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[1] From: viji <viji123@yahoo.com> Date: Fri Aug 19, 2005 Subject: Cola-free village declared in Kerala (First time in the country) Cola-free village declared in Kerala http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=14958 Kozhikode, Aug 18 : Expressing resentment against multi-national soft drink companies, a village in this district of Kerala was declared cola-free on the Independence Day by banishing their products in the locality. The announcement declaring Kuttiyadi village as cola-free, perhaps for the frist time in the country, was made by veteran freedom fighter P K Krishna Kurup at a big gathering of people from all walks of life, including traders and shop keepers on August 15, Kuttiadi Cola Virudha Samiti (KCVS) convener Moidu Kannankodan today said. They also pledged not to stock or sell Pepsi, Coca Cola or any other soft drinks during their life time, he said. Children also joined them by taking similar pledge while participating in the Independence Day functions in their schools, Mr Moidu said. He said the village was able to achieve this distinction after undertaking a month-long streneous awareness campaign highlighting the ''bad effects'' of the product. They also elicited support from all political parties in favour of the campaign organised to express solidarity with the people's movement against the MNCs at Plachimada in Palakkad district, he said. Mr Moidu said KCVS was also planning to display billboards carrying advertisment banning the drink in all the shops in the village. --------------------------- [2] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Fri Aug 19, 2005 Subject: Coca-Cola Ordered to Shut Down; Linked to Bribery Scandal State Agency Orders Coca-Cola to Shut Down Coca-Cola Linked to Bribery Scandal For Immediate Release August 19, 2005 Contacts: R. Ajayan, Plachimada Solidarity Committee (India) Tel: +91 98471 42513 Amit Srivastava, India Resource Center (India, US) E: info@... T: +91 98103 46161 (India) +1 415 336 7584 (US) Plachimada, India (August 19): In a major setback for the Coca-Cola company, the Kerala State Pollution Control Board has ordered the company's bottling plant in south India to "stop production of all kinds of products with immediate effect." The Coca-Cola company, in direct contravention of Indian laws, had resumed "trial" operations at its Plachimada bottling facility in southern India on August 8, 2005. The bottling plant, one of Coca-Cola's largest, has been shut down since March 2004 because of community opposition. The community is experiencing severe water shortages and the groundwater and soil have been polluted - directly as a result of Coca-Cola's operations. The Kerala Pollution Control Board, in a 10 page order issued today, notes that the company has yet to explain the large amounts of cadmium in its sludge, which is contaminating the groundwater, making it unfit for human consumption. The Board further finds fault with the company as it has not abided by two previous orders - installing an effluent treatment facility for treating the wastewater and providing piped drinking water to community members affected by the company's over-extraction of water. "We welcome the order of the Pollution Control Board which shuts the factory down," said R. Ajayan of the Plachimada Solidarity Committee which was largely responsible for approaching the health minister and the chairman of the Kerala Pollution Control Board to get the order. "Now we have to continue to work to with the state government to ensure that Coca-Cola abides by the order and there are no more violations from the company." In a related development, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in Kerala raided the residences of Pollution Control Board member-secretary K.V. Indulal in three cities in Kerala on August 11, 2005. The Anti-Corruption Bureau is investigating Mr. Indulal for accepting bribes while he was a member of the Pollution Control Board. The Coca-Cola campaign has maintained that Mr. Indulal was influenced by the Coca-Cola company when, in 2003, he visited Plachimada to investigate groundwater pollution by the company. After his "investigations", Mr. Indulal issued a clean chit to the Coca-Cola company, stating that the pollution was not "beyond tolerable limits." However, recent investigations by both the Kerala Pollution Control Board as well as the British Broadcasting Corporation had found extremely high levels of pollution in the area, and a subsequent Kerala Pollution Control Board study confirmed extremely high levels of cadmium. Coca-Cola campaign activists had accused Mr. Indulal of suppressing evidence and taking bribes in order to favor the Coca-Cola company, which has resulted in the investigation and action by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. The Coca-Cola company finds itself in deep trouble in India. Coca-Cola's sales have dropped 14% in the last quarter (April-June) in India, and the company is undergoing major reorganization in the country, including a