News@eDeshi

The merchant of death win Gujarat poll

2007-12-23T21:59:00.001-08:00

The merchant of death win Gujarat poll
December 24, 2007

To Hindu extremists he is the "Lion of Gujarat", saviour of Hindus and the
brains behind one of India's richest states. To critics he is a "merchant of
death" with the blood of thousands of Muslims on his hands.

But love or hate Narendra Modi, the Hindu nationalist and Chief Minister of
the western state of Gujarat has now staked his claim to leadership of his
party - and perhaps his country.

His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 117 out of 182 seats in a local
assembly election yesterday that became a barometer for the looming national
elections. Congress won just 59 seats in the state poll that was spread over
two weeks and which revived claims that Mr Modi had encouraged the slaughter
of at least 2,000 Muslims in rioting in Gujarat in 2002.

"This is a victory of the 55 million people of Gujarat," Mr Modi, who denies
responsibility for the riots but won a state election a few months later on
a virulently antiMuslim platform, said. "This historical verdict of people
of Gujarat will bring qualitative change in the prevailing Indian politics."

The result - although expected - was a blow to Congress, which leads the
coalition federal Government and had hoped that a surprise victory would
allow it to call a general election next year, instead of in 2009. It was
particularly disappointing for Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born Congress
leader, and her 37-year-old son and presumed heir, Rahul, who jointly led
the campaign in Gujarat.

Abhishek Singhvi, the national spokesman of Congress, admitted that his
party had expected a much narrower margin. "But electoral victories can
never validate the violation of certain basic values," he said. "Lots of
people have won several elections but have been judged poorly by history."

Until the result yesterday the BJP had been in disarray, ever since its
defeat in the national elections in 2004. Rajnath Singh, the national
president of the BJP, attributed the victory yesterday to the ideology of
his party as much as to Mr Modi. "The results have sent a message across the
country that if any party can do development work it is the BJP," he said.

But the outcome presents the BJP with a dilemma by spotlighting Mr Modi, 57,
as its most popular and charismatic leader and an obvious contender to be
head of the party. The BJP chose L. K. Advani as its leader before the
Gujarat election and many senior members dislike the autocratic style of Mr
Modi.

The United States, the European Union and other Western governments also
face a dilemma about whether to lift travel bans on Mr Modi that were
imposed because of the Gujarat riots.

Mr Modi began his election campaign by focusing on the economic growth of
Gujaratbut he soon reverted to his trademark pro-Hindu, antiMuslim rhetoric
after Mrs Gandhi called his government "merchants of death" in an election
rally.

A media sting also exposed the complicity of the Modi government in the 2002
riots, which started after 59 Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire in
Gujarat. The fire was blamed on a Muslim mob initially, but an inquiry
concluded that it was accidental.

Mr Modi's fighting talk

"What would an Italian know about Ram?" - speech in September criticising
Sonia Gandhi's lack of understanding of Hinduism

"Sister Sonia is a guardian of terrorists" - election rally in December,
complaining that a death sentence had still not been carried out on Mohammed
Afzal, despite his conviction for an attack on India's Parliament in 2001.
"I want to tell her 'If you don't have the courage, send him to Gujarat. We
will hang him here'," he said

The Gujarat government admitted that police had shot dead Sohrabuddin
Sheikh, a Muslim, on the pretext that he was conspiring to kill Mr Modi. At
a rally in December Mr Modi asked what should have been done to a man who
was found in possession of weapons and had relations with Pakistan. When the
crowd shouted "Kill him! Kill him!" he replied: "Does my government need
Sister Sonia's permission for this?"

"If you have the guts, Manmohan Singh, arrest me tomorrow morning" - rally
after the Prime Minister suggested reopening an investigation into the 2002
Gujarat riots

"If the BJP loses there will be celebrations in Islamabad" - election
campaign in 2002

Rotten Indian rice likely to hurt India's ties with Bangladesh

2007-12-23T21:56:00.001-08:00

Rotten Indian rice likely to hurt India's ties with Bangladesh
December 22nd, 2007

Dhaka, Dec.22 (ANI): Some vested interests in Bangladesh have alleged that
the Indian Government is exporting rice to Bangladesh that is rotten in
quality, and if this "word of mouth rumour" gains credence, it could affect
bilateral ties between the two countries.

According to informed sources, a section in Bangladesh, known for their
traditional India baiting, is responsible for spreading this rumour, and
have suggested that the Government of India would do well to ensure the
export of quality rice.

There is a view that anti-India sentiment is building up in Bangladesh, and
there are senior people like former judge and member of the Bangladesh
Election Commission, Abdul Rab, who have publicly stated that the issue of
the trial of war criminals in Bangladesh, has been fomented by India to
divide the country.

Intellectuals and representatives of NGOs' in Bangladesh, besides university
dons and key civil society members are appalled over the caretaker
government's inability to "differentiate between the head, the body and the
tail of the problems" facing Bangladeshi society.

An eminent economist and sociologist told this agency in an informal chat
over the phone, that the army-backed caretaker government "seems to have
lost its way and is flaying its hands in the dark, hoping to hit a
solution".
The economist, who preferred not to be named at this stage, told the BBC's
Bengali service recently that the immediate approach of the caretaker
government should be to at least procure the cheapest cereals - rice and
wheat - and provide it to the people.

There is a view that the machinery is just not functioning, and is
constricted by overwhelming responsibilities. There are people in the
government who are literally sitting with their arms folded. For instance,
some of the government institutions, including those responsible or
connected with procurement and the issuing of licenses are acting in an
almost frozen manner.

Over the years, these departments have developed an institutionalised system
of corruption where, everyone from the top downwards get their fixed cuts
from deals.

With the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) very recently looking into these
work systems, these agencies have had to put up their defences.

The Council of Advisors' Purchase Committee have recently approved the
procurement of rice and wheat from local suppliers totalling around 2.6
million tonnes. This was done on December 17.

The crackdown on corruption has slowed down the business of small and
middle-level food importers. More than 400,000 people have been detained
since January 11 this year, the day a state of emergency was declared in
Bangladesh. Most of them were detained on "suspicion" and belong to
different strata of society.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), however, reports that the level
of corruption in the country has not gone down. Questions are being asked as
to how the caretaker government plans to deal with this assessment, and why
no ordinance has been issued to check these hoarders of foodstuff. (ANI)

Criminals stilling millions from Bangladesh to invest in India

2007-12-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

Criminals stilling millions from Bangladesh to invest in India

KOLKATA: The city is in the middle of a real estate boom. But there is
bad news, too. For, Bangladeshi criminals, who have crossed the border
and found refuge in Kolkata, have decided to cash in, too. They have
started to pump in money into many real estate projects on the fringes
of the city. The arrest of Sanjidul Imon on Saturday has unearthed this
startling fact.

CID officers claim that many upcoming realtors depend on funds supplied
by hardcore Bangladeshi criminals holed up in Kolkata. In most
instances, these criminals appoint a local youth as their pointsman
while dealing with the developers.

CID sources said Imon had invested crores in various projects in
Rajarhat including the upcoming New Town. He had also purchased huge
tracts of land in Rajarhat under fictitious names. And, Imon is not the
only one to have pumped in huge amounts in the booming real estate
trade. Other criminals from Bangladesh, too, refuse to be left out.

Imon, one of the most dreaded criminals of Dhaka with an Interpol
red-corner notice against him, had sneaked into India during the
political unrest in the neighbouring country in early 2007. The interim
government's regime had forced criminals like him to leave their
homeland. Their quest for a safe haven ended on the outskirts of
Kolkata.

