December 11, 2025 • 22 mins
First, The Indian Express' Vineet Bhalla talks about Rajasthan where a three year standoff between the residents of Jodhpura village and UltraTech Cement has entered a new phase.
Next, we speak to The Indian Express' Rural Affairs Editor Harish Damodaran about the ongoing tariff related tensions between India and the United States. (12:40)
And in the end, we discuss how the deadly nightclub fire in Goa has now led to arrests in Thailand. (19:45)
Hosted by Ichha Sharma
Written and produced by Shashank Bhargava, Niharika Nanda and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
Next, we speak to The Indian Express' Rural Affairs Editor Harish Damodaran about the ongoing tariff related tensions between India and the United States. (12:40)
And in the end, we discuss how the deadly nightclub fire in Goa has now led to arrests in Thailand. (19:45)
Hosted by Ichha Sharma
Written and produced by Shashank Bhargava, Niharika Nanda and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In this episode, we look at the ongoing tariff related
tensions between India and the United States. We also discuss
how the deadly nightclub fire in Goa has now led
to arrests in Thailand. But first we talk about Rajasthan,
where a three year standoff between the residents of Jodhpurah
village and Altra Tech Cement has now entered a new phase. Hi,
(00:27):
I'm Achasharma and you're listening to three Things the Indian
Express new show. Last month, the National Green Tribunal issued
one of its strongest orders in recent years, directing the
state government to prepare for a full rehabilitation plan for
(00:48):
the village, citing structural damage, environmental violations and significant health
impacts allegedly linked to the company's limestone mining operations.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
So Jodpurah is a small village on the foothills of
the Aravalis In the quote puti Behro district in Rajasthan.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
That's the Indian expresses Venid Pala, who reported on the
story for the newspaper.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
The village is about a couple of us away from Jaipur,
and as I said, it's not very big. It has
just two thousand residents. And interestingly, Jodhpura was originally part
of a larger revenue village called Mohanpura, and years ago,
when the mining business started in the vicinity of this village,
(01:37):
the main Mohunpura settlement was rehabilitated to another location to
make way for mining operations because the mining operations were
to begin on the site of the main Mohunpura village,
but Jodhpura was left behind. So today the residents of
Djopura literally living right beside a mining lee's area.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
But more than a month of to that, ruling residents
say the mining blasts continue, the dust pollution remains unchanged,
and the administrative response on the ground has yet to
reflect the scale of what the enerty ordered. So to
understand why the situation on the ground remains unchanged and
what the next steps could look like, we speak to
Veneath in this segment, who begins by telling us how
(02:21):
it all started.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah, so, the villagers have been staging an indefinite sit
in protest at the local cremation ground for over one
thousand days. They began this protest in December of twenty
twenty two, but their actual agitation and struggle dates back
much earlier to twenty sixteen, when they started writing letters
(02:45):
to bureaucrats and politicians about problems that they were facing
because of the mining and industrial operations. They wrote about
how cracks are appearing in their homes due to blasting
at the mining site. But from what I was told
by the villagers, the tipping point was the installation of
a new stone crusher just eighty meters away from the
(03:07):
village government school. And when the villagers realized that the
administration isn't listening to them, isn't going to help them,
then they formed the collective which they named the joshpurah
Sanghar Samiti, and they started with their sit in protest
in December twenty two and their demand is that either
(03:29):
they should be rehabilitated somewhere else or the pollution that
is making their village unlivable should be stopped.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
And during a reportage, you spoke with the villagers, So
what did they have to say about the scale of
the problem.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
It's actually quite horrible. Both I and my colleague Parol,
who actually went and visited the village, we've spoken to
multiple members of the johpurah Sanghar Samiti in fact, when
Parol was there, a blast actually went off shape king
the entire ground, and a villager there at that time
(04:04):
told her that this was a very small blast and
the big ones feel like actual earthquakes. Residents have described
to us how utensils fall off shelves when these blasts happen,
and often don't even sleep inside the house because they
fear that their roofs might collapse. They also told us
that this blasting happens both during the day and during
(04:27):
the nighttime, and this has completely disrupted their lives.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
And also what kind of health and environmental implications do
they describe, you know, living next to this limestone mine,
because you highlight that villagers say that there's not a
single house without allergies and that children sometimes cougher blood.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So there is a severe public health crisis that has
started there because of these mining operations. So the NGTY
Order mentions that two ninety eight villagers are being treated
for conditions directly linked to the pollution. Conditions such as
skin rashes, asthema i, irritation, and even hearing loss due
(05:09):
to the noise. When Parol visited the village, the villages
showed her inhalers that they carry everywhere. One resident and
member of the Sanghar Samiti Lalita Devi. She told me
that if you dry clothes outside, they're covered in dust
within minutes. And beyond these immediate health issues, the groundwater
(05:29):
in the village has also been depleted and contaminated, making
it unfit for drinking. So both the air and the
water in Jopura are hazardous right now.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Underneath what's interesting is that women have become the backbone
of this agitation. So could I just talk about what
roles are they playing in sustaining the protest?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah, so women are central to this movement. Which this
is something that Parol found out after she visited the village.
