NEW DELHI: Over 52 lakh people died in India of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cardiovascular diseases, stroke, diabetes and cancer in 2008. NCDs accounted for 53% of all deaths.
Among men, 38% of the deaths were under 60 years, while among women it was 32%.
Cardiovascular diseases accounted for 24% of all deaths, cancers (6%), respiratory disease (11%), diabetes (2%) and other NCDs (10%), says the World Health Organization's latest country profile on NCD trends in 193 countries.
Looking at the metabolic risk factors, WHO's estimates can be worrying for Indians.
Around 33% people have high blood pressure, 10% have high blood glucose, 11% are overweight and 27% have high cholesterol. When it comes to behavioral risk factors, 14% smoke tobacco daily and another 14% don't exercise at all.
WHO's latest report was released on the eve of the global leaders meeting at the United Nations on NCDs that starts in New York on September 19. Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is heading the Indian delegation.
"This report indicates where each government needs to focus to prevent and treat the four major killers - cancer, heart disease and stroke, lung disease and diabetes," says Dr Ala Alwan, assistant director-general for NCDs and mental health at WHO.
NCDs are the top cause of death worldwide, killing more than 36 million in 2008. Cardiovascular diseases were responsible for 48% of these deaths, cancers (21%), chronic respiratory diseases (12%) and diabetes (3%).
The report says, in 2008 more than nine million of all deaths attributed to NCDs occurred before 60 years. Around 90% of these "premature" deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries.
One of the findings shows that men and women in low-income countries are around three times more likely to die of NCDs before 60 years than in high-income countries.
It is estimated that the proportion of men dying under the age of 60 from NCDs can be as high as 67%. Correspondingly, among women under 60, the figure stood at 58%.
The lowest rate of mortality from NCDs for under-60 men were 8%, and for women in the same age group it was 6%. The country profile also reports on the proportion of people who smoke and are physically inactive.
They also indicate trends for four factors that increase people's risk of developing these diseases, blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index and blood sugar over the past 30 years.
Ann Keeling, chairperson of the NCD Alliance steering group, said, "The most important outcome of the UN High-Level Summit on NCDs will be sustained and strong high-level political support for a framework of specific commitments to tackle the NCD crisis. The aim is to reduce NCD death rates by 2% per year which will avert an estimated 36 million deaths over 10 years."
Friday, September 16, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
12,000 tax cheats come clean under IRS program
Ramdev has been asking for Indian money to come back with no apparent success.
Perhap, Anna Hazare and Ramdev join hands to get the Indian TAX machineries to work properly.
Following is the news that clearly demonstrated that well-will system can bring the money back provided the ghost is not in the mustard.
---------------------
WASHINGTON (AP) — About 12,000 tax cheats have come clean under a program that offered reduced penalties and no jail time to people who voluntarily disclosed assets they were hiding overseas, the Internal Revenue Service announced Thursday.
Those people have so far paid $500 million in back taxes and interest. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said he expects the cases to yield substantially more money from penalties that have yet to be paid.
The voluntary disclosure program, which ran from February to last week, is part of a larger effort by the IRS to crack down on tax dodgers who hide assets in overseas accounts. The agency stepped up its efforts in 2009, when Swiss banking giant UBS AG agreed to pay a $780 million fine and turn over details on thousands of accounts suspected of holding undeclared assets from American customers.
Since then, the IRS has opened new enforcement offices overseas, beefed up staffing and expanded cooperation with foreign governments. A similar disclosure program in 2009 has so far netted $2.2 billion in back taxes, penalties and fines, from people with accounts in 140 countries, Shulman said.
Between the two disclosure programs, a total of 30,000 tax cheats have come clean.
"The world has clearly changed," Shulman said. "We have pierced international bank secrecy laws, and we're making a serious dent in offshore tax evasion."
The IRS has long had a policy that certain tax evaders who come forward can usually avoid jail time as long as they agree to pay back taxes, interest and hefty penalties. Drug dealers and money launderers need not apply. But if the money was earned legally, tax evaders can usually avoid criminal prosecution.
Fewer than 100 people apply for the program in a typical year, in part because the penalties can far exceed the value of the hidden account, depending on how long the account holder has evaded U.S. taxes.
The latest disclosure program offered reduced penalties, but it was no free walk. Taxpayers were required to pay up to eight years of back taxes and a penalty of up to 25 percent of the highest annual amount in the overseas account from 2003 through 2010.
The disclosure programs have also provided the IRS with information about banks and advisers who have assisted people with offshore tax evasion. Shulman said the agency will use the information to continue its enforcement efforts.
"Unlike a few years ago, it's very clear now that there's a real price to be paid for people who think they can hide offshore and not pay their taxes," he said.
Perhap, Anna Hazare and Ramdev join hands to get the Indian TAX machineries to work properly.
Following is the news that clearly demonstrated that well-will system can bring the money back provided the ghost is not in the mustard.
---------------------
WASHINGTON (AP) — About 12,000 tax cheats have come clean under a program that offered reduced penalties and no jail time to people who voluntarily disclosed assets they were hiding overseas, the Internal Revenue Service announced Thursday.
Those people have so far paid $500 million in back taxes and interest. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said he expects the cases to yield substantially more money from penalties that have yet to be paid.
The voluntary disclosure program, which ran from February to last week, is part of a larger effort by the IRS to crack down on tax dodgers who hide assets in overseas accounts. The agency stepped up its efforts in 2009, when Swiss banking giant UBS AG agreed to pay a $780 million fine and turn over details on thousands of accounts suspected of holding undeclared assets from American customers.