Sources said Tanvirul Islam Joy, another top Bangladeshi criminal, is
believed to be the man who used to provide shelter to Bangladeshi
criminals in Kolkata. Joy fled Bangladesh many years ago as he was
afraid of being a possible target of the Rapid Action Battalion. He had
the blessings of a political party in Bangladesh. After the party lost
power, he had no option but to flee. Before his arrest, Joy had managed
to obtain a fake voters' ID card.

Known as a clothes merchant in Teghoria, Joy had established close
contacts with police and political parties. But illness left Joy
paralysed and then he turned to his former comrades-in-arms for help.
The deal was that he would provide them shelter in exchange of money.
Imon turned to Joy for help when he started to face the heat in
Bangladesh.

Imon had managed to give CID the slip in the raid that led to the
capture of Joy even though he was in the same house. Imon then shifted
to Kasba where he rented a house.

This Kasba house then became his den as he started to operate his gang
in Dhaka and elsewhere from here. Bangladesh police claimed that Imon's
gang had abducted more than five millionaires and held them hostage in
places close to the Indo-Bangla border before extracting crores as
ransom. His gang is also involved in contract killings and in smuggling
of phencydril.

Imon had tried his hand at buying fisheries in Nadia and North
24-Parganas. But he left the trade when the don realised that he was in
greater risk of being identified in the rural areas than in the city.

At that time, Imon had realised that real estate trade could be the
proverbial golden goose for him and started investing in land. CID
officers are now looking for other Bangladeshi criminals like Imon, who
have invested in real estate.

Shakira appeals for Bangladesh

2007-12-20T15:08:00.001-08:00

Shakira appeals for Bangladesh
Thu Dec 20 2007

Shakira has been doing her part to help the cyclone-devastated
Bangladesh.

The Grammy winner, who's also a Unicef ambassador, was in the country
for a three-day visit where she toured several coastal villages and
chatted to people who lost members of their family in the disaster.

Cyclone Sidr struck Bangladesh on November 15, killing nearly 3,500
people and leaving millions homelessThe singer said: "I will never
forget the faces of the mothers who lost their children, or the story of
Shahnaz, the little girl who died holding onto her book, or the marks on
the arms of the young mother, who lost both her children."

She also said that little was left of the school she visited in the
village of Mirzapur, but it still provided an "oasis" for the children.

"I am more convinced than ever that education is the key to so many of
the difficulties that our children face in countries like mine or in
developing countries like this one. It's the key to a better and safer
world," she said.

The singer also visited Unicef-sponsored education programmes for
children in northern Rajshahi city on Tuesday.

Cyclone Sidr struck Bangladesh on November 15, killing nearly 3,500
people and leaving millions homeless.

It is considered to be the worst disaster to hit the South Asian country
since 1991, when a storm killed around 140,000 people.

Deshi Couple Convicted in "modern-day slavery" Case in NY

2007-12-17T19:46:00.000-08:00

Deshi Couple Convicted in "modern-day slavery" Case in NY

A wealthy New York couple were found guilty on Monday of forced labor
charges after being accused of keeping two Indonesian women as slaves in
a dramatic verdict that resulted in the wife fainting.

Indian-born Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, and Mahender Murlidhar
Sabhnani, 51, were convicted of charges including forced labor,
harboring illegal residents and conspiracy in what prosecutors dubbed a
"case of modern-day slavery."

Varsha Sabhnani and one of the couple's daughters fainted after a jury
in federal court in Central Islip, New York, found them guilty of 12
counts, a court official said. They each face up to 40 years in prison.

The judge ordered the jury to return Tuesday so each juror could be
individually polled to confirm the verdict. Both Varsha Sabhnani and her
daughter were taken to hospital for treatment.

Prosecutors said the couple, both U.S. citizens, brought two women,
identified only as Samirah, 51, and Enung, 47, to the United States from
Indonesia with promises to pay $200 a month for housekeeping duties.

But instead the women testified that their passports were confiscated
and for years they were subjected to beatings with brooms, hot water
scoldings and being forced to eat hot chili peppers in addition to
carrying out household duties.

Defense lawyers had argued both women made up the story and were
delusional.

Samirah was found by authorities in May wandering the streets dressed
only in pants and a towel after escaping from the couple's home in
Muttontown, New York, where they ran a multimillion dollar perfume
business.

She was treated at a local hospital for injuries to her ears, face,
arms, neck, chest and back that she told authorities were caused by
torture inflicted by Varsha Sabhnani.

One of the Indonesian women was found by police wandering in Syosset,
New York, 12 days ago, wearing only pants and a towel. She is believed
to have escaped the Sabhnani home when she took the rubbish out the
night before.

The women, prosecutors said, were subjected to beatings, had scalding
water thrown on them and were forced to repeatedly climb up stairs and
take as many as 30 showers in three hours - all as punishment for
perceived misdeeds. In one case, prosecutors said, one of the women was
forced to eat 25 hot chillis at one time.

One of the women told officials she was cut behind her ears with a
pocket knife, and both had to sleep on mats in the kitchen. They were
fed so little, they said, that they were forced to steal food.

An assistant US attorney, Demitri Jones, has called the allegations
"truly a case of modern-day slavery".

Enung was found by authorities in the home hiding in a closet. Both
women were forced to sleep on mats and had to steal food to get enough
to eat, prosecutors said.

Although Varsha Sabhnani was identified as the primary culprit in
inflicting punishment, Lesko said Mahender Sabhnani was charged with the
same crimes, including conspiracy, because he allowed the conduct to
take place in his home.

"Ask yourself who is worse," Lesko said. "The twisted soul who tortures
maids or the man of the house who lets it happen?"

"This did not happen in the 1800s," Lesko said. "This happened in the
21st century."

Bangladesh celebrates 36 years of independence

2007-12-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

Bangladesh celebrates 36 years of independence

The Associated Press
Sunday, December 16, 2007

DHAKA, Bangladesh: Bangladesh celebrated 36 years of independence
Sunday, marking the surrender of Pakistani troops to Bangladeshi and
Indian forces after a nine-month war that killed about 3 million people.

"Victory Day" began with a 31-gun salute at a national monument in Savar
near the capital, Dhaka, at dawn. Tens of thousands of Bangladeshis
later gathered at the monument to lay wreaths and pay homage to those
killed during the bloody war.

Bangladesh - then a part of Pakistan - proclaimed independence on March
26, 1971, and launched a separatist war after Pakistan's military rulers
refused to hand over power to an elected political party.

With military assistance from neighboring India, Bangladesh defeated a
93,000-strong Pakistani military force and emerged as an independent
nation on Dec. 16, 1971. India also sheltered tens of thousands of
refugees who fled the wrath of Pakistani troops.

On Dec. 16, 1971, Pakistani Gen. A.A.K. Niazi surrendered to the
Bangladesh-India joint forces led by Indian Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora in
Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital.

Sunday, usually a working day in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, was
declared a public holiday to celebrate the anniversary.

The celebrations come amid a state of emergency which bars gatherings by
political parties. Bangladesh, a parliamentary democracy since 1991, is
currently run by an interim government backed by the country's
influential military.

The interim government came to power in January after weeks of violent
street protests over electoral reforms. The interim administration then
canceled the national elections and pledged to hold the new elections by
the end of next year.

The country's red and green flag flew atop the government and private
buildings in Dhaka and elsewhere.

Newspapers published supplements commemorating the day, and television
channels aired special discussion and cultural programs.

Schoolchildren held a colorful parade at the Bangabandhu National
Stadium in Dhaka.