One of the residents of the village, Geita dev She
told her that since men in the village work as
contractual laborers for Ultra Tech, so they fear losing their
jobs if they openly speak out or protest against the company.
(06:14):
So the owners falls on the women who are at
home dealing with dust settling on clothes which are hung
outside for drying, and does settling on food that they're preparing.
These are women who are caring for the children at
homes that are terrified by these blasts. These are women
who have to deal with the water scarcity in the village.
(06:37):
So that is why it is the women who stepped
up and have been leading the sit in protest and
they have also faced police action. We were told that
about thirty women were detained during the protest last year
when I think someone in the company or someone in
the administration complained against them to the police.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Right. And it is after you of being ignored by
local officials that villagers approached the National Green Tribunal. So
if you could just break down for us, what were
their core allegations and what did the energy order thereafter?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yeah, so the villagers eventually approached last year an environmental
lawyer in Delhi. His name is Raoul Chawdrey is an
eminent environmental lawyer and Mister Chawdrey. In his application before
the Jity, he argued that the mining operations were violating
the villagers right to life, which is guaranteed under Article
(07:35):
twenty one of the Constitution. The entity application presented Google
Earth images which provided evidence that the stone crusher was
less than one hundred meters from the village school. The
applications claimed that this violated the rule that there should
be a buffer of one and a half kilometers between
(07:55):
mining site and any human settlements, and eventually the ruled
in their favor in the beginning of November. It ruled
that the absolute liability principle would apply, which means that
the company Ultra Tech was to be held responsible for
damages regardless of the precautions they took, which is that
(08:17):
they have absolute liability for the damages. So the tribunal
gave several directions in its order. Among them was a
five hundred meter no blasting zone around the village. It
ordered interim compensation of rupees fifty thousand for damaged homes
and rupees twenty thousand for those villagers who had developed
(08:38):
health issues, and it also directed the state government to
form a committee to rehabilitate the entire village.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
And beneath this order for rehabilitation of the entire village
is something extremely rare, right, So talk about why was
this considered to be such a landmark ruling.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, so it can be considered a landmark cruling because
the Enity and Quotes when dealing with environmental issues usually
only ordered compensation or pollution control measures and to be clear,
the enity in this case has also ordered compensation and
it has also ordered pollution control measures. But on top
of that, it has ordered the state to move this
(09:19):
entire village of two thousand people, which is incredibly rare.
By doing this, the quote, the tribunal has essentially and
implicitly acknowledged that the environmental degradation here is irreversible and
that human habitation cannot coexist in such close vicinity with
(09:42):
this scale of minding. So this sets the precedent that
when a development project it compromises to such an extent
the habitability of an area, then the onus on the
state is to not just pay fines but also relocate
the community living there.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
And what about ultra Tech? How have they responded to
the allegations and also what is their legal position at
the stage.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
So ultra Tech has maintained that they are compliant with
all regulatory requirements and statutory permissions. When I reached out
to them, they declined to comment specifically on the order
of the entity and on the allegations by the villagers
that nothing much has changed on ground. They said that
(10:31):
the matter is sub judas. They said this because they
have filed a review petition against the entity's order. But
just to be clear, as of now there is no
stay on the entity's order.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
And lastly, beneath how long could a full rehabilitation take
and the obstacles that lie ahead because you highlight that residence,
say the blasting has actually increased since the entity ruling.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Honestly, there is a very long road diet for the
rehabilitation to actually and finally take place. The lawyer for
the Jophpura Sangha Samite before the jurity, mister Raoul Chadri,
he told me that this is not going to happen
immediately within two or three months. This is because the
government has to first identify suitable land, then it has
(11:20):
to calculate the costs for building homes for two thousand people,
and then it has to actually build those homes and
the companying infrastructure. The biggest obstacle to this will, of
course be political will, because as we've seen, these villagers
have been reaching out to the government since twenty sixteen
about these mining operations and the problems posed by it,
(11:43):
and nothing much was done. Another obstacle is the Ultra
Tech's legal challenge. Ultra Tech has filed a review petition.
