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THE HIMALAYAN DISASTER: TRANSNATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT MECHANISM A MUST

We talked with Palash Biswas, an editor for Indian Express in Kolkata today also. He urged that there must a transnational disaster management mechanism to avert such scale disaster in the Himalayas. http://youtu.be/7IzWUpRECJM

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS TALKS AGAINST CASTEIST HEGEMONY IN SOUTH ASIA

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS TALKS AGAINST CASTEIST HEGEMONY IN SOUTH ASIA

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Saturday, February 23, 2008

Jewish Identity Can't Depend on Violence

Jewish Identity Can't Depend on Violence

Jewish identity in the past has been locked into the holocaust experience -- a German burden that the Jews have not been able to shed. It is a very good example of a community can overplay a historic experience to the point that it begins to repulse friends. The holocaust was the result of the warped mind of an individual who was able to influence his followers into doing something dreadful. But, it seems to me the Jews today not only want the Germans to feel guilty but the whole world must regret what happened to the Jews. The world did feel sorry for the episode but when an individual or a nation refuses to forgive and move on the regret turns into anger.
The Jewish identity in the future appears bleak. Any nation that remains anchored to the past is unable to move ahead and, especially a nation that believes its survival can only be ensured by weapons and bombs. In Tel Aviv in 2004 I had the opportunity to speak to some Members of Parliament and Peace activists all of whom argued that the wall and the military build-up was necessary to protect the nation and the people. In other words, I asked, you believe that you can create a snake pit -- with many deadly snakes in it -- and expect to live in the pit secure and alive? What do you mean? they countered. Well, with your superior weapons and armaments and your attitude towards your neighbors would it not be right to say that you are creating a snake pit? How can anyone live peacefully in such an atmosphere? Would it not be better to befriend those who hate you? Can you not reach out and share your technological advancement with your neighbors and build a relationship?

Apparently, in the modern world, so determined to live by the bomb, this is an alien concept. You don't befriend anyone, you dominate them. We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity.

Arun Gandhi is the fifth grandson of India’s legendary leader, Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. He is president and co-founder of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, now at the University of Rochester in New York.

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/arun_gandhi/2008/01/jewish_identity_in_the_past.html


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Jewish Identity Can't Depend on Violence

Jewish Identity Can't Depend on Violence

Jewish identity in the past has been locked into the holocaust experience -- a German burden that the Jews have not been able to shed. It is a very good example of a community can overplay a historic experience to the point that it begins to repulse friends. The holocaust was the result of the warped mind of an individual who was able to influence his followers into doing something dreadful. But, it seems to me the Jews today not only want the Germans to feel guilty but the whole world must regret what happened to the Jews. The world did feel sorry for the episode but when an individual or a nation refuses to forgive and move on the regret turns into anger.
The Jewish identity in the future appears bleak. Any nation that remains anchored to the past is unable to move ahead and, especially a nation that believes its survival can only be ensured by weapons and bombs. In Tel Aviv in 2004 I had the opportunity to speak to some Members of Parliament and Peace activists all of whom argued that the wall and the military build-up was necessary to protect the nation and the people. In other words, I asked, you believe that you can create a snake pit -- with many deadly snakes in it -- and expect to live in the pit secure and alive? What do you mean? they countered. Well, with your superior weapons and armaments and your attitude towards your neighbors would it not be right to say that you are creating a snake pit? How can anyone live peacefully in such an atmosphere? Would it not be better to befriend those who hate you? Can you not reach out and share your technological advancement with your neighbors and build a relationship?

Apparently, in the modern world, so determined to live by the bomb, this is an alien concept. You don't befriend anyone, you dominate them. We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity.

Arun Gandhi is the fifth grandson of India’s legendary leader, Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. He is president and co-founder of the M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, now at the University of Rochester in New York.

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/arun_gandhi/2008/01/jewish_identity_in_the_past.html


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Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic
Messages | Files | Photos | Polls
Related links :
www.afterdowningstreet.org/bangladesh ;
www.mytown.ca/banglavision &
groups.msn.com/banglavision

Desperately Seeking a Really Cold War

URL-http://montages.blogspot.com/2008/02/desperately-seeking-really-cold-war.html


Desperately Seeking a Really Cold War
Joanne Landy and Thomas Harrison say we should be afraid, very afraid, of "a new Cold War between the United States and Russia":

The planned 'missile defense' system in the Czech Republic and Poland will, if implemented, further increase the danger to human and all other forms of life that nuclear weapons pose, significantly expand U.S. military power, and contribute to a new Cold War between the United States and Russia. But it can be stopped. Its dangers are obvious and easy to demonstrate, and it is deeply unpopular among the citizens of the 'host' countries. Stopping it will, however, require action by American peace organizations, to strengthen our friends in the Czech Republic and Poland, to pressure our elected representatives, and to educate public opinion in this country. ("Pushing Missile Defense in Europe," Foreign Policy in Focus, 22 February 2008)

Any thinking person who cares about the Iranian people, however, should welcome a really cold war between Russia and the USA. It is Moscow's distrust of the US intentions, as well as the Chinese need for Iranian oil for its industrialization project, that has so far helped mitigate US-led efforts to economically sanction Iran and helped protect Iranians from the worst military threat from the US-EU-Japan axis of evil.

What can doom Iran is a warm friendship between Russia and the USA.

The silly US attempt to install a "missile defense" system (which, by the way, doesn't work and is just a big waste of money) in Eastern Europe, as well as its support for the independence of Kosovo, "color revolutions" in Russia's periphery, and media propaganda against Russia itself, is a godsend as far as Iranians are concerned, for it prevents Russia from becoming a partner in the US-led multinational empire.

Fahim, a poet may be PM of Pakistan

Dear brothers/sisters,

Here synopsis are being placed of the latest few articles. Please find articles in complete at:http://www.newsanalysisindia.com/feb_08.htm



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http://www.newslinkage.com/

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Fahim, a poet may be PM of Pakistan

Atal, a poet became P M in 19 March 1998. Now a poet Fahim of PPP is frontrunner for PM Post of Pakistan.

Friday, February 22, 2008



Clinton's Saxophone, Gandhi's Concertina, Ravanahatha Music Instruments

Ravanhatha was the musical instrument of Ravana as narrated in the Ramayana. Sri Lanka revives Ravana-hatha, a violin-like string instrument as narrated in Ramayana.Clinton and Gandhi and other historical leaders also played music instrument.

Friday, February 22, 2008

By Premendra Agrawal



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Kosovo today: Aztlan tomorrow?

LA VOZ DE AZTLAN
Los Angeles, Alta California
February 22, 2008

Kosovo today: Aztlan tomorrow?

Reminiscing on recent history
-----------------------------------------

The following news bulletin was forwarded by the Brown
Berets back on April 18, 1999, some 8 years ago:


La Raza: "Hell No We Won't Go" to the Kosovo War!

From the Brown Berets
18 April 1999

Estimada Raza:

The Pentagon is calling up 33,000 reservists and the next step will be to re-institute the "involuntary draft." Last week the Secretary of the Army Luis Caldera, a Clinton Chicano lackey, was already stomping the barrios of Aztlan recruiting grunt's for the war. Caldera, a former California Assemblyman who's campaign literature showed a picture of him dressed as a "Cub Scout", is selling out La Raza in return for his political appointment by Clinton.

