Gussa Kyo aata hai starring Nasiruddin Shah, an actor who shined in such people centric roles. If I were to retitle it I would rename it as Asheesh Shah ko Gussa Kyo aata hai as one sees certain events in the country whether at political, social, security, and the last bastion Industry and businesses.
By God’s grace, Modi is the best thing to happen for the country. However, the virus and cancer have been so deeply ingrained in the society during the last 70 years or so, that when the resurrection of the country is happening in a positive manner with all credits to PM Modi, , the snakes are coming out and biting openly, without fears and guilt. The only issue with the Modi government at times is that it fell short of taking drastic action in certain cases ( please read each of our words carefully to understand what we mean).

Let’s take the example of a leading industrial house in the country whose Chairman Mr. Anil Agrawal made a good turnaround of some dying PSUs ( BALCO, Hindustan Zinc) and Cairn among others. Here was an entrepreneur who was bringing investments from his contacts in the UK and elsewhere to make the country Atma Nirbhar in the all-important metal sector. He is an industrialist and of course, the stakeholder’s interest has to be kept in mind but there was also a person who was playing with the rules and laws of the country. Little did he know that one of his copper plants in Tamilnadu will have to be closed because of international conspiracy and apathy of the nation.

Agarwal has pledged to give away 75% of his wealth to charity. In 2021, he signed the Giving Pledge. (https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/when-all-hope-was-lost-billionaire-anil-agarwal-reflects-on-toughest-10-yrs-11648557765319.html). (https://www.forbes.com/profile/anil-agarwal/?sh=30f7769b61a1).

We are not writing a blog for Anil Agrawal or his interests but for things that everyone must be aware of in national interests. Finally, tired of the ongoing machinations and losing money as well as patience, there was a news advertisement published by Vedanta with the intent of Sale of its Tuticorin-based copper smelting plant Sterlite copper Industries in most of the newspapers last week. If you are shocked full marks to you but if you are not shocked then also full marks. Because it was hardly surprising for all those who are in touch with the developments that have been happening in Tamilnadu where the Tuticorin plant is located a less than 100 Kms from Kanyakumari and maybe a 150 Kms from Madurai, very well connected by roads and also boasting of a high capacity seaport.

A taste of the flavour can be gauged by the fact that Kanimozi local DMK MP and The Hindu prominent national daily from Tamil Nadu have said the following.
1. https://youtu.be/4pLVg3ezBMM
‘2. Vedanta’s sale decision a victory for govt.’ – The Hindu – https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/vedantas-sale-decision-a-victory-for-govt/article65546314.ece

This should have fairly caught the eyes of the center way back in 2018 when the issue got triggered due to police firing that killed 13 locals. But the protest to the plant was happening before that and Soros the toolkit Don has sent an agent One Mr. Das even before that with a bag full of kitty to purchase locals that include lobbyists, media and politicians.

The Other Media (TOM) is an FCRA NGO with the registration number DL 231660085 and was founded by Rev. Earnest Deenadayalam in the year 1992 ( website: theothermedia.in) and has indulged in various campaigns for social and environmental issues. Some of them are Community Environmental monitoring (CEM), under which multiple projects are undertaken. They get funding from Association for India’s development ( read religiously), Global Green Grants Fund ( read project sabotage), The Takaji Fund for Citizens Science ( read social unrest, and PesticideAction Network ( read farmer and agriculture-related).

The organization received a whopping Rs 71550 in 2012 from the World Association for Christian Communication. So now we know the scale and order of things and also why certain government officers, Chartered accountants, Media Advocates, and politicians are in nexus with them and how its easy to close a national asset like Vedanta.

Well-known anti-Modi media The_wire is one such platform where one can find paid journalists and lobbyists publishing their pieces which are then circulated widely through social media.

Currently, Tamilnadu has the highest number of FCRA NGOs around 2483 and is most likely the highest receiver of foreign funding after Delhi. One can see also how toothless is our FCRA violations act before such numbers even after some amendments in 2020. Any law or rule unless is practical is useless looking at the severity and scale of issues it handles and governs.

This story of Vedanta and its sufferings at the hands of lobbyists led by Gorge Soros and company, Missionaries, environmentalists and local persons besides state government and also central government should go as a classic case in the annals of Indian industry. It shows that national interest is not a priority when it comes to money, and power games played by the tycoons of business, governments, and others. Don’t take it otherwise, we will just explain the same. The country is a net importer of copper, a precious element that has been used ever since civilization has come up in the form of Bronze/metal age. Further commercialization of copper happened with the advent of Electric vehicles and the accompanying lithium battery business.

