Saturday, March 20, 2010
Editorial Note
From this edition onwards we are going to carry articles and news items sent by our readers. Due to space constraints we will however edit these articles but at the same time save the original article in case any reader wishes to read the entire piece.
Media Abetting Crimes Against Women
Nirjhari Sinha
A century has passed since 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. In 1910 the first international women's conference was held in Copenhagen in the labour-movement building. Ever since, the 'International Women's Day' has been observed and the next was held on March 19, 1911 in Germany, Austria, Denmark and some other European countries.
Russian revolutionary and feminist, Alexandra Kollontai, had helped to organise the event in Germany wrote that it had exceeded all expectations...Germany and Austria were seething and trembling in the sea of women. Meetings were organised everywhere…..in the small towns and even in the villages, halls were packed so full that they had to ask (male) workers to give up their places for the women.
A hundred years after that glorious march of the women, what is the image of the Indian Woman that is being beamed into our living rooms every day? What stories do Santu, Jyoti, Amoli, Anandi, Sia and scores of other women tell us every evening? To be a true Indian woman, you have to accept the traditional rule of the patriarchal hierarchy and completely sacrifice her own wants and desires! Nay, not just wants and desires but her own identity and existence!
Law today emphatically prohibits female infanticide, child marriage and sexual abuse of any woman. But what does Amma do in LAADO? Openly murders the female child and reduces the rebel Sia into a servile maid servant. Anandi, the helpless child bride of BALIKAVADHU, is abused harassed and kicked around by Dadidsa who can get away with every type of ill treatment of her Bahus (daughter-in-law). In Jyoti serial allows Shushi to be used as a prostitute to satisfy the material needs of her husband and Jyoti herself is kicked out on false charges of adultery with her “loving' husband turning a “blind eye”. In BANDINI, Santu enjoys her captive role and tolerates the abuse as a “low caste woman” as a good virtue in order to become a role model for all mothers. The worst ofcourse is “Bairi Piya” that for nights together shows the sexual exploits of the “Thakur”(landlord) on Amoli whose own husband is portrayed as the spineless servant who gifts his married wife to his master for his sexual pleasures! One wonders why the different woman's organization are so conspicuously silent ; does it not concern the National Woman's Commission when the national channels beam such vulgarity about women?
The two channels that promote such disgusting and loathsome serials are ofcourse making loads of money. NDTV Imagine {Bandini, Jyoti etc}and COLORS (Laado, Balikavadhu, Bairi Piya etc.) have increased their TRP substantially and millions watch these serials with bated breath. Both these channels belong to very reputed groups; the former being a part of NDTV and the latter being a part of Viacom 18 that partners with Network 18, the CNN-IBN group. Wonder whether people like Barkha Dutt, Pranay Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai etc ever watch their own group's productions and deal with such issues in their “We the People” and “Big Fights”!
Be that as it may, on this day of International Woman's Day, it is a tragedy what we have reduced this day to a ritual, unconcerned about the real state of the woman in this country. The media which can influence a large section of the populations portrays her as a “BANDINI”. Are we going to accept this image?
A century has passed since 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. In 1910 the first international women's conference was held in Copenhagen in the labour-movement building. Ever since, the 'International Women's Day' has been observed and the next was held on March 19, 1911 in Germany, Austria, Denmark and some other European countries.
Russian revolutionary and feminist, Alexandra Kollontai, had helped to organise the event in Germany wrote that it had exceeded all expectations...Germany and Austria were seething and trembling in the sea of women. Meetings were organised everywhere…..in the small towns and even in the villages, halls were packed so full that they had to ask (male) workers to give up their places for the women.
A hundred years after that glorious march of the women, what is the image of the Indian Woman that is being beamed into our living rooms every day? What stories do Santu, Jyoti, Amoli, Anandi, Sia and scores of other women tell us every evening? To be a true Indian woman, you have to accept the traditional rule of the patriarchal hierarchy and completely sacrifice her own wants and desires! Nay, not just wants and desires but her own identity and existence!
