tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90625082024-03-07T08:32:29.415+00:00:: REAL VOICE ::Sanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14554148749911932245noreply@blogger.comBlogger200125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-56604513197137255652009-09-25T06:43:00.000+00:002009-09-25T06:44:03.933+00:00Larry King and Chavez<script src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/js/2.0/video/evp/module.js?loc=int&vid=/video/bestoftv/2009/09/24/sot.lkl.chavez.cnn" type="text/javascript"></script><noscript>Embedded video from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video">CNN Video</a></noscript>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-32781638989839303272009-08-27T19:08:00.001+00:002009-08-27T19:08:17.298+00:00My daughter<p></p><br /><p><embed src="http://widgets.vodpod.com/w/video_embed/ExternalVideo.865430" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" AllowScriptAccess="never" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" flashvars="docId=&playerMode=simple&hl=en" width="425" height="350" ></embed></p><br /><br /><span style="display:block;font-size: 10px">more about "<a href="http://vodpod.com/watch/8548-periodistas-el-negocio-de-mentir">My daughter</a>", posted with <a href="http://vodpod.com?r=bt">vodpod</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-11134030244469024912009-05-29T11:10:00.001+00:002009-05-29T11:10:47.935+00:00The hidden massacre<p></p><br /><p><embed src="http://widgets.vodpod.com/w/video_embed/ExternalVideo.830848" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" AllowScriptAccess="never" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" wmode="transparent" flashvars="videoid=24573581001" width="425" height="350" ></embed></p><br /><br /><span style="display:block;font-size: 10px"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-3706366183925104802009-05-03T16:23:00.001+00:002009-05-03T16:23:37.643+00:00Six Senses from MIT<object width="446" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"></param> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/PattieMaes_2009-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/PattieMaes-2009.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=481" /><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/PattieMaes_2009-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/PattieMaes-2009.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=481"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-91305941304334665842009-04-09T14:55:00.000+00:002009-04-09T14:56:11.589+00:00Police or Thugs?<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HECMVdl-9SQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HECMVdl-9SQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-63151685838340506962008-12-01T16:33:00.001+00:002008-12-01T16:35:17.396+00:00Mumbai Terrorist Capture Video<object width='497' height='280'><param name='movie' value='http://news.sky.com/sky-news/app/flash/SkyvideoWrapper.swf?playerType=embedded&type=sky_prod_v7&videoSourceID=1709042&flashVideoUrl=/feeds/skynews/latest/flash/Mumbai_gunman_rushes_0000_011208.flv'></param><param name='allowFullSceen' value='true'></param><param name='allowScriptAccess' value='always'></param><embed src='http://news.sky.com/sky-news/app/flash/SkyvideoWrapper.swf?playerType=embedded&type=sky_prod_v7&videoSourceID=1709042&flashVideoUrl=/feeds/skynews/latest/flash/Mumbai_gunman_rushes_0000_011208.flv' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' allowFullScreen='true' allowScriptAccess='always' width='497' height='280'></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-45663599396554221512008-10-19T13:22:00.003+00:002008-10-19T13:55:11.984+00:00O Sarah!<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyE8NNCjQ7N33mb_1Zd42-Ig7EdwSOHE7UW8OSgeyDP2bBG2ZdDmrmg1dLbJ-WV6PMJSTzmyQKtWO4' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-36748569430575047862008-10-03T09:53:00.001+00:002008-10-03T10:00:06.395+00:00Showdown in St Louis<!-- This is the embedded player component --><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/emp/2_6_5222/player.swf" id="bbc_emp_fmtj_embed_emb" wmode="default" allowfullscreen="true" name="embeddedPlayer_7649832" flashvars="config=http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/emp/config/default.xml?v10&companionSize=300x30&companionType=adi&preroll=&config_settings_suppressItemKind=advert, ident&config_settings_autoPlay=false&config_settings_showPopoutButton=false&playlist=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2Fmedia%2Femp%2F7640000%2F7649800%2F7649832.xml&config_plugin_fmtjLiveStats_pageType=eav1&embedReferer=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7649888.stm&config_plugin_fmtjLiveStats_edition=International&embedPageUrl=/2/hi/7649832.stm&" height="323" width="512"></embed><br /><br /><!-- end of the embedded player component -->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-57993997854918274602007-12-20T12:47:00.000+00:002007-12-20T12:48:55.540+00:00A special song...Walking in Memphis<br /><br />Put on my blue suede shoes<br />And I boarded the plane<br />Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues<br />In the middle of the pouring rain<br />W.C. Handy -- won't you look down over me<br />Yeah I got a first class ticket<br />But I'm as blue as a boy can be<br /><br />Then I'm walking in Memphis<br />Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale<br />Walking in Memphis<br />But do I really feel the way I feel<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="373"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XrT0gAbRqyw&rel=1&border=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XrT0gAbRqyw&rel=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="373"></embed></object><br /><br />Saw the ghost of Elvis<br />On Union Avenue<br />Followed him up to the gates of Graceland<br />Then I watched him walk right through<br />Now security they did not see him<br />They just hovered 'round his tomb<br />But there's a pretty little thing<br />Waiting for the King<br />Down in the Jungle Room<br /><br />(Chorus)<br /><br />They've got catfish on the table<br />They've got gospel in the air<br />And Reverend Green be glad to see you<br />When you haven't got a prayer<br />But boy you've got a prayer in Memphis<br /><br />Now Muriel plays piano<br />Every Friday at the Hollywood<br />And they brought me down to see her<br />And they asked me if I would --<br />Do a little number<br />And I sang with all my might<br />And she said --<br />"Tell me are you a Christian child?"<br />And I said "Ma'am I am tonight"<br /><br />(Chorus)<br /><br />Put on my blue suede shoes<br />And I boarded the plane<br />Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues<br />In the middle of the pouring rain<br />Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues<br />In the middle of the pouring rainUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-86407109067998971852007-10-08T18:26:00.001+00:002007-10-08T18:26:39.339+00:00STREETS OF LIFE<blockquote>I have been through these streets before<br />The streets of misery, pain and woe<br />It is Fate, says my brother Joe<br />Controlled by the Gods we know<br />Gods have been gone for long<br />Leaving us with the right and wrong<br />Some of us play the God's role<br />Life on earth they try to control<br />To stop the rain and make it shine<br />To control your very life and mine<br />Justice is the right of the might<br />Holds true every day and night<br />A child abandoned, woman raped<br />They are weak and that's their fate<br />Fate, destiny or what so ever<br />The women always deserve better<br />A daughter, a sister, a mother<br />How anyone sane could hurt her?