AID News for Apr 13 2004

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AID News for Tue Apr 13 2004

AID News for Tue Apr 13, 2004
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AID News for Tue Apr 13, 2004
Today's Headlines
1) Appeals for Help
2) NGO News
3) Narmada valley updates
4) News of interest from India
5) Activist resources
Today's News
1) Appeals for Help
a) An Appeal for Vimukti, an NGO funded by AID Raleigh
I am sending an appeal from Vimukti, an NGO working in Raichur
district of Karnataka which has found support from AID Raleigh (For
details check AID -PSU website at
http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/aid/web/projects/present/vimukti/index.html
The appeal is for individual contributions to hold Byasige Habba
(summer festival of women) .It is a festival organized by Jagrutha
Mahila Okkoota, a union of Women Agricultural Labourers, belonging to
the Dalit and Marginalized communities. This is a union of women with
whom Vimukti has been working for a period of 4 years. The focus of
the festival is on the cultural ethos and traditional folk arts of
the Dalit and Marginalised subaltern communities.

- Contributed by Kamayani Keki
b) Help needed for taking laptops to India
Some of us in AID and some friends in ASHA have collected 4-5 laptops
(donated by people). But we need to figure out a way to take them to
India. If anyone on this list or any of your friends or family is
going to India and willing to take a laptop, please do let me know.
You can email me at nam...@cfar.umd.edu or call me at 301-467-8593
or 301-422-4039 anytime after 9pm. The laptops need to reach Kanpur,
but I believe anywhere in India is okay and Dr Verma can arrange to
get them to Kanpur somehow.
- Contributed by Namrata Vaswani
2) NGO News
a) One of the first projects AIDNM funded was the Rural Technology
Resource Center in Kuthambakkam in Tamil Nadu. Recently, Financial
Express India featured a two part article detailing the project and
the greater cause behind it.
Part 1: http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=52757
Part 2: http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=53280
- Contributed by Harsha Y B
3) News from Narmada valley
a) SC admits petition against increase in SSP height Update from
Narmada Valley Press Note: New Delhi: 19 March 2004
The Supreme Court today admitted for hearing an urgent petition filed
by oustees of the Sardar Sarovar Project against the recent decision
by the NCA to approve increase in the height of the dam from the
existing 100 to 110 metres. The date of hearing of the application
has been fixed for the 26th of this month by the Chief Justice.
The urgent application was filed by the oustees of villages Jalsindhi
and Picchodi who had earlier filed a petition asking the Supreme
Court to direct the state of Madhya Pradesh to rehabilitate them in
accordance with the provisions of the NWDT and the Court judgement in
the PIL originally filed by the NBA. These petitions were admitted
and directions issued to the respondents. However no reply has so far
been filed by the state or its authorities. Meanwhile a few days ago
the Narmada Control Authority gave permission for increase in the dam
height in direct contravention of the mechanism and framework
established to ensure rehabilitation.
The application was filed by advocates Sanjay Parikh and S
Muralidharan. In it the oustees argued that the NCA's decision to
allow construction was based on a distinction between those
temporarily and permanently affected at 110 metres, a distinction
which has so far been disallowed as invalid by the NCA itself and is
contrary to the the Court's judgement. Using this method the
Government of MP has reduced the number of oustees to be
rehabilitated at 110 m by about 7000 even though their lands and
houses will be flooded at this height.
In addition the application pointed out the lack of availability of
land in MP for oustees affected at the existing height who
havespecifically been asking for land based rehabilitation. The state
is offering oustees barren government land instead of buying private
lands for resettlement. The system of ex parte allotments by which
the state transfers lands to oustees without ascertaining their
choice; and in the face of grave doubts about its cultivability is
both arbitrary and unjust. Unfortunately the GRA set up to look at
oustee grievances in MP has endorsed the illegal distinction between
temporary and permanent submergence and the state's refusal to allot
lands of their choice to the oustees forcing them to file the earlier
petition.
