Messages In This Digest (6 Messages)
- 1.
- Rainfall shows falling trend in Chhattisgarh, even as west coast and From: Himanshu Thakkar
- 2.
- Private army in anti-posco agiation area From: Kundan Kumar
- 3.
- PUCL Wins Legal Battle in Fake Encounter Case! From: CGNet
- 4.
- "Biofuels don't reduce CO2 to desired levels" From: Shubhranshu Choudhary
- 5.
- Gulabee gang kee mahilaen... From: CGNet
- 6.
- 36garh Diary 27 | Nov | 2007 From: Praveen
Messages
- 1.
-
Rainfall shows falling trend in Chhattisgarh, even as west coast and
Posted by: "Himanshu Thakkar" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:00 am (PST)
From www.mailtoday.in dt 22nd Nov 2007, page 18
West Coast gains rain, Chhattisgarh loses
By Max Martin
in Bangalore
The first ever analysis of weather data collected by the India
Meteorological Department over the past century has thrown up some
interesting results.
A long-term increase in rainfall has been noted on the western coast,
while rainfall over parts of central India has decreased.
The analysis done at the National Climate Centre (NCC), Pune, shows
rainfall has gone up in Maharashtra, the Konkan coast and Goa while it
has decreased in Chhattisgarh and adjacent areas. The findings confirm
the recent trend of flooding in Mumbai and Barmer in the western
region and deficit rainfall in parts of central India in the past five
years.
The study shows that apart from the west coast, there has been an
increase in rainfall in central Maharashtra, north and interior
Karnataka, coastal and Rayalseema regions in Andhra Pradesh, Gangetic
West Bengal, Assam , Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir. The study noted
significant shifts in monthly rain patterns.
In the wide ranging study, researchers analysed monthly, seasonal and
annual rainfall from over 1,400 rain gauge stations spread over 36
meteorological subdivisions.
The scientists, Dr P. Guha-thakurta and Dr Madhavan Nair Rajeevan,
have published the findings in The International Journal of
Climatology.
An earlier study of rainfall data from 100 weather stations had shown
a rise in extreme rain events over the West Coast and northwestern
parts of the peninsula.
Another study led by Dr B.N. Goswami of Indian Institute of Tropical
Meteorology, using IMD's 1951-2000 dataset for central India also
showed a rise in extreme weather events.
The 2007 rain pattern, in fact, stuck to the century-long trend
observed. "We had more rainfall along the West Coast, Gujarat and
Maharashtra and less rainfall in Chhattisgarh, east Madhay Pradesh,"
said Dr Rajeevan.
Scientists find policy and practical implications of this study. "Past
rainfall patterns gain significance as a pointer to the future,
especially in the context of climate change," said
Prof M.B. Rajegowda, an agrometerology expert at the University of
Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. "Such trends will affect
agriculture. In a rice-growing area like Konkan, more and longer rain
might encourage a shift towards long-stem, long-duration varieties,"
he said.
"We still have to study the causes behind these trends," said Dr
Rajeevan.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]y.in
--
Himanshu Thakkar
South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People
Delhi, India
himanshuthakkar@iitbombay. org
[EMAIL PROTECTED]com
www.sandrp.in
- 2.
-
Private army in anti-posco agiation area
Posted by: "Kundan Kumar" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:01 am (PST)
State turning Posco agitation area into another Nandigram
On 25th November 2007, armed supporters of pro-POSCO local MLA and
ex-minister Damodar Rout (from ruling party) launched an attack on the
procession of villagers opposing the POSCO project in Jagatsinghpur. The
procession was passing by the Mahaveer Peetha at Nuagan on their way to
Nolia Sahi to reconstruct a check which Rout's men had smashed on 23rd
November .
The similarity between Nandigram situation and the POSCO situation is stark
and so are the tactics being increasingly used by the Orissa Government and
the ruling party. The anti-posco protestors who don't want to be displaced
have closed off the area to the administration and POSCO for many months,
using check gates and vigilance of the local people. The administration and
the company officials have been trying to enter the agitation area on
different pretexts. Failing to do so, now they are hiring local mafia as
private army to break the will of the anti-POSCO agitators.
