|
India Thinkers Net Archives Index
|
Subscribe
|
|
| << July03, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]BHEL,Imran and a bit of science news |
July06, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]Live8,Ayodhya & Parvez' posts (1-5) >> |
|
From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> & EMPOWER - INDIA <ttn_empower@sancharnet.in> Date: Mon Jul 4, 2005 Subject: The G8??s Debt Scam suklasen http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-2/549/549_16_G8.shtml Rich countries put conditions on debt relief The G8??s debt scam By Lee Sustar | June 24, 2005 | Page 16 THE WORLD??S most powerful countries have long used debt to dominate the world??s poorest countries. Now they??re using debt ???relief??? to accomplish the same thing. The news that 18 poor countries, mainly located in sub-Saharan Africa, would have $40 billion in debt written off allowed finance ministers of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries to pose as global anti-poverty crusaders--with celebrity activists Bono and Bob Geldof praising their generosity. In reality, the deal--whose full details haven??t yet been disclosed--will require further steps by the 18 countries to carry out economic ???reforms.??? That means deregulation, privatization and concessions to foreign traders and investors with the aim of ???opening??? their economies. In fact, ???openness??? is precisely what has worsened Africa??s economic plight, according to the organization Christian Aid. ???Two decades of [economic] liberalization have cost sub-Saharan Africa roughly what it has received in aid over the same period,??? the organization stated, reporting that free-trade policies left sub-Saharan Africa $272 billion worse off over that period. What??s more, the debt cancellation applies to loans only with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank--not to loans made by the World Bank??s affiliates, the Inter-American Development Bank or the Asian Development Bank. As the Brussels-based Committee to Abolish Third World Debt pointed out, those regional banks hold much of the debt of countries in the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief program, which are the targeted recipients of the debt relief. ???The [G8] initiative can solve neither the issue of the debt nor the issue of poverty since it bears on only 2 percent of the external debt of developing countries,??? the committee pointed out in a press release. Even if the program expands, as expected, to cover another nine countries for a total of $55 billion in cancellation, it??s still a tiny amount in view of the debt crisis. The measure would cost rich countries only about $1.5 billion per year to compensate the IMF and World Bank for debt relief--and U.S. officials say they??ll deduct that amount from already miserly levels of U.S. foreign aid. ???Total annual U.S. aid for all of Africa is about $3 billion, equivalent to about two days of Pentagon spending,??? wrote Jeffrey Sachs, the former free-market economist who is now an anti-poverty adviser to the United Nations. ???About $1 billion pays for emergency food aid, of which half is for transport. About $1.5 billion is for ???cooperation,?? essentially salaries of U.S. consultants. Only about $500 million a year--less than $1 per African--finances clinics, schools, food production, roads, power, Internet connectivity, safe drinking water, sanitation, family planning and life-saving health interventions to fight malaria, AIDS and other diseases.??? Even business writers weighed in on the paltry level of the proposed debt relief. ???By international investing standards, the write-off is a drop in the bucket,??? wrote Reuters?? correspondent Jeremy Gaunt. ???The amount pales, for example, in comparison with the roughly $850 billion in U.S. mutual funds managed by Pimco, the world??s largest bond fund.??? Nevertheless, many organizers of the ???Make Poverty History??? campaign have welcomed the debt relief plan as a ???first step???--as they plan a rally at next month??s G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. Others in the global justice movement, however, are highly critical of the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) like Oxfam, which collaborated closely with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on debt issues. The critics point to the G8??s statement that revealed the strings attached to the debt relief--calling on developing countries to implement policies to ???attract investment,??? achieve ???macroeconomic stability??? and oversee the ???elimination of impediments to private investment, both domestic and foreign.??? This is a familiar recipe of free-market, neoliberal policies that have devastated poor countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It??s this agenda that prompted a warning from three South African activists--poet and social justice campaigner Dennis Brutus, author Patrick Bond and anti-debt activist Virginia Setshedi. In a recent article, they described the campaign around the G8 as swept up by ???media buzz, fashion statement, celebrity chasing and the NGO??s proximity to power.??? Hailing the G8 debt relief plan as a victory ???concedes that the vast populations of lower-middle income countries will suffer under indefinite debt peonage,??? they wrote. That??s why a range of global justice organizations will use the Gleneagles counter-summit protest not to declare victory, but to denounce the G8 initiative for the public relations scam it is--and step up the demand for complete abolition of the debt. ------------------ [2] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com Date: Mon Jul 4, 2005 Subject: Thirsty Villages watch as Gujarat water goes waste: Letter to Indian Express Subject: Thirsty Villages watch as Gujarat water goes waste The IE e-mail is: samar@... mumbainewsline@... letters-bombay@... To, The Editor, Indian Express, Mumbai Sub: Thirsty Villages watch as Gujarat water goes waste Ref: The above article on page 4 of IE dated 3-7-2005 Dear Sir, I humbly request you to please ensure that the journalists in charge of writing in your esteemed paper have atleast a minimal knowledge of the subject they are writing about. Else, besides influencing innocent readership and doing disservice to your readers - who may have different fields of expertise, you also lose credibility amongst the people who know something on the subject and you get labeled as a government propaganda mouth - piece - something you are trying your level best to combat in various spheres. The abovementioned article by Janyala Sreenivas - Ahmedabad , falls into the category I have described above. The government of Gujarat has poured its money into the Sardar Sarovar Project instead of the much cheaper, less destructive, more practical water harvesting projects from which kick- backs would be minimal. It is because of this decision that the rain that fell in Gujarat was not harvested and was wasted. Even if the Sardar Sarovar were higher, it could hold only store 1% more than than it did. Whereas, a very much higher percentage could have been stored if the water harvesting structures were in place. The article talks of putting Narmada waters into the Sabarmati - is it the aim of the writer to further flood the flooded areas ???!!!! The delivery system in the Command Area covers less than 10 % - why is the government not completing the delivery net-work and supplying the water to the water starved areas ? If the net work was ready, the water could have been distributed over a wider area and the massive submergence of limited areas would have been avoided. The issue raised about an adult son being entitled to independant land is not something new ordered by the Supreme Court. The SC has only ordered that the Government has to follow the existing law. Am also copying the news item from the Express News Service Baroda to connect you to the realities of Reservoir Induced Seismicity. The earthquake which lasted one whole minute when the Sardar Sarovar was filling up, was restricted to 3 on the Richter scale. If the dam was higher and more water was collected there, it is possible that matters could have been worse. I trust that this very unfortunate experience being faced by Gujarat to-day, results in creating empathy in the minds of the sufferers for what the people in the submergence zone are being made to suffer on a permanent basis, rather than falling a prey to the government and vested - interest propoganda machine. An enquiry must be instituted as to why the Narmada Canal gave way near Bardoli and added chaos to confusion. What kind of sub-standard material was utilised and who benefitted from it. I do hope you will keep your readership informed about the issues I have mentioned above. Thanking you, P. Jehangir ---------------------- [3] From: anandi krishnan <teekayanandi2002@yahoo.co.in> Date: Mon Jul 4, 2005 Subject: Re: [indiathinkersnet] Woman without Voice teekayanandi... My dear, Again and again it is only seema musthafar or seema ramakrishnan or seema ste phen is able to voice the gender issue. Why is it not an issue of musthafa or ramakrishnan or stephen? Why lamenting about the Government or the political party? It is true that they do not have any gender sensitivity but still how many of ouyr brothers have this sensitivity? Why in the Internationally Modelled Kerala the situation is no different. Kerala has everything but no generder justice. It is the God's own land but always the God is a male god. Is God biased? Only HE/SHE knows. Nobody is bothered about the sad plight of the 50% population. Then how can we think about any prosperity? --- Parvez Jamasji <parvez1942@...