Law today emphatically prohibits female infanticide, child marriage and sexual abuse of any woman. But what does Amma do in LAADO? Openly murders the female child and reduces the rebel Sia into a servile maid servant. Anandi, the helpless child bride of BALIKAVADHU, is abused harassed and kicked around by Dadidsa who can get away with every type of ill treatment of her Bahus (daughter-in-law). In Jyoti serial allows Shushi to be used as a prostitute to satisfy the material needs of her husband and Jyoti herself is kicked out on false charges of adultery with her “loving' husband turning a “blind eye”. In BANDINI, Santu enjoys her captive role and tolerates the abuse as a “low caste woman” as a good virtue in order to become a role model for all mothers. The worst ofcourse is “Bairi Piya” that for nights together shows the sexual exploits of the “Thakur”(landlord) on Amoli whose own husband is portrayed as the spineless servant who gifts his married wife to his master for his sexual pleasures! One wonders why the different woman's organization are so conspicuously silent ; does it not concern the National Woman's Commission when the national channels beam such vulgarity about women?
The two channels that promote such disgusting and loathsome serials are ofcourse making loads of money. NDTV Imagine {Bandini, Jyoti etc}and COLORS (Laado, Balikavadhu, Bairi Piya etc.) have increased their TRP substantially and millions watch these serials with bated breath. Both these channels belong to very reputed groups; the former being a part of NDTV and the latter being a part of Viacom 18 that partners with Network 18, the CNN-IBN group. Wonder whether people like Barkha Dutt, Pranay Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai etc ever watch their own group's productions and deal with such issues in their “We the People” and “Big Fights”!
Be that as it may, on this day of International Woman's Day, it is a tragedy what we have reduced this day to a ritual, unconcerned about the real state of the woman in this country. The media which can influence a large section of the populations portrays her as a “BANDINI”. Are we going to accept this image?
Editorial
The End of the Mixed (Fixed?) Economy
Kamalnath speaking in the NDTV program on Budget was indeed candid. In reply to a question by Pranay Roy, he stated without the slightest hesitation that the objective of the present budget was to shift the development of the country to the private sector unlike the 1970s when the onus was on the Public sector to push the economic development. The Nehruvian era is finally over!
But the issue is not one of just making political statements. Hard money is required to be transferred to the private kitty and the finance minister as well as the railway minister does this job remarkably well. Disinvestments, reduction of farmers subsidy, massive investment in infrastructural development (20km of highway per day!), increase in NREG to upset the land-loss of the rural poor due to industrial SEZ and reduction of tax rates in different income slabs to increase the purchase power of the urban middle class are all green signals for the private sector.
The Finance Minister has targeted Gross tax receipts of Rs. 7.46 Lac Crores. To achieve this target the Finance Minister plans to get a net revenue from direct tax proposals to the tune of Rs 20,500 Cr and indirect taxes Rs 46,500 Cr. No tax on Income up to Rs 1.6 lacs. . 30% tax on income above Rs 8 lacs. 20% tax on income between Rs5 lacs to 8 lacs. 10% tax on income between Rs1.6 lacs to 5 lacs. Finally increase in petrol and diesel price to reduce the deficit. Defence Capital Expenditure raised to Rs 60000 Cr. Allocation fund to defence raised to Rs 1.47 lac Cr.
It won't be long before defense production is shifted to the private sector as well. All is well for the Tata Ambanis and hell with the aam admi!
Rape, Murder and Dowry Death in Gujarat
Gujarat has been set as a standard for development. Whenever Narendra Modi is called to other states to campaign for BJP in any election, he never forgets to announce the great heights achieved by Gujarat. He never forgets to boast how safe women are in Gujarat. The figures of crime against women recorded in Police-register are an eye-opener.
Two activists had sought information under right to information act in October 2007, about crime against women during the years 2002-2007.Additional DIG, crime and railways, Gandhinagar refused to part with information. Finally an appeal was filed to chief commissioner, Gujarat. After two years of persuasion following information was obtained.
The following statistics are devastating. It proves that women are most unsafe in 'Swarnim' Gujarat and this insecurity is increasing with time! A Century after the first International Womens' Day, there is indeed nothing to celebrate for.
