Bomber Takeoff

  A click at Orland Air Force Station, Norway

Norway: 14th March 2021: (The Eagle Eye News)::

An Air Force B-1B Lancer takes off from Orland Air Force Station, Norway, March 14, 2021.

Photo By: Air Force Airman 1st Class Colin Hollowell

Courtesy: US Department of Defense 

Tenacious Two with hope and confidence

 The event tested competitors 

Internet: 21st February 2021: (USA Defense Department//The Eagle Eye News)::

Soldiers participate in a weeklong competition at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Feb. 16, 2021. The event tested competitors’ physical readiness and tenacity.

Photo By: Army Spc. Jessica Scott

Welcome Home

 A moment with a loved one 

A Missouri Air National Guardsman shares a moment with a loved one upon returning home to Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 18, 2020, after an overseas deployment. 

Marines Donate Plasma in Fight Against COVID-19

Feature//Defense News

 These antibodies could lead to developments 

23rd July 2020 | By Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Jacob L. Greenberg

Marines assigned to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in California who have tested positive for COVID-19 donated plasma at Naval Medical Center San Diego.

A phlebotomist drawing and testing blood.

In support of the development of an effective treatment, The Defense Department launched a campaign in late May to collect 8,000 units of plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19.

"The hope is that these Marines who have tested positive and recovered from COVID-19 will have developed antibodies," said Ellyn Alcantara, a clinical nurse assigned to the medical center's blood donor center. "These antibodies could lead to developments in a treatment for COVID-19."

All of the Marines volunteered to donate their plasma with the hope that their antibodies will help others.

"It makes me feel good to be a part of the solution to this pandemic," said Marine Corps Pfc. Xavier Flores, a recent donor.

A Marine gets blood drawn while lying in a hospital bed.

Upon arriving at the donor center, the Marines were given a medical health screening to determine their donor eligibility. Once they are cleared to donate plasma, a complete blood count and hematocrit test ensures the proportion of red blood cells in the body is optimal for donation and would have no adverse effects on the donor.

"A transfusion transmissible infection test will be performed on all donors as a part of their screening process," said Navy Lt. Therica Reynolds, the officer in charge of the medical center's Blood Donor Center. "We're trying to maximize our plasma collection and do our part for patient care."

Reynolds said apheresis — the plasma donation process — takes about an hour from the beginning of the screening process to the end of the collection. Convalescent COVID-19 plasma, or CCP, from recovered COVID-19-positive patients has been used at the medical center to help symptomatic patients recover.

A phlebotomist drawing and testing blood.

"A qualified donor is eligible to donate every 28 days, and one person can potentially donate four doses, or bags, of CCP per visit," Reynolds said. "We highly encourage potential donors to make an appointment for one of our five apheresis machines. Anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and has recovered is encouraged to come into our [donation center] and get screened to donate."

NMCSD's mission is to prepare service members to deploy in support of operational forces, deliver high quality healthcare services and shape the future of military medicine through education, training and research. It employs more than 6,000 active duty military personnel, civilians and contractors.

(Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Jacob L. Greenberg is assigned to Naval Medical Center San Diego.)

OHCHR, IOM, UNHCR and WHO joint press release:

 In COVID-19 response

The rights and health of refugees, migrants and stateless must be protected

To unite the world in the fight against coronavirus, WHO is bringing together a wide array of partners on a series of engaging initiatives to motivate and mobilize people to Be Ready to beat COVID-19, and to support the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

Musicians, footballers, athletes and artists will help you stay connected and healthy through shows of solidarity, lifesaving health messages and entertainment during lockdown.

Click on the campaigns below to learn how you can spread the word and help increase solidarity, awareness and funds to support the global response against COVID-19.

31 March 2020//Joint News Release

In the face of the COVID-19 crisis, we are all vulnerable. The virus has shown that it does not discriminate - but many refugees, those forcibly displaced, the stateless and migrants are at heightened risk. 

Three-quarters of the world’s refugees and many migrants are hosted in developing regions where health systems are already overwhelmed and under-capacitated.  Many live in overcrowded camps, settlements, makeshift shelters or reception centers, where they lack adequate access to health services, clean water and sanitation. 