change in the top leadership, in an effort to contain the growing opposition. The state government of Kerala recently announced that it will also challenge Coca-Cola's right to extract water from the common groundwater resource. The company also finds itself the target of local campaigns in at least three other communities, with literally tens of thousands of people mobilizing to challenge the company for creating severe water shortages and pollution. "We welcome the actions by the state agencies in Kerala to stop the arrogance and criminal activities of the Coca-Cola company," said Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Center, an international campaigning organization. "These actions are major victories for the community of Plachimada, which has all along been demanding that the state do what it is supposed to do - safeguard the interests of the community." For more information, visit www.IndiaResource.org ------------------------- [3] From: sanjeev nayyar <exploreindia@vsnl.net> Date: Fri Aug 19, 2005 Subject: Re: [indiathinkersnet] Between Them and Us . hey pradeep namaskar my response against each point - 1. Sanjiv Nayyar's sharp reaction to What Mr. Puniyaniji has tried to focus on is not not surprising but disguising as well. He has tried to expose the political attitudes of right wing communal politics in MP that came to power through democratic process, towards young college girls to infuse them with some communal doses and divide the younger generation on communal lines. SN - do not take one eg and blow out of proportion, I can give yu many such, just latest one is the reservation of 50% of seats in aligarh muslim univer by arjun singh, secular man. 2. Mr. Nayyar has tried to bring up an obsolete issue where is a muslim girl or boy willing to marry a Hindu boy girl is obliged to get converted to Muslim religion and this is not the case with Hindu Dharma. The fact is that the Indian Constitution has conferred right to practise, adopt and convert to any other religion of choice since it's purely a personal matter. If the spouses are really in deep love affection with with each other they can get wedded even without adopting any particular religion. This happens also in case of marriages between Hindu or Muslim to Christians. The reasons may be found in history of religion that mixed with other cultures in the course of time .By changing one's religion through marriage there's no way to say that the No. of a particular religion grows affecting the other. A No. of film stars and artists have sought inter religious marriages promoting secularisation in our society. SN - stop this secularization pradeep, there is nothing like secular, the indian constituion does not define it, pl enlighten yrself a bit by reading this article of mine - http://esamskriti.com/html/inside.asp?cat=670&subcat=669&cname=Secular_rediff 3. As for Hindu Dharma is concerned, it's true that no such conditions (conversion on marriage)prevail. But even in Hindu system intercaste marriages are sharply opposed by the caste conscious leaders who pitifully forget that their love and attachment to their own caste is the outcome of brahminical strategy to divide and rule without actually ruling that was encoded in Manusmriti and other scripts that has successfully banned upward mobility for all caste-ridden sects and that includes brahminical castes as well. This is not religious phenamena but a socio political one that has influenced the Indian societies/ psyhe for thousands of years. Some solacing changes/reforms have been felt only since independence. SN - pradeep i can give yu upteem instances of inter caste inter community marriages in mumbai, my own sister (we are punjabi sikh hindus kshatriyas) has married a chitpawan brahmin patwardhan and there was no oppostion from either side, in fact know of atleast five punjabi maharashtrian couples who are very happy, i believe their antures compliment each other. 4. But again the communal politics that has thrived on divisive policies over last two decades has widened the social base for Hindutwa which in turn has re- influenced casteism both in urban and rural parts. SN - define hindutva pradeep, yu seem to be using words loosely. 5. There; s no scope for conversion within Hindu society as it has no particular religion to offer but a blend of various faiths/paths having their own versions and interpretations of religion. But even then the marriages within four varnas and thousands of castes are not allowed or tolerated again by the same religious heads or caste panchayats who have their own set of rules confined to their particular sects. SN - yu are right to an extent but things are changing pretty fast atleast in urban india. 