Kamalnath speaking in the NDTV program on Budget was indeed candid. In reply to a question by Pranay Roy, he stated without the slightest hesitation that the objective of the present budget was to shift the development of the country to the private sector unlike the 1970s when the onus was on the Public sector to push the economic development. The Nehruvian era is finally over!
But the issue is not one of just making political statements. Hard money is required to be transferred to the private kitty and the finance minister as well as the railway minister does this job remarkably well. Disinvestments, reduction of farmers subsidy, massive investment in infrastructural development (20km of highway per day!), increase in NREG to upset the land-loss of the rural poor due to industrial SEZ and reduction of tax rates in different income slabs to increase the purchase power of the urban middle class are all green signals for the private sector.
The Finance Minister has targeted Gross tax receipts of Rs. 7.46 Lac Crores. To achieve this target the Finance Minister plans to get a net revenue from direct tax proposals to the tune of Rs 20,500 Cr and indirect taxes Rs 46,500 Cr. No tax on Income up to Rs 1.6 lacs. . 30% tax on income above Rs 8 lacs. 20% tax on income between Rs5 lacs to 8 lacs. 10% tax on income between Rs1.6 lacs to 5 lacs. Finally increase in petrol and diesel price to reduce the deficit. Defence Capital Expenditure raised to Rs 60000 Cr. Allocation fund to defence raised to Rs 1.47 lac Cr.
It won't be long before defense production is shifted to the private sector as well. All is well for the Tata Ambanis and hell with the aam admi!
Rape, Murder and Dowry Death in Gujarat
Gujarat has been set as a standard for development. Whenever Narendra Modi is called to other states to campaign for BJP in any election, he never forgets to announce the great heights achieved by Gujarat. He never forgets to boast how safe women are in Gujarat. The figures of crime against women recorded in Police-register are an eye-opener.
Two activists had sought information under right to information act in October 2007, about crime against women during the years 2002-2007.Additional DIG, crime and railways, Gandhinagar refused to part with information. Finally an appeal was filed to chief commissioner, Gujarat. After two years of persuasion following information was obtained.
The following statistics are devastating. It proves that women are most unsafe in 'Swarnim' Gujarat and this insecurity is increasing with time! A Century after the first International Womens' Day, there is indeed nothing to celebrate for.
Reader's Article - 69 farmer commit suicides in Adilabad district
V.L. Padma Priya
Sixty-nine farmers from Adilabad district committed suicide during the Kharif season that lasted from August to November. The number grew to 93 by December 15. If reports from the Non Governmental Organisations and farmers' associations in Andhra Pradesh are to be believed, failure of Kharif crop and mounting debts are stated to be the reasons for the spate of suicides across various mandals of the district.
In the first week of November itself, over 16 suicides were reported in vernacular newspapers and that's when we put together this committee to ascertain the facts. The committee came up with a report confirming 69 cases of suicide during the Kharif season. Majority of the farmers who took the extreme step had taken large amounts of loans from private usurers and micro-finance operators at high interest rate in order to cultivate cotton, revealed the report.
Confirming the report by the committee, S. Malla Reddy, vice president, Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham says over 93 suicide deaths were recorded by the Sangham by December 15, 2009. “The minimum cost of cultivation per acre is around Rs.12,000 so a farmer would require a harvest of six quintals per acre merely to break-even,” he points out. Though the minimum support price for cotton in Kharif 2009 stood at Rs.3000, the low yield-- almost half of the previous year-- pushed the farmers deeper into debts”, the report points out.
Sixty-nine farmers from Adilabad district committed suicide during the Kharif season that lasted from August to November. The number grew to 93 by December 15. If reports from the Non Governmental Organisations and farmers' associations in Andhra Pradesh are to be believed, failure of Kharif crop and mounting debts are stated to be the reasons for the spate of suicides across various mandals of the district.
In the first week of November itself, over 16 suicides were reported in vernacular newspapers and that's when we put together this committee to ascertain the facts. The committee came up with a report confirming 69 cases of suicide during the Kharif season. Majority of the farmers who took the extreme step had taken large amounts of loans from private usurers and micro-finance operators at high interest rate in order to cultivate cotton, revealed the report.
