Humanitarian Catastrophe! ECONOMY and POLITICS Combined CRETES SO A MANY GAZAS at HOME Like NANDIGRAM, SINGUR, PASCO and MARICHJHANPI! SATYAM ASATYAM

Humanitarian Catastrophe! ECONOMY and POLITICS Combined CRETES SO A MANY GAZAS at HOME Like NANDIGRAM, SINGUR, PASCO and MARICHJHANPI! SATYAM ASATYAM EPISODE is NOTHING but an EXPOSURE of the PERSECUTION of the Productive FORCES and the DECIET ffaced by Generation Next! MARXIST IDEOLOGY Brahaminised BRUTALLY!


Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 140

Palash Biswas

Please see:
http://www.persecution.org/suffering/countryinfodetail.php?countrycode=3

Resistance against persecution of Bengali Refugees in India Palash Biswas contact: c/o Mrs Arati Roy, gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolata-700110, India. ...

crawlx.bixee.com/isearch/result/provider/ibiboblogs2/category/My%20Life/1/?q=bengali - 31k -

Indophobia
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Indophobia refers to hostility towards Indians and Indian culture and prejudices against South Asian peoples, including Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans. Although the term is also used to denote prejudices directed specifically at Indian nationals. Indophobia is formally defined in the context of anti-Indian prejudice in East Africa as follows: "Indophobia is a tendency to react negatively towards people of Indian extraction against aspects of Indian culture and normative habits"[1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indophobia

Nandigram
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nandigram is a rural area in Purba Medinipur district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located about 70 km south-west of Kolkata, on the south bank of the Haldi River, opposite the industrial city of Haldia. The area falls under the Haldia Development Authority.[1]

In 2007 the West Bengal government decided to allow Salim Group to set up a chemical hub at Nandigram under the SEZ policy [2]. This led to resistance by the villagers resulting in clashes with the police that left 14 villagers dead, and accusations of police brutality.

Ms Firoza Bibi of All India Trinamool Congress is the newly elected Member of Legislative Assembly from Nandigram Assembly Constituency, by-elections for which were held on 05 Jan 2009.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nandigram

Nandigram violence
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(Redirected from Nandigram SEZ controversy)
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The Nandigram violence was an incident in Nandigram, West Bengal where, on the orders of the Left Front government, more than 4,000 heavily armed police stormed the Nandigram area with the aim of stamping out protests against the West Bengal government’s plans to expropriate 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to be developed by the Indonesian-based Salim Group. The police shot dead at least 14 villagers and wounded 70 more.

The SEZ controversy started when the government of West Bengal decided that the Salim Group of Indonesia[1][2][3] would set up a chemical hub under the SEZ policy at Nandigram, a rural area in the district of Purba Medinipur. The villagers took over the administration of the area and all the roads to the villages were cut off. A front-page story in the Kolkata newspaper, The Telegraph, on 4 January 2007 was headlined, "False alarm sparks clash". According to the newspaper that village council meeting at which the alleged land seizure was to be announced was actually a meeting to declare Nandigram a "clean village," that is, a village in which all the households had access to toilet facilities. However, later events indicate that the government had in fact decided to set up the chemical hub and the villagers' concerns were genuine. The administration was directed to break the Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee's (BUPC) resistance at Nandigram and a massive operation with at least 3,000 policemen along with cadre of the Marxist ruling party was launched on March 14, 2007. However, prior information of the impending action had leaked out to the BUPC who amassed a crowd of roughly 2,000 villagers at the entry points into Nandigram with women and children forming the front ranks. In the resulting mayhem, at least 14 people were killed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nandigram_SEZ_controversy

Just Visit nandigram United to have the Documents on Marichjhapi ...Nandigram has been captured as well and Nano has become the best Icon of sensex ... of the killers of Marichjhanpi and Nandigram! Yours. Palash Biswas ...
indiainteracts.com/members/2008/01/21/Just-Visit-nandigram-United-to-have-the-Documents-on-Marichjhapi-Massacre/ - 67k - Cached - Similar pages -

Movie review: The President Is Coming
Shubhra Gupta
Posted: Jan 09, 2009 at 1314 hrs IST
New Delhi :Cast: Konkona Sen Sharma, Ira Dubey, Shernaz Patel, Namit Das, Vivek Gomber, Satchit Puranik, Shivani Tanksale, Anand Tiwari, Imran Rasheed
Director: Kunaal Roy Kapoor

‘The President Is Coming' kick-starts the year with exactly the sort of lift we've been looking for—it's free-spirited, irreverent, and funny.

George Bush coming to India in 2006 was fact; what happens in the film is fiction—the anointing of one young Indian as the person who will shake Bush's hand. The 100 minute ‘mockumentary’, the first out of Bollywood, takes a series of savagely hilarious digs at the whole I-want-to-get-to-America-at-any-cost thing--- the lust for green cards, H1-B visas, truckloads of greenbacks. It also tells you that hey, India may not be such a bad place, after all.

The six short-listed candidates are put through their paces by a two-woman PR agency (Shernaz-Shivani), and the race to the finish line is peppered with smart characterization : a Bengali novelist who is passionate about tribal midgets (Konkona), a Delhi heiress to a cosmetic company and a complete daddy's girl (Ira), a Marathi `manoos' who's a delish combo of a language fascist/ social worker/ anti-capitalist (Puranik), a South Indian software nerd who publicly slobbers over the female sex to hide his gay self (Das), a Gujju stock-loving fellow who thinks the Ambanis are the richest guys in the world (Tiwari), and an accent-trainer from Gurgaon who's dying to get back home (Gomber). And that's, of course, the US.

The tough part about doing regional types is the stereotypes you can drown your characters in. But debutant director Kunaal Roy Kapoor and writer Anuvab Pal, who were involved with the smash-hit play of the same name that ran in Mumbai last year, make sure there are enough sharply-observed quirks to keep us amused.

I'm like, Archana, and like, that's my pathetic boy-friend—Ira Dubey's stinking rich Dilliwali is pitch-perfect. So is Anand Tiwari's superb Kapil Dev Dholakia who thinks everything can be bought, even hand-shaking contests which play out like Reality TV, and who probably counts stocks instead of sheep, in bed.

There are several little gaps in the gag-a-minute pace, where things lapse, making attention wander. But the curve never flattens enough to flatline. ‘The President Is Coming', produced by Rohan Sippy, picks up from where it left off, and you're laughing again.

Is a new wave in Bollywood coming?

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Movie-review-The-President-Is-Coming/408691/

RBI to give liquidity to NBFCs via IDBI's stressed fund! The MONEY MACHINE owned by US Corporates, MNCs, builders and INDIA Incs have to be FED THREE TRILLION after all ! Family Planning has been withdrawn in India. CONDOM campaign goes on thanks to HIV NGO mafia as goes on Vaccination! POPULATION is well controlled by Food Insecurity, Starvation, Man Made Calamities, Genocides, So called development, LPG, Economic Refoms, displacement, Deportation, Job and cash CRUNCH, DEBT and suicides, growing crimes! Foreign exchange reserves rose by $627 mn to $255.2 bn on account of appreciation of gold in reserves. While foreign currency assets rose $5 mn, the value of gold in reserves rose $624 mn.

West Bengal concerned about 10k techies in Satyam from state!West Bengal government said it was closely monitoring the Rs 7,800-crore Satyam fraud issue and was concerned about some 10,000 techies from the state working at various Satyam facilities.

" There will be some 10,000 IT professionals working out of a total 53,000 at Satyam and we are concerned about their future,"state IT minister Debesh Das said here today.

Das said they were in wait and watch mode and not taking any call on the land Satyam was holding for the proposed expansion projects in Bengal.

" Satyam holds three acres of land in Salt Lake Sector V and they had asked for 25-acre land for an IT SEZ project at Rajarhat when erstwhile Satyam Chairman B Ramalinga Raju had come to city about a month back,"Das said.

The state government would go ahead with offering 25-acre plot if the company seeks and neither the government will ask the company to return the three acre land of Salt Lake Sector V,"Das said.

If they (Satyam) want, we will definitely give the land. Why should we pull out. Let&aposs see what happens to the company,"Das said.

According to the figures released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its weekly statistical supplement (WSS), total bank credit rose Rs 1,572 crore in December to Rs 26,45,415 crore. Deposits on the other hand grew by Rs 21,412 crore to touch Rs 35,69,352 crore as on December 26. However, Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju have been arrested under IPC 120b, 409, 420, 468 and 471 for criminal conspiracy! meanwhile INFLATED Risilience, SHINING India and FREEsenSEX and RBI as well as EXPOSED Nacked SKIN Never before!


Humanitarian Catastrophe! ECONOMY and POLITICS Combined CRETES SO A MANY GAZAS at HOME Like NANDIGRAM, SINGUR, PASCO and MARICHJHANPI! SATYAM ASATYAM EPISODE is NOTHING but an EXPOSURE of the PERSECUTION of the Productive FORCES and the DECIET ffaced by Generation Next! MARXIST IDEOLOGY Brahaminised BRUTALLY!The CPM Central Committee on Thursday asked the Union Government to sever all military ties with Israel in the wake of Israel’s `continuing attack on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.Briefing reporters on the resolutions passed by the Central Committee meeting of the party which is under way here, the party politburo member Sitaram Yechury asked the Union Government to mobilise the support of international community for forcing the Israel to agree to the ceasefire call.If the US had not blocked the UN-initiated ceasefire, around 700 people would not have lost their lives, the party observed.It was Israel who first violated the ceasefire on November 4 and again on November 21. But, Israel is charging the Hamas with violating the ceasefire and it is being used as a cover for attacking the Palestinians. The arguments that Hamas is a terrorist organisation, is unfounded, Yechury said.

“The root cause of the conflict in West Asia is the illegal occupation of Palestinian and Arab land by Israel,” he said.

If the statement by the Prime Minister condemning the Israeli attack is not `rhetoric’, the government headed by him should snap all military ties with Israel, Yechury said. If he didn’t do this, India will be perceived as an ally of Israel, he said.The party also asked the Union Government to take action against B Ramalinga Raju, the chairman of Satyam, in the wake of his confessions that the company had been manipulating the company’s balance sheets for years to show inflated profits. The 53,000 employees of the company should be protected, Yechury said.

“There is no proper mechanism to check such frauds and that is why everybody failed to notice the fraud until the chairman himself confessed to it. Several departments and agencies, including the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the SEBI, Andhra Pradesh Government and the Mumbai police have started probe into the issue. All these investigations should be coordinated,” he said.

DESPITE NANDIGRAM Shock, The mood was buoyant at the CPM central committee in session in Kochi!The three-day meeting began deliberations on the strategy for the coming Lok Sabha polls.

Buoyed by its successful talks with the TDP and the AIDMK, the party wants to expand the third alternative by including more parties. The party has already finalised seat sharing with the TDP, AIADMK and JD(S). Now it has to work out an arrangement with the BSP in Uttar Pradesh.

"We (CPM-BSP) will jointly approach the people on many issues. But on seat proposal or questions of any seat adjustment, an understanding on that agenda has not begun. But the process is on. We think there is still six more months," said Sitaram Yechury, CPM Politburo member.

But though the CPM may discuss seat-sharing, the party unlike CPI general secretary A B Bardhan, does not see Mayawati as a prime ministerial candidate.

"We don't go by personalities, individuals or other categories. We go by policies. It's on these policies that we decide our understanding and alliances," said Sitaram Yechury, CPM Politburo Member.

The CPM meeting also passed a resolution condemning the Israeli attack on the Gaza strip and said India would have to do more.

"The Prime Minister's assurance has no meaning. We want the PM to follow up his own statement by immediately suspending all military contact with Israel," said Sitaram Yechury, CPM Politburo Member.

By building a formidable third alternative ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the CPM wants to block the attempts of Congress and BJP to expand their respective coalitions. The Marxists are hopeful that their strategy will come good in the post-election scenario when every single party will count.

Will there be any surprise entrants in the fray in the coming Lok Sabha polls from the CPM top leadership? As the Central Committee meeting, which began in Kochi on Thursday, will discuss about the PB and CC members to be fielded in the Lok Sabha election, names of at least a couple of PB members are doing the rounds among the cadres.Sources in the CPM told to The New Indian Express that the supreme body of the party may consider fielding Sitaram Yechuri, Brinda Karat and S. Ramachandran Pillai for the Lok Sabha polls. Though Yechuri and Brinda are Rajya Sabha members, a prominent section of the party feels that their service is much needed in the Lok Sabha.

Moreover, entry of top rung leaders will electrify the campaign.

I have tried my best to classify all documents and informations relating the HOLOCAUST of Partition of India and the Partition victim refugees. I have been writing on the Persecution of Indigenous, Aboriginal, SC, ST, OBC and Minority Communities in Indian Majoritarian Divided Geopolitics ruled by Comradors COMMITTED to Brahaminical zionist Hegemony or Military Hegemonies ( in bangladesh and pakistan). I have been writing on the incidents of Human Rights Violations, Civil right Violations, Large scale displacement and Massacres! All the articles have been appeared in Print as well as NET! Since Indian Ruling Hegemony opted for LPG branded Neo Liberalism as soon as DR manmohan Singh and the World bank Slaves planted by Washingto took over the Helms of Indian economy as Polity, I have been exposing the PHENOMENON from the BEGINNING!

I have also written how Post Modern Manusmiriti and apartheid happens to be the REAL Agenda of the Warmonger Global Hindu Zionist White Order of Genocide cultuer. I have written in detail about the EJECTION and degeneration of Bengali Militant dalits and indigenous communities as REFUGEES in Partitioned India. Bengali brahmins did everything to kill everything indigenous aboriginal since Brtish RAJ days!

Now PRANAB BUDDHA TRIO masterminded the GRAND DEPORTATION campaign nationwide against aboriginal indigenous communities of bengalies now known as refugees! They ENACTED Citizenship amendment Act first in an environment of PARLIAMENTARY All Party Consensus. Whatever support, sympathy and alliance I had with Indian communist movements and ideologies since my childhood, I lost at once as soon as the Marxist led by Buddha got passed the Citizenship amendment act way back in 2003. Then , we witnessed nandigram and singur insurrections which were ultimately hijacked by either the Ruling Hegemony Brahaminical or by the resistance Hegemony led by the Brahmins like Mamata,Mahashweta and Medha! We had to be ejected out of land, livelihood and life. WE live in an INFINITE GAZA or PALESTINE with inherent injustice and inequality for thousnads years since the fall of Mohanjodoro and Harappa!

Now they have enacted two TERROR acts in a country where Pota has always been used for Minority persecution. Where, since 1958, entire NorthEAST and Kashmir breathe under AFPSA! Where MUSLIMS are branded as pakistani, anti national and Jihadi TERRORISTS! Where all the tribals are branded as MAOIST and LALGARH Insurrection or people`s movement anywhere in Tribal Belt are Branded as naxalite or Maoist and crushed with all Military or Para Military Measures. Where all Bengali Speaking People, nonbrahmins residing out of Bengal, boanfied Indian Citizens or Partion Victim resettled Rehabiliated bengalies are BRANDED as Bangladeshi. but in WEST Bengal ruled by the Marxist Gestapo, our people have not any Human Right, any civil right or FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION! Media remains against us. We suffer from Continuous Haterd campaign as the Muslims and Dalits suffer in the rest of the country. About 74 lacs of Bengali refugee names have been deleted in Voters List and our people are Bonded Slaves of the Marxist regime!

Apart from the persecution in other states, our people are being persecuted everywhere despite their Citizenship as indian is established! marichjhanpi genocide is the part of History now. But the Refugees may not afford to oppose the Marxist Regime! SC and ST, OBC and minorities have to suffer if they chose to demand without GREEN SIGNAL from Loacal Party Committee!

In howrah and in Sealdah, our peoeple are being tortured by RPF and RLY officials even after showing the VALID Ticket and Identity documents. Open LOOT goes on as the CRIMINALS are Party cadres!

The situation had never been better than GAZA or Palestine for our People!

UN Security Council calls for Gaza cease-fire

AP via Yahoo! News - 2 hours, 9 minutes ago




The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Thursday night calling for an immediate and durable cease-fire between Hamas militants and Israeli forces in Gaza. The U.S. abstained from the 14-0 vote.


...The resolution "condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians," calls for "unimpeded" humanitarian access to Gaza, and welcomes the initiative to open "humanitarian corridors." It urges international efforts to provide humanitarian aid and rebuild Gaza's economy...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/08/AR2009010800325_pf.html

Unconventional Weapons against The People of Gaza!How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe! You have not to TRAVEL far away in Middle east. The WAR ZONE is right into your heart. just FEEL your BLEEDING heart and Mind! Gaza is a limited Killing Field. But Genocide Culture sustained in India has tarnsformed every corner of the the Conuntry a Model Killingfield. The Killer Hegemony has no MERCY. Indian indigenous aboriginal people are suffreing from Unprecedented Humanitarian Catastrophe!The United Nations has accused Israel of evacuating scores of Palestinians into a house in the suburbs of Gaza City, only to shell the property 24 hours later, killing some 30 people. In India, the massacred People has no SCOPE of any HEARING anywhere. The VETO is used by the HEGEMONY itself not by any United states of America!

Meanwhile,Left lost Nandigram assembly to TMC! Trinamool Congress has won the Nandigram assembly bye-election with its candidate Firoza Bibi defeating CPI nominee Paramananda Bharati in a multi-cornered contest. Bibi, who received 39,551 votes, dedicated her win to those killed in nearly a year-long fight allegedly with CPI(M) cadres over the land issue. Bibi is an activist of Trinamool Congress-led Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee that forced the state government to shelve its plan to acquire farmland for industrial purpose last year. The byelection was necessitated after CPI MLA Mohammad Illyas resigned following a sting operation exposing his corrupt deals. More than 80 per cent electorate exercised their franchise in the bypoll held on January 5. But the RULING MARXIST Gestapo is not defeated by any means!Nandigram, around 150 km from here, saw prolonged blood letting over land acquisition for a proposed chemical hub project in 2007. Indiscriminate land Acquistion continues despite Nandigram and singur Insurrections!

The fact that Trinamool Congress has established itself in Nandigram was iterated yet again on Friday when the party’s candidate Firoza Bibi wiped off CPI’s Paramananda Bharati in a contest that had also seen the BJP in action.

The elderly Firoza Bibi, mother of a victim of the Left Front’s excesses in 2007, got 39,551 votes. She is a member of the Trinamool Congress-led Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee that had forced the state government to stop its plans to take over land for industrial purposes last year.

The bloody battle that saw the villagers being actually gunned down by police, allegedly with the support of the ruling Left Front, had led to what can be called a flashpoint in the history of Bengal politics and the very fabric of the electoral scene had changed. In fact, the change had become obvious during the last Panchayat elections.

The by-election, held on January 5, was needed after CPI MLA Mohammad Illyas had resigned, after acts of corruption done by him came to light.

On Friday, the counting of votes started under tight security and finally the results came out as expected. Nearly 80 per cent of the electorate had come out to vote on Monday, and it was obvious that people were in the mood to establish the change.

In the Panchayat polls in May, the Trinamool had won all the Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti seats and it was evident that the opposition had united against the Left Front and the March 14, 2007, firing at Nandigram had made the voters lean towards the Trinamool. Since then, the Left Front had constantly alleged that the Trinamool had terrorised their supporters in Nandigram and many had been forced to flea their homes. But Monday’s poll showed that the people of Nandigram were with Mamata Banerjee for now.

On Friday, after the results were announced, Mamata said that this was a victory for democracy and a victory for the will to change. She added that this showed that terror could not rule and it was a people’s victory. She also announced that on Saturday and Sunday her party will observe Nandigram Divas all over West Bengal, but the real victory celebration will take place on March 14, when the victory will be dedicated to those who were killed on that day in 2007.

Asim suggests more legal outlets to curb hooch menace
KOLKATA: Excise and finance minister Asim Dasgupta has a novel way of addressing the hooch menace that is on the rise in the state. He has
suggested the setting up of legal outlets, whether of country liquor or India made foreign liquor (IMFL) to meet the increasing demand for alcohol.

Of course, the timing has raised questions about whether this is just a ploy to increase the number of shops.

Dasgupta, however, fished out figures to indicate that the number of country liquor and IMFL shops per lakh population is only four in the state. This is far less than that of many other states. For Karnataka has 41, Maharashtra 14, Andhra Pradesh 10, Tamil Nadu 11 in West Bengal there are only 4 shops per lakh population.

The minister met excise officials and home secretary Ardhendu Sen to chalk out ways in which to fight the illegal liquor menace by "meeting the demand in the state so that it does not lead to illegal trade".

He said the price of country liquor had to be increased by 8 per cent since the price of the main ingredient molasses has increased 80 times. "If the price of molasses comes down, the price of liquor would also come down," Dasgupta assured.

Ahead of the polls, the state government has even planned to provide alternative employment to the poor involved in the illegal trade. While he did not want to disclose the demand and supply figures, he simply said West Bengal would deal with the demand by allowing what is permissible.

The government has chalked out a two-pronged strategy to win over the people against the menace of illicit liquor trade.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata_/Asim_suggests_more_legal_outlets_to_curb_hooch_menace/articleshow/3954303.cms

On the one hand, it has decided to nab the culprits and destroy the illegal liquor centres and on the other, provide job opportunities to help the poor quit the trade.

Bangla Hindus are persecuted: RSS
23 Nov 2001, 2322 hrs IST, TNN

nagpur: the rss on friday made it clear that it does not approve the "soft attitude" of the indian government towards bangladesh for the alleged atrocities being perpetrated on hindus in that country. more than 30,000 hindus were forced to flee from there and cross over india, rss spokesman m.g. vaidya said.the rss has also taken a strong view of the west bengal government's policy against providing any relief to the refugees and treating them like infiltrators, mr vaidya said. "there should be a distinction between infiltrators and refugees," said. the hindus were forced to leave that country as they were being persecuted following the begum khaleda zia-led bangladesh national party winning elections. the hindus were allegedly targeted for supporting the bnp's rival party awami league in the elections. they are seeking shelter in india as they have nowhere else to go. but instead of helping them the west bengal government is trying to push them back and not even allowing the ngos to provide any humanitarian aid to the refugees. one girl had died in police firing on the refugees who had also been subjected to lathicharge, mr vaidya alleged.


Jharkhand CM Shibu Shibu says he will contest again
9 Jan 2009, 2303 hrs IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: In a sudden turn of events, Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren on Friday appeared to have dropped the idea of resigning from the post
following his defeat in Tamar assembly bypoll and said he would contest again.

"I will definitely contest the elections," Soren said after meeting Congress party's in charge of Jharkhand Ajay Maken here. The JMM chief was replying to a query on whether he would contest from Jamtara seat vacated for him by a rebel BJP MLA.

Jamtara MLA Vishnu Bhaiyya resigned earlier in the day to pave the way for Soren to contest from there. "I have sent my resignation to the Speaker and it has been accepted," the MLA said.

He said that he had vacated his seat for Soren and has invited him to contest from Jamtara.

"I decided to resign in favour of Guruji as I believe that Tamar is not the end of politics in Jharkhand. The defeat can in no way cast aspersions on the stature of Guruji, who is a leader of entire Jharkhand," Vishnu said.

The development came as a shot in the arm for Soren, who till early morning had indicated that he may step down.

"I have lost the elections... since I have been defeated in people's court, I am certainly a defeated man. Moreover, I have lost as Chief Minister, hence I will have to think on the issue of continuing as CM," the 65 year-old JMM chief told reporters.

Even as Soren met Maken and apprised him of the situation in the state in the wake of his defeat, Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said "the verdict of the people should be honoured."

"It is (defeat) a setback for the (UPA) government," he said.

Satyam aims to continue business, protect staff
8 Jan 2009, 1816 hrs IST, PTI
HYDERABAD: Beleaguered Satyam on Thursday embarked on a major damage control exercise to pull itself from the brink, pushed to by founder Ramalinga A press conference after the resignation of Ramalinga Raju, at Satyam campus in Hyderabad. (TOI Photo)

More Pictures
Raju, saying arranging liquidity, assuaging fears of 53,000 employees and continuing the existing business would be its top priority. ( Watch )

Not ruling out initiating action against Raju or the auditors PwC for its complicity in fudging of accounts, the acting CEO Ram Mynampati said every possible action would be considered against Raju, who quit as chairman after making startling revelations on corporate India's biggest fraud entailing about Rs 7,800 crore.

Aimed at preventing panic exodus of highly talented workforce and top management, the interim CEO said that the December'08 salaries has been paid and the management would be focusing on arranging funds, which at the present juncture was a cause for concern.

"We do not rule out recommending action against Ramalinga. Many actions are possible for Satyam's future," he said, adding that the company was not aware of his whereabouts amid reports that the disgraced founder of the country's fourth largest IT company had left for the US yesterday before the news of his resignation and disclosure became public.

On the auditor PriceWaterhouseCoopers who have been authenticating year after year the company's accounts, which Raju admitted to fudging by inflating profits and creating fictitious assets, Mynampati said: "We have not verified what process PwC took to certify financial statement. We are not yet in touch with PwC."

In the middle of the press conference held by the interim management at Satyam's headquarters here, CFO Valdamani Srinivas, who is the financial custodian of the company, sent in his resignation but Mynampati said the Board would decide on it on January 10 and anyway he has to serve notice period.

Interim CEO Ram Mynampati declared that the liquidity and cash-in-hand were not encouraging, although the company managed to pay salaries for December month.

"Some outstanding payment to vendors is yet to be made... we are verifying the liquidity and balance sheet... we have to raise liquidity in near term and are confident of raising it," said Mynampati, while adding that his appointment was legal.

On the financial irregularities disclosed by former Satyam Chairman Ramalinga Raju, Mynampati said the team was not yet in a position to answer these issues, as it is still ascertaining disclosures made by Ramalinga Raju and trying to correct financial irregularities.

He said the regulatory bodies have already started their inspection and a team of market regulator SEBI was in Satyam talking to associates.




He said the company has started to actively reach out to customers globally and has been heartened to receive strong expressions of confidence and Readers react support from them.

"Our top 100 clients account for 80 per cent of Satyam's revenues," he said, adding that the top priority would be to clear pending contracts and continue with the business as usual.

The company founded by Ramalinga Raju in 1987 received its worst shock yesterday when he disclosed what has now become the country's biggest corporate fraud involving about Rs 7,800 crore.

Satyam is in the process of finding new investment banker as soon as possible to pursue strategic options left with the company and also expand the Board, which is now left with only three members including Mynampati.

Shareholders would be consulted on whatever options there are before the company, he said to a question on whether the company would explore merging or being taken over.

CPI (M) demands protection of 53,000 employees of Satyam Computers
January 9th, 2009 - 1:39 pm ICT by ANI
Kochi, Jan 9 (ANI): CPI (M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury has demanded the Government’’s intervention to protect the 53,000 employees of the Satyam Computers after the company’’s chairman Ramalinga Raju resigned admitting false profits shown over the years.
“We want the Government to take measures to ensure that the 53,000 odd people working in Satyam, that they are not made to suffer as a result of this and in the light of the global meltdown, in the light of exposure of various scams by various global financial insinuations that are now coming out,” Yechury said at the three-day central committee meeting of the CPI (M) on Thursday.
“The Government will have to take immediately measures to put in proper regulatory mechanisms. This will have to be taken up, but first thing is to proceed with prosecution of CEO of Satyam,” added Yechury.
Further, Yechury mentioned about the offensive unleashed by Israel on Palestine in the Gaza region.
On this score, he demanded that the Indian Government should suspend all military ties with Israel if it really wants to show its concern for the Palestinians.
“India today has a very large military trade with Israel and India has launched and is going to launch more of Isreali spy satellites. Unless this programme is suspended immediately, the Prime Minister’’s assurance has no meaning. So we want the Prime Minister to follow up his own statement by immediately suspending all military contacts with Israel. Unless this is done, India will be continued to be seen as an ally of Israel,” said Yechury.
Reportedly, about 530 Palestinians have been killed among whom at least a quarter happen to be civilians, since Israel launched its offensive on December 27 to curtail Hamas rocket attacks on its territory from Gaza. (ANI)

Bangladeshi infiltration: Threat to costal security

Orissa has one of the largest coastlines, stretching over 480 kms along the Bay of Bengal. But, as regards the security measures taken to plug any illegal and terror related influx from outside, there are still many question marks..
CJ: Rajesh Kumar Behera , 7 days ago Views:184 Comments:1
ORISSA HAS one of the largest coastlines, stretching over 480 kms along the Bay of Bengal. But, as regards the security measures taken to plug any illegal and terror related influx from outside, there are still many question marks.

Right from the ITR Chandipur, near Balasore, Wheeler Island close to the Dhamra port (which comprise of several defence-related establishments of utmost importance) and other strategic points like Paradeep Port, etc are not adequately secure. On Several occasions, in the past, fishing vessels from Myamar, Thailand and most frequently from Bangladesh had been seized by the forest authorities or the coast guard.

The coast passing along Kendrapara springs several surprises, as the illegal influx of Bangladeshis continue. Today, areas like Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur coast have become mini-Bangladesh as the migrant population keeps ballooning every year.

The influx of Bangladeshi immigrants in the coastal patches along the Mahanadi deltaic region, which possesses the country’s second largest mangrove cover, has started since the seventies and it has posed a serious problem to the local administrations in Kendrapara. Under the shadows of the political parties, these intruders have apparently bolstered their own fate in the alien land at the cost of the locals and destroying the region’s fragile eco-system. They have also turned these areas into a safe haven for illegal activities.

The Bangladeshi infiltrators manage to intrude in the coastal Kendrapara district, every year, during in the month of May - September in order to settle in the dollar spinning prawn business near the coasts. Some also come to their relatives’ houses, who have settled in the coastal districts, to help their relatives in prawn farming. During the month of September, some of the Bangladeshi immigrants manage to return to their country after harvesting prawns and some illegally manage to settle permanently in the coastal pockets of Rajnagar and Mahakalpada blocks.

According to official sources, the Bangladeshi immigrants have infiltrated into the coastal Kendrapara district in two phases. The influx of Bangladeshi nationals had started in the year 1947 during the partition of Bangladesh and it became more pronounced after the Bangladeshi Liberation War in 1971 and has been rapidly rising since then. The maximum chunk of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and the illegal settlement has gone unabated since the eighties, as these people had taken the sea route to reach in these areas and settle here.

In the year 1956, nearly 1250 Bangla immigrants were rehabilitated as registered refugees and resettled in the coastal pockets of Rajnagar assembly constituency. During the 1980s, the number of immigrants was only 20,000 but now their number is more than 60,000, said a septuagenarian registered refugee, Nepali Sarkar, of Tubi.

Most of the Bangla immigrants have been coming from the district of Jashore, Khulna, Barishal and Faridpur districts of Bangladesh.

The Bangladeshi intruded into Kendrapara and they took the sea-route to land here. All the illegal immigrants concealed their nationality and posed themselves as owing their origin from Midnapur in West Bengal. With the immigrants bearing the striking similarity in physical appearance and mother tongue with that of the locals, who have migrated from West Bengal, had settled in the coastal pockets of Rajnagar, Mahakalpada and Pattamundai block, official sources stated.

The villages, where illegal settlement of Bangladeshi were residing, are identified as Dangamal, Talachua, Rangani, Gupti, Bhitarkanika, Gahirmatha, Benakanda, Ramanagar, Jamboo, Kharnashi, Batighar., Pitapat, Kulapatia, Barajabahakuda, Ahirajpur, Vecta, amarabati, manjulapalli, Daityaprasad, Bahakud, Rajapatana, Birabhanjapur, Bhanjaprasad,Tiakyatnagar, Krushnanagar, Rajendranagar, Uddyana, kanakanagar, Kalatunga and Guladia. In these villages more than 70 per cent Bangla infiltrators are now unauthorised residents.

While areas like Chandballi, Rajnagar, Jamboo, Ramnagar, Kharinasi, Batighar, Mahakalpada, have turned into hub for intruders from across the border, political coupled with administrative support is said to have given boost to unsavory trend of infiltration. Locals alleged that with the infiltrators getting the political patronage, their unlawful stay was legalised over the years with sizeable number of them availing ration cards, voter’s identity card and BPL cards and allegedly enjoyed government benefits.

These Bangla infiltrators, destroying the mangrove cover in the coastal belt, have turned it either to some home-stead land or paddy fields as a result the illegal immigrants seemingly invited ecological disaster to the area. Massive prawn farming operation by them also brought about environmental degradation in several ways, alleged locals.

About 60 clusters of hamlets inhabit in the fringes of Bhitarkanika National Park and several villages have developed illegally within the sanctuary limits in the last half a decade by decimating mangroves. These areas are yet to be notifies as reserve forest area, adding to the complexities of protecting the unique mangrove forest, said forest officials of Rajnagar Mangrove forest.

The Bangladeshi infiltrators have also created the Bhitarkanika National park area into a safe haven for their criminal activities.

The local police had arrested some Bangladeshi immigrants in the year 2004 from Mahakalpada area on the alleged charge of circulating counterfeit currency notes of Rs 100 and Rs 500 denomination in Jamboo, Kharanashi, Talachua , Dangamal and Rangani areas. The local police had seized counterfeit currency notes and some printing machinery, etc, which were used for the making of counterfeit currency notes.

In 2001, the Rajnagar police had also unearthed six illegal radio stations, which operated in the sea-side hamlets of Rajnagar block .Local police had arrested one Bakuram Dey, on the alleged charge of operating the fake radio stations.

According to police, the radio stations, which were unearthed by the police, were established at Balabhadrapur, Baradia, Kuitkulla, Dushigaon, Odasahi and Dhamara village by the Bangladeshi immigrants. Through this radio station, the Bangla infiltrators had allegedly sent some valuable information about defence to their country.

Several cases of temple burglary and idol thefts in Rajnagar block were committed by these Bangladeshi infiltrators. Police also arrested about dozen Bangla immigrants on the alleged charge of selling the idols in the adjoining areas of Rajnagar, informed sources in the police department.

Every now and then, these Bangla infiltrators commit wildlife crimes. In last five years, the local police and forest officials arrested more than 40 Bangla immigrants on the alleged charges of poaching more than 45 endangered migratory bird species, 15 deer, six boars and a dozen of Olive Ridley sea turtles. The police have also seized antlers, hide and raw venison from their possession during the raids, informed police sources.

These Bangla immigrants are also involved in luring the gullible girls to West Bengal and outside the district with ulterior motives and later engaged them in the flesh trade or immoral trafficking. Some even lured the girls by giving false assurance of attractive marriage and job offers. The poverty stricken parents easily fall prey to such offers and the girls ended up in the flesh trade, informed police sources.