The Nation of Aztlan recently published an article outlining the historical inequality of La Raza in the U.S. Armed forces including the reason for the creation of the American G.I. Forum by Dr. Hector P. Garcia of Corpus Christi, Texas. They also outlined the shabby treatment of Chicano soldiers by the U.S. Veteran Administration after the war. Raza, there is no reason to enlist or be allowed to be drafted by the Gringo War Machine when our people are suffering so many injustices here at home.

Occupation police forces here in Aztlan are still shooting our young carnales in the back and the incarceration rate of our young men is at all time high. This is are pure and simple indirect measures of population control of La Raza. If you imprison the most virile of our young men or kill them off in war, then you will have a most effective way of keeping our population in check as is
being advocated by Anti-Immigration groups.

The doors of higher education are being shut close in our faces by the same forces that want to send you to an Imperialist War in foreign lands against people that have done nothing against La Raza. You in essence will be fighting on the side of your own oppressors. We have much work to do here at home to liberate Aztlan from Imperialist exploiters who are beating up and jailing our young people daily. We have much work to do here at home to reform an educational system that is pushing out our young people into the street to become prey for either drug pushers or the brutal police authorities.

Raza....if they call on you to fight their war....say: "hell no, we won't go. Our real war is here in the streets of occupied Aztlan!"


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
La Voz de Aztlan
Website http:/www.aztlan.net
Contact:
http://www.aztlan.net/contactlavozdeaztlan.html
Join Project Amigos
http://www.aztlan.net/project_amigos.htm

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Where do we go… to the President’s house?

Take away our dalit lands, take away our fertile lands,
Take away our forest land,
Where do we go… to the President’s house?

Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Take away our dalit lands, take away our fertile lands,
Take away our forest land,
Where do we go… to the President’s house?

Videos
• Smaller towns new terror target
http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/17video.htm
Why I insist for the worldwide Black Untouchable anti imperialist resistance against Zionist, Brahminical White supremacy, latest news updates support my representation.I have talked and written this in my earlier writeups as well as I tried my best to represent the case in Tumkur peace event recently. Racial and caste hatred is a singular issue causing violence and strife worldwide with repression of enslaved masses and nationalities. Since Asian Nato has become a reality and plantation of Benjir heralds a new age in this divided subcontinent , the new allignment of imperialism and fascism has to be resisted with realignment of the forces of Peace. tumkur Peace event is a real beginning. In this context I have to discuss the happenings in UP and racial comments of a nobel laureate.Nobel Prize winning scientist Dr James Watson has exposed the chemistry of Islamophobia as well as the socil reality of War against terrorism while the persecution of Dalits in UP proves that only power sharing is not going to solve the complex issue until the society is changed. the cunning ruling class takes the mask of Dalit Ideology and submits itself to dalit leadership only to sustain the thousands years legacy of Hegemony. Mayawati is the face but the mind is working in accordance with the ageold system rotten.
The Science Museum in the British capital has cancelled a talk by Nobel Prize winning scientist Dr James Watson after he was accused of making racist comments implying Africans were not as intelligent as whites. Watson, who discovered the double helix structure of DNA along with Briton Francis Crick, has been condemned for saying he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours -- whereas all the testing says not really".
26 Muslim youth have been arrested in the aftermath of Hyderabad bomb blasts but none of them have been charged for bomb blast case. If Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee of India (CLMCI), a human rights organization based in Hyderabad is to be believed many more can be arrested. Muslims of Hyderabad are living under a terror where perpetrators are uniformed and all state machinery seems to be against its citizen.
Muslim youth are terrified and afraid to go out fearing that they will be picked up. Rich Muslims are able to bribe their way out of the illegal detention but poor Muslims have no protection. According to CLMCI, 26 Muslims were illegally detained by the Andhra Pradesh Police and tortured in Greyhounds compounds, Head Quarters of elite commando force of AP Police. Habeas Corpus filed in the state high court resulted in court giving a week for the Police to respond to it. This gave the cops enough time to torture them some more.
More than 25,000 Dalits and Adivasis from various parts of the country marched towards the national capital carrying flags and shouting slogans, to press their demand for land, water and trees from the government.The volunteers, including women, of the Ekta Parishad, mostly dalits and adivasis led by Gandhians P.V. Raj Gopal and Subba Rao, are walking in four files on the national highway that leads to the capital. Many of them are carrying backpacks and children along with them.An activist from Chhattisgarh told IANS "It doesn't matter if some inconvenience is caused. We are marching for a big cause. For decades the poor and the Dalits (former untouchables in the Hindu caste hierarchy) have been fooled and taken for a ride with all kinds of promises but nothing substantial has been delivered."
"The issues are basic. The poor and the underprivileged must get their share of the land. There should be community control on water resources and the jungles have to be saved from the marauding developers," he added.
They walk 10 km at a stretch and stop for food and rest on the roadside before resuming their journey. They cook in roadside kitchens, sing and dance and sleep on the road. They also discuss rights and importance of jungles.On Saturday morning, the marchers left Agra as their 4 km long procession meandered its way through the main M.G. Road. They stopped at Akbar's

AICC President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday launched a veiled attack on the Mayawati government for not properly implementing the national rural employment guarantee scheme in UP. Menwhile, Indian expressreports: Even though the state has a Dalit chief minister, cases of human rights violations against the community are still not being highlighted in Uttar Pradesh, said Additional General of Police (Human Rights) Shailendra Sagar. He was speaking at the inaugural day of a two-day meet on Dalit Rights, organised in the state capital by Pairavi, a New Delhi-based organisation.
"We already have a number of initiatives being taken to ensure the protection of the rights of the Dalits. The districts have special inquiry cells, but then, we are all aware their condition is not up to the mark," said Sagar. The state is witnessing an announced politics when it comes to the welfare of Dalits, he added. Talking about the behaviour of the police when it came to Dalits, with special focus on Dalit women, Sagar said the police administration has a different attitude in cases related to scheduled caste women.
"The police question the character of a woman when they find out the case involves a Dalit. There is a need for a change in the attitude of the police," Sagar said.
Suggesting active intervention by NGOs, Sagar said such organisations should have a proactive role in changing the behaviour of the administration, thus helping to bring a significant change in the present situation. Senior IPS officer V N Rai also shared his views on the issue. He said the issue of Dalits should not be mixed up with other issues involving human rights. "Their pain is incomparable," Rai said. Former IPS officer and social activist S R Darapuri was also present. "The Dalits have to struggle hard to get their rights. The time has come when Dalits have to demand their rights and not merely plead for them," he commented.