On 21 st November, a group of employees of the Hyderabad based Dharitri
Company attempted a PUJA to start the dredging work of river Jatadhari
claiming that it was a contract job of the oil refinery in Paradeep. The
agitating villagers who have been fooled by such groups many a times in the
past refused to believe them. They requested the employees not to do so and
to honorably leave the place. But, the chief of the local Mahaveer Peetha (a
place owned by fundamentalist Hindu groups) who was supposed to perform the
Puja entered into a verbal duel with the agitators which ultimately resulted
in a conflict causing injuries to a few people from both sides. This chief
who is known as Raju Baba and also known as a person controlling a few
musclemen in the area has become a close associate of ruling party MLA
Mr.Rout. Taking a procession of his followers on 23rd Nov. he broke the
check gate constructed by the protesting villagers to prevent the entry of
POSCO officials, police and administration.
The agitating villagers decided to reconstruct the gate. They convened a
meeting at Balitutha to discuss the new threats to their movement from the
religious head with organized muscle power who has been engaged by POSCO and
Rout with the active support of the administration. At 2 pm a procession of
anti-posco villagers marched towards Nolia Sahi to repair the check gate.
This procession was attacked Mahaveer Peetha by an armed gang under the
leadership of Raju baba. *Two leaders of the anti- POSCO agitation have been
critically injured and shifted to SCB medical college hospital while 6 more
have been admitted in to the local hospital at Balitutha.* The critically
injured include two important leaders of the movement Prafulla Biswal and
Champa Nayak (an elderly women leader). When the last report reached us
around 12 midnight more than 2000 anti- POSCO villagers had gathered
together at Balitutha to discuss the crisis which they has been deliberately
promoted by the state to create grounds for entry of armed police or BJD/BJP
party cadre to destabilize the movement.
( Report received from Abhay Sahu, Ptambar Das, Prashant Paikray and others
as on 12.30 midnight 25th/26th November 2007).
The brutal assault launched on the anti-posco agitators by a religious head
with support from local MLA, administration and the company has been
condemned by political and social activists such as Radhkant Sethi, Gananath
Patra, Rajendra Sarangi, Bhalachandra, Lingaraj and Prafulla Samantara. They
have accused the state of hatching a conspiracy to create a Nandigram type
situation in the area. According to them, the state is taking the help of
discredited politicians and religious leaders with Mafia character to divide
the agitation and capture the area for POSCO. They have also appealed to the
peaceful and determined agitators not to get provoked by the tactics used by
the administration and POSCO.
Our Assessment:
1. The State is desperate to start the POSCO project work by April
2008. Though the killing of 14 tribals in Kalinganagar worked as a check on
their aggressive agenda for industrialization for sometime, the recent
developments in Nandigram has encouraged them again. They have realized by
now that they can't use state force directly. But they can use private
armies in the name of project supporters and get the work done without
inviting the displeasure of human rights body and rival political forces.
Through such interventions they can also create a situation for entry of
police /para military force to support the private army/party army.
2. The anti-posco agitation may face more repression in the coming
days. The uncompromising position that the anti-Posco agitators have taken
up is not allowing the administration and POSCO to influence the leadership
financially. Force private or state remains the only option, since they
refuse to recognize the genuine questions/concerns raised by the people
about their livelihood security. The Anti-POSCO agitators have started a 24
hours watch process at Balitutha since 11 th November with 500 people
guarding the entry point's day and night. They have started a community
kitchen and have also appealed people outside the area to support it. They
have taken it as a last battle to protect their land and livelihood.
3. The overall atmosphere of the state is turning against corporations
after the Kalinganagar and Kirakud incidence. In such a situation the
industrial-mining mafia controlling the State administration would not like
to give an impression that the state is inefficient or weak.
4. The political opposition by political parties to the anti-people
measures of the state is almost missing which gives the ruling alliance a
free hand to deal with the people's movements. Barring a few exception we
find the media in Orissa to be corporate and state friendly and necessarily
anti people.