Confirming the report by the committee, S. Malla Reddy, vice president, Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham says over 93 suicide deaths were recorded by the Sangham by December 15, 2009. “The minimum cost of cultivation per acre is around Rs.12,000 so a farmer would require a harvest of six quintals per acre merely to break-even,” he points out. Though the minimum support price for cotton in Kharif 2009 stood at Rs.3000, the low yield-- almost half of the previous year-- pushed the farmers deeper into debts”, the report points out.
Charles Robert Darwin: 200 years after evolution
Mukul Sinha
Life on earth has been evolving since millions of years but we realised of it just 200 hundred years ago. The credit ought to go to Charles Robert Darwin, the author of the “On the origin of Species”. He was born on 12 February 1809 in England and was a naturalist who realised that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors. He proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection. He published his theory with compelling evidence for evolution in his 1859 book “On the origin of Species”.
The popular perception of Charles Darwin and his work is that, the present day human has descended from the ape. This concept may appear scientifically acceptable today but was wholly rejected by the Christian world of the early nineteenth century. As per the Christian ideology of those days, the origin of the human race could only start with Adam and Eve and therefore the evolutionary theory was rejected. The Archbishop was one of his sternest critics and had sarcastically wanted know which of his grandparent was a monkey. One of Darwin's disciples had retorted by saying that Darwin certainly did not descend from a pope!
Darwin's understanding of the evolution of the different life forms came during his five years of sea voyage on the H.M.S.Beagle between Dec. 1831 - Oct. 1836. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean Beagle arrived at St. Helena Island from South Africa and then went on to South America.
It was in Santiago in Cape Verde Island that Darwin made his first curious discovery. He found a horizontal white band of shells within a cliff face along the shoreline of Porto Praya. The fact that this layer was forty-five feet above sea level raised some interesting questions for Darwin.
The arrangement of the shell layer appeared to support Lyell's theory of a world slowly changing over great periods of time, a novel concept in Darwin's day. This observation, and many others like it, would later lead Darwin to develop his own theory of rising continents and sinking ocean floors.
Darwin's theory of evolution and the survival of the fittest brought to fore the concept of change and the mechanism of change. From a metaphysical outlook, Darwin took the first step towards the dialectical materialistic world view which was later enormously developed by Karl Marx and Engel. Darwin died on 19th April 1882.
Life on earth has been evolving since millions of years but we realised of it just 200 hundred years ago. The credit ought to go to Charles Robert Darwin, the author of the “On the origin of Species”. He was born on 12 February 1809 in England and was a naturalist who realised that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors. He proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection. He published his theory with compelling evidence for evolution in his 1859 book “On the origin of Species”.
The popular perception of Charles Darwin and his work is that, the present day human has descended from the ape. This concept may appear scientifically acceptable today but was wholly rejected by the Christian world of the early nineteenth century. As per the Christian ideology of those days, the origin of the human race could only start with Adam and Eve and therefore the evolutionary theory was rejected. The Archbishop was one of his sternest critics and had sarcastically wanted know which of his grandparent was a monkey. One of Darwin's disciples had retorted by saying that Darwin certainly did not descend from a pope!
Darwin's understanding of the evolution of the different life forms came during his five years of sea voyage on the H.M.S.Beagle between Dec. 1831 - Oct. 1836. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean Beagle arrived at St. Helena Island from South Africa and then went on to South America.
It was in Santiago in Cape Verde Island that Darwin made his first curious discovery. He found a horizontal white band of shells within a cliff face along the shoreline of Porto Praya. The fact that this layer was forty-five feet above sea level raised some interesting questions for Darwin.
The arrangement of the shell layer appeared to support Lyell's theory of a world slowly changing over great periods of time, a novel concept in Darwin's day. This observation, and many others like it, would later lead Darwin to develop his own theory of rising continents and sinking ocean floors.
Darwin's theory of evolution and the survival of the fittest brought to fore the concept of change and the mechanism of change. From a metaphysical outlook, Darwin took the first step towards the dialectical materialistic world view which was later enormously developed by Karl Marx and Engel. Darwin died on 19th April 1882.