Since then, the IRS has opened new enforcement offices overseas, beefed up staffing and expanded cooperation with foreign governments. A similar disclosure program in 2009 has so far netted $2.2 billion in back taxes, penalties and fines, from people with accounts in 140 countries, Shulman said.
Between the two disclosure programs, a total of 30,000 tax cheats have come clean.
"The world has clearly changed," Shulman said. "We have pierced international bank secrecy laws, and we're making a serious dent in offshore tax evasion."
The IRS has long had a policy that certain tax evaders who come forward can usually avoid jail time as long as they agree to pay back taxes, interest and hefty penalties. Drug dealers and money launderers need not apply. But if the money was earned legally, tax evaders can usually avoid criminal prosecution.
Fewer than 100 people apply for the program in a typical year, in part because the penalties can far exceed the value of the hidden account, depending on how long the account holder has evaded U.S. taxes.
The latest disclosure program offered reduced penalties, but it was no free walk. Taxpayers were required to pay up to eight years of back taxes and a penalty of up to 25 percent of the highest annual amount in the overseas account from 2003 through 2010.
The disclosure programs have also provided the IRS with information about banks and advisers who have assisted people with offshore tax evasion. Shulman said the agency will use the information to continue its enforcement efforts.
"Unlike a few years ago, it's very clear now that there's a real price to be paid for people who think they can hide offshore and not pay their taxes," he said.
Indians for Collective Action invites you to 2011 Annual Banquet Honoring Team Anna: Anna Hazare and Prashant Bhushan and Dr. Paul Polak.
SANTA CLARA, CA, September 12, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Indians for Collective Action invites you to 2011 Annual Banquet Honoring Team Anna: Anna Hazare and Prashant Bhushan and Dr. Paul Polak.
"Imagine a world free of Hunger, Corruption and Hatred. When others think it's a dream, we believe in it and we get to work. Chanakya, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, they all realized their dream. They all did it because common people like you and me heard their voices, understood their wisdom and followed their vision.
Now more than ever, 1.2 billion people have begun to hear the voice of Anna Hazare.
Did You Hear?" --- (Ryan Baidya, PhD, MBA)
Noble Leaders like Anna Hazare, Prashant Bhushan and Paul Polak inspire people across the globe to join in the course for improvement of people's livelihood and to stand against injustice to humans - global revolution. Civilians, social and human rights activists progress to fight for equality, corruption free, social and economic equity and for a prosperous living.
Anna Hazare, needs no introduction, he has dedicated his life for social service, for humanity, a social activist; initiated the Satyagraha movement and leader of Anti Corruption Movement in India. For more information on Anna Hazare, please visit http://www.annahazare.org
Prashant Bhushan, social activist and senior advocate, helps society through higher judicial system and public interest litigations. He is the prime member of Anna Hazare led anti corruption movement. Advocate Bhushan named Peoples Ombudsman Bill as 'Jan Lokpall Bill', he was a member of the committee constituted by the Govt. of India to draft the Lokpall Bill.
Dr. Paul Polak, is the founder of International Development Enterprise, IDE develops practical solution to combat poverty. He is also the founder of D-Rev. Design Revolution- design and development of ideas and products. For more information on Paul Polak, please visit http://www.paulpolak.com
Indians for Collective Action (ICA) is a San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit group. Since the inception in 1968, ICA nurtured social activists, spawned numerous initiatives including Asha for Education and Foundation for Excellence, and supported innovative community-led development projects in over 20 states of India and disbursing over $5.0 million . ICA partners with dedicated social workers and activists in India and the U.S. , ICA honored Arvind Kejriwal and in 2010, Kiran Bedi, the other leaders in this movement that is sweeping India.
Venue: Saturday, October 15, 2011, 4:30 - 9:30 p.m. Santa Clara Convention Center, CA
For more info: visit http://www.ICAonline.org. Contact: Unmesh Sheth, email: usheth@gmail.com , (tel) 510-676-9502 ** Abhay Bhushan, email: akbhushan@aol.com, (tel) 650-868-6645 -
ICA is a 501(c) 3 federally tax-exempt organization (Tax ID number - 23-7027461
"Imagine a world free of Hunger, Corruption and Hatred. When others think it's a dream, we believe in it and we get to work. Chanakya, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, they all realized their dream. They all did it because common people like you and me heard their voices, understood their wisdom and followed their vision.
Now more than ever, 1.2 billion people have begun to hear the voice of Anna Hazare.
Did You Hear?" --- (Ryan Baidya, PhD, MBA)
Noble Leaders like Anna Hazare, Prashant Bhushan and Paul Polak inspire people across the globe to join in the course for improvement of people's livelihood and to stand against injustice to humans - global revolution. Civilians, social and human rights activists progress to fight for equality, corruption free, social and economic equity and for a prosperous living.
Anna Hazare, needs no introduction, he has dedicated his life for social service, for humanity, a social activist; initiated the Satyagraha movement and leader of Anti Corruption Movement in India. For more information on Anna Hazare, please visit http://www.annahazare.org
Prashant Bhushan, social activist and senior advocate, helps society through higher judicial system and public interest litigations. He is the prime member of Anna Hazare led anti corruption movement. Advocate Bhushan named Peoples Ombudsman Bill as 'Jan Lokpall Bill', he was a member of the committee constituted by the Govt. of India to draft the Lokpall Bill.