The situation for refugees and migrants held in formal and informal places of detention, in cramped and unsanitary conditions, is particularly worrying. Considering the lethal consequences a COVID-19 outbreak would have, they should be released without delay. Migrant children and their families and those detained without a sufficient legal basis should be immediately released.

This disease can be controlled only if there is an inclusive approach which protects every individual’s rights to life and health.  Migrants and refugees are disproportionately vulnerable to exclusion, stigma and discrimination, particulary when undocumented.  To avert a catastrophe, governments must do all they can to protect the rights and the health of everyone. Protecting the rights and the health of all people will in fact help control the spread of the virus.

It is vital that everyone, including all migrants and refugees, are ensured equal access to health services and are effectively included in national responses to COVID-19, including prevention, testing and treatment. Inclusion will help not only to protect the rights of refugees and migrants, but will also serve to protect public health and stem the global spread of COVID-19.  While many nations protect and host refugee and migrant populations, they are often not equipped to respond to crises such as Covid-19. To ensure refugees and migrants have adequate access to national health services, States may need additional financial support. This is where the world’s financial institutions can play a leading role in making funds available. 

While countries are closing their borders and limiting cross-border movements, there are ways to manage border restrictions in a manner which respects international human rights and refugee protection standards, including the principle of non-refoulement, through quarantine and health checks. 

More than ever, as COVID-19 poses a global threat to our collective humanity, our primary focus should be on the preservation of life, regardless of status.  This crisis demands a coherent, effective international approach that leaves no-one behind.  At this crucial moment we all need to rally around a common objective, fighting this deadly virus. Many refugees, displaced, stateless people and migrants have skills and resources that can also be part of the solution.

We cannot allow fear or intolerance to undermine rights or compromise the effectiveness of responses to the global pandemic. We are all in this together. We can only defeat this virus when each and every one of us is protected.  (Courtesy: WHO)

Pine Island Glacier spawns piglets

11-02-2020 10:27 AM CET
Pine Island Glacier, known as PIG for short

As anticipated, Pine Island Glacier, known as PIG for short, in Antarctica has just spawned a huge iceberg. At over 300 sq km, about the size of Malta, this huge berg very quickly broke into many ‘piglet’ pieces the largest of which is dubbed B-49. Thanks to images from the Copernicus Sentinel satellite missions, two large rifts in the glacier were spotted last year and scientists have been keeping a close eye on how quickly these cracks were growing. This animation uses 57 radar images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission between February 2019 and February 2020 (the last frame is from today, 11 February 2020) and shows just how quickly the emerging cracks grew and led to this calving event. Courtesy:European Space Agency

Jasmine Strait Practicing on An Machine Gun

During training at Camp Geiger

Marine Corps Pfc. Jasmine Strait practices clearing procedures on an M240B machine gun during training at Camp Geiger, N.C., Dec. 17, 2019.
Photo By: Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Brian Bolin Jr.

Two days national convention at New Delhi

Calling all progressive, democratic, secular organisations to join us at the National Convention

 ‘India’s Descent into Fascism: How Do We Stop It?

April 17 & 18, 2013

New Delhi

ANHAD

A DECADE OF RESISTANCE: 2003-2013

Anhad is observing the completion of its ten years. Formed in March 2003 in the aftermath of Gujarat 2002 , ANHAD has actively contested the ideology of hate, the growing authoritarian character of the state, the growth of communal and fascist forces along with doing huge amount of work for the marginalised sections of the society especially women & minorities. ANHAD has intervened at the policy level, has done advocacy work from the grass root to the national level.

Today when the national consciousness is tilting towards the communal ideology and communal thought process has become common sense we feel there is a need to urgently call upon all secular and democratic forces in the country to stop India’s Descent into Fascism.

The falling economy, growing unemployment, displacement of people from their natural habitats and the joblessness created by the bursting of the IT bubble is creating a class which ,not being engaged with any ideological people’s movement and not having the skills to form a united struggle, is bound to turn towards fascism, and it is under these conditions when the ideas of fascism and dictatorship gain ground.   

ANHAD is organising a two day national convention ‘India’s Descent into Fascism: How Do We Stop It?’at the Constitution Club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi on April 17 & 18, 2013.

The convention will have representatives from a large number of states to present an over view of the situation from their states, experts who have worked on the questions of how terror has been used as a tool to demonise the minorities, communalisation of public and private spaces, culture, educational institutions and media & different segments of the society, it will look at recent cases of communal violence and the way forward. 

