Gandhinagar, March 26, 2008: As the state government gets ready to celebrate the historic occasion of Narmada waters reaching Tharad and Jalore in Rajasthan on Thursday, a reply given by Water Supply Minister Nitin Patel in response to a starred query in the Assembly on Wednesday, has caused a major embarrassment to Chief Minister Narendra Modi. (more…)
Kalyan Barooah
New Delhi, January 16, 2008: Acknowledging that misconception about the North Eastern region is the biggest hurdle holding back development of tourism, Union Minister for Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER), Mani Shankar Aiyar said his Ministry is preparing a Cabinet Note proposing relaxation of the Leave Travel Concession (LTC) guidelines to allow air travel by Government employees. (more…)
Shillong, January 16, 2008: In a bid to boost power generation in the north eastern region, the Centre plans to pump in Rs 28,000 crore to add 5,615 mw of power during the 11th Five Year Plan, with 4,055 mw of hydro and 1,560 mw of thermal power, an official statement said here today, reports PTI. ‘’Suitable investments would also be made for strengthening the transmission and distribution networks,’’ the statement said. (more…)
Ramananda Wangkheirakpam and Smitu Kothari, November 05, 2007
India’s Look East Policy (ILEP) was launched in the early 1990s as an economic and security-oriented foreign policy initiative linking India and East Asia. Fifteen years later, the External Affairs Ministry brought the policy to the North-east for the first time in a consultation that took place in Shillong in June 2007, with the second one held soon thereafter in Guwahati. The latest round in the series took place on October 31 in the form of a meeting of the Chief Ministers of the North-east in New Delhi. (more…)
Lalremlien Neitham, September 25, 2007
A four-day “Independent People’s Tribunal (IPT) on the World Bank Group in India” held at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi on 21-24 September, 2007 was attended by over 600 activists, students, academicians, policy analysts, lawyers and projects-affected communities across India who presented indicting evidence against the Bank in over 26 sectors. (more…)
We take pride in that defining moment in 1950 when, despite a recognition of the enormous challenges of knitting together a ‘nation’ out of a staggering diversity of communities, ethnicities, languages and disparities, we decided to take the bold political step by pledging India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. What remains today of this pledge?
Smitu Kothari Delhi (more…)
Narmada Bachao Andolan, 16th June 2007
Dear friends,
Today is the 13th day of the indefinite dharna at Khandwa of the people of the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar dams on the Narmada river. It is also the 11th day of the indefinite fast of five representatives of the struggle who have been on fast since the 6th of June 2007. (more…)
joint press statement, March 16, 2007
Today, representatives of 8 Bhopal based organizations burnt effigy of Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Chief Minister of West Bengal at Roshanpura Crossing in protest of police firing in Nandigram. The genocide perpetrated by the CPI(M)-led Left Front government and the West Bengal police on hapless villagers, share-croppers and peasants of Nandigram in the name of “bridge building” and “maintenance repairs” is strongly condemned by us and goes on to show the new low that the official Leftists of West Bengal has plunged into. (more…)
Kolkota | March 15, 2007
AS CPM RUNS AROUND FOR A SCAPEGOAT, POLICE & CADRES KILL 125 IN NANDIGRAM MASSACRE: PEOPLE CALL TO STAND BY THEIR STRUGGLE
As the death count of March 14 carnage in Nandigram by the W.Bengal Police and CPM cadres has reached 125, the people, organizations and activists of Nandigram and Kolkata called upon all the people , who value the democracy, human rights and equality of freedom to come to Nandigram and be with the struggling people.
