The Indian central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, had been making quite a song and dance about the 25 Paise coins ceasing to become legal tender from the 30^th June this year. It had been asking people to exchange them for equivalent amount of currency. A report the other day said only a little more than a hundred thousand rupees worth of these coins had been deposited in the banks in Bhopal till the 30^th June.

Tags: india

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On Monday when you are slathering on the sunscreen (A & B), chomping into your third hot dog and opening your second beer, pause and remember for a moment the man who is making it all possible.

Tags: Wikileaks | Bradley Manning

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As the plane came to a halt at the Srinagar Airport one of the cabin crew denied us exit from the rear door. She said passengers had to go out through the front door as the Airport had an aerobridge. Surprised, I thought to myself that through the twenty-odd years of militancy the process of development in Kashmir had mercifully not been discontinued. It said much about the Centre’s patience with the turmoil that persisted all around in the Valley as also its belief in the efficacy of improvements in physical conditions on the ground. Perhaps, these were paying off now as this year Kashmir, seemingly, broke all previous records of tourists’ arrival. Our plane flew with a full load of passengers. It was not the only one; many more were flying in everyday as a result of the government’s “open skies” policy.

Tags: kashmir

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Why we are seeing this nation sabotage itself in almost every way possible... economically, politically and morally? Perhaps the simple truth is that the idea of responsibility has become something that people in this country don’t want to talk about.

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From The Heritage Foundation, a Conservative Think-Tank:

“Abstract: Since 2000 about 95 percent of U.N. member states that receive U.S. assistance have voted against the United States most of the time in the U.N. General Assembly on non-consensus votes. The U.S. should inform aid recipients that their support--or lack of support--for U.S. priorities in the U.N. and other international organizations will directly affect future decisions on allocating U.S. assistance. In order to strengthen and broaden support for America's policies in the U.N., the U.S. should also seek to build coalitions of like-minded nations that are firmly committed to political and economic freedom. Over the long term, U.S. aid could facilitate the expansion of these coalitions by encouraging more countries to become freer, both politically and economically”.

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Response to “Some Final Thoughts on the Death of Osama bin Laden ...a letter from Michael Moore”

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1089678

Even though I disagree with some of his background analysis, he really makes the most vital, important points that should be made about the assassination of bin Laden.  Michael Moore is our last great prophet crying in a political, social, intellectual and spiritual wilderness more profound and enduring than Eliot’s Wasteland.  He cries out for a restoration of an America that never really was. He and the bones of the dead cry for justice in an America that has forever abandoned even the old pretence of justice.  Like our now lost earthly environment and all the creatures we have extincted, Justice in America can never be restored.  All we will ever know between now and the end will be vengeance, power, violence and death.  That is all the demonstrators in front of the White House that Sunday night were celebrating.  That was the message of all the nationalistic hysteria (a combination of sports victory and Nuremberg rally) that took place at Ground Zero.


In Peace, Love & Rage,

Bob Boldt

Tags: Michael Moore

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I am willing to grudgingly admit that Obama “got his man.”  Of course, I still stick to my motto, “Never believe anything our government says until it has been officially denied.”  What I objected to primarily was the part of his statement referring to the death photo of Osama, “That’s not who we are…You know, we don’t trot out this stuff as trophies.” 

Tags: Barack Obama | Abu Ghraib | Bradley Manning

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I am beginning to get a different take on the old clichés concerning the desirability of hope. It all began for me with Greek writer, Nikos Kazantzakis’ epitaph, “I fear nothing, I hope for nothing, I am free.” Of course its appearance on his tomb gives it perhaps an ironic, unintended meaning, not unlike the mocking inscription on the base of Ozymandias’ statue in Shelly’s famous sonnet. Of course, Kazantzakis wrote his famous epigram while still alive and kicking.

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It has almost been like carpet bombing – the media hype during the recent International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup of one-day internationals that was recently played out in the Indian sub-continent. The “bombing” was intensified just before the India-Pakistan semi-final played at Mohali, near Chandigarh.

Tags: india

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Obama at Georgetown today:

"Unfortunately, some folks want to (shortchange) the resources necessary even to promptly issue new permits for offshore drilling...(and) we're going to incorporate conclusions and lessons from Japan in design and the building of the next generation of plants. But we can't simply take it off the table."

