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[1] POLL: INDIA, NIGERIA, BRAZIL, MOROCCO AMONG ‘MOST RELIGIOUS’ Source: Assist News Service A new poll indicates India, Nigeria, Brazil and Morocco are among the most religious nations in the world with more than 96 percent of the population regarding themselves as religious. In Nigeria, where Christians and Muslims are roughly equally represented, 92 percent describe themselves as highly religious. Western industrial nations lag far behind in spirituality, with the U. S. a noted exception. Eighty-nine percent of U. S. residents describe themselves as religious -- the majority as highly religious. In this respect Europeans differ greatly. Germany, Austria and Switzerland score a Western European average of 70 percent regarding themselves as religious and only about 20 percent as highly religious. Numbers in the U. K. and France are even lower. The least religious nation in Europe is Russia with 50 percent claiming to be religious and 7 percent highly religious. Italy and Poland -- predominantly Catholic countries -- are the most religious nations in Europe with about 87 percent claiming to be religious and more than 40 percent highly religious. The study, conducted by the German Bertelsmann Foundation, involved 21,000 adults in 21 nations. -------- [2] MINISTRY FIGHTS AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING PROBLEM IN INDIA Source: Mission Network News The magnitude of the human trafficking situation in India was recently revealed when the U. S. State Department stated that about 500,000 women are trafficked each year, 150,000 of whom are trafficked in South Asia. Many of these are prostitutes. India Partners is actively fighting against this modern-day slavery that often involves threats, coercion and abuse in addition to servitude slavery. “We are praying and working with other organizations to help rescue these girls from the brothels and from the prostitution trade and to free them into safe homes and into vocational training so they can get a new start in their lives,” said Brent Hample of India Partners. The mission works with partner ministries that are in direct contact with the girls in India. “A lot of it is education, vocational training, rescue and, of course, ministry -- sharing with them the love of Jesus Christ and showing that there is hope, that they can have encouragement and that God loves them,” Hample said. In the past few years, India Partners has helped rescue between 50 and 100 girls, then taught them life skills such as reading, writing and sewing. --------- [3] From: jindia <raj.justindia@gmail.com Date: Thu Dec 20, 2007 6:38 pm Subject: Hyderabad sees influx of illegal Bangladeshis - NDTV No wonder Hyderabad suffers from regular bouts of islamic terrorism! Bangladeshis will overwhelm India sooner or later, probably sooner and Islamic repression, commonly found in all Islamic countries will smother all of us. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx? id=NEWEN20070035954&ch=12/14/200\ 7%2010:56:00%20PM *Hyderabad sees influx of illegal Bangladeshis* Radhika Iyer Friday, December 14, 2007 (Hyderabad) Ever since the twin bomb blasts in Hyderabad, fingers are being pointed at illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the city. NDTV's investigations have revealed that there could be nearly a lakh Bangladeshi's staying in the city, hidden from public eye. It is because they can merge with the local population and also get themselves local identity for a price. A 42-year-old man, who belongs to Akhirighas village of Bangladesh, is now living with his wife and seven children in Jiyaguda in Hyderabad's old city area. He agreed to talk to NDTV only if his identity was not revealed. He said that he crossed the border 22 years ago by paying Rs 70 to a tempo driver. He has been living here ever since, calling himself a Bengali from Kolkata. ''My friend told me that Hyderabad is peaceful and had jobs to offer. I got a PAN card here for Rs 200 and I'd got a passport years ago by paying Rs 1,050,'' he said. Fake identity On reaching Hyderabad, anyone who claims to be a Bengali, fills up the application form available at the Bengali welfare association office. The police recognize those registered with the association as Bengalis. An estimated 4 lakh Bengalis live in Hyderabad's old city area alone. Intelligence sources say, of them at least 80,000 could be Bangladeshis who call themselves Bengalis. They say, it is difficult to say how many Bangladeshis could be anti-social elements. ''The focus is right now on militant elements among the Bangladeshi's. In the process we have arrested 29 persons who some of them, I suspect, are involved in militant activities,'' said Balwinder Singh, Police Commissioner, Hyderabad. Intelligence sources say the influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh to Hyderabad is increasing by over 10 per cent every year, mainly because there is a demand for cheap labour. But identifying them becomes