More than 2,000 cases have been registered in the local courts regarding the problems of Bangladeshi immigrants and about 60-70 percent case’s decision are going against the state government

Even after three years of the state government serving Quit India notice under the Foreigners’ Act, 1948, to at least 1551 Bangladeshi immigrants, who had come to the seaside villages after December 16, 1971, and have been residing in the coastal pockets of Mahakalpada block, but the deportation drive of 1551 Bangladeshi immigrants is yet to start.

The state government is sitting silent on the deportation drive of the Bangladeshi immigrants allegedly by encouraging them to reside illegally in the coastal patches and spreading crimes in the areas. Locals alleged that more than 3000 Bangla immigrants have allegedly infiltrated to the coastal pockets and they were residing in Kajalapatia, Batighar, Bahakuda,Kharanashi and Pitapata after the district administration served Quit India notice, on January 15, 2005.

The apparent intention is that sizeable section from this particular community may turn into the vote-bank in the coming general polls .The state government does not want to deport Bangladeshi immigrants, as the Bangladeshis immigrants have proved to be a major vote bank for the local political leaders, who tasted victory in the past. With much political interests at stake, the state government has either ignored the issue or launched steps detrimental to infiltrators’ interest haphazardly, alleged Ranjan Sahu, a local resident.

It seems the state government might have dragged its feet over the deportation subject without taking up the matter further, for which the final report for deportation of the Bangla immigrants is lying idle on the state government’s table, according to official sources.

To corroborate the point, the locals reiterate that a mere two thousand odd members of the community have been identified till date even though not less than 40,000 illegal immigrants are firmly ensconced in these parts. The Bhitarkanika National Park is the country’s only wildlife sanctuary where such immense population pressure is rising day by day. As senior state government officials from this part informed the dictate from the higher-ups in the past years had slowed down the move on this sensitive issue.

A drive to detect these foreign nationals was undertaken, in 2003, for the last time and since then the joint exercise by police and revenue staff of the district administration is yet to happen, the locals alleged.
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The Coast Guard personals have recently enhanced vigil in the sea route of Bay of Bengal keeping in view on the basis of threat perception from the sea route by Bangladeshi intruders after the terrorists, who sneaked into Mumbai via sea route and attacked Taj, Oberai hotels and Nariman house in Mumbai.

Two ships ‘Suchitra Krupalini’ and ‘Rama Devi’ reached Paradeep Port on first week of December from West Bengal’s Haladia Port to monitor the coastline of the state to mitigate possible threat of cross-border activities and intrusion of Bangladeshis into the coastal pockets of Mahakalapada and Rajnagar block.

But the role of Coast Guard is limited and the state government has yet not been able to establish essentially required 18 Costal police stations, including Paradeep and Jamboo, despite the repeated advice from the Centre.

Experts strongly feel that the said migrants are the baseline informers for their native perpetrators of unrest. The situation is indeed pathetic and if any outside elements design some plot, they could enjoy a walk-over, like breeze. Is anyone listening?
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=154848

AGP terms Bangla merchant of terror
Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, Jan 6 - Bangladesh has emerged today as a merchant of terror, said Leader of the Opposition Chandra Mohan Patowary while taking part in the debate on the Governor's address on the floor of the State Assembly here today. Patowary said, referring to a write-up by Wilson John (www.dailypioneer.com), that the neighbouring country, which was once regarded as a major source of economic refugees, had now become a hotbed of terrorism.

Referring to a set of research papers presented at an international conference on terrorism, democracy and economic development in Bangladesh held on September 30, 2006 in New York, he said that terrorist incidents or attacks were highest in South Asia, Bangladesh being a big contributor, followed by the Middle East and Persian Gulf region since 9/11.

Empirically, the terrorist incidents increased by 800 per cent in South Asia and 560 per cent in the Middle East since 9/11. While terror incidents increased by 7,800 per cent in Bangladesh and 800 per cent in South Asia, in sharp contrast, such incidents in Western Europe declined by five per cent and increased only by 4.9 per cent in North America during the same period, Patowary said quoting a paper presented by Dr Abdul Momen, a professor of economics and management at the Framingham State College, Massachusetts.

Dr Abdul Momen supplied a list of the major terrorist groups operating in the neighbouring country. For the purpose he took the help of the list prepared by the US intelligence agencies such as CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, Defense Intelligence, National Counter-terrorism (NATC), US State Department etc.

These agencies listed the terrorist groups of Bangladesh as: Islamic Shashantantra Andolon, Hikmarul Zihad, Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), Harkat ul-I-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B), Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) People's Liberation Army (PLA), Jamat-ul-Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity(PCJSS), United National Liberation Front (UNLF) Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC), Borok National Council of Tripura (BNCT), National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) and al-Qaedea-Bangladesh, said the Leader of the Opposition, quoting Dr Abdul Momen.

Patowary quoted the above papers to suggest the gravity of the terrorism-related situation in Assam and its neighbourhood. The major problem facing the State today is insurgency. Without resolving this problem, the State cannot implement its developmental projects effectively.

He resented the fact that though the world community condemned the October 30 terror attacks on Assam, Governor of the State did not condemn the incidents in his address.

The Union Home Minister also failed to condemn those incidents in his speech made on the floor of the Parliament. Only the pressure mounted by a section of the State's MPs made the Union Home minister mention those incidents.

But in the case of Mumbai, Central Government missed no time in mounting pressure on the Pakistani Government. The Mumbai attack was considered an attack on India. Even the attackers were identified within seven days. But in the case of Assam blasts, the State Government is maintaining a confusing stance. It is also asserting that a third force was involved on the October 30 incidents, even as the Union Home Minister described the incidents as deeds of the Jehadis, Patowary said.

Referring to the US Army Training and Doctrine Command TRADOC G2, Patowary said that the present trends in terrorism are intensified ideological extremism, enhanced operational capabilities, flexible organisational networks, expanded transitional associations, emergent independent actors, increased weapon system lethality, intended mass casualties- that is, mayhem, targeted economic disruption and exploited mass media marketing. The terrorists today have weapons like the gas-operated assault weapon AK-74 in their possession.

Today the cumulative number of persons killed in the incidents of terror attack in the country is two times higher than the total number of those killed in the four wars the country had waged against Pakistan and China during the past 60 years, said the Leader of the Opposition.

But to face this situation, the State Police is not equipped properly. It's tips to the people against terror attacks are also ludicrous. The Police Departments of Maharashtra, Goa and Himachal Pradesh are far ahead of the Assam Police in this matter, he said displaying the relevant documents and reading out the relevant paragraphs from those documents.

He alleged that the State Government was not sincere in resolving the issue of insurgency or there was no comprehensible reason as to why the Government failed to push ahead the peace process initiated for the purpose.

The failure of the Home Department today has come to such a pass that fratricidal clashes are taking place within the Bodo community. Most of the victims of last year's Udalguri and Darrang ethnic riots are unwilling to leave the camps they are taking shelter in these days, said Patowary.
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jan0709/at04

The ‘fall’ of Dhaka and after



In the national interest

Monday, December 22, 2008
Kamal Siddiqi

The writer is editor reporting, The News

It is 37 years since Pakistan broke up into two, but one can only wonder whether any lessons were learnt from that disaster. The only way we mark this day in our history is to ignore the event on an official level but TV channels have show us the footage of what happened in those days. We have people debating the merits and demerits of the breakup and the factors that led to it. The programmes and the discussions are a sad reminder of how our leaders pushed our country to the breakup, which till the last moment could have been averted.

As Pakistanis, we are brought up on a diet of how the Bengalis were traitors and how they joined hands with India to defeat the Pakistani armed forces. We are also told that, if anyone, the blame should go to Zulfikar Bhutto with his “Udhar Tum Idhar Hum” phrase. But all this just puts out of context the factors that led to the breakup. It was not as simple as we make it out to be.

First of all, our attitudes have not changed. We still refer to the event as the “Fall of Dhaka,” when in fact possibly that was how we wanted to see it. To heal wounds we will have to do more and understand to be more politically correct. We have to reach out. Kudos to Mian Nawaz Sharif who made a half-hearted apology when he was prime minister. But more has to be done. President Zardari can follow up.

First of all, let us set our minds straight. The Bengalis were not traitors and it was not Bhutto who can be blamed for the debacle. Let us start by understanding the factors that led to the breakup and possibly then make sure that we don’t repeat the same mistakes. It is time to take stock of the situation. But it in a calm and mature manner.

We also need to go back into time and identify those who made things go wrong. Why have been shielding those who were responsible for the debacle. Civilian or military, without making a spectacle of the affair, it is time to hold a national debate in which we look into who was responsible and who acted how. Who stood, who ran. Who helped, who hindered. Who tried to save, who tried to ruin. This is in our own interest. We owe it to history.

We also need to own up to our responsibilities. We cannot let hundreds of thousands of Biharis live in sub-human conditions in parts of Bangladesh and we cannot let them be called “stranded Pakistanis.” We should look for a solution. It is in Pakistan’s national interest that we live up to our commitments.

These people still pay the Pakistani national anthem at a time when it’s no longer fashionable to do so in cinemas here at home. These people mark the national days with more fervour than is seen on any street in Pakistan. And they live with a dream that one day they will be able to come to Pakistan. If we deny them this, can we not make their lives a bit better? In this day and age when we spend billions on fanciful projects, why can’t we do something for those who fought for Pakistan. It is another debate as to what they did was right or wrong.

Is there nothing that we can do for these people? The Bangladeshis are understandably unhappy with these refugees. But to give credit to the Bangladeshi government, the stranded Pakistanis are still there—albeit in cramped quarters. They have not been thrown out or done away with. They are tolerated and even given more rights. We need to take this further without being seen to be interfering in the internal affairs of Bangladesh.

As a nation, there are many things we need to sort out. India has been becoming increasingly menacing in its deeds, if not words. The “technical” incursion was anything but. At the same time, the response of our leadership was very mature. All praise to the manner in which we took this. It is not a time for warmongering.

The Indian government is under extreme pressure to teach Pakistan some sort of lesson. Merely banning the Jamaat-ud-Daawa and arresting its leaders is not good enough, say the Indians. While this may have some merit, the question is whether we know what is good for us. We should be looking at our own interests and seeing whether we should be supporting one group or another.

Credit also goes to Dr Manmohan Singh and his cabinet for trying to let this crisis pass. But the Indians want to take out Muridke. Where do we stand in all this? We need to have a proper debate on how to move forward. We are being pulled from many sides. On the one hand the is the War on Terror and the situation in the tribal areas. We are also victims of increasing terror. We have been unable to put a lid on these attacks.

There is the threat from India. This comes as India goes to the polls. We need to understand that the Indian government is under pressure and the ruling party is facing possible defeat in the polls, on the grounds that it is weak on terrorism. India has the solid backing of the West over its demands from Pakistan. Amongst the many worries that haunt both us and the Indians is, what would happen if there is yet another terror attack on Indian soil?

Then there is pressure from the US. We have had a string of visits from American leaders ranging from Condoleezza Rice to John Kerry. If people were upset at the prospect of us sending our ISI chief to India, why did we keep silent when the American Senator made comments about the role of the ISI? Is it because we look at who is making the comments and not what is being said?

Our foreign policy is in tatters. Even our best friends do not want to help us. Possibly it is time to look inwards and see where we are going wrong. And we need to give our friends and neighbours the confidence that we are a progressing nation and not a failed state which some paint us as.

We need to focus more on our economy. There are calls to jumpstart the system, instead of throttling it with higher interest rates. The good news is that with the drop in fuel prices, we are not seeing the kind of inflation that was witnessed earlier this year. We are expected to record a smaller deficit in terms of trade. But all this will go to waste if we do not seize the moment. We have to come up with an economic revival plan that makes the business community a stakeholder. The PPP government relies too much on bureaucrats. This needs to stop. Let us start thinking outside the box for our economy to move ahead.

Let us have more faith in ourselves. We are a nation of industrious people who have done well all over the world. We have resources and the will to do better. If anything what is pulling us back is bad governance and the lack of direction. We do not need another dictator or strongman to set us on the right path. While one hopes that our democratic dispensation is able to overcome its initial problems and look towards giving the nation hope and courage. We need to be proud and not apologetic. But first let us clean up the mess in our house.

Email: kamal.siddiqi@thenews.com.pk

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=153135
Playing Football for Swadhin Bangla*

artwork by amina
(Oral account of Amalesh Sen, 23 years old in 1971, footballer from Bogra)

Late in March (1971), I took a train to the border town of Darsana. Other members of our family had left Bogra earlier. I knew a boy called Raju from Bogra whose father was a Customs officer at Darsana...I had to change trains a couple of times before I finally reached Calcutta. I took (a taxi) and arrived at my brother's rented house in Behala. Everyone was surprised and relieved…

Then one day I read an announcement in a local newspaper asking Bangladeshi footballers among the exiles to report to the 'Bangladeshi Mission' at the given address. The place used to be the Pakistani Deputy High Commissioner's Chancery at Park Circus.

When I went there in the morning I met 'Pratap Da', Kaikobad, Turjo (nickname of Kazi Salahuddin, currently president of the Bangladesh Football Federation), and some others. They told me that the Karnain Estate near Dharmatala Street had been allocated for us. “We are going to organize matches, make people aware of the situation in Bangladesh, collect funds, etc.” The following day I moved to Karnain Estate. About a dozen players had already arrived. Later, many others turned up...about thirty were finally selected. The rest left for different freedom fighter camps.

We began practicing. Clubs like East Bengal and Mohun Bagan let us use their grounds. We also rented a house and about twenty-five to thirty of us shared a single room, our bedding laid out on the carpet. It was a tight fit but we managed somehow. Later, we got beds, but even that we had to share. We had not brought along any equipment, like boots, etc., with us from Bangladesh, so we had to buy them. We also hired a couple of ball boys to assist us.

(The) Indian government organized our food and board. We also received some clothes, and Rs 21.00 per week as pocket money. During breaks in practice some of us would go out see movies or whatever. I would visit my folks at my brother's place.

The invitations to play began arriving--until we had problems accepting them all. After we had a fair amount of practice we played our first match. Our opponents were the Krishnagar XI at their home ground.The Bangladesh flag was flying high that day. No country had yet recognized us, not even India, but it was a matter of great pride that we could put up our national standard on foreign soil (with the result that the local Deputy Commissioner was suspended!). Many had tears in their eyes. We sang patriotic songs and the national anthem. Everyone in the stands stood up to pay their respects--it was spontaneous. After the match some of our players ran around the field with the Bangladeshi flag. The match ended in a draw; one goal each. It was a border district, and many refugees from the nearby camps had come over. We were also told that scores had also slipped across the border to watch the match! I don't know if they went back to Bangladesh. By then the Pakistanis were on a killing spree.

Mohun Bagan played a major role in our support. We practiced with their senior players, including veterans. They organized our next match with Gostopal XI. Gostopal was a legendary player of a past era. Football star Chuni Goswami, who had retired from the game a few years earlier, played for Gostopal XI, and played well, even scoring a goal. Bolai, the star goalie of Mohun Bagan, also made their team. He had played for Mohammedan Sporting Club, Dhaka, before immigrating. He supported us a lot...

We also played at Benares. There were lots of Bengalis there and many came to see the match. We lost the game by one goal and lady, an Indian, started crying. Hindus who had come over to India after Partition were very enthusiastic for us. Bus and tram conductors refused to charge when they found out about us...

Salil Chowdhury, sports journalist, organized a match for us at Bombay. We missed our train so we took another one to Allahabad. We slept on the platform until the next one turned up. A number of celebrities and important people turned up at the stadium. The great Sachin Dev Burman, music maestro, was there. He was very old then. The Nawab of Pataudi played until half-time. His wife Sharmila Thakur also witnessed the game. The couple donated around Rs. 20,000 to our fund. Six players from the Indian national squad played against us and at one point we were down 1-2. But we leveled the score and finally won it, 3-2.

Almost everyone suffered from conjunctivitis and scabies. Bangladeshi doctors came to treat us.

We were invited to play at Burdwan. We reached a little after 12:00 noon and the game was at 5:00. We had lunch, then went to the Burdwan University. It was a grand building, probably a former zamindar's palace...We were given good receptions wherever we played. Although the arrangements were not always great there was no lacking in sympathy...We played at the Ram Krishna Mission ground at Narendrapur. We won by a few goals against the college XI. It was a good arrangement and the place was idyllic. On Eid day our Muslim players went to pray in a mosque in Dharamtala. I visited my family and other Muslim friends and celebrated just like we used to in Bogra. People who left behind their loved ones in Bangladesh became very emotional. We also organized an Eid feast.

After 16 December half of our people started for Bangladesh almost immediately, getting up on trucks or buses that were going to Bangladesh. I stayed back for a while at my brother's house.


Reprinted from Ishrat Ferdousi's The Year That Was
http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=67816
Two-nation theory
NIZAMI'S statement eulogising the "two-nation theory" shows that the party remains loyal to its dark past. He tries to justify the hypothesis on which Pakistan was created. He argued that if Pakistan had not been created, Bangladesh would never have been born.

Coming on Victory Day, such statements are an insult to our national ethos. It is apparent that Nizami has poor understanding of history and is engaged in hoodwinking the people. It was also clear that renaming of "Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh" to "Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami" was nothing more that a cosmetic "cut and paste" job, signifying no change in the ideological position of the party.

That people like Nizami can get away with dishing out defunct theories with virtual impunity shows how easily the history of the emergence of Bangladesh can be distorted.

What is the "two-nation theory?" It is based on the assumption that the Hindus and Muslims of the subcontinent needed separate states. The idea, initially postulated by Allama Iqbal in 1937, was taken up by the All India Muslim League led by M.A. Jinnah.

Muslim League adopted a resolution in 1940 calling for the establishment of "Pakistan," a separate homeland for the Muslims. Jinnah expanded the hypothesis in 1944 when he argued that Muslims of India constituted a separate nation based on "distinctive culture and civilisation, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of values and proportion, legal laws and moral code, customs and calendar, history and traditions ---- ."

The theory lumped together the people of South Asia into Hindus and Muslims, ignoring the vast cultural, ethnic and linguistic differences that existed within each religious community, and the fact that religion was only one of the many factors that contributed towards making a nation.

Pakistan and Israel are the only two countries that were created on the basis of religion. The fallacy of the two-nation theory is brought out eloquently by Irfan Husain, a Pakistani columnist, when he writes: "This theory sought to bind a Muslim in Dhaka with one in Dharampura, and a Hindu in Sukkur with one in Simla. The reality was very different. A Muslim Bengali had far more in common with a Hindu from Calcutta than a Punjabi Muslim, while a Pushtun from Durra is much closer culturally and ethnically to his cousin in Jalalabad in Afghanistan than he is to a Muslim in Chittagong. These very real differences were glossed over by the over-simplifications on which the two-nation theory is based." No wonder, Pakistan could not find an anchor for more than half a century, and is still in search of a national identity.

Many Pakistani politicians and academics think that the bloody birth of Bangladesh in 1971 signified the collapse of the two-nation theory. But people like Altaf Hussain of Muhajir Quomi Movement (MQM) believe that the two-nation theory died as early as in 1949, when Pakistan closed its boundaries for the Muslims left behind in India.

Karamatullah K. Ghori, a former Pakistani diplomat writes: "The core of this ideology was its emphasis on 'all the Indian Muslims' being one nation, without any distinction of provincial or state (the princely states of India) affiliation. However, the independent state of Pakistan itself scuttled this core principle when, early in 1949, it imposed restrictions on the immigration of Muslims from India, thus shutting its doors on those who were late in making up their mind about Pakistan."

Although a few million Muslims migrated to Pakistan, many decided to stay on in India; today India has almost as many Muslims as Pakistan. Even Jinnah saw the contradiction inherent in the theory. Thus, he stated: "You will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State."

Today, Pakistan is torn by many separatist movements. The Muhajirs (Refugees) from India are demanding the rights to be treated as a separate sub-nationality, thus the birth of MQM. There is an armed nationalist separatist movement in Baluchistan and an ongoing insurgency in FATA. Even within Punjab, there is a growing demand for the recognition of "Saraiki" as a separate language and cultural identity. Most menacingly, the Shia-Sunni conflict is splitting the Pakistani society asunder.

As Islam is portrayed as the sole source of national identity in Pakistan, the clerics become more powerful. While they remain unpopular with the masses, their partner-in-arms happens to be the military, another unpopular institution in Pakistan. The mullah-military nexus, aided by landed aristocracy and a manipulative bureaucracy, is a serious challenge to democracy and social progress in Pakistan.

It is interesting to note that Maulana Maududi, the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami, had opposed the creation of Pakistan and termed Jinnah a half-Muslim. Upon his migration to Pakistan, he started the campaign to establish a state based on Islamic Sharia. Jamaat-e-Islami, that opposed the creation of Pakistan, posed to be the defender of its ideology soon after its creation.

We can see a similarity with the scenario in Bangladesh today. Jamaat-e-Islami, that opposed the Bangladesh Liberation War on the plea of defending an Islamic state, is today posing to be the defender of Bangladesh's ideology. Such are the twists of manipulative politics.

The two-nation theory stands rejected by the Muslims of India, Bangladesh, and even many in Pakistan, but people of Nizami's hue appear to be more Pakistani than many Pakistanis.

That playing politics with religion ultimately brings ruination is proven by the sad spectacle in Pakistan -- a nation that had the highest number of suicide attacks in the world in 2008. We need to learn from others' mistakes for we may not live long to make those ourselves.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=68715

Air Cdre. (Retd) Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.

THUS SPAKE AMBEDKAR
Golden words : Gandhi's treachery against Dalits
This will show why I insist that there is no use of discussing the question until the actual proposals of the Mahatma are put forth.

I must, however, point out that I cannot accept the assurances of the Mahatma that he and his Congress will do the needful. I cannot leave so important a question as the protection of my people to conventions and understandings. The Mahatma is not an immortal person, and the Congress, assuming it is not a malevolent force, is not to have an abiding existence. There have been many Mahatmas in India whose sole object was to remove Untouchability and to elevate and absorb the Depressed Classes; but every one of them has failed in his mission. Mahatmas have come and Mahatmas have gone. But the Untouchables have remained as Untouchables.

I have enough experience of the pace of reform and the faith of Hindu reformers in the conflicts that have taken place at Mahad and Nasik, to say that no well-wisher of the Depressed Classes will ever consent to allow the uplift of the Depressed Classes to rest upon such treacherous shoulders. Reformers who in moments of crisis prefer to sacrifice their principles rather than hurt the feelings of their kindred, can be of no use to the Depressed Classes.

I am, therefore, bound to insist upon a Statutory Guarantee for the protection of my people. If Mr. Gandhi wishes to have the Communal Award altered, it is for him to put forth his proposals and to prove that they give a better guarantee than has been given to us under the Award.

I hope that the Mahatma will desist from carrying out the extreme step contemplated by him. We mean no harm to the Hindu society when we demand Separate Electorates. If we choose Separate Electorates we do so in order to avoid the total dependence on the sweet will of the caste Hindus in matters affecting our destiny. Like the Mahatma we also claim our right to err, and we expect him not to deprive us of that right. His determination to fast himself unto death is worthy of a far better cause. I could have understood the propriety of the Mahatma contemplating such extreme step for stopping riots between Hindus and Mohammedans or between the Depressed Classes and the Hindus or for any other national cause. It certainly cannot improve the lot of the Depressed Classes. Whether he knows it or not the Mahatma's act will result in nothing but terrorism by his followers against the Depressed Classes all over the country.

Coercion of this sort will not win the Depressed Classes to the Hindu fold if they are determined to go out. And if the Mahatma chooses to ask the Depressed Classes to make a choice between Hindu faith and possession of political power I am quite sure that the Depressed Classes will choose political power and save the Mahatma from self-immolation. If Mr. Gandhi coolly reflects on the consequences of his act I very much doubt whether he will find this victory worth having. It is still more important to note that the Mahatma is releasing reactionary and uncontrollable forces, and is fostering the spirit of hatred between the Hindu community and the Depressed Classes by resorting to this method and thereby widening the existing gulf between the two. When I opposed Mr. Gandhi at the RTC there was a hue and cry against me in the country and there was conspiracy in so-called nationalist press to represent me as a traitor to the nationalist cause, to suppress correspondence coming from my side and to boost the propaganda against my party by publishing exaggerated reports of meetings and conferences, many of which were never held. "Silver bullets" were freely used for creating divisions in the ranks of the Depressed Classes. There have been also a few clashes ending in violence.

If the Mahatma does not want all this to be repeated on a larger scale, let him for God's sake, reconsider his decision and avert the disastrous consequences. I believe the Mahatma does not want this. But if he does not desist, in spite of his wishes these consequences are sure to follow as night follows the day.

Before concluding this statement, I desire to assure the public that although I am entitled to say that I regard the matter as closed I am prepared to consider the proposals of the Mahatma. I however, trust the Mahatma will not drive me to the necessity of making a choice between his life and the rights of my people. For I can never consent to deliver my people bound hand and foot to the caste Hindus for generations to come.

**********************

Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings & Speeches, Vol. 17, Part - 1 (p.148- 150) 2003, Rs. 125. Publishers, Member-Secretary, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Source Material Publication Committee, Higher Education Dept., Maharashtra Govt., Order book from Manager, Govt. Central Book Depot, Near Charni Road Railway Station, Netaji Subhash Road, Bombay - 400 004.

_________________________________________________________________________________

HINDU CONSPIRACY AGAINST GRANT OF CITIZENSHIP
20 million dalits from Bangladesh threaten to embrace Islam
Dr. JYOTIRMAY MANDAL, P-241, PRIYANKA NAGAR, RAJHARSH COLONY, KOLAR ROAD, BHOPAL - 462 042
As a result of partition and "independence" of India, Pakistan is created and given to the Muslims as their homeland. Consequently, Hindus, who were original inhabitants of the territory demarcated and allotted to Pakistan, had to leave their ancestral home and take shelter in the new-born "independent" India. The process of migration of Hindus from West Pakistan to India was rapid at the very beginning and almost all the Hindus from W. Pakistan came to India before the constitution of India came into force. However, the "Hindus" of East Pakistan were reluctant at the initial stage of "independence" to leave their ancestral homeland and very few had come to India before the constitution was made. But they gradually changed their mind and started migrating to India believing their Hindu brethren in India. The migration of "Hindus" from East Pakistan continued for long in many phases. Both the "Hindus" and Muslims fought together to liberate East Bengal from the Punjabi-dominated Pakistan and finally with the aid of Indian troops East Bengal was liberated and Bangladesh came into existence. But the problems of "Hindus" were not solved. Of those who migrated from East Bengal (now Bangladesh), 90% are Untouchables and that is why they have not yet been granted Indian citizenship. They are over 20 millions. They had to leave their homeland thinking they are "Hindu". Had they embraced Islam, they could have lived peacefully in Bangladesh and as a governing class. Believing that they are Hindu they came to Hindustan and have become objects of Hindu tyranny. The Hindu rulers of India declared them as illegal migrants and not permitted to attain Indian citizenship. For the Bengali Untouchables it was a jump from frying pan into fire. I have said this in DV many times but Hindu the stone- heart does not melt.

The Hindu brothers of India are so hostile to our people that a Hindu organisation of Assam had challenged the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act 1983, in the Supreme Court. In 2003, the BJP Govt. brought a Bill to amend the Citizenship Act to deprive the Bengali migrants of East Bengal (now Bangladesh), who are Untouchables, the Indian citizenship. L.K. Advani initiated the Bill. Bengali Hindu leader Pranab Mukherjee supported it. This is how the Hindu leaders of India treated us as enemies.

The Supreme Court in its judgment on IMDT Act has poured petrol on the burning fire. The verdict on the is clearly anti-Dalit. The court has not deeply thought of the impact of its judgment on the mankind as a whole.

Over 20 millions of Bengali-speaking "Hindus" of Bengal origin have been made destitute, homeless gypsy. What offence these people have committed to mankind has never been explained by any of the authorities for which such a drastic action against them has been directed to be taken. The court makes over 20 million persons destitute for the sake of Hindu religion. Hindu religion has turned 20 million people to be destitutes and foreigners in India. If the govt. implements amended Citizenship Act and Supreme Court's direction to detect illegal migrants, these people of Bengal origin, who lost their land for the sake of political gains to a micro-minority of Hindu and Muslim communities, will lose their very natural rights as human beings. Hence if a community or class of people, who have already lost their ancestral homeland due to religious clash and partition of country as political solution are not granted citizenship of the country they took shelter in, to save their lives and religion, they will become outcast of the civilized humanity. They may turn to anarchy as a result of the thoughtless, arrogant and despotic enactment of parliament and merciless judgment of the Supreme Court. If the govt. sticks to the policy of depriving these millions of people, majority of whom are Dalits, from citizenship of India, they may revolt against it and endanger to Hindu religion itself. They will hold Hindu religion and Hindu rulers responsible for their distress. They may even renounce Hinduism and embrace Islam to gain support to establish their right.

DV May 1, 2005 p.22: "Conspiracy against Bengali Dalits: 2-crores facing genocide?".

*************

IMDT Act to be amended

New Delhi: The Centre will not bring in a new law in the place of the scrapped Illegal Migrant (Determination by Tribunals Act, 1983) ahead of the Assembly elections in Assam. The term of the Assembly expires in May. Instead, the Govt. of India will amend the Foreigners Act to ensure a fair hearing to a person before declaring him or her foreigner. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, here on Feb.10, 2006. (Hindu, Feb.11, 2006).

_________________________________________________________________________________

Slow death of N.E. people: victims of hinduisation
A D.V. MEMBER FROM GUWAHATI (ADDRESS WITHHELD)
In North-East India, the Bodos were hinduised (enslaved) in the 18th century and now many of them have forgotten their own surname. Their actual surnames have been replaced by the word Brahma. By the last part of the 17th century the Ahoms were hinduised. Although they ruled Assam for 600 years, today they are reduced to shudras and OBCs. The Dimasas, a branch of the Bodos, were hinduised in the 18th century by the Bengali Brahmins and now most of them identify themselves as Barmans, and they lost their kingdom. They have forgotten their own surnames.

The Kokboroks of Tripura were hinduised by the Bengali Brahmins in the 17th century. Their surnames were replaced by the word Debbarman. The name of their kingdom Tuipa was also changed to Tripura and occupied by the Bengalis. Kokboroks are now only 27 % in their own state.

The Meeteis of Manipur were hinduised in the 17th century by the Bengali Brahmins. Their history was twisted. They were made to believe themselves to be Aryans and made to discard their own surnames and called themselves "Singh", not realizing that however strong a lion may be it is an animal. Srimanta Sankardev also converted many Karbis and other Mongolian tribes people into Hindus.

They were made to discard their own names and surnames. They were made to identify themselves as Koch and Saranias. They have forgotten their own language, culture, history and tradition but this process of submersion has been termed as assimilation.

*******

Hinduisation means, in fact, enslavement of a people. Brahminical people have been systematically doing it for centuries. The single largest victims of this enslavement drive are the Untouchables (Dalits) comprising 20% of the Indian population. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was the first person to check this trend by giving them a separate identity. The NE people must learn from Dalits and the Dalit Voice will tell them how to fight the Hindu terrorists — EDITOR.

_________________________________________________________________________________

RSS bid to swallow Budhism
PRATAP TAMBAY
Dalits are still struggling to understand the exact significance of the attempts of RSS to appropriate the Ambedkarite plank. It is wrong to consider that the "intuitive emotional distrust" of Ambedkarite masses will protect Dalits from such attempts. Let me try to explain my understanding of their strategy.

1. While evolving their "Hindutva plank" to make it appealing to Dalits, Hindutva has had to concede some ground to Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit movement. I refer to the fact that Meera Nanda and Dattopant Thengdi admit that Dr. Ambedkar represents an unparalleled intellectual and philosophical challenge to Hindu culture, ignoring which is not an option at all.

2. That our Dalit movement has not yet managed to pose the above challenge adequately in practice by correctly following the prescribed medicines of the learned Doctor Ambedkar is a tragedy.

Currently Dalits get defined by their non-Hindu stances and not by the positive content of their own internal culture and values. Only by rigorous practice of their "cleaned-up" religions, will the right values emerge in the social life of Dalits. And only when these social values emerge, will Dalits become a self-sufficient culture, independent of and disinterested in Hinduism. When such a role model Budhist (and other rational anti-caste religions) society emerges in reality, comfortable with its past, present and future and actually starts impacting popular Indian culture through books, movies, TV-serials in a manner, which is fully independent of the "Hindu", that will be the real day when every Hindu will start wanting to be a Baudh.

RSS fears: That will be the master-stroke of Dr. Ambedkar. This is the fear of people like Dattopant. These fears might not come true, if Dalits focus on Hindu-hatred alone and do not practice the excellent religion bequeathed to us by Dr. Ambedkar. There is nothing that Dr. Ambedkar's legacy cannot give Dalits, if only they imbibe his legacy in thought, speech and action. It will bring social, economic and political power.

3. The risk of RSS succeeding in stealing the Ambedkarite plank is high and the implications can be drastic for the movement.

See the following article for example: http://www.hvk.org/articles/0500/53.html

There are a few other books about initiatives of SSM and the Dattopant Thengdi team of people. Some material is available online.

Corrupt Dalit leaders: RSS is systematically destroying the credibility of the corrupt leaders among Dalits by exposing them. I predict that this trend will only accelerate.

And if Dalits do not start practising Ambedkarite Budhism, I predict that it will not take long to see the fellows like Bhikuji Idate create a strong Ambedkarite Budhist contingent inside the RSS with some fancy theory to fit hitch them to the Hindutva bandwagon.

Once this happens, the radical independence of the Dalit “Budhist” plank from the Hindutva bandwagon will be lost. If even a few senior Dalit Budhist leaders get misguided into the RSS flock due to lack of social understanding, the dangers are massive. If this happens, the main reason why Dr. Ambedkar chose Budhism for Dalits (radical independence) will be lost. The Hindutva folks will get to say lot of things which will become increasingly difficult for Dalits to question and debate. Once this happens, if they set up a proper working religious structure for Ambedkarite Budhism, which the Baudha Jan Panchayat and the Baudha Mahasabha have failed to popularise in general, that can pose a significant challenge and misguide generations of Ambedkarites. That is the strategy of Hindutva.