The 79-year-old American was due to talk at the Science Museum's Dana Centre on Friday but on Wednesday night a spokesman said Watson's comments had gone "beyond the point of acceptable debate and as a result the museum was cancelling the sold-out event, The Daily Telegraph claimed on Thursday.
The eminent American, in Britain to promote a new book, also said the assumption that different racial groups shared "equal powers of reason" was backed by "no firm reason".
However, he said people should not discriminate racially, because "there are many people of colour who are very talented."
His comments have been attacked by fellow scientists, anti-racism campaigners and politicians.
Last April he launched "Save the Farmers, Save India," a nation-wide campaign in favour of farmers burdened by debts and ignored by local administrations. At the time he told AsiaNews that "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's package has not brought a solution to the plight of distressed farmers across the country. Their rising suicide rate has become a national disgrace."Another priority for the Indian Church is the defence of life, one of Cardinal Gracias’ most heart-felt issues. Female infanticides, exploitation of minors, malnourishment among the poor are issues that he has always tried to put at the centre of the national debate, investing his time and those of the various Indian communities he has led.
In his pastoral activities, the archbishop of Mumbai has been close to issues dear to the Pope like Christ’s uniqueness, the tireless proclamation of the Gospel and the affirmation of the Church’s missionary nature. He has always reminded his priests of the importance of evangelisation, giving great impetus to the religious community of his diocese.The clarity with which he proclaims the Gospel has made him a point of reference in India’s pluralistic society. "Evangelical values must permeate our lives," he said. "In a world increasingly shaped by the imperatives of globalisation it is necessary to engage in a profound dialogue but one that is not impoverished by syncretism. Mutual respect must develop in light of one’s own charisma."
The clarity with which he proclaims the Gospel has made him a point of reference in India’s pluralistic society. "Evangelical values must permeate our lives," he said. "In a world increasingly shaped by the imperatives of globalisation it is necessary to engage in a profound dialogue but one that is not impoverished by syncretism. Mutual respect must develop in light of one’s own charisma."An official in the railway ministry, on condition of anonymity, said Prasad himself had written to the minister of minority affairs last month on a "4% reservation" for Muslims "across ministries".India has 150 million Muslims—the second highest in the world—and according to the Justice Rajinder Sachar committee that was set up by the Prime Minister to study social, economic and educational status of Muslims, few members of this minority community are employed by the government.However, reservation is a tricky, sensitive and a highly political issue in India. A proposal by the Union government to create a 27% reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) in Central government-run institutions of higher education is currently before the Supreme Court.
See this report:
Asserting the right to be heard
Swati Sahi
OneWorld South Asia
http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/154295/1/
18 October 2007
Take away our dalit lands, take away our fertile lands,
Take away our forest land,
Where do we go… to the President’s house?
This was a spirited cry from amongst four hundred women who had come together from different parts of the country to share their experiences and life stories of poverty at the capital, New Delhi, on October 17.
These women had come from 20 different states, across 300 districts, to participate in the Women’s Tribunal on Poverty at New Delhi on October 17, to mark the World Poverty Day. They voiced their testimonies before a jury of eight, comprising academics, political thinkers and social activists, demanding that women’s agenda be made central to policies and programmes of the government.
The delegation with the President, Pratibha Patil
These women hail from the invisible margins of society: the Dalits, Adivasis, Muslim women, women with disabilities and from nomadic tribes, who are often excluded and discriminated both by society as well as within their own communities. They have constitutional rights to life, security, dignity, livelihood and development and are yet bereft of most. Women who are single or disabled experience further disadvantages.
"As a nation we are shameful that villages are denied of the hope of ‘shinning India’, said Dr Ruth Manorama, one of the jury members and president of the National Alliance of Women (NAWO).
She applauded the courage of the women present who had come out of personal situations of displacements, evictions and deforestation to speak out their trials. "Evictions and displacements are the order of the day," she said, stressing that it is rights to land that give women power and an escape from violence.
The issue of multiple displacements was also raised by Annie Raja, jury member and General Secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), referring to cases of "heartless evictions" in the name of development under the SEZs.
The lack of ownership and access to cultivable land was highlighted as the underpinning factor for women’s poverty in rural areas and the Tribunal called for the right to cultivable land as a must for them.
Jury members Nikhil Dey of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) and Kamla Bhasin (SANGAT) noted that while the country is growing at phenomenal rates, the lives of poor women are getting further impoverished. The hearing emphasized the need to bring in the gender perspective into issues of poverty and recognize women as independent citizens, and not just linked to their families.
Annie Raja noted the growing violence against women, saying that poor women face the double burden of poverty and gender, which gets further aggravated when the women belong to socially unacceptable Dalit or Adivasi communities.
The jury also noted that schemes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) meant to augment the livelihood opportunities of the poor have had little impact on the lives of women in villages; in many cases employment cards not reaching those in need.
"The social security welfare bill does not adequately address issues of the unorganized sector," added Ruth Manorama. In the social sector, BPL (below poverty level) cards were found to be denied to a large majority of the poor; it is more often that those undeserving have taken advantage of these cards.
Despite the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, education has remained elusive for children of Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims. Social stereotyping has led to high rates of drop-outs among those who have had access to schools, the jury held.
Sheba George, Director of Sahrwaru Women’s Action Resource Centre and jurist, commented on the inadequate attempts of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to provide trained health workers and professionals and the lack of medical services that have led to high rates of maternal deaths in the country.
She also drew attention to the state of Muslim women who (along with the Dalits and Adivasis) are socially excluded from socio-economic opportunities, and by being tagged to terror, are also not trusted by the administration and bureaucracy. The biases of the state have been evident in the case of post-conflict Gujarat rehabilitation.
"Bureaucracy is antipoor, antitribal, antidalit," she said, while calling for monitoring of government schemes and punitive measures against those officials engaged in diversion of funds in implementation. She also pointed out the growing violence towards women by institutional mechanisms of the police and judiciary, who have proved to be gender insensitive and anti-poor.
Dr Rosemary Dzuvichu, of Nagaland University and jurist, brought attention to the issues of customary property laws that exploit and exclude women from their rightful share; and of conflict that has afflicted the lives of women in Kashmir and the North-east.
Jurist Nikhil Dey recommended that there should be a mandatory public audit or ‘jan audit’ on an annual basis where women would do social audits in every district.
Yadicon Njie-Eribo of the Feminist Task Force, GCAP and Coordinator of women’s group Femigam in Gambia, shared her experience of a similar tribunal conducted in her country in 2005. "Society has taught women not to speak about what happens at home," she said, adding that it is this silence that breeds violence.
As the Tribunal came to a close, a delegation left to meet the President Pratibha Patil with a set of the recommendations put forth by the jury.
Development of the country is not possible minus the focused development of women and communities from the society’s margins. This infallible truth that drew out from the Tribunal was all-pervading in the voices of the women. In the words of Nikhil Dey, "the Tribunal is a step not only for the sake of women, but for the entire country."
And see this also:
Mainstream, Vol XLV, No 43
Erosion of our Democratic Values and Unconcern of Political Parties
by Chaturanan Mishra
http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article370.html
Tuesday 16 October 2007


Despite the fact that more and more downtrodden people have begun to exercise their right of casting votes and there is a new consciousness among Dalits, tribals, women and Other Backward Castes which deepen the roots of our democracy, this in itself does not result in strengthening the rights of the people. More Dalits are killed in India than what happened to the Blacks in South Africa during the apartheid period. Even elected Dalit Presidents of village Panchayats in Tamil Nadu are not allowed to function. Untouchability persists. Now the OBC people are launching more offensives against Dalits. Something new has happened in UP: Brahmins accepting the leadership of Mayawatiji; but it is too early to assess how far the Brahmins in general agree to end untouchability and give social respect to the Dalits. This has to be watched. More girl children in pregnancy are killed. There is no political movement for social reform though the society itself is reforming slowly. Gandhiji mixed political movement with social reform also to some extent.
The bureaucracy is uncontrollable. The colonial tradition of bureaucrats as the rulers and people as the ruled is continuing. Corruption even at the local level of administration has increased so much that people do not get even one-fourth of what is budgeted in Parliament and Assemblies for them. Rajiv Gandhi said people get only 16 per cent of what is allotted in the Budget for them. People are unable to check it. It has spread even to village Panchayats. The police has become more tyrannical. Lathicharges and shootings by the police are quite common. Even the Left Government of West Bengal is now no exception after what happened at Nandigram. In 2005 alone, 44 persons were killed in police firings. Between 1990 and 1999 the police opened fire 5994 times resulting in 1753 deaths and 6886 injuries. The same police is unable to check criminals who rule in cities also. Children are kidnapped and killed if firauti is not paid to them. Even in the central Capital of Delhi women are not safe. The days of Pattam Thanu Pillai, when he was forced to resign for firing, are gone. Politicians are party to it. There is a general feeling that all politicians, barring a few, are for making money. The old respect for politicians is no longer there. Similar is the feeling about political parties since now they don’t go to the people to solve their problems. This is the most dangerous feature since healthy political parties and politicians are a must for the strengthening of democracy. Members of Legislatures change parties for personal benefit. Politicians behave in such a manner as to prove that they have no ideology.


