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நெடுவாசல் போராட்டம் பற்றி எறிந்துகொண்டிருக்கிறது , அதை பலரும் ஊதி வளர்த்து வருகின்றனர் . இந்த போராட்டம் தேவைதானா ? இல்லை , இந்த போராட்டம் முற்றிலும்   தவறு . இந்த திட்டத்தைப் பற்றி எந்த தெரிதலும் இல்லாத அதிகம்பேர் மிகவும் பயமுறுத்தக்கூடிய படங்களை போட்டு , போஸ்டர் ஒட்டி இது ஆபத்து , இந்த திட்டம் நிறைவேற்றினால் தமிழ் நாடே பாலைவனமாக மாறும் என்று கூறி வருகின்றனர் . இதில் உண்மை என்ன ? பிப்ரவரி மாதம் நடந்த CCEA கூட்டத்தில் , 31 சிறிய கச்சா எண்ணெய் மற்றும் இயற்கை   எரிவாயு நிலைக்குழ கான்ட்ராக்ட் வழங்க ஒப்புதல் அளிக்கப்பட்டது . இதில் 23 நிலைக்குழுமங்கள் onshore எனப்படும் நிலத்திலிருந்து எடுக்கும் திட்டங்களும் , மீதம் offshore அதாவது கடலடியில் இருந்து எடுக்கும் திட்டங்களும் ஒப்புதல் பெற்றது . இந்த முப்பத்தியோரில் அதிகபட்சமான ப்ளாக்ஸ் இந்தியாவின் மிகப்பெரிய எண்ணெய் நிறுவனமான ஆயில் அண்ட் நாச்சுரல் காஸ் கார்ப் எனப்படும் ONGC நிறுவனத்தால் , எண்ணெய் மற்றும் இயற்க்கை எரிவாயு இருக்கிறது என நிரூபிக்கப் ...

What is the Neduvasal “Hydrocarbon” protest all about? On Wednesday 15 th February Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved award of contracts for 31 Discovered Small Fields Bid Round 2016. Out of 31 blocks 23 are onshore blocks, and only two of them are from Tamil Nadu. One of the two blocks in Tamil Nadu is the Neduvasal block, CY/ONDSF/NEDUVASAL/2016 won by a new entrant GEM Laboratories Pvt Ltd. This is one of the Cauvery basin blocks held by India’s largest upstream company Oil & Natural Gas Corp, relinquished after discovery as unviable for production. Under a new policy which was taking shape since the times of UPA government in 2014, the small and marginal fields policy was trying to take back the fields held by ONGC and rebid them in case small players, who are more cost efficient can bring them to production. This is directed at not only increasing India’s domestic crude oil production, but also aimed at bringing in new set of small and...

At the height of what I thought was a protest against Coal Bed Methane (CBM) project in the Thanjavur belt, I was talking to a native, also from a farming family. The moment I said how can one destroy the lush green paddyfields of Thanjavur with a CBM project he shot back at me with such aggression, I stood stunned. “Ennamma pasumai, sudugadumma, sudugadu (what greenery, it is burial ground, burial ground) he screamed. Then he slowed down to explain the experience of his family and most others in the delta region. He said most of them were only having a hand to mouth existence, most deep in debt, and he saw any industrial project that would give jobs, push up the prices of their lands a boon. I walked out of the conversation, unconvinced. I already knew of how in the Thanjavur delta people were quoting land prices in square feet. That is when I was dreaming of doing “organic farming”.  I gave up, for what cultivation could I do buying an acre for 24 and 25 lakhs at Swami ...

Who are Kalabras? When I started reading Jeyamohan’s ‘Arugargalin Padhai’ this morning was stuck by the encounter with Kalabras in the first chapter itself. Only last week in a Facebook forum we had a discussion about them. I could only go to the extent of sharing the pages from Nilakanta Sastri’s book though I had with me chapters from M.Rajamanickam’s ‘Pallava History' with me. Jeyamohan writing about his travels on the route the Jaina travelers, the traders took, travels across India. The starting point is through Sathyamangalam in Tamil Nadu to Kanagagiri in Karnataka. He says that could have been the route the Kalabras or Kalappirar in Tamil took to enter Tamil territory. The golden period of Kanagagiri dotted with several Jain monuments coincided with the Kalabra period of 2 CE to 5 CE. Lot of research needs to be done, comparing the historical evidence available from places like Kanagagiri and Jain texts like ‘Hemanga Desha’, Jeyamohan emphasizes rightly. Tamil...