Dr. Paul Polak, is the founder of International Development Enterprise, IDE develops practical solution to combat poverty. He is also the founder of D-Rev. Design Revolution- design and development of ideas and products. For more information on Paul Polak, please visit http://www.paulpolak.com
Indians for Collective Action (ICA) is a San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit group. Since the inception in 1968, ICA nurtured social activists, spawned numerous initiatives including Asha for Education and Foundation for Excellence, and supported innovative community-led development projects in over 20 states of India and disbursing over $5.0 million . ICA partners with dedicated social workers and activists in India and the U.S. , ICA honored Arvind Kejriwal and in 2010, Kiran Bedi, the other leaders in this movement that is sweeping India.
Venue: Saturday, October 15, 2011, 4:30 - 9:30 p.m. Santa Clara Convention Center, CA
For more info: visit http://www.ICAonline.org. Contact: Unmesh Sheth, email: usheth@gmail.com , (tel) 510-676-9502 ** Abhay Bhushan, email: akbhushan@aol.com, (tel) 650-868-6645 -
ICA is a 501(c) 3 federally tax-exempt organization (Tax ID number - 23-7027461
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Lotus Revolution in India
Vande Mataram,- BVande Mataram- Vande Mataram...
Call is loud in silence.
In mid 1960s a lady just wanted to sit on a bus - and she did - that made America of today - that also made possible to see President Obama at the White House.
in early 1930s British did not allow Gandhi to stay in Africa - and pushed him back to Bharat - and that initiated the end of British-raj in the world.
And very long ago Mighty king of Magadh insulted Chanakya - with that Bharat saw end of tyranny and a good 500 years Golden era.
I wonder what I would be writing on 20+years later on the event that is unfolding at the Jantar-Mantar site of New Delhi.
Is what we think it is?
Perhaps it is - It smells like that, feels like that and begin to sounds like that.
And, if that is true, what should all do ....
Thank you,
---------------------
Cries of ‘revolution’at Jantar Mantar
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, April 7: Egypt, Tunisia and now — Jantar Mantar.
That’s what a gaggle of school students felt Anna Hazare’s protest site had become. “Tunisia, Egypt and now India,” said one banner. Teenager Ankita, who held aloft the poster, said she could not hold herself back. “A revolution is on. And I wanted to pitch in,” said the Class XII student of a reputable city school. Schoolmate Ashish Parikh nodded. “It is the tipping point.”
They were among the 1,000-odd people who had converged at Jantar Mantar to support Hazare on his third day of hunger strike to demand a tougher Lok Pal Bill. Hazare’s aides claimed the figure was close to 2,000.
A Delhi police officer didn’t seem to agree, though. “It’s like a Kumbh Mela in terms of the variety of people, but not the numbers. The noise on TV would make you believe Jantar Mantar has turned into another Tahrir Square. It is yet to cause even a minor traffic jam,” he said.
In a scene straight out of Peepli Live — the Aamir Khan-produced parody of the way TV amplifies events — media representatives at the site rushed to the stage after hearing Hazare had taken ill and was being shifted to hospital. They returned disappointed. It wasn’t Hazare but two of his associates.
The septuagenarian himself said he could fast for seven more days. “I have been working for a long time,” he said in one of his many speeches despite a rise in blood pressure.
Hazare apologised to Uma Bharti, who was asked to leave yesterday by his aides. But the former BJP leader warned against the activist sweeping generalisations. “All politicians are not bad. He should not allow his movement to become negative,” she said.
Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar came, as did actor Raza Murad. Other stars tweeted support.
----------------
What should India's revolution look like?
Frank Raj
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 - No 2 Religion Yes 2 Faith by Frank Raj
“In India, where a river can be a goddess, a laundry and a toilet all at once, nothing is obvious. India can supply an example of any extreme, and convince you it’s the whole story. The country’s official statistics are subject to frequent and unexpected revisions. India’s variety and vagueness conspire to frustrate anyone who tries to be objective.
- Brooke Unger, former South Asia Bureau Chief of The Economist
MIDDLE EAST, INDIA, April 05, 2011 —Around the Middle East people are risking everything to change their lives. But nothing significant seems to be happening in India. Just two and a half hours away from the Arabian Gulf only a countrywide obsession with sport, and India’s triumph in the 2011 cricket World Cup seems to hold the attention of the population. The Roman Empire once ruled much of the world, yet kept its population similarly distracted from their unending miseries by entertaining them in the infamous Coliseum.
India's stark reality is that its have-nots comprise half the world's poor. They are mostly deluded by the religious notion of Maya - that life is an illusion; it probably accounts for the lethargy and inaction of its most unfortunate citizens. We Indians are easily beguiled. We are bamboozled by customs, caste, creed, an assortment of popular mendicants and a conniving political and religious leadership.
Bathing in the Ganges (Photo: India)
Bathing in the Ganges (Photo: India)
Why don't India’s disadvantaged rise up and demand their rightful share of the nation's wealth that is systematically looted by a handful of politicians and businessmen?
In our schizophrenic nation of extreme poverty and extreme wealth, much needs to change.
India has two major obsessions where a revolution is urgently needed: both are used to manipulate Indians, often with deadly combined effect - politics and religion. Since it is supposedly in the realm of the sacred, the latter probably has more clout for all the wrong reasons in India, unlike the generally more open debates on such matters in the West.
The track record of religious communities positively shaping politics in India is dismal.
Religion in India is controlled and manipulated by unscrupulous politicians and corrupt clergy. Yoga and gurus galore attract westerners who flock to India for enlightenment.
Yet those same gurus overlook the desolation of a society infected with religious hostility where women and children are brutalized and the country has little pity for its teeming underprivileged millions.