Though in our Constitution every citizen has the right to be elected to Parliament and Assemblies, as the election now costs a crores of rupees ninetyfive per cent of our citizens can’t think of contesting elections. Our janatantra is becoming dhanatantra. Though the Election Commission has recently taken some strict reformist measures, political parties are voicing their protest. Due to casteism, fear and communalism more and more veteran criminals are elected to Parliament and Assemblies as candidates of political parties. It is not safe to oppose such criminal candidates. Parliament is helpless in the case of Gujarat where thousands of Muslims, including women and children as well as even pregnant women, were massacred and so our janatantra is becoming gun-tantra.
Courts can help to provide some remedy and in fact the Supreme Court acted sometimes but courts are so much overburdened with a number of cases that it takes years to have a final judgement. It is so time consuming and costly that the mass of people don’t go there. Rich people use it to harass the poor. It is happening since the days of British rule and continues till today.
Political parties are a must for democracy. The old national parties are getting weakened and caste based regional parties are coming up. This gives us coalition governments. Though the formation of regional parties take democracy to so far unawakened people, the absence of a national party can weaken the Centre. This danger is there. However, so far regional parties have helped to strengthen federalism.
National parties failed to understand the new feeling of the caste people. Different castes of people want their development through their own caste or group of castes. National parties are dominated by high-caste leaders and they run the government. Backward castes united to change this and this they did through caste or group of castes organisations. While Hindu castes were earlier based on religious faith, now they are based on politics and they are changing their position from time to time. This may lead to weakening of the caste system. This problem needs to be tackled in the national interest. Now Dalits strongly protest and what happened in Rajasthan for reservation of Gujjars as tribal people is a serious warning. The tribal people’s position is worse than even the Dalits and poor Muslims. All over India except the North-East they are coming under the influence of Maoists. Very often policemen are killed by them. Terrorised government officials, contractors, truck owners pay them levy. They are equipping themselves with modern arms. They are spreading now in the plains too. Farmers are also paying them do kathia, that is, the produce of two kathas per acre. With its present policy towards the poor the government cannot stop this development.


The poor people are unable to maintain themselves in the rural areas due to the agricultural crisis; they are coming to cities and get shelter in slums making jhopris. Now the government and even the courts are evicting them without giving shelter. No political party takes up their cause and ultimately they may go over to the Maoists.
Farmers are in a serious crises. According to 59th National Sample Survey, a majority of small and marginal farmers are unable to make both ends meet. In the post-liberalisation period and after India joined the WTO, production and productivity of agriculture has been heavily reduced. The growth of agriculture has reduced from 3.08 per cent in 1980-90 to 2.65 per cent in 1991-2000 due to reduction of the Plan outlay in agriculture and also in public sector work in agriculture like irrigation and scientific research etc. While the input price of agriculture has heavily increased, the price of agricultural produce has been reduced. Because of this condition, 40 per cent of farmers have desired to leave agriculture if they get an alternative job. As many as 48.6 per cent of farmers are debt-ridden; of them 42.3 per cent are indebted to moneylenders at high interest and forcible realisation. We are again dependent on import of food at higher prices. Starvation and malnutrition have become commonplace for a long time. Now thousands of farmers commit suicides every year. No political party takes up their cause seriously to force the government to act. On the nuclear agreement with the USA political crisis has been created but on the issue of peasant suicides or for unorganised workers or against price rise no such political crisis was engendered.
There is a vast and big population in the poverty zone of Bihar, Jharkhand, UP and Orissa etc. Despite our high national GDP growth, they are becoming poorer. Every year floods from Nepal destroy them. Nepal being a foreign land it is the Central Government’s constitutional responsibility to tackle the problem but it does not. One can be certain that a time will come in the near future when this poverty zone will rise against the Centre and the Centre will be unable to suppress it.
Our people have deep faith in democracy but such issues as mentioned here are fast eroding that faith. It is time that political parties reform themselves to restore the people’s faith in democracy. At present people are highly frustrated and angry. Frequent spontaneous violent outbreaks are taking place. The police is the target. This has no backing of any party. If these violent outbreaks are coordinated which the Maoists can, then it will result in a countrywide or Statewide violent attack directed against the democratic set-up.
The author, a veteran CPI leader, was the Union Agriculture in the United Front Government at the Centre (1996-98).


'Blacks Are Stupid' Comments Betray Dark Mindset Of Eugenics
Geneticist says blacks inherently less intelligent than whites
Prison Planet October 17, 2007
Paul Joseph Watson
Controversy surrounding the comments of geneticist James Watson, who
told a Sunday Times newspaper interviewer that black people are
inherently less intelligent than whites, should come as no surprise to
those who are aware of Watson's role in pushing the dark
pseudo-science of eugenics.
Watson told the interviewer that he was "inherently gloomy about the
prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the
fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the
testing says not really".
Watson said the notion that everyone is created equal is flawed
because "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true".
The geneticist explores this racist ideology further in his new book,
writing, "there is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual
capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution
should prove to have evolved identically" .
"Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal
heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so," he says.
Watson was the Head of the Human Genome Project until 1992 and is best
known for his contribution to the discovery of DNA, an achievement
that won him the Nobel prize in 1962.
But what most people are unaware of is the fact that Watson has played
an integral role in advancing the legitimacy of the eugenics movement
for decades.
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=1-h1CBzGuTM
Alex Jones' End Game explains why the elite are obsessed with pushing
eugenics and bizarre race hygiene philosophies. Click here for more clips.
Watson is a strong proponent of genetic screening, a test to determine
whether a couple is at increased risk of having a baby with a
hereditary genetic disorder.
Since such screening obviously increases the rate of abortions of
babies considered "imperfect," many have slammed its introduction as
nothing more than a camouflage for eugenics or "voluntary eugenics" as
British philosophy professor Philip Kitcher labeled it.
Watson's advocacy of genetic engineering stretched to his call for the
"really stupid" bottom 10% of people to be "cured".
Watson even urged woman to be given carte blanche to abort babies
should tests determine that they are likely to be homosexual, despite
the vast body of evidence indicating homosexuality is a result of
environment rather than genetic code.
The geneticist has gone so far as to promote the idea of creating a
kind of Nazi super-race, where the attractive and physically strong
are genetically manufactured under laboratory conditions.
"People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty. I think
it would be great," said Watson.
Watson's disgusting creed of racial and genetic purity by means of
state-enforced eugenics is a mindset embraced by a large body of the
elite minds in government, science and academia today.
Many of them advocate ethnically cleansing up to 80% of the human
population by means of genocide and forced sterilization.
Last year, Dr. Eric R. Pianka gave a speech to the Texas Academy of
Science in which he advocated the need to exterminate 90% of the
population through the airborne ebola virus. The vast majority of
those in attendance stood and applauded Pianka's open call for mass
genocide.
http://www.infowars .com/articles/ nwo/eugenics_ blacks_are_ stupid_comments_ betray_dark_ mindset.htm