West Bengal tops suicide list in India

2007-12-12T12:34:00.000-08:00

West Bengal (15,725) tops suicide list in India (118,112)

Sunday, 09 December, 2007

New Delhi: West Bengal and Maharashtra have retained the dubious
distinction of having the highest number of suicides in the country,
according to statistics available with National Crime Records Bureau.

The provisional data for the year 2006 revealed that the total number of
suicides in the country have increased by 4,198 to touch 1,18,112 last
year but there was a decline in the cases of farmers taking their lives
last year.

The statistics revealed that the number of suicides by farmers were
17,060 last year as against 17,131 in 2005.

Bengal topped the list of suicides with 15,725 suicides, including 6,605
women, compared to 15,015 in 2005 and 13,424 the previous year.

Maharashtra, which topped the list of farmers' suicide with 4,453
compared to 3,926 in 2005, recorded 15,494 suicides as against 14,426 in
2005.

These two states were followed by Andhra Pradesh (13,276) which
registered a decline of 166 in the suicides, Tamil Nadu (12,381),
Karnataka (12,212).

The national capital registered 1,492 suicide cases last year, which is
an increase of 247 from 2005 figures.

There were three cases of farmers committing suicide in the capital,
down from seven in 2005.

The main reasons for people taking the extreme step were family
problems, failure in love affairs, illness, examination blues and dowry
harassment, an official said adding majority of them took to consuming
poison or hanging.

It was in Bengal where a maximum number of 6,605 women committed suicide
last year followed by Maharashtra (4,984) and Tamil Nadu (4,872). The
total number of women who committed suicide was 42,410.

Out of the 75 702 men committed suicide last year the maximum was
recorded from Maharashtra (10,510) followed by Bengal (9,120) and Andhra
Pradesh (8,863).

Uttar Pradesh, the biggest state of the country recorded a decline in
the number of suicides, recording 3,099 such incidents during last year.
It included 1,761 men and 1,338 women.

In 2005, Uttar Pradesh witnessed 3,449 suicides.

There was a substantial decline in the number of farmers' suicide in the
state. Last year, 411 such cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh compared
to 522 in 2005 while the figures for 2004 were 496.

While Maharashtra topped the list of farmers' suicide with 4,453, Andhra
Pradesh came second with 2,607, followed by Karnataka (1,720),
Chattisgarh (1,483) and Madhya Pradesh (1,375).

West Bengal (1,189) and Kerala (1,124) were on the sixth and seventh
position.

Out of the 17,060 farmers' suicide, a whopping 14,664 were men while
2,396 were women. The corresponding figures for 2005 are 14,973 (men)
and 2,158 (women).

The suicide figures for 2001 was 1,10,850 while it was 1,10,417 for the
next year, followed by 1,10,851 in 2003 and 1,13,697 in 2004.

Nandigram Scars- A question of faith

2007-12-12T12:14:00.001-08:00

Nandigram Scars- A question of faith
December 13, 2007

A lot has been written on the 'intra-proletariat struggle' being
witnessed at Nandigram, some 90 miles from the eastern metropolis of
Kolkata. Some described it as a clash between the agrarian forces and
those who favor industrialization. Others said it was a revolt against
the dictatorship of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) that rules
West Bengal for the last four decades.
Many others blame it on the Opposition in West Bengal particularly the
Trinamool Congress that attempted to cash on the discontentment of the
people of Nandigram. Notwithstanding, the Chief Minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee's apology.

The general summary is that Nandigram essentially was a people's war, a
faithless commotion with no religious overtones. Those who look for the
religious angle there are the reactionary elements and such voices
should be marginalized.

However, according to the BJP the majority of the victims of the clashes
in Nandigram were those belonging to the Muslim minority community. The
BJP for the first time has come out to speak in favor of the oppressed
Muslim community since it sees in Nandigram an opportunity to break the
CPM stronghold in West Bengal.

It is pertinent to recall, that the Nandigram fracas has its genesis in
the West Bengal Government's decision to create a Special Economic Zone
there with an eye on getting foreign investment and industrial
development. It decided to permit an Indonesian firm to build a
chemicals plant across the Haldia River from the Haldia port, in
Nandigram. On the grounds that the SEZ in Nandigram would create about
100,000 direct and indirect jobs and a lot of people would be benefited
by this project. Little did the CPM realize that by trying to replicate
the Chinese model of a SEZ, wherein the Government forcibly evicted the
people from their lands, at a price determined by the Government, it
would become the bugbear for the State Government.

The landowners of Nandigram, who are mostly Hindus, grudgingly seemed to
have accepted the deal, but the local Muslim people who were dependent
on the land as sharecroppers opposed the idea of the SEZ. They argued
that as they did not own the land they would be displaced without any
compensation being paid to them. This created a rift between the CPM and
the local people. The CPM cadres forcibly tried to clear up the area but
those residing there resisted such moves.

In walked the Opposition leader Mamata Bannerjee, who saw this
controversy as an opportunity to embarrass the CPM Government. She
brought her own supporters along with the Maoists guerrillas with guns
to fight the CPM Government thus igniting the turf war in Nandigram.

On 14 March 2007, the CPM Government sent the police to Nandigram to
clear the place. The local unarmed people with the women and children in
the frontlines blocked the road and resisted the police. Acting in the
most fascist manner the police opened fire at the mob and over a dozen
people were killed in that incident. However, the local people managed
to keep the CPM cadres at bay and refused to let them enter Nandigram.

According to independent investigations, the bullets used in Nandigram
during the March 14 conflict were not the standard ones normally used by
the West Bengal police force. Giving rise to the conclusion that the CPM
cadres had disguised themselves as the police and fired on the unarmed
local people resisting them. These findings greatly agitated the locals
who expelled the CPM supporters with the backing of the Maoists and
forced them to live in relief camps.

After the violence of March 14, the Government announced that the land
acquisition proposal for the SEZ had been shelved. However, even after
that the tension in Nandigram failed to subside on the ground. The CPM
was hell bent on clearing the area of the Maoists and Trinamool cadres.
But there was no let up in the resistance against any such moves.

The CPM finally planned "Operation Take Back" to reclaim Nandigram. They
sent truck loads of their cadres to overpower the protesters and reclaim
the land. Brutal violence and clashes followed but in the end the CPM
cadres managed to get into Nandigram. Announcing victoriously that they
had committed the same kind of violence that the Modi Government had
indulged in Gujarat. Including arson, looting, killings, and mothers
raped in front of their daughters, daughters in front of others et al.
The horror tales too terrifying to tell.

Sadly, at the end of the day, the victim of the Nandigram controversy is
the landless poor labourer. These share croppers or the proletariat
belong to the minority Muslim community. Be that as it may, however,
Nandigram cannot be compared with Gujarat where the oppressed belonged
to the Muslim community and the perpetrators were of the Hindu faith.

In the case of Nandigram it was the CPM cadres that were in the
forefront of the oppression and many among them belonged to the Muslim
faith as well. But, there is little doubt that the majority who suffered
in Nandigram were those belonging to the Muslim minority community.

The horror tales of Nandigram against the Muslim community were so
inflaming that it brought the Muslim youth of Kolkata to the streets to
vent their anger. The incense of Taslima Nasreen was always there round
the corner. This was aggravated by the CPM Government's complicity in
the Rizwan murder case.

Whether the fury which spilled on the streets of Kolkata was the work of
the vandals or the Jacobins that would unseat the CPM Government can be
debated. But one thing is certain: those furious people did have a
faith!

Syed Ali Mujtaba, INFA

US Congress adopts bill to aid Sidr victims

2007-12-12T12:05:00.000-08:00

US Congress adopts bill to aid Sidr victims
December 12, 2007

The US Congress on Tuesday passed a bill asking the Bush administration
to provide all necessary assistance to the cyclone victims in
Bangladesh.