5. This incidence is the latest in a series of deliberate provocations being
taken up by the state administration and the POSCO to create a situation of
violence which would allow them to send in Police and para-military force
and break the anti-POSCO movement. This will result in bloodshed as in
Nandigram as the anti-POSCO villagers have decided to do or die to save
their lands and livelihoods.
Independent Media
--
website: www.freewebs.com/epgorissa
- 3.
-
PUCL Wins Legal Battle in Fake Encounter Case!
Posted by: "CGNet" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:11 am (PST)
Press Release:
PUCL WINS A LEGAL BATTLE IN FAKE ENCOUNTER CASE
Raipur, 26th November, 2007:
The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL),
Chhattisgarh Unit had both a moral and legal victory today, when the
Judicial Magistrate (First Class), Ambikapur, today registered a case
8 police officials u/s 302,201,34 IPC and has issued warrants against
them in a fake encounter case on 5.3.2004, where 5 innocent villagers
were gunned down in the name of "naxalites" in village Kothali Police
Station Shankergarh.
The Eight police officials include, Sri Brijesh
Tiwari (so-called Encounter specialist of Chhattisgarh), and Sri Nazar
Siddique, who were given out of turn promotions and President Award.
The PUCL-Chhattisgarh had constituted a Fact-Finding
Team with its Dr. General Secretary Binayak Sen, and the then member
of the State Executive Committee, Adv Amarnath Pandey as members. This
was the first case of Fake Encounter in the Sarguja District, in which
the PUCL Fact-Finding Team had clearly established that the victims
were ordinary villagers, who were shot dead in cold blood by the
police party led by Sri Brijesh Tiwari and Sri Nazar Siddique, even
after they had been forced to raise their hands. Adv Amarnath Pandy, a
senior advocate and also a leader of the Communist Party of India
(CPI), had filed a complaint with the concerned Court, when the State
Government refused to recognize and act on the serious crime committed
by these police officials. On the contrary, they awarded the members
of the Police party in order to demoralize the human rights and
political organisations in particular, and the public in general.
Although the accused police officials presented the
Magisterial Enquiry Report in the Court claiming that it had absolved
them of their complicity in the crime , it was totally rejected by the
concerned Court.
It may be recalled that the PUCL-CG had investigated
about 13 Encounter Cases in Sarguja & neighbouring districts, where it
had clearly established that these were not only fake encounters, but
the State Government and the Police were totally ignoring the
guidelines provided by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in
the death due to police action. Even the Magisterial Enquiry reports
had sufficient evidence pointing to these Encounters being Fake. In
one such case, the Medical Report (Autopsy) had clearly established
that the member of the CPI (Maoist), killed in the police encounter
had, at least, 8 ribs broken on both sides. That raises question as to
when the ribs were broken -- before or after the killing. If the ribs
were broken, how did he pick up and fire from the gun on the police
party, and if it was broken after he was shot dead by the police, how
did it happen. These and other relevant questions were never addressed
by the Magisterial Enquiry. In almost all 13 cases of fake encounters,
the statement issued by the Superintendent of Police is exactly the
same.
The Superintendent of Police, Mr. S K P Kalloori, now
famous for Fake Encounters, and notorious for wrongfully confining and
manhandling Mr. Jaen Draz, Professor of Economics from Delhi
University, and his team members, who were campaigning for Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme in Sarguja District. Remember his famous
statement: " JO BHI LAL SALAAM BOLEGA, VOH NAXALWADI HAI. YEH US PAR
NIRBHAR KARTA HAI KO SABOOT DE KI VOH NAXALWADI NAHIN HAI" (All those
who salute with LAL SALAAM will be considered naxalites. It is for
them to prove otherwise). He too has been given President Award for
Bravery!
