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April13, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net]Anti-conversion law,nuke deal,Nepal news ,Goa protest >> |
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[1] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Mon Apr 10, 2006 Subject: Fwd: [actionalert] Global Relay Hunger Strike for Bhopal Ryan Bodanyi <rbodanyi@studentsforbhopal.org> wrote: Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2006 Subject: [actionalert] Global Relay Hunger Strike for Bhopal ---Please circulate widely--- Global Relay Hunger Strike for Justice in Bhopal: Fast for a Day or Longer in Solidarity with the Indefinite Hunger Strike by Bhopalis Sign up NOW at: http://www.bhopal.net/2006hungerstrike.html Dear Friend, For 21 years we have waited and suffered; we have drunk poisoned water; we have been beaten and kicked by police for daring to ask why the Supreme Court's order to give us clean water was ignored; our young women cried to learn that they were feeding their babies poison in their breast milk; we were slapped, punched and arrested when - because nobody else was doing it - we attempted to contain the toxic wastes in Union Carbide's abandoned factory that are poisoning our wells; we have been called liars, malingerers, scammers and beggars. Now we have walked 500 miles from Bhopal to New Delhi to demand justice and a life of dignity for ourselves and our children. We are the victims of Union Carbide's poisons in Bhopal. Many of us inhaled the poison gases on the night of December 2-3, 1984. Of these, more than 150,000 are still suffering. There are others who are new victims who drink handpump water laced with poisons leaching out of the thousands of tons of toxic wastes that still lie abandoned in and around Union Carbide's factory. We know of at least 70 children from these settlements that have serious birth defects. We know these deformities are because of the water that we are being forced to drink. The Prime Minister of India doesn't care. We are camped out on the pavement in Jantar Mantar in New Delhi since 27 March, right across the street from the camp of another prominent example of the disdain with which our government treats its poorer citizens. Representatives of people who have lost their land, or stand to lose it, to the rising waters of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the River Narmada fill the air with slogans of struggle and resolve. Both, the Narmada oustees and the Bhopal survivors are camped out under the open sky. Both issues have been festering for more than 20 years; but the Prime Minister just doesn't seem to care. We're poor, you see. When George Bush came, our Prime Minister was everywhere, smiling, almost purring as he was patronisingly patted by Bush. He made time for the CEO of Dow Chemical who came with George Bush. He has known since February 20 that we were arriving on foot from Bhopal, but he has said he doesn't have time for us. Our Prime Minister has always wanted lots of foreign investments. He is respectful, even fearful, of foreign investors. He does not want to impose any laws on them, and certainly not punish them, even if they are responsible for something as devastating as the Bhopal disaster. We are ashamed of what our country has become – a desperate nation that is willing to sacrifice its people for a fistful of dollars. We are left with no choice but to go on an indefinite hunger strike. We don't believe that this will evoke sympathy in the hearts of our Prime Minister or other politicians. That is not our objective. We want to awaken the consciousness of the public. What happened to us, can happen to you, is happening to many others. Let's reclaim democracy; let's celebrate protest; let's revive efforts to build a truly vibrant and humane India; let's remind the Government who's boss. On April 11, the Bhopalis - gassed by Carbide, poisoned by contaminated water, weakened by their grueling march – will begin an indefinite fast for justice. They need our support. You can help 1. Sign-up for a day or more as part of the Global Relay Hunger Strike. You can register at http://www.bhopal.net/2006hungerstrike.html 2. Send a FREE FAX to the Prime Minister. Online at: http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/FaxAction/fax_action.php 3. EMAIL the Indian Government daily at: http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/FaxAction/email_action.php 4. DO MORE. Find out how at: http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/MarchToDelhi.htm. Students for Bhopal www.studentsforbhopal.org Association for India’s Development www.aidindia.org International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal www.bhopal.net Ryan Bodanyi Coordinator, Students for Bhopal www.studentsforbhopal.org 401-829-6192 ------------------------ [2] From: "sanjeev nayyar" <exploreindia@vsnl.net> Date: Mon Apr 10, 2006 Subject: Pick of the Month April 06 Namaskar Mitra, April 7 is Ram Navami, 11 is Mahavir Jayanti, 13 is Hanuman Jayanti, 14 is Baisakhi, 14 is Dr Ambedkar