The House of Representatives expressed sympathy to the victims and
pledged the support of the House of Representatives and the people of
the United States for the victims of cyclone Sidr.

A spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka said yesterday
that Congressman Steve Rothman of New Jersey introduced the bill on
December 4.

Twenty-nine Congressmen co-sponsored the Bill, which was approved by 388
votes in favor and none against.

Rothman (for himself) Schiff, Engel, Hastings of Florida, McDermott,
McGovern, Ryan of Ohio, Moran of Virginia, Israel, Fattah, Ms Kaptur,
Berman, Ms Bordallo, Crowley, Wexler, Honda, Ms McCollum of Minnesota,
Davis of Illinois, Bluemenauer, Cohen, Ms Jackson-Lee of Texas, Van
Hollen and Ms Lee had submitted the resolution.

In the resolution, the House of Representatives urged the US Government
to immediately make available all appropriate assistance requested by
the Bangladeshi authorities.

The US Congress reaffirmed its commitment to provide relief aid to the
victims as the effects of the cyclone continue to unfold.

"The adoption of the bill can be viewed as recognition of healthy
US-Bangladesh relations. I am deeply satisfied and the Bangladeshi
nation is grateful to their friends in the US legislature", Foreign
Affairs Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said.

It is reported that the bill was voted at this time, despite a very
crowded calendar, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a special intervention
to make room for the adoption.

The resolution said, "Whereas on November 15, Cylcone Sidr hit the coast
of southern Bangladesh with 155 mile-an-hour winds that smashed tens of
thousands of homes, damaged roads and buildings, and caused a 16-foot
tidal surge that ruined thousands of hectares of crops. Early reports
have branded the destruction from Cyclone Sidr as the worst in
Bangladesh in 16 years."

The resulting damage from the Cyclone is estimated to have affected
4,000,000 people so far through evacuation from and loss of their homes;
over half of the affected internally displaced population is children,
an estimated 400,000 of whom are under the age of 5. Bangladesh's
Disaster Ministry now estimates that the homes of over 750,000 people
were damaged or destroyed, the death toll from the cyclone is already at
3,500 and continues to climb, the Bangladesh Red Crescent has warned
that the number of dead could ultimately be as high as 10,000.

The 5 districts in southern Bangladesh that were most drastically
affected by the cyclone are Patuakhali, Barguna, Bagerhat, Barisal, and
Pirojpur, the resolution continued.

Hundreds of thousands of people in remote areas of Patuakhali and
Barguna are currently cut off from relief operations, which has caused
widespread starving and suffering from the lack of access to drinking
water and medicines, one relief worker commented that Bagerhat looked
like a 'valley of death' in the days after the storm, an entire island
in Barisal, another district of southern Bangladesh, was submerged under
at least 6 feet of water and houses were blown away by winds, in
Pirojpur it is estimated that it will take at least 1 week to restore
the power supply, the resolution said.

The capital, Dhaka, which is located over 130 miles away from the
devastated southern coastline, was also impacted by storm, losing access
to power and water for days, a massive tidal wave that was caused by
Cyclone Sidr hit the Sunderbans, the world's biggest mangrove forest
that is home to the endangered Royal Bengal tiger, leaving a wake of
death and destruction that have caused experts to declare the forest an
`ecological disaster';

Officials at the United Nations World Food Programme have appealed for
international aid to help save lives in Bangladesh, noting that food
supplies have been severely disrupted by the cyclone and that there was
risk of famine; and due to the limited access to water supply and
sanitation facilities that millions of Bangladeshis will face, health
officials have begun warning against the serious possibility of cholera,
dysentery, and other waterborne diseases, the House of Representatives
expressed its heartfelt sympathy for the victims of Cyclone Sidr, which
has affected southern Bangladesh, the resolution noted.

It conveyed its sincere support to the people of Bangladesh and urged
the United States Government to immediately make available all
appropriate assistance requested by the Bangladeshi authorities.

The House of Representatives reaffirmed its commitment to provide relief
aid to the victims as the effects of the cyclone continue to unfold, the
resolution added.

Bangladesh takes home teenage war hero Hamidur Rahman's remains after 36 years

2007-12-10T10:51:00.000-08:00

Bangladesh takes home teenage war hero Hamidur Rahman's remains after 36
years
Mon Dec 10

The body of a teenage Bangladeshi war hero killed fighting Pakistani
forces and buried in India almost four decades ago has been exhumed and
taken home for a ceremonial burial, an official said on Monday.

Hamidur Rahman, an army private, was killed in action on Oct. 28, 1971
while raiding a Pakistani military post in what was then known as East
Pakistan, which months later gained independence and became Bangladesh.
He was later given the highest military honor for valor - "Bir
Shreshtha," or Greatest of the Heroes - for charging a Pakistani
military post, according to the Liberation War Affairs Ministry.

Fellow fighters carried away Rahman's body and buried it in a village in
neighbouring India which supported Bangladesh's war of independence.

On Sunday, the 17-year-old's remains were dug up from a grave in
Hatimarachara village in Tripura and handed over to a Bangladeshi
delegation.

Thousands of Bangladeshi villagers lined the road as a flag-draped
coffin bearing Rahman's remains - which had been buried across the
border in the Indian state of Tripura - were brought home, the private
RTV network said.

"We have come here to take the body ahead of our 37th victory day
celebration," Sajjad Ali Zahir, a delegation member told Reuters,
referring to Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The young soldier attacked two Pakistani machine-gun posts and destroyed
them before falling in a hail of bullets, Zahir said.

Rahman's coffin was draped in the Bangladeshi flag and handed over with
full military honours. The body was received by authorities at a border
point southeast of Dhaka and will be buried in the Bangladeshi capital
on Tuesday after a military ceremony.

Rahman is the youngest of seven war heroes posthumously conferred
Bangladesh's highest gallantry award for their role in the freedom
struggle.

Rahman is to be buried Tuesday at a martyrs' cemetery in Dhaka after a
state funeral. President Iajuddin Ahmed was expected to attend the
ceremony.

Ancient Buddhist clay seals found at Bhasu Bihar, Bangladesh

2007-12-08T16:42:00.001-08:00

2007-12-08
Ancient Buddhist clay seals found at Bhasu Bihar, Bangladesh

An ancient brick-built structure at a dig at Bhasu Bihar of Shibganj
upazila in Bogra. Archaeologists also discovered clay seals, inset left,
dating back to the Pala dynasty and one "Dharmachakra" message seal of
Gautam Buddha.

Archaeologists have discovered 18 ancient clay seals, mostly from the
Pala dynasty, and two brick-built structures at Bhasu Bihar
archaeological site in Shibganj upazila of Bogra during an excavation.

One of the clay seals bears the first "Dharmachakra" message of Gautam
Buddha inscribed on it, said Nahid Sultana, custodian and a member of
the excavation team.

A seven-member team of the Archaeology Department headed by Regional
Director Abdul Khaleque started the excavation work on 22 November.

Nahid Sultana said most of the 18 seals are 1,000 years old.

A few small pieces of bronze and two ancient brick structures were also
found in separate excavations in the site.

Nahid said the department could not yet determine the age of the two
brick structures but one of them is "very old".

The width of the brick built walls is similar to that of the main
structures of the monastic cells and temple at Bhasu Bihar, she added.

Bhasu Bihar is an important archaeological site in South Asia. According
to documents, Chinese pilgrim Hiuel T-sang saw more than 700 monks at
the Bihar when he visited the place during 639-645AD.

