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ETEN Enlightens-Daily current capsules (Revision Modules) – 18thMay 2018
Ministry of Mines
Enlighten about Ministry of Mines
Ministry of Mines is responsible for survey and exploration of all
minerals, other than natural gases, petroleum and atomic minerals, for
mining and metallurgy of non-ferrous metals like aluminium, copper,
zinc, lead, gold, nickel, etc. and for administration of the Mines and
Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957 in respect of all
mines and minerals other than coal, natural gas and petroleum
AMENDMENTS IN THE MINERAL AUCTION RULES
The Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation Act, 1957 was
amended in 2015.
Auction of concessions for major minerals (other than coal, petroleum
and natural gas) was done for the first time in the history of mineral
administration in the country.
33 blocks were successfully allocated
AERO-GEOPHYSICAL SURVEY
The Multi-sensor Aero-geophysical Survey of the Obvious Geological
Potential Area was inaugurated
Enlighten about Aero-geophysical Survey
With the exhaustion of conventional geological methods for mineral
exploration based on surface manifestations in hard rock areas, necessity
has arisen for search of concealed mineral deposits based on multi-
thematic earth science (geological, geochemical, geophysical and remote
sensing) data.
The regional multi-sensor aero-geophysical surveys are considered
worldwide as an important tool to scan large areas to demarcate
favourable geological environments for hidden mineral resources in a
short span of time.
High quality aero-geophysical data are available over most of the already
explored areas of many parts of the world such as Australia, Canada etc.
and has resulted in locating many new concealed mineral deposits.
COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE NATIONAL MINERAL POLICY, 2008
A committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Additional
Secretary (Mines) to review the National Mineral Policy, 2008 as directed
by the Hon’ble Supreme Court
The 29-member panel, under the chairmanship of Mines Additional
Secretary K Rajeswara Rao—consisting of joint secretaries from
ministries like coal, steel, shipping, road, transport and highways and
finance as its members, among others—will submit its report by October-
end.
Some recent updates regarding Indian Bureau of Mines Government approves restructuring of Indian Bureau of Mines
The government today approved the restructuring of Indian Bureau of
Mines to reform the mineral sector regulation.
The restructuring would enable the adoption of IT and space technology
by the bureau to improve its effectiveness in mineral regulation and
development, the mines ministry said in a statement.
It said the Union Cabinet has approved "the restructuring of the Indian
Bureau of Mines (IBM) by upgradation, creation and abolition of certain
posts of Joint Secretary
IBM was set up by the Centre in March 1948 under the Ministry of
Works, Mines and Power, primarily as an advisory body to help in
formulation of policy and legal framework for the mining sector and
advising the Centre and state on development and utilisation of mineral
resources.
The mines ministry had formed a panel for comprehensive 'Review and
Restructuring of the Functions and Role of IBM' in the light of the
'National Mineral Policy' in 2008.
STAR RATING OF MINES
Ministry of Mines, in its endeavor for taking up exhaustive and universal
implementation of the Sustainable Development Framework (SDF) in
mining, has evolved a system of Star Rating of Mines.
It has been institute as a two tier system providing self-evaluation
templates to be filled in by the mine operator followed by validation
through Indian Bureau of Mines.
Based on the performance of the mining lease, 1 to 5 Star rating, the
positive impact of getting higher Star Rating will drive miners to quickly
adopt sustainable mining practices.
The Star Rating has been included as statutory provision in the MCDR
for time- bound (2 years) achieving of minimum 4 stars.
A web enabled online system for evaluation of measures has been
developed and launched on 18th August, 201
MINING SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM (MSS)
Mining Surveillance System (MSS) is a satellite-based monitoring
system which aims to establish a regime of responsive mineral
administration by curbing instances of illegal mining activity through
automatic remote sensing detection technology
Ministry of Mines & Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) have developed the
MSS, with assistance from Bhaskaracharya Institute for space
applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG), Gandhinagar and Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY).
The system works on the basic premise that most minerals occur in the
continuity and their occurrence is not limited to the lease area but is
likely to extend in the vicinity.
The MSS checks a region of 500 meters around the existing mining lease
boundary to search for any unusual activity which is likely to be illegal
mining. Any discrepancy is found is flagged-off as a trigger.
A user friendly mobile app for MSS has been created for enabling public
participation in assisting the governments endeavor to curb illegal
mining, which was being used by the inspecting officials to submit
compliance reports of their inspections.
The training of all the States for its adoption of the MSS for minor
minerals has also been done.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA (GSI)
GSI has implemented an integrated IT-enablement system - Online Core
Business Integrated System (OCBIS) with a goal towards comprehensive
data management across Missions and Support systems.
OCBIS has been scoped to enhance IT capability of GSI as well as to put
GSI into an open standards based IT platform to effectively exchange
information with external stakeholders, including Ministry of Mines,
national and state level earth science organizations / departments,
industry and citizens.
SWACHHA ICONIC CITY
NALCO has taken up beautification of Shri Jagannatha Temple, Puri
under Swachha iconic city initiative.
Renovation and beautification of Gandhi Park taken up at Puri.
Sources – PIB, Ministry of Mines, My Gov