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The Outlook magazine, a popular national weekly, has been publishing excerpts from the taped conversations of Niira Radia, the now (in)famous lobbyist of, inter alia, the House of Tata, with several individuals, including the former Indian Telecommunications Minister, A Raja. In one of the tapes published in the issue of 14^th February 2011 of Niira Radia’s conversation with one Manish, an employee at Vaishnavi Communications (another corporate communication consultancy firm) Radia says “In the middle of the night (Raja, the Minister) called Anil Ambani to come and collect his LoI (Letter of Intent) for a dual technology license” and “...when you ask Mr. Raja why are you doing this, his view is ‘what do you do, I have a party to run”.

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In India systems that are installed are seldom worked. There are numerous examples but, in the immediate context, the example of the Ministry of environment & Forests (MoEF) should suffice. According to Wikipedia, “the Ministry is responsible for planning, promoting, coordinating and overseeing the environmental and forestry programmes” of the country. Its main activities being conservation and survey of flora and fauna of India, forests and other wilderness areas, prevention and control of pollution, afforestation and land degradation mitigation.

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The other day something very unusual happened in the state of Maharashtra. Almost all its officers, numbering around 150,000 went on a day’s strike. They were protesting against killing of Additional District Magistrate of Nashik, Yeshwant Sonwane. Sonwane, an uncommonly upright and courageous district officer, was burnt to death by members of the oil mafia when he caught them on camera pilfering kerosene from a tanker. The protest was organised under the aegis of the Maharshtra Gazetted Officers’ Mahasangh. Its President said that the Mahasangh’s members were not really on a strike but were “shunning work” to protest against the gruesome act which had shaken the employees.

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I hate to dampen the sudden celebratory mood in Egypt. Lets see what settles out of the recent change of the public masks of brutality. Mubarak has been replaced by Suleiman and the military. Sounds like a devil’s bargain. Will the democratic demonstrators buy it? I hope they won’t.

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The other day the Bhopal edition of a national daily reported a raid on a local manufacturing unit of spurious Unani medicines. Unani is a traditional system of medicine which has been practiced in the country for centuries. Although the name suggests that the system is Grecian, it in fact is a Greco-Arabic system that is widely taken recourse to in South Asia. No wonder, it is generally patronised by Muslims, who would seem to have adopted it as their own. Certainly not as expensive as its allopathic counterparts, Unani for the poor is a default medical system. And, quite heartlessly, there are people who apparently are prepared to harm the hapless poor for a few quick bucks by having them treated by fake medicines.

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China is generally known for the environmental degradation that it has wrought in its various regions in its quest for rapid economic growth. Reports of extensive desertification, contamination of its rivers, air pollution, acid-rains and so on frequently emanate from the country. That it has been taking firm steps to protect and nurture its natural assets – of late, with greater vigour – is, however, not so well-known. It has created numerous national parks in several batches since 1982, with the last and the seventh batch of national parks coming into existence in 2008. As on date the country has as many as 208 national parks. Massive investments are being made to modernise these parks, conserve their ecology and to provide good and sufficient facilities for inland and foreign tourists.

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The news has just come in that Beijing municipal administration has decided to restrict the quota of passenger vehicles for 2011 to 20000 a month. The monthly quota will be distributed among fleet buyers and first-time private buyers of passenger vehicles. Only permanent residents of Beijing as well as those in police and military services would be eligible to buy new cars in 2011.

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With as few as 3200 tigers in the wilds of the world as many as thirteen tiger-range countries met in November 2010 in Tiger Summit in St. Petersburg in an effort to save the species.  They committed around $300 million during the next five years towards doubling the current world population of the species by 2022. Hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, governments concerned capped a year-long political process with new funding to support the plan, known as the Global Tiger Recovery Programme

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The latest WikiLeaks exposures conclude that Pakistan has been under constant US influence and pressure to intensify the fight against terrorism, flourishing swiftly inside its borders.US President Barack Obama has praised the Pakistani leadership for the increased cooperation still the results are 'uneven' and 'unsubstantial' says a latest assessment report of the new Af-Pak strategy imposed last year. Pakistan on the other hand has been persistently complaining about the unsatisfactory world response towards its tremendous sacrifices in the war against terror.  Hasan Zafar, a defence analyst quotes, "This war is costing too much. We paid heavy price for it. Our economy is devastated and we are still losing lives, still we are being dictated to 'do more' ".

Tags: Afghanistan | Pakistan | US | Barack Obama | Terrorism | Taliban

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The other day our entire family visited Hyper City, the new hyper-market in the premises of the mall known as DB City. Promoted by a big vernacular media group, the Mall is situated close to the biggest business district of the central Indian city of Bhopal. Built on the pattern of any other mall, it is gradually filling up with shops, chain-stores, eateries and even a bowling alley, currently a curiosity in the town.

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