Fake encounter: how Sohrabuddin Sheikh was killed

2007-12-06T14:07:00.000-08:00

Ketaki Ghoge & Rathin Das
Email Author
Ahmedabad, May 02, 2007

Fake encounter: how Sohrabuddin Sheikh was killedDid Kausar Bi, wife of
Sohrabuddin Sheikh, who was allegedly shot in a fake encounter on
November 26, 2005, near Ahmedabad, know the fate that awaited her
husband?

Yes, said a highly-placed source in the Gujarat Criminal Investigation
Department (CID). Kausar Bi definitely knew what to expect after her
husband was separated from her at a Gandhinagar farmhouse, where they
had been locked up, the source told Hindustan Times. The couple had been
pulled off a bus the previous night.

The trail leading to their deaths has not been completely reconstructed
by the CID. But using statements from witnesses - an inter-state bus
owner, its cleaner, drivers and commuters, besides constables - the
interim report submitted by a CID team led by Inspector General of
Police Geetha Johri at least partially rebuilds the episode.

"It's good work," said Deputy Inspector General of Police and present
CID investigation in-charge Rajneesh Rai. He was recently asked to get
all investigative procedures - arrests, scientific investigation -
cleared by his boss, Additional Director General of Police OP Mathur.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred to Thursday its verdict
on shifting the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Eyewitness accounts in Johri's report are damning, sources said. A
statement by Constable Ajay Parmar, who said he was present when
Sohrabuddin was shot, says: "On November 26 at 4 am, Anti-Terrorism
Squad officers from Gujarat, including DG Vanzara and RK Pandayan, and
Rajasthan Superintendent of Police MN Dinesh... were present at a place
between Ahmedabad circle and Vishala circle toll points.

The report says: "constable Ajay Parmar was asked to bring a Hero Honda
motorcycle lying in the backyard of an ATS office here. Sohrabudin was
also brought here. A sub-inspector of Rajasthan police rode the bike for
a short distance and jumped off it. As it fell, Sohrabuddin was pulled
out of the car and thrown on the road. Four police inspectors fired
eight rounds from their service pistols. Vanzara then asked Parmar to
take Sohrabuddin to the civil hospital."

The report also says police officials from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and
Rajasthan were involved in the episode. But Andhra Pradesh Chief
Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy said on Tuesday that no police official
from his state was involved.

The CID report says Sohrabudin and Kausar, along with a possible third
victim, Tulsiram Prajapati, were intercepted in a bus going from
Hyderabad to Sangli by Gujarat ATS and Rajasthan police officers late on
November 22 night. The couple were then kept locked in a room of the
farmhouse called Disha at Jamiyatpura on the outskirts of Gandhinagar,
owned by a certain Girish Patel - also a witness in the Johri report -
from Nov 24 to 25.

"ATS officers led by Vanzara asked for favours in this encounter as in
the past like loaning of cars and houses. He was rarely refused," said a
senior police official.

After Sohrabuddin was taken away, Kausar Bi was removed from the
farmhouse on the morning of November 26 on the request of the owner. She
was last seen in a white Maruti car with plainclothes policemen from
Gujarat, the report says.

The Johri report and the current CID investigations are silent about
what could have happened to Kausar in the next two days. The Johri
report refers to a statement of constable Parmar, posted as personal
assistant of arrested IPS officer RK Pandiyan, as saying Kausar was not
seen after November 25 and that he had heard she had been burnt and
killed in the mountains near Ilol, Vanzara's native village.

CID investigators claim that Kausar died on November 28. Her body was
burnt and disposed off by ATS officers, they have admitted. They say
that she was most likely transferred to another farmhouse, Arham
bungalow on Koba-Adlaj Road near Gandhinagar, for the last two days of
her life.

CID investigators are silent on abuse and on how she died. The report is
in four parts, based on preliminary investigations between September
2006 to January 2007.

Muslims going to college, thanks to Narendrabhai

2007-12-06T13:51:00.000-08:00

Muslims going to college, thanks to Narendrabhai

Zeeshan Shaikh, Hindustan Times
Bharuch, December 06, 2007

Muslims going to college, thanks to NarendrabhaiMore Muslims in Gujarat
are concentrating on higher education after the 2002 riots, and Yunus
Patel would like to thank Narendra Modi for it.

He is not joking.

"I won't vote for Narendra Modi but I love his government. It is the
hostile attitude of the state that has forced the Muslim community to
look towards education as its only saviour," the 40-year-old, who was
once a gambling den operator, said.

Yunus has plans to get his daughter admitted to a dental college to be
opened by the Bombay Patel Welfare Society in Bharuch. The riots have
"fuelled an educational revolution among Muslims here", he added.

After 2002, Gujarat has also seen more educational institutions being
set up by the minority community.

The Bombay Patel Welfare Society, which runs one of Gujarat's largest
Muslim hospitals in Bharuch, will set up a dental college here. The
society also runs an English-medium school where over 500 children
study, the majority Muslims.

"The community has realised that the only way of getting empowered is
through education. Reservation or government sops are not going to help
unless there is a change in attitude towards education within the
community. Surprisingly, the riots of 2002 acted as a catalyst for this
to happen," said Mohammed Patel, a former MLA and president of Patel
welfare society.

The 2001 census shows a literacy rate of 73.9 per cent among Gujarat's
Muslims, higher than the community's national average of 59 per cent.
"The literacy level of Muslims is high in Gujarat. But before 2002, you
would not find any institute of higher learning being run by us. Now,
most of the new Muslim institutes coming up are concentrating on higher
education," said Basheer Chowkiwala of the Mumshi Charitable Trust.

Muslim trusts are also concentrating to improving the literacy rate
among the women of their community. Muslim female literacy stands at
63.5 per cent, again higher than the national average of 54 per cent.

The Mumshi Trust has opened a BEd college, a primary teachers' college
and a science college for girls in Bharuch, all this year.

The Surat Young Muslim Graduate Association, which teaches over 5,500
Muslim children, has plans to expand operations to make education more
reachable to the Muslim masses.

While many trusts function with minimum state help, some complained of
government hurdles. "The government didn't allow us to open a
homeopathic college.... Even a dental college had to face opposition
from the bureaucrats," said Mohammed Patel.

Indian leader says slain Muslim 'got what he deserved'

2007-12-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

Indian leader says slain Muslim 'got what he deserved'

NEW DELHI (AFP) - An Indian Hindu nationalist leader accused of failing
to stop deadly 2002 religious riots has sparked fresh controversy by
saying an innocent Muslim man killed by police "got what he deserved."

Narendra Modi, who is campaigning for re-election this month in India's
western Gujarat state, made the remark Tuesday at a rally of his
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Gujarat's anti-terrorist squad gunned down Sohrabuddin Sheikh in 2005
outside the main city of Ahmedabad, claiming he planned to assassinate
Modi. Police also killed Sheikh's wife, who witnessed her husband's
death.

After the dead man's brother insisted Sheikh was innocent, the state
government admitted the killing was a "false encounter" -- or the
deliberate killing of an innocent person -- and that police had also
killed the wife to cover their tracks.

Newspapers splashed Modi's rally on front pages on Wednesday and TV
stations led newscasts with footage of him telling the crowd,
"Sohrabuddin got what he deserved."

Modi could be seen saying the state opposition Congress party had raised
its voice on the Sohrabuddin issue.

"You tell me, what should have been done to Sohrabuddin?" said Modi, who
is seen as a shoo-in for re-election when Gujarat votes in mid-December.

The crowd roared back: "Kill him, kill him."