Boribundhs or Choribundh? Development or Fraud?
Compiled from RTI data collected by Bharat Jhala
Disasters have become opportunistic events for the government to undertake much needed development work. The State Government was aware that due to the disasters and man-made floods from 2005 to 2008, there was a change in the course of rivers in 23 zillas. As a result, lakhs of farmers' fields were washed away rendering them unfit for cultivation.
If the Government had undertaken long term measures such as increasing the depths of the rivers, pitching both the river banks and constructing check dams at every kilometer, perhaps the past disasters could have been avoided and the future safeguarded. But instead, the Government suddenly decided to construct boribundhs, claiming that the water could be prevented from flooding the villages or the fields by such “boribundhs”! However, the boribundh is not a permanent structure and they have been built without any planning for disasters or stopping the runoff of rain water!
On 13th January, 2010, Bharatsinh Jhala submitted a RTI to the Chief Minister's Office requesting amongst others the following information:
1.The general regulation released by the State government on constructing boribundhs in the villages of Gujarat and the names of the ministers responsible for taking the decision for the same.
2.The details of the villages, taluka and zillas where the boribundhs were constructed and the costs incurred.
The following reply was received:
1. On 17th August 2009, Mr. Narendra Modi made an announcement to commence the construction of the boribundhs, through a video conference from Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar.
2. Boribundhs had been constructed at a cost ranging from Rs. 7 lakhs to Rs. 23 lakhs. But since there were no rains during the next month, there has been no collection or containment of water.
3. All the costs have been incurred utilising the funds from the Central Government's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
As per the NREGS policy, the villagers have to take decisions on such kind of development work in a Gramsabha, which the Gram Panchayat then implements but none of the villages had passed a prior resolution regarding the same. Thus crores of NREGS funds were wasted away without any long-term benefit to the villagers only to fuel the Chief Minister's propaganda of development.
Disasters have become opportunistic events for the government to undertake much needed development work. The State Government was aware that due to the disasters and man-made floods from 2005 to 2008, there was a change in the course of rivers in 23 zillas. As a result, lakhs of farmers' fields were washed away rendering them unfit for cultivation.
If the Government had undertaken long term measures such as increasing the depths of the rivers, pitching both the river banks and constructing check dams at every kilometer, perhaps the past disasters could have been avoided and the future safeguarded. But instead, the Government suddenly decided to construct boribundhs, claiming that the water could be prevented from flooding the villages or the fields by such “boribundhs”! However, the boribundh is not a permanent structure and they have been built without any planning for disasters or stopping the runoff of rain water!
On 13th January, 2010, Bharatsinh Jhala submitted a RTI to the Chief Minister's Office requesting amongst others the following information:
1.The general regulation released by the State government on constructing boribundhs in the villages of Gujarat and the names of the ministers responsible for taking the decision for the same.
2.The details of the villages, taluka and zillas where the boribundhs were constructed and the costs incurred.
The following reply was received:
1. On 17th August 2009, Mr. Narendra Modi made an announcement to commence the construction of the boribundhs, through a video conference from Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar.
2. Boribundhs had been constructed at a cost ranging from Rs. 7 lakhs to Rs. 23 lakhs. But since there were no rains during the next month, there has been no collection or containment of water.
3. All the costs have been incurred utilising the funds from the Central Government's National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
As per the NREGS policy, the villagers have to take decisions on such kind of development work in a Gramsabha, which the Gram Panchayat then implements but none of the villages had passed a prior resolution regarding the same. Thus crores of NREGS funds were wasted away without any long-term benefit to the villagers only to fuel the Chief Minister's propaganda of development.
Reader's Article - BT Brinjal Bartha: The Gender Dimension
Meera Velayudhan
Brinjal entered the Indian food chain four thousand years ago, India being the home to its 2500 varieties. Brinjal is the second highest consumed vegetable in the country after potato and is cultivated over 5.50 lakh hectares, providing livelihood to over 15 lakh farmers and 50 lakh vendors, mainly women. With the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee giving its sanction to BT Brinjal, the way is being paved for GM food crops as staple diet of the people, thereby threatening India's food sovereignty.