A special panel of academicians, jurists, activists will at the end come out with recommendations for the government and the civil society.

Convention Schedule

APRIL 17, 2013

8.00-9.00am Breakfast for outstation participants and Registration

9.00-9.30am- Welcome

9.30-11.15- Session 1: Voices from the Ground: An Overview of the Situation from different states:

Chair: Gagan Sethi

Speakers : Deepak Bhatt- MP,   Dr Anil Panikkar-Haryana,  Faisal Anurag- Jharkhand,  Kedar Misra-Orissa, Ramzan Chodhury-Haryana, Prof Haragopal- Andhra Pradesh, Dr. A Suneetha, Andhra Pradesh

11.15-1.00pm: Session 2: Voices from the Ground: An Overview of the Situation from different states:

Chair: Aruna Roy

Speakers: Anwar Ali- Kerala,   Mohd Arif _UP,  Neeraj Jain-Maharashtra,  Pritha Kejriwal- West Bengal,  Rajendra Sail- Chattisgarh, Shujaat Bukhari-Kashmir , Eric Pinto – Goa

1pm-2pm: Lunch

2pm-3.45pm-Session 3: Voices from the Ground: An Overview of the Situation from different states:

Chair: Prof. Rooprekha Verma

Speakers : Zakia Soman-Gujarat, Uttam Parmar-Gujarat, Yusuf Sheikh-Gujarat, Zamser Ali-Assam, Kavita Srivastava-Rajasthan, Arshad Ajmal-Bihar

3.45-5.30pm:  Session 4: Terror a Tool to Demonise Minorities and Sangh Terror Network

Chair: Dr. Ram Puniyani

Speakers: Manisha Sethi, Shahnawaz Alam, Subhash Gatade, Rajeev Yadav, Ajit Sahi

5.30pm -TEA

7.00- 10pm: Celebrating Diversity: An Evening of Poetry, Music and Dance

Welcome: Safeguarding and Celebrating Cultural Diversity: Kamala Bhasin

ANHAD CULTURAL GROUP, URI, JAMMU & KASHMIR, AVNI SETHI, DHRUV SANGARI, GAUHAR RAZA, GOVT GIRLS SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL, BHALOUT, ROHTAK, KHURSHID AKRAM, MANGLESH DABRAL, MAXFORT SCHOOL, DWARKA, NAMRATA PAMNANI, SIDDHI GOMA TRIBAL DANCE GROUP, VIDYA SHAH, VISHNU NAGAR, Documentaries on Anhad by Anhad Production House and Arma Ansari

April 18, 2013

8.00-900am: Breakfast

9.00- 11.15: Session 5: Communalisation of Public and Private Spaces, Cultural, Educational institutions and Media, Globalisation and Communalism

Chair: Colin Gonsalves

Speakers: Amit Sengupta,  Anil Choudhry, Dr. Anupam Gupta, Avinash Kumar,  Dr Harvardhan Hegde, Prof Atul Sood, Sukumar Muralidharan

11.15-1.00pm: Session 6: Political Response to Growing Communalism

Chair: Mahesh Bhatt

Speakers: D Raja-CPI,  Digvijay Singh-Congress, DP Tripathi-NCP, Kavita Krishnan-CPI(ML), Ramvilas Pawan-LJP, Sitaram Yechury-CPM

1.00pm-2pm-Lunch

2.00-4.30pm: Session 7:  The Way Forward and Recommendations

Chair: Prof KN Panikkar

Speakers: Syeda Hamid, Vrinda Grover, Seema Mustafa, Dr. KM Shrimali, Harsh Mander, Dr John Dayal, Dr. Apoorvanand

Sequestration will force a drawdown

02/13/2013 02:16 PM CST         Thu, Feb 14, 2013 at 1:58 AMChairman Outlines Sequestration's Dangers
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2013 - Sequestration will force a drawdown "more difficult and decidedly different" than any other in the nation's history, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the House Armed Services Committee today.

Its deep, across-the-board spending cuts, combined with a dangerous and uncertain security environment, aging equipment and rising health care costs, place the nation squarely on the verge of an unprecedented readiness crisis, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said.