Modi, accusing the dead man of storing illegal arms and ammunition,
replied: "Well that is it. Do I have to take (national Congress party
chief) Sonia Gandhi's permission to do this?"

"If I have done anything wrong, let the government of Sonia Gandhi hang
me."

Congress rules India at the federal level.

Several Gujarat policemen were arrested on accusations of abduction and
murder over the Muslim couple's killing, and the Congress party on
Wednesday called for the suspects' trials to be speeded up.

Gujarat investigating officials said there was no proof linking Sheikh
to any assassination plot after earlier claiming he was seeking to kill
Modi to avenge the deaths of Muslims in the 2002 riots.

Modi's government was blamed for turning a blind eye to the Hindu-Muslim
riots in 2002 in which at least 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were
killed in Gujarat, one of India's wealthiest and most communally divided
states.

The riots, one of the worst bouts of Hindu-Muslim violence in India's
post-independence history, prompted the Supreme Court in 2004 to liken
Modi to Nero, the Roman emperor who played on his fiddle while his
capital burned.

Congress slammed Modi as "Mr. Death" after his statements to the rally
and said it would take "appropriate action" against him if it came to
power in the state.

"Is this not Mr. Death himself speaking? This is a clear admission of
guilt. Here is a pre-planned, deliberate, designed, cold-blooded
murder," Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters in New
Delhi.

He called on India's Election Commission to take note of Modi's speech
as "it is meant to affect the on-going electoral process in the state."

Indian reporter fears for life after Muslim massacre expose

2007-12-05T15:38:00.000-08:00

Indian reporter fears for life after Muslim massacre expose

NEW DELHI (AFP) - An Indian journalist who secretly filmed right-wing
Hindus boasting about the mass murder of Muslims during riots in 2002 in
the western state of Gujarat says he now fears for his life.

Reporter Ashish Khetan is also a "very disappointed" man -- saying his
sting operation that again highlighted the alleged complicity of state
officials in the massacres had failed to result in any action being
taken.

In addition, Hindu nationalists linked to the killings look set to
cruise to re-election in state elections this month.

"I got them to speak to me, make self-damning revelations, details of
the killings and rapes," the 31-year-old, a Hindu, told AFP in an
interview.

During a six-month undercover mission, Khetan tracked down more than a
dozen hardline Hindu activists belonging to various groups allied to
Gujarat's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) administration.

The BJP rules Gujarat, and is India's main opposition party on the
national level. It has consistently denied any involvement in the
massacres five years ago in which at least 2,000 Muslims were killed.

The expose was published by the weekly news magazine Tehelka in October,
and made headlines for barely a week.

"Despite the evidence, the political reaction to the expose has been at
best tepid and I feel very, very disappointed. There has been no
action," Khetan said.

The rioting broke out after a Muslim mob was accused of torching a
train, burning 59 Hindus alive, on February 27, 2002.

An enquiry by the state-run railways later ruled the fire on the train
which sparked the riots was an accident.

The video tapes Khetan filmed showed Hindu zealots apparently boasting
of how they took "revenge," and how they allegedly had the backing of
BJP officials and state chief minister Narendra Modi who is widely
expected to be re-elected when Gujarat goes to the polls on December 11
and 16.

Khetan stumbled onto the story when he heard a chance remark by a
university official in Gujarat that he organised attacks against Muslims
and supplied weapons during the riots.

"I was churning with emotion -- sheer terror of being found out and hope
of uncovering the truth," the reporter said in a telephone interview.

Khetan said he introduced himself to his contacts as a university
student researching a paper on Hindu revivalism: "I said I was a
hardcore Hindu who wanted to know what they had done to raise the status
and prestige of Hindus."

"There was this sense of gloating, boasting at their sense of
achievement at what they had managed to accomplish," he said.

More shocking, he said, was the attitude of ordinary Gujaratis.

"There was no remorse, no shame -- just the view that the Muslims had it
coming. It shows how much the mind of an average Gujarati has been
poisoned," Khetan said.

He said the sting included moments of heart-stopping fear.

"Once I was travelling with one of the men in his car when he got a
phone call. After finishing the call, he turned to me and said he had
been warned about a Delhi journalist doing a sting operation on the
riots.

"I kept a straight face, though I did break into a cold sweat," he said.

Minutes later, the car turned into a dirt track and stopped at a
desolate spot: "I also saw another car with two men inside... I was so
scared. All they had to do was frisk me to find the spy cams. But they
went their separate ways."

Disillusioned by the attitude of Indian politicians, Khetan said he was
also shocked to receive "hate mails and even threats from journalists."

"My work has angered a lot of people. Who knows, some fanatic sitting in
some corner of the country may have made a plan to kill me," he said.
"Yes I am afraid that I could be on the hit list of some fanatic or
another."

Makings of Londonistan

2007-12-04T16:38:00.000-08:00

Makings of Londonistan
December 5, 2007
The Statesman

About 41 per cent of the British think there are too many people of other ethnic communities living in the UK (Cabinet Office, 2001). In the case of people of Indian origin perceived to be a relatively successful community, all these observations combine with burning brides, dowry crimes, corruption, displays of wealth (weddings) and almost crippling poverty in India to undermine the glamorous projection of Incredible India.
Yet, as with India, the adaptive nature of British culture is evident from the adoption of curry almost as a national dish, yoga as a norm in the gym and the co-option of the Bhangra beat in mainstream music and a fascination for Bollywood ~ all appear to thrive at the same time.
When asked about the willingness to marry across into a culture, the British are three times more willing to do so than people of Indian origin ~ the ethnocentric bigotry of the Indians does not bode well either. It is not that the British population is immune to fads of religion. Recently, eminent biologist Richard Dawkins in his book The Delusion of God and in a series of documentaries has attacked the growth of the culture of superstition and ignorance amongst the British. Yet, paradoxically, in a country overwhelmingly agnostic, Buddhism and Islam are the fastest growing religions. Islamists needle the European leaders ideologically with the desire to establish an Ulmah and scholars like Roger Scruton (The West and Rest ) have argued it is the text and ideology of Islam rather then its interpretation which is responsible for extremism, though the same could be said of the Old Testament. The Islamist group, albeit small in number, fuel the British population's fear that there are many sympathisers.
All is not lost. In the case of the Muslim community, value transmission has taken place, British Muslims, as compared to Muslims of other countries, have better views of us than their cousins and diasporic connections; 49 per cent of British Muslims (but 22 per cent of Pakistanis) think Westerners are respectful of women, 56 (versus 24) think us generous, 48 (against 13) tolerant.
Yet there is fear that enlightenment values are under threat as it is not only the violent extremists, (Post-Rushdie book burning, Sikh case on the play Izzat, the killing of a documentary maker in Holland and the support among the British Gujarati community for the likes of Mr Narendra Modi) others, too, are using political clout and undermining hard-won local freedoms.
The new migrants from eastern Europe are hardworking and have kept inflation down, created a café culture, kept the hospitality and construction sector afloat and British bathrooms well-repaired. They have also brought in human trafficking and gang killings with the rich ones from Russia buying parts of London, pushing up prices to sky-high levels. There is, however, in practice less acceptance of the abstract argument put forward by British intellectuals that immigration is good for the economy.
Melanie Phillips, a journalist, in her book attacked the laidback British policies on immigration in the name of multiculturalism as responsible for turning London into Londonistan ~ an observation often repeated by Indian friends who visit London.
The argument about diversity and immigration as key drivers of economic development has been won by policymakers, a point highlighted with Britain retaining a competitive edge in winning the Olympics-hosting opportunity. At the same time, rapid immigration from eastern Europe has put pressure on the instant access to a welfare state. The ease of movement has been abused by terrorists and a balmy army of desi commercial clergy being driven in their BMWs preaching feudal values and dated interpretations of religions.
This instills the fear among the British that religion is being connected with militant politics ~ a notion exposed by former extremists in their publications. The British have an aversion to this connection rooted in their psyche since the Enlightenment period and the experience of Northern Ireland. The British working classes have been fed the notion of fairness that spawns not irrational nativism about contributing before claiming welfare benefits ~ even the established immigrant communities grumble about the pressure on local services by outsiders.
Add to this the paranoias of foreigners buying local football clubs, streets of London and the perception that many jobs are going to India. Big religious festivities on high street blocking traffic, loud speaking on the tube, absence of an observing body, space rules, queueing ~ all the habits including public spitting in addition to rapid import of tuberculosis incense the local residents. Yet many turn up in hundreds to support the Indian Mela and the Notting Hill Festival to celebrate diversity.
Repeated British attitude surveys suggest continuing support for counter-racism measures amongst a significant part of the population, particularly the young.
Though the spatial ethnic segregation is decreasing, albeit slowly, as the Whites move where the Black and Brown people settle, there is increasing social contact at work between ethnic groups, off-work integration is not increasing even among the young.