They might steal thus our Ambedkarite legacy from right under our noses, because most Dalits are not rigorously practising it. The most important defence to stop them is to evolve our religious structure quickly and practice religion rigorously. (prataptambay@hotmail.com)\

*********

Nagpur meet

Brother Pratap Tambay has raised a very important question which we have raised many times in DV. Though we are Budhists, we are pained to note that the Brahminical people have fooled our Budhists and virtually hijacked it using our innocent but unthinking people. Dalit Budhists are getting fooled in the name of vegetarianism, meditation (Vipassana), non-violence. Maha Bodhi Society led by Brahmins is actively involved in sabotaging Babasaheb's Budhism. We request Budhist leaders like Pratap Tambay to call a conference of selected Ambedkarite Budhists at Nagpur to save Budhism from Brahminism — though we feel it is too late — EDITOR.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Who said Periyar was anti-Dalit?
PERIYAR'S VIEWS ON UNTOUCHABILITY
Three scholars rebut criticism that Periyar was anti-Dalit subjecting all his speeches, statements,

life and mission to scientific test.

A big industry is being promoted by Brahminical people in Tamil Nadu to malign, if not

destroy, the Periyar movement by identifying

Backward Castes as enemies of Dalits while hiding the true role of Brahmins in engineering

the BC-Dalit clashes.

Authors: Dr. W.B. Vasanta Kandaswamy of the IIT, Madras, Florentin Samaran Dache, Prof. of Mathematics at New Mexico Univesity, USA, &

Dr. K. Kandaswamy of

Madras University, Tamil Dept.

2005 pp.400 40US$

HEXIS, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Books may be ordered from : Vasanta Kandaswamy

D-3-1, First Link Road, IIT, Madras - 600 036.

Photocopy available with DV office: Rs. 350

website: http://mat.iitm.ac.in/~wbv
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/march2006/articles.htm

UK enterprise expert to advise West Bengal

London (PTI): A leading enterprise expert from the Queen's Universty Belfast (QUB) will travel to India this week to advise business leaders, politicians and academics in Kolkata how to create a more entrepreneurial society with the support of higher education.

Drawing on research carried out at QUB, David Gibson, a Senior Teaching Fellow in Entrepreneurship in the University's Management School, will highlight how the West Bengal region can use the potential of students and universities to boost its economy, a university release said.

Gibson, an author of a book on enterprise competencies called The EFactor which is now used in over 100 universities, including Cambridge, where it is a core text, discuss about how a university can support local economic development.

He will also cover topics including what skills students need to develop their own or their employers' businesses and how entrepreneurship can be incorporated into the wider curriculum.

"All students can develop an entrepreneurial mindset and Queen's is one of the few universities in the world to teach entrepreneurship to students of all disciplines," Gibson said before leaving for India.

The students need an opportunity to develop the skills of creativity and the capacity to turn an idea into reality to help their region and their local communities, he added.

For example, nursing students are taught to be more enterprising to solve problems within the National Health Service and contribute to community health care, while those studying history are shown how to create publication and media proposals based on their research.

West Bengal rations petrol, diesel

BS Reporter / Kolkata January 9, 2009, 13:12 IST



West Bengal today decided to start a rationing system for petrol and diesel in order to avoid a crisis situation in the near future as majority of pumps in the state went dry.

Private cars running on petrol will get a maximum of 10 litres from any pump, while the cap for diesel was fixed at 20 litres.

"We are trying to maintain a steady supply to pumps, and also ensure that linkage between supply point to emergency services like fire brigade, public transports was intact," said Ashok Mohan Chakrabarty, chief secretary, government of West Bengal.

Around 30 per cent pumps operated by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation were functioning in West Bengal.

The indefinite strike by oil PSU executives across the country entered the third day today.

Congress retains Sujapur seat in West Bengal
Malda (PTI): Congress candidate Mausam Benazir Nur won the Sujapur Assembly byelection in Malda district defeating her nearest rival Sheikh Ketabuddin of the CPI(M) by 21,205 votes.

Nur, daughter of Rubi Nur whose death necessitated the bypoll, bagged 74,935 votes against Ketabuddin's 53,730 votes.

Other candidates in fray forfeited their security deposits.

The Congress has been winning the seat since independence except for two occasions when independents were victorious

CPI-M to conduct 'serious review' of poll setbacks in W Bengal



Kochi , Jan 9 The CPI(M) today said it would conduct a"serious review"to find out the reasons for the Left Front&aposs defeat in Nandigram and Surjapur in the just concluded assembly bypolls in West Bengal.

"We are going for a serious review to find out the reasons for the loss by such a margin," West Bengal CPI(M) secretary Biman Basu, who is here in connection with the Central committee meeting, told reporters.

While the CPI(M) lost to Trinamool Congress at the Left bastion of Nandigram, the Surjapur seat was won by Congress.


Meet new CPM, champ of industrialisation!

8 Jan 2009, 0527 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Singur and Nandigram may have made the Marxists rogues in the eyes of some of their fellow travellers, but the CPM is all set to project
itself as the champion of industrialisation. The party, which faced the worst attack over land acquisition in West Bengal, has turned the debate on its head by painting the opposition as the villain in the path of development.

With wounds from the loss of Tata’s small car project still fresh, an angry CPM will make industrialisation of West Bengal a key issue in the elections . Senior party leaders have already set the tone for an aggressive campaign linking ‘opposition resistance to industry’ to denial of jobs for the youth in the state, where the rate of unemployment is higher than the national average.

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, who was in Kolkata last week, accused the opposition of hatching a “well planned conspiracy to destabilise the state government” and said his party was prepared to face the challenge. An assertive Mr Karat, who was speaking at a function on the occasion of the 43rd foundation day of ‘Ganashakti’ , the Bengali mouthpiece of the CPM, said there was no question of going back on industrialisation.

This will be the theme of the campaign in the state, where the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government had to take several steps back on mega projects following Nandigram and Singur . The panchayat polls this year pushed back the chief minister’s reform plans, casting a shadow on the party’s political prospects in rural West Bengal. The CPM top leaders Karat and Sitaram Yechury attended last week’s crucial state secretariat meeting in Kolkata to outline the party’s Lok Sabha strategy.

The result of the Nandigram by poll will be another litmus test for the Left Front. The CPM has been on tenterhooks after it lost two zilla parishads — East Midnapore and South 24 Parganas — to the Trinamool Congress last year in the aftermath of the Nandigram and Singur land acquisition controversies . An internal assessment of CPM, which has identified around a dozen sitting seats in the state as vulnerable , has deepened worries of CPM.

Panchayat election results reflected not only rural disillusionment over the Left’s policies but also friction within the Left Front. However, the CPM has the backing of its allies to sing the industrialisation tune in the runup to the elections.

The story in Kerala is different. The party, which is holding its central committee meeting in the state after a gap of four decades, is expected to map out its political platform for the Lok Sabha elections. Kerala too is among states with the highest unemployment level, and CPM will have to find a way to tailor its election campaign to address the issue.

With chief minister V S Achuthanandan under attack from within the party for blocking proposals for investment, the party is planning to focus on revival of public sector undertakings and refraining from giving “undue” concessions to corporates
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/Meet_new_champ_of_industrialisation_/articleshow/3949843.cms

West Bengal government ready to give Satyam more land
9 Jan 2009, 1728 hrs IST, IANS


West Bengal government ready to give Satyam more land


9 Jan 2009, 1728 hrs IST, IANS


Print EMail Discuss Share Save Comment Text:



KOLKATA: West Bengal government will give 25 acres land to scam-tainted IT company Satyam Computers in the state if they want it, Information
Technology (IT) Minister Debesh Das said here on Friday.

"If they want it, we will definitely give it. Why should we pull out? Let us see what happens to the company," Das told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of a new mobile handset by Kolkata-based Gee Pee Infotech Pvt Ltd.

Satyam already has 2.77 acres in the city and has asked for another 25 acres from the state government to set up an IT special economic zone (SEZ). The company is yet to utilise the land given earlier.

"Since the land (2.77 acre) has already been allotted to Satyam, they now own it. There is no question of taking back that land," Das said.

Satyam founder-chairman Ramalinga Raju had asked for the land when he came to Kolkata a few months back to attend the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) meet, the minister added.

The government has identified the land in Rajarhat, in the north eastern fringes of the city.



LEFT rejects the NANDIGRAM Mandate!

West Bengal's ruling Left Front chairman Biman Bose on Tuesday said the by-election in troubled Nandigram constituency was marred by opposition Trinamool Congress threats to voters! Naturally the LEFT rejects the NANDIGRAM Mandate!

"Apparently everything was very peaceful in Nandigram during the assembly by-poll Monday. But the Trinamool Congress activists threatened innocent villagers of dire consequence and asked them not to cast their vote in the by-poll," Bose told a press conference here.

Bose said: "Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) polling agents could not reach five polling booths - 141, 146, 139, 151 and 170 - as they were threatened by Trinamool Congress activists. Later with the help of the police and district administration they could enter those polling stations."

According to state Election Commission officials, more than 81 percent of votes were cast in East Midnapore's Nandigram assembly by-election.

A proposed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Madhya Pradesh's Singrauli area is bringing back memories of the violence between farmers and the government in West Bengal's Nandigram.

Farmers have forcibly shut down a power plant and are demanding compensation for their land before they allow work on the SEZ to go ahead.Farmers say the 1200 mega watt Essar Thermal Power Plant in Madhya Pradesh will rob them of their homes and livelihood.Now, thousands of protesting farmers from four villages have brought work at the Essar plant to a standstill.

When the administration called in the police, the farmers retaliated. Soon it became a free-for-all when the police lathicharged the protesters and fired in the air. Several policemen and villagers were injured.

"I don't know what the farmers have done there. The police became violent and people have been injured. Some cops might have gotten injured in the tussle but overall the villagers haven't done anything," said a protesting villager.

The villagers were promised land for land and job for one member of the family displaced. But the villagers allege that work at the plant started even before the families were compensated. Singrauli is now on the boil.

A day before counting of votes is scheduled to begin for the Nandigram by-election, the CPM claimed that around 1,000 of its supporters have been ousted from villages near Sonachura during the past 72 hours by Trinamool Congress workers.According to CPM Nandigram Zonal Committee Secretary Ashok Bera, Trinamool supporters have been hurling bombs at Sonachura and adjoining villages since Monday morning — the day of the election. “It has been a largescale attack, making it impossible for civilians to stay there. At least 40 families have had to abandon their homes in Sonachura and Kalicharanpur,” Bera said.

CPM wants Govt to take over Satyam

HYDERABAD: The CPM wanted the Government to consider taking over the Satyam Computers Services Ltd in the wake of the global financial crisis.


In a press release here on Wednesday, CPM State secretary BV Raghavulu said that the series of events associated with Satyam and the developments shaping up in the aftermath of the resignation of its chairman were creating a scary environment.

The party demanded legal action against those responsible for the fraud and strict measures to avoid such irregularities. The party demanded protection of Satyam employees and sought the intervention of SEBI.

The Lok Satta Party president Jayaprakash Narayan demanded a thorough probe by all regulatory agencies into the monumental accounting fraud in Satyam and stringent punishment of all the guilty.

In a release, he pointed out that the colossal failure of the internationally reputed auditing firm PwC in the Satyam case reminded one of the role of Arthur Andersen in the Enron case and undermined people’s faith in corporate governance.

BPCL, Oil India workers call off strike!


BPCL, Oil India workers call off strike!In some relief to the people hit by the oil sector strike, state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp on Friday said it would resume fuel supplies at all locations starting Friday evening, as more than 70 per cent of the striking employees returned to work. "Over 70 per cent of the people have resumed work in marketing. By this evening, we will be able to resume fuel supply at all locations.... To make up for the backlog we would work on Saturday and Sunday too," BPCL Director (Marketing) S Radhakrishnan said in Delhi. BPCL accounts for 25 per cent of the petro goods market in the country, while HPCL accounts for 27 per cent and IOC the rest. HPCL has been functioning normally throughout.

Govt disbands Satyam Board
New Delhi The government on Friday disbanded the current board of troubled IT company Satyam and would nominate 10 directors to the board.
"The current Board ceases to exist and there would not be any meeting tomorrow," Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta said.

"The Centre is considering appointment of suitable persons as directors of Satyam following interim permission by the Company Law Board," he said.

The new Board would meet in the next seven days. The current Board was left with only three members from the original nine.

Gupta said that the new Board would decide on the new management for Satyam Computer and there was no decision to take over the management as yet.

He also said that the IT firm's auditors PwC, if found guilty, would be banned in the country.

"The government has decided to approach the Company Law Board to ensure that the operations of the company continue uninterrupted," Gupta said, adding that the current board has failed in what it was supposed to do.

All the current board members were being removed and there would not be any meeting on Saturday, he added.

The government had approached the CLB, which has allowed it to restrain the current board members from functioning as the directors at the company.

On Wednesday, Sataym's founder and Chairman Ramalinga Raju resigned from the company after disclosing massive financial irregularities at the company, which emerged as the biggest corporate fraud in the country. On the same day, its CEO and MD Rama Raju also resigned, while the company's CFO also sent in his resignation on Thursday.

Two killed, four injured in Guwahati blast




Guwahati Terror returned to Guwahati as two persons were killed and four critically injured when suspected ULFA militants triggered a blast near the Northeast Frontier Railways headquarters at Maligaon on Friday.
Police said the bomb was planted in a bicycle and left behind between two cars parked near the crowded railway shuttle gate area near a post office and exploded at 6.30 pm. As the bomb went off between two cars, the impact was less, police said.

Among the injured were the two car owners, who were rushed to Northeast Frontier Railway Hospital.

On New Year's day, five persons were killed and at least 50 were injured in three serial blasts in the city.

The government take control of the company board!

Leading accounting firm KPMG on Friday said the existing management of beleaguered Satyam Computer Services should go and the government take control of the company board to save the image of India Inc.

"This current management needs to go because it's not possible that they are not involved in this (financial fraud). They should go, bring in an interim management quickly in place," KPMG Chief Operating Officer Richard Rekhy said in New Delhi.

When asked whether he is suggesting that the government should supersede the board and take control of it, he said, "They need to. I mean this is the time because the image of the corporate India is at stake, the image of India at stake.

"Now the promoter is gone. The department of Company Affairs should come together and put an interim management," he said. He, however, said that it is a "stray incident" and does not apply to all corporates.



Carter: Fighting in Gaza could renew peace talks

AP via Yahoo! News - Jan 08 5:17 PM

Former President Jimmy Carter said Thursday that Israel's assault on Gaza has been destructive and disproportionate to rocket attacks on Israel but could result in new efforts for a long-term Middle East peace plan.




Gaza children found with mothers' corpses

International Herald Tribune - Jan 08 6:01 PM

The Red Cross said it had discovered "shocking" scenes when its representatives gained access to battered parts of Gaza.



U.N. suspends Gaza deliveries after Israelis kill driver

McClatchy Newspapers via Yahoo! News - Jan 08 10:31 AM

JERUSALEM — The United Nations suspended relief deliveries to the beleaguered Gaza Strip on Thursday after Israeli soldiers opened fire on a truck that was attempting to deliver aid, killing one U.N.-contracted truck driver and seriously wounding another.



Barack Obama administration 'prepared to talk to Hamas'
Guardian Unlimited - 1 hour, 57 minutes ago
The incoming Obama administration is prepared to abandon President Bush's doctrine of isolating Hama s by establishing a channel to the Islamist organisation, sources close to the transition team say. The move to open contacts with Hamas - which could be initiated through the US intelligence services - would represent a definitive break with the Bush presidency's ostracising of the group. ...


Nationwide rallies staged in solidarity with Israel
Edmonton Sun - 1 hour, 59 minutes ago
TORONTO — Prominent Canadians called on Ottawa to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in the face of Israel's "war crimes" as others rallied nationwide Thursday in support of Israelis who have been "paralyzed" for years by Hamas missile strikes.

4 arrested at Boston Gaza protest
UPI - Jan 08 2:45 PM
BOSTON, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Protesters against Israeli actions in Gaza were arrested Thursday when they refused to leave the lobby of the Boston building where the consulate is located.

Two days after the startling disclosure of a massive corporate fraud at Satyam Computer, the Hyderabad police are likely to swing into action on Friday and may arrest Ramalinga Raju, who has resigned from the position of chairman of the company.The action by the law enforcement authorities here is likely to be suo motu as it has not received any formal complaint so far, the police sources said.
The authorities have been witnessing significant pressure over the issue and this might be the reason for their expected move towards arresting Raju, the sources said. On Wednesday, Ramalinga Raju admitted major financial irregularities to the tune of about Rs 7,800 crore at the company before resigning. Raju also said that he was ready to face the consequences and was subjecting himself to the law of the land. The same day, the company's CEO and MD Rama Raju -- brother of Ramalinga Raju -- also resigned, while the next day its Chief Financial Officer quit the company.

With the company and its 53,000 employees left with an uncertain future!

Satyam Computer on Friday announced holding back employees salaries for two months, even as rumours were rife that the company might lay off close to 15,000 workers in the coming days. The offices of Satyam Computer were rife on Friday with the talks about forthcoming pink-slips at the company, which needs over Rs 500 crore every month just to meet its staff costs and has admitted that its cash position was not encouraging.

Employees said they have received an e-mail saying the company would hold back salaries for two months and asked staffers to bear with it. However, the company spokesperson declined knowledge of any such e-mail and the issue would be looked into. Even as the company spokesperson denied any layoff plans as of now, the rumours put the estimated job cuts at close to 15,000 by the end of this month. Employees at the company said on condition of anonymity that they were hearing about imminent lay-off of people who were sitting on the bench or were close to completing their assigned projects. Besides, those being retained would be asked to take substantial salary cuts, they added. At the same time, global HT consultancy firm Hay Group's Practice Leader Mark Thompson said that employees would suffer the most from the fraud. Global HR consultancy firm HayGroup's Practice Leader Mark Thompson said: "Based on past experience ... as with Enron, Worldcom and the Mirror Group, it is likely to be the employees who will suffer most from the fraud perpetrated by their bosses."

IIn early 2000, the collapse of energy trader Enron had left thousands of people out of work, another 8,500 had lost their jobs at accounting firm Arthur Andersen; and Tyco eliminated 15,000 employees in February.

'Satyam fraud: Not a one man show'
KPMG, which audits the accounts of IT majors like Infosys and Wipro, doubted the veracity of the confessional letter written by B Ramalinga Raju, the founder-chairman of Satyam Computer, saying the financial bungling cannot be done only by the head of the Hyderabad-based firm.
"It defies logic, one is not sure whether there is much more to it than is written in the letter and whether the letter contains all the facts," KPMG Chief Operating Officer Richard Rekhy said here on the sidelines of a CII function.

It is too simplistic at the moment to believe that the kind of thing that has happened in the company is done by Raju alone, he said.

"It requires a whole battery of people to advance those accounting entries and credit those because you have to involve other people as well like bankers to get those certificates," he said.

When asked whether Raju might have siphoned off funds and he is now admitting to lesser crime, he said it is quite possible but it could be known only after investigation of group companies.

Rekhy said investigation of Satyam companies should be done in such a way it should not hamper the business of IT major. He emphasised the need of an oversight agency for auditors.

Meanwhile,The UN Security Council on Friday overwhelmingly voted for an "immediate and durable" ceasefire in Gaza calling for a full Israeli withdrawal, after three days of intensive and acrimonious discussions between the Arab nations and western powers. Though it was not clear whether Israel would heed the Council's call, the resolution would increase pressure to stop military action for which it has faced widespread condemnation. The 15-member Council welcomed Egyptian and other efforts under way to end the current crisis, which began on December 27 with Israeli air strikes launched with the stated aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks into southern Israel.

A negative vote by the US, one of the Council's permanent members with veto powers, would have killed the measure.

In washington, on the other hand,the incoming Obama administration should stay away from any ‘high-visibility’ focus on the Kashmir issue as it would likely evoke Indian resistance and risk fuelling Pakistani expectations of a settlement favouring Islamabad, a Congressional report has warned. The report, prepared by the Congressional Research Service for American lawmakers, said the fallout from the Mumbai terror attacks, being perceived as India's 9/11, could further complicate America's South Asia policy. The 19-page report titled 'Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai, India and Implications for US Interests', prepared mid-December for the US lawmakers -- the 111th Congress in particular, was released on Wednesday and a copy was obtained by PTI.In seeking to revamp US South Asia policy, President-elect Barack Obama and his advisors may face a key central question: Are conflictual relations between the region's two largest states primarily an India-Pakistan problem or are they mainly a Pakistan problem alone, it said. Any high-visibility US government focus on the Kashmir issue ‘would risk fuelling Pakistani expectations of a future settlement favouring Pakistan, thus in turn providing a motive for Islamabad to sustain pressure by ramping up support for Kashmiri separatists,’ it said.

Orissa reluctant in allotting additional land to Satyam
9 Jan 2009, 2205 hrs IST, PTI

BHUBANESWAR: Worried over the imbroglio in Satyam Computer Services, the Orissa government has said it would think 'several times' before allotting
additional land to it for setting up its second campus, official sources said.

"We are watching the devevelopment in Satyam. It may not be possible on our part to consider giving additional land for the company's proposed extension," Orissa IT Minister S N Patro said on Friday.

According to Patro though the company had earned a name in the IT sector, the recent developments had created a 'mistrust' among the people. Therefore, the government has to be cautious when dealing with Satyam.

Satyam Computer Services was the second IT major after Infosys to set up its development centre in the state. The company had applied for additional land at Infocity-II, the proposed IT hub and had even offered to act as tenant anchor in it.

As many as 460 people were working in Satyam's development centre here who are facing an uncertain future. Had it expanded, nearly 1,000 people would have found employment.

"I do not know what will happen to my future. People in IT sector may suspect employees of Satyam before giving them jobs. Working with Satyam is no more a pride," said a software engineer.

MMTC aborts SEZ JV with Maytas
9 Jan 2009, 1627 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: Government-owned MMTC has decided to drop its joint venture SEZ plan with the two Maytas firms promoted by B Ramalinga Raju's family
after surfacing of the multi-billion Satyam fraud.

Though the decision to pull out of the Rs 8,603-crore multi-services SEZ project in Tamil Nadu has been taken by the MMTC brass, the formal approval for aborting the plan is expected on January 16 from the MMTC board.

"We have sought the board's approval not to go ahead with the plan," MMTC Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Batra said.

The company had sought shareholders' approval through postal ballot for an equity investment of Rs 85.85 crore in the joint venture SEZ with Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra.

The minority shareholders were given time up to January 30 for giving their response.

However, the outcome of the ballot would make no difference to MMTC's decision to abandon the JV with the tainted Hyderabad firms since the government owns over 99 per cent of the trading major.

"It (ballot response) would make no difference since the majority equity is held by the government," Batra said.

The USD five-billion PSU had proposed to pick up to five per cent equity stake in the JV.

The 8,603-crore SEZ was to have an equity component of Rs 1,717 crore and debt of Rs 3,495 crore. The balance was to be financed through lease rentals and pre-sales.

PSBs may debut cheaper tax-free bonds to finance infrastructure

9 Jan 2009, 0147 hrs IST, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: The government may allow public sector banks (PSBs) to raise cheaper long-term funds through tax-free bonds to meet the requirement of
the infrastructure sector, a finance ministry official told ET.

Banks find it difficult to lend to the infrastructure sector as it requires long-term loans of periods ranging between 10 and 20 years. In contrast, most bank deposits are for 1-5 years.

Providing such long-term funding from shorter-tenure fixed deposits creates an asset-liability mismatch. “We are aware about the problems of the banking sector in providing long-term finance. The government is considering several ways to tackle the problem. Providing special borrowing window to the commercial banks can be an option,” said the official who did not wish to be identified.

Besides asset-liability mismatch, the cost of bank fixed deposits (FDs) is also high for infrastructure projects because of the various regulatory charges. Banks need to park 5% of their deposits with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as cash reserve requirement, which do not earn interest.

Till recently, the ratio was a high 9%. The banks have to park another 24% in government securities and other specified instruments, which give much lower return than the prevailing market rates. This forces banks to increase their loan rates. Banks have, therefore, also demanded that the long-term borrowing of commercial banks for the purpose of infrastructure financing should also be exempt from the reserve requirement of the central bank.

“The government should make a provision where bank borrowing for infrastructure financing should be exempt from the mandatory reserve requirement,” Punjab National Bank chief general manger Arun Kaul said.
At present, at least 22.5% of the total bank credit is towards the infrastructure sector as per recent data available with RBI. This means that 17% of bank total deposits are lent to the infrastructure sector as banks have to park 29% of their total deposits in specified instruments.

Banks raise funds largely through FDs for which the government gives certain tax exemptions. A fixed deposit of five years or more is eligible for Section 80C deduction.

The interest income from FDs is, however, taxable which makes them less attractive to investors vis-à-vis other options such as public provident fund (PPF), which is also eligible for Section 80C benefits. Interest earned on PPF is tax-free. So, even though the rate of interest on PPF is 8%, the effective yield becomes much higher after adjusting for tax benefit.

If the government extends a similar tax benefit to interest income on FDs, bankers argue that the instrument would become even more popular with investors. This would allow the banks to lower the interest on fixed deposits, which would, in turn, bring down their cost of long-term funds.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Infrastructure/PSBs_may_debut_cheaper_tax-free_bonds_to_finance_infrastructure/articleshow/3954178.cms

Gokaldas Exports put on hold plans to set up a SEZ near Bangalore

8 Jan 2009, 1940 hrs IST, Sanjeev Choudhary, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: The co-promoters of India's largest apparel exporter Gokaldas Exports have put on hold plans to set up a textile and apparel special
economic zone (SEZ) near Bangalore. Difficulty in acquiring land, lack of demand for space in SEZ and inadequate availability of funds due to global economic downturn have together slowed down roll out of SEZs in the country.

"Farmers have been asking for too much for their land. One could pay a 30-40% premium to the prevailing price, but farmers are seeking 5-10 time the current rate. It's impossible to pay that kind of price," Gokaldas MD Rajendra Hinduja told ET.

Mr Hinduja, who along with his brothers Dinesh Hinduja and Madanlal Hinduja own 20% stake in Gokaldas, had planned a 400-acre SEZ at Kanakapura outside Bangalore. The proposed SEZ was expected to house 50 factories and employ 50,000 workmen.

The group has so far acquired 40-50 acre only and may turn this land into an industrial park. "We can't build an SEZ with so much of difficulty in acquisition of land," said Mr Hinduja.

The government has made it mandatory for SEZ developers to obtain landowners' consent for acquisition of land. The law came into force over a year ago following farmers' protest against forcible acquisition of land by the government for use by private companies. Farmers alleged that they received very little for their land, while industrialists made huge profits from the economic activity on that land.

Hinduja brothers, who sold their 50.1% stake in Gokaldas Exports over a year ago for $116 million to private equity firm Blackstone, still manage the textile company. They had planned to deploy a part of the fund generated through the stake sale to Blackstone, into SEZ.

Many other SEZ projects have lost their sheen lately because of difficulty in land acquisition and an economic downturn that has subdued demand for industrial space and made funding difficult.

Alok Industries too has shelved its proposed textile SEZ in Dadra Nagar Haveli. Alok Industries' wholly-owned subsidiary Alok Infrastructure had completed acquisition of 183 acre for the SEZ, but later decided not to go ahead with it.

Textile and apparel sector has been facing a tough time as recession in industrially advanced economies have significantly reduced orders from Indian firms who export a large part of what they make. Several Indian apparel factories have been closed and lakhs of employees laid off in the past six months.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Infrastructure/Gokaldas_Exports_put_on_hold_plans_to_set_up_a_SEZ_near_Bangalore/articleshow/3953125.cms

3 SEZs in Goa can be denotified on developers' consent: Centre


7 Jan 2009, 2021 hrs IST, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Centre has reiterated that the three notified special economic zones (SEZs) in Goa could be denotified only if the state government
and the developers of these SEZs agree to it. Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat met commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath on Wednesday to ask for the Centre's support in denotifying the SEZs.

The Centre will look into the issue of denotifying the three SEZs, Mr Nath told reporters after the meeting.

Government officials said that it could happen only with the consent of the three developers, Cipla, Raheja and Peninsula.

The Goa government had announced in December 2007 its intention to remove all SEZs from the state. It, however, has not yet been able to get the three notified SEZs denotified as the Centre claims that till the developers agree to give up the SEZ land, the denotification cannot happen.

Commerce department officials said that the developers have to be suitably compensated by the state government for the losses they are suffering because of the sudden decision to discontinue with SEZs in Goa.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Infrastructure/3_SEZs_in_Goa_can_be_denotified_on_developers_consent_Centre/articleshow/3948402.cms

US executive bribed officials of MSEB to bag contract
WASHINGTON: A senior executive of a California-based valve company allegedly bribed Indian officials of Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB)
to bag lucrative contracts sometime between March 2003 and 2007, the US federal government has charged.

Mario Covino, an Italian national who resides in Irvine California, pleaded guilty yesterday before a US District Court judge in California to the charges of making corrupt payments to the tune of USD one million to officials of several State-owned entities worldwide including MSEB from India.

The company, whose name has not been released by the US Department of Justice, designed and manufactured service control valve for use in nuclear and gas and power generation industries worldwide.

According to the court documents, the corrupt payments were made to officials of foreign government entities between March 2003 and 2007 when Covino, was director, worldwide factory sales of the company.

The 44-year-old executive was responsible to oversee new construction projects and the replacement of existing valves made by other companies and installed at customer plants in more than 30 countries.


US economy loses 524,000 jobs in December

9 Jan 2009, 1943 hrs IST, REUTERS
WASHINGTON: Employers slashed payrolls by 524,000 in December, driving the unemployment rate to its highest level in almost 16 years, a government
report showed on Friday, suggesting that the year-long recession was deepening.

The Labor Department said the national unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent in December, the highest level since January 1993. The jobless rate was 6.8 percent in November.

Analysts polled by Reuters predicted a reduction of 550,000 jobs in December. November's job losses were revised to show a cut of 584,000, previously reported as a 533,000 loss, while October's losses were revised to 423,000 from a decline of 320,000. With those revisions, the total reduction in U.S. nonfarm payrolls in the four months through December was 1.9 million.

The largest number of job losses in December was in services-providing businesses, which shed 273,000 jobs.

Total job losses for 2008 was 2.6 million, the largest decline since a 2.750 million drop in 1945.

9 Jan 2009, 2245 hrs IST, PTI

Corporate fraud scandals can detonate anywhere

9 Jan 2009, 1332 hrs IST, REUTERS
SINGAPORE: When it comes to corporate fraud scandals, nowhere is safe. Revelations of a $1 billion fraud at IT firm Satyam Computer Services do not
point to a higher systemic risk of accounting scandals in India, or even in emerging markets versus the developed economies, governance experts say.

With a global financial crisis ruthlessly exposing wrongdoing that would be easier to hide in less stormy conditions, more major frauds are likely to come to light this year. To predict where, traditional analysis of governance offers little help.

Most attempts to measure and compare corporate governance and regulatory quality among countries show standards far higher in richer countries than the developing world.

The World Bank's annual World Governance Indicators rate U.S. regulatory quality at 90.8 out of 100. India is rated 46.1 -- below South Korea (78.6), Malaysia (67.0) and Thailand (56.3) but above China (45.6), Indonesia (43.7) and Vietnam (35.9).

Assessing the integrity of accounting practices, the Economist Intelligence Unit gives India a rating of 2 on a scale of 0 to 4, where 0 is the best. That puts it above China, the Philippines and Vietnam, rated 3, and Indonesia, rated 4.

The apparent message from these rankings is that a corporate scandal in India was hardly unexpected, but that other emerging Asian economies are even more vulnerable -- and investors in China and Indonesia have plenty of reasons to be worried.

STate capture and legal corruption

Yet this is only part of the story. If cooking the books is more common in countries with poor governance rankings, nobody told the world's corrupt executives. Scandals have been just as likely to erupt in supposed havens of corporate probity.

"Corporate governance in many emerging markets companies is actually better than in more developed markets. It has needed to be robust in order to attract capital," said Christoph Avenarius, an emerging markets specialist at Credit Suisse.

The Enron, WorldCom and now Madoff debacles have shown how vulnerable the United States has been to corporate fraud. Germany has had a series of scandals too. South Korea, supposedly with among the best corporate governance in Asia, has a long history of murky behaviour by some of its chaebol conglomerates.

To explain why conventional measures of governance and corruption fail to reflect the risk of corporate malfeasance, economists have been researching the concept of "state capture".

The approach recognises that while in developed countries outright bribery may be less prevalent, companies can sometimes benefit from "legal corruption" by achieving undue influence over regulation and policy-making. In such an environment, lax oversight and corporate scandals can be expected.

"Corruption ought to also encompass some acts that may be legal in a strict narrow sense, but where the rules of the game and the state laws, policies, regulations and institutions may have been shaped in part by undue influence of certain vested interests for their own private benefit," said Daniel Kaufmann, a governance expert at the Brookings institute.

In a 2004 research paper, Kaufmann used World Economic Forum data to rank countries in terms of the prevalence of such "legal corruption" as well as traditional corruption measures.

A very different picture emerges.

The United States rates very poorly in terms of prevalence of legal corruption -- about the same level as India and South Korea, and well below China, which scores relatively well.

Putting together estimates of legal and illegal corruption, Kaufmann derives a "corporate ethics index" which can go some way to predicting the countries more vulnerable to abuses. Of 104 countries ranked, India is 57th, Thailand 70th, Pakistan 88th, and in the bottom two places are Bangladesh and the Philippines.

Job losses stack up as recession deepens


9 Jan 2009, 1048 hrs IST, AGENCIES

WASHINGTON: Trying to survive a deepening recession, US employers are cutting their work forces to the bone, leaving more Americans unemployed and
with dim prospects of finding a new job any time soon.

The Labor Department releases a report on Friday expected to show the employment market turned worse in December, capping a year when job losses were logged every month.

With employers throttling back hiring, the unemployment rate is expected to jump from 6.7 per cent in November to 7 per cent in December, according to economists' forecasts. If they are right, that would mark the highest jobless rate in 15-1/2 years.

Nervous employers probably axed another 550,000 jobs last month, economists forecast. That would bring the net number of jobs lost for all of 2008 to 2.46 million. Some however, think the number of jobs cut last month will be higher _ 600,000 or 700,000.

If the conservative 2.4 million estimate of net payroll reductions for 2008 proves correct, it would mark the first annual job loss since the previous recession in 2001. It also would be the worst year of job losses since 1945, when employers slashed nearly 2.8 million jobs, though the number of jobs in the US has more than tripled since then.

Employers are chopping costs as they try to cope with dwindling appetite from customers in the United States as well as in other countries, which are struggling with their own economic problems.

The US recession, which just entered its second year, is already the longest in a quarter century, and is likely to stretch on well into this year. The fact that the country is battling a housing collapse, a lockup in lending and the worst financial crisis since the 1930s make the current downturn especially dangerous.