<br />Why do we fail to react and respond?<br />When a crime goes unpunished…<br />Morality, Ethics and Principles<br />Vanished with all the Values<br />This street is much too familiar<br />There is the woman at the corner<br />Waiting for the rich customer<br />We made a whore out of a daughter<br />When born, she was a daughter<br />Life has been too cruel to her<br />She sells, to feed her daughter<br />Though a whore, she is a mother<br />The shameless man tries to buy<br />A night of pleasure and paradise<br />But this world calls her the sinner<br />As he goes unsatisfied, to another<br />Ah, I have been here before<br />Seen the man go home on all four<br />Losing every step of his life<br />As he beats up his poor wife<br />The kids smoke and do dope<br />Burn their lives out of hope<br />A young man loses his life<br />He was stabbed from behind<br />Why do we let this go on?<br />Why do we fail to respond?<br />We always blame the fate<br />And Gods we do create<br />To be used from time to time<br />To justify every little crime<br />Poets, the men and women of words<br />Who say a great deal with their verse<br />There is so much more to this life<br />Than keeping the meter and the rhyme<br />People, good or bad, speak in words<br />It is mere words that change the world<br />Krishna, Jesus and Buddha<br />Gandhi, Lincoln and Mandela<br />Martin Luther King had a dream<br />Their words are always free<br />Good people with good words<br />They dreamed of a better world<br />We fail them every day and night<br />As we stay mute to every crime<br />As an impotent world goes gay<br />Or queer is the way to stay<br />Dogmas and ideologies explain<br />Why this life goes in vain<br />We fail to act when we should<br />Blame the fate whenever we could<br />A world that has lost its shame<br />As I walk through this street again.<br /><br /></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-39995561709181478392007-10-08T18:25:00.002+00:002007-10-08T18:26:11.890+00:00You Are Always Loved<blockquote>I am filled with sorrow so profound<br />That no tears could ever release it<br />Li'll one, all I can give you is my emotions<br />My tears, trust, friendship and love<br />I do feel guilty, for I am a man<br />And this world is run by brute strength<br />Baby, I am tainted by that ghastly act<br />Guilty I am, ‘cause I failed to save<br />This world and you from being raped<br />The price we pay for chasing success<br />As we forget what fulfillment is all about<br />I know you never asked to be raped<br />You think that you lost what you held so dear<br />Baby, forgive this world, for Jesus did<br />The pain I feel in my soul and in every bone<br />And no words can ever explain the shame<br />My dear friend, you are the victim of a culture<br />That has no roots and hence cultureless<br />In a world where chicken is just dead meat<br />And never a living thing that died for us to eat<br />Where freedom is an expression of the might<br />Those three monsters were free to rape<br />And Gods stood paralysed, mute and helpless<br />'Women' to many are a 'holesome' pleasure<br />Not a living thing that too deserves respect<br />Sex, violence and evangelist shows on the screen<br />Mere extensions of the devilish material greed<br />Dinner and hard work is prose, dreams are poetry<br />Baby this cruel world did kill your dreams<br />Your poetry that touched each one of us<br />My sweet Angie, you are one of us<br />And will always be, loved</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-20446791291867841272007-10-08T18:25:00.001+00:002007-10-08T18:25:43.831+00:00Homeward Bound<blockquote>Home is where my love is<br /> Tired legs will take me home<br /> My shadow grows ever long<br /> As the sun goes slowly down<br /> Night falls and I lose my shadow<br /> I realize that I am all alone<br /> The light of love is in my soul<br /> It keeps me warm and guides me home<br /> Can't even touch my own destiny<br /> Destiny, is too far away from me<br /> Civilization, culture and governments<br /> Faith, free market and establishment<br /> First world and the third world<br /> We all live and die in a forlorn world<br /> Spirituality in the "land of the free"<br /> Is a pathetic apology for material greed<br /> Guns and cancer-sticks at the school<br /> Vengeance and Salvation through religion<br /> I spare a thought for the fallen leaves<br /> That crumbles underneath my feet<br /> I have to walk through the mine fields<br /> And swim across the bloody rivers<br /> My tired legs will take me home<br /> For there waits my true love <br /></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-50410008214994495832007-10-08T18:24:00.002+00:002009-03-09T20:10:31.944+00:00THE WALLS<blockquote>We live and die<br />Behind walls<br />Big and small<br />Low and high<br />Weak and strong<br />Short and long.<br /><br />Border<br />Boundary<br />Country<br />Family<br />Company<br />Religion<br />Culture<br />Race<br />Ours and yours<br />I<br />You<br />Us<br />Them<br />A wall in between<br /><br />Mistrust<br />Suspicion<br />Treason<br />Envy<br />Deceit<br />Hatred<br />Behind the wall<br /><br />Walls divide<br />Makes us blind<br />Makes us kill<br /><br />Love and Respect<br />Honor and Trust<br />Always trapped<br />Behind the wall<br /><br />What is mine?<br />What is yours?<br />It is life<br />Mine and yours<br />We the Living<br /><br />One World<br />Mother Nature<br />To hold on to<br />No Wall<br />No War<br />No Killing<br />People Living<br />No Nukes<br />No Guns<br />No defence deals<br />No Mines<br />Everything fine<br />No Famine<br />No Profit<br />No Loss<br />No Rich<br />No Poor<br />Just Happiness all around<br />Pure Bliss<br />Freedom<br />Liberty<br />Mobility<br />Equality<br />Free to live<br />Free from Walls<br />We know it all<br />The Berlin Wall<br />Symbol of the Cold War<br />With its Fall<br />We all smiled<br />Still there are<br />Too many Walls<br />Seen and Unseen<br />Invisible in our hearts<br /><br />Time and Tide<br />Waits for None<br />Why do we wait…<br />For it to be done<br />History of Agony<br />Present not an Ideal Gift<br />Future in Our Hands<br />Gods are helpless<br />They can help<br />Only those who help<br />Themselves<br />What the Fuck!<br />Go get your Axe<br />Every piece of Iron<br />On paper, put your Pen<br />Your best Weapon<br />Break the Walls<br />Break 'em Down<br />Let our Kids<br />Inherit an Earth<br />Free of Walls<br />Free to Walk<br />Borderless World<br /><br /></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-45515961172473557462007-10-08T18:23:00.001+00:002007-10-08T18:24:19.550+00:00Voice of the Soul<div style="text-align: left;"><blockquote>I saw them burning, homes and dreams<br />No one heard the Balkan's scream.<br />Kosovo burned, Belgrade bombed,<br />They made a mock of the Balkan soul.<br /><br />They gave a damn to the human soul,<br />They wanted their own faith to win.<br />Their faith of God, made them kill,<br />In the name of God, the world still burns.<br /><br />There is no God or any Devil,<br />It is the 'holy word,' that kills.<br />There is no hell or heaven,<br />If you reckon, eight follows seven.