Who is Planning Extermination of 90% of World's Population?
By Shah Nawaz Khan
While world population had doubled to over six billion in the last
forty years, the European population is increasing at much slower rate
than the Asian and African countries. In 1960, people of European
ancestry were said to be one-fourth of the world’s population; in 2000,
they were one-sixth; and it is estimated that in 2050, they will be
one-tenth. The eugenics experts are exploiting the statistics and say
that Caucasian race is facing the danger the becoming a vanishing race.
The word 'eugenics' is said to have been coined in 1883 by Galton,
Darwin's cousin and an amateur scientist. He based it on a Greek root
meaning good in birth. Extrapolating from Darwin's theories about
heredity, Galton contended that selective human breeding could produce
"a highly gifted race of men" and that regulating the population could
prevent the reproduction of people deemed undesirable. Techniques of
Artificial Insemination have been developed. It is a process in which
male spermatozoa are collected. to fertilize a female ovum. It was
first developed for breeding livestock. Now many European couples visit
India to find surrogate mothers. A woman is paid to bear a child for
another woman, either through artificial insemination by the other
woman's husband, or by carrying until birth the other woman's
surgically implanted fertilized egg. In India a surrogate mother could
be found at much lower cost than US or Europe.
Geneticist James Watson, contends that black people are inherently less
intelligent than whites. These days Watson is playing an active role,
in pushing the dark pseudo-science of eugenics. However, he stresses on
the need for help and assistance to Africans. But there are fanatics
among social and other scientists who are causing apprehensions about
population explosion.
According to a story in http://www.propagan damatrix. com/, last year,
Dr. Eric R. Pianka gave a speech to the Texas Academy of Science in
which he advocated the need to exterminate 90% of the population
through the airborne ebola virus. The vast majority of those in
attendance stood and applauded Pianka's open call for mass genocide.
Shah Nawaz Khan
See many other articles at:
http://www.netvert. biz/shah/ articles. html
SARVAJAN HITAYA SARVAJAN SUKHAYA-FOR THE GAIN OF THE MANY AND FOR THE WELFARE OF THE MANY
Eight Cabinet Ministers and two Ministers of State administered oath
Lucknow: October 17, 2007 In a brief expansion of State Cabinet,the Uttar Pradesh Governor, Mr..T.V. Rajeswar administered oath of office and secrecy to eight Cabinet Ministers and two Ministers of State (Independent charge) in a simple programme organized here today at Raj Bhawan. The Cabinet Ministers are –Mr.Badshah Singh, Mr. Rangnath Mishra, Mr.Nand Gopal Gupta’Nandi’, Mr. Kamla Kant Gautam, Mr. Chandra Dev Ram Yadav and Mr. Ashok Kumar,besides the new Ministers of State, Mr. Bhagwati Prasad Sagar and Mr. Jaiveer Singh. Mr.Badshah Singh (Small Scale Industries and Export Promotion), Mr. Rangnath Mishra (Rural Engineering Services),Mr.Anant Kumar Mishra(Medical and Health) were working as Ministers of State (Independent charge) and Mr. Abdul Mannan (Agriculture Foreign Trade and Agriculture Export) was the Minister of the State. All these four Ministers were promoted as Cabinet Ministers. Mr. Bhagwati Prasad Sagar and Mr. Jaiveer Singh took the oath as the Ministers of the State (Independent charge). Mr.Nand Gopal Gupta’Nandi’, Mr. Kamla Kant Gautam, Mr. Chandra Dev Ram Yadav and Ashok Kumar have been included for the first time in the Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh conducted the programme of oath taking ceremony. On this occasion, the Chief Minister Km. Mayawati, Cabinet Ministers Mr. S.C. Mishra, Mr. Naseemuddin Siddqui, Mr. Babu Singh Kushwaha including other Ministers, party office bearers, MPs, MLAs, were present besides senior officers and eminent citizens.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Tsunami Alert and Life Cycle in Sundarvan May Not stop Marxist capitalists

