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MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL THINKERS. Wishing all peace .... the.moderator India Thinkers Net [1] From: "EMPOWER INDIA" <ttn_empower@sancharnet.in Date: Mon Dec 24, 2007 10:16 am Subject: India to get $100 million more to fight AIDS India to get $100 mn more to fight AIDS The Global Fund on Thursday granted another 100 million dollars to India for strengthening its fight against deadly diseases like AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. So far, the funding agency has granted 747 million dollars to the country. "India has done good job in AIDS and Tuberculosis and is coming up in Malaria. Due to its diverse population and highly competent people, India is actually a leader," said Rajat Gupta, chairman of the Board of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Experts in India are happy and say that the new resources will be used for building a strong programme for first two years. "This is a positive news for India's fight against AIDS and for many patients living in the country," said Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss. "The grants will be used to upscale interventions on these diseases," added Ramadoss after the Director of the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India, Prashant and the executive director of the Global Fund Dr Michael Kazatchkine signed an agreement. "We are proud to continue funding the work that is being done to provide treatment to AIDS patients and to change social attitudes that leave so many vulnerable to stigma and discrimination," said Dr Kazatchkine. http://www.indianexpress.com/printerFriendly/252740.html Forwarded by: Yours in Global Concern A. SANKAR -Executive Director [EMPOWER.] ------------ [2] From: ram mohan anantha pai <pairamblr@yahoo.com Date: Mon Dec 24, 2007 9:19 am Subject: Re: [indiathinkersnet] Benazir Bhutto http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Pakistans-madrasas-groom-killers-says-Bh\ utto/253480/Pakistan's madrasas groom killers, says Bhutto Reuters Posted online: Sunday , December 23, 2007 at 12:00:00 Updated: Sunday , December 23, 2007 at 08:37:40 Print Email To Editor Post Comments Larkana, December 23: Pakistani Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto said on Sunday some religious schools were turning children into killers. Speaking to about 25,000 supporters near her ancestral home in the southern town of Larkana, she also renewed accusations the government had done nothing to stop militant violence. "They always try to stop democratic forces but don't make any effort to check extremists, terrorists and fanatics," she told a rally at a cricket stadium, two days after a suicide bomber killed nearly 50 worshippers in a mosque. Pakistan has seen a surge in violence this year with more than 400 people killed in suicide bomb attacks across the country in recent months. On Sunday, a suicide bomber killed four soldiers and five civilians in an attack on a military convoy in the Swat valley in the northwest of the country, police said. Bhutto said President Pervez Musharraf had spoken of the need to reform religious schools, or madrasas, but had done nothing. She said she respected genuine religious schools. "Then there are the political madrasas, the political madrasas that teach their pupils how to make bombs, how to use rifles and how to kill women, children and the elderly." "Who they are who tell children to carry out bombing on Eid al-Adha," she said, referring to the attack on Friday in the northwestern town of Charsadda. Police said they suspected Islamist militants based in semi-autonomous tribal lands on the Afghan border for the attack. At Bhutto's rally, private security guards used metal detectors to check people entering the stadium. Bhutto survived a suicide attack in October when a bomber killed nearly 150 people at a procession in Karachi to welcome her home from eight years of self-imposed exile. "Extremism is getting strong in our tribal areas and lawlessness is spreading throughout the country," Bhutto said ------------ [3] From: Abhiyya 2006 <abhiyya@yahoo.com Date: Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:01 pm Subject: See How Modi Keeps winning....... "This speech has shocked the nation, but in Gujarat, people did not bat an eyelid. To them, it is nothing unusual. This is the level of political debate in the State" Falling back on Hindutva DIONNE BUNSHA On failing to sell his government’s achievements to Gujarat’s voters, Narendra Modi pumps up Hindutva chauvinism in his speeches. PTI Narendra Modi at an election rally in Ahmedabad. “WHAT should be done to a man who stored illegal arms and ammunition? You tell me what should have been done to Sohrabuddin,” Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi asked the crowd at an election rally in Mangrol in south Gujarat. The crowd replied: “Kill him, kill him.” In response, Modi said: “Well, that is it. Do I have to take Sonia Gandhi’s permission to do this? Hang me if I have done anything wrong.” This speech has shocked the nation, but in Gujarat, people did not bat an eyelid. To them, it is nothing unusual. This is the level of political debate in the State. Moreover, everything is tinged with communal overtones. In the last leg of his campaign, Modi resorted to rabble-rousing to win over voters and Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh cadre, many of whom have deserted him. By referring to Sohrabuddin Sheikh, he was reviving the “fear of terrorism”, a manufactured threat. Sohrabuddin, his wife Kauser Bi and Tulsiram Prajapati were