The implications of today's Court Order will have to
be understood in the context of "illegal detention" of Dr. Binayak
Sen, General Secretary, Chhattisgarh PUCL since May 14, 2007 on the
pretext that he was assisting CPI (Maoists). Adv Amarnath Pandey, Adv
D P Yadav, and Adv Nag have been harassed, threatened with dire
consequences even with murder, by Mr. Kalloori and Mr. Brijesh Tiwari,
both police officials called the "Encounter Specialists" of
Chhattisgarh Police. Fake Cases were registered against Adv Amarnath
Pandey, Adv D P Yadav and Adv Nag under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribes Atrocities Act, and hounded like "criminals" by the State
Police under the leadership of both Mr. Kalloori and Mr. Tiwari, who
enjoy political patronage both from the BJP & Congress (I) in the
State.
The Public Interest Litigations or Private Complaints
filed in the Chhattisgarh High Court by the victims relatives or human
rights organisations have also witnessed a strange phenomenon
manipulated by the State Police. Almost all such cases registered were
withdrawn by the petitioners/complaints under duress, so much so that
the human rights lawyers representing the cases (like Adv Amarnath
Pandey, Adv Saurabh Dangi, Adv D P Yadav, etc.) were pressurized and
threatened by the Police officials directly. One such case that
shocked the citizens was widely reported in the press pertains to the
Fake Encounter of Ramesh Nagasia, a commander of the CPI (Maoist). His
wife, Leda had filed a Petition in the Chhattisgarh High Court
claiming that she was an eye-witness to the Fake Encounter of her
husband, and that she was illegal detained by the police and
repeatedly raped during this period. The police party brought Leda to
the High Court at Bilaspur on 24th October, 2007 in full view of the
lawyers and clients, and forced the lawyer, Adv Saurabh Dangi to give
in writing that the Petitioner Ms. Leda had willingly changed her
lawyer. A police woman claiming to be her sister, and a surrendered
naxalite, Sri Dheeraj Jaiswal claiming to be her brother forced the
lawyer to withdraw from representing Ms. Leda. According to the eye
witnesses, Ms Leda did not utter a single word in spite of repeated
requests by the High Court Judges, and kept crying. Even then the
Petition was permitted to be withdrawn by the High Court.
According to information received by the PUCL, the
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also expressed doubts
about the encounter killing of Ramesh Nagasia, on the complaint of
both Ms. Leda and PUCL. The Report is yet to be made public. But, the
PUCL has information that the NHRC has recommended enquiry by higher
and independent agency, and also recommended suspension of awards
given to the policemen involved in the encounter killing of Ramesh
Nagasia.
It may be worth mentioning that Sri Dheeraj Jaiswal,
surrendered naxalite, now enjoys police and political patronage, has
been strangely appointed as a Special Police Officer in spite of
several criminal cases of serious offences pending against him, and
who provides cover and indulges in Fake Encounters himself. Sri
Jaiswal also has constituted his gang of several followers and police
personnel, and has been founded to be involved in continuing
committing crimes, with the police turning a blind eye to it. This
pattern is visible in several other regions of Chhattisgarh, as has
been investigated and reported by the PUCL in several Fact-Finding
Reports.
The PUCL - Chhattisgarh is contemplating preparing a
Fact Sheet of all such cases/petitions that were permitted to be
withdrawn by the Chhattisgarh High Court, mostly containing serious
allegations against the police personnel, and proceed further with
legal action, preferably at the Supreme Court of India. The incidences
of withdrawal of such petitions draw a parallel to the famous Zahira
Sheikh case of Gujarat Carnage.
Rajendra K Sail
President
Chhattisgarh PUCL
(Mobile: 098268-04519)
-
- 4.
-
"Biofuels don't reduce CO2 to desired levels"
Posted by: "Shubhranshu Choudhary" [EMAIL PROTECTED] shu36garh
Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:16 am (PST)
EU says `Yes' but London says `No' to bio-fuels*
Biofuels don't reduce CO2 to desired levels'*
http://www.financialexpress. com/news/ Biofuels- dont-reduce- Co2-to-desired- levels/242447/
ASHOK B SHARMA
New Delhi, Nov 22 While the European Union has set its target of meeting
its needs of transportation fuel to the extent of 10% through bio-fuels by
2020, London thinks differently.
The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who was in Delhi on Tuesday, is
of the
view that bio-fuels do not reduce the carbon dioxide emission to the
levels
desired. London has prepared its own Climate Change Action Plan to
deal with
the intention of reducing 60% of the city's emission by 2025, he said.