Tsunami Alert and Life Cycle in Sundarvan May Not stop Marxist capitalists
Palash BiswasContact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
'Green' for the Planet or for Corporate Profits?Tsunami Alert and Life Cycle in Sundarvan My Not stop Marxist capitalists!
Indian MNC run zionist brahminical colonial polity is not concerned at all whatever tsunami may be alerted.The state government’s plan to set up a mega chemical hub at Nayachar may receive a jolt as grid power is yet to reach the island, the site chosen to accomodate DOWs and salim. The sundarvana Islands are interlinked and any disturbance anywhere may create unthincable disaster destroying Life Cycle suiting Mangroves!
Strong volcanic activities are expected in the Sumatra region in the wake of the major earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale that struck off the coast of Bengkulu in Indonesia, volcanologists and earth scientists said today.
The experts said yesterday's quake was followed by seven aftershocks and one of them measured 7.2 on the Richter scale. The entire Sumatra region is very volatile, they pointed out.
An earthquake of 5.1-magnitude occurred on September 11 in Sunda Strait, southeast of the location of yesterday's temblor, but went unnoticed. Earthquakes have become a common phenomena since 2004 in the Indonesian and Andaman and Nicobar Islands region, they said.
"Therefore, we expect a triggering effect on volcanoes in the region which have already shown some activities in the last couple of years," said Chandrasekharam, professor in the department of earth sciences and head of the Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology here.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus called today for the speedy enactment of a new, binding global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions, accusing the US and China of being the world's biggest polluters.
Yunus said the US had been the leading producer of greenhouse gases but was overtaken by China.
The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, which is paid by the Dutch government to advise it on environmental policy, said China overtook the United States as the leading carbon dioxide emitter in 2006.
Meanwhile, Yunus noted India is producing significant pollution.
"As the countries develop, they became so focussed on the development," Yunus told a news conference. "They forget about what they are doing on the planet."
Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist who shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize with his Grameen bank for efforts to help the poor through tiny loans called microcredits, was in Seoul to attend an international symposium on global climate change.
A Geological Survey of India team, led by its Deputy Director General (Operation) Biplab Mukherjee, today studied the soil and sub-soil condition of the island and the probable environmental impact of a proposed chemical hub.
The GSI team comprised three GSI Directors and two senior geo scientists.
Local people staying for long on the eastern side of the island towards South 24 Parganas informed the team that there was occasional subsiding in the area of over one km land and they had to leave their homes several times in the past few years.
Dr Mukherjee said they would take about three to four months to complete their report and submit it to the Director General, who in turn would hand it over to the Government.
Heavy police arrangements were made over the 50 sq km of the island when the team was making the survey.
India's tsunami watchdog has denied suggestions that its tsunami alert on Wednesday evening was based on earthquake data released by the US geological survey and not on India's own warning system.
Huge aftershocks rumbled across Indonesia's Sumatra island on Thursday but officials said damage from a massive quake that killed 10 people was not as bad as first feared.
India has decided to lift a tsunami alert issued on Wednesday for its Andaman and Nicobar group of islands in the Bay of Bengal after a big earthquake in nearby Indonesia, a disaster management official said.
Meanwhile the scenerio in USA is changing fast. But the ruling Calss in India is dying for Indo US Nuke Deal and the strategic regrouping eying on Four Hundred Billion Dollar shopping list for US Weapon Market !As US President George W Bush is expected to back a limited withdrawal of troops in an address on his Iraq war strategy. The gradual pull-out would take troop numbers back to their level before Mr Bush ordered a build-up this year.
Four of the world's 10 most polluted places are in Russia and two former Soviet republics, an independent environmental group said in a report released on Wednesday.Encompassing seven countries, the top 10 sites may cause some 12 million people to suffer health problems ranging from asthma and other respiratory ailments to birth defects and premature death, the New York-based Blacksmith Institute said.Concern about polluted places is growing as the world's population swells and people in developing countries like China and India buy more cars and electronics -- habits that had been limited mainly to rich countries like the United States.China and India each has two sites in the top 10. Linfen, China, is in Shanxi Province, the heart of country's expanding coal industry, while Tianying is one of the country's largest lead production bases. In Tianying, residents, particularly children, suffer lead poisoning symptoms such as learning disabilities, brain damage and kidney malfunction.
With less than a week to go for the IAEA general conference in Vienna, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar is keeping his options open on discussing safeguards with the nuclear watchdog as he is yet to receive clear-cut instructions on the issue from the Centre.
"I have not received any indication on the topic (from the Centre) till date," Kakodkar said here.
Kakodkar is scheduled to make his speech at the annual meeting on September 19, two days after the conference begins.
He admitted last fortnight that there were some "constraints" related to talks on India-specific safeguards but refused to elaborate.
Sources close to Kakodkar, however, said the Indo-US nuclear deal might come up for informal discussions at the conference.
Though the Centre is seeking support for the deal from various quarters in spite of the Left's reservations on it, Kakodkar has not got any information on going ahead with discussions at the IAEA on safeguards pertaining to the Indo-US deal.
The Left parties have made it clear that they would take into consideration the findings of the UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal before proceeding on the issue of operationalising the agreement.
Scientists in favour of the deal are hoping that the Centre may come up with directions just before the IAEA conference to allow Kakodkar to go ahead with talks on the safeguards.
Nuclear industrialists in the country and around the globe are closely watching the Indo-US deal, a top official of Nuclear Power Corporation of India said.
"We and our counterparts across the world, who are waiting for India's integration with the global nuclear renaissance, are closely watching the political mood in India," he said.
Asked whether India would participate in IAEA's two-day scientific forum, which has a session on nuclear energy for developing countries, he said it was part of the nuclear power community's agenda.
The scientific forum will be attended by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director S Banerjee.
The IAEA general conference will also be attended by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Chairman S K Sharma who is also a member of the International Nuclear Safety Group (INSAG).
The Calcutta High Court has asked the West Bengal government to file a report on the sick and closed tea gardens in northen districts of the state where hundreds of people had allegedly died of starvation and malnutrition.
The two-judge bench, presided over by Chief Justice S S Nijjar, issued the ruling on a PIL filed by a social activist, Amitava Chakraborty.
Mr Chakraborty alleged that hundreds of employees of the closed and sick tea gardens in the district of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri were facing penury as the garden owners and the state government had failed to honour the promises to meet their minimum demands.
He said more than 200 people had died over the past five years following the closure of more than two dozen tea gardens in the district.
Many people were on the verge of death, he further alleged.
Mr Chakraborty prayed before the court that a direction be issued to the state government as well as the tea garden owners to open the closed gardens and help rejuvenate the sagging economy of the area.
Left parties will submit a detailed note on their objections to the Indo-US nuclear deal to the UPA-Left committee tomorrow.The contents of the note were finalised at a meeting of the four Left parties here today.The note will spell out their opposition to the deal in the context of the Hyde Act and its implications for the country's foreign policy.Left leaders said they were expecting a reply from the government side on Monday, ahead of the second meeting of the UPA-Left committee on Wednesday.
"We discussed the points on which we will prepare our note," CPI general secretary A B Bardhan told reporters after the meeting.
Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas said the note would be sent to the committee tomorrow. "The reply from the government should come to us by 17th. Then the committee will meet on the 19th," he added.He said, "The committee itself has noted our concern and we will be elaborating on some of the issues."