<br /><br />They still sell you an American dream,<br />A world where you are always free.<br />Free to sell and free to buy,<br />A dream, only the rich can buy.<br /><br />The human soul is never free,<br />When money and power is all you seek.<br />A price for love, a price for life,<br />You fail to hear the human's cry.<br /><br />The topless blonde on the billboard smiles<br />That's "Human Liberty", American style.<br />Kids are free to carry guns to school,<br />They kill each other, and say "it’s cool".<br /><br />They always fight, black or white,<br />I see them die, I see them cry.<br />No one cares to see the 'wicked smile',<br />Of the ones who won the TV rights.<br /><br />They make you cry for the Kennedy boy,<br />He was a fool to fly that night.<br />It is news when the rich man dies,<br />No one cares when the poor man dies.<br /><br />World is mad about the 'American dream',<br />Blood and Money on your TV screens.<br />Where sex and guns is all you dream,<br />Where hope and love is never free.<br /><br />Tanya and I share a happy dream,<br />Of a world, where we all are free.<br />Free from hatred and free to live,<br />To take less than what we Give.<br /><br /><br /></blockquote></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-19270408857082234642007-09-27T21:14:00.001+00:002007-09-27T21:14:57.471+00:00Scandal In The PalaceBy Arundhati Roy<br /><br />25 September, 2007<br /><a href="http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20071001&fname=Sabharwal%2B%28F%29&sid=1&pn=1">Outlook India</a><br /><br /><br />Scandals can be fun. Especially those that knock preachers from their pulpits and flick halos off saintly heads. But some scandals can be corrosive and more damaging for the scandalised than the scandalee. Right now we're in the midst of one such.<br /><br />At its epicentre is Y.K. Sabharwal, former Chief Justice of India, who until recently headed the most powerful institution in this country—the Supreme Court. When there's a scandal about a former chief justice and his tenure in office, it's a little difficult to surgically excise the man and spare the institution.<br /><br />But then commenting adversely on the institution can lead you straight to a prison cell as some of us have learned to our cost. It's like having to take the wolf and the chicken and the sack of grain across the river, one by one. The river's high and the boat's leaking. Wish me luck.<br /><br /><br />The higher judiciary, the Supreme Court in particular, doesn't just uphold the law, it micromanages our lives. Its judgements range through matters great and small. It decides what's good for the environment and what isn't, whether dams should be built, rivers linked, mountains moved, forests felled. It decides what our cities should look like and who has the right to live in them. It decides whether slums should be cleared, streets widened, shops sealed, whether strikes should be allowed, industries should be shut down, relocated or privatised. It decides what goes into school textbooks, what sort of fuel should be used in public transport and schedules of fines for traffic offences.<br /><br /><br />It decides what colour the lights on judges' cars should be (red) and whether they should blink or not (they should). It has become the premier arbiter of public policy in this country that likes to market itself as the World's Largest Democracy.<br /><br />Ironically, judicial activism first rode in on a tide of popular discontent with politicians and their venal ways. Around 1980, the courts opened their doors to ordinary citizens and people's movements seeking justice for underprivileged and marginalised people. This was the beginning of the era of Public Interest Litigation, a brief window of hope and real expectation. While Public Interest Litigation gave people access to courts, it also did the opposite. It gave courts access to people and to issues that had been outside the judiciary's sphere of influence so far. So it could be argued that it was Public Interest Litigation that made the courts as powerful as they are. Over the last 15 years or so, through a series of significant judgements, the judiciary has dramatically enhanced the scope of its own authority.<br /><br />Today, as neo-liberalism sinks its teeth deeper into our lives and imagination, as millions of people are being pauperised and dispossessed in order to keep India's Tryst with Destiny (the unHindu 10% rate of growth), the State has to resort to elaborate methods to contain growing unrest. One of its techniques is to invoke what the middle and upper classes fondly call the Rule of Law. The Rule of Law is a precept that is distinct and can often be far removed from the principle of justice. The Rule of Law is a phrase that derives its meaning from the context in which it operates. It depends on what the laws are and who they're designed to protect. For instance, from the early '90s, we have seen the systematic dismantling of laws that protect workers' rights and the fundamental rights of ordinary people (the right to shelter/health/education/water).<br /><br />International financial institutions like the IMF, the World Bank and the ADB demand these not just as a precondition, but as a condition, set down in black and white, before they agree to sanction loans. (The polite term for it is structural adjustment. ) What does the Rule of Law mean in a situation like this? Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States, puts it beautifully: "The Rule of Law does not do away with unequal distribution of wealth and power, but reinforces that inequality with the authority of law. It allocates wealth and poverty in such indirect and complicated ways as to leave the victim bewildered."<br /><br />As it becomes more and more complicated for elected governments to be seen to be making unpopular decisions (decisions, for example, that displace millions of people from their villages, from their cities, from their jobs), it has increasingly fallen to the courts to make these decisions, to uphold the Rule of Law.<br /><br />The expansion of judicial powers has not been accompanied by an increase in its accountability. Far from it. The judiciary has managed to foil every attempt to put in place any system of checks and balances that other institutions in democracies are usually bound by.<br /><br />It has opposed the suggestion by the Committee for Judicial Accountability that an independent disciplinary body be created to look into matters of judicial misconduct. It has decreed that an FIR cannot be registered against a sitting judge without the consent of the chief justice (which has never ever been given). It has so far successfully insulated itself against the Right to Information Act. The most effective weapon in its arsenal is, of course, the Contempt of Court Act which makes it a criminal offence to do or say anything that "scandalises" or "lowers the authority" of the court. Though the act is framed in arcane language more suited to medieval ideas of feminine modesty, it actually arms the judiciary with formidable, arbitrary powers to silence its critics and to imprison anyone who asks uncomfortable questions.<br /><br />Small wonder then that the media pulls up short when it comes to reporting issues of judicial corruption and uncovering the scandals that must rock through our courtrooms on a daily basis. There are not many journalists who are willing to risk a long criminal trial and a prison sentence.