When it is heard, it is likely to elongate the
implementation and the final status of the Ingity order, and
which is why the will villagers themselves are quite apprehensive
(12:03):
about the entity's order. They know that without continued pressure
on their part, the order will not be implemented. As
one of the villagers and members of the Samiti had
told me that while they trust the Jity, they don't
trust the company or the state administration to follow through,
which is why even after the entity's order last month,
(12:26):
they have been regularly visiting district level officials, state government officials,
politicians to pressurize them into following through with the entity's directions.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
And next, we shift our focus to the latest tariff
threat from the United States and what it means for India.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump indicated that he
might impose fresh tariffs on a few agricultural imports, including
Canadian foods and Indian rice. He made these remarks during
(13:03):
a White House roundtable with Agriculture Secretary Brook Rawlins, lawmakers
from farm states, and American farmers, where he also said
that he would take care of what he called the
dumping of Indian rice in US markets. According to the farmers,
cheaper imports from countries like India and Thailand are making
(13:24):
it tough for their product to compete in the marketplace.
But is that actually the case? Is rice from India
hurting US farmers. To find this out, michaeligaharak Nanda spoke
to The Indian Express's rural affairs editor, harijhdamudran.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Harange to begin with, can you explain to us what
Trump meant when he said he would take care of
India dumping rice in the US market.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
See dumping from a technical point, it basically refers to underprising.
You know, suppose a country where to sell some produce
that you know, very rock bottom prices in another country,
you know, way below, then then you can call it dumping.
But in the case of rice, I mean, it just
doesn't qualify to be dumping because India basically exports basmathi
(14:09):
rice to the US and basmathi always sells at a premium,
you know, like on an average I think Indian basmathi
goes for about say nine hundred dollars, whereas the US
itself exports its long rain rice, which is non narromatic.
You know, I think at about say five fifty dollars.
So when their grain is selling at five fifty dollars
and when our grain is selling at nine hundred dollars,
(14:31):
it cannot be dumping, you know. And I think that
Trump administration is claiming that both India and Thailand is dumping,
whereas the fact that both India and Thailand basically export
you know, premium rice, you know, like in the case
of Thailand, they also have aromatic rice. You know, it's
called jasamine rice, it's called home mali rice. I think
(14:52):
jasmine would be selling for about say seven hundred dollars,
you know, which will be slightly below our basmati, and
probably their home mali sells at about one hundred dollars plus,
just like our traditional basmathi you know, the old basmathi
would be selling around say thousand, two hundred dollars. So basically,
both these countries are exporting very premium rice. We hardly
sell any non basmati rice in the US.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
And can you tell us about the kind of rice
production that takes place in the US, how much do
they end up producing?
Speaker 4 (15:21):
See India over took China in twenty twenty four twenty
five to be the world's largest rice producer. Okay, so
we produce something like one fifty to one fifty two
million tons of mill rice. You know, the US is
a very small producer. You know, they hardly produce about
say six point five to seven million tons, you know,
(15:42):
so they are a very small producer. And the US
not only does it produce, and their production is very small,
and in fact, they export more than what they import.
I think they export around three million tons of rice
and they import around say one point five to you know,
one point six million tons. So that again goes against
the logic of dumping. You know, if I'm claiming that,
(16:02):
you know, hey, I'm a victim of dumping, then how
is it that I am exporting more than what I'm importing?
You know, So clearly it just doesn't fit. You know.
It's not like say the Americans saying that, you know,
we our manufacturing industry has been hit, you know, and
all our factories have closed because of Chinese dumping. You know,
China is the factory of the world, there is. We
are hardly hurting the American rice farmer.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
And as you mentioned, both India and Thailand are actually
serving very different markets in the US. So can we
expand on that point a bit.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Yeah, See, a lot of our basmati rice actually caters
to the ethnic Indian population there. Okay. So, like I
think about fifty percent of the basmati rice in the
US I think is sold by this one company, you know,
there's LT overseas, the guys who make Dawa basmati rice,
I think in the US they sell it under the
brand called Royal. So this is a very niche segment,
(16:54):
just like your Thai jasmine rice just caters to a
very specific section, you know. So it's very niche. So
India basically we export both basmathy and non Basmathia rice.