Market-driven housing segregation is partly a function of free market and affordability and partly the need to be near kith and kin. This leads to segregation in schooling.
The demand for approvals of faith schools has sparked a debate about the state utilising its funds to fund new-faith Hindu, Sikh and Muslim schools, a development lamented by people like Professor Gundara. He argues that state-sponsored segregation is not justified on the grounds of race or religion as separate is not equal.
Fostering cohesion for integration has become a dominant discourse in public policy over equality with often poorly thought-through suggestions by local authorities of abolishing mother-tongue teaching and bilingual translation and redeploying resources aimed at tackling discrimination.
In its 30-year of post-war multiculturalism and fair society experiment, Britain has become a tossed-salad society as opposed to a melting pot ~ rather similar to the USA. Nevertheless, it is a society with high-levels of security, reasonable political and economic integration for its minorities with varied affiliations to the country.
Major questions remain. Is integration achieveable or is peaceful co-existence a realistic goal? Looking at India and Canada, the latter is more likely, at least for a few generations. Some British ethnic communities such as Jews in the past century and more recently the Caribbean communities with strong cultural similarity with local cultures have biologically integrated. The census figures suggest that intermarriage is increasing more speedily among educated Asians.
What the more difficult question for the policymakers in the UK need to struggle with is should the ethnic minorities integrate within what the conservative party has called a broken society with a crises of values.
A related question is what British identity the ethnic communities should aspire to, given the ephemeral, situational and fluid as well as historically hyphenated nature of such an identity. There is some evidence that minority youth tend to define British identity in terms of values such as compassion, fairplay and rule of law and its tolerance as opposed to other physical or jingoistic manifestations. This may be the key to future development as these are universally desirable values.
Can policymakers manage the diversity economic advantage of the UK without increasing disharmony, welfare costs and without compromising its tryst with liberalism?

Uncle Sam and the merchant of Arabia

2007-12-04T16:36:00.001-08:00

Uncle Sam and the merchant of Arabia
December 5, 2007
The Statesman

With the rise of crude oil to $90-100 a barrel, the camel is overloaded
with the greenback. And there is no better place for the Arab merchant
to unload his petrodollars than to lend it Americans who juggle their
daily lives between credit cards and debit cards, home equity loans and
foreclosures. But it is not only the Joe Six-pack who is in trouble. His
lenders too are sleepless.
Like other American financial institutions, Citigroup, the global
financial giant, has been reeling under billions of dollars
mortgage-and-subprime related losses. The Citigroup board, instead of
responding to merger overtures from other financial institutions, went
in search of Arab petrodollars and obtained $7.5 billion cash flow from
the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the government's sovereign wealth
fund, for a 4.9 per cent equity stake plus 11 per cent annual interest
rate, making it one of the biggest investors in the bank.
In this age of globalisation, you might say, so what? Not everyone seems
to be happy about the Citigroup deal with the Arab merchant. In an
editorial titled "Citi of Arabia", The Wall Street Journal wrote: "We
hate to spoil the party, but it strikes us as unfortunate, if not a
tragedy, that America's largest bank had to go hat in hand to the Arab
sheikhs because of bad management and blundering US monetary policy."
Many transnational corporations and international businesses try to
develop an early awareness system, which picks up weak signals that
might become a raging storm later. An early awareness system helps
prepare a company to nip the evil in the bud. But American financial
institutions did not foresee any sign of trouble.
Nobody understood what havoc subprime lending might create.
Nor does anybody fully understand how the global wealth is shifting to
other regions. Irwin Stelzer, director of economic policy studies at the
Hudson Institute wrote in Times Online: "The world has changed. Wealth
has moved into new hands. Morgan Stanley estimates that the world's
sovereign wealth funds hold some $2.5 trillion in assets, more than the
global hedge-fund industry.
And they are adding about $500 billion to their assets every year. One
Goldman Sachs banker told me that until recently he had never been to
West Asia; now he makes several trips each month." The widespread
hostility against globalisation is unfortunately prevalent in the USA.
In the Internet age, there is a tremendous mobility of factors from
foreign direct investment to job outsourcing to state-controlled
sovereign wealth funds equity investment. In this sense the world,
instead of becoming flat as The New York Times columnist Tom Friedman
believes, is rather developing peaks and valleys, dungeons and dragons.
The fear of "MacDonaldisation" is being replaced by the fear of
secretive Arab and Chinese sovereign wealth funds and state-controlled
companies nibbling at American assets, which are becoming cheaper to
acquire, thanks to the fall of the dollar.
The Arabs own 10 per cent of Citigroup and their voice will eventually
be heard in the boardroom. Recently, Dubai and Abu Dhabi made
significant investments in Advanced Micro Devices, a leading
semiconductor company that handles many defence contracts. Globalisation
is a dynamic process of creating interdependencies in economics,
international trade and culture, and is likely to create instabilities.
It is much more than bilateralism because a country has to be opened to
the flow of influences from all around.
Transnational corporations stride the world like a colossus. Their
business depends upon their reputation, which makes them extremely
vulnerable not only to the government of the host country but also to
the news over which the government has no control, especially in a
democratic society.
In authoritarian countries, where the news media is controlled by the
government, transnational corporations have a much easier time doing
business. That is one of the most important reasons transnational
corporations find it easy to do business in China.

They have to deal with one authority, that of the central government.
They don't have to deal with environmental degradation, oil spills and
uprooting of people without compensation to build new buildings. The
news media plays no part and international NGOs have no say. And for the
same reason, when a state-controlled Chinese company or an Arab
sovereign wealth fund buys American assets, Americans become paranoid
because of the lack of transparency.
The government's impact upon economic activities is limited because in
the global village there are so many actors, and the government cannot
control all of them. Government has limited control over the mobility of
capital. Key instruments of monetary and fiscal policy, exchange rates
and import barriers are not totally under government control.
Globalisation creates comparative choices and highlights inefficiencies
both in the government and corporations. But just as governments are
constrained by forces beyond their control, so are transnational
corporations.
Microsoft had to face anti-trust regulations both in the USA and the
European Union. Similar controls might have to be applied to secretive
sovereign wealth funds if they seek to buy assets in the USA and other
open societies. A case in point is the Bank of Credit and Commerce
International (BCCI), which explains why Americans are worried about the
merchant of Arabia. In 1991, BCCI was found by regulators in the USA and
the UK to have been involved in arms dealing, money laundering, bribery,
support of terrorism, tax evasion, smuggling, illegal immigration and
the sale of nuclear technologies. The Emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed
bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the father of the present ruler, controlled the
bank, which was closed after the investigation.
In this environment, corporate diplomacy is imperative. International
corporations and sovereign wealth funds must become culturally
attractive to host country publics. Unless sovereign wealth funds from
West Asia and state-controlled global companies from the Middle Kingdom
become transparent and publicly accountable, they must be watched and
scrutinised.