In a hearing that lasted nearly four hours, Dempsey, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and the Joint Chiefs of Staff all spoke of the dangers posed to national security by sequestration and the possibility that the continuing resolution now funding the government in lieu of a budget will be extended.

Sequestration was delayed until March 1 by a bill passed in January. If implemented, it would mandate about $500 billion in across-the-board defense spending cuts over 10 years in addition to cuts mandated over that period by the 2011 Budget Control Act.

"We are facing the prolonged specter of sequestration while under a continuing resolution, while we are just beginning to absorb $487 billion worth of cuts from 2011, and while we're still fighting and resourcing a war," the chairman said.

"There is no foreseeable peace dividend," Dempsey said.

"In this context, sequestration will upend our defense strategy," he said. "It will put the nation at greater risk of coercion. And it will require us to break commitments to our men and women in uniform and their families, to our defense industrial base, and to our partners and allies."

The new defense strategy formed last year could execute and absorb $487 billion in spending cuts over the next decade Dempsey said. "I can't sit here today and guarantee you that if you take another $175 billion that that strategy remains solvent."

The Defense Department is committed to fulfilling its role in the nation's economic recovery, the chairman said. But, he added, this requires budget certainty, time to implement reductions in a responsible manner and flexibility to transfer and reprogram money.

When parts of the defense budget are deemed untouchable by Congress, Dempsey said, readiness loses. "Everything needs to be on the table," he said.

Congress must ask itself what it wants of the military, Dempsey said. "If you want it to be doing what it's doing today, then we can't give you another dollar. If you want us to do something less than that, we're all there with you, and we'll figure it out."

Failure to act to avert sequestration eventually will require the department to reduce its international security commitments, Dempsey said, and to become less proactive about protecting national interests.

"When I testified before this committee last year, I said that if we fail to step up properly on the budget, we will reduce our options, and therefore increase our risk," he said. "Our military power will be less credible, because it will be less sustainable. Now, we're only a few days away from making that risk a reality."

Biographies:
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey

Related Articles:
Sequestration 'Wolf' Eats at Nation's Readiness, Carter Says
Service Chiefs Detail Sequestration Consequences
Sequestration Will Force Moral Dilemma, Dempsey Says
Carter Warns of Readiness Crisis, Urges Delay in Cuts
Dempsey: Budget Factors Place Defense Strategy in Jeopardy

India’s Informal Economy and Foreign Investment

In India, growth in informal sector is much higher
Amanpreet Singh Chhina                                                                            06 July 2012 

Oxford: Depreciating value of Indian rupee has raised enthusiasm among foreign investors/NRIs to invest in India; however, without seriously analysing the fact that 80 percent businesses in India are based in informal economy and huge amount of black money is involved in the real estate and private sector. Generally, the purchase of any property in India involves 60 to 70 percent of black money and therefore the seller faces many obstacles to bring that investment back to the foreign country. “Many foreign investors are facing money laundering inquires by the investigating officers in foreign countries” said Makhan Singh (NRI), Solicitor Advocate of England and Wales.
In India, growth in informal sector is much higher than formal sector and even the Prime Minister of India is not sure about the actual GDP of the country. It is estimated that illegal transactions in the property sector alone generate about Rs. 2,000 crores of black money in a year in India, assuming that there are about fifty lakh transactions in urban property every year. Necessary steps should be taken by the Government of India to match government value of the property with fair market value to clamp down black money and money laundering in the country. It must be remembered that a simple ‘Welcome Back’ slogan by the Prime Minister of India will not attract back Indian professionals and investors unless a corruption free infrastructure and business environment (single-window clearance) is provided. GOI should develop policies to combat money laundering and black money issues so that foreign investor or NRI’s can invest in India.