The religious spectacle in India is great for tourism, but it does not shape character. It is Indian culture and traditions that dominate people’s convictions. Elected officials routinely manipulate religion for vote banks. Crooked politicians and businessmen publicize their pilgrimages seeking divine favors, and both clever and common Indians offer ritual prayer as a good luck charm.
The unbelievably polluted Ganges River, considered holy, visibly reflects the rot of religion. The age old, all pervasive caste system gives sacred sanction to a 3,000 year old society's twisted hierarchy.
All Indians seem to link piety with wealth and are strangely satisfied with religiosity and its outward manifestations. I make no exception, few of them are inclined to seek something deeper.
Granted, money is not worshipped only by Indians. Sometimes it appears that in fact only one religion controls mankind - materialism, the religion of the world. In India there is Lakshmi, the ruling goddess of prosperity. Mammon rules the rest of the globe; less of an overt religious symbol perhaps but equally effective in controlling men's minds and hearts.
Yet, in pluralistic India we somehow need to build trust and respect for one another's beliefs in all faith communities. But that is possible only if Indians can offer one another authentic, inspirational values, instead of religious showmanship and narrow communal preferences that ignite conflict.
One is humbled by genuine manifestations of supplication and personal faith in anyone truly seeking God. But religion is a different kettle of fish. It is mostly ideology, and by allowing a volatile mixture of the two, India has consistently invited havoc. It has the dubious record of permitting the 21st century’s first state sponsored pogrom, when fanatic adherents of Hindutva massacred several thousand Muslims in Godhra, Gujarat in 2002.
WikiLeaks recently exposed India’s devious religious politics when Robert Blake, a senior US diplomat, revealed that Arun Jaitley, leader of India’s main opposition party the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Upper House of Parliament (the Rajya Sabha – Council of States), had admitted to him in a meeting on May 6, 2005 that Hindu nationalism is an "opportunistic issue" for his party. "Pressed on the question of Hindutva, Jaitley argued that Hindu nationalism 'will always be a 'talking point' for the BJP.'
Those who haven't seen through the BJP's well crafted, Goebbels-inspired propaganda should stop and consider how ideology has been hammered into Indian minds and reinforced as something religious when it is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Open dialogue on common spiritual concerns can be a vital source of personal and social morality in a country's public life.
Hindu, Muslim or Christian, people lose an authentic relationship with their Creator when they settle for any religious ideology - Hindutva, Islamism, or Christianity.
India needs a genuine spiritual revolution that eliminates the politics of religion, which frequently pits Indian against Indian.
Nevertheless, is there no need for a social and political revolution in India like the Middle East?
Unlike several Arab governments on the brink, a convoluted India ranked 84th on the most corrupt nations list, still has a choice. It can choose whether to implode eventually and disintegrate politically and spiritually as a people and a nation - or, become stronger through all the upheaval around the region and use it to rebuild a solid democratic foundation.
India's media enjoys much more freedom than any Middle Eastern state. Why hasn't it taken the initiative to issue a clarion call for change? The country’s media barons, known for increasing profits rather than upholding integrity, prefer to maintain the status quo. Tunisians and Egyptians discarded their dictatorships because of a unique alliance: youth power, alternative media, solidarity and sheer determination.
The Internet is censored in India mainly for pornography. Indian civil society could easily channel the restlessness of educated, young unemployed Indians and empower them to organize and rally the country.
Their manifesto could include three main demands: An end to corruption with rigidly enforced accountability; equal opportunity that tangibly cuts unemployment currently estimated at nearly 11 per cent; and poverty eradication beyond mere sloganeering.
According to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s premier business association, 72 % of India's population is below the age of 40, while 47% of Indians are under the age of 20 and 10% of the world population is an Indian under 25. They can be a major force to reckon with if they harness the subversive, ubiquitous power of social media like Facebook, Twitter etc.
Like their Arab counterparts if they unite in nationwide solidarity they can demand transparency in governance, and wage a peaceful yet unrelenting fight for genuine democracy in India. Youth associations, independent trade unions, citizen's and women’s groups must empower any such initiative with a total commitment to an organized movement for the rights of the people.
Violence is not the solution for India, but a peaceful revolution must come about in a tangible manner that redresses the predicament of marginalized Indians. They face a bleak future and contend with the high cost of living, massive unemployment, dehumanizing poverty and the despair of being left behind as globalization benefits only a fraction of the country.
If India doesn't apply its national tenet: Satyamev jayate, (Sanskrit: "Truth Alone Triumphs") which sustained and motivated Gandhi, I see little hope for the future despite our steady annual GDP figures.
It could all unravel someday.
Frank Raj belongs to an extended Indian-American family; he is based in India and the Middle East where he has lived for over three decades. He is the founding editor and publisher of ‘The International Indian’, (www.theinternationalindian.com) the oldest magazine of Gulf-Indian society and history since 1992.
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BANGALORE: Inspired by Gandhian Anna Hazare, the youth is ready to throw its power behind the fight against corruption. They are standing up for a clean India — it could be the fragrance of the Jasmine Revolution seeping into the country, or it could just mean that they've had enough.
'A revolution should happen today and now' — these were the words of hundreds of students from Bangalore, who gathered in support of Anna Hazare's fast, demanding implementation of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Students from across the city, who joined the protest by the hundreds, cheered when L S Tejaswi Surya, a student leader of Arise India, said: "We want a change and we want to see the change now. The youth has supported every movement in the country. Now, it is time for Clean Revolution. Dirty politics has to be changed. The youth of Karnataka and students of the entire country are showing their real power."