difficult because the first thing a Bangladeshi does is, learns the local dialect of Bangla and Hindi. ------------------ [4] Tamils: The Prince Of Peace By Fr Chandi Sinnathurai http://www.countercurrents.org/sinnathurai201207.htm Just for a moment, imagine the President Rajapaksha declaring that the un-declared war is over. The Tamil Tigers will be left with no option but to reciprocate such honourable gesture. Both the Tamils and the Sinhalas including all the communities in Sri Lanka can breathe a sigh of relief and celebrate Christmas with joyful peace and baila Citizens Of Twelve Hours By Wali Laskar http://www.countercurrents.org/laskar201207.htm Thousands of Indian citizens living in Indian soil have been deprived of their citizenship for twelve hours daily for decades. The victims are resident of villages situated in fringe area of about four thousand kilometres long India-Bangladesh International Boundary Lines ----------- [5] From: Madhu Chandra <office@madhuchandra.org Date: 21 Dec 2007 01:57 Subject: National Fact Finding Team - Public hearing on acquisition of land for NIT Lamphelpat, at Langol, West Imphal Manipur National Fact Finding Team – Public hearing on acquisition of land for NIT Lamphelpat, at Langol, West Imphal Manipur Preliminary Report "The Joint Action Committee for protection of agricultural lands and wetlands at Langol- Lamphelpat, Imphal West, Manipur" during its visit to New Delhi to submit a Memorandum to the Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh, called on civil society and human rights groups to constitute a Fact Finding Committee to assess the ground situation and their protest movement against the acquisition of the above mentioned lands for the proposed National Institute of Technology in Manipur. In meetings with Dr. John Dayal, Member, National Integration Council, Govt. of India, New Delhi, the JAC requested him to constitute a fact finding team and a public hearing in Imphal. Consequently Dr. John Dayal requested Dr. Sam Paul, Human Rights Activist, Hyderabad, Mr. Albert Lael, Dalit Education Centres, to be with him on the fact finding committee for the public hearing at Imphal. The said public hearing was organized by the Joint Action Committee at the Shija Hospital Junction, Langol-Lamphelpat, Imphal West, Manipur from 11:30 to 3:00 PM on Wednesday 19 December 2007. The public hearing was attended by approximately 1,000 people, men, and women from the area, representing several ethnic and religious groups and also representatives of the Joint Action Committee. Miss. Kim Gangte, Ex-Member of Parliament, Outer Manipur, Mr. M. Surendro Singh, President, Mr. Brojen Sinam, Vice President, JAC, C. S Khongsai, Secretary and others, facilitated the public hearing. At the outset, Dr. Dayal explained to the assembled people the concept of a public hearing, its moral authority and its methodology. The public hearing and the fact finding committee are not created by the Government of either the State or the Centre. Their moral authority is derived from the democratic philosophy underpinning the Constitution of India, and specifically from the guarantees of "Freedom of Expression emanating from Article 19 (1) (A). Such fact finding public hearings had played a powerful and constructive role right from the promulgation of the Constitution on 26 January 1950 and specifically in the last 20 years. Public hearings in the past have been held to document and record the voices and aspirations of the people in almost all states of India on issues ranging from communal violence, displacement, dams, forest and mines issues, police firings, custodial deaths and in recent month's issues relating to Special Economic Zones such as Nandigram, West Bengal. Several times in the past governments have acted on the recommendations on such public hearings. Dr. Dayal said that while a preliminary report would be made public within 24 hours of the hearing, a detailed report would be sent to Central and State authorities for their consideration within a fortnight. The following are the preliminary findings / observations / recommendations of the fact finding teams after hearing the affected people in a public forum: The fact finding committee was surprised to find that prohibitory order under Section 144 Cr Pc were imposed by the District Magistrate, Imphal West, from 5.00 pm 18 December 2007 (Ref. Imphal Free Press, dated December 19, 2007). Though there was no provocation for such an action Miss. Kim reported to the fact-finding team that on hearing of the imposition of the Section 144, she has lodged a formal complaint with the authorities including the Prime Minister's Office, New Delhi. We are happy to note that though the police were present in and around the Public Hearing site, there was a total peace during the entire hearing. We are also happy to note that the entire movement of the protest against the acquisition of the above mentioned land vide Govt. order: 4/5/LA/COM/ 2007-(Rev), dated 24/09/07 has been