A S Chhina on FDI
 India’s Informal Economy and Foreign Investment

Manpreet Singh Badal announces party set-up

*Birdavinder appointed Chief Spokesman
*Bhagwant Mann will be YPP President

 Chandigarh: People’s Party of Punjab president  S. Manpreet Singh Badal has today announced his Party’s set-up. At the State level S.Birdavinder Singh Ex-Deputy Speaker Punjab  has been appointed Chief spokesman , Sh. Bhagwant Maan has been appointed President of the YPP ( Youth People’s Party)  while S. Yadwinder Singh Bhutter and S.Davinderjit Singh Dhose will be Vice-President of YPP.  Ex Senior additional advocate general Sh. S.S.Bhinder will head Legal Wing and Sh. Kuldeedp Singh Dhose will be President of the Kissan Wing.  Mrs. Ranjit Kaur Bhatti will head the Women Wing of the Party. In a press statement issued today by the Party’s Press Secretary S. Arunjot Singh Sodhi, Dr. Navjot Singh Dahiya has been made President of the Medico Wing and S. Nirmaljeet Singh Nimma, Ex-MLA is the head of SC/ST Wing. Sh. Sitar Bhatti will head Minorities’ Wing and Col. Surjeet Singh Firochechi will be President of Ex-Servicemen Wing. S. Amanpreet Singh Chhina will head NRI Wing and Sh. Vibhor Garg will be the President of the Parwassi Mazdoor Wing. Sh. Satpal Adampur, IRS (Retd.) will be the President of Retired Officers &Employees Wing of the Party.  
According to press statement S. Manmohan Singh Gumtala will be District president of Shri Amritsar Sahib , Kulwant Singh Lohgarh Barnala, Sukhdev Singh Chahal Bathinda, Pardeep Singh Sibiya Faridhkot, Jagmeet Singh Sahota ‘Bawa’ Fatehgarh Sahib,Sukhpreet Singh Randhawa Fazilka, Jai Jeet Singh Johal Ferozpur, Hardyal Singh Gajnipur Gurdaspur, Bhupinder Singh Pappu Azrram Hoshiarpur,Dr Navjot Singh Dahiya Jallandhar Urban, Baba Rajinder Singh Johal Jallandhar Rural,Kuldeep Singh Cheema Kapurthala, Er. Jagdeep Singh Jagraon Ludhiana Rural, Munish Gupta Ludhiana Urban, Dr Ranider Singh Bhana Moga,Jagjit Singh Honey Fattanwala Mukatsar, Dr Jaspal Singh Bhinder Pathankot, Avtar Singh Harpalpur Patiala Rural, Joga Singh Chaparr Patiala Urban, Balwant Singh Gill Ropar, Harmanjit Singh Dicky Sangrur and Vijaypal Chaudhary will be district president of Shri Tarn Taran Sahib.District presidents of Mohali , Mansa & SBS Nagar will be announced later. First meeting of all State and District presidents will be on 10th May at Chandigarh said Sodhi.

Betrayal by BJP and Congress For Details:

Toxic waste-to-electricity incinerators reveals truth
Citizens Must Defeat anti-environment and anti-people forces
Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 8:04 PM
NEW DELHI: Residents, environmental groups and waste recycling workers are protesting against Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP)'s manifesto that promises bring municipal waste incinerators to generate electricity by burning waste in the national capital region in contravention of a Supreme Court order putting a stay on use of incinerator technology. Delhi’s waste recycling workers and environmental groups are demanding the scrapping of the waste-to-energy policy which was not only polluting but also affected their livelihoods. 
Earlier opposition party leaders of the BJP had also expressed apprehension over the location of such a plant in a densely populated areas of South Delhi. “This plant would release various types of harmful gases which will certainly pose serious helath threat to the lives of surrounding residents,” said Vijay Kumar Malhotra, BJP M.P. in a letter dated June 27, 2008 to the Lt. Governor of Delhi, Tejender Khanna. The U-turn by BJP is an act betrayal.
The toxic emissions from plants of this type have been known to cause birth deformities, caners, respiratory ailments and hormonal problems. 
This proposal of the BJP in collusion with the Indian National Congress will turn Delhi into a health and environment disaster zone. Residents, environmental groups, waste recycling workers and left and socialist parties have joined hands to oppose the hazardous municipal waste incinerators in Delhi's Narela-Bawana, Ghazipur and Okhla.
The minutes of the Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority for the NCR (EPCA) reveal that Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was asked about the actions taken to improve Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management in Delhi. "To this MCD replied that individual waste to energy projects have been already given to Jindal, Ramky and GMR, which will result in minimal inert residue for landfilling along with the generation of electricity," the minute reads. This is factually deceptive and scientifically incorrect.
As per the Manual on Municipal Solid Waste Management, Union Ministry of Urban Development, physical composition of Indian waste shows that inert material constitutes from 43.59 % to 53.90 % and compostable matter constitutes 44.57 % to 30.84 %. Thus, the total inert residue from waste to energy incinerator projects will be significantly higher after the incineration of waste which will produce toxic ash as well that requires disposal in engineered landfills.
This grave situation has emerged due to evidently flawed waste to energy policy of central government, state government and the MCD which are providing incentives to hazardous incinerator and co-incineration incineration technologies like Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF).
Political parties other than BJP and Congress must promise to work for abandonment of this harmful policy to save irreparable damage to sustainable and sane municipal solid waste management practices. It may be noted that besides being an emitter of Persistent Organic Pollutants, as per Annexure A of Kyoto Protocol, waste incineration is a green house gas emitter. The Ministry of Power can vouch for the fact that the energy from municipal is inconsequential compared to the colossal public health concerns.