The Background of Vedanta:

At the risk of repeating ourselves, we are again reminding readers that there has been a long international conspiracy happening to close one of the country’s biggest copper plants ( 4 lakh tonne annual capacity (approx 40% of country’s production, other being Hindustan copper a PSU) which was ready to be doubled when the trouble started in full force). The government should have understood that this sabotage was not on Vedanta but the nation. By closing Vedanta’s Sterlite copper smelting plant, Pakistan was able to increase its exports to China from USD 35 MILLION IN 2017 to USD 787.96 MILLION IN 2021, IN EXACTLY THE PERIOD WHEN VEDANTA WAS CLOSED.
The country which was a net exporter of copper until 2018, became not only reduced from 378,555 tonnes in 2017 to 47, 917 tonnes in 2018-19 and even imported thereafter. The prices also skyrocketed while China dominated the markets and dictated global prices through control of London metal exchange (LME) and subsidiaries.

This drama of Vedanta has been going on for years and this is what pinches us. With so much at stake and an obvious case of international conspiracy why no action has been taken on this, We have been writing on the issue since 2018. Then Defence Minister late sh Manohar Parrikkar ji was kind enough to respond to our BLOGS on the issue and asked us to do more research. We have continued the same. The matter now rests with the court but unless the central government picks up the issue in national interest there will be no straightforward solution as the state government is not much in favour of the same.

. A committee chaired by Aruna Jagdeeshan is also pending with the CM Stalin office to be released publicly but may be withheld as it may have political overtones and will favour Vedanta as it may provide a final verdict against any role of Vedanta in the firing that killed 13 persons. The media and central government must insist to get this report in the public interest.

Conclusion:

There is not much to write except to conclude that here is a case of international conspiracy with clear and outright evidence that no one is paying attention to. The matter has been taken up with ED, IB Finance ministry, and many other organizations but nothing has happened and the foreign lobby is not deterred. In fact, their proactiveness can be gauged by the fact that a movie was released on OTT platform on the anniversary of the incident i.e. 22 May.
We are not sure what has stopped the central / State government from interfering and taking an active position. It could be bureaucracy, missionary, China, or money power or political interests or it can be a case of industrial rivalry also.

The Tamilnadu government has come out with an ambitious Industrial policy inviting investors from the country in the state for a trillion economy. But looking at the case of Vedanta we are of the opinion that the Industrial revolution that the CM is seeking will just fizzle out and investors will shy from any investment in the state.

But as said in the beginning Albert Pinto ko Gussa kyo aata hai should be clear to all.

A small digression: Metals in Vedic period : yet we have acted as fools

The Rigveda has widely referred to hiranya, which is the oldest Sanskrit word for gold. It has also mentioned products made from gold, such as water vessels, necklaces, and visor. Chariots decorated with gold have also been mentioned. The Rigveda (10.75.8) mentioned that the river Sindhu (Indus) contains gold. Another Rigveda hymn (8.26.18), states that the path of the river Sindhu contains gold, and the word used for it is hiranyavartanih.
Another important metal referred to in Rigveda is ayas. It has a shining appearance. Ayashas different meanings in different periods. In the early Vedic period, it means either copper or copper alloys. One of the important products made from ayas, as stated in the Rigveda, was the weapon of Indra called vajra. It was made by the process of sinchan (casting). In the later Vedic period ayas or karshnayas means iron. In the Atharvaveda, rajata (silver), trapu (tin) and sisa(lead) have been mentioned.

Here is a rich Sanskrit terminology for metals, from which interesting information on the history of metallurgy can be derived copper produced in Nepal was called naipalika or nepalaka, and was of high purity. Tin recovered from lead-tin alloy was called nagaja, i.e. “that obtained from naga (lead)”.Then there were different names given to Iron like Manda, Kata Munda was wrought iron. As the name suggests tiksna has superior hardness as compared to munda. Tiksna represented crucible steel made by liquid metallurgy and also probably further carburized wrought iron. Special varieties of iron were called kanta. An exciting example of wrought iron produced in ancient India is the World famous Delhi Iron Pillar. It was erected in the present position in Delhi in the 5th Century AD by king Chandra Varman. Historically brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, was known to man much earlier than they were able to extract zinc from its ore on a large scale. In the early period, zinc was designated as sattva of zinc ore. In the medieval period, it was designated, as yashada in Sanskrit. Zinc oxide, known as pushpanjan, has been referred to in Charak Samhita.

This may be known to many but then there is no other way to remind everyone what we have inherited and what we are doing and acting.
With so much history, knowledge, and usage of metals known to us we Indians have been really foolish to not act wisely when it comes to harnessing metals. On the other hand, China which also has a civilization like us has been on a spree to grab mines from Africa, South America to Asia, and all other places. China is a smart country and we don’t mind appreciating that country and we Indians are fools. We won’t be shy to tell you this.