<br /><br />Until recently, under the Law of Contempt, even truth was not considered a valid defence. So suppose, for instance, we had prima facie evidence that a judge has assaulted or raped someone, or accepted a bribe in return for a favourable judgement, it would be a criminal offence to make the evidence public because that would "scandalise or tend to scandalise" or "lower or tend to lower" the authority of the court.<br /><br />Yes, things have changed, but only a little. Last year, Parliament amended the Contempt of Court Act so that truth becomes a valid defence in a contempt of court charge. But in most cases (such as in the case of the Sabharwal...er... shall we say "affair") in order to prove something it would have to be investigated. But obviously when you ask for an investigation you have to state your case, and when you state your case you will be imputing dishonourable motives to a judge for which you can be convicted for contempt. So: Nothing can be proved unless it is investigated and nothing can be investigated unless it has been proved.<br /><br />The only practical option that's on offer is for us to think Pure Thoughts.<br /><br />For example:<br /><br />a. Judges in India are divine beings.<br /><br />b. Decency, wholesomeness, morality, transparency and integrity are encrypted in their DNA.<br /><br />c. This is proved by the fact that no judge in the history of our Republic has ever been impeached or disciplined in any way.<br /><br /><br />d. Jai Judiciary, Jai Hind.<br /><br /><br />It all becomes a bit puzzling when ex-chief justices like Justice S.P. Bharucha go about making public statements about widespread corruption in the judiciary. Perhaps we should wear ear plugs on these occasions or chant a mantra.<br /><br />It may hurt our pride and curb our free spirits to admit it, but the fact is that we live in a sort of judicial dictatorship. And now there's a scandal in the Palace.<br /><br />Last year (2006) was a hard year for people in Delhi. The Supreme Court passed a series of orders that changed the face of the city, a city that has over the years expanded organically, extra-legally, haphazardly. A division bench headed by Y.K. Sabharwal, chief justice at the time, ordered the sealing of thousands of shops, houses and commercial complexes that housed what the court called 'illegal' businesses that had been functioning, in some cases for decades, out of residential areas in violation of the old master plan.<br /><br /><br />It's true that, according to the designated land-use in the old master plan, these businesses were non-conforming. But the municipal authorities in charge of implementing the plan had developed only about a quarter of the commercial areas they were supposed to. So they looked away while people made their own arrangements (and put their lives' savings into them.) Then suddenly Delhi became the capital city of the new emerging Superpower. It had to be dressed up to look the part. The easiest way was to invoke the Rule of Law.<br /><br />The sealing affected the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people. The city burned. There were protests, there was rioting. The Rapid Action Force was called in. Dismayed by the seething rage and despair of the people, the Delhi government beseeched the court to reconsider its decision. It submitted a new 2021 Master Plan which allowed mixed land-use and commercial activity in several areas that had until now been designated 'residential'. Justice Sabharwal remained unmoved. The bench he headed ordered the sealing to continue.<br /><br />Around the same time, another bench of the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of Nangla Macchi and other jhuggi colonies, which left hundreds of thousands homeless, living on top of the debris of their broken homes, in the scorching summer sun. Yet another bench ordered the removal of all "unlicensed" vendors from the city's streets. Even as Delhi was being purged of its poor, a new kind of city was springing up around us. A glittering city of air-conditioned corporate malls and multiplexes where MNCs showcased their newest products. The better-off amongst those whose shops and offices had been sealed queued up for space in these malls. Prices shot up. The mall business boomed, it was the newest game in town. Some of these malls, mini-cities in themselves, were also illegal constructions and did not have the requisite permissions.<br /><br />But here the Supreme Court viewed their misdemeanours through a different lens. The Rule of Law winked and went off for a tea break. In its judgement on the writ petition against the Vasant Kunj Mall dated October 17, 2006 (in which it allowed the construction of the mall to go right ahead), Justices Arijit Pasayat and S.H. Kapadia said:<br /><br />"Had such parties inkling of an idea that such clearances were not obtained by DDA, they would not have invested such huge sums of money.<br /><br />The stand that wherever constructions have been made unauthorisedly demolition is the only option cannot apply to the present cases, more particularly, when they unlike, where some private individuals or private limited companies or firms being allotted to have made contraventions, are corporate bodies and institutions and the question of their having indulged in any malpractices in getting the approval or sanction does not arise."<br />It's a bit complicated, I know.<br /><br />This was exactly when his sons went into partnership with two mall developers. Sealing helped malls; Sons & Co raked in the bucks.<br /><br />A friend and I sat down and translated it into ordinary English. Basically,<br /><br />a. Even though in this present case the construction may be unauthorised and may not have the proper clearances, huge amounts of money have been invested and demolition is not the only option.<br /><br />b. Unlike private individuals or private limited companies who have been allotted land and may have flouted the law, these allottees are corporate bodies and institutions and there is no question of their having indulged in any malpractice in order to get sanctions or approval.<br /><br />The question of corporate bodies having indulged in malpractice in getting approval or sanction does not arise. So says the Indian Supreme Court. What should we say to those shrill hysterical people protesting out there on the streets, accusing the court of being an outpost of the New Corporate Empire? Shall we shout them down? Shall we say 'Enron zindabad'? 'Bechtel, Halliburton zindabad'? 'Tata, Birla, Mittals, Reliance, Vedanta, Alcan zindabad'? 'Coca-Cola aage badho, hum tumhaare saath hain'?<br /><br />This then was the ideological climate in the Supreme Court at the time the Sabharwal "affair" took place.<br /><br />It's important to make it clear that Justice Sabharwal's orders were not substantially different or ideologically at loggerheads with the orders of other judges who have not been touched by scandal and whose personal integrity is not in question. But the ideological bias of a judge is quite a different matter from the personal motivations and conflict of interest that could have informed Justice Sabharwal's orders. That is the substance of this story.<br /><br />In his final statement to the media before he retired in January 2007, Justice Sabharwal said that the decision to implement the sealing in Delhi was the most difficult decision he had made during his tenure as chief justice. Perhaps it was. Tough Love can't be easy.