The basmathy rice is mostly exported to the West Asian countries,
you know, including Iran, Iraq, et cetera. You know, because
basically they are very large Biriyanni consumers, right and for
(17:15):
Biriyani you need basmathi, you know. And basmathi has the
advantage that you know, it elongates about up to four
times you know on cooking. You know, so if I
take say one bowl of basmati rice, you know, on cooking,
it expands to four bowls. So it's very economical for
making things like Biriyanni et cetera. Okay, so the Middle
East is a market for Indian basmathi rice, and of
(17:37):
course also US and UK, but those I think are
mostly you know, consumer packs, you know, branded, you know,
they all go as branded varieties and probably cater more
to the Asian population there. Then of course there is
also non basmathi rice, and our non basmathi rice mostly
goes to Africa, you know, and that is like, you know,
it kind of fulfills the food security of Africa, especially
(17:59):
all Western African countries, you know, countries like ben in,
ivory Co, Senegal, Guinea, you know, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo,
all these countries. You know. So rice is not a
uniform product. It sells at different prices, you know. And
definitely what we know is that the rise that goes
to Africa is not the rise which goes to the US.
(18:20):
US is a premium market and not every export exports
to the US.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Now, Trump, like we mentioned, said that he plans on
solving this dumping issue through more tariffs. If that happens,
will that have any impact on India's exports?
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Yeah, I don't think Indian exports will suffer much. But
of course, you know, like for example, for companies like
LT Overseas which have built a brand there, you know,
it will definitely hurt those individual companies because you know that,
you know, building markets takes time, you know, because you
have to establish a brand. So somebody likes say LT Overseas,
who has managed to you know, I think the Royal
brand is very well established. So I suppose then there
(19:00):
the consumers will have to pay that extra price. So
ultimately it will only make rice costlier there because the
demand for this rice would be quite price inelastic, you know.
And maybe the Indian American who's there, he may have
to pay a dollar or two dollars or two more
and he might pay that the same. But definitely, I
think overall it's not going to hurt Indian exports. You know,
(19:20):
if you look at all exporters, you know, the total
volume of exports, you know, because we do something like
about twenty two to twenty five million tons, you know,
off which Basmathi alone I think is about six to
six point five million tons, and the balance is is
non basmathi. So India has huge advantages of being the
world's largest producer as well as exporter and there is
a lot of demand for Indian rice.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
And in the end we take a look at the
fallout from last week's deadly fire at a Goa nightclub
that continues to widen. A Delhi High Court yesterday denight
transit anticipatory bail to srub and GORV luth the two
brothers associated with the Goa nightclub birch By Romeo Lane,
where a fire on seventh of December killed twenty five people,
(20:08):
including four tourists and twenty one staff members, as reported
by the Indian Expresses, narbehe taker the brothers were detained
in Thailand the same day and are now in the
process of being brought back to India. The police told
the court that Luthras fled within hours of the incident.
According to the case records, they booked tickets to forget
on the very day, roughly ninety minutes after they were
(20:30):
informed of the fire. The prosecution argued this demonstrated deliberate evasion,
noting that when investigators visited their home the next day,
their mother claimed she did not know her son's phone numbers.