Students applauded as Tejaswi, a student of Bangalore University Law College, said: "The youth have woken up. It is a death-knell for the corrupt. We want leaders who are honest and educated, and not corrupt."
Perhaps it is the right formula — a wise old fighter backed by the energy of the youth. More than 300 students from various colleges — Vijaya Composite College, New Horizon College of Engineering, Jain Group of Colleges, BNM Institute of Technology, Krupanidhi College, NMKRV College, and Bangalore University Law College — participated in the protest at Freedom Park.
"We are expecting the number to go up by 1,000 in the evening. Students have turned out to be our strength. When we started the anti-corruption movement, we thought it would be difficult to mobilize students against corruption. But, they have proved us wrong," Ajit Phadnis, a member of India Against Corruption, and one of the organizers of the campaign in Bangalore, said.
All the students chanted the name of Anna Hazare. Roopak K, from Vijaya Composite College, said he found out about the movement online. "We went through indiaagainstcorruption.org. It was Anna Hazare's act that influenced us. He called upon the youth to be part of the movement. We are here to prove our power," he said.
Fighting odds, girls also participated. Vishnu Priya AH, second-year PU student of Vijaya Composite College, said it was difficult for girls to participate in protests. "Though our parents support the anti-corruption movement, they were not willing to send us. They were scared there might be a lathicharge and told us we were too young for all this. But, we don't think so. We convinced our parents of the importance of participating," she said.
Nagendra C, another student of Vijaya College, said: "We felt that if this soldier of great calibre can go on a fast at his age, the youth has the power to do much more."
--------------
Revolution futile, admits Ulfa
- Hira Sarania attends raising day function
RIPUNJOY DAS
Arabinda Rajkhowa and other Ulfa leaders in Tinsukia district on Thursday. Picture by UB Photos
Kakopathar, April 7: After waging an armed struggle for 32 years, Ulfa today admitted the futility of armed rebellion, saying it would not yield “any solution” and that it had not been able to “liberate even a small village” in three decades.
Addressing a meeting of about 400 cadres and families of Ulfa martyrs at the outfit’s designated camp in Kakopathar under Tinsukia district of Upper Assam on the outfit’s 32nd raising day, chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa said, “It’s true that the government of India could not finish Ulfa by using its military might. But the Ulfa, too, despite the sacrifice of thousands of our youths, could not liberate even a small village, forget the whole of Assam.
“Realising this and showing respect towards the wishes of the people of Assam, which was expressed through the Sanmilita Jatiya Abhibartan, we came forward for formal political negotiations with India.”
Rajkhowa said the time had come for the people of Assam to choose between armed struggle and political negotiations and stick to one.
After giving a vivid account of Ulfa struggle over the last three decades, he said, “Many people will still try to lure a section of our rural youths to armed struggle but after more than 30 years of armed struggle against the Government of India, we can say that it will not bring us any solution.”
Rajkhowa, who was flanked by vice-chairman Pradip Gogoi and political adviser Bhimkanta Buragohain, said the Centre had, through a letter dated May 25, 2005, reached out to Ulfa saying that solutions to all problems could be found through dialogue and had expressed its willingness to discuss all the core issues of Assam. “The first round of discussions got under way in New Delhi in the presence of the Prime Minister on February 14 this year. The government has reciprocated well, assuring us of a meaningful and acceptable solution to the issues raised by us. We have stressed upon a time-bound solution and made it clear that we are not interested in discussions for the sake of discussions,” he added.
Rajkhowa said the agenda for future discussions with New Delhi, which would include all the core issues plaguing Assam, was being drafted and would acquire a final shape very soon.
He said the government would also have to give answers on the whereabouts of the 24 missing Ulfa leaders, including self-styled majors Asanta Bagh Phukon, Bening Rava and Robin Neog, “captain” Abhijit Deka and “lieutenant” Ajoy Narzary, who went missing during Operation All Clear launched by the Royal Bhutan Army in 2003.
Pradip Gogoi said there was no rift in the Ulfa hierarchy and there were no factions called the Paresh Barua faction or the Arabinda Rajkhowa faction. “Paresh Barua has never said that he is not interested in holding talks. There might be some difference in opinion, but this does not mean that there is a division,” he said.
The commanding officer of Ulfa’s 709 battalion, Hira Sarania, also made his first public appearance today during the function along with the commanding officers of 27 battalion, Pallab Saikia, and 109 battalion, Gullit Das. There were murmurs of Sarania having joined the Rajkhowa group but there was no confirmation till he surfaced today.
Sarania, who had joined the outfit in 1987, reportedly commanded its activities in Guwahati and lower Assam. He is also reported to have been responsible for the kidnapping of P.C. Ram, the executive director of FCI, Northeast Circle, who was later killed in a crossfire during an encounter between Ulfa and security forces. Sarania told this correspondent that “some understanding” had been worked out so that he is not harassed by agencies investigating the Ram case. He, however, refused to give details.
In the morning, Rajkhowa raised the flag of the outfit, was formed on April 7, 1979 at Rangghar in Sivasagar, and the Ulfa rank and file, initiated by Bhimkanta Buragohain, paid tribute to the martyrs. Police and CRPF personnel were seen guarding the venue from a 100-metre distance.
More than 120 families who had lost their sons and daughters in Ulfa’s armed struggle, were invited to the function. They were felicitated by Ulfa leaders, including Rajkhowa, with phulam gamocha. However, apart from sympathy and the status of Jatiya Swahid, it is not known whether the Ulfa leadership gave the martyrs’ families anything else.
