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thumb for Deminers harness hi-tech maps to improve operations

01 Dec 2009 15:06:00 GMT
Deminers harness hi-tech maps to improve operations
LONDON (AlertNet) - Aside from body armour, metal detectors, prodders and a strong dose of courage, hi-tech maps are now an essential piece of kit for teams heading out to clear landmines.

The British aid group MapAction - which provides aid agencies with vital information on the relief effort after floods, volcanoes and earthquakes - has been working with the Mine Advisory Group (MAG) to improve maps for their demining operations.

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01 Dec 2009 10:40:00 GMT
Mine action faces $565 million funding deficit
CARTAGENA, Colombia (AlertNet) - Global anti-mine programmes face a budget shortfall for 2010 of $565 million, meaning humanitarian mine clearance will move at a much slower pace than last year, the United Nations (U.N.) said on Monday.

Projects planned by the U.N. and local aid agencies in 27 countries to clear mined areas, destroy stockpiles, provide assistance to mine survivors and run mine-risk education programmes in local communities will cost nearly $600 million next year, according to U.N. estimates.

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thumb for INTERVIEW-De-miners under pressure as Sri Lanka

30 Nov 2009 12:19:00 GMT
INTERVIEW-De-miners under pressure as Sri Lanka's displaced return
NEW DELHI (AlertNet) - Randomly placed landmines, contaminated wells and a lack of information are the main problems facing de-miners in Sri Lanka as they try to clear areas before thousands of civilians return home after a 25-year-old civil war, the country head of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) said.

Towards the end of the war between the Sri Lankan army and Tamil separatists, which ended in April, almost 300,000 people were forced to flee their homes and live in government-controlled camps in the north of the Indian Ocean island.

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30 Nov 2009 11:16:00 GMT
Allure of scrap metal hard to resist in Laos
Bangkok (AlertNet) - It started out as an opportunity to make a chunk of pocket money for the five boys but ended in a horrible tragedy: two dead, one burnt and one unconscious.

All they were trying to do was salvage scrap metal from a bomb casing near a small village in southern Laos.

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thumb for INTERVIEW-Vedanta says India bauxite mine will benefit poor tribes

26 Nov 2009 17:12:00 GMT
INTERVIEW-Vedanta says India bauxite mine will benefit poor tribes
NEW DELHI AlertNet) - The chief executive of the mining group Vedanta Resources on Thursday said a planned bauxite mine in India would benefit thousands of poor tribespeople, refuting regular accusations by rights groups.

Vedanta wants to mine bauxite for its alumina refinery in Orissa state, but the project has been mired in controversy since 2005. Activists say it will rob some of India's most vulnerable people of their ancestral home and traditional way of life.

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