Tucker notes that police also said a lookout circular was
issued on the day of the incident, and an Interpol
blue corner noticed two days later and argued that the
brothers misled the court by claiming they had traveled to
(20:52):
Thailand for business purposes. Later, the Police council submitted that
they have no business interests in Thailand. The police further
alleged that the nightclub was being operated without the required
licenses and had only one narrow entry and exit, which
contributed to the scale of the tragedy. They also accused
the applicants of manufacturing jurisdiction by seeking relief in Delhi
(21:13):
rather than Goa, where the case is registered. Howkout further
reports that defense lawyers, including senior advocates in dhat Lutra
and Advocate than wed Ahmadmead, argued that the brothers were
merely licensees, not owners, and were not present at the
site when the fire occurred. They said no vicarious liability
could be fastened on them and alleged that the state
was acting out of revenge, pointing to the demolition of
(21:36):
two of their go establishments without prior notice. You were
listening to Three Things by The Indian Express. Today's show
was edited and mixed by Surreyesh Pavar and produced by
Shishang Bhargav, Nharkananda and me Ichasharma. If you like the show,
do subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. You
(21:57):
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You can also tweet us at Express podcast or write
to us at podcast at Indian Express dot com
In this episode, we look at the ongoing tariff related
tensions between India and the United States. We also discuss
how the deadly nightclub fire in Goa has now led
to arrests in Thailand. But first we talk about Rajasthan,
where a three year standoff between the residents of Jodhpurah
village and Altra Tech Cement has now entered a new phase. Hi,
(00:27):
I'm Achasharma and you're listening to three Things the Indian
Express new show. Last month, the National Green Tribunal issued
one of its strongest orders in recent years, directing the
state government to prepare for a full rehabilitation plan for
(00:48):
the village, citing structural damage, environmental violations and significant health
impacts allegedly linked to the company's limestone mining operations.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
So Jodpurah is a small village on the foothills of
the Aravalis In the quote puti Behro district in Rajasthan.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
That's the Indian expresses Venid Pala, who reported on the
story for the newspaper.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
The village is about a couple of us away from Jaipur,
and as I said, it's not very big. It has
just two thousand residents. And interestingly, Jodhpura was originally part
of a larger revenue village called Mohanpura, and years ago,
when the mining business started in the vicinity of this village,
(01:37):
the main Mohunpura settlement was rehabilitated to another location to
make way for mining operations because the mining operations were
to begin on the site of the main Mohunpura village,
but Jodhpura was left behind. So today the residents of
Djopura literally living right beside a mining lee's area.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
But more than a month of to that, ruling residents
say the mining blasts continue, the dust pollution remains unchanged,
and the administrative response on the ground has yet to
reflect the scale of what the enerty ordered. So to
understand why the situation on the ground remains unchanged and
what the next steps could look like, we speak to
Veneath in this segment, who begins by telling us how
(02:21):
it all started.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah, so, the villagers have been staging an indefinite sit
in protest at the local cremation ground for over one
thousand days. They began this protest in December of twenty
twenty two, but their actual agitation and struggle dates back
much earlier to twenty sixteen, when they started writing letters
(02:45):
to bureaucrats and politicians about problems that they were facing
because of the mining and industrial operations. They wrote about
how cracks are appearing in their homes due to blasting
at the mining site. But from what I was told
by the villagers, the tipping point was the installation of
a new stone crusher just eighty meters away from the
(03:07):
village government school. And when the villagers realized that the
administration isn't listening to them, isn't going to help them,
then they formed the collective which they named the joshpurah
Sanghar Samiti, and they started with their sit in protest
in December twenty two and their demand is that either
(03:29):
they should be rehabilitated somewhere else or the pollution that
is making their village unlivable should be stopped.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
And during a reportage, you spoke with the villagers, So
what did they have to say about the scale of
the problem.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
It's actually quite horrible. Both I and my colleague Parol,
who actually went and visited the village, we've spoken to
multiple members of the johpurah Sanghar Samiti in fact, when
Parol was there, a blast actually went off shape king
the entire ground, and a villager there at that time
(04:04):
told her that this was a very small blast and
the big ones feel like actual earthquakes. Residents have described
to us how utensils fall off shelves when these blasts happen,
and often don't even sleep inside the house because they
fear that their roofs might collapse. They also told us
that this blasting happens both during the day and during
(04:27):
the nighttime, and this has completely disrupted their lives.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
And also what kind of health and environmental implications do
they describe, you know, living next to this limestone mine,
because you highlight that villagers say that there's not a
single house without allergies and that children sometimes cougher blood.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So there is a severe public health crisis that has
started there because of these mining operations. So the NGTY
Order mentions that two ninety eight villagers are being treated
for conditions directly linked to the pollution. Conditions such as
skin rashes, asthema i, irritation, and even hearing loss due
(05:09):
to the noise. When Parol visited the village, the villages
showed her inhalers that they carry everywhere. One resident and
member of the Sanghar Samiti Lalita Devi. She told me
that if you dry clothes outside, they're covered in dust
within minutes. And beyond these immediate health issues, the groundwater
(05:29):
in the village has also been depleted and contaminated, making
it unfit for drinking. So both the air and the
water in Jopura are hazardous right now.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Underneath what's interesting is that women have become the backbone
of this agitation. So could I just talk about what
roles are they playing in sustaining the protest?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yeah, so women are central to this movement. Which this
is something that Parol found out after she visited the village.