The chairman of the Terror Victims’ Families Forum, Brojen Hazarika, said, “It is good that Rajkhowa and his followers have realised the futility of armed struggle after the unnecessary death of several thousands. But they cannot save their skin by saying so. They will have to ensure that there is no further bloodshed, no life is lost and that those who are still in the jungles return home.”---------------------
-------------------
Call is loud in silence.
In mid 1960s a lady just wanted to sit on a bus - and she did - that made America of today - that also made possible to see President Obama at the White House.
in early 1930s British did not allow Gandhi to stay in Africa - and pushed him back to Bharat - and that initiated the end of British-raj in the world.
And very long ago Mighty king of Magadh insulted Chanakya - with that Bharat saw end of tyranny and a good 500 years Golden era.
I wonder what I would be writing on 20+years later on the event that is unfolding at the Jantar-Mantar site of New Delhi.
Is what we think it is?
Perhaps it is - It smells like that, feels like that and begin to sounds like that.
And, if that is true, what should all do ....
Thank you,
---------------------
Cries of ‘revolution’at Jantar Mantar
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, April 7: Egypt, Tunisia and now — Jantar Mantar.
That’s what a gaggle of school students felt Anna Hazare’s protest site had become. “Tunisia, Egypt and now India,” said one banner. Teenager Ankita, who held aloft the poster, said she could not hold herself back. “A revolution is on. And I wanted to pitch in,” said the Class XII student of a reputable city school. Schoolmate Ashish Parikh nodded. “It is the tipping point.”
They were among the 1,000-odd people who had converged at Jantar Mantar to support Hazare on his third day of hunger strike to demand a tougher Lok Pal Bill. Hazare’s aides claimed the figure was close to 2,000.
A Delhi police officer didn’t seem to agree, though. “It’s like a Kumbh Mela in terms of the variety of people, but not the numbers. The noise on TV would make you believe Jantar Mantar has turned into another Tahrir Square. It is yet to cause even a minor traffic jam,” he said.
In a scene straight out of Peepli Live — the Aamir Khan-produced parody of the way TV amplifies events — media representatives at the site rushed to the stage after hearing Hazare had taken ill and was being shifted to hospital. They returned disappointed. It wasn’t Hazare but two of his associates.
The septuagenarian himself said he could fast for seven more days. “I have been working for a long time,” he said in one of his many speeches despite a rise in blood pressure.
Hazare apologised to Uma Bharti, who was asked to leave yesterday by his aides. But the former BJP leader warned against the activist sweeping generalisations. “All politicians are not bad. He should not allow his movement to become negative,” she said.
Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar came, as did actor Raza Murad. Other stars tweeted support.
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What should India's revolution look like?
Frank Raj
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 - No 2 Religion Yes 2 Faith by Frank Raj
“In India, where a river can be a goddess, a laundry and a toilet all at once, nothing is obvious. India can supply an example of any extreme, and convince you it’s the whole story. The country’s official statistics are subject to frequent and unexpected revisions. India’s variety and vagueness conspire to frustrate anyone who tries to be objective.
- Brooke Unger, former South Asia Bureau Chief of The Economist
MIDDLE EAST, INDIA, April 05, 2011 —Around the Middle East people are risking everything to change their lives. But nothing significant seems to be happening in India. Just two and a half hours away from the Arabian Gulf only a countrywide obsession with sport, and India’s triumph in the 2011 cricket World Cup seems to hold the attention of the population. The Roman Empire once ruled much of the world, yet kept its population similarly distracted from their unending miseries by entertaining them in the infamous Coliseum.
India's stark reality is that its have-nots comprise half the world's poor. They are mostly deluded by the religious notion of Maya - that life is an illusion; it probably accounts for the lethargy and inaction of its most unfortunate citizens. We Indians are easily beguiled. We are bamboozled by customs, caste, creed, an assortment of popular mendicants and a conniving political and religious leadership.
Bathing in the Ganges (Photo: India)
Bathing in the Ganges (Photo: India)
Why don't India’s disadvantaged rise up and demand their rightful share of the nation's wealth that is systematically looted by a handful of politicians and businessmen?
In our schizophrenic nation of extreme poverty and extreme wealth, much needs to change.
India has two major obsessions where a revolution is urgently needed: both are used to manipulate Indians, often with deadly combined effect - politics and religion. Since it is supposedly in the realm of the sacred, the latter probably has more clout for all the wrong reasons in India, unlike the generally more open debates on such matters in the West.
The track record of religious communities positively shaping politics in India is dismal.
Religion in India is controlled and manipulated by unscrupulous politicians and corrupt clergy. Yoga and gurus galore attract westerners who flock to India for enlightenment.
Yet those same gurus overlook the desolation of a society infected with religious hostility where women and children are brutalized and the country has little pity for its teeming underprivileged millions.
The religious spectacle in India is great for tourism, but it does not shape character. It is Indian culture and traditions that dominate people’s convictions. Elected officials routinely manipulate religion for vote banks. Crooked politicians and businessmen publicize their pilgrimages seeking divine favors, and both clever and common Indians offer ritual prayer as a good luck charm.
The unbelievably polluted Ganges River, considered holy, visibly reflects the rot of religion. The age old, all pervasive caste system gives sacred sanction to a 3,000 year old society's twisted hierarchy.
All Indians seem to link piety with wealth and are strangely satisfied with religiosity and its outward manifestations. I make no exception, few of them are inclined to seek something deeper.
