The Delhi High Court on Monday said there was “ambiguity” in the Centre’s decision extending time till June 30 for giving objections and suggestions to its draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification of 2020, terming it as “unfair” to the public. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan said there was ambiguity in the Environment Ministry’s May 8 notification, extending the time for giving objections and suggestions to the draft EIA 2020, as it mentions a further period of 60 days and also that the window closes on June 30. The ministry, represented by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Maninder Acharya and central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia, told the bench that intent was to extend the period only till June 30. The ASG said the draft EIA 2020 was published on April 11 and 60 days from then was to expire on June 11, but in view of the COVID-19 pandemic it was decided to extend the period till June 30. She also said that till date over 1,000 suggestions have come in. The bench, thereafter, suggested that the ministry can continue processing the suggestions, while keeping the window open for some further time to receive more. The ASG said she will take instructions from the ministry with regard to the court’s suggestion. The court, thereafter, listed the matter for hearing on Tuesday, June 30. The court was hearing a plea seeking extension of the period for receiving objections with regard to the draft EIA 2020, which proposes post facto approval for projects and doing away with public consultation in some instances, till the COVID-19 lockdown subsists. The petition by environmental conservationist Vikrant Tongad claimed the May 8 notification states that the period for inviting objections has been extended by another 60 days, but it is not clear as to when the initial period of 60 days commenced. “If the sixty-day period commences on the date of the draft notification, i.e., March 23, 2020, the extended date of expiry will be July 18, 2020. If the date of notification in the Gazette (i.e. April 11, 2020) is taken as the start of the sixty-day period, the extended date of expiry will be August 9, 2020,” the petition has said. It also stated that at the same time a contradiction arises in the extension notification as an end date of June 30, 2020 is specified, which is less than sixty days from the date of issuance of the extension notification May 8. “Thus, the extension notification is unclear and contradictory,” it claimed. The bench on June 26 had asked the Centre to clarify on the next date as to what would be the last date for giving objections/suggestions. The petition has sought that the period for receiving public opinion regarding the draft notification be extended till September 30 or till such time the lockdown remains. The draft EIA 2020, according to the petition, completely supersedes and replaces the existing environmental norms. “This draft notification proposes significant changes to the existing regime, including removing public consultation entirely in certain instances, reducing the time for public consultation from 45 days to 40 days, and allowing post facto approvals for projects,” it has said. Tongad, in his plea, filed through advocates Srishti Agnihotri and Abishek Jebaraj, has said that the draft EIA was issued on March 23 and first published by the Environment Ministry on its website on April 11 and a 60 day period was given for receiving objections and suggestions from all stakeholders, including the general public. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak and resultant lockdown, the ministry on May 8 issued a notification extending the period for inviting objections/suggestions till June 30, the plea has said. It has also sought that the translated copies of the draft EIA “be available across the country in the official vernacular languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, and be uploaded on all websites including those of the Environment Ministries of all States as well as those of the State Pollution Control Boards.” The ASG said the draft EIA 2020 has been published in Hindi.
Actor Anthony Mackie has called out Disney’s Marvel Studios for its lack of representation in the cast and crew.
The actor, who has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) since 2014 as Sam Wilson aka Falcon, said now that he is leading Disney Plus series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier , he hopes to help the crew look a little less white.
When The Falcon and the Winter Soldier comes out, I’m the lead, Mackie told actor Daveed Diggs during the pair’s recent Variety Actors on Actors interview.
When Snowpiercer’ came out, you’re the lead. We have the power and the ability to ask those questions. It really bothered me that I’ve done seven Marvel movies where every producer, every director, every stunt person, every costume designer, every PA, every single person has been white, the actor added responding to Diggs question on how he was interacting with Black Lives Matter.
Mackie has appeared in MCU movies Captain America: The Winter Soldier , Avengers: Age of Ultron , Ant-Man , Captain America: Civil War , Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame .
The actor said he wants to promote diversity in Hollywood through every project he joins.
I find a lot of my interactions are just trying to make things better in the gigs I have in front of me how can I affect different kinds of representation? What is the thing you feel compelled to do? What is your participation in this moment?
Criticising Marvel for ignoring the need and importance of diversity, the 41-year-old actor said till now the studio has only had one Black producer, Nate Moore, who was behind Black Panther .
Mackie believes the fact that the studio decided to have an all-black cast and crew on the Oscar-nominated 2018 movie made it feel even more racist to him.
We’ve had one Black producer; his name was Nate Moore. He produced Black Panther.’ But then when you do Black Panther,’ you have a Black director, Black producer, a Black costume designer, a Black stunt choreographer.
And I’m like, that’s more racist than anything else. Because if you only can hire the Black people for the Black movie, are you saying they’re not good enough when you have a mostly white cast?
The actor said people should be cast on the basis of their caliber and gender or color biases should not govern the choices the studios and filmmakers make while roping in the talent.
My big push with Marvel is hire the best person for the job. Even if it means we’re going to get the best two women, we’re going to get the best two men.
Fine. I’m cool with those numbers for the next 10 years. Because it starts to build a new generation of people who can put something on their r sum to get them other jobs. If we’ve got to divvy out as a percentage, divvy it out. And that’s something as leading men that we can go in and push for, he said.