The "White Paper on Pollution with an Action Plan" of the Union Ministry of Environment & Forests that the ministry’s wisdom is opposed to such municipal waste incinerators. The relevant part of White Paper in paragraph 4.1 reads: "The NEERI studies show that the treatment of solid waste not reduces the quantity requiring disposal but also reduces its pollution potential thereby preventing its adverse impact on environment. Some treatment methods also yield a product which can be recycled. Thermal treatment methods such as incineration or conversion of waste to briquettes and its subsequent use as fuel are not feasible due to the low heat value of the municipal solid waste in MCD area. The experience of the incineration plant at Timarpur, Delhi and the briquetting plant at Bombay support the fact that thermal treatment of municipal solid waste is not feasible, in situations where the waste has a low calorific value. A critical analysis of biological treatment as an option was undertaken for processing of municipal solid waste in Delhi and it has been recommended that composting will be a viable option. Considering the large quantities of waste requiring to be processed, a mechanical composting plant will be needed." Unmindful of this both Congress party led Delhi government and BJP led MCD are promoting such toxic power plants which emit chemicals like Dioxins which were used in US-vietnam war.
Residents, environmental groups and waste recycling workers appealed to the citizens of Delhi to ensure that both BJP and Congress do not get their support else they turn Delhi in to a gas chamber for the present and future generations.  - Gopal Krishna 
  
For Details: 
Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance, Mobile : 9818089660, E-mail: krishna1715@gmail.com, Web: toxicswatch.blogspot.com
Anant Trivedi, Member, Technical Evaluation Committe, Central Pollution Control Board
Dharmender Yadav, Gen. Secretary, AIKSM, Mob: 8826588482, 9968005632
Surender Panchal, Member, State Committee, CPILML, Mb: 9968616715