In Maharashtra the state government has admitted officially that 500
oustee families remain to be rehabilitated at 110 metres. In addition
the claims of approximately 2200 families for rehabilitation have
been upheld by a task force set up by the govt. Its recommendations
have been accepted by the state.
This means that thousands of families affected by at dam height 110m
face the loss of their livelihoods this monsoon. The NCA while
allowing construction asked the Maharashtra govt to complete
rehabilitation in the next 2 months. Given the magnitude of the
numbers involved and the state's previous track record this is
clearly impossible.
Madhya Pradesh on the other hand has stated that rehabilitation of
MPoustees has been completed, a claim which is clearly fraudulent.
The number of those affected and those deprived of their right to
rehabilitation is the highest in that state which appears to have
abdicated all responsibility for thousands of tribal families
affected by the project.
Although the government of Gujrat is claiming that only 177 families
remain to be rehabilitated at 110 metres, on the evidence of the
figures provided by Maharashtra and the ground situation in MP where
hundreds of oustees have been deprived of their rights, an human
tragedy will unfold this monsoon in the Narmada valley if the recent
decision to allow construction is not reversed.
Given the failure of the GRA to prevent the state of riding roughshod
over the oustees interests they have asked the Court to set up an
independent mechanism to verify rehabilitation and allow construction
only when rehabilitation at 110 metres is complete.
- Contributed by Karuna , Ashish, Narmada Bachao Andolan
b) NBA Welcomes EC Ban on Narmada Pujan Yatra - Demand Immediate
Stoppage of SS Dam Construction till Rehabilitation is Completed at
110.64m
The Narmada Bachao Andolan welcome the Election Commission's ban on
the Narmada Pujan Yatra. The yatra was meant to create electoral
mileage for the Narendra Modi government who were scheming to take
full advantage of the clearance, which they gained through illegal
and undemocratic means, to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar
Dam.
While the ban created a temporary set back for the campaign
strategies of Modi government, revoking the permission given to the
Narmada Control Authority (NCA) to give clearance for raising the SS
dam height to 110.64 m would have been a more just and democratic
verdict by the Election Commission, since it was given after the
elections have been declared. Not only was the EC misinformed about
the actual reality of incomplete rehabilitation under 110.64 m which
stands in gross violation of the Supreme Court Order (October 2000)
but they were also given assurance by the NCA that no political party
would misuse this clearance for electoral gains.
Since the Modi government was audaciously violating the Model Code of
Conduct nothing less than revoking the clearance was necessary to
ensure just, democratic and balanced electoral campaigns. This would
have not only protected the human and legal rights of the affected
populations but also brought some sanity to electoral politics.
While the Election Commission did terminate the yatra on legal terms,
Narmada Control Authority, the independent monitoring body for the
Sardar Sarovar Project should be put to task for deceiving the
Election Commission and the illegal construction at the dam site
should be terminated with immediately.
Unless the dam is stayed with immediate effect, the human and legal
rights of thousands of adivasis, who are not yet resettled under
110.64 m in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and not fully
rehabilitated in Gujarat even after living in the Rehabilitation
villages for 10-14 years, stands violated.
How can we have free, fair and democratic elections if citizen's
rights are viciously violated by the very powers that are now seeking
the citizens' votes to gain legitimacy for continuing their
exploitative and repressive ways? The involvement of the corporate
groups in this undemocratic and unjust process is evident from the
huge investments they make in providing advertisements for the rulers
who protect their interests!
