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[1] From: viji <viji123@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Aug 4, 2005 Subject: India's Honoured Guest India's Honoured Guest May 04, 2005 http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/may/04tps.htm In the months following our nuclear tests of 1998, there was not a day on which either Naresh Chandra, India's ambassador to the USA, or I did not face questions from the press, the think tanks, Congressmen or other interest groups on different aspects of Indian foreign policy. Armed with facts and figures, we welcomed every opportunity to defend our nuclear policy. The invitation of the National Press Club in Washington for a daylong discussion on the tests in August 1998 was a bonanza for us. The national and international press was there and the panelists were from diverse backgrounds. I sat attentively to listen to them as I was expected to speak at the very end to respond to the points made. The presentations were on predictable lines and I had the necessary ammunition to defend the tests. But the last speaker, Major William Corson, introduced as "an intelligence aide to President Eisenhower" in the late fifties, threw a bombshell that I was not ready for. He said India's decision to give "political asylum" to the Dalai Lama was in return for US assistance to its nuclear weapons programme. He went on to say that Pandit Nehru had it conveyed to President Eisenhower that "if India was to accept the Dalai Lama, the US would have to help New Delhi develop nuclear weapons." According to Corson, "Nehru was a notorious hard bargainer and the favour Eisenhower was asking carried great risks to India." So, apart from providing India a nuclear reactor under the atoms for peace programme, the US agreed to accept 400 Indian students in American Universities, who eventually became the corps of bomb makers in India. He went into great detail about the escape of the Dalai Lama to India as part of the deal. The whole thing sounded absurd, but since I had no hard information, I would have left his story untouched. The moderator of the discussion, however, would not let me gloss over the issue. While inviting me to speak, he pointedly asked me to comment on Corson's story. As I walked up to the podium, I formulated a response: "It sounds like a fairy tale. I have never heard this before," I said, "As far as I know, the decision to give refuge to the Dalai Lama was an Indian decision and it was taken not on political grounds, but on humanitarian grounds, on account of our reverence for the spiritual leader of Tibet." I went on to say that the Dalai Lama and his people were respected guests in our country. Corson himself had left by then and the press reports next day carried his and my versions. I reported the exchange, but I still do not know whether the Corson story had any truth in it. Months later, I discovered that one newspaper reported that I confirmed Corson's version, by quoting me as having said that it was a "fair tale!" By dropping of a single letter, the opposite meaning was obtained. Apart from this encounter with the Dalai Lama issue, I learnt during my days in the United States and Austria what a grand following the Dalai Lama had in the West. Several US Congressmen and Senators told me that their regard for India stemmed from the way India treated the Dalai Lama and his followers. Only a great country could risk the wrath of China by giving refuge to the Tibetans. The appointment of a Special Representative for Tibet by President Clinton was very much the result of the efforts these leaders had exerted on behalf of the Dalai Lama. Austria, as the home of Heinrich Harrer, one of the Dalai Lama's teachers, glorified in a Hollywood movie, Seven Years in Tibet, also had a large following for the Dalai Lama. In fact, it was in Austria that I had an audience with the Dalai Lama, which opened my eyes to the simplicity and greatness of His Holiness. The city of Graz underwent a total transformation to host the Kalachakra ceremony, presided over by him. Months before he arrived in Austria, his representative came to invite me to the ceremony and to greet the Dalai Lama. 'I'd like to perform a Kalachakra in Tiananmen Square' Thousands of people were milling around the new township created by the municipality of Graz when we arrived and we were ushered into the audience chamber of His Holiness without a hitch. The chamber was magnificent, but he himself was the picture of simplicity. He received us warmly and spent nearly an hour till the time came for him to move to the auditorium, where he addressed about 10,000 people. Exile and the Kingdom The Dalai Lama has stated that he is nothing more than a Buddhist monk and his manners and conversation are those of a monk and not of a spiritual leader or a head of state. He can oversimplify matters and laugh off important issues as though they do not matter. He does not try to give everything he says an aura of authenticity or moral authority. He does not even seem obsessed with his political problems with China. He is sadder about the suffering of his people in Tibet than about the inconveniences of his people who have come to India. He believes that his initiative for a dialogue with the Chinese will eventually bear fruit and his people will be liberated. 