One of the residents of the village, Geita dev She
told her that since men in the village work as
contractual laborers for Ultra Tech, so they fear losing their
jobs if they openly speak out or protest against the company.
(06:14):
So the owners falls on the women who are at
home dealing with dust settling on clothes which are hung
outside for drying, and does settling on food that they're preparing.
These are women who are caring for the children at
homes that are terrified by these blasts. These are women
who have to deal with the water scarcity in the village.
(06:37):
So that is why it is the women who stepped
up and have been leading the sit in protest and
they have also faced police action. We were told that
about thirty women were detained during the protest last year
when I think someone in the company or someone in
the administration complained against them to the police.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Right. And it is after you of being ignored by
local officials that villagers approached the National Green Tribunal. So
if you could just break down for us, what were
their core allegations and what did the energy order thereafter?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yeah, so the villagers eventually approached last year an environmental
lawyer in Delhi. His name is Raoul Chawdrey is an
eminent environmental lawyer and Mister Chawdrey. In his application before
the Jity, he argued that the mining operations were violating
the villagers right to life, which is guaranteed under Article
(07:35):
twenty one of the Constitution. The entity application presented Google
Earth images which provided evidence that the stone crusher was
less than one hundred meters from the village school. The
applications claimed that this violated the rule that there should
be a buffer of one and a half kilometers between
(07:55):
mining site and any human settlements, and eventually the ruled
in their favor in the beginning of November. It ruled
that the absolute liability principle would apply, which means that
the company Ultra Tech was to be held responsible for
damages regardless of the precautions they took, which is that
(08:17):
they have absolute liability for the damages. So the tribunal
gave several directions in its order. Among them was a
five hundred meter no blasting zone around the village. It
ordered interim compensation of rupees fifty thousand for damaged homes
and rupees twenty thousand for those villagers who had developed
(08:38):
health issues, and it also directed the state government to
form a committee to rehabilitate the entire village.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
And beneath this order for rehabilitation of the entire village
is something extremely rare, right, So talk about why was
this considered to be such a landmark ruling.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, so it can be considered a landmark cruling because
the Enity and Quotes when dealing with environmental issues usually
only ordered compensation or pollution control measures and to be clear,
the enity in this case has also ordered compensation and
it has also ordered pollution control measures. But on top
of that, it has ordered the state to move this
(09:19):
entire village of two thousand people, which is incredibly rare.
By doing this, the quote, the tribunal has essentially and
implicitly acknowledged that the environmental degradation here is irreversible and
that human habitation cannot coexist in such close vicinity with
(09:42):
this scale of minding. So this sets the precedent that
when a development project it compromises to such an extent
the habitability of an area, then the onus on the
state is to not just pay fines but also relocate
the community living there.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
And what about ultra Tech? How have they responded to
the allegations and also what is their legal position at
the stage.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
So ultra Tech has maintained that they are compliant with
all regulatory requirements and statutory permissions. When I reached out
to them, they declined to comment specifically on the order
of the entity and on the allegations by the villagers
that nothing much has changed on ground. They said that
(10:31):
the matter is sub judas. They said this because they
have filed a review petition against the entity's order. But
just to be clear, as of now there is no
stay on the entity's order.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
And lastly, beneath how long could a full rehabilitation take
and the obstacles that lie ahead because you highlight that residence,
say the blasting has actually increased since the entity ruling.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Honestly, there is a very long road diet for the
rehabilitation to actually and finally take place. The lawyer for
the Jophpura Sangha Samite before the jurity, mister Raoul Chadri,
he told me that this is not going to happen
immediately within two or three months. This is because the
government has to first identify suitable land, then it has
(11:20):
to calculate the costs for building homes for two thousand people,
and then it has to actually build those homes and
the companying infrastructure. The biggest obstacle to this will, of
course be political will, because as we've seen, these villagers
have been reaching out to the government since twenty sixteen
about these mining operations and the problems posed by it,
(11:43):
and nothing much was done. Another obstacle is the Ultra
Tech's legal challenge. Ultra Tech has filed a review petition.