Granted, money is not worshipped only by Indians. Sometimes it appears that in fact only one religion controls mankind - materialism, the religion of the world. In India there is Lakshmi, the ruling goddess of prosperity. Mammon rules the rest of the globe; less of an overt religious symbol perhaps but equally effective in controlling men's minds and hearts.
Yet, in pluralistic India we somehow need to build trust and respect for one another's beliefs in all faith communities. But that is possible only if Indians can offer one another authentic, inspirational values, instead of religious showmanship and narrow communal preferences that ignite conflict.
One is humbled by genuine manifestations of supplication and personal faith in anyone truly seeking God. But religion is a different kettle of fish. It is mostly ideology, and by allowing a volatile mixture of the two, India has consistently invited havoc. It has the dubious record of permitting the 21st century’s first state sponsored pogrom, when fanatic adherents of Hindutva massacred several thousand Muslims in Godhra, Gujarat in 2002.
WikiLeaks recently exposed India’s devious religious politics when Robert Blake, a senior US diplomat, revealed that Arun Jaitley, leader of India’s main opposition party the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Upper House of Parliament (the Rajya Sabha – Council of States), had admitted to him in a meeting on May 6, 2005 that Hindu nationalism is an "opportunistic issue" for his party. "Pressed on the question of Hindutva, Jaitley argued that Hindu nationalism 'will always be a 'talking point' for the BJP.'
Those who haven't seen through the BJP's well crafted, Goebbels-inspired propaganda should stop and consider how ideology has been hammered into Indian minds and reinforced as something religious when it is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Open dialogue on common spiritual concerns can be a vital source of personal and social morality in a country's public life.
Hindu, Muslim or Christian, people lose an authentic relationship with their Creator when they settle for any religious ideology - Hindutva, Islamism, or Christianity.
India needs a genuine spiritual revolution that eliminates the politics of religion, which frequently pits Indian against Indian.
Nevertheless, is there no need for a social and political revolution in India like the Middle East?
Unlike several Arab governments on the brink, a convoluted India ranked 84th on the most corrupt nations list, still has a choice. It can choose whether to implode eventually and disintegrate politically and spiritually as a people and a nation - or, become stronger through all the upheaval around the region and use it to rebuild a solid democratic foundation.
India's media enjoys much more freedom than any Middle Eastern state. Why hasn't it taken the initiative to issue a clarion call for change? The country’s media barons, known for increasing profits rather than upholding integrity, prefer to maintain the status quo. Tunisians and Egyptians discarded their dictatorships because of a unique alliance: youth power, alternative media, solidarity and sheer determination.
The Internet is censored in India mainly for pornography. Indian civil society could easily channel the restlessness of educated, young unemployed Indians and empower them to organize and rally the country.
Their manifesto could include three main demands: An end to corruption with rigidly enforced accountability; equal opportunity that tangibly cuts unemployment currently estimated at nearly 11 per cent; and poverty eradication beyond mere sloganeering.
According to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s premier business association, 72 % of India's population is below the age of 40, while 47% of Indians are under the age of 20 and 10% of the world population is an Indian under 25. They can be a major force to reckon with if they harness the subversive, ubiquitous power of social media like Facebook, Twitter etc.
Like their Arab counterparts if they unite in nationwide solidarity they can demand transparency in governance, and wage a peaceful yet unrelenting fight for genuine democracy in India. Youth associations, independent trade unions, citizen's and women’s groups must empower any such initiative with a total commitment to an organized movement for the rights of the people.
Violence is not the solution for India, but a peaceful revolution must come about in a tangible manner that redresses the predicament of marginalized Indians. They face a bleak future and contend with the high cost of living, massive unemployment, dehumanizing poverty and the despair of being left behind as globalization benefits only a fraction of the country.
If India doesn't apply its national tenet: Satyamev jayate, (Sanskrit: "Truth Alone Triumphs") which sustained and motivated Gandhi, I see little hope for the future despite our steady annual GDP figures.
It could all unravel someday.
Frank Raj belongs to an extended Indian-American family; he is based in India and the Middle East where he has lived for over three decades. He is the founding editor and publisher of ‘The International Indian’, (www.theinternationalindian.com) the oldest magazine of Gulf-Indian society and history since 1992.
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BANGALORE: Inspired by Gandhian Anna Hazare, the youth is ready to throw its power behind the fight against corruption. They are standing up for a clean India — it could be the fragrance of the Jasmine Revolution seeping into the country, or it could just mean that they've had enough.
'A revolution should happen today and now' — these were the words of hundreds of students from Bangalore, who gathered in support of Anna Hazare's fast, demanding implementation of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Students from across the city, who joined the protest by the hundreds, cheered when L S Tejaswi Surya, a student leader of Arise India, said: "We want a change and we want to see the change now. The youth has supported every movement in the country. Now, it is time for Clean Revolution. Dirty politics has to be changed. The youth of Karnataka and students of the entire country are showing their real power."
Students applauded as Tejaswi, a student of Bangalore University Law College, said: "The youth have woken up. It is a death-knell for the corrupt. We want leaders who are honest and educated, and not corrupt."
Perhaps it is the right formula — a wise old fighter backed by the energy of the youth. More than 300 students from various colleges — Vijaya Composite College, New Horizon College of Engineering, Jain Group of Colleges, BNM Institute of Technology, Krupanidhi College, NMKRV College, and Bangalore University Law College — participated in the protest at Freedom Park.
"We are expecting the number to go up by 1,000 in the evening. Students have turned out to be our strength. When we started the anti-corruption movement, we thought it would be difficult to mobilize students against corruption. But, they have proved us wrong," Ajit Phadnis, a member of India Against Corruption, and one of the organizers of the campaign in Bangalore, said.