Jayanti. Baisaki in Punjab also known as Boisakh in Bengal/Orissa ------------------------- [3] Press Trust of India <http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_print.asp?id=376930> Atrocities on Dalits: SC notice to Centre, NHRC, States NEW DELHI, APR 10 (PTI) The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre, NHRC, National Commission for SC & ST and all the States and Union Territories on a PIL seeking appointment of nodal officers and setting up of protection cells to check atrocities on Dalits. The notices were issued by a Bench of Justice Ruma Pal, Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Markandey Katju on the PIL filed by National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, Sakshi - Human Rights Watch and Centre for Dalit Rights. The NGOs sought appointment of special officers and protection cells as envisaaged under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. Contending that implementation of the Act was the duty of the Government, they also demanded setting up of separate Special Courts in each district of India within six months. Seeking a careful monitoring by judicial officers of all cases of atrocities on dalits and tribals, the petitioner NGOs said it was necessary to ensure that such cases received top proirity and the victims got speedy justice. They also sought a direction to the trial courts to send a report every six months to the High Court concerned. On behalf of the petitioner, senior counsel Colin Gonsalves said the states should come out with status reports on registration of FIRs against the erring officials under the Act as also about the filing of chargesheets under the Act. Pointing out various lacunae in the implementation of the Act, they sought a direction to District Magistrates to review the performance of Special Public Prosecutors every six months and repost to their respective High Courts. They quoted social audit reports by NHRC and SC/ST Commission according to which the conviction rate in cases under SC/ST (PoA), 1989 was just one per cent. The petitioners pointed out that the victims were deterred from making complaints of atrocities and as a result FIRs were rarely registered and even when they were registered there were no references to proper sections of the Act. It alleged non-arrest of accused, shoddy probe and late chargesheets in cases under the Act. The petitioners also submitted that the victims were invariably forced to compromise on threat of social/economic boycott. The performance of Special Public Prosecutors was poor and Vigilance and Monitoring Committees too were ineffective, the NGOs alleged. The Central Government Report as required under Section 21 (4) of the Act had also not been submitted, they pointed out. ------------------ [4] From: Jagannath Chatterjee <jagchat01@yahoo.com> Date: Mon Apr 10, 2006 Subject: Scientist: Global warming is near its tipping point. Scientist: Global warming is near its tipping point By Joe Baird The Salt Lake Tribune http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3690138 Tim Flannery isn't one to paint a hopeless picture of climate change. By taking personal responsibility for the dilemma and forcing a shift in government policies and regulations, the noted Australian scientist and author says there is still time to stave off the most egregious impacts of global warming. ---------------- [5] From: "Ram Narayanan" <ramn_one@adelphia.net> Date: Mon Apr 10, 2006 Subject: Fareed Zakaria: A Nuclear Reality Check http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12225698/site/newsweek/ NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL EDITION A Nuclear Reality Check America goes around the world arguing that a few more warheads would be dangerous and immoral-while it has 12,000 of its own. By Fareed Zakaria Newsweek Updated: 2:29 p.m. ET April 9, 2006 April 17, 2006 issue - Many of the Bush administration's critics argue, with some merit, that it has often pursued a foreign policy based on ideology and fantasy, not the realities of the world. But now the critics are lost in their own reveries. They fantasize that the United States and India will sign a nuclear agreement in which the latter renounces its nuclear weapons. They criticize the Bush administration's proposed deal with India because it does no such thing. (Instead, India commits to placing 14 of its 22 reactors under permanent inspections, and retains eight for its weapons program.) But this is a dream, not a deal. India has spent 32 years under American sanctions without budging-even when it was a much poorer country than it is today-and it would happily spend 32 more before it signed such a deal. The choice we face is the proposed deal with India or no deal at all. The nuclear nonproliferation regime has always tempered idealism with a healthy dose of realism. After all, the United States goes around the world telling countries that a few more nuclear warheads are dangerous and immoral-while it has 12,000 nukes of its own. The nonproliferation treaty arbitrarily determined that countries that