According to the action plan, London is to promote low-carbon vehicles
with
hybrid fuel system which cut transport emissions by up to 4 to 5 million
tonne .''Carbon dioxide emission from road transport would fall by as much
as 30% if people simply bought the most fuel efficient car in each
class,''
the action plan said.
Livingstone has sought Delhi's partnership in exchange of ideas in making
life in both the cities more clean and green. He has initiated the Large
Cities Climate Leadership Group - C40 - bringing together 40 of the
world's
largest cities to develop, procure and adopt low-carbons solutions showing
best practices among cities. The C40 partners with Bill Clinton Foundation
and the Climate Change Initiative.
London's example of refusing to use bio-fuels in transportation and
resorting to other option is relevant in context when India has
proposed to
launch a massive bio-fuel programme and its use as auto-fuel.
Leading scientists like David Pimentel of Cornell University, Tad
Patzek of
University of California, Florian Siegert, managing director, Remote
Sensing
Solutions GmbH , Munich, Mario Giampietro of Institute of Environmental
Sciences, Barcelona and Helmut Haberl of Klagenfurt University,
Austria have
questioned the very basis of the contention of the IPCC report that
bio-fuel
programme causes a reduction in carbon dioxide emission.
Explaining the action plan, the senior adviser to the London mayor in
climate change and sustainable transport, Mark Watts said : ''Global
experiences suggest that bio-fuels do not reduce the carbon dioxide
emissions to the extent desired. We in London have, therefore, launched a
programme to convert the entire 8,000-bus fleet to diesel-electric hybrid
vehicles. We expect entire conversion of our bus fleet by 2012.''
When asked to comment about Delhi's CNG-run buss fleet, Watts said :
''Emissions are not reduced to the desired extent.''
- 5.
-
Gulabee gang kee mahilaen...
Posted by: "CGNet" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:21 am (PST)
Dear friends,
This inspiring story is not from Chhattisgarh but not from very far either
regards
Moderators
India's 'pink' vigilante women
By Soutik Biswas
BBC News, Banda
They wear pink saris, the traditional Indian dress for women, go after
corrupt officials and boorish men, and brandish sticks and axes when
the push comes to shove.
The several hundred vigilante women of India's northern Uttar Pradesh
state's Banda area proudly call themselves the "gulabi gang" (pink
gang) striking fear in the hearts of wrongdoers and earning the
grudging respect of officials.
The pink women of Banda shun political parties and NGOs because, in
the words of their feisty leader, Sampat Pal Devi, "they are always
looking for kickbacks when they offer to fund us".
Two years after they gave themselves a name and an attire, the pink
women have thrashed men who have abandoned or beaten their wives and
unearthed corruption in the distribution of food grains for the poor.
They have also stormed a police station and thrashed a policeman after
they took in an untouchable man and refused to register a case.
Poorest
"Nobody comes to our help in these parts. The officials and the police
are corrupt and anti-poor. So sometimes we have to take the law in our
hands. At other times, we prefer to shame the wrongdoers," says Sampat
Pal Devi, between teaching a "gang" member on how to use a lathi
(traditional Indian stick) in self defence.
Banda is at the heart of the blighted region that is Bundelkhand, one
of the poorest parts of one of India's most populous states.
It is one of the poorest 200 districts in India which were first
targeted for the federal government's massive jobs for work programme.
Over 20% of its 1.6 million people living in 600 villages are lower
castes or untouchables. Drought has parched its already arid,
single-crop lands.
To make matters worse, women bear the brunt of poverty and
discrimination in Banda's highly caste-ridden, feudalistic and male
dominated society. Dowry demands, domestic and sexual violence are
common.
Locals say it is not surprising that a women's vigilante group has
sprung up in this landscape of poverty, discrimination and chauvinism.
Sampat Pal Devi is a wiry woman, wife of an ice cream vendor, mother
of five children, and a former government health worker who has
birthed and led the "pink gang".
"Mind you," she says, "we are not a gang in the usual sense of the
term. We are a gang for justice."