All the problems have forced consumers and companies alike to retrench, feeding into a vicious cycle that Washington policymakers are finding difficult to break.

President-elect Barack Obama says a bold approach is needed to bust through this cycle and revive economy.

"I don't believe it's too late to change course, but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible," he said on Thursday.

"If nothing is done, this recession could linger," Obama warned. "The unemployment rate could reach double digits."

Obama, who takes over Jan. 20, is promoting a massive package of tax cuts and government spending that could total $775 billion over two years. With add-ons by lawmakers, the package could swell to $850 billion, his advisers say.

Even with a new government stimulus, the unemployment rate is expected to keep rising this year. Some think it could hit 9 per cent or 10 per cent at the end of this year.

This week alone, drugstore operator Walgreen Co., managed care provider Cigna Corp., aluminum producer Alcoa Inc., data-storage company EMC Corp. and computer products maker Logitech International all announced major layoffs to cope with the recession.

Situation on Indian border fragile: Pakistani PM
Islamabad Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Friday the situation was "fragile" on the border with India, and regretted the suspension of peace talks following the militant attacks in Mumbai in November. Gilani's remarks came a day after the government confirmed that the lone surviving gunman from the attack that killed 179 people in India's financial capital was a Pakistani. The Prime Minister sacked his national security adviser on Thursday for disclosing this before consulting him.

"The situation on our eastern border has once again become very fragile," Gilani told a seminar in Islamabad.

While tensions have run high between the nuclear-armed neighbours, there has been no sign of a troop build-up by either side, and analysts say chances of India resorting to military action have receded. Pakistani officials have warned that if there was any risk of a confrontation with India it would switch forces from the western border with Afghanistan, where they are fighting pro-Taliban and al Qaeda militants. Any such action would undermine incoming US president Barack Obama's plan to almost double the number of US troops in Afghanistan as part of a surge strategy to quell the Taliban insurgency.

Dell Dailey, the State Department's counter terrorism coordinator, told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that the United States had not seen any move of Pakistanis forces from western border regions to the east "in any degree that's measurable". He said Pakistan moved troops to the eastern border in 2002, when it went to the brink of a fourth war with India.

"We do not want that to happen again and we'll do as much as we can to prevent it," Dailey said.



Fourteen of the 15 members voted in favour of the British sponsored resolution, while the US abstained despite agreeing with the goals. The resolution "stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza". It "calls for the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment" and "condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism". It also asked for efforts to "prevent illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition and to ensure the reopening of the crossing points (into Gaza)."

The resolution came on the 14th day of Israeli offensive in Gaza, as the international outcry reached a crescendo over the death of more than 750 Palestinians, including a large number of women and children, in the Tel Aviv's action.

Israeli operations have so far killed 758 Gazans of whom 257 are children and 56 women, and wounded 3,100 including 1,080 children and 452 women, according to Palestinian reports cited by the UN which its officials say are "credible."

Explaining America's abstention, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who had extended her stay for two days to participate in the negotiations, said the US wanted to see the outcome of the Egyptian initiative first, but allowed the resolution to go forward because it was a step in the right direction.

The resolution called for renewed efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace with two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace with secure and recognised borders.

The British-drafted text "welcomes the Egyptian initiative," the three-point truce proposal unveiled by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Tuesday," and other regional and international efforts that are under way."

The West Bank-based Palestine Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas accepts the two-state solution, while Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007, does not recognize Israel's right to exist.

The resolution "encourages tangible steps towards intra-Palestinian reconciliation."

Tel Aviv contends that it cannot hold talks with Hamas as a terrorist outfit cannot be equated with Israel, which is a UN member State.

Addressing the Council, several members saw the Egyptian initiative as the only viable way to establish a "lasting and durable" peace leading to Palestinian and Israeli states living side by side in peace.

The Egyptians have offered to host talks between Israelis and Palestinian factions to find ways to accommodate concerns of both sides as also between various Palestinian factions to bring about unity.

The UN relief agencies had on Thursday suspended movement of staff in Gaza after two of their workers were killed in Israeli attacks even though the world body says it had already made arrangements with the Israelis to allow them in the area.

Addressing the Council after the vote, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "heartened and relieved... Your decision signals the will of the international community. It must be fully respected by all parties to this conflict."

The resolution has called on member states "to intensify efforts to provide arrangements and guarantees in Gaza in order to sustain a durable ceasefire and calm, including to prevent illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition and to ensure the sustained re-opening of crossing points."

Israel has accused Hamas of smuggling more advanced rockets and weapons and has closed crossings into Gaza in response to Hamas rocket fire.

Tel Aviv alleges that Hamas is smuggling arms into Gaza through a network of underground tunnels which run to the Egyptian border, a charge that Cairo denies.

The UN officials have also expressed concern at Israeli statement that any structure in which the tunnel ends is legitimate target.

That was interpreted by some analysts to mean that Israel would consider hospitals and schools as "legitimate targets" if it has the information that tunnel ends in anyone of them.

Adoption of the resolution came as diplomatic efforts to secure an end to the fighting moved into higher gear with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal while also trying to reach Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"The Secretary-General continues his around-the-clock efforts with world leaders to achieve an immediate ceasefire," spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters.

General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto had earlier chided the Council for its lack of action.

"Rigor mortis seems to have taken over, and we are failing the world, we are failing the cause of peace," he said.


I was not going by a truck to US, quips Chidambaram
New Delhi "I was not going by a truck to the United States," said Home Minister P Chidambaram to a query on his scheduled visit to Washington, evoking peals of laughter.
Chidambaram was addressing the media on the ongoing truckers' stir as also the strike in the petroleum sector when a scribe asked him whether his trip to the US has been cancelled.

"I was not going by a truck to the United States," the minister said in a lighter vein but added that his visit to the US has been cancelled as he was dealing with the situation arising from the strikes.

During the visit, Chidambaram was expected to share evidence with the US authorities on the role of Pakistan-based terrorists in Mumbai attacks.

"The more significant development is that Pakistan has admitted that Mohd Ajmal Amir Kasab is a Pakistani citizen," Chidambaram said.

"There is no ATF (aviation turbine fuel) too," a scribe quipped. The petroleum sector strike has hit flight operations.


Stayam Asatyam

Analysts at technology research firm Forrester said employees and clients would soon desert the company amid competitive wooing by the rivals.

The research firm added that it has already been consulted by over half-a-dozen rivals of Satyam on competitive strategies to be adopted to take over the business from the clients of the beleaguered IT firm.

Satyam on Wednesday made a shocking disclosure of fudging of accounts by its founder Ramalinga Raju, who then quit as Chairman, leaving an uncertain future for the company and its 53,000 employees.

Raju, in a statement on Wednesday, said Satyam's profits had been massively inflated over many years but no other board member was aware of the financial irregularities.

The timing of this news is the most unfortunate part about it given the fragile state of the global economy, Hay Group's Thompson said.

The scandal will damage corporate India's reputation, may have implications for the whole BPO and IT Services sector and would certainly give some ‘hotheads in the US a little more ammunition to use against the logic of outsourcing to India,’ Thompson said.

"However, there will not be a long term impact on the employer-employee relationship. Instead, we may get tied up with a series of reviews into corporate governance and a host of new regulations attempting to prevent this kind of thing from happening again," Thompson added.

Another global staffing services firm Manpower said at this point of time ‘employees should assess their current skill sets and explore the opportunities in sectors showing positive hiring intent like energy, telecom and mining.’

Executive search firm Headhunters India's CEO Krish Lakshmikanth has said the company might lay off over 10,000 employees by the next month as it has little cash to pay salaries.

"It is most likely that Satyam will cut 10,000 jobs next month as the company is left with no cash to pay the salaries. The current fiasco is likely to put pressure on salaries, which may reduce by 10 per cent due to the surplus of about 20,000 people in the jobs market," Lakshmikanth said.

Lakshmikanth said till Tuesday evening there were about 7,800 Satyam employees who had posted their resumes on job sites and by Wednesday afternoon, it rose to 14,000.

Satyam's interim CEO Ram Mynampati on Thursday said the company has taken care of the salary for December, but its liquidity position was not encouraging.

When contacted, IT-BPO employees union UNITES said, "We are in touch with the senior and top-level management of Satyam, all kind of rumours are doing the rounds but we still do not have any clarity on the isuue."

"It is unlikely that there will be any layoffs as the new management is trying to portray that all is well in Satyam. Moreover, this is election year, even if the company do not have money government might chip in to rescue the employees," UNITES General Secretary Karthik Shekhar said.

According to the latest Manpoer Employment Outlook Survey hiring intent in IT & ITeS sector has gone down drastically this quarter, compared to the last quarter, but the space is showing a positive hiring intent, with net employment outlook of 23 per cent for the first quarter of 2009.

"In India IT and ITeS sector has been a low-cost and high -quality player and will surely emerge big again after the crisis," Manpower India added.

Meanwhile, UNITES India, a union of ITeS professionals, has warned that over 50,000 IT professionals in India may lose their jobs over the next six months as the situation in the sector is expected to worsen due to the impact of global meltdown on the export-driven industry.

Don't poach Satyam workers: Nasscom
New Delhi Expressing solidarity with the new management team of the Satyam, IT industry body Nasscom on Friday said it has asked its recruitment team not to poach anybody from Satyam.
"As of now, the priority of Nasscom is business continuity. The company is in the middle of a crisis. All the employees have been working on projects. To continue the projects they need people," a top Nasscom official said.

For Nasscom the priority now is to see that business continues for Satyam.

"We will ensure that customers and other stakeholders get the right perspective. We will also work with the Satyam Task Force to reach out to their customers and employees and guide them through the transition," Nasscom Chairman Ganesh Natarajan has said.

Earlier, Infosys had made it clear that to refrain from hiring employees of Satyam Computer Services.

Though the new Satyam management team headed by the interim CEO Ram Mynampati yesterday tried to soothe over 50,000 nervous employees by saying that the salaries for December has been taken care of,the worried workforce is busy looking at avenues elsewhere. The employees are busy posting their resumes on job portals.

"In a middle of a crisis of this magnitude, people usually jump ship. Rival firms usually look at cherry-picking staff," an analyst said.

Though no news of layoffs has come from the company yet, with questions on its cash position and a minimum outgo on salary estimated at Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) a month, Satyam may lay off over 10,000 employees next month, says a recruitment firm.

"It is most likely that Satyam will cut 10,000 jobs next month as the company is left with no cash to pay the salaries.

The current fiasco is likely to put pressure on salaries, which may be reduced by 10 per cent due to the surplus of about 20,000 people in the jobs market," Headhunters India CEO Kris Lakshmikanth had said.

The IT-BPO union Unites Professionals had said that if there is a layoff they will step in.

Unites General Secretary Karthik Shekhar had said, "In case of any lay off at Satyam, our legal team will look into the matter."


Sacked Pak NSA says his conscience was 'clear'



Islamabad Mahmud Ali Durrani, sacked from the post of National Security Advisor for confirming Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab's Pakistani nationality to the media, on Thursday said the charges levelled against him were "incorrect" and his conscience was "clear".
A day after he was unceremoniously removed by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Durrani said he always had the best interests of Pakistan in his mind.

An angry Gilani sacked Durrani for his "irresponsible behaviour" and for failing to take the government into confidence on national security issues. Official sources said the move came after Durrani told the media that a preliminary probe had established that Kasab is a Pakistani national.

Durrani told ‘Geo News’ channel on Thursday that he had not told any foreign TV news channel that all 10 terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks were Pakistanis. He said the charges levelled against him were "incorrect".

Durrani also said that his conscience was "clear" as he had always tried to do everything possible in the interest of Pakistan.

The sacking is said to have caused differences between Gilani and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who had hand-picked Durrani for the job last year.

Kasab’s parents missing from their home: Burney

Islamabad Leading Pakistani rights activist Ansar Burney on Thursday claimed that the parents of Ajmal Amir Kasab, lone terrorist arrested by Indian authorities for the Mumbai attacks, were missing from their home in Faridkot village in Punjab province. The former human rights minister said a team from the Ansar Burney Trust recently visited Faridkot and found that Kasab's parents were missing from the village.

"Where are the parents of Ajmal Kasab and who took them out from the village? This is another question that would create further doubts," said Burney. He added that the team from his Trust had confirmed that Kasab is a Pakistani national.

After weeks of denial, the Pakistan government on Wednesday acknowledged that a preliminary investigation by its security agencies had established that Kasab is a Pakistani national. However, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani sacked National Security Advisor Mahmud Ali Durrani for speaking to the domestic and international media on the issue. Burney said the sacking of Durrani for making a statement regarding Kasab had "created further doubts" about involvement of the Pakistan government and "some Pakistani organisations" in the Mumbai attacks.

"Durrani was sacked because he spoke the truth and admitted that some of the organisations from Pakistan are involved," Burney alleged.

Burney criticised the handling of the situation by the President and Prime Minister. "How is the world going to believe our government any more after they take such steps?" he asked, referring to the sacking of Durrani and the "mishandling" of the issue of Kasab's nationality. He also demanded resignation of interior ministry chief Rehman Malik, who he alleged had "mishandled" the matter of Kasab's nationality and created more problems for Pakistan.

Satyam scam: Raju, we feel sorry for you, say employees

Reuters
Posted: Jan 09, 2009 at 1634 hrs IST

Hyderabad Many staff at Satyam Computer Services tried to put up a brave front on Friday, hoping things would return to normal soon and their jobs secured even as the outsourcer fights for its survival.
Huge banners with messages from some of Satyam's 53,000 staff and their hand imprints have been put up at the fraud-hit firm's sprawling complex in the southern city of Hyderabad.

Stand-in CEO Ram Mynampati has admitted the company, which is also listed in New York, faces a crisis of unimaginable proportion following Chairman and founder Ramalinga Raju's admission of years of accounting fraud.

"There is still enough truth for us to be united," one employee wrote on a banner that has ‘spirit of Satyam’ written in bold at the top.

"Good times will be back again," read another message. "United we stand, divided we fall," said another one. There was even some sympathy for disgraced Chairman Raju, who quit on Wednesday after detailing fictitious assets and saying profits had been inflated over the last several years, revelations which have sent the share price to 11-year lows.

"Raju, we feel sorry for you," wrote one employee.

A Satyam spokeswoman said the initiative was planned by employees to show solidarity with senior management.

"We just thought of getting together and doing something to lift our morale," said an employee, who declined to give his name as he was not allowed to talk to the media.

Analysts see little reason to be optimistic, saying the future of the company is in doubt, and not all employees seemed prepared to wait for a resolution.

"In our interactions with several of Satyam's employees across the organisation they showed utter frustration," consultancy Forrester said in a report.

"Many employees told Forrester that it's too early to comment, but they will weigh their options almost on a daily basis."

Head-hunters say a large number of the outsourcing firm's staff are scrambling to send their resumes to job portals and other firms, but Satyam's interim CEO Ram Mynampati said on Thursday the company was not seeing significant exit of staff.

It is amazing to me that the truth is starting to show up in the MSM.

Jodda


Relief Agencies Fear More Are Trapped, Days After Neighborhood Was Shelled
By Craig Whitlock and Reyham Abdel Kareem
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 9, 2009; 7:05 AM
JERUSALEM, Jan. 9 -- Emergency workers said they rescued 100 more trapped survivors Thursday and found between 40 and 50 corpses in a devastated residential block south of Gaza City that the Israeli military had kept off-limits to the International Committee of the Red Cross for four days.

Relief agencies said they feared more people remained in the rubble of several shattered houses in the Zaytoun neighborhood. Red Cross officials said that they began receiving distress calls from people in the houses late Saturday but that they were blocked by the Israeli military from reaching the area until Wednesday.

"There are still people under demolished houses -- we are sure of it," said Khaled Abuzaid, an ambulance driver for the Red Cross who treated survivors at the site Wednesday and Thursday. "But without water or electricity, we are sure they will die."

In an interview at al-Quds Hospital, a Red Cross medical center in Gaza, Abuzaid said rescue workers found 16 bodies Wednesday in a large room of a house in Zaytoun: seven women, six children and three men, all members of the al-Samuni family.

Most had sustained trauma injuries from shelling, but many had gunshot wounds as well, he said. Four children, weak but alive, were found lying under blankets, nestled next to their dead mothers, Abuzaid said. Red Cross officials had said earlier that 12 adult bodies had been found in the house but otherwise corroborated Abuzaid's account.

Abuzaid said he was part of a crew of 10 paramedics and other rescue workers who reached Zaytoun on Wednesday afternoon, during a three-hour break in combat operations in Gaza during which relief agencies were allowed to deliver supplies and medical care to stricken Gazans.
He said Israeli soldiers told the crew of Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent workers in advance that they were forbidden to take cameras, radios or cellphones to the site. It is standard practice for crews to carry such equipment on rescue missions.

The Red Cross has accused the Israeli military of repeatedly refusing to grant permission for ambulances to go to Zaytoun, even though soldiers were stationed outside the damaged houses and were aware people were wounded inside. In a statement issued early Thursday, the agency called the episode "unacceptable" and said the Israeli military had "failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded."

The Israeli military said it was investigating but declined to respond to specific allegations by the Red Cross. "This is a complaint, and we have to check it," said reserve Brig. Gen. Ilan Tal, an Israeli military spokesman.

The United Nations also pressed Israel to investigate the Red Cross allegations. John Holmes, chief of U.N. humanitarian aid programs, called the Zaytoun deaths "a particularly outrageous incident." "What they found was absolutely horrifying," he said at a news conference in New York.
B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, said residents of Zaytoun who had been trapped in other houses have given similar accounts of how Israeli soldiers were aware of their plight but refused to allow rescue workers into the neighborhood. "What these family members say consistently is that the IDF was close by," said Sarit Michaeli, a spokeswoman for the group, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. "This wasn't some remote area. The soldiers certainly were about and were aware of their position."

Access to Zaytoun, near a major north-south road that bisects Gaza, remained highly restricted Thursday. Red Cross and Red Crescent crews were allowed back to the site during another three-hour break in the fighting, evacuating 103 people who had been trapped for days without food and water, according to Anne-Sophie Bonefeld, a Red Cross spokeswoman in Jerusalem. Other relief officials said the people rescued Thursday were crammed inside three houses on the same block as the Samunis' house.

Two surviving members of the Samuni family said dozens of their relatives in the area had been rounded up by the Israeli military early Sunday and ordered to stay inside a handful of houses while soldiers conducted operations door-to-door. They said some people died in the shelling, which left a gaping hole in the roof of the Samuni home.

On Friday, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it had confirmed the account of what happened to the Samuni family. Calling it "one of the gravest incidents" in Gaza since the start of the fighting, the U.N. said Israeli soldiers had packed about 110 Palestinians into the house Sunday, then "shelled the home repeatedly" 24 hours later.
The U.N. said about 30 people were killed inside. It said three children, the youngest five months old, died after reaching a hospital.

Survivors of the fighting in Zaytoun remained scattered at hospitals across Gaza on Friday, and Red Cross officials said they were trying to account for their whereabouts and medical condition. The Israeli military has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza.

"It was horrible," said Shifaa Samuni, 70, who was detained in the family's house but fled with her grandson Monday afternoon after the killings. She said two of her sons and three daughters-in-law were among the dead.
"Look how much I lost," she said at al-Quds Hospital, where she was receiving treatment for minor injuries, including wounds to her hands. "Why? We did nothing. We are a peaceful family."

Ahmad Talal Samuni, 23, said the neighborhood came under heavy shelling and helicopter gunfire Saturday night. He said that when tanks approached, two of his uncles and their families, who lived nearby, rushed over to seek refuge in his home, about 45 people all told. The next morning, he said, fighting resumed and soldiers came to the house.

"They told us not to leave -- not by using loudspeakers, but by shooting," he said in a telephone interview from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where he was tending to other relatives. "The soldiers were shooting in the air and they told us to go east, in the direction of Salah Din Street."

The soldiers ordered the family into a large concrete house owned by another relative, Ahmad Samuni said. By then, about 70 people were gathered inside, he recalled. "The soldiers told us not to leave. . . . We were hungry. There was no milk for the babies, no medicine for the ill children."

Shortly before dawn Monday, three Samuni men decided to leave the house so they could gather other relatives and bring them back, said Meysa Fawzi Samuni, 19, a member of the family who survived the fighting and gave an extensive interview to B'Tselem. The group provided a written version of her statement to The Washington Post, but she could not be reached to independently confirm her account.

Meysa Samuni told B'Tselem that an explosion struck the doorway of the house as the three men prepared to leave, killing one of them. Moments later, a larger explosion on the roof rocked the house. She said she fell to the floor, covering her infant daughter with her body.


"Everything filled up with smoke and dust, and I heard screams and crying. After the smoke and dust cleared a bit, I looked around and saw 20-30 people who were dead, and about 20 who were wounded," Meysa Samuni said in her statement.

She said she was only slightly injured; her baby also survived but lost three fingers in the explosion.

After about 15 minutes, Meysa Samuni said she, her brother-in-law Musa and his two young sisters, Islam, 5, and Isra, 2, fled and knocked on the door of another relative's home nearby.

Israeli soldiers had already occupied the house, she said, and were guarding about 30 Palestinians inside, several of whom had been blindfolded.

Meysa Samuni said the soldiers seized Musa, tying his hands and blindfolding him. Another soldier gave first aid to Meysa and her infant, bandaging their hands and checking their pulses. The Israelis said the mother and daughter could leave.

"They ordered us to leave the house and we walked along the street about 400-500 meters" -- about a quarter-mile -- "until we found an ambulance," which took them to Shifa Hospital, where she later met a few relatives who had escaped the shelling on the house, she said in her statement. "As far as I know, the dead and the wounded who were under the ruins are still there."

Abdel Kareem reported from Gaza City. Special correspondent Samuel Sockol in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/09/AR2009010901139.html?hpid=topnews

6 NTPC's power plants run out of gas




9 Jan 2009, 1421 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: Hit by the oil sector officers' strike, six out seven state-run NTPC plants which use two fuels (gas and naphtha) have run out of gas and
are running on naphtha, with less than three days' stock.

NTPC's Gandhar power plant in Gujarat is the only one running on gas (LNG), among the seven. Six plants burning naphtha are running on partial load so that those could be run longer.

"NTPC's six dual-fuel power plants are running on naphtha as gas is not available. However, one of these plants at Gandhar is running on gas due to LNG supply," NTPC CMD R S Sharma told reporters.

Sharma said, "Since gas is not available, we are left with no option but to run these plants on Naphtha. The available stock of naphtha can last two to three days."

An NTPC official said, "We are running dual fuel power plants on partial load so that those can be run for longer period."

NTPC has seven dual-fuel power stations at Anta (413 MW), Auraiya (652 MW), Dadri (817 MW), Faridabad (430 MW), Kawas (645 MW), Gandhar (648 MW) and Kayamkulam (350 MW), having a total installed capacity of 3,955 MW.

The estimated gas requirement to operate these plants at a 90 per cent plant load factor is around 17.35 MMSCMD. NTPC has a long-term agreement with Gas Authority of India for 12.93 MMSCMD of gas under the administered price mechanism category.

The oil strike has already forced stopping of natural gas supply to industries on the country's main trunk pipeline.

Officers of Oil and Natural Gas Corp stopped natural gas supply from the country's largest oil field in Mumbai offshore, forcing a shutdown of the Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline.

Oil slips towards $41 before US unemployment data


9 Jan 2009, 1904 hrs IST, REUTERS

LONDON: Oil prices slipped towards $41 a barrel on Friday as economic gloom deepened ahead of data expected to show a big jump in U.S. unemployment.
Non-farm payrolls figures, due at 1330 GMT, are likely to show more than half a million Americans lost their jobs in December, a Reuters poll showed, the highest monthly job losses in 34 years.

US crude for February delivery was down 59 cents at $41.11 a barrel by 1311 GMT, after climbing $1.00 to $42.70. London Brent crude was 41 cents lower at $44.26. Crude fell 2.2 percent to settle at $41.70 on Thursday, after a 12 percent slump on Wednesday, the biggest daily percentage drop in more than seven years.

"Of course, we are getting used to negative economic news, but this U.S. jobs data is likely to be very, very bad," said Frank Schallenberger, head of commodity research at Landesbank in Stuttgart. "Short-term, oil is held within a fairly narrow range between $40 and $45. I don't see $50 in the near future."

The market appeared to be largely ignoring evidence that oil producers were cutting output in an attempt to support prices. Top crude exporter Saudi Arabia is the latest member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to show it is cutting output in line with a deal agreed in December. It will deepen its supply cuts in February from January to at least three Asian crude buyers, industry sources said on Friday.

Earlier this week, Kuwait and Iran also told customers of bigger supply curbs this month, after the cartel agreed its biggest ever production cut in December in a bid to bolster prices. One prop of the recent rally that had lifted oil prices since the start of the year looked likely to be removed, after Russia reached an agreement to deploy European Union monitors to ensure the smooth flow of gas via Ukraine.

The threat of widening supply disruptions in Europe from the Russia-Ukraine gas row, as well as Israel's invasion of Gaza, had boosted oil to a one-month high of $50.47 on Tuesday. While the Gaza conflict does not directly threaten oil supplies, Middle East unrest can bolster prices because countries in the region pump about a third of the world's oil.

Oil has fallen more than $100 from a record peak of over $147 a barrel in July, as the global economic downturn hits demand for fuel. It settled at $33.87 a barrel on Dec. 19, the lowest level since Feb. 10, 2004.
Congress may seek commitment from Mamata on post-poll stand

BS Reporter / New Delhi January 9, 2009, 0:10 IST



Congress President Sonia Gandhi is under pressure to seek a categorical assurance from Trinamool Congress chief Banerjee that she will not ally with the rival National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after the Lok Sabha polls before the two parties joins hands. Gandhi has asked External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to look into the possibility of extracting a written assurance from Banerjee.

Although a large section of the Congress state leadership desperately wants an alliance with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, others are unsure about Banerjee’s stand after the polls. “If there is an alliance, the TMC will also benefit from the shift of votes. But is there any guarantee she will not shift towards the NDA after the polls? So, will the Congress help her win more seats?” Congress MP Adhir Chowdhury recently told Gandhi.

On Thursday, at a national meeting of the Mahila Congress — the women wing of the party — state unit president Maitreyi Saha appealed to Gandhi not to give unconditional support to Banerjee’s party. Even Mukherjee believes that there should be some commitment from her side.

The Congress has five MPs from the state in the current Lok Sabha while the Trinamool Congress has just one (Banerjee herself). But after the recent swing in the various local polls, it is estimated that if the two sides join hands, the Left parties may lose up to 20 more seats.

While Banerjee is yet to make up her mind about any commitment, the Left parties—which parted ways with the UPA over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal — have indicated they are ready to play a second innings with the Congress at the Centre. The CPI(M) will, at its ongoing Central Committee meeting, firm up its strategy keeping in mind possible post-poll support to the Congress. The CPI(M) has already roped in the AIADMK and the TDP and signaled that it is open to a secular alliance with the Congress
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/congress-may-seek-commitmentmamatapost-poll-stand/18/46/345686/