'We want only genuine autonomy' In the meantime, he is grateful to India for the reception accorded to him and for the facilities afforded to the Tibetans. He has no bitterness even against the Chinese. They are also human beings, pursuing their own path to happiness and they deserve our compassion, he said. The Dalai Lama personally escorted us to our seats in the auditorium and instructed one of his senior advisers to sit with us and translate his speech in English for us as he spoke in Tibetan and the interpretation was only into German. At one or two points in his speech, he publicly asked the official whether the true meaning of what he said was conveyed to "our Indian guests." His address to those who were being initiated into kalachakra was very simple and pragmatic. He did not quote from the scriptures to make his points, but gave analogies from ordinary life in the west to illustrate his ideas. No matter where we come from, we are all human beings. We all try to seek happiness and avoid suffering. We have the same basic human needs and concerns. All of us want freedom and the right to determine our future. Nothing could be simpler than that. To a question as to what the meaning of mandala was, he surprised the whole audience by saying: "We monks like to make a mess of any place we see!" and laughed loudly at his own joke before explaining the meaning of the shapes and colours of the mandala. Again, the explanation was simple. During meditation, it is important to have something to contemplate on. Mandalas are imaginary palaces with deities and inanimate objects. They represent some aspects of wisdom and indicate some guiding principles. There were no further questions on such a complex concept, on which treatises have been written. As we drove away from Graz after the audience with the Dalai Lama and his discourse, I felt that I had encountered divinity in human form. T P S Sreenivasan, one of India's most distinguished diplomats, served as Deputy Chief of Mission at our embassy in Washington, DC. He can be reached at ambassador86@... and tpsreenivasan@... [2] While on the subject of farming, I think our farmers should start considering organic farming seriously. It is healthier, does nto poison the earth, is cheaper is done properly, and of course is more profitable in the long run. Venkitesh (Viji) Birds, plants thrive on UK organic farms -study Wed Aug 3, 9:46 AM ET http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050803/sc_nm/environment_birds_organic_dc LONDON (Reuters) - Birds and bats and wild plants are thriving on Britain's organic farms, a study by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) said on Wednesday. On organic farms, there are 109 percent more wild plants and 85 percent more plant species than on non-organic farms. Organic farms support 32 percent more birds and 35 percent more bats than non-organic farms, the BTO, a charity carrying out independent research on birds, said. There are also 5 percent more bird species on organic farms, according to the study which was funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. ---------------------------------- [3] From: Regi P George <george_regi@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Aug 4, 2005 Subject: Revolt of the 19th century : MJ Akbar Subject: Revolt of the 19th century : MJ Akbar http://www.iht.com/getina/files/265226.html Revolt of the 19th century The Asian Age India | M.J.Akbar Everything has been happening when nothing happens. Good management is not about solving problems; it is about preventing problems ----------------------- [4] From: "delhigroup498a" <delhigroup498a@yahoo.co.in> Date: Thu Aug 4, 2005 Subject: Re: Law for 'Stridhan' is rubbish and biased ! Really ? delhigroup498a Dear all respected members Do you have seen the WHo report?? Wolrld health orginasation report ?? You say about dowry death , do you know what is the sowry death for man in the age of 30 to 45 .. 60 % higher than wife , why there is no law the way dowry death law is there?? Crime is crime , the punishment should be irrespective of sex and gender , other wise why we should give the punishment ofr terrorist ?? they are only 0.0001 % of total population of the world . Same way legal terrorism , to be punish severally .. as 98% of the case end up with monetery settlement .. law for earning money or punish the criminal ?? Do you have seen the recent Remark in the Judgement of Supreme court , where the Misuse of Anti dowry law termed as " Legal terrorism" Do you have any idea what is 498A , just search in the internate you will understand . Today human right rights are ready to fight for the law TADA/POTA , but they want to send old , sick parents to the jail , as some dishonest daughter in law can not accept that they should stay with their in laws. Do you feel that women well fare means only dishonest daughter in law ?? Mother , sisters are not to be considered as women?? The law made for Sita and the same encashing by Supernakahs and their family .. that is the reason the real culprit move in the society and innocent people go to jail . Request to go through the both side of the coin. regards swarup http://www.indiatalking.com/blog/swarup --- In indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com, Pradeep Deshpande <proton54@h... wrote: It seems that Mr. VRaj & Co. is trying to make out a case for Sec. 498 created for protecting the vested interests of henpecked hubbies .Ther ------------------------------- [5] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Aug 4, 2005 Subject: Chronicle of a Disaster Foretold! [The problems that Bombay faced in the wake of unprecedented heavy rains are essentially threefold. We??™ll have to look for the factors that have aggravated the disaster. We??™ll also have to examine what have or have not been done during and after the disaster. It??™s not only the Mithi River, Bombay has/had a number of natural waterways. In the name of (breakneck and unplanned) development, the major ones have been badly tampered with and many of the minor ones have just disappeared. Then again, those, which are still there, remain clogged with solid waste materials badly blocking the flow. The fate of the constructed storm water drains is also very much the same. While the bulk of the drain water is to flow to the sea, low-lying wet lands work as useful sinks, particularly for the areas away from the coastlines. These have been and are being systematically destroyed through filling up and reclamation. On 26th of July, there was absolutely no communication. The police and the civic authorities miserably failed in informing people, through FM/radio, TV, SMS, mikes etc., about the severity of the rains and the conditions of the various roads and streets and the train tracks. A timely warning could have induced many to stay put wherever they were instead of coming out onto the streets risking their lives and limbs. There was hardly any attempt to guide the traffic flow either. The post-deluge response was also as pathetic. Rescue operations for the marooned started much later. Garbage remained piled up for days. It??