What is food sovereignty? According to the World Food Summit+5 in 2002, food sovereignty is about the rights of the people, communities, and nations to decide their own agricultural, labor, land, fishing, food policies. It goes beyond a food security agenda since it addresses the rights of the people not only in accessing food but also in determining how to use their own natural resources to ensure sustainable food security. Where do women's rights figure in the issue of food security and why? The large majority of poor women in south asia in particular play a key role in agriculture, the main source of livelihood. Women form 40% of agricultural workforce, with this percentage rising. To date, 53% of all male workers, 75% of all female workers and 85% of all rural female workers are in agriculture.
Crop diversity is therefore a gendered domain. It highlights the following:
(a) women's roles in agriculture for which they have specific skills and use different practices- processing, selection, storage, preservation of food grains. They have ethno botanical knowledge and skills.
(b) women's choices of crops point to the multiple roles they perform- as farmers, household cooking, keepers of cooking traditions, seed keepers, medicinal plant and health care givers.
(c) Women have the most stakes in crop diversity as they see its link with food security for their households. “We mix and sow” -is an often heard statement.
The introduction of new crop-cash crop- varieties lead to changes in roles and practices that have a specific and adverse impact on rural women. What is at stake here is control and power. Rural women are most vulnerable since they are denied, within their households and outside, ownership and control of resources, such as land, limiting their opportunities to have a say in changes in cropping practices, the modes of crop use, etc. So, maintaining biodiversity is linked with a range of women's rights including the rights of women from marginalized communities.
In the past few decades, the reproduction of seeds has moved out of the hands of farmers, women in particular, into the spheres of formal science, experimental plots of institutes, gene banks, commercial seed suppliers, bureaucratic procedures of seed certification. Women's seed and biodiversity knowledge is not recognized, documented or integrated into agricultural research. Efforts need to be made to ensure that such knowledge of women remains in the public domain and is backed up by a strong intellectual property rights regime that protects their rights and prevents monopolistic trade practices so that there concerted efforts to ward off the threats posed by commercial seeds in the name of technological control, economic efficiency, rational management.
Brinjal entered the Indian food chain four thousand years ago, India being the home to its 2500 varieties. Brinjal is the second highest consumed vegetable in the country after potato and is cultivated over 5.50 lakh hectares, providing livelihood to over 15 lakh farmers and 50 lakh vendors, mainly women. With the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee giving its sanction to BT Brinjal, the way is being paved for GM food crops as staple diet of the people, thereby threatening India's food sovereignty.
What is food sovereignty? According to the World Food Summit+5 in 2002, food sovereignty is about the rights of the people, communities, and nations to decide their own agricultural, labor, land, fishing, food policies. It goes beyond a food security agenda since it addresses the rights of the people not only in accessing food but also in determining how to use their own natural resources to ensure sustainable food security. Where do women's rights figure in the issue of food security and why? The large majority of poor women in south asia in particular play a key role in agriculture, the main source of livelihood. Women form 40% of agricultural workforce, with this percentage rising. To date, 53% of all male workers, 75% of all female workers and 85% of all rural female workers are in agriculture.
Crop diversity is therefore a gendered domain. It highlights the following:
(a) women's roles in agriculture for which they have specific skills and use different practices- processing, selection, storage, preservation of food grains. They have ethno botanical knowledge and skills.
(b) women's choices of crops point to the multiple roles they perform- as farmers, household cooking, keepers of cooking traditions, seed keepers, medicinal plant and health care givers.
(c) Women have the most stakes in crop diversity as they see its link with food security for their households. “We mix and sow” -is an often heard statement.
The introduction of new crop-cash crop- varieties lead to changes in roles and practices that have a specific and adverse impact on rural women. What is at stake here is control and power. Rural women are most vulnerable since they are denied, within their households and outside, ownership and control of resources, such as land, limiting their opportunities to have a say in changes in cropping practices, the modes of crop use, etc. So, maintaining biodiversity is linked with a range of women's rights including the rights of women from marginalized communities.