> wrote: I have always maintained that NO body can sully, taint, dinigrade Islam as Muslims can. Mullah & Clerics have advertised - World wide - not only their ignorance but their ideocy as well. Best Wishes Parvez Jamasji http://www.geocities.com/siafdu/vc81.html Woman without Voice - By Seema Mustafa Imrana could be Gudiya could be Shakila could be Shakuntala could be that nameless, faceless girl who was shot in the stomach because her --------------------------------------------------------- [4] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Mon Jul 4, 2005 7:15pm Subject: More on Imrana suklasen http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=1&cat2=24&newsid=167247&RF=DefaultMain Bottomline Imrana ???fatwa?? is absurd, infuriating - By Adil Salahi Imrana ???fatwa?? is absurd, infuriating - By Adil Salahi Imrana Ilahi, an ordinary Muslim Indian woman, recently found her name mentioned in countless articles, news despatches, email messages and angry reports going in all directions. Many people would love to be famous, and some know how to use such sudden fame to advantage. But not so Imrana, whose newly acquired fame is for the wrong reasons, and for nothing she had done or contemplated. Poor Imrana has been the target of several wrong actions by the wrong people. To start with, Imrana was the victim of rape by none other than her father-in-law, who, according to news reports, is now in prison awaiting trial. She was, secondly, the victim of a fatwa issued by certain people who ruled that she can no longer remain married to her husband; rather, she should treat him like her own son. Thirdly, Imrana was further victimised by the local authorities who said that they endorse the fatwa since it has been issued by a recognised institute. Fourth, she has been the victim of many self-appointed defenders who took up her case and are trying to bring pressure to bear on her, her family and the authorities to reverse this fatwa. Finally, according to some reports, Imrana has been told to move in with her rapist as she can be married to him now instead of his son, her own husband. --------------------- [5] From: "Arif N. Khan" <ank2000pk@yahoo.com Date: Mon Jul 4, 2005 Subject: Political Violence The following two stories from the News, Karachi are sad commentary on the intolerance prevailing in political circles of Pakistan specially in a large faction of MMA. Early this year nearly 6 persons were burnt to death when a mob of protestors torched KFC restaurant in Gulshan Karachi. Burning private property, pelting stones and other acts show that religious parties have failed to create civic sense among their staunch supporters who are easily exploited by fifth columnists who are trying to destabilize Pakistan. Arif Khan Naimatullah, 300 JI activists accused of attack on Nasreen Jalil booked (Updated at 0930 PST) KARACHI: Airport police has registered a case against Jamaat-e-Islami (JI)??s 300 activists besides former City Nazim, Naimatullah Khan and 3 JI assembly members for their alleged involvement in an attack on a member Rabita Committee of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Nasreen Jalil, but no arrest was made so far in this regard. Police told that member Rabita Committee of MQM, Nasreen Jalil accompanied by some party leaders on Saturday night came to Airport police station located on Sharae Faisal and submitted a written petition in English through Town Police Officer, on which, a case has been registered for alleged hooting, abusing and attack on Nasreen Jalil at Jinnah Terminal of Karachi Airport two days ago on her return from Islamabad. Police told that FIR no. 88/2005 under section 341,354,504 and 506 has been registered, in which, City Nazim bowing out three days ago, Naimatullah Khan, 3-JI assembly members, Laiq Ahmad, Nasrullah Shaji and Yunus Barai besides 300 unidentified JI activists have been nominated. No person attacked in Brooklyn: Rohail Dar (Updated at 0115 PST) By Staff Reporter NEW YORK: Leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (USA) Tariq Khan has been injured in a clash during a meeting of the PML. According to PML leader Rohail Dar he went to Brooklyn to patch up with Muslim League officials, Anwar Shahwasti and Imran Agra however, the people present there launched an indiscriminate attack and shoved Dar. Imran Agra and Anwar Shahwasti while talking to Jang said that the general secretary of the PML Rana Saeed used abusive language on which a tussle between Saeed and PML leader Tariq Khan ensued. Rohail Dar along with Rana Saeed and Nasir Butt started beating Tariq Khan who got injured and is under treatment at a hospital. Rohail Dar, Nasir Butt and Rana Saeed have contradicted these allegations and have said that neither they used abusive language nor they attacked anyone. Representatives of the Brooklyn police have confirmed that a clash did ensued and have registered a report while the investigations are also underway. http://jang.com.pk/thenews/index.html Arif N. Khan http://www.netvert.biz/fbo http://www.geocities.com/pinclub |
|
| << July03, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]BHEL,Imran and a bit of science news |
July06, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]Live8,Ayodhya & Parvez' posts (1-5) >> |
|
India Thinkers Net Archives Index
|
Subscribe
|
|
|
Archives powered by Zinester's Mailing List Service
Details on India Thinkers Net |
Browse for more newsletters at Zinester's Ezine Directory
Managed by Zinester's Mailing List Management |