™s not known whether any action has been taken till date to unclog the drains and waterways. Relief materials have just started trickling in. (Even during such calamity the police brutality didn??™t wane a wee bit. Shelterless people busy erecting their own sheds were mercilessly assaulted.) Nor there??™s any visible drive, in terms of inoculation and supply of clean municipal water to the affected, to counteract the possibilities of epidemic outbreaks. Only sanctimonious advices to consume boiled water are issued aplenty, which sounds like a bad joke unless some basic helps are provided. So the corrective measures must address all the three phases.] The Christian Science Monitor August 03, 2005 Bombay asks: When will the rain stop? Record rainfall - up to 37 inches in one day - has flooded the Indian city, leaving more than 900 dead. By Anuj Chopra | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor BOMBAY - When will the rain stop? That's the question everyone is asking in Bombay (Mumbai), the financial capital of India, since the monsoon began hammering the city eight days ago. Last Tuesday, a record 37 inches of water dropped on the city in one day. Although the rains have slowed to no more than six inches a day, the water collected isn't receding, leaving parts of the city underwater. Residents of Kalina and Kurla, some of the worst-hit areas, had eight feet of floodwater to deal with. The Army and Navy are still evacuating people from homes. More than 900 people are believed dead in and around Bombay. "I've not seen so much water in Bombay in my life ever before," Jagdish Kalra, a resident of suburban Bombay. "I didn't know if I should save myself or my belongings." Knee-deep water has filled up Mr. Kalra's residence, damaging most of his furniture and sending his clothes, shoes, and utensils floating in murky waters. The shutting down of India's second city and the loss of life has prompted municipal officials to start heeding past warnings from environmentalists about development run amok. With dreams of becoming "the Shanghai of India," Bombay is a city bursting at its seams, cramming 16,000 people per square mile. Poorly planned development and neglected infrastructure prevented much of the water from draining harmlessly out to sea, say critics. The city's storm water drainage system is archaic. Water drains through the more than 100-year-old pipes at an abnormally slow pace of one inch per hour. Only one-third of the 124-mile stretch of this drainage system has been modernized. The municipal commissioner of Bombay, Johny Joseph, assured modernization of the remaining part will be taken up, something which will cost $275 million. Surface drains, meanwhile, had become clogged by indiscriminate dumping of garbage, according to Mr. Joseph. The resulting pressure on the underground drains, he says, led to the failure of the entire drainage system. Rampant development in recent years also choked off natural avenues for water drainage. According to Accommodation Times, a real estate and property market publication, today there are more than 12,000 sq. feet of construction projects going on in full swing in Bombay, many of them unchecked and unauthorized. Environmental experts say that the reclaiming of large tracts of land against all rules, laws, and expert advice, for construction is blocking the natural course of flood waters flowing into the sea. "People in Bombay seem to suffer from ecological illiteracy," says Darryl D'monte, a well-known author and environmentalist. "We believe we can construct indiscriminately anywhere without considering cataclysmic ecological repercussions of it." The Bandra-Worli sealink project, a multimillion dollar effort to link the western suburbs to the island city of Bombay, has constricted the mouth of the city's Mithi River. "The river is the city's biggest storm water drain. If you constrict the mouth of this river, how can water escape into the sea?" asked Mr. D'monte. "We're paying the price for development," Bittu Sahgal, a well-known environmentalist and editor of Sanctuary Asia magazine said. Nine years ago Mr. Sahgal was on the Ministry of Environment's infrastructure expert committee. He rejected the Bandra-Worli road project three times because of the flood danger. He was thrown off the committee and the project was subsequently cleared. The damage caused by the Mithi River flooding, says Sahgal, is probably going to be around $460 million - at least twice the cost of the Bandra-Worli project when it was approved. Environmentalists also decry the Bandra-Kurla complex in suburban Bombay, which houses world-class business centers - a swanky symbol of urban prosperity. It is built on large tracts of mangroves. "Mangroves are the best barriers between land and sea," says Deepak Apte, who heads the Conservation Department, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). "It's alarming how 70 percent of the mangrove area around Bombay has been reclaimed." This disaster in the past eight days is expected to jolt the civic administration and the government - who've been at the receiving end of public anger since the flooding began - into taking preventative action. Ruminations about ways to avert such a tragedy in the future have begun. There is talk of a more comprehensive disaster management plan by the government, something discussed after the tsunami, but which never materialized. The Bombay government is considering whether to partially implement recommendations made over a decade ago by foreign consultants. The 1993 Metclafe and Eddy report suggested ways to upgrade the city's drainage system. And Joseph, the municipal commissioner, says he recognizes the need for an independent communication link to warn people about such disasters well in advance. In the meantime, Bombay residents are working to restore their city. Raju, a laborer struggling in waist-deep water in the badly affected area of Kalina, joked: "They couldn't make it a Shanghai, at least they've made it Venice." |
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