Double Movement in china
Shaoguang Wang
From EPW
This paper traces China’s move towards a marketeconomy in the mid-1980s, the near triumph of marketforcesinthe1990s,andthecountermovementthisengendered as inequalities between the rich and poorincreased and social security networks collapsed. Itfocuses on the country’s regional and healthcarepolicies to illustrate how it has dealt with issues ofinequality and insecurity over time. The prevailing viewnow is that the market is necessary but it must beembedded in society. And the state must playan active role in the market economy to prevent adisembeddedandself-regulatingmarketeconomyfromdominatingsociety.Shaoguang Wang (wangshaoguang@cuhk.edu.hk) is with theDepartment of Government and Public Administration, ChineseUniversity of Hong Kong and the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University.The concept of “double movement” is adopted from KarlPolanyi, whose seminal book, The Great Transformation:The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time, was pub-lished in 1944. In Polanyi’s view, “the idea of a self-adjusting mar-ket implied a stark utopia. Such an institution could not exist forany length of time without annihilating the human and natural substance of society; it would have physically destroyed man andtransformed his surroundings into a wilderness” (2001: 3). Thus, theextension of the “self-regulating” market is bound to provoke acountermovement aiming at protecting society against “the rav-ages of this satanic mill” (ibid: 77).Polanyi’s analytical framework is helpful for us to under-stand the great transformation China has experienced in thepast decades.GreatTransformationThe Chinese economy in the traditional sense was a moral eco-nomy, where economic relations were embedded in kinship rela-tions and ethical norms (Shuming 2005, Chapter 5). After thePeople’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, social values changed drastically, with collective interests and national inter-ests replacing familial affections to become as the overridingsocial value. In spite of the change in ethical connotation, thesubordination of economic relations to social ethics remained intact. While the new regime did pursue economic development,efficiency and economic growth were taken only as secondaryconcerns, and markets did not play a very big role in the overallarrangement of the economic system. Under the planned (moral)economy, two mechanisms – the “soft budget constraint” and the“iron rice bowl” – helped embed economic relations into socialand political relations. “The soft budget constraint” meant thatthe activities of an economic organisation (either a firm or a low-level government department) were not constrained by its ownresources. In the event of failing to make ends meet and sufferingdeficits, it could expect help from an outside organisation (forexample, an upper level government department) to survivewithout having to bear the brunt of disruptive change under theDarwinian law of “survival of the fittest”. “The iron rice bowl”meant permanent job security for everyone; nobody was exposed to the risk of unemployment regardless of performance. The softbudget constraint and the iron rice bowl obviously were not con-ducive to competition and maximising efficiency; they becamethe twin pillars of the planned economic system because the systemfocused on equality between economic entities and providingbasic subsistence support for all, even at the expense of efficiency.In the planned (moral) economic system, communes and bri-gades in rural areas and work-units in urban areas were not onlyeconomic entities but also social and political entities. They
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china since 1978december 27, 2008EPWEconomic & Political Weekly52offered job opportunities to their members and paid them with-out much difference, and also provided them and their depend-ents with various social benefits such as nurseries, kindergartens,schools, healthcare, pensions and funeral services. This includedfinancial assistance to the disabled and the families of members who had died. In other words, welfare was furnished by com-munes and brigades in rural areas and work units in urban areas and it did not have to be provided directly by the government.That is why such a system was called the “Maoist moral econo-my” (Perry 1999). This situation lasted until the early stage of re-form and opening up in the mid-1980s.With reform and opening up, China changed its guiding ideo-logy. Instead of pursuing basic assurance and equality, decision-makers highlighted the overriding importance of developmentand aggressively pursued economic growth. Hence came theslogan, “Top priority for efficiency, due consideration for equity”,but “due consideration” was soon pushed into the background.In pursuit of efficiency and a maximum economic growth rate,everything else had to give way. What was sacrificed included,among other things, fairness, employment, workers’ interests,public health, medical care, eco-environment, and national defence construction. At that time, the leadership at all levels appeared to have intentionally or otherwise accepted the “trickledown hypothesis” advocated by neoliberal economists: as long as the economy kept growing and the pie became bigger, all otherproblems would be solved eventually.Against the backdrop of such ideological change, China under-went an evolution from moral economy to market society in threestages. The first stage saw the emergence of markets (1979-84).At this stage, markets for consumer goods began to emerge on asporadic basis but played a very limited role in the overall eco-nomy. At that time, government interference in economic activitywas still very pronounced, and non-market institutions and rela-tions retained an upper hand. The second stage witnessed theemergence of market systems (1985-92). At this stage, a set ofintertwined markets of production factors began to emerge, in-cluding the labour market, capital market, foreign exchangemarket, and land market. By this time, market principles such as equivalent exchange, the law of supply and demand, and compe-tition began to work in economic lives, yet without making a bigforay into non-economic areas. The third stage ushered in thebirth of market society (1993-1999). At this stage, the marketthreatened to become the dominant mechanism integratingall society.The three-stage transformation ruined the foundation of themoral economy. The relationship between treasury coffers at dif-ferent levels shifted from “eating from the same big pot” to “eat-ing from separate kitchens”; the relationship between state treas-uries and enterprises changed from the soft budget constraint tothe hard budget constraint. While affording farmers’ latitude orfreedom in production, an all-round contract system was en-forced in rural areas to free communes from collective responsi-bility for individual farmers, and labour system reforms weremeant to break-up the iron rice bowls for urban employees. Whenrural villages and urban enterprises were gradually extricatedfrom their social responsibilities, evolving into pure economicentities, villagers and employees lost pensions, healthcare and welfare benefits, and had to spend money buying them. InPolanyi’s words, when China was transformed into a market soci-ety, the economy was “disembedded” from society and came todominate it. From a grand historical perspective, the evolutionfrom a moral economy to a market society was an unprecedented transition for China.Rise of a countermovementPolanyi was absolutely right when he argued that a “disembed-ded,” fully self-regulating market force is a brute force, becausecreating it requires that human beings and the natural environ-ment be turned into pure commodities and this assures the de-struction of both society and the natural environment. AlthoughChina experienced perhaps the highest economic growth in theworld for 30 years, the blind pursuit of high GDP growth rates also gave rise to a series of severe problems. Such problems werenot very pronounced in the initial stages of reform, but as timewent by, they became increasingly noticeable. By the late 1990s,as China was entering the stage of market society, some problems became too dreadful to ignore.The two gravest challenges were rising income inequality and mounting human insecurity. China used to be an egalitariansociety with income inequality well below the world average.However, it experienced a steep rise in inequality after itembarked on market-oriented economic reforms. By the turn of the century, China’s overall income distribution had becomemuch more unequal than ever before in the history of thePeople’s Republic (Figure 1). More importantly, in a marketsociety, people’s livelihoods were completely dependent onmarkets. Since markets serve only solvent people, the welfareof people depended on their solvency. Therefore, ordinaryworkers and farmers were less secure than before. In the face of massive unemployment, schooling difficulties and medicalchallenges, millions of people became keenly aware of the lackof economic and social security. In their view, the burdensimposed on them by a market society were too heavy, evenunbearable in some cases.Against this background, the consensus on market reform fell apart. The classes whose interests were hurt or insufficientlyenriched by reform no longer lent unreserved support to newFigure 1: Gini indices of income inequality in china (1981-2002)1Source:MartinRaval ionandShaohuaChen,“China’s(Uneven)ProgressAgainstPoverty”,WorldBankPolicyResearchWorkingPaperNo3408(16June2004).0.50.450.40.350.30.250.219801983198619891992199519982001WithoutadjustmentforcostoflivingdifferencesWithadjustmentforcostoflivingdifferences
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china since 1978Economic & Political WeeklyEPWdecember 27, 200853market-oriented reform initiatives. On the contrary, they frettedabout everything that had the label of “market” or “reform” forfear of getting hurt again. These people kindled hostility towards officials abusing power for personal gains, upstarts squanderingmoney, and glib-tongued scholars making fortunes out of“reforms”. They generally felt that China’s reforms had goneastray and it was time to stress economic and social developmentin a coordinated way. Thus arose a protective countermovementattempting to resist economic “disembedness”.The Chinese government then began to pay more attention to“due consideration” for fairness or equity. If “due consideration”had in the past amounted to lip service, it now made a concerted effort to re-embed the economy into social relations throughdecommercialisation. Decommercialisation meant treating allservices related to human subsistence (such as healthcare, educa-tion, and pensions) as basic human rights, not as market transac-tions. The purpose of decommercialisation was enabling peopleto maintain “a livelihood without reliance on the market”(Esping-Andersen 1990).From 1978 to the mid-1990s, China had only economic policies and no social policies. Starting from around the turn of the cen-tury, social policies began to re-emerge in the country. Table 1lists a set of social policies introduced in recent years, which canbe usefully divided into two large categories – the purpose of thefirst category is to reduce inequality; and the second is to lessenhuman insecurity.Due to limited space, it is impossible to discuss the “doublemovement” in all policy areas. In what follows, we focus on twoareas – regional policy and healthcare policy – to illustratehow China has dealt with issues of inequality and insecurityover time.RegionalPolicyUneven regional development is a universal phenomenon. It ex-ists in almost all large countries, developing and developed alike.Examples include India, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, GreatBritain,France,Italy,andtheUnitedStates.Chinaisnoexception.Covering 9.6 million square kilometres, China is the third largestcountry in the world. Given its gigantic size, it is inevitable thatthere are significant spatial variations in resource endowment,the sectoral distribution of economic activity, and levels ofsocio-economic development.When the Chinese Communists came to power in 1949,they inherited an extremely lopsided economy. Industrial activities were to a large extent concentrated in what was thencalled Manchuria (the north-east provinces of Heilongjiang,Jilin, and Liaoning) and a few major coastal cities such asShanghai and Guangzhou. Although the coastal provinces accounted for only 11.34% of the land, they were the sourceof 77.6% of the total industrial output. Western China, whichformed roughly half the country, lagged far behind withonly 8% of the total industrial output originating from it (Shengand Feng 1991).The new Communist government made a strong commitmentto achieving balanced distribution of productive capacity and in-come (Bo 1991). The First Five-Year Plan (1953-57) of the People’s Republic gave high priority to the development of new industrial bases in north, north-west, and central China. Among the 694industrial projects completed during this period, most werelocated in the inland areas. But Communist Party ChairmanMao Zedong hoped to see more changes. In his famous 1956speech, “On Ten Major Relationships”, he dwelt on the relations between the coast and the interior. In his view, it was botheconomically irrational and politically unacceptable to have70% of industry in the coastal areas while leaving the rest of thecountry more or less untouched by modernisation. To speed up the industrialisation of the interior, he suggested that newindustrial facilities be located in the interior. Only by doingso, he believed, would industrial activities become moreevenly distributed.Indeed, Mao’s era was marked by an unprecedented spatial re-deployment of productive capacity. Thanks to its strong extrac-tive capacity, the central government under him had firm control over the geographic distribution of resources. The investmentpolicy of this period clearly favoured backward regions. Whilemore developed provinces experienced substantial outflows ofrevenues, less developed provinces received enormous infusionsof funds for infrastructure and industrial development.Moreover, in the mid-1960s, out of security considerations,China began a campaign to construct the Third Front, which cov-ered all the western provinces and some parts of the central prov-inces. From late 1964 to 1971, hundreds of large and medium-sized industrial enterprises were moved from coastal provincesto inland provinces and more were built on site. Altogether, be-tween 1956 and 1978, more than 2,000 large and medium-sizedenterprises were established in west and central China. This shiftin investment and the establishment of new industrial centres powerfully boosted industrial growth in the traditionally lessdeveloped regions. In 1965, for example, the ratio of agricultureto light industry to heavy industry for central China was 71:15:14.By the end of the Fourth Five-Year Plan period (1971-75), it had become 44:22:34. During the same period, the ratio for westChina changed from 69:16:15 to 40:23:37. In addition to financinginvestments in less developed regions, fiscal transfers were used to reduce regional inequality in income and provide public goods and services (Sheng and Feng 1991). Government transfers madeit possible for consumption to be much more evenly distributedthan output. As a result, Mao’s era witnessed a strong trend Table 1: new social Policies (1999-2008)YearNew Social Policies1999 Go-West programme.2002 Urban minimum income guarantee programme.2003 Rural fee and tax reform; re-establishing the rural cooperative medicalsystem (CMS).2004 Lowering agricultural taxes; introduction of three types of rural subsidies.2005 Partially abolishing agricultural taxes.2006 Abolishing all agricultural taxes; introduction of comprehensive ruralsubsidies; free compulsory education in the western and central rural areas;public housing for the urban poor.2007 Free compulsory education in all rural areas; basic health insurance for allurban residents; CMS for more than 80% of the rural population; promotingthe rural minimum income guarantee programme; pensions for migrantworkers; promoting public housing for the urban poor.2008 Free compulsory education for all; CMS for all the rural population.
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china since 1978december 27, 2008EPWEconomic & Political Weekly54toward greater equality in per capita consumption across the country.After Mao’s death in 1976, his egalitarian regional develop-ment strategy was criticissed as too costly in terms of compara-tive advantage, production efficiency, and national growth fore-gone. Underlying the reform that followed was a fundamentaltransformation of development philosophy. Chinese policy-makers then gave top priority to rapid aggregate growth. This predominant concern with growth made them less willing to sac-rifice growth for such goals as balance and equity. Instead, theywere ready to tolerate a certain degree of inequality or widened disparity. It was believed that if certain regions were allowed tofirst prosper, their affluence would eventually trickle down toother regions.Which provinces should become prosperous first? It was thecoastal provinces, of course, because they enjoyed considerableadvantages (a large number of skilled workers, a high level oftechnology and managerial sophistication, and a relatively well-developed infrastructure) at the beginning of the reform period.For this reason, a so-called “gradient theory” dominated thethinking of Chinese policymakers for much of the 1980s and early1990s. The theory divided China into three large geographicregions – the eastern (coastal), central, and western – and lik-ened them to steps on a ladder. According to it, the governmenthad to first capitalise on the advantages of the coast. After thecoast was sufficiently developed, attention had to be turned tothe central region. The western region would have to waitpatiently for its turn. If this strategy had unfavourable implica-tions for equity, its advocates advised people to consider itseffects in the long term. In the long term, the theory promised,the fruits of development would eventually percolate to everyonein the country.Mainstream economists have long argued that regional dispar-ity is an abnormal phenomenon that will not last. They predict aninverted, U-shaped pattern of regional development in thenational growth path, namely, regional gaps tend to increase inthe earlier stages of development and diminish in the later stages (Williamsom 1965). Mainstream economists who studied Chinaalso believed that, coupled with economic growth, the operationof market forces by themselves would bring about a convergenceof regional income (Tianlun, Sachs and Warner 1996). This predication has proved wrong.Figure 2 shows the changing track of the coefficient of vari-ance (CV) of provincial per capita GDP from 1978 to 2007 (in 1978constant price).2It plots two measures of relative dispersion. Thetop and bottom curves differ only in sample size: the former in-cludes Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai, whereas the latter excludes the three cities. We separate the two curves for a simple reason:although the three metropolitan areas enjoy provincial status,it would be problematic to treat them in the same way as wetreat other provinces, because they are far more urbanised and industrialised than the others. As a result, they enjoy extraordi-narily high levels of per capita GDP relative to the nationalaverage. For this reason, treating these metropolitan areas asordinary provinces might greatly bias our analysis of regionaldisparities. In order to present an unbiased picture, it is neces-sary to segregate two sets of statistics – one including the threecities and the other excluding them. As Figure 2 reveals, changesin regional disparities display different patterns when the threecities are excluded.The top curve represents changing CVs for the whole nationduring the period 1978-2007. The time path yields an S curve. Inother words, relative dispersion declined sharply between 1978and 1991, but the falling trend was reversed afterwards. Theyears between 1992 and 2004 witnessed an upsurge in regional inequality before the trend reversed again.The bottom curve (excluding figures for Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai) yields two noteworthy changes in CVs. First, CVs be-come much smaller. Rather than fluctuating between 0.80 and 1.05, it now oscillates in the neighborhood of 0.35-0.45. In otherwords, once extreme cases are excluded, relative dispersion inper capita GDP does not appear to be alarmingly large in China.Second, the patterns of change in CVs are more or less the samebut the magnitudes of change are much smaller. Regional disper-sion decreased only marginally in the initial years of reform, butthe years following 1985 saw a steady increase in relative disper-sion, especially during the 1990s. Consequently, by 2000, the CVwas 0.14 percentage points higher than that in 1978 (increasingfrom 0.31 to 0.45). Since then, regional disparity has begun tolevel off and even shown signs of falling.It seems reasonable to divide the years after 1978 into threesub-periods. Before 1985, when the role of market forces was atbest marginal in the overall economy, the general trend was forrelative dispersion to fall. But the trend was reversed in the mid-1980s. As market forces played a bigger and bigger role in theeconomy, the country witnessed a sharp upsurge in regional ine-quality in the 1990s through the first years of the 21st century, nomatter whether or not the three centrally administered metro-polises were counted (Shaoguang and Angang 1999). Havingexperienced a secular increase in regional disparity for morethan a decade, China seems to have entered a period of stabilisa-tion or ever convergence in the last few years. Thus, the case ofChina does not support the inverted-U hypothesis. If anything,Figure 2 yields an S curve.Why have regional disparities stopped widening? As early as in1993, deputies from the interior provinces, especially those fromthe west, began to pour out their grievances against the centre’spro-coastal bias at the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress.In1994,evenareportbytheStatePlanningCommissionsounded a serious warning that if problems caused by growingFigure 2: coefficient of Variance of Provincial Per capita GDP (1978constantprice)31.101.000.900.800.700.600.500.400.300.201978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1900 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007CVCV(excludingBTS)
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china since 1978Economic & Political WeeklyEPWdecember 27, 200855Figure 3: Fiscal Transfers from the national to sub-national Government (RMBbillion)20001800160014001200100080060040020001994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007regional gaps were not settled properly, they might one daybecome a threat to China’s social stability and national unity.Facing growing pressure, the central government decided toreverse its coastal development strategy in 1995. The new guid-ing principle was to “create conditions for gradually narrowingdown regional gaps”. This principle was embodied in China’sNinth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000), which promised to increasecentral support to the less-developed regions in the central and western parts of the country. But it was not until September 1999that China formally launched a “Go West” programme, whichwas aimed at narrowing the socio-economic gaps between thecoastal provinces and the western provinces.The main measure to reduce regional income disparity was toincrease the central government’s fiscal transfers to the provinces,especially the economically least developed provinces in central and western China. Figure 3 shows that since 1994 the central government’s fiscal transfers have increased steadily. After 1999,when the Chinese central government introduced the policy of “Go West,” the amount increased every year and exceeded RMB1,800 billion in 2007, which was 7.6 times the amount in 1994.Which area got most benefits from the fiscal transfer system?According to the statistics of the Ministry of Finance, during the period 1994-2005, 10% of the central fiscal transfers went to theeastern coastal provinces, 44% to the central provinces, and 46%to the western provinces. Central fiscal transfers have helped reduce both vertical and horizontal fiscal imbalance and therebyregional inequalities. In 1994, the GDP growth rates differedvastly across regions, ranging from 12% in the north-easternregion to 19.5% in the coastal regions. After 1994, the growthrates began to converge. In 2005, the growth rates in the eastern,central, western, and north-eastern areas were 13.13%, 12.54%per cent, 12.81% and 12.01%, respectively. The difference becamequite small (Feng and Xuan 2006).The convergence of economic growth rates in different regions was helpful in preventing regional disparity from growing, andmight even have reduced it. As Figure 2 demonstrates, the turn-ing point was 1999 when the central government announced thepolicy of “Go West”. Although regional disparity continued to ex-pand, it levelled off after 2000. In 2004, the expansion tendencywas reversed for the first time since 1990. Since then, regional disparity has been reduced.4It is a miracle that the fiscal transfersystem has brought about such notable changes within such ashort period of time.healthcarePolicyIn Mao’s era, when China placed great emphasis on egalitarianprinciples, the government made enormous efforts to establish ahealthcare system that could provide all citizens with access tobasic health services at an affordable price.In the urban areas, the healthcare finance system consisted of two schemes: (1) the Government Insurance Scheme (GIS) for all governmental employees (including retirees), disabled veterans,college teachers and students, and employees in non-profitorganisations, and (2) the Labour Insurance Scheme (LIS) for em-ployees (including retirees) of all state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and some collective enterprises. The beneficiaries of the GIS could receive largely free outpatient and inpatient health services,excluding a small number of items, such as registeration fees,tonics and plastic surgeries. Moreover, there were avenues through which coverage could be extended to members’ depend-ents. The LIS provided its members with benefits similar to thoseprovided by the GIS, and reimbursed half of medical expenditures to their immediate dependents (Henderson et al 1995).In the countryside, China developed a nationwide rural healthinsurance system called the Rural Cooperative Medical System(CMS). The CMS was financed from three sources: (i) premiumsbetween 0.5 and 2% of a peasant family’s annual income, (ii) thevillage’s collective welfare fund, and (iii) government fundingused to defray health workers and acquire medical equipment(Yuanli 2004). Rural residents who participated in the CMSreceived such benefits as free visits to the village clinic, free drugs or co-payment for drugs at the village clinic, co-payment forreferred hospital visits and referred hospitalisation (Liu and Cao1992). By the mid-1970s, about 90% of China’s rural villages werecovered by the CMS schemes.Thus, on the eve of the economic reform, China’s healthcaresystem provided an inexpensive and accessible medical care tovirtually all urban residents and 90% of rural residents eventhough the quality of medical service was not very high (WorldBank 1997).During this period, China’s economic base was weak and thematerial standard of living was very low; nonetheless, in the field of health, China was a model for the developing world.5There aretwo indicators that are commonly used internationally tomeasure a nation’s health status. One is the average lifeexpectancy; the other is the IMR. When the communists came topower in 1949, China’s health indicators ranked among the lowestin the world. By the late 1970s, China’s life expectancy had increased from around 35 years to 68 years, and the infantmortality rate decreased from about 200% per thousand to 34per thousand (Blumenthal and Hsiao 2005).Since the start of the post-Mao economic reforms, China hasexperienced 30 years of sustained economic growth; science andtechnology have made considerable progress; and above all percapita health spending has increased greatly. In these circum-stances, one would expect major gains in healthcare; the results,
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china since 1978december 27, 2008EPWEconomic & Political Weekly56however, have been disappointing. Some may say that oncelife expectancies approach age 70, further gains come moreslowly. Yet trends in five countries or regions in the Asia-Pacificindicate otherwise. From 1980 to 1998, China’s average lifeexpectancy rose by two years, but Australia, Hong Kong,Japan, New Zealand, and Singapore, which had started fromhigher bases, increased their average life expectancy by four tosix years. Sri Lanka, whose base had been similar to China’s in1980, increased average life expectancy by five years. Similardisparities can be seen in changes in infant mortality rates (Shaoguang 2004).How could China build-up one of most affordable and equita-ble healthcare systems in the world and make remarkable strides in improving the health status of its population during the Mao’sera when the country was dirt-poor? Why is it that despite astronger economic base, higher scientific and technical progress, and greater expenditures, the performance of thenation’s healthcare system has been so disappointing undermarket-oriented economic reforms? To answer these questions,we need to look into a myriad of factors. But it is clear thatChina’s healthcare system decayed from a model for the develop-ing world to an embarrassment for itself largely due to thegovernment’s lack of willingness and capacity to tackle the issueof healthcare inequity.The government’s unwillingness and inability to shoulder theresponsibility of primary healthcare for all is evident in Figure 4.Before the economic reform, individual payments accounted forless than 20% of the country’s total health expenses, while thegovernment’s fiscal allocations and social insurance accounted for more than 80%. In the early phase of economic reform, thesocial expense began to drop slowly. However, the share of gov-ernmental allocations went up and once reached 40%. At thattime, although people had difficulty in finding good doctors, theydid not have any problems paying for their healthcare.The turning point came in the mid-1980s when market-oriented reforms accelerated. As reform deepened, market ideologysteadily infiltrated the health sector, becoming the effective guid-ing principle of health reform. This was evident in that official documents dealing with health reform were imbued with suchbuzzwords as “private initiative”, “market incentive”, “competi-tion”, “choice”, and “individual responsibility”. Behind all thesetrendy catch phrases lay an unstated premise: the market wouldincrease the efficiency of resource allocation, including healthresources. Ideological shift aside, economic reform also criticallyenfeebled the government’s ability to deliver social welfare(Shaoguang and Hu 2001).As the government became less willing and able to financehealth, both the GIS and LIS began to crumble. Eventually, a newUrban Employees’ Basic Medical Insurance System emerged in1999 to replace the two old urban healthcare schemes. Unlike theGIS and LIS, the new system, financed by joint contributions fromemployers and employees, aimed to provide a basic benefit pack-age to all employees and retirees in the formal sector, includinggovernment employees and employees of both state and non-state enterprises. However, employees’ dependents were nolonger covered. Also excluded were the self-employed, workers in informal sectors and migrant workers. Whereas the coverageof health insurance was nearly universal for the urban popula-tion at the onset of economic reforms, by the end of 2003, onlyroughly half of urban residents were insured by some schemes,including 30% by the newly established Urban Employees’ BasicMedical Insurance System.Meanwhile, the once renowned rural CMS also collapsed. Afterthe abolition of people’s communes in 1983, households replaced collectives as the basic productive unit in rural areas and the gov-ernment took a laissez-faire attitude towards the CMS. Without support from the collective economy and the government, therural CMS quickly broke down. In 1985, only two years after theabolishment of the people’s communes, the number of villagescovered by the CMS decreased from 90% in 1979 to 5%. Thecoverage of the rural CMS remained below 10% until veryrecently because the government had no intention of funding therural medical system.6Instead, it insisted on the principle of “premiums being paid mainly by individuals themselves, supple-mented by collectively pooled subsidies and supported bygovernment policies”.Both government allocations and social insurance dropped dramatically and almost reached a nadir at the beginning of thenew century. By 2001, the share of government allocations intotal health expenses had decreased to 15.93% and social insur-ance to 24.1%. Their combined share was barely 40%. This shrinkage led to people’s out-of-pocket payments skyrocketing.In 1975, Chinese people’s out-of-pocket payments only accounted for 16% but from 2000 to 2001, it increased to nearly 60%. Inother words, China’s healthcare system effectively became a sys-tem funded mainly by private sources while public sources onlyfilled up blanks here and there. This transformation fundamen-tally shifted the responsibility for healthcare from the govern-ment or society to individuals. Generally speaking, in developed countries, out-of-pocket payments account for 27% of total healthcare expenses; in transition countries, it is 30%; in otherdeveloping countries, it is 42.8%, and in least developed coun-tries, it is 40.7%. Thus, compared to other countries, China’shealthcare system became one of the most commercialised in theworld (Shaoguang 2004).The problem is that the market only serves the consumers whoare capable of paying the bill. Moreover, whatever gains marketforces may engender, they are incapable of resolving either theproblem of fairly allocating health resources or the problem of Figure4:structureofTotalhealthexpenditure10090807060504030201001965 1970 1975 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 2000 2002 2004 2005 2006GovernmentsocialinsuranceOut-of-Pocket16%26.4%60%49.3%
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china since 1978Economic & Political WeeklyEPWdecember 27, 200857asymmetrical distribution of information between patients,insurers, and providers. Relying on a free market to finance and provide healthcare would inevitably lead to reduced access tohealth services for the poor and the vulnerable as well as inefficiency. This was precisely what happened in China. Themarketisation of healthcare was particularly detrimental to thewell-being of the poor. While the rich now could enjoy first-classmedical care of international standards, the poor were oftenforced to endure minor health problems and put off dealing withmajor health conditions. Much worse, the malicious cycle of“illness due to poverty” and “poverty due to illness” became aprominent social problem in both urban and rural China by theturn of the century (Shaoguang 2008).This was the background of the countermovement in thearea of healthcare, which has surfaced in the last several years. Since the beginning of the new century, the Chinesegovernment has been gradually moving away from the reformstrategy that is based on “the Washington Consensus” and adopting what Joseph Stiglitz calls “the second generationreform” that is concerned as much with economic growth as with distributive justice.7Thus, the government sets out toredefine the appropriate scope and nature for its involvementin economic and social affairs. The policy reorientation manifests itself in that the government has since then plunged more and more money into safety net building in general and healthcare inparticular (Figure 4).More specifically, various medical insurance schemes havedeveloped come up very fast (Figure 5). The number of activeemployees who joined the Urban Employees’ Basic Medical Insur-ance System, for instance, multiplied from 15.1 million in 1998 to134.2 million in 2007. It needs to be noted that this basic medical insurance scheme also covers retirees, so those people who tend to have fragile constitutions can benefit from it. During the sameperiod, the number of retirees under it increased from 5.6 millionto 46 million, accounting for about 80% of them, proportionallymuch higher than the younger active employees.Medical insurance for migrant workers is more complicated because they are unwilling to participate in insurance schemesdue to their young age and high mobility, and because their em-ployers are also reluctant to pay a share. As early as September2002, the Shanghai Municipal Government promulgated TheInterim Regulations on Comprehensive Social Insurance forMigrant Workers and set up a comprehensive social insurancesystem for non-local personnel working in Shanghai. In March2003, the Chengdu Municipal Government enacted The InterimRegulation on Comprehensive Social Insurance for Non-UrbanResident Employees and implemented comprehensive socialinsurance measures for migrant workers in the province. TheMinistry of Labour and Social Security promulgated TheGuidance Opinions on the Participation of Self-EmployedUrban Personnel in Basic Medical Insurance and The Opinionson Pushing Forward the Participation of Mixed OwnershipEnterprise and Non-Public Ownership Economic Entity Employ-ees in Medical Insurance successively in 2003 and 2004, express-ly requiring each local labour and social security authority toinclude migrant workers in the scope of medical insurance.Meanwhile, self-employed migrant workers were required toparticipate in medical insurance pursuant to applicable rules and regulations.A turning point occurred in 2006. At the end of March, theState Council issued The Opinions on Solving Peasant WorkerProblems, stressing “the top urgency of solving medical careproblems for migrant workers on serious diseases” and placingmigrant worker medical insurance issues in a prominent posi-tion. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security subsequentlypromulgated The Opinions for Implementation. In mid-May, theministry issued The Circular of Charting a Course of Action forMigrant Workers to Participate in Medical Insurance, setting anobjective of “striving to enable the number of migrant workerparticipating in medical insurance to exceed 20 million by theend of 2006 … striving to include all migrant workers (who haveentered into long-term working relationship with urban employ-ers) in the scope of medical insurance by the end of 2008.” This signalled a new “push” stage in migrant worker medical care.Each locality responded swiftly with “opinions”, “regulations”and “measures” to solve migrant worker medical care problems.8The number of migrant workers participating in medical insur-ance reached 23.67 million by the end of 2006 and rose to 31.3million by the end of 2007. The government’s target for 2008 is tocover no less than 40 million.In recent years, some cities began experimentally providingmedical care to urban non-employees and about 10 million peo-ple had joined the medical care insurance scheme by the end of2006. To realise “seamless” coverage for all urban residents, theState Council decided at an executive meeting in April 2007 topilot a basic medical insurance system for residents in 88 cities.This new system was aimed at covering all those who were noteligible for the basic medical insurance system for urban employ-ees, such as elementary and high school students, children, theelderly, youngsters, and other non-employed urban residents. Bythe end of 2007, an additional 42.91 million urban residents had joined the scheme. Then, in February 2008, the central govern-ment decided to expand the experiment to half of all Chinese cit-ies and 90 million urban residents by the end of the year, andreach 80% of cities by 2009. In 2010, this medical insurancescheme is expected to be fully established in all cities in China(Meng 2007).As early as in the late 1980s, the Chinese government had pledged to the World Health Organisation that China would fullyFigure5:coverageofBasicMedicalinsuranceschemesforUrbanResidents(Million)27024021018015012090603001994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007ActiveemployeesRetireesMigrantworkersOtherurbanresidents