A discussion by Punjab Manch

Punjab Election:Poll % has considerably declined

Chandigarh// March 18, 2012//Bureau Report: 
Recent Punjab assembly polls witnessed highest ever turnover of around 79 per cent voting which could be projected as an evidence that Punjabis have a firm faith in the democratic system based on universal suffrage. But, at the same time poll percentage has considerably declined in the case of both the Akali-BJP combine which returned to power for the second time in a row and its main rival party, Congress- a runner-up in the election fray. As compared to the 2007 assembly elections, the winning alliance secured 3.49 per cent lesser votes and Congress’s share came down by 0.79 per cent. This trend indicates the Punjab voters have not swung in favor of either of the two main contenders. And they wanted a change in the regime which eluded them because of various reasons and factors. As statistics vouchsafe that the winning alliance, at least, could not claim the people have voted in favor of them overwhelmingly and have recorded their appreciation for “ better governance and development works undertaken by the last Akali-BJP regime”.    
    Thus, the election results have surprised and puzzled many about how the vote-arithmetic have worked and what factors played their decisive role in sealing the fate of an overconfident Congress. In their attempt to crack the puzzle; thinkers, academicians, journalists and social activists assembled in Kisan Bhawan here today and deliberated for about three hours on the undercurrents that brought Akalis-BJP back to power.
Participating in the discussion, organized by the Punjab Manch, former Baba Farid Medical University Registrar Dr Piayre Lal Garg said it is interesting that the Akari-BJP comes to power in Punjab even by getting 3.49 per cent less votes as compared to the 2007 election. Dr. Garg said there should be an alternative agenda to rally around recurring dissent among the people against the corporate and neo-liberal policies being pursued by the mainstream parties. There is an urgent need of dismantling a myth being orchestrated by the media that Akal-BJP combine won the election because of the best management by Sukhbir Singh Badal. 
Commenting on defeat of Congress, Senior journalist Hamir Singh said the Congress had failed to project itself as strong opposition to the Badal government, hence it could not cash upon on apparent wide-spread resentment among the people on some anti-people policies of the outgoing regime. As the Akali-BJP regime followed the same model of development in Punjab which was being pursued by Congress led UPA government at the Centre, the Punjab Congress could not gather the moral strength to oppose those policies. Visibly upset over such developments, the people wanted a change in the state’s governance and voted for the PPP getting a sizeable 5.17 per cent votes. Whereas Samajwadi Party swept the polls by gaining the same per cent of votes over its nearest rival BSP in Uttar Pradesh.
Senior columnist-writer Jaspal Singh Sidhu said the Punjab Congress lost election because its Delhi-based high command invariably adopts a patronizing attitude towards its state units and acts as a balancing force for different pressure groups instead of resolving their differences for strengthening them. Such top-down command structure of Congress and other all-India party, BJP are fast ceasing to work in the era of reasserting regionalism that has already forced the ‘national parties’ to form coalition governments with regional political parties.
Senior journalist Jagtar Singh said that the Akalis who were loosing six months before the polls, However managed to refashion their image, through skillful management. Despite the Election Commission’s strict vigilance, candidates freely exercised use of money and drinks through some innovative ways to buy votes.
Prof Manjit Singh from Punjab University said the common man stands nowhere in the electoral system which has virtually been hijacked and seized by those who have a hold on political, money and muscle power. And the democracy is no longer a participatory exercise for the people to choose their own representatives rather it has been turned out to be a ‘convenient tool’ in the hands of a political class to usurp power. 
Another columnist Karmajit Singh said the panthic agenda from religious point of view was totally ignored in the election but cultural strains too become a casualty perhaps because of globalization and corporate dominance has succeeded in spreading the Western culture and English language.
Another journalist Yadwinder said the politics has been corporatized leaving a shrunk space for alternate people’s agenda. 
But Malwinder Singh Mali said that people’s search for 3rd alternative could be seen as they refrained from voting the two mainstream parties resulting in decline in their vote share.
CPI(ML-Liberation) activist Kanwaljit Singh said the masses has to be motivated and politicized to make them vote for the alternative agenda of change as the masses in placid situation tend to be driven by their vested interests and short-sightedness. 
Former Punjab Mandi Board chairman Jugraj Singh Gill said congress lost elections because of wrong allocation of tickets.
Karnail Singh Jakhepal and several others participated in the discussion. 