<br /><br />In May 2007, the Delhi edition of the evening paper Mid Day published detailed investigative stories (and a cartoon) alleging serious judicial misconduct on the part of Justice Sabharwal. The articles are available on the internet. The charges Mid Day made have subsequently been corroborated by the Committee for Judicial Accountability, an organisation that counts senior lawyers, retired judges, professors, journalists and activists as its patrons. The charges in brief are:<br /><br />1 That Y.K. Sabharwal's sons Chetan and Nitin had three companies: Pawan Impex, Sabs Exports and Sug Exports whose registered offices were initially at their family home in 3/81, Punjabi Bagh, and were then shifted to their father's official residence at 6, Motilal Nehru Marg.<br /><br />2. That while he was a judge in the Supreme Court but before he became chief justice, he called for and dealt with the sealing of commercial properties case in Delhi. (This was impropriety. Only the chief justice is empowered to call for cases that are pending before a different bench.) .<br /><br />3. That at exactly this time, Justice Sabharwal's sons went into partnership with two major mall and commercial complex developers, Purshottam Bagheria (of the fashionable Square 1 Mall fame) and Kabul Chawla of Business Park Town Planners (BPTP) Ltd. That as a result of Justice Sabharwal's sealing orders, people were forced to move their shops and businesses to malls and commercial complexes, which pushed up prices, thereby benefiting Justice Sabharwal's sons and their partners financially and materially.<br /><br />4. That the Union Bank gave a Rs 28 crore loan to Pawan Impex on collateral security which turned out to be non-existent. (Justice Sabharwal says his sons' companies had credit facilities of up to Rs 75 crore.)<br /><br />5. That because of obvious conflict of interest, he should have recused himself from hearing the sealing case (instead of doing the opposite—calling the case to himself.)<br /><br />6. That a number of industrial and commercial plots of land in NOIDA were allotted to his sons' companies at throwaway prices by the Mulayam Singh/ Amar Singh government while Justice Sabharwal was the sitting judge on the case of the Amar Singh phone tapes (in which he issued an order restricting their publication.)<br /><br />7. That his sons bought a house in Maharani Bagh for Rs 15.46 crore. The source of this money is unexplained. In the deeds they have put down their father's name as Yogesh Kumar (uncharacteristic coyness for boys who don't mind running their businesses out of their judge father's official residence.)<br /><br />All these charges are backed by what looks like watertight, unimpeachable documentation. Registration deeds, documents from the Union ministry of company affairs, certificates of incorporation of the various companies, published lists of shareholders, notices declaring increased share capital in Nitin and Chetan's companies, notices from the Income Tax department and a CD of recorded phone conversations between the investigating journalist and the judge himself.<br /><br />These documents seem to indicate that while Delhi burned, while thousands of shops and businesses were sealed and their owners and employees deprived of their livelihood, Justice Sabharwal's sons and their partners were raking in the bucks. They read like an instruction manual for how the New India works.<br /><br />When the story became public, another retired chief justice, J.S. Verma, appeared on India Tonight, Karan Thapar's interview show on CNBC.<br /><br />He brought all the prudence and caution of a former judge to bear on what he said: "...if it is true, this is the height of impropriety...every one who holds any public office is ultimately accountable in democracy to the people, therefore, the people have right to know how they are functioning, and higher is the office that you hold, greater is the accountability...." Justice Verma went on to say that if the facts were correct, it would constitute a clear case of conflict of interest and that Justice Sabharwal's orders on the sealing case must be set aside and the case heard all over again.<br /><br />This is the heart of the matter. This is what makes this scandal such a corrosive one. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been devastated. If it is true that the judgement that caused this stands vitiated, then amends must be made.<br /><br /><br />But are the facts correct?<br /><br />Scandals about powerful and well-known people can be, and often are, malicious, motivated and untrue. God knows that judges make mortal enemies—after all, in each case they adjudicate there is a winner and a loser. There's little doubt that Justice Y.K. Sabharwal would have made his fair share of enemies. If I were him, and if I really had nothing to hide, I would actually welcome an investigation. In fact, I would beg the chief justice to set up a commission of inquiry. I would make it a point to go after those who had fabricated evidence against me and made all these outrageous allegations.<br /><br />What I certainly wouldn't do is to make things worse by writing an ineffective, sappy defence of myself which doesn't address the allegations and doesn't convince anyone (Times of India, September 2, 2007).<br /><br />Equally, if I were the sitting chief justice or anybody else who claims to be genuinely interested in 'upholding the dignity' of the court (fortunately this is not my line of work), I would know that to shovel the dirt under the carpet at this late stage, or to try and silence or intimidate the whistle-blowers, is counter-productive. It wouldn't take me very long to work out that if I didn't order an inquiry and order it quickly, what started out as a scandal about a particular individual could quickly burgeon into a scandal about the entire judiciary.<br /><br />But, of course, not everybody sees it that way.<br /><br />Days after Mid Day went public with its allegations, the Delhi high court issued suo motu notice charging the editor, the resident editor, the publisher and the cartoonist of Mid Day with Contempt of Court. Three months later, on September 11, 2007, it passed an order holding them guilty of criminal Contempt of Court. They have been summoned for sentencing on September 21.<br /><br />What was Mid Day's crime? An unusual display of courage? The high court order makes absolutely no comment on the factual accuracy of the allegations that Mid Day levelled against Justice Sabharwal. Instead, in an extraordinary, almost yogic manoeuvre, it makes out that the real targets of the Mid Day article were the judges sitting with Justice Sabharwal on the division bench, judges who are still in service (and therefore imputing motives to them constitutes Criminal Contempt): "We find the manner in which the entire incidence has been projected appears as if the Supreme Court permitted itself to be led into fulfilling an ulterior motive of one of its members.<br /><br />The nature of the revelations and the context in which they appear, though purporting to single out former Chief Justice of India, tarnishes the image of the Supreme Court. It tends to erode the confidence of the general public in the institution itself. The Supreme Court sits in divisions and every order is of a bench. By imputing motive to its presiding member automatically sends a signal that the other members were dummies or were party to fulfil the ulterior design."