Though the cadres of the ruling Communist Party (Marxist) are blocking the way, the High Court Order on March 15, asks the government to facilitate the people to visit the area for enquiry of help. “The people must show their resolve against the Fascist ways of the so called progressive government and party” said Samar Das, a senior activist from National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), W. Bengal. (more…)
Press Release, North East Peoples Alliance on Trade Finance and Development, Imphal, 30th March 2008
The Alliance which comprises of peoples movements and NGOs from all regions of North East Region expresses its immense concern about the mining of natural resources and other extractive industries activities. The region is witnessing a spurt in mining and related activities by both Indian and foreign corporations and increasingly facilitated by international financial institutions. (more…)
INDEPENDENT PEOPLES TRIBUNAL ON THE WORLD BANK GROUP IN INDIA
www.worldbanktribunal.org
PRESS RELEASE: 25 September 2007, New Delhi
World Bank Officials Refuse to be Held Accountable
‘TRIBUNAL CHARGES BANK WITH SERIOUS VIOLATIONS OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOVEREIGNTY’
New Delhi: The four day Independent Peoples Tribunal (IPT) on the World Bank in India concluded here today hearing numerous depositions indicting the Bank’s policy and project interventions in India. Over six hundred people from communities, social movements, research institutes, NGOs and universities attended the proceedings. The Tribunal, supported by the Jawaharlal University’s Teachers Association and Students’ Union was held in the university premises. (more…)
Narmada Bachao Andolan | Press Note, June 6th 2007
Today, the dharna of the oustees of the Indira Sagar dam and Omkareshwar dam entered its third day, with over 5000 people sitting in protest against the complete failure of the R&R process in the two dams, and to protect their right to productive livelihoods and the right to live with dignity. (more…)
A talk and discussion led by P. Sainath
Rural Affairs Editor, The Hindu
Date: September 6, 2007
Time: 5.30 PM
Venue: MAHARASHTRA SADAN, Copernicus Marg, Near Mandi House, New Delhi (more…)
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Date: 21-24 September, 2007
The World Bank Tribunal, the first of its kind in India, is an opportunity for impacted communities and concerned groups to present testimony, evidence and research that objectively examines the impact of the World Bank’s policies and projects. (more…)
What? Why? For Whom?
Organised by Peace Mumbai
Venue: Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh
Date: 11th September (Tuesday) 2007
Time: 5.30pm (more…)
Imphal, April 30, 2008: The construction of Khuga dam is expected to conclude during the next month and the dam is likely to be inaugurated by the first week of June by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. (more…)
Imphal, April 30, 2008: Mapithel Dam Affected Villages Organisation has announced its decision of stepping up the agitation being launched since March 17 in case the Government is not going to take up necessary measures to rehabilitate the would be affected villagers on the line of an acceptable rehabilitation and settlement policy. (more…)
Imphal, April 29, 2008: Security measures has been beefed up in the aftermath of the April 26 attack launched by armed cadres of the Hmar people’s Convention, Democratic (HPC-D) that caused substantial damage to machineries installed at the construction site of Tipaimukh Multi-Purpose Project even as the Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh has convened a meeting on May 2 to take stock of the situation. (more…)
Shillong, January 16, 2008: The D.D. Lapang government and the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council are being pressured to initiate measures to check pollution in the Lukha in the Jaintia Hills. In the first week of January, the river changed colour and a few fishes died because of the rampant coal and limestone mining in the Lumshnong area adjacent to the river. (more…)
Craig Simons, Livemint.com, Dec 24 2007
Basahi (Bihar): When the monsoon comes each summer to this poor Indian village, it brings misery. Raindrops as wide as nickels fall straight and hard. They pool in fields and churn dirt lanes into mud. (more…)
Shillong, May 12, 2007: The proposed uranium mining in Meghalaya has taken one step ahead with the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB)’s decision to hold a public hearing on the issue at Nongbah Jynrin village on June 12. (more…)
Lalit Sethi, NPA, Central Chronicle, January 9, 2008
The World Bank has gone back to its old tricks: running down India, running down Asia, running down what is not blue eyes and white skin even if a friend of America, but quite unable to deliver on speedy entry of First World countries and deep penetration of their economies. (more…)
Bhubaneswar, Sept. 4, 2007: “The market potential of carbon finance is tremendous but the public sector, particularly the financial institutions and the government need to recognise it and get involved in a bit way,” said Mr Michel Pommier, the regional Carbon Finance Coordinator of the World Bank. (more…)
Editorial, Times of India, Sept 05, 2007
It has become the norm for the US and Europe to hold on to top jobs of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), respectively, in defiance of structural changes in the world economy over the last three decades. Russia has opposed the candidature of former French finance minister Dominique Strauss Kahn by backing former Czech Prime Minister Josef Tosovsky, but Strauss Kahn is almost sure to become IMF managing director. (more…)
Mumbai, February 15, 2007: No wonder it was not in the news that Fiat is joining hands with Tatas over a cheap car project. Flashlights hog the attention on the fecilitation of Italy’s PM at Kolkota University. (more…)
Soutik Biswas | BBC News
New Delhi, December 20, 2006: A Nobel-prize winning US economist has warned that public services could suffer in countries like India as a result of globalisation. Professor Joseph Stiglitz told the BBC News website that globalisation had led to lower tariffs, an important source of public revenue. (more…)
Indrajit Basu | United Press International
Calcutta, March 12, 2004: It’s good for the economy; it creates employment, lots of it, and working nights at India’s back offices is pleasing and financially rewarding for a huge number of young Indians. (more…)