In the past few decades, the reproduction of seeds has moved out of the hands of farmers, women in particular, into the spheres of formal science, experimental plots of institutes, gene banks, commercial seed suppliers, bureaucratic procedures of seed certification. Women's seed and biodiversity knowledge is not recognized, documented or integrated into agricultural research. Efforts need to be made to ensure that such knowledge of women remains in the public domain and is backed up by a strong intellectual property rights regime that protects their rights and prevents monopolistic trade practices so that there concerted efforts to ward off the threats posed by commercial seeds in the name of technological control, economic efficiency, rational management.
Friday, February 19, 2010
THE REPUBLIC ON SALE
Mukul Sinha
As 26th January approaches each year, we find little children in tattered clothes scurrying across the traffic signals to sell their tricolor merchandise to the occupants of the whizzing cars that stop at the red signals. The approaching “Republic Day” gives them some hope to sell their stock of plastic flags for perhaps a better meal!
While the poor to survive have to sell the symbol of our republic, the rich are selling the republic itself. The choice of who would be the Chief Guest of the Republic day celebration is also decided not on the stature of our guest but on financial consideration. This year, the President of South Korea Mr. Lee Myung Bak was invited to preside over the Republic day parade, guess for what reasons? Because the South Koreans are investing the highest amount to establish the gigantic POSCO!
POSCO, is the world's fourth largest steel producer and one of the most competitive steel companies in the world. POSCO-India's proposed investment is the highest ever Foreign Direct Investment in India. The company has ambitious expansion plans in India, hoping to invest some $19 billion in the country. Five years ago Posco unveiled plans to build India's largest steel mill in the State of Orissa on the Bay of Bengal.
Because of local opposition, though, the project has suffered extensive delays and Posco hasn't even secured a 4,000-acre property promised for the steel plant. For more than four years the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samity (PPSS) has been bravely resisting attempts to displace over 30,000 people in Jagatsinghpur District of Orissa by POSCO, which wants to set up a steel company and a port on their lands. The Korean steelmaker is hoping the visit to New Delhi by South Korean President Lee Myung Bak will clear the way for its $19 billion in proposed investments in India.
The republic which was meant to be of the people by the people and for the people to empower the common man has now become the podium for auction to the highest bidder. May be in the next republic day we find the displaced children of Jagatsinghpur of Orissa selling their tricolor flags in your city with the small prints behind the flags “made in South Korea”!
As 26th January approaches each year, we find little children in tattered clothes scurrying across the traffic signals to sell their tricolor merchandise to the occupants of the whizzing cars that stop at the red signals. The approaching “Republic Day” gives them some hope to sell their stock of plastic flags for perhaps a better meal!
While the poor to survive have to sell the symbol of our republic, the rich are selling the republic itself. The choice of who would be the Chief Guest of the Republic day celebration is also decided not on the stature of our guest but on financial consideration. This year, the President of South Korea Mr. Lee Myung Bak was invited to preside over the Republic day parade, guess for what reasons? Because the South Koreans are investing the highest amount to establish the gigantic POSCO!
POSCO, is the world's fourth largest steel producer and one of the most competitive steel companies in the world. POSCO-India's proposed investment is the highest ever Foreign Direct Investment in India. The company has ambitious expansion plans in India, hoping to invest some $19 billion in the country. Five years ago Posco unveiled plans to build India's largest steel mill in the State of Orissa on the Bay of Bengal.
Because of local opposition, though, the project has suffered extensive delays and Posco hasn't even secured a 4,000-acre property promised for the steel plant. For more than four years the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samity (PPSS) has been bravely resisting attempts to displace over 30,000 people in Jagatsinghpur District of Orissa by POSCO, which wants to set up a steel company and a port on their lands. The Korean steelmaker is hoping the visit to New Delhi by South Korean President Lee Myung Bak will clear the way for its $19 billion in proposed investments in India.
The republic which was meant to be of the people by the people and for the people to empower the common man has now become the podium for auction to the highest bidder. May be in the next republic day we find the displaced children of Jagatsinghpur of Orissa selling their tricolor flags in your city with the small prints behind the flags “made in South Korea”!
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