If the showdown between the Left and the Congress over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal results in a mid-term poll, will the Left have to pay a heavy electoral price as suggested by some recent surveys? The veiled threat of an imminent mid-term poll the CPI-M general secretary, Mr Prakash Karat, and other Left leaders issued by saying time is running out, has certainly triggered speculation about the Left Front's preparedness to fight the elections if they are held in the next few months. The Left parties are confident that their position, especially in West Bengal which sends most of their MPs to the Lok Sabha, would be far better if the elections are held now than if the poll is held a year later. The Left Front has 60 seats in the Lok Sabha and the projection is it would drastically come down by as many as 15 seats if the LF forces a mid-term poll through its inflexible stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal, according to some opinion polls. LF sources, however, said as for West Bengal, the Left is unlikely to suffer major electoral reverses now even though there is a perception that post-Nandigram the Left should be ready for a drubbing. True, conceded a senior leader, Nadigram and the industrialisation overdrive of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-government did alienate a sizeable number of farmers from the Left. What made matters worse for the LF was that a large number of these farmers, share-croppers and landless labourers, whose livelihood was threatened by the move to acquire farm land for industrialisation, belonged to the minority population. But, the Left believes its strong and uncompromising anti-US position on the nuke deal would stand them in good stead in recovering much of the lost ground. "Our anti-US position has always been consistent and our acceptability among the minority population increased further after the Bush administration pounded Iraq. Also, we would be able to convince the people irrespective of their religious preferences that our anti-imperialist stand forms a core of our political credo and is not just a matter of political convenience," a source claimed. The assumption is that the anti-US position would subsume the post-Nandigram disillusionment to a large extent, and help motivate the cadre bred on that ideology. The Left assessment is that the Congress in West Bengal is in total disarray and the Trinamul won't find it easy, any longer, to play the minority card the way it could post-Nandigram in view of the Left's anti-US blitzkrieg. "At the most there could be loss of one seat here and another there and in some cases the margin of victory would be less than what it was last time. But that won't make much difference to our overall tally if the elections are held now. ‘On the other hand, if the Trinamul gets a year for strengthening its organisation, it might fare better then, though it's not known for its organisational prowess which is the LF's forte. Mere anti-Left sentiments won't help the Trinamul sail through," a Left strategist said.
Is Indian economy losing steam? No one is sure, but there are signs of slowdown in industrial activity. Growth in industrial production dipped to 7% in July from 13.2% recorded a year ago.Economic Times reports.
The index of six core-infrastructure industries having a combined weight of 26.7% in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 1993-94 stood at 227.7 in July 2007 and registered a growth of 6.3% compared to a growth of 10.9 % in July 2006, ...
With India insisting on joint fight against terrorism, Home Ministers of SAARC countries will meet in New Delhi next month with an aim of formulating coordinated approaches towards the "common challenge." The Home Ministers of the eight-nation grouping will hold deliberations for two days from October 23 to evolve measures to harmonise national legislations and procedures, official sources said here Wednesday. The meeting assumes special significance as it will take place in the backdrop of recent Hyderabad bomb blasts which are believed to have been carried out by terrorists based in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The Indian side is expected to ask member countries, particularly Pakistan and Bangladesh, to cooperate in fighting the menace in "sincere and meaningful" manner. Suffering from cross-border terrorism for over three decades, India has been pressing Pakistan and Bangladesh to dismantle the infrastructures of terror existing there, but without any results.
Nuclear power is a necessity for long term energy requirement of the country, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics Director, Bikash Sinha said here today.
The country needs nuclear power as fossil fuels like coal and gas cannot sustain, for long, the pace at which the industry is growing, he said while speaking at the AGM of Indian Plastic Federation.
Making a veiled reference to the opposition by the Left parties to the Indo-US nuclear deal on the grounds it would jeopardise the nations's sovereignty, Sinha said like politicians, the scientists also loved their country "and we recommend nuclear power development with reasons".
Making a strong case for Japan to support the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, a Tokyo-based policy group has said the pact will throw open business opportunities for Japanese firms, besides promote cooperation in science and technology.
The political significance, promotion of cooperation in science and technology and likely contribution by Japanese corporations involved in nuclear power are among the reasons cited by the Japan Forum on International Relations (JFIR) in support of the deal.
JFIR's 29th policy recommendations - "India's Leap Forward and India" - calls for cooperation with India on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Addressing India's growing energy demands and needs to reduce global warming, the group says India will presumably want to heavily depend on "nuclear power in the future."
On concerns related to nuclear weapons proliferation, if the Indo-US deal is implemented, the group points out that India has always called for nuclear disarmament despite being outside the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The Rise of the Elephant and Dragon
September 13, 2007
On the streets of India, Robyn Meredith still finds animals pulling carts loaded with construction materials, and monkeys racing across roads, dodging cars. The Forbes magazine writer also talks about China where men in Mao jackets pedal bicycles along newly built highways, past skyscrapers sprouting like bamboo. Yet India is as near as the voice answering an 800 number for one dollar an hour, says Meredith, the author of the much discussed book The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What it Means for All of Us.
Communist China, Meredith, left, points out, is as close as the nearest Wal-Mart, its shelves filled with Chinese-made goods.
In her book, Meredith, senior editor, Asia, at Forbes, discusses how China and India have spurred a new gold rush, and what this means for the rest of the world.
She made her name at the American Banker exposing insider deals in savings and loans that led to four Congressional hearings and an overhaul of US banking regulations governing initial public offerings.
Meredith, who covers India and China for Forbes, challenges conventional wisdom in her book, arguing that the US shouldn't fear these two rising economic powers. Though American politicians tax Chinese goods, she points out that Americans actually gain from the undervalued yuan. For, American companies profit from the inexpensive goods the Chinese manufacture. There is also no need to fear that India has picked up most of the one million white-collar jobs that moved out of the US, she argues. For every dollar that goes overseas, $1.94 of wealth is created, all but 33 cents of which returns to America.
The journalist and author discusses India and China's potential with Rediff India Abroad Managing Editor (Features) Arthur J Pais. http://specials.rediff.com/money/2007/sep/12sld1.htm
We have made up our mind on n-deal: Karat
New Delhi: The possibility of a compromise between the government and its Left allies appears increasingly bleak with top Communist leader Prakash Karat on Thursday saying that the communist parties have "made up their mind" to block the India-US civil nuclear deal and will not support the government if it went ahead with it.
Karat also contended that the government was "determined to go ahead with the deal" despite a majority in parliament opposing the contentious deal which aims to "draw India into a military alliance with the US."
"We have made up our mind. We won't be there to help the government to conclude the agreement. It's now for the government to decide," Karat said at a seminar on the India-US nuclear deal, which was chaired by Communist Party of India leader A B Bardhan and attended, among others, by former Prime Minister V P Singh.
In a revealation that may put the government on the defensive, Karat said that the first time, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had included "strategic partnership with the US" in the first two drafts of the Common Minimum Programme. This was struck out from the final version after the Left parties raised objections to it, he said.
"Why is the government determined to go ahead despite the clear and established fact that the parties who are opposed to the deal constitute a majority in parliament?" Karat, the Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary, asked.
Karat's statement has put in question the efficacy of the joint mechanism comprising the government and the Left parties that prop up the ruling coalition to address its concerns about the implications of the nuclear deal on India's strategic programme and foreign policy.
With the government saying that it is not bound by the UPA-Left committee's findings, the window is fast closing for compromise between the two sides.
Taking potshots at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh without naming him, Karat said: "Does the PM believe Bush is the greatest friend of India? The most hated president in the US is our greatest benefactor."
Alluding to the 10-year defence framework agreement India signed with the US over two years ago, Karat also mocked the US' claims to make India a major world power.
"What has happened to great friends of Bush? British Prime Minister Tony Blair is no longer around. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has quit. Australian Prime Minister John Howard is on his way out. They are all going," said Karat in an ominous hint that the Manmohan Singh government may not survive should the Left parties withdraw support, making mid-term polls inevitable.
Alluding to non-Congress constituents of the UPA like Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party and Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam, Karat hinted that the nuclear deal was set to become a key issue in the next elections. "All these parties in the government will have to answer to the people," he said.
V.P. Singh was equally unstinting in his rejection of the deal and charged that the 123 bilateral agreement contains several "bondage" clauses that could shackle India's strategic autonomy and reduce it to a "bonded labour" of the US interests.
"The government refuses to listen to the Indian parliament, and instead listens to (US President George) Mr Bush and goes by his time table," Singh said.
"For the first time, the prime minister is confronting a majority in parliament (which is opposed to the deal)," said Singh.
He pointed to four "bondage clauses" in the 123 agreement - pertaining to circumstances of termination, the US' right of return of nuclear materials sold to India, and the proposed plan to place Indian civil nuclear reactors under safeguards in perpetuity - to stress that the deal militated against India's fundamental national interests.