When it is heard, it is likely to elongate the
implementation and the final status of the Ingity order, and
which is why the will villagers themselves are quite apprehensive
(12:03):
about the entity's order. They know that without continued pressure
on their part, the order will not be implemented. As
one of the villagers and members of the Samiti had
told me that while they trust the Jity, they don't
trust the company or the state administration to follow through,
which is why even after the entity's order last month,
(12:26):
they have been regularly visiting district level officials, state government officials,
politicians to pressurize them into following through with the entity's directions.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
And next, we shift our focus to the latest tariff
threat from the United States and what it means for India.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump indicated that he
might impose fresh tariffs on a few agricultural imports, including
Canadian foods and Indian rice. He made these remarks during
(13:03):
a White House roundtable with Agriculture Secretary Brook Rawlins, lawmakers
from farm states, and American farmers, where he also said
that he would take care of what he called the
dumping of Indian rice in US markets. According to the farmers,
cheaper imports from countries like India and Thailand are making
(13:24):
it tough for their product to compete in the marketplace.
But is that actually the case? Is rice from India
hurting US farmers. To find this out, michaeligaharak Nanda spoke
to The Indian Express's rural affairs editor, harijhdamudran.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Harange to begin with, can you explain to us what
Trump meant when he said he would take care of
India dumping rice in the US market.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
See dumping from a technical point, it basically refers to underprising.
You know, suppose a country where to sell some produce
that you know, very rock bottom prices in another country,
you know, way below, then then you can call it dumping.
But in the case of rice, I mean, it just
doesn't qualify to be dumping because India basically exports basmathi
(14:09):
rice to the US and basmathi always sells at a premium,
you know, like on an average I think Indian basmathi
goes for about say nine hundred dollars, whereas the US
itself exports its long rain rice, which is non narromatic.
You know, I think at about say five fifty dollars.
So when their grain is selling at five fifty dollars
and when our grain is selling at nine hundred dollars,
(14:31):
it cannot be dumping, you know. And I think that
Trump administration is claiming that both India and Thailand is dumping,
whereas the fact that both India and Thailand basically export
you know, premium rice, you know, like in the case
of Thailand, they also have aromatic rice. You know, it's
called jasamine rice, it's called home mali rice. I think
(14:52):
jasmine would be selling for about say seven hundred dollars,
you know, which will be slightly below our basmati, and
probably their home mali sells at about one hundred dollars plus,
just like our traditional basmathi you know, the old basmathi
would be selling around say thousand, two hundred dollars. So basically,
both these countries are exporting very premium rice. We hardly
sell any non basmati rice in the US.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
And can you tell us about the kind of rice
production that takes place in the US, how much do
they end up producing?
Speaker 4 (15:21):
See India over took China in twenty twenty four twenty
five to be the world's largest rice producer. Okay, so
we produce something like one fifty to one fifty two
million tons of mill rice. You know, the US is
a very small producer. You know, they hardly produce about
say six point five to seven million tons, you know,
(15:42):
so they are a very small producer. And the US
not only does it produce, and their production is very small,
and in fact, they export more than what they import.
I think they export around three million tons of rice
and they import around say one point five to you know,
one point six million tons. So that again goes against
the logic of dumping. You know, if I'm claiming that,
(16:02):
you know, hey, I'm a victim of dumping, then how
is it that I am exporting more than what I'm importing?
You know, So clearly it just doesn't fit. You know.
It's not like say the Americans saying that, you know,
we our manufacturing industry has been hit, you know, and
all our factories have closed because of Chinese dumping. You know,
China is the factory of the world, there is. We
are hardly hurting the American rice farmer.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
And as you mentioned, both India and Thailand are actually
serving very different markets in the US. So can we
expand on that point a bit.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Yeah, See, a lot of our basmati rice actually caters
to the ethnic Indian population there. Okay. So, like I
think about fifty percent of the basmati rice in the
US I think is sold by this one company, you know,
there's LT overseas, the guys who make Dawa basmati rice,
I think in the US they sell it under the
brand called Royal. So this is a very niche segment,
(16:54):
just like your Thai jasmine rice just caters to a
very specific section, you know. So it's very niche. So
India basically we export both basmathy and non Basmathia rice.