pulled out of a bus by Modi’s favourite encounter specialist D. G. Vanjara on November 23, 2005. Three days later, Sohrabuddin was killed in a police encounter. Kauser Bi had been “missing” since then. A year later, Prajapati was killed in an encounter. Sohrabuddin was supposed to have been part of a conspiracy to kill Modi. As truth of the brutal encounter killings came to light, many of these assassination conspiracies turned out to be fake. Vanjara and two other police officers are now in jail for the fake encounter murders. The dark brutality of Gujarat’s human rights abuse was exposed in this case. The Sohrabuddin encounter was a skeleton in Modi’s closet, better kept buried. Yet, he has raked it up to turn it in his favour, using it to reinforce his macho Hindutva hero image - unafraid of “terrorists” and minor complications such as the rule of law. Taking off from his Gujarat Gaurav (Gujarat Pride) campaign of 2002, the campaign slogan this time is “Jeetega Gujarat” (Victorious Gujarat). Modi had tried to sell his government’s achievements to voters. But once he realised that they saw through the gas, Modi pumped up Hindutva chauvinism. It was a desperate attempt to win back the Sangh cadre, many of whom are campaigning for rebel candidates. Though there is enough evidence to prove that the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 was state-supported, Modi remains confident that he can get away with murder. If the Tehelka tapes (where BJP leaders were caught on camera speaking about the Chief Minister’s role in the mass murders) could not bring him down, the Sohrabuddin speech would be no cause for worry. An astute politician, Modi knows how to play to the gallery. When he needs to reach out to the cadre, it is back to Hindutva. Earlier in the campaign too, while addressing a meeting of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ahmedabad, Modi had proudly owned up the Sohrabuddin killing. The urban business community in the State lapped it up. Most of them are hard core Hindutva supporters. But, while talking to Adivasis, Modi does not use the same language. Instead, he promises them land under the new Forest Rights Act and blames the Congress-led government at the Centre for delaying its implementation. His remarks irked the media at the national level. Human rights activist Teesta Setalvad filed a complaint with the Election Commission for provoking communal tension. The BJP responded by filing a complaint with the E. C. against Congress president Sonia Gandhi for calling one of its leaders a “merchant of death”. While the national media noticed the Hindutva tone only towards the end of the campaign, the truth is that Modi has used it throughout. “Every speech of his has a Hindutva subtext, even when he is talking about development,” says Achyut Yagnik, social activist and historian. “In his first campaign speech, Modi said that the design of the new two-rupee coin has been changed, replacing the map of India with a cross, a veiled reference to Sonia Gandhi’s religious background. Whenever he speaks of the Central government, he uses the term ‘Delhi Sultanate’ or ‘Delhi durbar’ mockingly”, he adds. The BJP’s campaign managers published advertisements in Gujarati newspapers with headlines such as, “Put salt on the wounds of Godhra”. The text has a poem directed against the Congress: “Made [Justice U. C.] Banerjee write a report, About how the fire started inside, The case was weakened, The culprits were saved, We will expose this conspiracy, And Gujarat will be victorious.” The obsession with Godhra has not ended. During the 2002 election campaign, Modi angered the Election Commission when he said, “We do not want to continue to run relief camps to produce children. We wish to go towards family planning. But for some people that means ‘hum paanch, hamare pachhees’ (We five, our 25). They keep on giving birth to long queues of children, who keep repairing cycle punctures everywhere. We must teach a lesson to those who multiply like this.” Later, Modi even lashed out against the then-Election Commissioner J. M. Lyngdoh. He asked: “Is Lyngdoh from Italy? He and Sonia Gandhi must be meeting each other in church.” None of these communal speeches caused him any harm. Who’s to stop him this time round then? The 2002 election campaign was far more communally charged. The BJP distributed T-shirts displaying pictures of the burning train at Godhra and a slogan saying, “I will not let my town become a Godhra”. This election does not have the same intensity of hatred as in 2002 following the communal carnage. Then, the wounds were still raw and the mood still triumphant. But the communal hangover lingers. Urban Gujarat still remains divided along religious lines. People still harbour the same prejudices and feel vindicated by the violence. “For once, Hindus came out and fought” is the popular sentiment. The fact that Modi still uses the communal card is an indication that stirring prejudices still works with certain sections of the electorate, particularly the urban voters. It is a sad reminder that even five years after the communal carnage in the State, the prejudice and polarisation remains strong even if there is no violence. http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20080104242513100.htm With Regards Abi ------------ |
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| << December23, 2007 - [India Thinkers Net]Pak elections ,blasts ,missile plans ,food shortages etc |
December29, 2007 - [India Thinkers Net]Attack on Christians in Orissa ,Articles on Benazir >> |
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