Alluding to the termination clause in Article 14 of the 123 bilateral agreement, he said: "It doesn't specify circumstances that can lead to termination of the agreement. Even India's foreign policy choices that don't suit the US can trigger that. This clause is like the sword of Damocles hanging over our head."
Referring to the right of return clause, Singh said the investment of over $20 billion ("over Rs one lakh crore") India will make in imported nuclear reactors and technologies will act as a "paperweight" on India's mind, were they to return the US-origin nuclear technology.
"It will be a colossal loss. This will act as a paperweight on the government's mind before doing anything that may trigger termination."
Singh also argued that despite the government's disclaimers, the Hyde Act of the US will be applicable to the bilateral agreement. "The Hyde Act is hidden in it," he said.
M J Akbar, editor-in-chief of The Asian Age and a critic of the nuclear deal, said the government's hurry to get the deal through raised serious questions about it.
"What's the hurry? Even China took 15 years to do the nuclear deal with the US. We are only asking for a few months," he said.
"Our present government seems to be following an American, and not an Indian calendar," he said. India's long-standing military ally Russia has begun engaging it in military exercises it rarely conducted before. This is to counter competition from the United States, Israel and other Western countries in meeting New Delhi's billowing demand for defence equipment.
Later this week the Indian and Russian Army's Special Forces, backed by their respective air forces, will for the first time carry out five days of joint anti-terror and search-and-destroy exercises in Russia on the freezing plains of Pskov, southeast of St Petersburg.
The upcoming Indira 07 manoeuvres will duplicate those carried out for the first time by the two armies in October 2005, despite them being close allies during the Cold War decades.
"As an economically resurgent India begins to militarily interact with other countries, a nervous Moscow, anxious to retain its largest defence customer, is seeking increased interaction with Delhi through joint manoeuvres," retired Lt Gen V K Kapur told IANS.
Over the next decade, military planners anticipate purchases of over $40 billion to replace or upgrade the predominantly Soviet and Russian equipment in service with the Indian military that has reached collective obsolescence.
And with the armed forces increasingly voicing their preference for Western over Russian hardware, Moscow has launched a multi-pronged sales offensive of which joint exercises are a part, Kapur added.
India annually conducts $1,500 million worth of defence business with Russia. Since the 1960s India has acquired Russian military goods worth over $30 billion.
But despite such dealings, a mere handful of Russian service personnel have attended any of India's many defence training establishments open to and patronized by foreign officers from competing military-industrial establishments.
Indian officials attribute this to the Russian military officers' lack of fluency in English. The two navies have also conducted just three rounds of joint exercises since 2003, the most recent being off Russia's coast earlier this year.
Eleven left-leaning parties have come together to form a new alliance to establish "bold politics based on ideology" so as to help establish a "democratic Bangladesh".
"Some parties are doing left politics with exploiters deviating from its ideology. We will try to establish a trend of doing bold politics based on ideology and bring all left parties under a single banner as per the demand of the time," said Khalequzzaman, Convener of the Democratic Left Alliance (DLA).
The formation of the DLA was announced here yesterday. The leaders of the new formation have attacked the mainstream political parties that engage in electoral and power politics. "As rightist politics has failed to fulfil people's expectations and run the country properly over the years, only left parties can lead the nation now," Khalequzzaman was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.
Expectations and dreams of the nation were not fulfilled over the last 36 years as some of the major parties failed to take up political programmes timely, a DLA statement said.
The parties in the new alliance include Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), Jatiya Ganofront, Bangladesher Workers Party, Biplobi Oikya Front, Ganotantrik Majdur Party, Bangladesher Communist Party (ML), Bangladesher Ganotantrik Andolon, Shramajibi Mukti Andolon, Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal (MLM), BSD (Mahbub) and Ganosanghati Andolon.
Dr Manas Joardar to me, amit_bh200405 show details 11:39 am (6 hours ago)
AS A PART OF
‘MOVEMENT AGAINST MALDEVELOPMENT’Teachers and Scientists against maldevelopment, Indian Academy of Social Sciences, Shramajibi Swastha udyog, Janaswastha swadhikar Mancha, Platform and Bijnan O Bijnan Karmi are going to organize a
SEMINAR
Subject: Chemical Hub – Problems and Prospects
Venue: University Institute Library Hall, College Square
Date: 16.9.2007 Time : 3pm
Speakers :
Prof. Partha Roy
Prof. Rabin MazumdarProf. Manindra Narayan MuzumdarDr. Shiddhartha GuptaProf. Shubhendu Dasgupta
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Circulated by Prof. Meher Engineer and Debapriya Mallick on behalf of `Movement against maldevelopment’.You may know that some of our friends are arrested for recent Dhaka University incident and sent to jail. Former chairmen of mass communication department of Rajshahi University, Dulal Chandra Biswas, Sayed Selim Reza Newton and another teacher of the same department Abdullah Al Mamun were accused of violating the Emergency Power Rules (EPR) 2007.
All of them were the student of Dhaka University, department of Journalism & mass communication. They were also involved student's movement of 90's as leaders of different left student organizationsCentral & Dhaka university committee. They are famous all over the country as young intellectuals. Still they are involved with progressive movement.
In absence of them their family has a little ability to continue to expenses of the cases. It needs huge money. They have already spent a lot of money for lawyer and other purposes to precede the case. They need help. If possible you may contribute for them.
For more information about them please visit following links
(http://www.thedaily star.net/ story.php? nid=2851,http://www.thedaily star.net/ story.php? nid=2469)Sense and SensibilityIn this issue ………Sense and Sensibility 1A Simile of Triggero happy police 2What’s wrong indefending Human Rights 3Violations in West Bengal 4hLatest updates 5Activities 5masumNEWSLETTERAt present the country is passing through a phase of public discussion on TADA court’sdecisions in Mumbai in which the court punished numbers of accused with different penalprovisions, including capital punishment for 12 and life imprisonment for 29. All of thembelong to different socio-economic strata and religious identities. The trial took nearly 14years for completion of its proceeding.The most controversial part of the verdict is that the 12 persons who were sentenced tocapital punishment are those who had direct involvement with ‘Bombay Blast’ in whichofficially 257 innocent people were killed by guided bombs from a distance without anyconcrete motive to kill a person with certainty of their identity. Other interesting part in thisghastly incident was accused and victims did not know each other before the commission ofoffence. Actually the total act was in retaliation of preceded killing of nearly 900 persons inBombay riots and in this case all deceased was from Muslim community, the innocent victimsknew their killer and vice versa. This mayhem was an organized genocide. The said judicialprocess once again proved that judiciary in any way was not sensitive; if they had really takenup a socially sensitive position, they would definitely made the incidents of demolition ofBabri Masjid on December 1992 and butchering of Muslims in Bombay on January 1993 a pointf reference before delivering the verdict.MASUM strongly condemn ghastly killing of innocents by that subversive actions but equallycondemn the Court’s order, in which the court upheld the extinction of people being armedwith legal and State’s sanction.MASUM always voiced against capital punishment with a strong rationale that killing a personin a democratic and civilized society is in no way desirable because this very penal provisionas no effect on commission and perpetration of crime, in other way it has been an everincreasing phenomenon of the society.We have strongly opposed the hanging of Dhananjay Chatterjee with definite argument thathis hanging would not decrease the incidents of rape and other offences from the society andthe experience shows that we were right on our stand. Similarly the hanging of some allegedmiscreants can not stop human killings because the State is also practicing the same with itslegal arms. The fundamental right to life guaranteed by the State is also facing challenge bythis inhumane legal sanction. Often the courts are referring the said punishment as anexemplary punishment. But killing of a person can not be an example for a civilized society.We can vouch for the verity that by hanging all these twelve persons; the subversive activitiesor revenge killings will not end from this society.Role of the State including the judiciary befits with only a mockery of democracy and secularidentity of Indian state. 14 years have been elapsed since the killing of 900 innocent peoplebelonged to minority community and the state is still silent on that matter. The judiciary hasnot initiated any legal recourse in any court of the country; although after a generated publicpressure a Commission has been constituted, headed by a Judge of Mumbai High Court; Mr.Justice B.N. Srikrishna. The commission heard victims, their families and miscreants for morethan five years but when he had to conclude, Shiv Sena came into power in Maharashtra. Atfirst they stopped the proceedings of the commission, but had to relent before the pressure ofdemocratic movements and reconstitute the commission again. But by this time the stategovernment incorporated the Mumbai Blast case as another subject of enquiry.At last, Sri Krishna Commission accused 35 police higher ups along with leaders belonging toShiv Sena’s highest echelon as culprits for their participation in genocide directly andinstigating the riot. The double standard of the State again established when not a single legalaction has been taken against these culprits so
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