The basmathy rice is mostly exported to the West Asian countries,
you know, including Iran, Iraq, et cetera. You know, because
basically they are very large Biriyanni consumers, right and for
(17:15):
Biriyani you need basmathi, you know. And basmathi has the
advantage that you know, it elongates about up to four
times you know on cooking. You know, so if I
take say one bowl of basmati rice, you know, on cooking,
it expands to four bowls. So it's very economical for
making things like Biriyanni et cetera. Okay, so the Middle
East is a market for Indian basmathi rice, and of
(17:37):
course also US and UK, but those I think are
mostly you know, consumer packs, you know, branded, you know,
they all go as branded varieties and probably cater more
to the Asian population there. Then of course there is
also non basmathi rice, and our non basmathi rice mostly
goes to Africa, you know, and that is like, you know,
it kind of fulfills the food security of Africa, especially
(17:59):
all Western African countries, you know, countries like ben in,
ivory Co, Senegal, Guinea, you know, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo,
all these countries. You know. So rice is not a
uniform product. It sells at different prices, you know. And
definitely what we know is that the rise that goes
to Africa is not the rise which goes to the US.
(18:20):
US is a premium market and not every export exports
to the US.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Now, Trump, like we mentioned, said that he plans on
solving this dumping issue through more tariffs. If that happens,
will that have any impact on India's exports?
Speaker 4 (18:37):
Yeah, I don't think Indian exports will suffer much. But
of course, you know, like for example, for companies like
LT Overseas which have built a brand there, you know,
it will definitely hurt those individual companies because you know that,
you know, building markets takes time, you know, because you
have to establish a brand. So somebody likes say LT Overseas,
who has managed to you know, I think the Royal
brand is very well established. So I suppose then there
(19:00):
the consumers will have to pay that extra price. So
ultimately it will only make rice costlier there because the
demand for this rice would be quite price inelastic, you know.
And maybe the Indian American who's there, he may have
to pay a dollar or two dollars or two more
and he might pay that the same. But definitely, I
think overall it's not going to hurt Indian exports. You know,
(19:20):
if you look at all exporters, you know, the total
volume of exports, you know, because we do something like
about twenty two to twenty five million tons, you know,
off which Basmathi alone I think is about six to
six point five million tons, and the balance is is
non basmathi. So India has huge advantages of being the
world's largest producer as well as exporter and there is
a lot of demand for Indian rice.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
And in the end we take a look at the
fallout from last week's deadly fire at a Goa nightclub
that continues to widen. A Delhi High Court yesterday denight
transit anticipatory bail to srub and GORV luth the two
brothers associated with the Goa nightclub birch By Romeo Lane,
where a fire on seventh of December killed twenty five people,
(20:08):
including four tourists and twenty one staff members, as reported
by the Indian Expresses, narbehe taker the brothers were detained
in Thailand the same day and are now in the
process of being brought back to India. The police told
the court that Luthras fled within hours of the incident.
According to the case records, they booked tickets to forget
on the very day, roughly ninety minutes after they were
(20:30):
informed of the fire. The prosecution argued this demonstrated deliberate evasion,
noting that when investigators visited their home the next day,
their mother claimed she did not know her son's phone numbers.
Tucker notes that police also said a lookout circular was
issued on the day of the incident, and an Interpol
blue corner noticed two days later and argued that the
brothers misled the court by claiming they had traveled to
(20:52):
Thailand for business purposes. Later, the Police council submitted that
they have no business interests in Thailand. The police further
alleged that the nightclub was being operated without the required
licenses and had only one narrow entry and exit, which
contributed to the scale of the tragedy. They also accused
the applicants of manufacturing jurisdiction by seeking relief in Delhi
(21:13):
rather than Goa, where the case is registered. Howkout further
reports that defense lawyers, including senior advocates in dhat Lutra
and Advocate than wed Ahmadmead, argued that the brothers were
merely licensees, not owners, and were not present at the
site when the fire occurred. They said no vicarious liability
could be fastened on them and alleged that the state
was acting out of revenge, pointing to the demolition of
(21:36):
two of their go establishments without prior notice. You were
listening to Three Things by The Indian Express. Today's show
was edited and mixed by Surreyesh Pavar and produced by
Shishang Bhargav, Nharkananda and me Ichasharma. If you like the show,
do subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. You
(21:57):
can also recommend it to someone you think may like it,
with the friend or in your family. This is the
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You can also tweet us at Express podcast or write
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