<br /><br /><br />Nowhere in the Mid Day articles has any other judge been so much as mentioned. So the journalists are in the dock for an imagined insult. What this means is that if there are several judges sitting on a bench and you have proof that one of them has given an opinion or an order based on corrupt considerations or is judging a case in which he or she has a clear conflict of interest, it's not enough. You don't have a case unless you can prove that all of them are corrupt or that all of them have a conflict of interest and all of them have left a trail of evidence in their wake. Actually, even this is not enough. You must also be able to state your case without casting any aspersions whatsoever on the court. (Purely for the sake of argument: What if two judges on a bench decide to take turns to be corrupt? What would we do then?)<br /><br />So now we're saddled with a whole new school of thought on Contempt of Court: Fevered interpretations of imagined insults against unnamed judges. Phew! We're in La-la Land.<br /><br />In most other countries, the definition of Criminal Contempt of Court is limited to anything that threatens to be a clear and present danger to the administration of justice. This business of "scandalising" and "lowering the authority" of the court is an absurd, dangerous form of censorship and an insult to our collective intelligence.<br /><br />The journalists who broke the story in Mid Day have done an important and courageous thing. Some newspapers acting in solidarity have followed up the story. A number of people have come together and made a public statement further bolstering that support. There is an online petition asking for a criminal investigation. If either the government or the courts do not order a credible investigation into the scandal, then a group of senior lawyers and former judges will hold a public tribunal and examine the evidence that is placed before them. It's all happening. The lid is off, and about time too.<br /><br /><br />Click <a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/CJIProbe/petition.html">here </a>to sign the 'Investigate Justice Sabharwal Petition' to the President of IndiaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-82839480601651594012007-09-26T16:33:00.000+00:002007-09-26T16:36:55.320+00:00Sheikh in a Bush is better than...Greg Palast writes <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/bushs-fake-sheik-whacked-the-surge-and-the-al-qaeda-bunny/">Bush’s Fake Sheik Whacked</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Did you see George all choked up? In his surreal TV talk on Thursday, he got all emotional over the killing by Al Qaeda of Sheik Abu Risha, the leader of the new Sunni alliance with the US against the insurgents in Anbar Province, Iraq.<br /><br />Bush shook Abu Risha’s hand two weeks ago for the cameras. Bush can shake his hand again, but not the rest of him: Abu Risha was blown away just hours before Bush was to go on the air to praise his new friend.<br /><br />Here’s what you need to know that NPR won’t tell you.<br /><br />1. Sheik Abu Risha wasn’t a sheik.<br />2. He wasn’t killed by Al Qaeda.<br />3. The new alliance with former insurgents in Anbar is as fake as the sheik - and a murderous deceit.<br /><br />...<br /><br />Just in case you think I’ve lost my mind and put my butt in insane danger to get this footage, don’t worry. I was safe and dry in Budapest. It was my brilliant new cameraman, <a href="http://www.bignoisefilms.org/" onclick="javascript:urchinTracker ('/outbound/www.bignoisefilms.org');">Rick Rowley</a>, who went to Iraq to get the story on his own.<br /><br /></blockquote></div><br /><br />Watch the videos<br /><br />Part-I<br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/naJQc6vFlFY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/naJQc6vFlFY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br />Part-II<br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YsQ6twcWevY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YsQ6twcWevY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-89400541031776510842007-09-25T19:52:00.000+00:002007-09-25T19:53:58.411+00:00Can Your Film Change The World?<object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pl3xHIsvF9o"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pl3xHIsvF9o" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.pangeaday.org/">WWW.PANGEADAY.ORG</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-324152877645450792007-09-25T07:29:00.000+00:002007-09-25T07:35:57.942+00:00Understanding Dan Rather<div style="text-align: justify;">Greg Palast <a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/dan-rather-tased-and-confused/#more-1863">writes:</a><br /><br /><br /><blockquote>Newly unearthed records reveal that, in 2004, when Americans were in the midst of a brutal electoral battle over whether to reelect a president posing as a war hero, a commanding US reporter, Dan Rather, went AWOL.<br /><br />Just three months before the election, Rather had a story that might have changed the outcome of that razor-close race. We now know that Dan cut a back-room deal to shut his mouth, grab his ankles, and let his network retract a story he knew to be absolutely true.<br /><br />In September 2004 when Rather cowered, Bush was riding high in the polls. Now, with Bush’s approval ratings are below smallpox, Rather has come out of hiding to shoot at the lame duck. Thanks, Dan.<br /><br />It began on September 8, 2004, when Rather, on CBS, ran a story that Daddy Bush Senior had, in 1968, put in the fix to get his baby George out of the Vietnam War and into the Texas Air National Guard. Little George then rode out the war defending Houston from Viet Cong attack.<br /><br />The story is stone-cold solid. I know, because we ran it on BBC Television a year before CBS. BBC has never retracted a word of it.<br /><br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gyFdZqWDn3c"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gyFdZqWDn3c" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />But CBS caved. So did Dan.</blockquote></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-23828584910431481702007-07-20T18:57:00.000+00:002007-07-20T18:58:19.092+00:00The enemy inside...<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/maHSOB2RFm4"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/maHSOB2RFm4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-17860532028076759182007-06-02T09:35:00.000+00:002007-06-02T11:08:03.389+00:00Bush's Cuba Policy<div style="text-align: justify;">This is from the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/06/20070601-3.html">round-table interview</a> held on May 31.<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;" class="msg Nth"><blockquote>"I'd love to talk about Cuba. I believe Cuba ought to be free. And I believe that when there is a transition to new leadership, the world ought to work for freedom, not stability, that the leading edge of our agenda ought to be to say to whomever takes over that government, we expect there to be elections and free press, free prisoners."</blockquote><br /><br />1. A free world, not a stable one. (Free for private enterprises to do whatever they want to do, including manufacturing war to kill people)<br /><br />2. Free Prisoners (How about freeing prisoners in Cuba - who are in American captivity?)<br /><br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-44317695328113520012007-04-10T12:41:00.000+00:002007-09-21T12:36:13.439+00:00Who wants to be the next president?Hillary and Obama are fighting it out in the US of A. When it comes to India, quite a few names are springing up these days.