- Contributed by Philip Mathew, Narmada Bachao Andolan
c) Related links
Hydro Tasmania has been asked by the World Bank to become involved n
power generation projects in Third World countries. The Hydro may get
involved with projects in developing countries but the company has
ruled out any involvement in the controversial Narmada Valley Dam
project in India.
http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9058725%255E346200.html
- Contributed by Pervin Jahangir
4) News of interest from India
BHOMATAWARA, India -- The sturdy little public clinic in this poor,
sickly village was locked up one recent afternoon, but that is
nothing remarkable. Rampant absenteeism among government doctors and
nurses is an open secret across India and much of the developing
world, and they virtually never get in trouble for not showing up.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/25/international/asia/25INDI.html?hp
- Contributed by Arun Sripati & Priya Ranjan
A fast ball into the future
...In Mandvi, the home of Irfan Pathan, policemen were almost overrun
by frenzied fans. Senior police officials had to lock up the Jama
Masjid and lay a cordon around it to prevent the crowds from entering
his house. If Irfan were in a reflecting frame of mind, he must be
wondering at the 180 degree turn that his fate has taken. In his
short span of 19 years, Irfan must have seen many such maddening
crowds trying to enter the Jama Masjid where his father is a lowly
paid muezzin
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=43795
- Contributed by Uma Asher
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=43377
NEW DELHI, MARCH 19: Mizoram will become the first state to
officially go organic. Its government is in the process of drafting a
Bill which will ban sale of chemical fertiliser across the state.
- Contributed by Arun Sripati
Recently the people's movements in India have decided to form a
political front called People's Political Front. Aruna Roy and many
other will be contesting elections under this banner. Introducing
people's issues into the electoral process is also one objective of
PPF. More about the policies and politics of PPF will be made
avaialbale as and when it becomes available!
http://www.hindu.com/2004/03/23/stories/2004032305721500.htm
- Contributed by Prashant Jawalikar
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3581555.stm
But nearly 135 years after his birth, Gandhi's world view of
non-violence and economic self-reliance lies buried in the place of
his birth. Porbandar is famous for being the birthplace of India's
independence leader Mahatma Gandhi. Campaign managers in Mr Advani's
governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are quick to stress that the
choice of Porbandar as the first point of the east-west leg of Mr
Advani's road show is deliberate. ``As Gandhiji was the father of our
nation, Mr Advani wants to begin this phase of his campaign by paying
respects at his place of birth as well as recalling his sacrifices
and ideals which won us independence,'' local BJP leader Babubhai
Bokadia says
- Contributed by Arun Sripati
Suicide rates among young people in southern India are the highest in
the world, researchers say.
A study published in the British medical journal The Lancet says
family conflicts, domestic violence and mental illness are the most
common triggers. The survey of 10- to 19-year-olds in the region
around Vellore found that the average rate for women was 148 per
100,000, and 58 per 100,000 for men. The average suicide rate
worldwide is 14.5 per 100,000. Globally, rates for men are three
times higher than those for women. Full story at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3590847.stm
- Contributed by Uma Asher
5) Activist Resources
a) Center for third world organizing has a training program for
community activitsts. The cost is 200 bucks but
scholarships/discounts are available.
http://www.ctwo.org/cat.html
Also see Women of Color Resource Center
http://www.coloredgirls.org/content_sub.cfm?cat=project&sub=wedge&file=index</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.youthec.org/whatwedo/index.html">http://www.youthec.org/whatwedo/index.html</a>
</p>
<pre>

b) Books</pre>
<p>The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast</p>
<p>www.gregpalast.org</p>
<p>Markets for electricity don't work and can't work. Exxon's oil spill
in Alaska was no accident but a disaster waiting to happen. The IMF
& World Bank expect riots in the countries they are restructuring.
Televangelists divert the money raised from their religious programs
for private and political gain. Corporations pay big bucks for
access to legislators in democracies, and woo dictators who can
ensure ``good governance.'' Money can silence the press. No surprise
to veterans of rallies and sit-ins on corporate liberalisation,
privatisation and globalisation. Yet few rally evidence so strong
with presentation so clear as journalist Greg Palast, who has
collected some of his sharpest investigative reports in the newly
published volume The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: The Truth about
Corporate Cons, Globalization, and High-Finance Fraudsters.
- Contributed by Aravinda Pillalmarri
That's all folks,
Regards,
Arun Sripati
Just Another Quote
As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe
will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude,
poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.
- Henry David Thoreau
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