had nuclear weapons in 1968 were legitimate nuclear-weapons states, and that all latecomers were outlaws. (It was the mother of all grandfather clauses.) India is the most important country, and only potential global power, that lies outside the nonproliferation system. Bringing it in is crucial to the system's survival. That's why Mohamed ElBaradei, the man charged with protecting and enforcing global nonproliferation, has been a staunch supporter of the agreement. This deal, shorn of all the jargon, comes down to something quite simple: should we treat India like China, or like North Korea? If the former, then we have to accept the reality that it is a nuclear power and help make its program as safe and secure as possible. If the latter, then we'll never stop trying to reverse India's weapons program. Actually, even if this deal goes through, India will have second-class status compared with China, Russia and the other major nuclear powers. In all those countries, not one reactor is under any inspection regime whatsoever, yet India would place at least two thirds of its program under the eye of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The inequity with China is particularly galling to New Delhi. China has a long history of abetting nuclear proliferation, most clearly through Pakistan. Yet the United States has an arrangement to share civilian nuclear technology with Beijing. India, meanwhile, is a democratic, transparent country with a perfect record of nonproliferation. Yet it has been denied such cooperation for the past 32 years. There are some who are willing, grudgingly, to give up their full-blown fantasy and settle for a minor one-a deal in which India would agree to cap its production of fissile material. Jimmy Carter expressed this view in a recent article. But look at a map. India is bordered by China and Pakistan, both nuclear-weapons states, neither of which has agreed to a mandatory cap. (China appears to have stopped producing plutonium, as have the other major powers, but this is a voluntary decision, made largely because it's awash in fissile material.) For India to accept a mandatory cap is to adopt a one-sided nuclear freeze. Would the United States do that? India has declared a commitment to support such a cap when it is accepted by all nuclear states, which is what we should push for. There is a broader strategic issue for the United States. It has been American policy for decades to oppose the rise of a single hegemonic power in either Europe or Asia. If India were forced to halt its plutonium production, the result would be that China would become the dominant nuclear power in Asia. Why is this in American interests? Should we not prefer a circumstance where there is some balance between the major powers on that vast continent? The agreement is also a crucial step forward in tackling the problem of global energy. If India and China keep guzzling gas as they grow, any and all Western efforts at energy conservation are pointless. We have to find a way that these two rising giants can satisfy their energy needs, while also reducing their dependence on fossil fuels. Civilian nuclear power can help fill the gap. Indian technology is actually the best in the world in this area because it largely solves the problem of nuclear waste. So while India has much to learn from the United States, the relationship will not be entirely one-sided. A more workable nonproliferation regime, a more stable strategic balance in Asia-and it's even good for the environment. This is a reality that's better than most fantasies. Write the author at comments@fareedzakaria.com. __________________________________________________ Also see the following article in SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE titled "India nuclear deal serves nonproliferation" by Kaushik Kapisthalam http://sfgate.com ------------------------ [6] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Tue Apr 11, 2006 Subject: Brazil Finds a New (Renewable) Source of Energy http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/10/world/americas/10brazil.html?ex=1145332800&en=\ 122d182421f92c6a&ei=5070&emc=eta1 With Big Boost From Sugar Cane, Brazil Is Satisfying Its Fuel Needs Lalo de Almeida for The New York Times A man headed to work at a sugar plantation in Orlandia in S?o Paulo State, which accounts for 60 percent of the sugar production in Brazil. By LARRY ROHTER Published: April 10, 2006 PIRACICABA, Brazil — At the dawn of the automobile age, Henry Ford predicted that "ethyl alcohol is the fuel of the future." With petroleum about $65 a barrel, President Bush has now embraced that view, too. But Brazil is already there. Skip to next paragraph Lalo de Almeida for The New York Times |
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| << April09, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net]RSS convention,Origin of crisis etc |
April13, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net]Anti-conversion law,nuke deal,Nepal news ,Goa protest >> |
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