<br /><br />Amitab 'Big B' Bhachan's name has been doing the rounds for a while now. If Ronald 'Cowboy' Reagan can do it, why not our 'angry young man of 70s and 80s'?<br /><br />Another name that has sprung up is that man from Bengalooru, Narayana Murthy (Infosys fame!)<br /><br /><a href="http://churumuri.wordpress.com/2007/04/10/all-companies-must-have-right-to-retrench/">Churumuri.wordpress.com</a> quotes<br /><blockquote>Capitalism is about providing equal opportunities for people, giving them the incentive to perform and creating the competitive conditions. <p>I believe in compassionate capitalism where there is capitalism in the mind, socialism in the heart, and corporations which make profits will have to live in harmony with the society around them.</p></blockquote><br />Beware! Narayana Murthy is a Shylock.<br /><br />Not just that, the Infosys slave master also has very strong views about <a href="http://churumuri.wordpress.com/2007/04/09/jana-gana-mana-makes-foreigners-uneasy-nrn">India's National Anthem</a><br /><br /><br />Deccan Herald reports: <span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/apr92007/state05631200749.asp"><span style="color: rgb(64, 0, 128);font-family:verdana;" > National anthem could make foreigners at Infy uneasy: NRN</span></a></span><br /><blockquote>"We had arranged for five people to sing the anthem. But then we cancelled it as we have foreigners onboard here. They should not be embarrassed while we sing the anthem," said Infosys chief mentor Narayana Murthy.<br /><br />As per the protocol, the national anthem was played twice at Infosys campus here as President A P J Abdul Kalam stepped in and out -- the only difference being, it sounded like a bad arrangement of musical notes. In other words, the anthem, which should command the utmost respect from all true-blue Indians, did not get its due, from whoever was responsible -- the speakers at the do or the person who ‘orchestrated’ it.</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-75689341683766782302007-04-10T12:17:00.000+00:002007-04-10T12:19:55.273+00:00Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure<div style="text-align: justify;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/news/20070409/chocolate-lowers-blood-pressure">WebMD Medical News reports</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>that Dark Chocolate and other cocoa-rich foods may lower blood pressure better than tea.<br /><br /><blockquote>A new study suggests that dark chocolate and other cocoa-rich products may be better at lowering blood pressure than tea.<br /><br />Researchers compared the blood pressure-lowering effects of cocoa and tea in previously published studies and found eating cocoa-rich foods was associated with an average 4.7-point lower systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) and 2.8-point lower diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number). But no such effect was found among any of the studies on black or green tea.<br /><br />Cocoa and tea are both rich in a class of antioxidants known as polyphenols. But researchers say they contain different types of polyphenols, and those in cocoa may be more effective at lowering blood pressure.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Polyphenols Help Blood Pressure</span><br /><br />Current guidelines call for people with high blood pressure to eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, which are also high in polyphenols. These compounds are thought to contribute to their beneficial effects on protecting against heart disease and high blood pressure.<br /><br />But researchers say there are no current recommendations for people at risk for high blood pressure or heart disease to include polyphenol-rich cocoa and tea products in their diet, despite the fact that tea and cocoa products account for the bulk of people’s total intake of polyphenols in Western countries.<br /><br />In their review, researchers reviewed the effects of cocoa-rich products, such as dark chocolate or specially formulated polyphenol-rich milk chocolate, and blood pressure in five studies, which totaled 173 participants and lasted on average two weeks.<br /><br />They also reviewed black and green tea and blood pressure in five different studies that totaled 343 participants and lasted on average four weeks. All studies were published between 1966 and 2006.<br /><br />The results showed four of the five cocoa studies reported a reduction in both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure. The reduction was an average of 4.7 points systolic and 2.8 points diastolic.<br /><br />Researchers say those effects are similar to those found using one-drug therapy with common blood pressure-lowering medications such as beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors.<br /><br />None of the five studies on green or black tea were associated with any significant reduction in blood pressure.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cocoa to the Rescue</span><br /><br />Applied to the population as a whole, researchers estimate that the blood pressure-lowering effect associated with cocoa would be expected to reduce the risk of stroke by about 20%, coronary heart disease by 10%, and death from all causes by 8%.<br /><br />However, they say their findings should not be interpreted as a widespread recommendation to raid the candy counter.<br /><br />But they say it appears reasonable to substitute polyphenol-rich cocoa products like dark chocolate for other high-calorie or high-fat desserts, such as having a piece of dark chocolate rather than a slice of cheesecake.<br /><br />"We believe that any dietary advice must account for the high sugar, fat, and calorie intake with most cocoa products," write researcher Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, of the University Hospital of Cologne in Germany, and colleagues, in the Archives of Internal Medicine. "Rationally applied, cocoa products might be considered part of dietary approaches to lower hypertension risk."<br /><br />SOURCES: Taubert, D. Archives of Internal Medicine, April 9, 2007; vol 167: 626-634. News release, Archives of Internal Medicine.</blockquote></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-54201557018076742702007-04-10T11:23:00.000+00:002007-04-10T12:23:41.394+00:00Gandhi's India?Or is it Munnabhai's India?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.himalmag.com/2007/february/cover2.htm">The victims of Operation Leech:</a><br /><br />With the help of the Calcutta intelligentsia and human-rights activists, can Burmese victimised by an Indian armed operation in the Andamans find justice?<br /><br />by | Soe Myint<br /><br /><blockquote>On 11 February 1998 in New Delhi, the Ministry of Defence announced in a press conference that on 8 February, a joint operation of the three wings of the Indian armed forces had successfully intercepted “an international gang of armed smugglers” and seized arms and weapons worth of USD 1 million in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The operation had been code-named “Operation Leech-111”. The security forces claimed to have arrested 73 foreign nationals. Six “gun-runners” were said to have been killed in the encounter.