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china since 1978december 27, 2008EPWEconomic & Political Weekly58Figure 6: coverage of Rural cooperative Medical system (%)10090807060504030201001976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1902 1904 1906 1908 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008De-communisationNewCMSimprove primary healthcare in rural areas by 2000 (Ministryof Health 1990). To this end, it set out on “restoring and rebuilding” the rural cooperative medical system. However, thegovernment had no intention of shouldering the responsibility of financing the system. Instead, it insisted on raising “funds mainlyfrom individual contribution, supplemented by collectivelypooled subsidies and supported by government policies”. So,after a decade-long endeavour, the rural cooperative medical system was not restored as anticipated and its coverage rateremained below 10%. Worse, even such a poor coverage baserisked being eroded, thereby falling prey to a vicious circle of “start-retreat-collapse-restart”, “getting started in the spring, go-ing bust in the fall”.9In October 2002, the Chinese government adopted a newapproach towards rural cooperative medical system. In a jointlypromulgated The Decision on Rural Healthcare, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the StateCouncil declared that the country would gradually set up a NewCooperative Medical System (NCMS) and ultimately expand thesystem to cover all rural residents by 2010.The differencebetween the NCMS and the traditional CMS lies in public financeinvolvement. In addition to an annual contribution from partici-pating rural residents (RMB 10 per head in 2003, RMB 20 perhead in 2008), local treasuries offer a specific annual subsidy foreach NCMS participant (RMB 10 per head in 2003, RMB 40 perhead in 2008), while the central treasury provides an annual subsidy for each farmer participating in the NCMS in the centraland western regions (excluding cities) by way of earmarked transfer payments (RMB 10 per head in 2003, RMB 40 perhead in 2008).10The injection of public funds has vigorously pushed forwardthe development of the NCMS (Figure 6). In 2003, when the Min-istry of Health conducted its Third National Survey on Health-care Service, the rural CMS only covered 9.5% of the rural popu-lation. Five years later, by the end of June 2008, the new rural cooperative medical system covered all 31 provinces with morethan eight million participants, accounting for close to 100% of China’s rural population.11On 21 March 2007, the Executive Meetings of the StateCouncil discussed and passed the “Outline of the 11th Five-Year(2006-2010) Plan for Healthcare Development”, which required overhauling the country’s medical care system and setting up abasic healthcare framework covering all urban and rural resi-dents by 2010. With efforts now focused on building four medical care networks (the Basic Medical Insurance System for UrbanEmployees, the Basic Medical Insurance System for UrbanResidents, the Basic Medical Insurance System for Migrant Work-ers, and the New Rural Cooperative Medical System), China is moving steadily towards its goal of “providing everyone withbasic medical care”.summaryIn the early 1980s, China began to march towards a market econ-omy. At the outset, markets sprang up quietly in some corners of the economy; shortly after, market forces surrounded and en-croached on the “plan” and “public ownership” components ofthe economy from all directions; finally, market forces crossedthe boundary and spread across all society.The market no doubt has magic power. Wherever it goes, agreat deal of wealth emerges. The Chinese people who had oncesuffered from the material scarcity quickly went into a period ofsurplus. However, the market mechanism is not only an accelera-tor of economic growth, but also a double-aged sword that canrecklessly cut ethical ties between individuals and various social groups and transform people into creatures who pursue maxi-mum self-interest.When market forces were turning China into a market society,people who had previously depended on collectives and familieswere compelled to make a living on their own. Paradoxically,however, modern society is replete with all sorts of risk, making it difficult for individuals (especially those living at the bottom ofsociety) to bear the burden of taking care of themselves. Whenfast market transformation shattered social safety nets, it threat-ened to destroy the whole society. Against such a backdrop camea protective countermovement. An increasing number of people,including government decision-makers, have realised that themarket can serve only as a means to improve people’s welfare butnot as a goal in itself. The market is necessary but it must be em-bedded in society. And the state must play an active role in themarket economy to prevent a disembedded and self-regulatingmarket from dominating society.For the attention of subscribers and subscription agencies Outside indiaIt has come to our notice that a large number of subscriptions to the EPW from outside the country together with the subscription payments sent to supposed subscription agents in India have not been forwarded to us.We wish to point out to subscribers and subscription agencies outside India that all foreign subscriptions, together with the appropriate remit-tances, must be forwarded to us and not to unauthorised third parties in India.We take no responsibility whatsoever in respect of subscriptions not registered with us.Manager
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china since 1978Economic & Political WeeklyEPWdecember 27, 200859Notes1 The Gini coefficient is a measure of relativeinequality ranging from 0, absolute equality, to 1,absolute inequality.2 We use the coefficient of variation (CV) to indi-cate relative regional disparity, the higher thevalue, the larger the regional differences. CV =[(xi - x)2/n]1/2/x, where “n” (n = 1, 2, 3…n)denotes the number of regions and “xi” the percapita GDP of the ithregion.3 Unless indicated otherwise, all data presented inthis paper come from the author’s databank.4 A number of recent researches have confirmed this finding. See Shantong Li and Zhaoyuan Xu,“The Trend of Regional Income Disparity in thePeople’s Republic of China”; C Cindy Fan andMingjie Sun, “Regional Inequality in China, 1978-2006”, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol 49, No 1 (January-February 2008): 1-18; KamWing Chan and Man Wang, “Remapping China’sRegional Inequalities, 1990-2006: A New Assess-ment of de Facto and de Jure Population Data”,Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol 49, No 1,(February 2008): 210-55.5 World Bank (1993), World Development Report1993: Investing in Health (Washington DC: World Bank) 111. Kenneth W Newell (1975), Health ByThe People (Geneva: World Health Orgnisation);World Health Orgnisation, United Nation Chil-dren’s Fund (1975). Meeting Basic Health Needs inDeveloping Countries: Alternative Approaches(Geneva: World Health Organisation); Matthias Stiefel and WF Wertheim (1983), Production,Equality and Participation in Rural China(London: Zed Press for the United Nations Re-search Institute for Social Development); World Health Organisation (1978), Primary Health Care:Report of the International Conference on PrimaryHealth Care (Geneva: WHO); Dean T Jamisonet al (1984), China, the Health Sector (WashingtonDC: World Bank); BMJ Editorial Board, “PrimaryHealth Care led NHS: Learning from DevelopingCountries,” BMJ, 7 October 1995, http://bmj.bmj-journals.com/cgi/content/full/311/7010/891; Therese Hesketh and Wei Xing Zhu, “Health inChina: From Mao to Market Reform”, BMJ, 24 May 1997, http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/con-tent/full/314/7093/1543. 6 Cited from Wang Yanzhong, “Shilun guojia zainongcun yiliao weisheng baozhang zhong dezuoyong” (My preliminary observations on thestate role in the rural medical insurance cover-age), http://www.cc.org.cn/wencui/020603200/0206032015.htm.7 Joseph E Stiglitz, “Second-Generation Strategies for Reform for China”, an address given at BeijingUniversity, Beijing, China, on 20 July 1998.8 See Bai Tianliang, “Chengzhen jumin yibao shidi-an jiang quanmian qitong, feicongye jumin kecanjia” (The experiment of the urban residentmedical insurance will be launched on a full scale, non-employee residents will be covered),Xinhua Net, 27 April 2007, http://news.xinhuan-et.com/health/2007-04/27/content_6029436.htm. 9 Zhang Wenkang, Lecture delivered at the Strate-gicRenovationForum(zhuangxinzhanliuluntan),China Science Academy (zhongguo kexueyuan),31 January 2002, http://www.cas.ac.cn/html/Dir/2002/01/31/5616.htm.10 In 2003, the central government and local gov-ernment each allocated 10 yuan per person tosubsidise the peasants who enrolled in NCMS ontop of a 10 yuan contribution from each peasant.By 2008, the respective contributions from peas-ant as well as the central and local governments increased to 40, 40 and 20. http://www.people.com.cn/GB/shizheng/3586/20030124/913612.html.11 See http://cn.chinagate.com.cn/health/2008-07/10/content_15987316.htm. ReferencesBai, Tianliang (2007): “Chengzhen jumin yibao shidi-an jiang quanmian qitong, feicongye jumin kecanjia” (The experiment of the urban residentmedical insurance will be launched on a full scale, non-employee residents will be covered),Xinhua Net, 27 Apri, http://news.xinhuanet.com/health/2007-04/27/content_6029436.htm.Blumenthal, David and William Hsiao (2005): “Priva-tisation and Its Discontents: The Evolving ChineseHealthcare System”, The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol 353, No 11, 15 September.BMJ Editorial Board (1995): “Primary Health CareLed NHS: Learning from Developing Countries”,BMJ, 7 October, http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/311/7010/891.Bo, Yibo (1991): Ruogan zhongda juece yu shijian dehuigu (Recollections of Certain Major Decisions and Events) (Beijing: Zhongyang dangxiao chu-banshe).Economic and Social Commission for Asia and thePacific (2008): Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2008: Sustaining Growth and Shar-ing Prosperity (New York: Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), pp 48-57.Esping-Andersen, Gøsta (1990): The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Uni-versity Press).Feng, Jie and Xuan Xiaowei (2006): “Woguo quyuzengzhang geju he diqu chaju de bianhua yuyuanyin fenxi” (An Analysis on the Current Situa-tion and Causes of Unbalanced Regional Develop-ment in China), Development Research Centre of the State Council Working Paper No 138.Henderson, G, S Jin, J Akin, Z Li, J Wang, H Ma, Y He,X Zhang, Y Chang and K Ge (1995): “Distributionof Medical Insurance in China”, Social Science andMedicine, Vol 41, No 8.Hesketh, Therese and Wei Xing Zhu (1997): “Health inChina: From Mao to Market Reform”, BMJ, 24May,http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/314/7093/1543. Jamison, Dean T et al (1984): China, the Health Sector(Washington DC: World Bank).Jeffrey, Williamson (1965): “Regional Inequality and the Process of National Development: A Descrip-tion of the Patterns”, Economic Development andCultural Change, Vol 13, No 4.Jian, Tianlun, Jeffrey D Sachs and Andrew M Warner(1996): “Trends in Regional Inequality in China”,NBER Working Paper No 5412, January.Jin, Renqing: “Wanshan cujin jiben gonggong fuwujundenghua de gonggong caizheng zhidu” (En-hance and Improve the Public Finance System inEqualising the Basic Public Service). http://www.zgdjyj.com/Default.aspx?tabid=99&ArticleId=721.Kam, Wing Chan and Man Wang (2008): “RemappingChina’s Regional Inequalities, 1990-2006: A NewAssessment of de Facto and de Jure PopulationData”, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol 49,No 1, (February): 21-55.Kenneth, W Newell (1975): Health By The People(Geneva: World Health Orgnisation).Liang, Shuming (2005): Zhongguo wenhua yao yi (TheKey Principles of Chinese Culture) (Shanghai:Shanghai People’s Press).Liu, Xingzhu and Cao Huaijie (1992): “China’s Coop-erative Medical System: Its Historical Transfor-mations and the Trend of Development”, Journalof Public Health Policy, Vol 13, No 4 (Winter).Meng, Xiang (2007): “Disanzhangwang: quanguochengzhen jumin yibao shidian jijiang qitong”(The third net: the experiment on nationwidemedical insurance of urban residents will belaunched), Ershiyi shiji jingji baodao (The econo-mic report of the 21 century), 1 July, http://finance.sina.com.cn/g/20070701/04443742157.shtml;http://www.molss.gov.cn/gb/news/2008-03/01/content_228119.htm.Ministry of Health (1990): “Guyu woguo nongcunshixian 2000 nian renren xiangyou weishengbaojian de guihua mubiao” (The planned goal of medical care coverage for everyone in the coun-tryside in 2000). 15 March, http://www.chinaeh.com/zhengcefagui/yizheng/yizheng3.htm.Perry, Elizabeth J (1999): “Crime, Corruption, and Con-tention” in Merle Goldman and Roderick Mac-Farquhar (ed.), The Paradox of China’s Post-MaoReforms (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).Polanyi, Karl (2001): The Great Transformation: ThePolitical and Economic Origins of Our Time(Boston: Beacon Press).Ravallion, Martin and Shaohua Chen (2004): “China’s (Uneven) Progress Against Poverty”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No 3408, 16 June.Shaoguang, Wang (2004): “China’s Health System:From Crisis to Opportunity”, Yale-China HealthJournal, Vol 3 (Autumn).– (2008): “State Extractive Capacity, Policy Orien-tation, and Inequity in the Financing and Deliveryof Health Care in Urban China”, Social Sciences inChina, Vol 29, No 1.Shaoguang, Wang and Angang Hu (2001): The ChineseEconomy in Crisis: State Capacity and Tax Reform(Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe).– (1999): The Political Economy of Uneven Develop-ment: The Case of China (Armonk NY: ME Sharpe).Sheng, Bin and Feng Lun (1991): Zhongguo guoqingbaogao (Condition of the Nation of China) (Shen-yang: Liaoning People’s Publishing House).Shantong, Li and Zhaoyuan Xu (2008): “The Trend ofRegional Income Disparity in the People’s Repub-lic of China”; C Cindy Fan and Mingjie Sun, “Re-gional Inequality in China, 1978-2006”, EurasianGeography and Economics, Vol 49, No 1, (January-February): 1-18.Stiefel, Matthias and W F Wertheim (1983): Produc-tion, Equality and Participation in Rural China(London: Zed Press for the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development).Stiglitz, Joseph E (1998): “Second-Generation Strate-gies for Reform for China”, an address given atBeijing University, Beijing, China, on 20 July.United Nation Children’s Fund/World HealthOrganisation (1975): Meeting Basic Health Needs in Developing Countries: Alternative Approaches(Geneva: World Health Organisation).Wang, Yanzhong, “Shilun guojia zai nongcun yiliaoweisheng baozhang zhong de zuoyong” (My pre-liminary observations on the state role in therural medical insurance coverage), http://www.cc.org.cn/wencui/020603200/0206032015.htm.World Bank (1997): Financing Health Care: Issues andOptions for China (Washington DC: World Bank).– (1993): World Development Report 1993: Investingin Health (Washington DC: World Bank).World Health Organisation (1978): Primary HealthCare: Report of the International Conference onPrimary Health Care (Geneva: WHO).Yuanli, Liu (2004): “Development of the Rural HealthInsurance System in China”, Health Policy andPlanning, Vol 19, No 3.Zhang, Wenkang (2002): Lecture delivered at theStrategic Renovation Forum (zhuangxin zhanliuluntan), China Science Academy (zhongguo kex-ueyuan), 31 January 2002, http://www.cas.ac.cn/html/Dir/2002/01/31/5616.htm.In sum, as this paper shows, after suffering from ashort nightmare of “market society” in the 1990s, China hasseen a burgeoning countermovement hastening the birthof a “social market.” In a social market, the market is still the primary mechanism of resource allocation but thegovernment employs redistributive instruments to conduct“decommodification” in areas concerning people’s rights of existence.
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ahouse Divided: china after 30 Years of ‘Reforms’Robert Weil The 30 years of Chinese capitalistic “reforms” nowexceeds the 29 years of socialist revolution under Mao. A“new”Chinahasemerged,economicallypowerful,showcasedbytheOlympicsandspurredbynationalisticsentiments. But beneath this shiny surface there isgrowing polarisation between those with extremewealthatthetopandhundredsofmillionsintheworking classes who have lost power and face a bleakstruggle for survival in the global capitalist market.Despiteameliorativemeasuresbythecurrentleadership,thereisnofundamentalplantoreversethiseverwidening divide. In the face of the deepening globaleconomiccrisis,thesedivisionsareswelling.Chinaissuffering its most severe downturn in decades, andworkingclassprotestsarespreading.TheChineseleftisre-emerging,butremainslargelyisolatedfromthesepopular forces. Only by beginning to bridge that gap,canChinaonceagainfindasocialistalternative.Robert Weil (Rwchina@aol.com) is the author of Red Cat, White Cat:China and the Contradictions of “Market Socialism” (New York: MonthlyReview Press, 1996).The fall of 2008 marked a significant turning point in China.The 30 years since late 1978 when Deng Xiaoping consoli-dated his hold over the Chinese Communist Party and stateand began implementing his ever more capitalistic “reforms”,now exceed in length the 29 years from 1949 to 1978 of socialistrevolution under Mao Zedong and his followers. The gains wonat such high cost in the course of that revolutionary struggle –guaranteed jobs, nearly universal and free healthcare and educa-tion, old age pensions, collectively built factories and housing,communal agriculture and infrastructure and environmental projects and, most fundamentally, the sense that the workingclasses were in command, with a political and economic systemrepresenting their interests – recede ever further into the past. Intheir place, is increasingly a “house divided” along every socialfault line – class, ethnic, rural/urban, geography, politics and culture – and total abandonment of the socialist revolution bythe current leadership, for whom nationalist power, “efficient”economic development and “social stability” are overridinggoals. Nor is the end anywhere in sight. Year after year, the hold of capitalism over all areas of the Chinese economy and everysector of society only grows deeper and wider, resulting in eversharper contradictions.1 aDubiousMilestoneChina has profoundly changed over the past 30 years. Its rapideconomic growth is unprecedented in the history of the global South. By erecting a capitalistic system on the foundations laid and achievements gained during the socialist era – collective ru-ral transformation, diversified primary industrialisation, and fundamental social security – as well as by “opening up” thecountry to foreign investment, Deng and those who have fol-lowed in his path have catapulted the Chinese economy to evergreater heights. As a result, China is increasingly a major “player”in the global economic system, becoming the principle world“factory”, especially for low cost consumer goods, and able to useits newfound weight to begin to restore its historically central po-sition in east Asia, a role that it had been forced, through much of the modern era, to yield to the Japanese. It has also become anever more dynamic investor and seeker of raw materials across the globe, offering an alternative “pole” to the United States,western Europe, and Japan. Some even believe that it is well onits way to displacing US global pre-eminence.Even a short visit to Beijing is enough to feel the enormous en-ergy emanating from Chinese society, most obvious in the unre-lenting construction spreading out in rings around the city, as well as in the mood of almost palpable purposefulness on its streets. However critical they may be of the current regime, there
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china since 1978december 27, 2008EPWEconomic & Political Weekly62seem to be widespread and genuine feelings of pride amongmuch of the public in the rise of China as a powerful nation stateand global contender. The national mobilisation in response tothe Sichuan earthquake, reaction to the attacks on Olympic torchrunners in the west, and the Beijing “coming out party” of elabo-rate spectacles and triumphant sports successes that followed,fuelled a wave of patriotic fervour. The government used theOlympics to fan nationalist feelings, combining historic pageantrywith high tech wizardry and a shower of gold medals. The goal was to present to the outside world, but above all to the Chinesepeople themselves, the imagery of a united country on the move.The building of architectural monuments – the Olympic “Birds Nest” stadium, the gleaming National Theatre or “Egg”, and others – though mainly designed by those from outside China,have given Beijing the feel of a “global” city, not unlike the moderntransformation of Paris by Haussmann in the late 19th century.Though less radical than there, the “cleansing” of the Chinesecapital has similarly pushed the working classes away from itscentre, helping to hide the ever widening social divide and limitthe threat from unrest.2 False Facade of a ‘harmonious society’The effort to promote nationalist unity has a more formal ideo-logical foundation in the concept of a “harmonious society”,called for by President and Party Secretary Hu Jintao and PremierWen Jiabao. “Harmony” as a social ideal in China has roots twoand a half millennia old, in the paternalistic and hierarchical Confucian ethic. The revival of Confucianism as an ideologicalbasis for modernisation – despite its anachronism – is promoted by the Hu/Wen leadership and its supporters in the name of astable society. Efforts have even been made to “harmonise”Confucius with Marx, by appealing to his more “humanistic”side, while ignoring his concepts of class struggle and revolution.But the appeal to Confucianism has wider purposes. A link to its historic role automatically conveys a patina of national unique-ness over modern concepts, providing them with “special Chinesecharacteristics”. The result is an ideological mix that may com-bine in varying degrees Confucius, Marx, western liberalism, and Mao, in the search for a uniquely “Chinese” path. Even some onthe left find in Confucianism – as well as in other traditional be-lief systems such as Daoism and Legalism – approaches that offeran alternative to the dominant ideology of the west. In particular,earlier wide admiration in certain quarters for US neoliberal capitalism and “hard power” is rapidly declining.But the Hu/Wen appeal to “social harmony” has a more practi-cal basis as well. In pre-modern China, maintaining order and dynastic legitimacy required that the rulers attend to the welfareof the common people, keep infrastructure in good workingshape, restrain corruption and dutifully perform traditional ritu-als. Well aware of this history, combined with growing pressures from the modern global economy, Hu and Wen have tried to pro-mote “harmony” through a kind of “New Deal” programme of “reforms within the reforms”. They have cancelled the nationalagricultural tax and pushed local authorities to eliminate orreduce levies and fees on peasants, while raising prices for farmproducts and providing subsidies. For workers in the cities, thereare new labour laws, with longer term contracts, legal services,and minimum wage increases. In both urban and rural areas, ef-forts have been renewed to expand education and healthcare. Aneffort once again has been made to end corruption, with direwarnings that the failure to do so may undermine the Commu-nist Party itself. Though less comprehensive than the sweepingchanges of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), and at most a series of ameliorative social democratic adjustments, the Hu/Wen policies have a similar goal: to save the current system from revolutionaryturmoil. Yet this very need to appeal for “social harmony” is anindication of its fragility, and the concept is less a call for action,than a false façade to cover up its current absence.3 Beneath the shiny surfaceIt was no mere “oversight” therefore that the entire Mao era was left out of the Olympic ceremony historical review – though themass performances resembled the ones of that time. Like rundownneighbourhoods hidden behind temporary walls so that visitors to the Olympics would not see them, the history of working class struggle also had to “disappear”. No reminder was permitted ofthe recent revolutionary past. Yet if only a few days in Beijing arenecessary to feel the dynamism of China today, the same shortperiod is sufficient to be confronted with its growing contradic-tions. A handful of casual encounters and conversations is enoughto begin to see beneath the shiny surface. At the newly openedNationalTheatre,anenormouspoolreflectsitsgleamingrounded surface. Taking in this view, the very essence of “new” China, acolleague and I run into a peasant from Shandong province, inBeijing to protest seizure of his property by local authorities with-out adequate compensation. Eager to tell his story, his tale is all too painfully typical. Village officials took his land and destroyed a building that he owned in order to build a road, paying him onlya pittance – “I was supposed to get 100 yuan, but just got 1 yuan”.They also took personal belongings, and beat him after he com-plained, leaving hearing damaged in one ear. He was on his 15thtrip to Beijing to the office for petitioners, where they put him in adata base and told him to go home. Sometimes they talk to the local authorities, but nothing happens. He had to sell personal itemsto pay for his trips, and it costs him 10 yuan a night for a place tosleep, or he finds a space at the railroad station. The complaint of-fice is full of such rural petitioners, most of them, like him, thereabout land disputes. But such uncompensated seizures are only oneof the many problems plaguing farmers. The main one, in his view,is the monopoly of power by buyers and sellers of agricultural goods and inputs, so costs are high and prices for crops are low.This unequal division – which he describes as “big ghosts and little ghosts” – is the chief problem confronting peasants.The very setting for this chance meeting was fitting, for theinequality of power protested by this peasant is paralleled in thecities. The National Theatre itself was built over the ruins ofcenturies old hutongs, neighbourhoods of alleyways and one-story buildings, the most distinctive feature of the traditional architecture of Beijing. Not only were vast hutong areas cleared as part of a “modernisation” programme, especially before the Olympics – with similar or even more radical transformations ofShanghai and other major cities – but tens of thousands of often
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china since 1978Economic & Political WeeklyEPWdecember 27, 200863old and poor residents were forcibly displaced, often without ad-equate relocation or compensation. But if the residents are dis-pensable, there is a new attitude toward the buildings them-selves. The government is belatedly moving to preserve at leastsome of the remaining hutongs, in part for tourism, and privateowners – including foreigners – have begun to invest in “gentrifi-cation”, turning traditional houses into luxury homes, unafford-able by their former occupants. Added to the enormous cost ofthe Olympics – some $44 billion – in a country that still has stag-gering amounts of poverty, especially in the rural areas, such“cleaning up” of the capital and disruption of its old patterns of life, have brought home, even to many in the “new middle class”,the highly skewed character of governmental priorities, resultingin public resentment. Especially among the displaced and work-ing classes, indifference to the Olympic spirit often turned to an-ger at actions of the authorities.“Social harmony”, however, requires that any attempt to protestthese policies be suppressed. Conflicts over land and propertycreate a vicious cycle, while the absence of any regular disputeresolution mechanism means that even easily resolved cases es-calate. Petitioners often spend a great deal, even going intodeeper poverty, in order to pursue their complaints. The result is that their demands for compensation grow – to cover not onlytheir original losses, but the costs of their appeals – leading thegovernment to view the total as too high. On their part, localauthorities often send agents to Beijing to fight the cases and totry to get complainants to go home, expenses that harden theirresistance to making any payments. According to those assistingpetitioners, most complaints are legitimate, and the costs for bothsides would more than cover a settlement. But the authorities fears that solving too many cases will lead to more coming, in-cluding those with bogus claims. In Beijing, after Hu Jintao had ashelter built for them, even more arrived. South of the main rail-road station, a whole encampment grew, with a kind of “cottageindustry” to meet needs for food, letter writing and so on. Activ-ists say that petitioners are hard to organise, tending to fight theirindividual cases, without common interests, at times acting al-most like a lumpenproletariat, easily manipulated. “Regulars”among them form a sort of subculture, with some even mentallydisturbed. There are unofficial group “heads”, and sexual and other forms of exploitation. Women petitioners have formed theirown “union”, a kind of “family”.So now the authorities focus on suppressing them, trying tokeep them away, pressuring landlords from renting them rooms,breaking up concentrations, using spies to identify leaders, and arresting or buying them off, dividing their ranks. The Olympics saw a heightened crackdown. In one notorious case, two poorwomen in their 70s were sentenced to a year of “re-educationthrough labour” – later rescinded – for appealing the undercom-pensated taking of their home. The government has also changedtactics, using the judiciary more. In part this was in response tothe growing boldness of petitioners who began riding buses with-out paying, acting as if free transport is their right. For theauthorities, such actions represent a kind of “cancer” that broad attempts at repression have only tended to spread, so they turnedinstead to trying a “surgical knife” approach. Before, theydetained, and sometimes brutalised, transient petitioners. Nowthey have made it illegal for more than five to appeal jointly, and require that petitions start with local or factory authorities, and work their way up the system. It is against the law not to followthese guidelines, and those who violate them can be treated ascriminals. As a result, for most petitioners there is no adequateway to resolve their situation. For the few leftist organisers workingwith them, these new government methods have made their work even more difficult. Some now focus on urban workers, especiallyif a group of them come for just a few days and leave, avoidingthe more individualistic approaches often taken by peasants, and giving the officials less time for a crackdown. Nevertheless, thenumber of worker petitioners is going down, and denial of re-dress only spreads the mood of injury, alienation and anger.4 The ever Widening GapThe experience of petitioners is just one form of the fundamentalcontradictions now confronting Chinese society after 30 years of “reform”. If 10 years ago, the word that seemed to be on the lips of everyone was “corruption”, by the summer of 2008, the term thatwas almost an obsession was “polarisation”. The two are closelylinked. Many believe that the newfound wealth of those at thetop of the society has been obtained largely through corruption,not as a result of productive contributions to the economy. But theever widening class gap – not just economic, but political and so-cial – seems to have taken on a life of its own, as theprimary focus of public dissatisfaction. In large part this is due tothe hardening of the lines between classes. Even a few years back,the social structure seemed rather more fluid, with “superrich”emerging, but still as a bit of an oddity, and the sense that thepossibility for upper mobility was fairly widespread. Those whooccupy the top reaches of the society, however, have now assumed aposition of unassailable superiority of wealth and power, and perhaps even more importantly, are reproducing their privileged status in ways that have brought a sense of entitled lifestyles.China today has over 100 billionaires, measured in dollars,second only to the United States (http://www.hurun.net/listre-leaseen25.aspx). In 2002 there were three, and as late as 2005only ten, but “China’s economy has been expanding rapidly,boosting the personal wealth of the country’s leading entrepre-neurs” (CRIENGLISH.com, 3 January 2008). The familial ties link-ing top party and state authorities to these superrich are oftendirect. In 2005, the richest of all was Larry Rong Zhijian – son of former vice president and leading “Red Capitalist” Rong Yiren, who helped to open China up to the global market (BBC News, 4November 2005). But he was only the wealthiest of many withsuch ties, and an aura of pervasive corruption hangs over thenewly rich, regardless of their personal practices. Stocks and real estate are especially rife with manipulation and speculation, cre-ating cyclical “bubbles” and busts, leaving ordinary investorswith heavy losses, while those with the inside tracks and connec-tions continue to build their financial empires.These “superrich” now form the Chinese contingent of interna-tional bourgeoisie. Beneath them is a broad stratum of wealthypartyandstatebureaucrats,theircorporatepartners,growingranks of private entrepreneurs, and compradors serving multinational
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china since 1978december 27, 2008EPWEconomic & Political Weekly64corporations. Next come the very large in absolute numbers –estimated at 100-200 million – though still proportionately quitesmall, “new middle class” of cadre, business people, managers,professionals, and academics. It is these well to do strata who arethe most enthusiastic about the new capitalist economy. A 2008survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found China one of only 6 out of 24 countries where there was not widespread popu-lar discontent, with 86% expressing satisfaction with the waythings are going, and only a slightly smaller majority viewing theeconomy favourably – in striking contrast with the deep andgrowing alienation in the United States, where 70% were found to be dissatisfied with the direction of the country (New YorkTimes, 13 June 2008, A11). But those surveyed in China wereheavily weighted to the better off urban areas. Their enthusiasmis not widely shared by the working classes, where hundreds ofmillions are falling further behind – at least relatively, and formany, absolutely. The Chinese Gini index – a standard measureof inequality – has been steadily rising, and now stands around 47.0, up 10 points from 15 years ago. A figure above 40 is usuallyconsidered “dangerous”. China is even more unequal than Indo-nesia at 34.3, India at 36.8, the Philippines at 44.5, or the United States at 40.8, though below Brazil at 57.0 (UN 2007/2008 Hu-man Development Report, http://hdrstats.undp.org/indicators/147;World Development Report 1996, World Bank and Oxford Univer-sity Press, Table 5, 196). Such a gap, however, is not simply eco-nomic. It is social as well, a widening divide in class expectations and attitudes. In the shopping malls of the bigger cities, chic teen-agers, the children or even grandchildren of the upper classes,now wander through luxury boutiques with a sense of entitle-ment and easy familiarity that bespeaks growing up in a life inwhich such perks are assumed. Much of the culture and media isoriented toward stimulating their “needs” for ever more con-sumer goods, especially from the west, seen as the emblems of aworldly “modernism”. This produces stark juxtapositions and jar-ring visual clashes, such as the row of swarthy and grimy migrantconstruction workers, sitting on a curb after an exhausting day,beneath enormous ads for luxury clothing and jewellery, full of slim white western models in slinky dresses – an almost tauntingimage of the “new” China, ever more completely beyond thereach of those whose labour built it.This growing social divide is generating attitudes and prac-tices among the newly rich that are increasingly reminiscent of the worst forms of pre-revolutionary “mandarin” behaviour.Those who work with migrant domestics serving such families,hear horror stories that parallel excesses and abuses familiarfrom the Persian Gulf oil states or the Hamptons on Long Island.One family has three servants, one to cook, one to take care of the dog, one to clean. In another house, those working in thekitchen were told that they cannot eat at the same table as thefamily or even share its food – “too good for you” – but only left-overs, and not even decent meat or fish, only vegetables andscraps. A graduate of one of the growing number of “domestictraining programmes” – themselves a sign of the increasing insti-tutionalisation of class divisions – came back to her classroomand said that she had been treated worse than a dog in the housewhere she was employed. The trainer asked the other students what they thought about this. They were shocked, but were toldthat they “just have to take it”. Discrimination and sexual harass-ment is common, especially toward those from Henan province,which provides many Beijing domestics, who are often accused of stealing or publically humiliated by their employers. One organ-iser compared their treatment to that suffered by Latino and Black domestic workers in the United States. But it is not onlyamong the superrich that such attitudes and practices havespread. Mobo Gao recounts an encounter with a “smooth and ur-bane” professor from a leading Beijing university, who “told me that[the] Chinese government at all levels had so much money thesedays that officials did not [know] how to spend it”. When Gaosuggested using it on education and healthcare for the poor, hewas told that “There are too many people in China, and if youspent one dollar on each person it would be too costly”. But theacademic “expressed pride” in a plan “to build en suite bathroomsin professors’ offices at some leading Chinese universities” (MoboGao, The Battle for China’s Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution,London: Pluto Press, 2008, 121).5 ‘Robbing Peter to Pay Paul’Despite certain ameliorating policies by the Hu/Wen government,therefore, the internal polarisation is still rising. This contradic-tion derives in part from the “robbing Peter to pay Paul” aspect of many of the new initiatives, taking away with one hand what isgiven with the other. As a result, even where the intent seemsgenuinely to be to help relieve the pressures building on theworkingclasses,theactionsoftenhaveunintendedconsequences,merely shifting burdens in ways that do little to solve problems,and may even exacerbate them. This is especially so in imple-menting national policies at the local level. Changes in the rural areas, for example, which Hu and Wen have labelled the “NewSocialist Countryside”, include investments in infrastructuresuch as roads. Along with tax relief and subsidies, these havebettered the lot of many farmers, especially after the neglect and “free market” excesses of former president Jiang Zemin and premier Zhu Rongji. The new approach has been well received bymuch of the rural population, helping peasants get produce tomarkets, and relieving some of the isolation which the young inparticular so dislike. In areas of the countryside, the economicsituation has shown a general improvement, even drawing somemigrants back from the cities. Overall under the reforms, manypeasants have gained access to a wider variety of foods and cloth-ing, while technological advances, such as small-scale agricultural machinery and cellphones, have lessened the hard labour andlack of communications in rural areas. Those who disparage orignore such gains will fail to grasp the full complexity of thedynamic of Chinese society.But the parallel result of the “New Socialist Countryside” hasbeen to lessen the ability of rural communities collectively toincrease production and meet social needs. Stripped of taxresources for providing schools and other services, and withnational aid haphazard, each local government has been basi-cally thrown on its own, and many have even had to borrowmoney in order to meet their basic budgets. In addition, nation-wide educational policy is encouraging school mergers in the
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china since 1978Economic & Political WeeklyEPWdecember 27, 200865countryside, to provide for better facilities and teachers, part of anideological commitment to “modernisation”. But this has resulted in closing many village schools, or at least eliminating classes,especially above 4th grade, and transferring them to the countylevel – a “no 5thth grade” policy that means loss of the transitionfrom primary to junior high school. Such a consolidation, whichone non-governmental organisation head calls “disastrous”, oftenforces parents to get apartments in bigger towns in order to staywith their children, who are too young to live alone in the dorms.This separates families, disrupting homes and work, and placingan often unbearable cost burden on them, one that is much higherthan any eliminated school fees. Some even have to take outloans to meet expenses, or pull their children out of school alto-gether. With the burden now on individual households, better off families are able to take most advantage of the centralisedschools, while those who are financially stressed fall further be-hind. Rather than providing collective opportunities for all mem-bers of rural society, access to schooling becomes a source of wid-ening class division – as in pre-revolutionary China. New healthinsurance plans are similarly structured, with costs rising athigher levels of care, so that many peasants fail to get needed treatment. In this way, gains in some areas are offset in others,with the larger effect of further polarising the countryside.But the consequences are even more far-reaching. With fami-lies putting the needs of children first, many end up leaving thevillages altogether. Young couples especially are moving out, vir-tually emptying many farming communities of their main labourforce, and destroying what remains of their social networks.Those left are mainly the old and very young. One migrant or-ganiser said that when she was growing up, her village had “friends, love and a social climate”, but now these are gone – and not only in rural areas but throughout society, where everyoneseems to be “just money oriented”. Adding to the negative climate,tens of millions of children left behind when their parentsmigrated are now coming of age, many of them with psychological and attitude problems. Often raised by grandparents, many canbarely wait to join the rural exodus. As a result, a lot of land inthe villages is not being farmed any longer. Up until now, this exitof young peasants from farming was largely made up for by a risein productivity through greater use of fertilisers, pesticides, ma-chinery and high-yielding seeds. But such improvements arereaching technological limits for the very small size averageChinese farm, while rising costs of inputs and relatively low valueof crops are producing a price “scissors”, eating up whatever gains derived from cancelled taxes.Overall, recent partial advances have a “short term fix” quality,when viewed from the perspective of the larger contradictions of Chinese agriculture today. For the vast majority of peasants thesituation remains extremely hard, and is often said to be in “cri-sis”. The fundamental problem is the inability of small farms inChina to survive in the global market that now pervades all sec-tors. Chinese peasants on tiny plots simply cannot compete withthousand acre mechanised farms, and pig or chicken “factories”in the United States, Australia or Brazil, or with multinational monopolies in agricultural processing and marketing. Over timethese contradictions will only grow, and there is no clear solution.The “New Socialist Countryside (NSC)” – never carefully defined– offers no collective approach to resolving this dilemma. Eventhe movement toward cooperatives, a limited but significant partof the rural scene for several years now, has been given little sup-port by the national government, and what aid is provided is of-ten largely siphoned off by village authorities, dominated by“rich” peasants and local clans, who use it to build their ownpower bases and projects. Far from restoring socialist collectivi-sation, the “NSC” often bypasses what cooperative models thereare, and results in ever wider class divisions, as wealth and authority – and rural poverty – are further concentrated6 ‘and the First shall Be Last’Despite some improvements in the countryside, the large gap be-tween rural and urban incomes in China, now among the highestin the world, continues to grow, and the cities remain a magnetfor hundreds of millions off the farms. Only in those villagesthat have managed to combine local industries with farming – apractice that goes back to the Great Leap Forward – and to main-tain schools and other collective services, do young peasants tend to stay. Elsewhere, the rural economy depends heavily on theearnings of those who migrate to urban areas. Given the lack of aviable way to remain on the land for many of them, a growingnumber of these “peasant workers” are determined not only tomove to the cities but to stay there. The migration of young peas-ants, especially, is creating a new kind of semi-proletariat, withinsufficient earnings back in the villages, but inadequate urbanpay. Though some younger migrants have a happy-go-lucky “earnwhat you can, while you can” attitude, overall their situationremains extremely bad, with most working under brutally ex-ploitative conditions of excessive hours, miserable wages, lack of benefits and abysmal housing. Still largely treated as outsiders without rights – their condition is often compared to that of “illegal” foreign immigrants elsewhere in the world – there is nosolid place for them within the urban structure. In particular,they cannot get a good education for their children, who in mostcases have to go to separate schools, or none at all. Most are justsurviving in the cities, barely able to help their parents back home. Nevertheless, their determination to remain in the urbancentres is often a desperate one, as in the case of young rural women who turn to prostitution.Many of these younger migrants now say that they no longerwant to be called “peasants”, and see themselves as new urban“workers”. Growing numbers do not even send money to theirfamilies, but use their earnings to build their own newer city lives – a profound change from earlier migrant workers, who stilllooked on their farms as their primary occupations and work inurban areas as temporary. Some now manage to set up businessesor get their children into regular schools, and certain cities havemadeeffortstointegratethembetter.Parallelwiththesechanges,there has been a sharp decline in the fortunes of the “old” urbanworking class. From the time of the revolution on, urban and in-dustrial workers were considered the “leading force” in society.This was not merely empty rhetoric. Their conditions were ingeneral much better than those of peasants, and in many cases were equal or even superior to professionals. Even today, their
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china since 1978december 27, 2008EPWEconomic & Political Weekly66sense of entitlement in their former work units, including a sharein decision-making, and a belief that having built these facilities,they were the “owners” of them, remains strong. Now, however,it is common to hear that urban and industrial workers are in theworst position of all classes in Chinese society, and that “the firsthave become last”. This rests on two transformations. One is thefiring of tens of millions from the state-owned enterprises (SOEs),which have largely been converted into private or semi-privatecorporations. The loss not only of jobs, but of the housing, health-care, and pensions that went with them, have left these workers largely abandoned, devoid of their former economic leverage and political clout, and almost entirely neglected by the government,which has turned its attention to the rural areas. The Chineseurban working class has thereby been reduced again to the stateof the “classical” proletariat as defined by Marx, stripped of anyaccess to the means of production, other than by selling theirlabour power in the marketplace to the capitalists.This has led to a striking reversal. Today it is common to hearthe sentiment that peasants are better off than workers. Some inthe countryside have even taken to viewing their situation – bad as it often is – as superior to those in the cities. Workers are worseoff because they have no land, but a peasant, no matter how poor,still has a plot to farm and a place to build a house and raise afamily. Young peasants can depend on the older generation,which has traditionally helped them to get an independent startin life. But in the cities, younger workers are often in desperatestraits, unable to find regular work, and forced to rent or even tolive with parents – who in many cases have themselves alreadybeen beaten down – in small, dark and crowded apartments,restricting their opportunities for marriage and children. It iscommon to hear that the top leadership no longer cares aboutthe urban working class, and has largely left it to face thecapitalist market alone. Of course, there are those who do bet-ter – some taxi drivers, many dismissed from the SOEs, say thatthey earn more now than in the factories. But they are responsi-ble for their own housing, healthcare, and education, and nolonger have pensions. Nor are they the only ones facing suchconditions. “Crisis” and “financialisation” are hitting even theurban middle class. Many of them used to talk about the “poorpeasants”, but now they realise that hard times are affectingthem too, with rapid inflation, and losses in the stock and real estate markets. 7 into the VoidIt must be stressed that these conditions were occurring in “good”times. China has yet to face fully the slowdowns, and evencrashes, that almost certainly await it. So far, the remnants of its socialist organisation, including tight control over banks, cur-rency rates and investment, and a still significant state role inenterprises, have buffered it from the worst effects of the world-wide economic chaos. But it has already had close calls – for ex-ample the collapse of the US mortgage market, in which almost$400 billion of its dollar holdings were invested, and where itavoided dire losses only because of the Wall Street “bailout”. Upto 60% of recent foreign investment in China is “hot” moneybetting on future currency revaluations or fluctuations in realestate prices, rather than for productive purposes – the same kind of speculative flow that caused the Asian financial crisis of the1990s. In late 2008 stock and housing markets declined sharply,and its once booming auto sales followed suit. With limitedconsumer spending, especially in rural areas, accounting for onlya little over a third of its economic production – “probably thelowest share in any country in the world” – there is no way Chinacould avoid suffering a significant downturn from the slump inthe wealthier countries (New York Times, 27 October 2008, A22).Even before the global crisis hit fully, over half of Chinese toymanufacturers – more than 3,600 mainly small and mid-sizecompanies – had shut down plants or gone out of business alto-gether (Associated Press, Santa Cruz, CA, Sentinel, 20 October2008,B-10).Some1,000factories,one-fifththetotalinDongguan, amajor export centre in the Pearl River Delta, have stopped pro-duction. Up to 2.5 million jobs in that region alone may be lost in2008, while nationwide more than 68,000 small companiesclosed in the first half of the year, spreading deepening angeramong the swelling ranks of unemployed workers (washington-post.com, 4 November 2008).Under such conditions, the economy as a whole is beginning tosuffer its own form of “scissors”, squeezed between the risingdemands of the working classes and the relentless pressure of theworld capitalist system. Governments at all levels face growingdemands both domestically and from abroad to improve conditions,especially for those producing for the export market. Without apay raise, survival in the face of inflation had become impossiblefor many. The choice of growing numbers of migrants to returnto their villages rather than accept extreme exploitation in thefactories led to shortages of labour, especially in coastal areas,resulting in wage increases over the past several years. The atti-tude of those who have stayed in the cities that they are now“workers” and their growing unwillingness to accept bad condi-tions and violation of their rights increased the pressure. Official minimum wages rose and legal protections have been expanded.Employers still find ways to avoid these new guarantees, grant-ing raises but shortening the period of employment. Others moved inland to cheaper areas – or out of China altogether, oftento Vietnam or Cambodia. The overall impact, however, has beento raise costs, putting pressure on enterprises to cut corners else-where, leading to such disasters as the tainting of dairy products with the industrial chemical melamine, resulting in the death of four babies and the sickening of more than 50,000, and forcingthe recall of products both in China and abroad. Among thesharply rising expenses are those for imported fuel. The govern-ment has raised prices, while offering fewer subsidies to truck and cab drivers. Diesel sales are limited, and lines at gas stations often stretch for blocks, snarling traffic and wasting time and en-ergy, while adding to the often dire air pollution.In the past, rural areas provided a release valve for hard times in the cities. But with ties to their villages increasingly tenuous, itwill not be as easy as before to push mainly young migrant work-ers, many of whom left home at a very early age and do not knowor like farming, back to the countryside. In addition, before theOctober 2008 meeting of the party Central Committee, there wasspeculation about a move to privatise farmland, allowing peasants
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china since 1978Economic & Political WeeklyEPWdecember 27, 200867to “capitalise” the value of their individual plots and laying thebasis for concentration of production on fewer but larger farms.In part, the goal is to attract more capital investment into therural areas, boosting incomes and consumption. Such a move –long warned against by the left – would complete the recapitali-sation of the countryside, bringing potentially devastating conse-quences (www.chinaleftreview.org). Chief among these is restora-tion of the pre-revolutionary class division between landlordsand “rich” farmers on the one side, and poor peasants and a vastpool of landless rural labourers on the other. Over time, tens ofmillions of migrants might no longer have a plot of land back inthe villages. This would only increase the necessity for rapideconomic growth and dependency on exports, to absorb the evergrowing urban population.A resolution on these questions was adopted at the Central Committee meeting but, partly under pressure from the left, itdid not address outright privatisation. Instead, it reaffirmed theright to lease, transfer or exchange land use rights. It also re-stated the right to hold on to individual family lands – necessi-tated by rampant efforts of local authorities to compel peasants to surrender their plots. Given such concerns, it is not only leftists who oppose privatisation. Premier Wen is known to be an oppo-nent. But there appear to be divisions within the party and stateleadership on the best approach to this question. The implica-tions of the Central Committee resolution are therefore not yetfully clear. But it did stress a need for more concentration and commercialisation of rural production, regardless of the form of land tenure. This will further stimulate the growth of agribusi-nesses, which is already quite advanced in some areas of thecountryside. Many peasants either produce directly for such en-terprises, or lease lands or hire out as workers to them, even ifcontinuing to farm their individual family plots. Pressure for land transfers is common and growing, and has many of the same ef-fects as privatisation, further encouraging mass migration to thecities, and even weaker ties to the countryside. It will also likelymean loss of even more agricultural lands, undermining Chinesefood security, already under threat from urban development andenvironmental degradation.8 The Gathering stormThere is much debate within China, as well as abroad, as to theexact nature of the current regime under the Hu/Wen leadership– socialist, capitalist, or a unique mixture of elements, “marketsocialism with special Chinese characteristics”. The question of what “label” is put on China today, however, is increasingly moot.Many outside the party or state, especially in the working classes,say “this is not the socialism that we knew” or “if this is socialismwe do not want it” – even if they do not use the term “capitalism”.For what cannot be disputed, is that the revolutionary socialistprogramme launched under Mao, with its working class mobili-sation and egalitarianism, has long since been abandoned. Thecontrast between that era and the present grows ever sharper,and with it a realisation on the part of many Chinese of what theyhave lost, and of the increasingly disturbing changes taking placein their society. Though many remain critical of aspects of theMao era, more and more recognise that his warning of the dangers of the “capitalist road” in the Cultural Revolution were a prescientand timely prediction of what has come to pass.This growing realisation has opened the door to a revival of the Chinese left. “Old” leftists, including “rebels” from the Cul-tural Revolution, are coming out of the woodwork, in many cases for the first time in decades, protesting openly against the cur-rent orientation of the party and state and reclaiming the goals of the socialist past. They harshly oppose the “official” Marxismthat serves as a cover for the capitalistic “reforms”, and find ways to use their positions as cadre or academics to undermine it. Re-cent open letters to Hu Jintao from respected party veterans and prominent leftists have severely criticised current ideology and practices and called for a return to the socialist path – thoughtheir appeals have been all but ignored by top leaders. There is also a small, but growing cohort of younger left activists, somerediscovering and promoting the values and practices of the Maoera, others part of a “new left” that combines in varying degreesMarxism, western liberalism and social democracy. They areparticularly active on the web, which is harder to control thanprint media. Some leftists support Hu and Wen, both for their im-mediate policies, and as a bulwark against the potential threatfrom a political and military hard right. As one sign of the grow-ing left ranks, the dozen or so members of a Marxist readinggroup that I talked with in 1999 at Qinghua University, has ex-panded into an organisation with 400-500 members, and an activistcore of 100, who hold nightly study and discussion sessions and regular public forums. Some go out to the factories and farms toresearch conditions – though not to organise – and bring legaland other aid to workers and peasants, often guided by olderrevolutionaries, while “learning from the masses”, as in thedays of Mao.This does not mean that China is now on the cusp of a newrevolution. But in a dramatic development, Wei Wei, a self-described “revolutionary old guard”, issued an open call shortlybefore his death in August of 2008 for renewed struggle, using“underground” methods and a “ground up mass movement”, tooverthrow the “fascist dictatorship” of “revisionists and bureau-cratic and comprador bourgeoisie”, and rebuild the “real” Com-munist Party and “proletarian democracy” (“Some Thoughts Regarding Our Future Revolution by a Revolutionary Old Guard”,www.hongqiwang.com/read.php?tid=2172&page). Just a fewmonths earlier, discussion of a “new revolution” in such a publicmanner was being discouraged. Yet as Wei Wei pointed out, thegreatest weakness of the Chinese left – hardly unique to it – is isolation from the struggles of the working classes. Many withinthe party are very critical of the leadership, but they have little toback up their protests. The personal ties that “old” left cadre had with workers and peasants are largely in the past, and youngerradicals have so far failed to establish their own close links. Left-ist intellectuals who do have deeper roots in the working classestend to operate largely on their own or with just a few trusted as-sociates. Though Hu Jintao at times appeals to the spirit of Maoto bolster his legitimacy, any attempt by the left to mobilise theworking classes meets with quick and severe repression. Recentefforts at bottom-up organising in the All China Federation ofTrade Unions, serve to ameliorate the capitalist “reforms”, but
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china since 1978december 27, 2008EPWEconomic & Political Weekly68not to challenge them – and at times have official backing, as away to deflect attention from the state. A leftist organisational alternative is lacking, and many feel it would be “premature” tomove to a higher level of revolutionary action at this time. Never-theless, consciousness is rising, and there is a sense that the left is on the verge of moving into a new stage.For now, however, the Chinese working classes, among whomleftist sentiments and positive views of the Mao era are common,are largely left to struggle on their own. Among those dismissed from SOEs, many barely survive on inadequate payments – ifthey get them at all. Their earlier wave of protests has largelydied down, though some continue to struggle to protect pensions and housing. With most still living near their former factories,they are semi-organised in informal structures, and often petitionthe state for redress. Their political consciousness is growing,and they remain a possible source of mobilisation, and even aleading role, in the future. Those who still have jobs in the SOEs, once the most privileged of workers, have lost their sense of ownership in the plants, most of which are semi-privatised, with managers exercising all the power. Increasingly reduced to proletarian status, and forced to work much harder than in the past, they have become more willing to protest. Asked why theiranger does not erupt in more forceful actions, many workerssay that they have become demoralised and fearful: “Mao is dead already, how can we make revolution?” Among migrants,there are many job actions and demonstrations, but most are relatively sporadic and short-lived. The overall level of migrant organisation is low, though generally somewhat higher in the coastal regions. Efforts are often made to buy them off to settle protests, but sustained labour action tends to be met with heavy repression. Many turn to legal appeals – 10,000 peti-tioned in Shenzhen in 2006 for free arbitration services inlabour disputes (Financial Times, 8 September 2008). As for thepeasants, there is widespread discontent, which breaks out inthousands of conflicts annually, but their overall level of organi-sation is very low, and few left activists leave the urban areas tohelp them mobilise.The number of significant protests by the working classes mounted to 90,000 by 2007, according to official figures (Guardian.co.uk, 19 September 2008). The scale and violence of these“disturbances” seem to be rising, with more regions and socialstrata taking part. Many are protests against the corruption of both enterprises and the authorities. From July to November2008, 30,000 rioted in Guizhou, burning cars and governmentbuildings, to protest the cover up of the rape and murder of ateenage girl, allegedly by three men with ties to the police and local officials. In Zhejiang, hundreds of migrant labourersprotested for four days against the arrest and mistreatment of afellow worker. In Guangdong migrants smashed windows and burned a security kiosk over the beating of a co-worker whojumped a plant cafeteria line – the last straw after job losses,wage cuts and abuses affecting even office personnel, while else-where 100 rioted and set fires after police beat to death a motor-cycle driver, with one killed and ten injured. In Sichuan, hun-dreds of taxi drivers turned violent and attacked police cars in aprotest over shortages of fuel, having to wait for hours at gas stations, as well as low fares, high fines, profit gouging bycompany owners and competition from unlicensed cabs. In Hunan,soldiers and armed police clashed with 10,000 protesters demanding money back on a fraudulent investment scheme,while an equally large crowd threw rocks and bottles at afactory, claiming that a young boy had been tossed from awindow. In Yunnan, ethnic minority villagers rioted over lowprices paid to rubber farmers by buyers in collusion with local authorities, leaving 41 police injured and eight vehicles burned,with two farmers shot dead and 15 hurt. In Henan, thousands ofhigh school students attacked a county office, clashing with riotpolice, to prevent development of apartment blocs on theirsports field.Additional thousands of protests take place, especially in therural areas, without gaining the same kind of public attention. Soconcerned is the government by mounting clashes that Ministerof Public Security Meng Jianzhu warned that “police must avoidinflaming riots and protests” by inappropriate or harsh actions,especially those resulting in “bloodshed, injury or death” (Guardian.co.uk, 3 November 2008). On top of uprisings in Tibet in 2008and ongoing agitation among Uighurs in the north-west, as wellas the suppressed demonstrations of parents who lost children inthe Sichuan earthquake in shabbily built schools, the authoritiesare fearful that they will soon face rising levels of working class struggle. “Since mid-October, there have been dozens of labourprotests involving thousands of workers at major exporters”(New York Times, 7 November 2008, B1). There are predictions that if inflation soars or the economy suffers a severe downturn,largely local actions by the working classes may turn into a moreorganised nationwide movement. Late in 2008, exports, investmentand consumption were all “slowing more sharply and quicklythan anyone anticipated” (washingtonpost.com, 4 November 2008).In part to head this off, the government launched a $586 billionstimulus package of investments in infrastructure, earthquakerepairs, housing and social services. On the local level, workerpayoffs, migrant benefits and company bailouts have been intro-duced. The authorities are doing everything that they can toprevent the struggles of the working classes from uniting, and few if any activists expect a general uprising anytime soon. But far from achieving “social harmony”, the 30 years of capitalistic “reforms” have only left China ever more polarised. Despite its “new” gleaming face to the world, its leaders dread a working class explosion. As Mao long ago noted, “a single spark can light a prairie fire”. 9 conclusionsChina today is being whiplashed by contradictory forces, some of them primarily the result of its internal developments, othersmainly related to its position within the capitalist world economyand its pursuit of an expanded role internationally. Despite calls forsocialstabilityandnational“harmony”,theChineseleadership is following policies that lead to growing polarisation. Attempts toameliorate the effects of this ever widening divide, even whentemporarily and/or partially successful, do not address the un-derlying cause of the expanding gap between those at the top and bottom of the society. This growing division has left China, with
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china since 1978Economic & Political WeeklyEPWdecember 27, 200869its deepening integration into the world market, ill prepared towithstand the blows of the global capitalist system. The impact of the worldwide crisis of 2008 has hit its economy much morerapidly and heavily than was anticipated. The “boom/bust”cycle is already in full swing, with its economic direction havingreversed in the course of just a few weeks from being overheated and inflationary, to its sharpest and most rapid slowdown in dec-ades. Stock markets have plummeted, and property values havefallen 30-40% in many cities, with related industries such as home supplies following. Even the superrich have been affected,with CITIC-Pacific, the financial and real estate Empire of LarryRong Zhijian, facing potential losses in October 2008 of $2 billionfrom foreign currency speculation, leading to a 55% drop in its stock, and an investigation by regulators into its monetary prac-tices. Nor is this incident unique. Tensions between enterprises and authorities over corruption are just one of the many divisions that are increasingly rending China today. Though still growingoverall, the rate of growth of the economy has fallen sharply, and will likely drop into the “danger zone”, where it is unable tocreate the tens of millions of jobs needed for an expandingworkforce and those who continue to migrate to the cities. EvenPresident Hu warned that China was losing its competitive edge,calling for a reduction of its dependence on exports, moresustainable forms of production, and a rise in the consumptionlevel of the working classes. The very ability of the party to rule,he suggested, was being challenged.It is the working classes who are feeling the primary effects of the downturn, and it is their rising protests that are the source of the greatest fear at the top. There is wide concern among the na-tional leadership of social dislocation and instability, threateningthe entire system. The closing of factories and a drop in invest-ment for new construction have dried up the markets for steel,cement, and glass, spreading to heavy industry the layoff of work-ers already common in export factories. At the same time, theability of many of the newly unemployed to return to the farms ishampered by their reluctance to leave the urban centres, and bythe ongoing poverty of so many rural areas. There has alreadybeen an upsurge in protests, with militant taxi driver strikes inseveral cities, and a violent riot of hundreds of workers demand-ing severance pay from a toy manufacturer in Guangdong prov-ince – warning signs of the potential for more widespread insta-bility as the effects of the global crisis spread. Short-term govern-mental investment plans, financial adjustments, and even payoffs to workers may ease the immediate threat, but they will not deal with the deeper contradictions. The unwillingness of workers and peasants to spend more on consumer goods – viewed as thebest replacement for export dependence – is a function not onlyof their low incomes, but of the collapse of collective forms ofsocial security. Forced to depend entirely on their individualfamily resources to pay for education, healthcare, and old age,most members of the working classes save whatever they can,limiting their buying to necessities and an occasional discretionarypurchase. This pattern cannot be reversed without restoration of a comprehensive series of socially provided educational andmedical services, and support for the elderly, as well as a narrow-ing of the increasingly extreme gap between the rich and thepoor. But such a reversal would require a turn back toward socialist goals, with an end to the profit motive as the main en-gine of economic development, and the rebuilding of collectiveforms of production, popular mobilisation and a working class share in governance, as in the Mao era – though in a new synthe-sis that builds on the past, rather than simply repeats it.There is no hint of such a move on the part of the currentnational leadership, despite limited experiments with coopera-tive models. On the contrary, any organised attempt at bottom-upmobilisation that is not strictly under party and state control is quickly and heavily repressed. The general yearning for greatertransparency and democracy – though not necessarily alongwestern lines – is almost entirely blocked, making it nearlyimpossible to deal with such areas as corruption, and generatinga widespread and growing frustration at the inflexibility of the current system. It is the gradually reviving forces of the leftthat offer the only viable way to begin to find an alternativepath forward, one that once again addresses the issues ofinequality in the interrelated realms of the economy, political power, social class and cultural participation. Leftist sentiments and memories of the socialist past remain deeply imbedded in much of the working classes, and the public re-emergence of elements of the “old” left, and the turn against capitalism bygrowing numbers of the younger intelligentsia and “new” left-ists, could provide the basis for a powerful and united move-ment for radical change and a renewal of the goals of the social-ist revolution. But this will only occur if elements of the left find a way to join forces with the workers, peasants and migrants and help to lead their mounting struggles – a higher level ofmobilisation and organisation than now exists. Given the lack of such forces today, party and state leaders may find a way tomake it through the current crisis without a major working class explosion. But the battering of the global capitalist system will continue to eat away at the social order. The next downturn, which will inevitably come, may prove even more difficult to contain. The left in China needs a greater degree of unity,programmatic ideas, and organisational development to meetthis coming challenge and opportunity. The working classes are increasingly demanding change and developing their own leadership. The revival of a revolutionary left would be a major step in helping them to raise their level of struggle.Unbound Back Volumes of Economic and Political Weeklyfrom 1976 to 2007 are available.Write to:Circulation Department,economic and Political Weekly320, 321, A to Z Industrial EstateGanpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower ParelMumbai 400 013.Circulation@epw.in