entirely peaceful and has seen extra ordinary harmony and unity between people representing almost every ethnic, religious and linguistic groups in the state of Manipur. It is also a tribute to the courage and integrity of the women of Manipur that they turned out in very large number to depose at the public hearing. We had made known that we would be very happy to hear / receive communication from any representatives of the state government, central governments and its various departments. We would be still happy to receive any communication from them before the submission of the final report. It is clear that all people of Manipur whole heartedly welcome the decision of the Government of India to situate the National Institute of Technology in Manipur to cater to the young men and women of the region. The people of Manipur recognize that such an institute will affectively tap and hone the tremendous natural, intellectual resources of the people of the region, which will in turn contribute to the emergence of India as a leading nation in the knowledge sector. Even the poorest of the poor and almost illiterate housewives who disposed were enthusiastic in welcoming the NIT. Having said that, the issue is of locating such an institute in an area most suited for it keeping in mind the following: Accessibility Equity in development between various regions of the State Environmental and Ecological considerations Impact on human population, displacement, matters of livelihood, issues relating to freedom of faith and related impact on the lives of the present and coming generations. It is clear that the city of Imphal and its immediate environment are not lacking in the sphere of higher education sector. The existing institutions include the Central University of Manipur, the Central Agricultural University, the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences and also Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the state run Manipur Institute of Technology in addition to several private Institutions. It has also to be noted that other regional centres do not have such concentration of institutions of higher learning. In fact, most of them do not have any central or state institutions of higher learning. This has led to a very lopsided development in the state's investment in the intellectual, professional and human rights development in Manipur. There is a need for urgent steps to set up institutions of higher learning in various regions of the State. It has been noted that there has been a pressing demand for such institutions from various parts of Manipur. We note that specific requests have come from students of Churachandpur, Senapati and other areas. It would be proper for the government to give consideration to these requests in the interest of development, justice and peace. After patiently listening to voices at the public hearing, perusing documents presented, a physical visit of the affected area of the wet lands, agricultural lands and other residential patta lands, we come to the inevitable conclusion that: i. This is possibly the most unsuitable site for the proposed NIT and the said NIT must not be situated in the Langol-Lamphelpat area because it will specifically infringe on the right of the livelihood of approximately 3000 families who constitute the most marginalized sections of the society. We are pained to note that instead of paying heed to the cry of the marginalised farmers / fishermen and land owners, the government and its political and official leaders have failed to listen to JAC despite repeated requests, representations and protests and strikes. More so because the JAC has quite obviously has widespread public support. We also note that in addition to the hardship and trauma to the humans living in the region the insistence to locate the NIT at the proposed site will lead to the annihilation of the rare and irreplaceable wet land wealth with possibly catastrophic implications for the environment in general and the city of Imphal in particular which may become open to future flash floods, water and other environmental calamities. 10. It is the hope of the fact finding committee that wiser counsels will prevail and that the State Government and the Government of India will locate the NIT at a suitable site elsewhere in Manipur, where it will be welcomed by all people of the State and will play its due role in the development of future generations of the region. The same arguments also hold true in urging the government not to locate Pony Association, Poly Clinic, Lawn Tennis, Environment and Pollution Control Centre, State Medical Directorate, Housing complex for Ex-servicemen and others in such a fragile ecological and human environment. Signed John Dayal Imphal 9 am 20 December 2007 ------------ |
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December23, 2007 - [India Thinkers Net]Pak elections ,blasts ,missile plans ,food shortages etc >> |
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