<br /><br />The media soon brought to light glaring gaps in the government’s story. The newspaper Andamans Today exposed the fact that those arrested and killed in the operation belonged to the National United Party of Arakan (NUPA) and the Karen National Union (KNU), ethnic nationalities’ organisations from Burma that have been fighting against the military regime for decades for self-determination and human rights. It was discovered that they had come to India after an agreement with Indian intelligence operatives that they would be allowed a base at Landfall Island in the Andaman and Nicobar atoll in exchange for their cooperation with intelligence gathering along the Burmese coast. One particular Indian military intelligence officer, a certain Lieutenant Colonel Grewal, was found to have betrayed the trust of the Burmese freedom fighters at the behest of the military junta and to have killed six of their leaders in cold blood.<br /><br />The freedom fighters were kept under illegal detention at Campbell Camp on Nicobar Island in horrific conditions for several months and then transferred to the prison at Port Blair. The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to file a charge sheet for a full six and half years. Its representatives told the lower court that they could not file one because the Ministry of Defence was not co-operating with them.</blockquote><br /><a href="http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/portal/2007/04/887">India’s Guantanamo Bay</a><br /><br />Not many know that this little hellhole festers just outside Port Blair, where cardinal violation of human rights is routine.<br /><br />Abhimanyu George Jain<br /><br /><blockquote>A hundred rupees by auto from Port Blair takes you to Prothragarh, a small place that houses the Prothragarh Jail and open prison. The open prison is a temporary holding place for foreign nationals caught in Indian territorial waters without sufficient reason to explain their presence. Nobody is quite certain who these people are. Most of them are Cambodian, Burmese or Bangladeshi nationals who might be fishermen blown out into the open sea, smugglers, poachers or even human traffickers. Once caught, they are tried, sentenced and sent to jail. After they have served their prison terms, they are interred in the open prison until they can be deported back to their native countries.<br /><br />Shockingly, however, some of the inmates are kept in the open prison for years after they have served their prison terms. There are a few who have been in the open prison since 1998, which effectively means that there are people in Prothragarh who have not been released even eight years after serving their sentences. There are at least two inmates in the open prison who are yet to be charged with a crime. They have been detained without charges being brought against them for several months, let alone being presented before a magistrate within 24 hours, which is mandatory under the Indian laws.<br /><br />Worse still are the conditions within the prison. The prison has a capacity to hold 110 inmates. It holds more than 300! Prisoners are housed in tin sheds that become cruelly effective boiler houses under the hot Andaman sun. Short of space, several inmates are forced to sleep out in the open, under sheets tied between adjoining sheds. The toilets overflow with faeces and waste, and clean drinking water is a mythically rare concept.</blockquote></div>Sanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01889391051084719549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-29426016038507093422007-04-09T11:14:00.000+00:002007-04-10T12:24:37.038+00:00Praying for Life<div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/clickbox/2007/cycleagarbathi.jpg" align="left" border="3" /> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/clickbox/2007/agarbathi2.jpg" align="right" border="3" /><span style="font-weight: bold;">As the Smoke Kills...</span><br /><br />The burning of incense releases high levels of some chemicals associated with lung cancer, findings over the past five years indicate.<br /><br />Incense, used primarily for religious, medicinal and meditative purposes, was found to create air quality environments hazardous to human health, according to reports by <a href="http://www.newstarget.com/021598.html">New Scientist magazine. </a><br /><br />A set of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are of primary concern. While organic and often aromatic, PAH include carcinogenic chemicals such as the components of benzene and the chemical used in mothballs.<br /><br />A 2001 study by the National Cheng Kung University of Taiwan surveyed the air quality inside a poorly-ventilated temple and found benzopyrene levels that are 40 times greater than what is found inside of the homes of people who smoke cigarettes. The air quality in the temple was almost as bad as standing next to a busy intersection filled with car exhaust.<br /><br />Another <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.wb.gov.hk/boards_and_committees/ecfc/Guide_to_Application_ECF/Approved_Research_and_Tech_Demo_Project/list_77/index.aspx?langno=1&nodeID=1250">report</a></span> says:<br />Benzene and methyl chloride was the most abundant species in temple air. It is concluded that incense burning in temples is a significant source of air pollution. It is suggested that visitors may decrease the amount of incense burnt and better with the period short in the temple, especially during peak periods in order to reduce the health impact.<br /><br />Acute (short-term) exposure to high concentrations of methyl chloride in humans has caused severe neurological effects. Methyl chloride has also caused effects on the heart rate, blood pressure, liver, and kidneys in humans. Chronic (long-term) animal studies have shown liver, kidney, spleen, and central nervous system (CNS) effects. Inhalation studies have demonstrated that methyl chloride causes reproductive effects in male rats, with effects such as testicular lesions and decreased sperm production.<br /></div><br />Incense sticks have been linked to cancer, asthma and dermatitis (a skin rash). One study reported that foetus or nursing infants whose parents burned incense had a higher chance of getting leukaemia (a cancer of the blood organs). Carbon monoxide, benzene (which can cause cancer, leukaemia and damage the developing foetus) and fine particles (“particulates”) are also released when incense is burnt.<br /><br /><br />Say No to Incense SmokeUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9062508.post-41351520600796855882007-04-09T09:58:00.000+00:002008-12-13T07:47:46.854+00:00Stop Elephant Slavery<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqx6342srHbx-BqukXgwMCDRt87Gt9qu0pM9JgjMWa63f8jPchfozPgPXVudrvQG_v0Hzeno_1bS1SOtDGGVnI9yKYDIh1k_mVlINtrol3qSKjo7sFeqyp-QWN0YLxSoiFIrxrEw/s1600-h/aana1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqx6342srHbx-BqukXgwMCDRt87Gt9qu0pM9JgjMWa63f8jPchfozPgPXVudrvQG_v0Hzeno_1bS1SOtDGGVnI9yKYDIh1k_mVlINtrol3qSKjo7sFeqyp-QWN0YLxSoiFIrxrEw/s1600/aana1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051366294306630242" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Elephants shouldn't be made slaves, chained and paraded in religious festivals. Yesterday, during a muslim festivity in Kerala, a tusker went wild - killing the mahout and injuring another elephant. It took almost three hours for the angry tusker to be tranquilised.Sanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01889391051084719549noreply@blogger.com0