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Tel: 2818344, 2854127, 2819064
Tel/Fax:2819064
E Mail: npc@sltnet.lk
Internet: www.peace-srilanka.org

9.01.09


Media Release 1

The Assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge


Barely three days after the MTV television station was bombed and razed by an armed group, armed assassins have claimed the life of one of Sri Lankas foremost journalists, Lasantha Wickrematunge. The killing of this courageous journalist will add to the sense of intimidation and fear in the media, which has already suffered several such attacks and killings of media persons.

As editor of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge was fearless in exposing political weaknesses and corruption in the government and in society in general, and the impunity that accompanies them. He also advocated a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict and highlighted the cost of the war which the government is undertaking. Although an individual, he was also the creator and leader of a media institution and his assassination can be construed as a death blow to media freedom to take up the issues he did.

Lasantha Wickrematunge will long be remembered by those who believe in the role of the media to create a politically literate society which alone can protect democracy. The National Peace Council condemns his assassination and mourns his loss. We grieve with his family, colleagues and friends and trust that his sacrifice would mark an end to a culture of impunity that seems to be overtaking us.

Thinking people can only reflect on Pastor Niemoller's saying, Who is next? At this time, in our helplessness, we can only appeal to the government and our political leaders to follow democratic and righteous norms and ensure that the freedom of expression, freedom of media, and the Right to Life of all is protected.



Media Release 2

LTTE Ban and the Issue of Trapped Civilians


Nearly seven years after a previous government lifted a ban on the LTTE to facilitate political engagement and a peace process, the present government, has again proscribed the LTTE. The government has justified its decision on the grounds that the LTTE is preventing civilians trapped in territory under its control. The ban comes in the aftermath of major military battles in which the government has regained strategic and symbolically important territory once held by the LTTE.

The plight of trapped civilians in the territory under LTTE control is increasing. With the Sri Lankan military closing in on the LTTE, there have been increasing reports of civilian fatalities. However, the government's decision to ban the LTTE is unlikely to induce the LTTE to seek the establishment of a humanitarian corridor that would enable the civilian population to move to places of greater safety. We do not believe that isolating the LTTE is helpful. The National Peace Council believes that the government would better serve the trapped civilians by politically engaging the LTTE rather than cutting them off entirely with a ban.

We note that on several occasions, religious leaders within the country have offered to intervene to negotiate a humanitarian corridor for the trapped civilians. NPC calls on the government to explore this option to safeguard the lives of civilians. We also call on the government to seek international assistance in negotiating a humanitarian corridor for the civilians who wish to leave the war zones. We also request that NGOs and civil society groups be permitted to support civilians trapped in shrinking areas still under LTTE control.



Governing Council

The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organisation that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Amendments to the National Commission for Minorities Educational Institutions Act 2004 (NCMEI Act)

New Delhi : January 9, 2009

The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions was established through the promulgation of an Ordinance dated 11th November, 2004. The Ordinance was replaced by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act 2004 (2 of 2005) which was notified on 6th January 2005. The Act provided for constitution of the Commission and the key objective is to ensure that the true amplitude of the educational rights enshrined in Article 30(1) of the Constitution is made available to the members of the notified religious minority communities. This entails, inter alia, addressing all issues that pertain to the denial, deprivation or violation of the constitutional rights of the minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, including all issues related to grant of NOC, minority status certificates and affiliation to universities, wherever applicable.

The Commission which has been in existence for three years, has faced certain practical difficulties in implementing some of the provisions of the Act. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has also, from time to time received several suggestions in regard to the Act ( 2 of 2005) from various cross-sections of the minorities, which were referred to the Commission. The Commission has considered views and suggestions expressed by various stake-holders and has recommended certain amendments to the NCMEI Act. Accordingly, Cabinet has given approval to the Amendment of Section 2, Section 3, Section 10 and Section 12B of the NCMEI Act. One of the important amendments is to increase the number of Members of the Commission, other than the Chairperson, from the existing 2 to 3 in order to enable the Commission to deal with the increasing number of matters before it.

RCJ/SH/LV /:/….spandey-dk, kol…..(RelSet2_9Jan09)





Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Framework for addressing the liquidity constraints of Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs)

New Delhi : January 9, 2009

The Union Cabinet today approved the framework for addressing the liquidity constraints of Non-Deposit taking Systemically Important Non Banking Finance Companies. For this purpose, Stressed Assets Stabilization Fund, set up for the purpose of acquiring the stressed assets of Industrial Development Bank of India, would function as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). The SPV would issue government guaranteed securities as per requirement, subject to a total amount of securities outstanding not exceeding Rs. 20,000 crore with an additional Rs. 5000 crore, if needed. These securities would be purchased by Reserve Bank of India and funds would be used by the SPV to acquire only investment grade Commercial Paper and Non-Convertible Debentures of the NBFCs. RBI will issue guidelines for pricing and lending in consultation with Department of Financial Services. The funds will be used by NBFCs only to repay existing liabilities.

RCJ/SH/LV /:/….spandey-dk, kol…..(RelSet2_9Jan09)






Press Information Bureau
Government of India
******
DGCA measures for facilitating aircraft refueling during OSOA strike

New Delhi : January 9, 2009

In order to facilitate the refueling of Aircraft and avoid inconvenience to traveling passengers, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has permitted duly qualified senior officers of IOC to undertake aircraft refueling operations. Such officers have undergone quality training and have recent field experience.

The oil companies have been reassured of the Government assistance in dealing with the striking officers of the oil companies. A Control Room has been set up in DGCA Hdqrs. Under the charge of Shri V.P. Massey, Dy. Director, DGCA, Mobile No. 09910685035 and office No.011-24611357.

The oil companies have been advised to report any untoward occurrence to the control room.

It may be noted that in the strike called by the Oil Sector Officers Association (OSOA), only officers of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) are participating in the strike and aviation wings of BPCL and HPCL are not participating in the strike.

MC/MK /:/….spandey-dk, kol…..(RelSet2_9Jan09)

PIB Kolkata

"The function of the “mainstream media” is to sell products and to brainwash the audience for the government and interest groups. By subscribing to it, Americans support their own brainwashing."

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
The American print and TV media have never been very good. These days they are horrible. If people intend to be informed, they must turn to foreign news broadcasts, to Internet sites, to foreign newspapers available on the Internet, or to alternative newspapers that are springing up in various cities. A person who sits in front of Murdoch’s Fox “News” or CNN or who reads the New York Times is simply being brainwashed with propaganda.

Before conservatives nod their heads in agreement, I’m not referring to “the liberal media.” I mean the propaganda that issues from the US government and the Israel Lobby.

It was neoconservative Bush regime propaganda fed to America through Judith Miller and the New York Times and through Murdoch’s Fox “News” that convinced Americans that they were in danger from a small secular Arab country half way around the globe called Iraq. It was the American media that convinced Americans that getting rid of dangerous “weapons of mass destruction,” weapons that did not exist in Iraq, would be a cakewalk paid for by Iraqi oil revenues.

It is the same propagandistic American print and TV media that have rationalized Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan based on seven years of lies and deception.

It is the same media that today provids only Israeli propaganda as “coverage” of the Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
It was the New York Times that spiked for one year the leaked information from the National Security Agency that the Bush regime, in violation of US law, was illegally spying on Americans without warrants. The “liberal” New York Times agreed to suppress the story so that Bush would not face reelection under the cloud of his outlaw behavior.

Conservatives think the Washington Post is “liberal media” despite the fact that the editorial and commentary pages are controlled by neocons and their sympathizers.

During the run up to wars and during wars, the American press has always been a propagandist for the government. The only exceptions occurred during the later phases of the Vietnam war and the Contra-Sandinista conflict in Central America. Karen de Young and some others tried to honestly cover the Contras and Sandinistas and were demonized by “patriots” taken in by the government’s lies.

Conservatives still blame the “liberal” media for losing the Vietnam war, when in fact all the media did was to provide some truthful reports that opened some American eyes.
When the truth cuts against the position of the US government, conservatives see it as “liberal.”

When propaganda supports the government’s lies, conservatives see it as “patriotic.”

However, any resemblance to independent reporting disappeared from the American media when the Democratic regime of President Clinton allowed Murdoch and a small handful of moguls to concentrate the American media in a few corporate hands. That was the end of American reporting.
Journalists disappeared from media management and were replaced by corporate advertising executives with an eye not to offend any source of advertising revenue, and certainly not to offend the government, which controls the broadcast licenses that comprise the value of the mega-companies.

Today reporters write the stories that their masters want to hear, or they are out. The function of editors is to make certain that no uncomfortable information reaches the public.
The public is slowly catching on, and the print media is dying. The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times are all on the ropes.

Americans are still subjected to Fox “News” and CNN propaganda piped into airport waiting rooms, doctors’ offices, and exercise centers

People ask me where they can get reliable information. I tell them that their goal cannot be reached without their commitment of time.

People who have access to television services that provide English language foreign broadcasts, such as Iran’s Press TV, Russia Today, or Al Jazeera, can get get news and insights from those parts of the world demonized by the US media.
The BBC World Service still reports facts while covering itself by providing the views of the US, UK, and Israeli governments.

Both the Asia Times and Israeli newspapers, such as Haaretz can be read online in English. There are other such newspapers, and all of them provide information that Americans will never see in their own media. Any American newspaper that was as truthful about the Israeli government as Haaretz would be closed down.

The only US print source with which I am familiar in which some honest reporting can be found on a regular basis is the McClatchy papers.

Americans addicted to print media must turn to alternative newspapers, which tend to be weekly or bi-weekly. However, the news and commentary provided are often superb..

Alternative newspapers are often the children of people motivated by a sense of justice and the love of truth. Such people have become an endangered species in the American “mainstream media.” The free press Americans have today is online and in the alternative media.

The function of the “mainstream media” is to sell products and to brainwash the audience for the government and interest groups. By subscribing to it, Americans support their own brainwashing.

Paul Craig Roberts was associate editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, columnist for Business Week, and columnist for the Scripps Howard Newspapers.

http://www.counterpunch.com/roberts01082009.html
Anyone up for a revolution??




By Reuters

WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voiced strong support on Thursday for Israel's battle against Hamas militants in Gaza, while urging a ceasefire that would prevent Hamas from launching any more rockets into Israel.

The chamber agreed on a voice vote to the non-binding resolution co-sponsored by Democratic and Republican party leaders in the chamber.

"When we pass this resolution, the United States Senate will strengthen our historic bond with the state of Israel, by reaffirming Israel's inalienable right to defend against attacks from Gaza, as well as our support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said before the vote.

Noting that Israel was bent on halting Hamas rocket fire into its southern towns, Reid said: "I ask any of my colleagues to imagine that happening here in the United States. Rockets and mortars coming from Toronto in Canada, into Buffalo New York. How would we as a country react?"

Co-sponsor and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican said before the vote: "The Israelis ... are responding exactly the same way we would."

The House was expected to pass a similar resolution.

The Senate resolution encourages President George W. Bush "to work actively to support a durable, enforceable and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible that prevents Hamas from retaining or rebuilding the capability to launch rockets or mortars against Israel," Reid said.

It also expresses an "unwavering" commitment to Israel's welfare and recognizes its right to act in self defense to protect citizens against acts of terrorism, he said. "It allows for the long-term improvement of daily living conditions of the ordinary people of Gaza," he said.

Palestinians faced even grimmer conditions in Gaza on Thursday after a U.N. aid agency halted work, saying its staff was at risk from Israeli forces after two drivers were killed.

The reported Palestinian death toll in the 13-day-old conflict topped 700. At least 11 Israelis have been killed, eight of them soldiers, including four hit by "friendly fire."

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell, editing by Philip Barbara)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21686.htm

Unprecedented Numbers of Americans Question Israel's Actions in Gaza
By Max Blumenthal, Huffington Post. Posted January 6, 2009.

Could it be the rise of online progressive media telling the truth about Israel, or that the public rejects the same pundits who sold us Iraq?
Almost as soon as the first Israeli missile struck the Gaza Strip, a veteran cheering squad suited up to support the home team. "Israel is so scrupulous about civilian life," Charles Krauthammer claimed in the Washington Post. Echoing Krauthammer, Alan Dershowitz called the Israeli attack on Gaza, "Perfectly 'Proportionate.'" And in the New York Times, Israeli historian Benny Morris described his country's airstrikes as "highly efficient."
While the cheerleaders testified to the superior moral fiber of their team, the Palestinian civilian death toll mounted. Israeli missiles tore at least fifteen Palestinian police cadets to shreds at a graduation ceremony, blew twelve worshipers to pieces (including six children) while they left evening prayers at a mosque, flattened the elite American International School, killed five sisters while they slept in their beds, and liquidated 9 women and children in order to kill a single Hamas leader. So far, Israeli forces have killed at least 500 Gazans and wounded some two thousand, including hundreds of children. Yesterday, the IDF blanketed parts of Gaza with white phosphorus, a chemical weapon Saddam Hussein once deployed against Kurdish rebels.
"It was Israel at its best," Yossi Klein Halevi declared in the New Republic.
By New Year's Day, Israel's cheering squad had turned the opinion pages of major American newspapers into their own personal romper room. Of all the editorial contributions published by the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times since the Israel's war on Gaza began, to my knowledge only one offered a skeptical view of the assault. But that editorial, by Israeli novelist David Grossman, contained not a single word about the Palestinian casualties of IDF attacks. Even while calling for a cease fire, Grossman promised, "We can always start shooting again."
Israeli public relations agents fanned out to broadcast studios from the US to Europe, fulfilling an aggressive strategy conceived after the country's catastrophic 2006 attack on Lebanon. An analysis by Israel's foreign ministry of eight hours of coverage across international broadcast media concluded that Israeli representatives received a whopping 58 minutes of airtime compared to only 19 minutes for Palestinians. "Quite a few outlets are very favorable to Israel, namely by showing [its] suffering. I am sure it is a result of the new co-ordination," said Major Avital Leibovich, an IDF spokesperson who has become a fixture on cable news in the past weeks.
But while Israel's PR machine cranked its Mighty Wurlitzer to full blast, drowning out all opposing voices with its droning sound, a surprisingly substantial portion of the American public decided to dance to its own tune. According to a December 31 Rasmussen poll (so far the only measure of US opinion on the Gaza assault), while Americans remained overwhelmingly supportive of Israel, they were split almost evenly on the question of whether Israel should attack Gaza -- 44% in favor of the assault and 41% against it. The internals are even more remarkable.
While Republicans supported the assault on Gaza by a large margin, a predictable finding, only 31% of Democrats did. Members of the Democratic base thus stood in sharp contrast to most of their elected representatives (freshman Rep. Donna Edwards is a notable exception), who backed the latest Israeli assault in lockstep, and seem to support Israel no matter what it does. The rift between the progressive base and the party played out on Barack Obama's Change.gov site, which was deluged in recent days with demands for a statement condemning Israel's assault on Gaza.
So what accounts for the surprising trend in American opinion on Gaza? The proliferation of progressive online media and social networking sites could be a factor, but I have another theory: The same pundits who are cheerleading Israel's assault on Gaza once sold the occupation of Iraq to America, and with a nearly identical set of arguments. In their voices and those of the grim Israeli PR agents carted out for cable news, many Americans hear echoes of the Bush administration's most fantastical lies. When they see images of Gazans under withering bombardment, they flash back to Fallujah and the assorted horrors of Iraq. When they look at Israel, they see themselves during the darkest days of the Bush era.
Now, an increasing share of Americans know what Israel is doing to Gaza. And they reject it, even when Israel is "at its best."

See more stories tagged with: israel, gaza, white phosphorous
Max Blumenthal is a Puffin Foundation writing fellow at the Nation Institute based in Washington, DC. Read his blog at maxblumenthal.blogspot.com.
http://www.alternet.org/audits/117568/?page=entire

Sw

My Father Was No Militant, But Israel's Bombs Reduced Him to a 'Pile of Flesh'
By Fares Akram, Independent UK. Posted January 6, 2009.

What is the difference between the pilot who blew my father to pieces and the militant who fires a small rocket?
The phone call came at around 4:20pm on Saturday. A bomb had been dropped on the house at our small farm in northern Gaza. My father was walking from the gate to the farmhouse at the time. It was our beloved place, that farm and its two-storey white house with a red roof. Nestled in a flat fertile agricultural plain north-west of Beit Lahiya, it had lemon groves, orange and apricot trees and we had recently acquired 60 dairy cows.
It was the closest farm to the northern border with Israel. Ironically, we always thought the biggest danger there was not from Israeli troops, who usually went straight past if they were mounting an incursion, but from stray Hamas rockets aimed at the Israeli towns north of us.
But shortly before sunset on Saturday, as Israeli ground troops and tanks invaded Gaza in the name of shutting down Hamas rocket sites, the peace of that place was shattered and my father's life extinguished at the age of 48. Warplanes and helicopters had swept in, bombing and firing to open up the space for the tanks and ground forces that would follow in the darkness. It was one of those F16 airstrikes that killed my father.
The house was reduced to little more than powder, and of Dad there was nothing much left either. "Just a pile of flesh," my uncle, who found him in the rubble, said later with brutal honesty.
Like most Gazans, my mother, my sisters and my wife -- who is nine months' pregnant -- and I have spent the past week of the Israeli onslaught trapped inside our flat in the city. But my father had decided to stay up at the farm; he knew it would be impossible to get back to tend the livestock if the expected troop invasion began. But he called us every day.
The last time I saw him was on Thursday when he brought cash and a bag of flour. We talked about the imminent birth of my first child and how we would get my wife, Alaa, to hospital amid the bombing and chaos. Of course, on Saturday evening there was no hope of getting an ambulance up to the farm because the roads were cut off by the Israelis. So my uncle and brother drove the 8km and the rest of us sat, in shock, shivering in the dark apartment, bed covers over us to keep warm, the sound of non-stop tank shelling around us. Deep down we all knew Dad was dead. He would have been in or near the house, and if an F16 strikes directly at your house you know what it means.
They arrived to find a smoking pile of rubble. Most of the cows lay dead; others had run off injured. Mahmoud, a teenage relative, was with my father when the Israeli bomb smashed into the house. The force of the airstrike threw him 300 metres. They found Mahmoud's body in a neighbour's field.
We buried my father and Mahmoud yesterday morning in a very quick funeral, knowing Israeli tanks were just 3km away, on the outskirts of the city. We could hear the rattle of the machine-gun fire accompanying the tanks. The Israelis may say there were militants in the area of our farm, but I'll never believe it. The most advanced point for rocket-launchers is 6km south. Up at the border, it is just open farmland with nowhere to hide.
My father, Akrem al-Ghoul, was no militant. Born in Gaza and educated in Egypt, he was a lawyer and a judge who worked for the Palestinian Authority. After Hamas took over, he quit and turned to agriculture. Dad's father, Fares, who had been driven out of his home in what is now Israeli Ashkelon in 1948, had bought the land in the 1960s.
During the second intifada and until the Israelis withdrew from Gaza in 2005, the farm was taken over by Israeli settlers, but after 2005 we went there every holiday. In Gaza, the only escape is the beach or, if you are lucky enough, the farmland. My father hated what Hamas was doing to Gaza's legal system, introducing Islamist justice, and he completely opposed violence. He would have worked hard for a just settlement with Israel and a better future for Palestinians. When the PA gained control over the West Bank, he moved to Ramallah to help establish the courts there.
My grief carries no desire for revenge, which I know to be always in vain. But, in truth, as a grieving son, I am finding it hard to distinguish between what the Israelis call terrorists and the Israeli pilots and tank crews who are invading Gaza. What is the difference between the pilot who blew my father to pieces and the militant who fires a small rocket? I have no answers but, just as I am to become a father, I have lost my father.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/117377/




Sw

Bengali Muslims must form party to save themselves from Manuwadi marxists & join hands with Dalits
Manuwadi marxists are more dangerous enemies of the oppressed Bahujans than the Hindu terrorist parties of RSS-BJP. They are like the green snakes in green grass. If the latter are open enemies, the former are our concealed enemies and hence more deadly.