'Uproot the corrupt'
Her seeds of rebellion were sown very early on when in face of her
parents' resistance to send her to school, she began writing and
drawing on the walls, floors, and dust caked village streets.
She finally ended up going to school, but was married off when she was
nine in a region where child marriages are common. At 12, she went to
live with her husband, and at 13, she had her first child.
To keep the home fires burning, Sampat Devi began to work as a
government health worker, but she quit after a while because her job
was not satisfying enough.
"I wanted to work for the people, not for myself alone. I was already
holding meetings with people, networking with women who were ready to
fight for a cause, and was ready with a group of women two years ago,"
she says.
Sitting outside a home in Attara, Sampat Devi waves her calloused
hands, breaks into a rousing song to "uproot the corrupt and be self
reliant", and animatedly talks to women - and men - who flock to her
with their problems.
A mother brings in her weeping daughter who has been thrown out by her
husband demanding 20,000 rupees from her parents.
"He married me for the love of money," sobs Malti.
Sampat Devi tells her "gang" that they will soon march to the girls
house and demand an explanation from the husband. "If they don't take
her back and keep her well, we will resort to other measures," she
says.
'No handouts'
The pink sorority is not exactly a group of male-bashing feminists -
they claim they have returned 11 girls who were thrown out of their
homes to their spouses because "women need men to live with".
That is also why men like Jai Prakash Shivhari join the "gulabi" gang
and talk with remarkable alacrity about child marriages, dowry deaths,
depleting water resources, farm subsidies, and how funds are being
stolen in government works.
"We don't want donations or handouts. We don't want appeasement or
affirmative action. Give us work, pay us proper wages, and restore our
dignity," he says.
The women in the "gulabi gang" echo the same sentiment - but Sampat
Devi has a separate agenda for women.
"Village society in India is loaded against women. It refuses to
educate them, marries them off too early, barters them for money.
Village women need to study and become independent to sort it out
themselves," she says.
Where do the pink women go from here?
They already claimed to have done some work in combating crime and
corruption in the area. Last year, Sampat Devi contested the state
polls as an independent candidate and mustered only 2,800 votes.
"Joining politics is not my chosen way to help people. We will keep up
our good work, so the state does not take us for granted," she says.
In the badlands of Uttar Pradesh where nothing seems to work for the
poor, this itself is a laudable aim.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/ go/pr/fr/ -/2/hi/south_ asia/7068875. stm
Published: 2007/11/26 10:49:51 GMT
(c) BBC MMVII
- 6.
-
36garh Diary 27 | Nov | 2007
Posted by: "Praveen" [EMAIL PROTECTED] praveen_irm
Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:43 pm (PST)
Dear Friends,
Here is the News about Chhattisgarh in the media today
Tata's Chhattisgarh steel project still mired in controversy
IANS via Yahoo! India News Mon, 26 Nov 2007 1:07 AM PST
Raipur, Nov 26 (IANS) Protests over acquiring 5,098 acres continue to
dog Tata Steel's proposed project in Chhattisgarh's southern Bastar
region. The district's top official says the acquisition is moving
forward. But protesters -- from Left parties and tribal groups -
contest this.
Cong to move no-confidence motion in Chhattisgarh
Express India Mon, 26 Nov 2007 1:06 PM PST
The Congress in Chhattisgarh is trying to corner the Raman Singh
Government by planning to move a no-confidence motion...
IVRCL to build Chhattisgarh Secretariat
The Hindu Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:19 AM PST
HYDERABAD: IVRCL Infrastructures and Projects Ltd. (IVRCL) will be
constructing the State Secretariat building of Chhattisgarh at a cost
of Rs. 179.12 crore, according to a company release. â" Special ...
More news can be found with full coverage at...
http://www.cgnet.in/Med/diary/ cgdiary271107
Pls send your suggestions on how do you find CG Diary and how to make it
more useful for all of us.
If you see/know/experience something which you think should be shared with
people pls write to us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] com . If you want we can conceal
your identity.
Regards,
Praveen Manikpuri
for CGnet moderators team
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