All the students chanted the name of Anna Hazare. Roopak K, from Vijaya Composite College, said he found out about the movement online. "We went through indiaagainstcorruption.org. It was Anna Hazare's act that influenced us. He called upon the youth to be part of the movement. We are here to prove our power," he said.
Fighting odds, girls also participated. Vishnu Priya AH, second-year PU student of Vijaya Composite College, said it was difficult for girls to participate in protests. "Though our parents support the anti-corruption movement, they were not willing to send us. They were scared there might be a lathicharge and told us we were too young for all this. But, we don't think so. We convinced our parents of the importance of participating," she said.
Nagendra C, another student of Vijaya College, said: "We felt that if this soldier of great calibre can go on a fast at his age, the youth has the power to do much more."
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Revolution futile, admits Ulfa
- Hira Sarania attends raising day function
RIPUNJOY DAS
Arabinda Rajkhowa and other Ulfa leaders in Tinsukia district on Thursday. Picture by UB Photos
Kakopathar, April 7: After waging an armed struggle for 32 years, Ulfa today admitted the futility of armed rebellion, saying it would not yield “any solution” and that it had not been able to “liberate even a small village” in three decades.
Addressing a meeting of about 400 cadres and families of Ulfa martyrs at the outfit’s designated camp in Kakopathar under Tinsukia district of Upper Assam on the outfit’s 32nd raising day, chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa said, “It’s true that the government of India could not finish Ulfa by using its military might. But the Ulfa, too, despite the sacrifice of thousands of our youths, could not liberate even a small village, forget the whole of Assam.
“Realising this and showing respect towards the wishes of the people of Assam, which was expressed through the Sanmilita Jatiya Abhibartan, we came forward for formal political negotiations with India.”
Rajkhowa said the time had come for the people of Assam to choose between armed struggle and political negotiations and stick to one.
After giving a vivid account of Ulfa struggle over the last three decades, he said, “Many people will still try to lure a section of our rural youths to armed struggle but after more than 30 years of armed struggle against the Government of India, we can say that it will not bring us any solution.”
Rajkhowa, who was flanked by vice-chairman Pradip Gogoi and political adviser Bhimkanta Buragohain, said the Centre had, through a letter dated May 25, 2005, reached out to Ulfa saying that solutions to all problems could be found through dialogue and had expressed its willingness to discuss all the core issues of Assam. “The first round of discussions got under way in New Delhi in the presence of the Prime Minister on February 14 this year. The government has reciprocated well, assuring us of a meaningful and acceptable solution to the issues raised by us. We have stressed upon a time-bound solution and made it clear that we are not interested in discussions for the sake of discussions,” he added.
Rajkhowa said the agenda for future discussions with New Delhi, which would include all the core issues plaguing Assam, was being drafted and would acquire a final shape very soon.
He said the government would also have to give answers on the whereabouts of the 24 missing Ulfa leaders, including self-styled majors Asanta Bagh Phukon, Bening Rava and Robin Neog, “captain” Abhijit Deka and “lieutenant” Ajoy Narzary, who went missing during Operation All Clear launched by the Royal Bhutan Army in 2003.
Pradip Gogoi said there was no rift in the Ulfa hierarchy and there were no factions called the Paresh Barua faction or the Arabinda Rajkhowa faction. “Paresh Barua has never said that he is not interested in holding talks. There might be some difference in opinion, but this does not mean that there is a division,” he said.
The commanding officer of Ulfa’s 709 battalion, Hira Sarania, also made his first public appearance today during the function along with the commanding officers of 27 battalion, Pallab Saikia, and 109 battalion, Gullit Das. There were murmurs of Sarania having joined the Rajkhowa group but there was no confirmation till he surfaced today.
Sarania, who had joined the outfit in 1987, reportedly commanded its activities in Guwahati and lower Assam. He is also reported to have been responsible for the kidnapping of P.C. Ram, the executive director of FCI, Northeast Circle, who was later killed in a crossfire during an encounter between Ulfa and security forces. Sarania told this correspondent that “some understanding” had been worked out so that he is not harassed by agencies investigating the Ram case. He, however, refused to give details.
In the morning, Rajkhowa raised the flag of the outfit, was formed on April 7, 1979 at Rangghar in Sivasagar, and the Ulfa rank and file, initiated by Bhimkanta Buragohain, paid tribute to the martyrs. Police and CRPF personnel were seen guarding the venue from a 100-metre distance.
More than 120 families who had lost their sons and daughters in Ulfa’s armed struggle, were invited to the function. They were felicitated by Ulfa leaders, including Rajkhowa, with phulam gamocha. However, apart from sympathy and the status of Jatiya Swahid, it is not known whether the Ulfa leadership gave the martyrs’ families anything else.
The chairman of the Terror Victims’ Families Forum, Brojen Hazarika, said, “It is good that Rajkhowa and his followers have realised the futility of armed struggle after the unnecessary death of several thousands. But they cannot save their skin by saying so. They will have to ensure that there is no further bloodshed, no life is lost and that those who are still in the jungles return home.”---------------------
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Sunday, March 6, 2011
Takshila Magazine
Takshila Magazine from the California Takshila University
just been published and can be downloaded from
http://www.ctuniv.org/university-press.htm
Magazine can be downloaded from the left-side panel
Best regards,
just been published and can be downloaded from
http://www.ctuniv.org/university-press.htm
Magazine can be downloaded from the left-side panel
Best regards,
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