This has been the consistent opinion of DV (V.T. Rajshekar, How Marx Failed in Hindu India? DSA-1988). The latest explosion of Nov.21, 2007 when Calcutta burst into an unprecedented Muslim anger on the Taslima issue further reinforces our argument. The Muslim mob attack on the Beniapukar Office of the CPM in Calcutta clearly proves that at least the Muslims of Bengal, forming a formidable 28% (official figure but unofficially it is as high as 35%) of the state population, have turned against the marxists. Good. The arrogant Brahmin Chief Minister has become the most hated communist.

The Asian Age (Nov.23, 2007) Calcutta correspondent Parwez Hafeez reported that for full 15-days the Muslim anger was simply boiling culminating in the bloody Wednesday of Nov.21 when finally the Army itself had to be called to control the violence.

Denigrating prophet: The cause is the anti-Muslim writings in a pro-CPM Bengali journal, Patho-Sanket, in which the writers praising the hated Bangladesh sex writer, Taslima Nasreen, also denigrated Islam and the prophet, says the AA reporter. He also cites the series of Muslim protests against this journal culminating in the bloody Wednesday. That means nobody can say it was a terrorist attack. The Muslim anger on Nadigram attack on Muslims was already burning and the Taslima episode poured petrol on the burning fire.

The Bengali Muslims are already sucked dry and reduced to walking skeletons by the Brahminical people controlling the CPM. On one side they drink the blood of Muslims and on the other they also squeeze the Bengali Dalits, totally pauperised. The two genuine proletariats of Bengal are the worst sufferers and yet kept intoxicated by the marxist opium

Muslims have controlled their anger far too long and it burst out on Nov.21. It was a fitting slap on the Bengali Brahmin Buddha’s fascist face. From now onwards the Muslims must make a right-about-turn and kick the marxists out.

Bhadralok as lords: The Bengali Bhadralok, comprising a micro-minority 8% of its population (a combination of three jatis: Brahmin, Baidhya and Kayasth) have been lording over the Muslims and Dalits far too long. And the Muslims forming 35% of the state’s population — highest in the country — have been tolerating the manuwadi marxists for too long. The time has now come to say enough is enough.

The Left Front came to power in 1977 headed by Jyoti Basu, a Kayasth. The only boast of the corrupt and also casteist communists is that they have prevented anti-Muslim riots breaking out in Bengal. What they mean by this is they have prevented their blood thirsty jatwalas from openly slaughtering the Muslims just as Modi did in Gujarat.

Instant slaughter sends shock waves but killing through slow poisoning goes unnoticed. The Bengali Bhadralok slow poisoning killed many times more Muslims in Bengal than what Modi did in Gujarat

Kerala Muslims: Kerala has an equally big Muslim population (25%) but Kerala’s Manuwadi govts. (whether the Congress-led front or CPM-led front) looked after the Muslim interests much better. Partly because the Kerala Muslims are concentrated in Northern districts and have their own powerful Muslim League party. But a much bigger Bengali Muslims are reduced to sweat labour because they are in CPM.

That is why the anger in Bengal is much greater. The bloody Wednesday of Nov.21 has given the proof of this anger.

The Kerala Muslim League (ML) should have sent its leaders to look after the plight of their Bengali counterpart and organise the Muslim League there but the ML confined itself to Kerala while the Hindu terrorist party of RSS looks after the interest of “Hindus” all over India — and even outside India.

Buddha suffered such a shock that he immediately kicked the hated Taslima out.

The Bengal CPM giving asylum to a notorious anti-Muslim woman proves that marxists are more anti-Muslim than the Hindu terrorists.

The Muslims have effectively shown their anger and scored one big victory in kicking the unwanted Bangladeshi woman out. This may bring an emotional satisfaction. But the Muslims must not stop merely with this one token victory.

Kerala with a 25% Muslim population has many more credits. They are better educated, better employed and more than that they have a party of their own (Muslim League) though lately oppressed Muslims have started deserting it.

Bengal home of Hindu terrorism: Brahminical terrorism began from Bengal. Calcutta was the home of rabid anti-Muslim Bengali Brahmin hate-mongers like Bankim Chandra and others. Bengal was twice partitioned by the Bhadralok to get rid of the Muslims. Bangladesh Muslims continue to be punished even after having a country of their own.

All this must now force the Muslims of Bengal to think of bidding good-bye to Manuwadi marxists and form a party of their own.

The Urdu-speaking Muslims of Calcutta, a small minority, must cooperate. The Urdu-speaking cowbelt Muslims must assist the formation of such a party. Dalit Voice will be too glad to be part of this experiment to save the Bengali Muslims and also Dalits from the jaws of the Bhadralok.

The Dalits, particularly the Namasudras (Chandals), must note that most of the Bengali Muslims are converts from their community. The Bhadralok hate Dalits as much as they hate the Muslim.

Dalit-Muslim unity: The Muslims with their revolutionary background can think and plan better than Dalits who being too much hinduised have lost their thinking capacity itself. But Muslims cannot afford to forget their blood brothers in spite of all their shortcoming.

Along with Kanshi Ram we had tried our best to organise the Namasudras but failed. But once the Muslims organise themselves into a party, the Namasudras and other Dalits will certainly cooperate because the enemy of both Muslims and Dalits is the very same Bhadralok.

Some members of the DV family at Calcutta are planning to celebrate the DV silver jubilee and our above proposal can be discussed there. All the important leaders who led the anti-Taslima protest and the Nandigram agitation may be invited to the meeting.


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D.V. ENTERS 27TH YEAR OF PUBLICATION
DV enters 27th year of publication on Jan.1, 2008 even as the silver jubilee celebrations in different parts of India are continuing. The last was at Chandigarh on Nov.11, 2007

We are not satisfied with the response we received from our family members. It is this dejection, if not sheer frustration, that made us talk about “Closing down DV”. But since then lot of our awakened family members did write encouraging letters and some did introduce many more DV members. We are grateful to all such kind souls.

DV is the organ of the DV family members and they asked us not to “close down” and we bowed to their wishes. But mere “kind words” will not be enough to bring out the journal. Financially we are weak. We have to survive without any advt.

For that (from the new year) we have revised our selling rates.

Whole of South India has become our weakest point. This is because Dalit movement is virtually dead in all the four states. That is why no southern state came forward to host the DV silver jubilee except AP. Bihar and Bengal are blank.

“Educated” Dalits are virtually lifeless. Full of confusion.

Brahminical enemies killed the Dalit movement itself and our reservationwalas, wiling tools of the enemy, alienated themselves from the community. Youth and women are not joining Dalit movement. So much so Dalit Voice readers are mostly ageing Ambedakrites. Same is the situation of Dalit movement in India.

Except lip sympathy for Dr. Ambedkar, there is no serious study and implementation of his Three Commandments. Where are we going? What will be our future? Are we to remain as eternal slaves of Brahmins? — EDITOR.
http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/dec_a2007/editorial.htm

U.S. debt is losing its appeal in China
International Herald Tribune
By Keith Bradsher
January 8, 2009

HONG KONG: China has bought more than $1 trillion in American debt,
but as the global downturn has intensified, Beijing is starting to
keep more of its money at home - a shift that could pose some
challenges to the U.S. government in the near future but eventually
may even produce salutary effects on the world economy.

At first glance, the declining Chinese appetite for U.S. debt -
apparent in a series of hints from Chinese policy makers over the
past two weeks, with official statistics due for release in the next
few days - comes at an inopportune time. On Tuesday, the U.S.
president-elect, Barack Obama, said Americans should get used to the
prospect of "trillion-dollar deficits for years to come" as he seeks
to finance an $800 billion economic stimulus package.

Normally, China would be the most avid taker of the debt required to
pay for those deficits, mainly short-term Treasury securities. In the
past five years, China has spent as much as one-seventh of its entire
economic output on the purchase of foreign debt - largely U.S.
Treasury bonds and American mortgage-backed securities.

But now, Beijing is seeking to pay for its own $600 billion economic
stimulus - just as tax revenue falls sharply as the Chinese economy
slows. Regulators have ordered banks to lend more money to small and
midsize enterprises, many of which are struggling with slower
exports, and Chinese bankers say they are being instructed to lend
more to local governments to allow them to build new roads and other
projects as part of the stimulus program.

"All the key drivers of China's Treasury purchases are disappearing,"
said Ben Simpfendorfer, an economist in the Hong Kong office of the
Royal Bank of Scotland. "There's a waning appetite for dollars and a
waning appetite for Treasuries. And that complicates the outlook for
interest rates."

Fitch Ratings, the credit rating agency, forecasts that China's
foreign reserves will increase by $177 billion this year - a large
number, but down sharply from an estimated $415 billion last year.

In the United States, China's voracious demand for American bonds has
helped keep interest rates low for borrowers ranging from the
government to home buyers. Reduced Chinese enthusiasm for buying
those bonds takes away some of this dampening effect.

But with U.S. interest rates still at very low levels after recent
cuts to stimulate the economy, it is quite cheap for the U.S.
Treasury to raise capital now. And there seem to be no shortage of
buyers for Treasury bonds and other debt instruments: Prices for U.S.
debt have soared as yields have declined.

The long-term effects of this shift in capital flows - with China
keeping more of its money home and the U.S. economy becoming less
dependent on one lender - are unclear, but the phenomenon is
something economists have said is long overdue.

What is clear is that the effect of the global downturn on China's
finances has been drastic. As recently as 2007, tax revenue soared 32
percent, as factories across China ran flat out. But by November,
government revenue had actually dropped 3 percent from a year
earlier. That prompted Finance Minister Xie Xuren to warn Monday that
2009 would be "a difficult fiscal year."

A senior central bank official mentioned last month that China's $1.9
trillion in foreign exchange reserves had actually begun to shrink.
The reserves - mainly bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury and by Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance companies - had been rising
quickly ever since the Asian financial crisis in 1998.

The strength of the dollar against the euro in the fourth quarter of
last year contributed to slower growth in China's foreign reserves,
said Fan Gang, an academic adviser to China's central bank, at a
conference in Beijing on Tuesday. The central bank keeps track of the
total value of its reserves in dollars and a weaker euro means that
euro-denominated assets in those reserves are worth less in dollars,
decreasing the total value of the reserves.

But the pace of China's accumulation of reserves began slowing in the
third quarter along with the slowing of the Chinese economy, and
appears to reflect much broader shifts.

China manages its reserves with considerable secrecy, but economists
believe about 70 percent is in dollar-denominated assets and most of
the rest in euros. The country has bankrolled its huge reserves by
effectively requiring its entire banking sector, which is state-
controlled, to hand nearly one-fifth of its deposits over to the
central bank. The central bank, in turn, has used the money to buy
foreign bonds.

Now the central bank is rapidly reducing this requirement and pushing
banks to lend more money instead.

At the same time, three new trends mean that fewer dollars are
pouring into China - and as fewer dollars flow into China, the
government has fewer dollars to buy American bonds and help finance
the U.S. trade and budget deficits.

The first, little-noticed trend is that the monthly pace of foreign
direct investment in China has fallen by more than a third since the
summer. Multinational companies are hoarding their cash and cutting
back on the construction of factories.

The second trend is that the combination of a housing bust and a two-
thirds fall in the mainland Chinese stock markets over the past year
has resulted in moves by many overseas investors - and even some
Chinese - to get money quietly out of the country. They are doing so
despite China's fairly stringent currency controls, prompting the
director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Hu
Xiaolian, to warn in a statement Tuesday of "abnormal" capital flows
across China's borders; she provided no statistics.




China's most porous border in terms of money flows is with Hong Kong,
a semi-autonomous Chinese territory that has its own internationally
convertible currency. So much Chinese money has poured into Hong Kong
and been converted into Hong Kong dollars that the territory has had
to issue billions of dollars' worth of extra currency in the past two
months to meet the demand, shattering its previous records for such
issuance.

A third trend that may further slow the flow of dollars into China is
the reduction of its huge trade surpluses.

China's trade surplus set another record in November, at $40.1
billion. But because prices of Chinese imports like oil are starting
to recover while demand remains weak for Chinese exports like
consumer electronics, most economists expect China to run trade
surpluses closer to $30 billion a month.

That would give China a sizable sum to invest abroad. But it would be
considerably less than $50 billion a month that it poured into
international financial markets - mainly U.S. bond markets - during
the first half of 2008.

"The pace of foreign currency flows into China has to slow," and
therefore the pace of China's reinvestment of that currency in
foreign bonds will also slow, said Dariusz Kowalczyk, the chief
investment officer at SJS Markets, a Hong Kong securities firm.

For a combination of financial and political reasons, the decline in
China's purchases of dollar-denominated assets may be less steep than
the overall decline in its purchases of foreign assets.

Many mainland Chinese companies are keeping more of their dollar
revenues overseas instead of bringing them home and converting them
into yuan for deposit in Chinese banks. In essence, they would not
show up on the central bank's books. So, overall Chinese demand for
dollars would not be falling as much as the government's demand for
dollars, said Sherman Chan, an economist in the Sydney office of
Moody's Economy.com.

Treasury data from Washington suggest the Chinese government might be
allocating a higher proportion of its foreign currency to the dollar
in recent weeks and less to the euro. The data also suggest China is
buying more Treasuries and fewer bonds from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
Figures from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Treasury point to a
sharp increase in Chinese holdings of Treasury bonds in October.
China passed Japan in September as the largest overseas holder of
Treasuries, and took a commanding lead in October, with $652.9
billion compared to $585.5 billion for Japan.

But specialists in international money flows caution against relying
too heavily on these statistics. They mostly count bonds that the
Chinese government has bought directly, and exclude purchases made
through banks in London and Hong Kong; with the financial crisis
weakening many banks, the Chinese government has a strong incentive
to buy more of its bonds directly.

The overall pace of foreign reserve accumulation in China seems to
have slowed so much that even if all the remaining purchases were
U.S. Treasuries, the Chinese government's overall purchases of dollar-
denominated assets will have fallen, economists said.

But China's leadership is likely to avoid any complete halt to
purchases of Treasuries for fear of looking like it is torpedoing the
chances for a U.S. economic recovery at a vulnerable time, said Paul
Tang, the chief economist at the Bank of East Asia here.

"This is a political decision," he said. "This is not purely an
investment decision."

How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe
Oxford professor of international relations Avi Shlaim served in the Israeli army and has never questioned the state's legitimacy. But its merciless assault on Gaza has led him to devastating conclusions
Avi Shlaim
The Guardian,=0 A Wednesday 7 January 2009



A wounded Palestinian policeman gestures while lying on the ground outside Hamas police headquarters following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. Photograph: Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images



--------------------------------------------



The only way to make sense of Israel's senseless war in Gaza is through understanding the historical context. Establishing the state of Israel in May 1948 involved a monumental injustice to the Palestinians. British officials bitterly resented American partisanship on behalf of the infant state. On 2 June 1948, Sir John Troutbeck wrote to the foreign secretary, Ernest Bevin, that the Americans were responsible for the creation of a gangster state headed by "an utterly unscrupulous set of leaders". I used to think that this judgment was too harsh but Israel's vicious assault on the people of Gaza, and the Bush administration's complicity in this assault, have reopened the question.



I write as someone who served loyally in the Israeli army in the mid-1960s and who has never questioned the legitimacy of the state of Israel within its pre-1967 borders. What I utterly reject is the Zionist colonial project beyond the Green Line. The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the June 1967 war had very little to do with security and everything to do with territorial expansionism. The aim was to establish Greater Israel through permanent political, economic and military control over the Palestinian territories. And the result has been one of the most prolonged and brutal military occupations of modern times.



Four decades of Israeli control did incalculable damage to the economy of the Gaza Strip. With a large population of 1948 refugees crammed into a tiny strip of land, with no infrastructure or natural resources, Gaza's prospects were never bright. Gaza, however, is not simply a case of economic under-development but a uniquely cruel case of deliberate de-development. To use the Biblical phrase, Israel turned the people of Gaza into the hewers of wood and the drawers of water, into a source of cheap labour and a captive market for Israeli goods. The development of local industry was actively impeded so as to make it impossible for the Palestinians to end their subordination to Israel and to establish the economic underpinnings essential for real political independence.



Gaza is a classic case of colonial exploitation in the post-colonial era. Jewish settlements in occupied territories are immoral, illegal and an insurmountable obstacle to peace. They are at once the instrument of exploitation and the symbol of the hated occupation. In Gaza, the Jewish settlers numbered only 8,000 in 2005 compared with 1.4 million local residents. Yet th e settlers controlled 25% of the territory, 40% of the arable land and the lion's share of the scarce water resources. Cheek by jowl with these foreign intruders, the majority of the local population lived in abject poverty and unimaginable misery. Eighty per cent of them still subsist on less than $2 a day. The living conditions in the strip remain an affront to civilised values, a powerful precipitant to resistance and a fertile breeding ground for political extremism.



In August 2005 a Likud government headed by Ariel Sharon staged a unilateral Israeli pullout from Gaza, withdrawing all 8,000 settlers and destroying the houses and farms they had left behind. Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement, conducted an effective campaign to drive the Israelis out of Gaza. The withdrawal was a humiliation for the Israeli Defence Forces. To the world, Sharon presented the withdrawal from Gaza as a contribution to peace based on a two-state solution. But in the year after, another 12,000 Israelis settled on the West Bank, further reducing the scope for an independent Palestinian state. Land-grabbing and peace-making are simply incompatible. Israel had a choice and it chose land over peace.


The real purpose behind the move was to redraw unilaterally the borders of Greater Israel by incorporating the main settlement blocs on the West Bank to the state of Israel. Withdrawal from Gaza was thus not a prelude to a peace deal with the Palestinian Authority but a prelude to further Zionist expansion on the West Bank. It was a unilateral Israeli move undertaken in what was seen, mistakenly in my view, as an Israeli national interest. Anchored in a fundamental rejection of the Palestinian national identity, the withdrawal from Gaza was part of a long-term effort to deny the Palestinian people any independent political existence on their land.



Israel's settlers were withdrawn but Israeli soldiers continued to control all access to the Gaza Strip by land, sea and air. Gaza was converted overnight into an open-air prison. From this point on, the Israeli air force enjoyed unrestricted freedom to drop bombs, to make sonic booms by flying low and breaking the sound barrier, and to terrorise the hapless inhabitants of this prison.



Israel likes to portray itself as an island of democracy in a sea of authoritarianism. Yet Israel has never in its entire history done anything to promote democracy on the Arab side and has done a great deal to undermine it. Israel has a long history of secret collaboration with reactionary Arab regimes to suppress Palestinian nationalism. Despite all the handicaps, the Palestinian people succeeded in building the only genuine democracy in the Arab world with the possible exception of Lebanon. In January 2006, free and fair elections for the Legislative Council of the Palestinian Authority brought to power a Hamas-led government. Israel, however, refused to recognise the democratically elected government, claiming that Hamas is purely and simply a terrorist organisation.



America and the EU shamelessly joined Israel in ostracising and demonising the Hamas government and in trying to bring it down by withholding tax revenues and foreign aid. A surreal situation thus developed with a significant part of the international community imposing economic sanctions not against the occupier but against the occupied, not again st the oppressor but against the oppressed.



As so often in the tragic history of Palestine, the victims were blamed for their own misfortunes. Israel's propaganda machine persistently purveyed the notion that the Palestinians are terrorists, that they reject coexistence with the Jewish state, that their nationalism is little more than antisemitism, that Hamas is just a bunch of religious fanatics and that Islam is incompatible with democracy. But the simple truth is that the Palestinian people are a normal people with normal aspirations. They are no better but they are no worse than any other national group. What they aspire to, above all, is a piece of land to call their own on which to live in freedom and dignity.



Like other radical movements, Hamas began to moderate its political programme following its rise to power. From the ideological rejectionism of its charter, it began to move towards pragmatic accommodation of a two-state solution. In March 2007, Hamas and Fata h formed a national unity government that was ready to negotiate a long-term ceasefire with Israel. Israel, however, refused to negotiate with a government that included Hamas.



It continued to play the old game of divide and rule between rival Palestinian factions. In the late 1980s, Israel had supported the nascent Hamas in order to weaken Fatah, the secular nationalist movement led by Yasser Arafat. Now Israel began to encourage the corrupt and pliant Fatah leaders to overthrow their religious political rivals and recapture power. Aggressive American neoconservatives participated in the sinister plot to instigate a Palestinian civil war. Their meddling was a major factor in the collapse of the national unity government and in driving Hamas to seize power in Gaza in June 2007 to pre-empt a Fatah coup.



The war unleashed by Israel on Gaza on 27 December was the culmination of a series of clashes and confrontations with the Hamas government. In a broader sense, however, it is a war between Israel and the Palestinian people, because the people had elected the party to power. The declared aim of the war is to weaken Hamas and to intensify the pressure until its leaders agree to a new ceasefire on Israel's terms. The undeclared aim is to ensure that the Palestinians in Gaza are seen by the world simply as a humanitarian problem and thus to derail their struggle for independence and statehood.



The timing of the war was determined by political expediency. A general election is scheduled for 10 February and, in the lead-up to the election, all the main contenders are looking for an opportunity to prove their toughness. The army top brass had been champing at the bit to deliver a crushing blow to Hamas in order to remove the stain left on their reputation by the failure of the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in July 2006. Israel's cynical leaders could also count on apathy and impotence of the pro-western Arab regimes and on blind support from President Bush in the twilight of his term in the White House. Bush readily obliged by putting all the blame for the crisis on Hamas, vetoing proposals at the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire and issuing Israel with a free pass to mount a gro und invasion of Gaza.



As always, mighty Israel claims to be the victim of Palestinian aggression but the sheer asymmetry of power between the two sides leaves little room for doubt as to who is the real victim. This is indeed a conflict between David and Goliath but the Biblical image has been inverted - a small and defenceless Palestinian David faces a heavily armed, merciless and overbearing Israeli Goliath. The resort to brute military force is accompanied, as always, by the shrill rhetoric of victimhood and a farrago of self-pity overlaid with self-righteousness. In Hebrew this is known as the syndrome of bokhim ve-yorim, "crying and shooting".



To be sure, Hamas is not an entirely innocent party in this conflict. Denied the fruit of its electoral victory and confronted with an unscrupulous adversary, it has resorted to the weapon of the weak - terror. Militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad kept launching Qassam rocket attacks against Israeli settlements near the bor der with Gaza until Egypt brokered a six-month ceasefire last June. The damage caused by these primitive rockets is minimal but the psychological impact is immense, prompting the public to demand protection from its government. Under the circumstances, Israel had the right to act in self-defence but its response to the pinpricks of rocket attacks was totally disproportionate. The figures speak for themselves. In the three years after the withdrawal from Gaza, 11 Israelis were killed by rocket fire. On the other hand, in 2005-7 alone, the IDF killed 1,290 Palestinians in Gaza, including 222 children.



Whatever the numbers, killing civilians is wrong. This rule applies to Israel as much as it does to Hamas, but Israel's entire record is one of unbridled and unremitting brutality towards the inhabitants of Gaza. Israel also maintained the blockade of Gaza after the ceasefire came into force which, in the view of the Hamas leaders, amounted to a violation of the agreement. During the ceasefire, Israel prevented any exports from leaving the strip in clear violation of a 2005 accord, leading to a sharp drop in employment opportunities. Officially, 49.1% of the population is unemployed. At the same time, Israel restricted drastically the number of trucks ca rrying food, fuel, cooking-gas canisters, spare parts for water and sanitation plants, and medical supplies to Gaza. It is difficult to see how starving and freezing the civilians of Gaza could protect the people on the Israeli side of the border. But even if it did, it would still be immoral, a form of collective punishment that is strictly forbidden by international humanitarian law.



The brutality of Israel's soldiers is fully matched by the mendacity of its spokesmen. Eight months before launching the current war on Gaza, Israel established a National Information Directorate. The core messages of this directorate to the media are that Hamas broke the ceasefire agreements; that Israel's objective is the defence of its population; and that Israel's forces are taking the utmost care not to hurt innocent civilians. Israel's spin doctors have been remarkably successful in getting this message across. But, in essence, their propaganda is a pack of lies.



A wide gap separates the20reality of Israel's actions from the rhetoric of its spokesmen. It was not Hamas but the IDF that broke the ceasefire. It di d so by a raid into Gaza on 4 November that killed six Hamas men. Israel's objective is not just the defence of its population but the eventual overthrow of the Hamas government in Gaza by turning the people against their rulers. And far from taking care to spare civilians, Israel is guilty of indiscriminate bombing and of a three-year-old blockade that has brought the inhabitants of Gaza, now 1.5 million, to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.



The Biblical injunction of an eye for an eye is savage enough. But Israel's insane offensive against Gaza seems to follow the logic of an eye for an eyelash. After eight days of bombing, with a death toll of more than 400 Palestinians and four Israelis, the gung-ho cabinet ordered a land invasion of Gaza the consequences of which are incalculable.



No amount of military escalation can buy Israel immunity from rocket attacks from the military wing of Hamas. Despite all the death and destruction that Israel20has inflicted on them, they kept up their resistance and they kept firing their rockets. This is a movement that glorifies victimhood and martyrdom. There is simply no military solution to the conflict between the two communities. The problem with Israel's concept of security is that it denies even the most elementary security to the other community. The only way for Israel to achieve security is not through shooting but through talks with Hamas, which has repeatedly declared its readiness to negotiate a long-term ceasefire with the Jewish state within its pre-1967 borders for 20, 30, or even 50 years. Israel has rejected this offer for the same reason it spurned the Arab League peace plan of 2002, which is still on the table: it involves concessions and compromises.
This brief review of Israel's record over the past four decades makes it difficult to resist the conclusion that it has become a rogue state with "an utterly unscrupulous set of leaders". A rogue state habitually violates international law, possesses weapons of mass destruction and practises terrorism - the use of violence against civilians for political purposes. Israel fulfils all of these three criteria; the cap fits and it must wear it. Israel's real aim is not peaceful coexistence with its Palestinian neighbours but military domination. It keeps compounding the mistakes of the past with new and more disastrous ones. Politicians, like everyone else, are of course free to repeat the lies and mistakes of the past. But it is not mandatory to do so.



• Avi Shlaim is a professor of international relations at the University of Oxford and the author of The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World and of Lion of Jordan: King Hussein's Life in War and Peace.
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guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009




http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21681.htm


-------------------

The Nation.

Israel: Boycott, Divest, Sanction

Lookout

By Naomi Klein

This article appeared in the January 26, 2009 edition of The Nation.
January 7, 2009



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Israel: Boycott, Divest, Sanction By Naomi Klein - January 8th, 2009
Israel: Boycott, Divest, Sanction
It's time. Long past time. The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for=2 0Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa.

In July 2005 a huge coalition of Palestinian groups laid out plans to do just that. They called on "people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era." The campaign Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions—BDS for short—was born.

Every day that Israel pounds Gaza brings more converts to the BDS cause, and talk of cease-fires is doing little to slow the momentum. Support is even emerging among Israeli Jews. In the midst of the assault roughly 500 Israelis, dozens of them well-known artists and scholars, sent a letter to foreign ambassadors stationed in Israel. It calls for "the adoption of immediate restrictive measures and sanctions" and draws a clear parallel with the antiapartheid struggle. "The boycott on South Africa was effective, but Israel is handled with kid gloves.… This international backing must stop."

Yet even in the face of these clear calls, many of us still can't go there. The reasons are complex, emotional and understandable. And they simply aren't good enough. Economic sanctions are the most effective tools in the nonviol ent arsenal. Surrendering them verges on active complicity. Here are the top four objections to the BDS strategy, followed by counterarguments.

1. Punitive measures will alienate rather than persuade Israelis. The world has tried what used to be called "constructive engagement." It has failed utterly. Since 2006 Israel has been steadily escalating its criminality: expanding settlements, launching an outrageous war against Lebanon and imposing collective punishment on Gaza through the brutal blockade. Despite this escalation, Israel has not faced punitive measures—quite the opposite. The weapons and $3 billion in annual aid that the US sends to Israel is only the beginning. Throughout this key period, Israel has enjoyed a dramatic improvement in its diplomatic, cultural and trade relations with a variety of other allies. For instance, in 2007 Israel became the first non–Latin American country to sign a free-trade deal with Mercosur. In the first nine months of 2008, Israeli exports to Canada went up 45 percent. A new trade deal with the European Union is set to double Israel's exports of processed food. And on December 8, European ministers "upgraded" the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a reward long sought by Jerusalem.

It is in this context that Israeli leaders started their latest war: confident they would face no meaningful costs. It is remarkable that over seven days of wartime trading, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's flagship index actually went up 10.7 percent. When carrots=2 0don't work, sticks are needed.

2. Israel is not South Africa. Of course it isn't. The relevance of the South African model is that it proves that BDS tactics can be effective when weaker measures (protests, petitions, back-room lobbying) have failed. And there are indeed deeply distressing echoes of South African apartheid in the occupied territories: the color-coded IDs and travel permits, the bulldozed homes and forced displacement, the settler-only roads. Ronnie Kasrils, a prominent South African politician, said that the architecture of segregation that he saw in the West Bank and Gaza was "infinitely worse than apartheid." That was in 2007, before Israel began its full-scale war against the open-air prison that is Gaza.

3. Why single out Israel when the United States, Britain and other Western countries do the same things in Iraq and Afghanistan? Boycott is not a dogma; it is a tactic. The reason the BDS strategy should be tried against Israel is practical: in a country so small and trade-dependent, it could actually work.

4. Boycotts sever communication; we need more dialogue, not less. This one I'll answer with a personal story. For eight years, my books have been published in Israel by a commercial house called Babel.20But when I published The Shock Doctrine, I wanted to respect the boycott. On the advice of BDS activists, including the wonderful writer John Berger, I contacted a small publisher called Andalus. Andalus is an activist press, deeply involved in the anti-occupation movement and the only Israeli publisher devoted exclusively to translating Arabic writing into Hebrew. We drafted a contract that guarantees that all proceeds go to Andalus's work, and none to me. In other words, I am boycotting the Israeli economy but not Israelis.

Coming up with our modest publishing plan required dozens of phone calls, e-mails and instant messages, stretching from Tel Aviv to Ramallah to Paris to Toronto to Gaza City. My point is this: as soon as you start implementing a boycott strategy, dialogue increases dramatically. And why wouldn't it? Building a movement requires endless communicating, as many in the antiapartheid struggle well recall. The argument that supporting boycotts will cut us off from one another is particularly specious given the array of cheap information technologies at our fingertips. We are drowning in ways to rant at one another across national boundaries. No boycott can stop us.

Just about now, many a proud Zionist is gearing up for major point-scoring: don't I know that many of those very high-tech toys come from Israeli research parks, world leaders in infotech? True enough, but not all of them. Several days into Israel's Gaza assault, Richar d Ramsey, the managing director of a British telecom specializing in voice-over-internet services, sent an email to the Israeli tech firm MobileMax. "As a result of the Israeli government action in the last few days we will no longer be in a position to consider doing business with yourself or any other Israeli company."

Ramsey says that his decision wasn't political; he just didn't want to lose customers. "We can't afford to lose any of our clients," he explains, "so it was purely commercially defensive."

It was this kind of cold business calculation that led many companies to pull out of South Africa two decades ago. And it's precisely the kind of calculation that is our most realistic hope of bringing justice, so long denied, to Palestine.

This column was first published in The Nation

Further Information:
The only international news network covering every aspect of the war on Gaza is Al Jazeera English. The station isn't available in North America but you can watch it live in high-quality through www.livestation.com (player download is required).

Disengagement and the Frontiers of Zionism by Darryl Li

Tax sleuths on Satyam trail
9 Jan 2009, 1442 hrs IST, Deepshikha Sikarwar, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: When it rains, it pours. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has launched an investigation into Satyam Computer Services, joining a
growing list of authorities investigating the company whose fate hangs in the balance following an admission of financial irregularities by its founder-chairman.

The company, which is likely to be issued with a show cause notice by tax authorities, is being investigated by markets regulator SEBI, the registrar of companies and a host of agencies, including the Andhra Pradesh police.

The income-tax office in Hyderabad, where Satyam is based, has sent in a preliminary report on the company which will set the stage for a more detailed investigation, said a finance ministry official, who asked not to be named.

The company, among India’s top five software exporters in terms of revenues, is likely to be issued with a show-cause notice by tax authorities as they look at the returns filed by the company. The investigation could also include verification of tax payments by the company and its actual liabilities.

Authorities are expected to examine the tax benefits enjoyed by the company over the years on its export income. The company is understood to have drawn benefits under Section 80 HHC of the Income Tax Act which was scrapped in 2005 and allowed companies to avoid paying taxes on export income. The company now enjoys tax exemptions available to software exporters under Section 10A or the Software Technology Park Scheme.

“The investigation will see as to how much additional tax benefit accrued to the company on account of inflated income from software exports,” the finance ministry official said.

Satyam’s former chairman B Ramalinga Raju admitted to inflating the company’s revenues and profits on Wednesday as part of an elaborate deception for years.

Taxation experts said tax authorities could also examine if additional expenses or credits were claimed by Satyam. These expenses will qualify as unaccounted income, making the company liable to a reassessment by tax authorities, the expert said.

Provisions in the income-tax law allow authorities to go back and open assessment of tax returns of up to six years. Tax returns are based on original accounts and once the company restates its accounts, it will have to amend its tax returns as well. However, companies are allowed to amend tax returns of the previous two years.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/LATEST_NEWS/Tax_sleuths_on_Satyam_trail/articleshow/3956245.cms



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