6. Since the extreme right wings have nothing objective or productive to offer to the secularisation of societies as it may lead to win social. economic and gender justice for which our IC stands for, they find cynic pleasures in trying to divide the social sects as 'they' and 'us ' on communal lines for thier own political survival. The trouble with educated citizens like Mr. Nayyar is that they still have nurtured some kind of complex about the Hindu people and try to identify reasons for stagnant Hindu society in the other religions. The World share of Muslims is 200 plus crores, Christians share 250 crores .. and relative figure for hindus is just 80 crores confined to India alone! SN - i have no complex pradeep, I stand for Dharma, am a kshatriya so not accept suppression, am educated and well read so use the power of knowledge to attack, have an open mind to diff points of view because ie the essence of indian thought. It's time we try to calm down and give a thought to " Why Hindu as a religion (if it is one of a kind )could not go beyond the then Bharat khanda or the present independent India ?" Have answers, ? thanks for reading. SN - hinduism is not a religion but a way of life, dr radhakrishnan and the supreme court have said so, ofcourse sanatan and baudhhic dharam went beyond bharat, and that too without the power of the sword. lord ganesha in indonesia - http://www.esamskriti.com/html/new_inside.asp?cat_name=history&cid=964&sid=159 Japan - the article tells you about the study of Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures there, India's contribution to Japanese alphabets, Indian influence on Japanese stories and classical works. Lastly it gives you the name of Gods in English along with their corresponding Indian and Japanese names. http://www.esamskriti.com/html/new_inside.asp?cat_name=cultphil&cid=541&sid=9007&count1=3 Angkor Wat, Cambodia - meaning 'The City which is a temple'. Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, was built by King Suryavarman II between 1113 to 1150 a.d. Occupies a rectangular area of 500 acres and is defined by a laterite enclosure wall that is surrounded by a moat 200 metres wide. Estimated time for construction is 30 years. Angkor Wat represents the cosmic world, with the central tower symbolizing Mount Meru situated in the center of the universe. http://www.esamskriti.com/html/new_photo.asp?subcatid=47 The Bayon, Cambodia - is a Buddhist temple designed like a temple mountain. It has a distinctive style represented by 200 faces carved over 54 towers, supposed to be of its builder King Jayavarman VII. Built in the late 12/13th century. http://www.esamskriti.com/html/new_photo.asp?subcatid=46 with prem sanjeev Ramji thks for the post. Forget seeing this thru the communal vs secular prism. Muslims always insist that the girl converts to islam, which is not the case with most hindus. My cousin sister is looking for a girl for one of her muslim friends, Parvez, a sr advt executive, he wants to marry a hindu girl becuase he wants a modern person, but then sheepishly addmitted that it would be better for all if she converts, and this from a educated person, SO yu can imagine about the uneducated. You can go on ranting, shouting about communal BJP etc, remember that the day Islam/Muslims are in majority they will not tolerate opposition from people like you, yu will be shot dead, period, like hindus in j &k, pakistan and bangladesh. Yu can be realistic and see the writing on the wall or make life dificult for the next generation. with prem sanjeev . ----- Original Message ----- From: ram puniyani Sent: Monday, August 15, 2005 Subject: [indiathinkersnet] Article for circulation/publication etc. "Our" Women, "Their" Women Communal Ideology and Women Ram Puniyani The Governments driven by communal ideology do come up with moves, which many a times astound us beyond belief. The BJP Government's decision to swap the location of MLB Girls College and Hamidia College, Bhopal (June 2005) is one such action, which betrays the deeper communal thinking of the BJP Govt. of Madhya Pradesh. -------------------------------- [4] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Fri Aug 19, 2005 Subject: Protection from Domestic Violence Bill Women's Centre <womcentr@...> wrote:Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 17:58:25 +0530 From: Women's Centre <womcentr@...> Subject: DV Bill Forwarding - Ammu Abraham for the Women's Centre, Bombay -------------------------------------- Dear Friends, We have just received an intimation from the Department of Women and Child Development that the drafting process and legal formalities on the Protection from Domestic Violence Bill 2005 is now complete. Efforts are being made by the Ministers for Human Resources Development to table the Bill on Monday (22nd of August 2005). In all likelihood the Bill will be introduced in the Rajya Sabha. We hope for the speedy enactment of this law. We request you to circulate this note widely. Lawyers Collective (Women's Rights Initiative) 63/1, Masjid Road Jangpura - Bhogal New Delhi - 110014 Phone: 011-24373993,24372923,24373904 Email: wri.delhi@... |
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| << August19, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]Parvez & Viji posts |
August22, 2005 - [India Thinkers Net]Interview with Zakia Jowher -Action Aid >> |
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