(ND Batra is professor of communications and diplomacy at Norwich
University, Vermont.)

Japan, ADB to help Bangladesh prepare urban health care program - ADB

2007-11-29T16:09:00.001-08:00

Japan, ADB to help Bangladesh prepare urban health care program - ADB

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Japan and the Asian Development Bank are assisting Bangladesh in laying the groundwork for a proposed urban health care program.

The Japan Special Fund will provide 650,000 usd for providing technical assistance to Bangladesh in preparing the Urban Primary Health Care Sector Development Program and the Bangladeshi government will contribute 165,000 usd to complete funding for the technical assistance, while ADB will manage the funding, the release said.

ADB said the programme will seek to improve the health status of the urban poor in Bangladesh and help the country move closer towards achieving its Millennium Development Goals on child and maternal health and communicable diseases.

Millennium Development Goals serve as a blueprint for nations and development institutions in alleviating poverty and improving lives. Reducing poverty and accelerating the pace of social development are the most important long-term goals under the national poverty reduction strategy of Bangladesh, ADB added.

Opinion: from Bangladesh to California: the digital gap widens?

2007-11-29T16:05:00.000-08:00

Opinion: from Bangladesh to California: the digital gap widens?

Media coverage of cyclone Sidr, which devastated Bangladesh, left hundreds of thousands homeless and killed at least 3,100, has been extensive, as is now the tradition in cases of major natural catastrophes. However, in comparison to coverage of the recent Californian wildfires, one can also wonder whether the differences in coverage of these two events can be representative of the digital gap widening.

In addition to the official death count, the Guardian reported that about 1,700 people are missing and over 28,000 were injured by the storm. According to the Disaster Management Ministry, 458,000 houses have been destroyed and another 665,000 have been partially damaged.

Statistically, the death and damage toll of Sidr far outweighs the also tragic destruction caused by the Californian wildfires.

Yet arguably, the news lifespan of the Bangladesh disaster has been relatively short for many broadcasters and news networks in Europe and Northern America.

During the Californian wildfires, most US news outlets promptly established and developed techy features and hyperlocal tools to service the population. The Los Angeles Times even chose to cover the fires in blog-like fashion, posting short briefs on its homepage, even a few notes, to keep people up to date. News sites all over produced interactive maps that depicted the evolution of the situation and such. Slideshows, video, multimedia coverage were the norm.

But in the case of the cyclone in Bangladesh, it seems western media coverage got little more than some sensational footage initially, and most of the subsequent coverage skimmed the surface. There were little efforts to depict the situation with the same precision, timeliness, and tech-savvy features that were used for the California wildfires.

This can be explained by two things, among other reasons (apart from issues about the editing and prioritization of news):

- the audience that would most benefit from that type of specific information, mostly in Bangladesh, might not have access to these digital outlets.

- The media teams, whether local or international, might not have the equipment and resources needed to produce that information.

Both reasons would point to the widening of the digital gap between a country like the US and one like Bangladesh.

However, new media forms have also grown roots in Bangladesh. It is bloggers who made some of the strongest calls both to the international community and local inhabitants to help and collaborate.

The blogging platform Somewherein launched an SMS-based campaign to enable Bangladeshis to donate money: for every SMS sent (which costs 2 BDT), Somewherein and its fellow sponsors will add an amount to the donation, based on the number of sponsors, which will go to the Save the Children Cyclone Relief fund.

Yet it will take more than bloggers to promote relief in the country. If traditional media dont or cant put up the type of precise, incisive, and simply informative coverage they did for the wildfires, then public opinion will remain relatively unmoved.

If you have more information or insight about this issue, please feel free to contact us or leave a comment.

Source: Guardian Media Channel

India, Pak, Bangladesh lagging behind in literacy goals

2007-11-29T13:30:00.000-08:00

'India, Pak, Bangladesh lagging behind in literacy goals'
29 Nov 2007, 1552 hrs IST,PTI

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NEW DELHI: India, together with Pakistan and Bangladesh, may find it difficult to achieve the education for all goals set by the United Nations for 2015, burdened by high number of illiterates and deep disparities that exist between urban and rural areas.
It is in this backdrop that the UNESCO's Regional Conference in Support of Global Literacy kicked off on Thursday to discuss the theme ‘Literacy Challenges in South, South-West and Central Asia: Building Partnerships and Promoting Innovative Approaches'.

Inaugurating the conference, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi said there were countries that were small in size but have literacy rates of more than 90 per cent, while there were also nations that were contributing heavily to world illiteracy.

"The three countries of South Asia -- India, Pakistan and Bangladesh -- have to redouble their efforts to reduce illiteracy," she said.

Gandhi stressed on the need to achieve the global goals set for ensuring education for all by 2015.

"These are ambitious goals. But they must be achieved within the timeframe set for them," she said.

Terming literacy a basic human right, she said it was a pre-requisite for social transformation. "It enables people to be aware and assert their rights. It is a force against superstition and bigotry," she said.

Referring to the National Literacy Mission launched by late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1986, she said the mission has not been given a new direction.

Climate change to take heavy toll on Bangladesh -UN

2007-11-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

REUTERS

Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:58am EST

(Adds comments by govt adviser, British envoy)

By Ruma Paul

DHAKA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Disaster-prone Bangladesh is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, which could worsen water scarcity and force mass displacement, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The U.N. Development Programme in its latest report warned that climate change will hit the world's poorest countries by breaking down agricultural systems, worsening water scarcity, increasing risks of diseases and triggering mass displacement due to recurring floods and storms.

The report said more than 70 million Bangladeshis, 22 million Vietnamese, and 6 million Egyptians could be affected by global warming-related flooding.

"The near-term vulnerabilities are not concentrated in lower Manhattan and London, but in flood-prone areas of Bangladesh and drought-prone parts of sub-Saharan Africa," said Kevin Watkins, the lead author of the Human Development Report.

Dhaka has proposed setting up of an International Centre for Adaptation to study countries most at risk from climate change, C.S.Karim, a government adviser said.

British High Commissioner Anwar Chowdury said on Wednesday his government welcomed the proposal, and plans to organise a conference in Dhaka early next year on climate change.

Bangladesh has suffered a double blow in the last few months, first from devastating floods in July and then two weeks ago when the worst cyclone since 1991 killed some 3,500 people and displaced millions.

"Bangladesh faces several vulnerabilities from climate change during this century," K.B. Sajjadur Rasheed, a Bangladeshi environment specialist, told Reuters.

"The sea-level rise of even by 40 cm (16 inches) in the Bay of Bengal would submerge 11 percent of the country's land area in the coastal zone, displacing 7 to 10 million people."

Secondly, the frequency, extent, depth and duration of floods could increase because of more monsoon rains triggered by climate change, he said.

That would cause a significant decrease in crops, and food security.

This century should also see the flow of water decreasing in the Ganges, one of the major river systems in riverine Bangladesh, due to glacial retreat from global warming, he said.

It would force millions to seek shelter further inland in the densely populated country of more than 140 million people.

"The implication is that, while Bangladesh could be subjected to increased flooding in the next two to four decades, the country could face drought-like conditions from low flows in the rivers during the latter half of the century,"Rasheed said.