CPI, AITUC and PPP on budget

The Union Budget:A strange string of announcements: PPP
In his budget speech, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee quoted a line from William Shakespeare’s seminal play, Hamlet- The Prince of Denmark. , “ I must be cruel only to be kind,” he said, suggesting that it is time for the government to take tough actions to ensure a better future. But his actions were in dissonance to his words. The Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was a strange string of announcements that made all the right noises about the problems faced by Indian economy, but was woefully inadequate in terms of policy measures to control these problems. Let us start from inflation. Over the past many months, almost all the top leaders of UPA government have admitted that common man deserve relief from the unconscionable levels of inflation that we have seen in the past 3-4 years. But despite this, the Finance Minister, increases the Excise duty by 2 per cent. Not only this, he extends the scope of service tax. All these enhancements are going to be passed on to the final consumer, and will fuel the inflation to further heights.  Amidst such circumstances, the minor income tax reliefs that the finance ministers seems to have offered appear to be a cruel joke.
By not controlling inflation, the government wants the common man to struggle to eke out a living, but on its own it continues to live at unconscionably high expenditure as is shown by the humungous government debt which close to 46 per cent of country’s GDP. Even when saddled with this monstrosity, there is no attempt to mend by the UPA government to mend its ways. The fiscal deficit is in excess of 5 per cent, way beyond the permissible limit of 2 per cent. Once you include the fiscal deficits of our profligate states, than we are staring at a figure that would reveal that India is on a precipice of debt disaster that can have catastrophic consequences for the economy. So basically India is facing a situation where we are saddled with the two most critical problems of a modern economy i.e. high inflation and high deficits. Add to it the political pusillanimity which has become a hallmark of the UPA government. With such a deadly cocktail in offering, it is obvious that foreign investors are not going to savour the prospect of coming to India (leave aside the Foreign Institutional Investors). With no investment coming in green field projects, I fail to see, how can the finance minister be hopeful of attaining GDP growth levels of 7.8 per cent.
Such talk is nothing but political sophistry aimed at diverting attention from government’s own inadequacies. The UPA government seems to develop cold feet on many of the initiatives it itself had pursued with great gusto initially. Mr Mukherjee’s speech today was resoundingly silent on Direct Tax Code as well as on any road map to implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Increase in disbursal of credit to agriculture is welcome but government has again been found wanting in ensuring the proper distribution of this credit. Independent researchers have shown the politicians have used this agriculture credit scheme to further their own objectives. Data shows, that the agriculture credit is disproportionately high in the constituencies of influential politicians and inadequate in areas where there is a dire need of funding.
There have been no reliefs or incentives for small scale manufacturers and even the sunrise sectors of biotech, IT, telecom and media- which have largely fuelled India’s growth in the last few years. There is in incentive for capacity expansion, which means, that fewer jobs would be created but that India’s economic growth would continue to buoyed by consumption. While consumption is an important facet of economic growth, an overlying importance of consumption instead of investment to fuel economic growth can be problematic. This problem is further exacerbated if the country is passing through a crisis of high inflation. Unfortunately, we are witnessing both consumption led growth as well as high inflation. It is staggering that the government led by an eminent economist, has chosen to do nothing about it.
This is against the interests of the workmen-AITUC
Com O P Mehta Secretary All India Trade Union Congress, Ludhiana and Com D P Maur – Secretary Joint Council of Trade Unions Ludhiana has criticized the union finance minister for decreasing the interest rate on the Employees Provident Fund from 9.5 to 8.25%. This is against the interests of the workmen who have minimum saving from this. He warned the government to revoke this decision otherwise face stiff opposition from the working people.
CPI Ludhiana unit termed the budget to be inflationary 
The Communist Party of India Distt. Ludhiana has termed the budget to be inflationary as increase in the service tax and the excise duty will lead to increase in the burden on the people. Marginal increase in the tax slab exemption is a mockery with the people as it no where meets the price rise during the last year. There is marginal increase in the health budget which will not meet the health care needs of the people as a minimum of 6% of the GDP is needed from the public spending to give basic minimum health care to all. No policy in employment generation and security of jobs has been defined. Agriculture section has not got the attention due to it. Decision to raise Rs. 30,000 crore  through disinvestment is against the interest of the nation and the working people. statement was issued by Asstt. Secretary Dr Arun Mitra and City Secretary Ramesh Rattan.                      

NARAIN KATARIA from New York

Reasons for the disasterous decimation of 
Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in UP elections   
March 13, 2012
Anti-Hindu attitude of the UPA Government led by Sonia Gandhi, their blind appeasement of the Muslims in India, torture and arrests of Hindu  saints and leaders and the multi-billion dollar scams of its key ministers in government -  all these factors contributed heavily to the humiliating defeat of The Dynasty this month in the Utter Pradesh state elections.
Now the details:
1.     Sonia Gandhi’s insidious attempt to draft the “Communal Violence Bill 2011” with help of the Islamists and Leftists was clearly viewed by the country’s large Hindu population as malicious in content and designed to destroy the Hinduism in India.
2.     Home Minister P. Chidambaram had openly equated the dangerous Islamic terrorism in country with the patriotic efforts of Hindu groups, which he labeled the “Saffron terrorism” or “Hindu terrorism.” Such mindless efforts from the government side deeply antagonized the one billion Hindus who had quietly decided to get even at the election time.
3.     The openly undemocratic and blatantly highhanded crushing of the Baba Ramdev’s peaceful protest at Delhi’s Ram Leela grounds with a brutal force of 5000 Delhi policemen on orders of the Congress Party leaders had angered many Hindus. The arrest and tortures of patriotic Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Colonel Purohit, Swami Aseemanand and others had convinced the Hindu leaders to take action and get rid of the perpetrators of the injustice. UPA Government’s obstinate refusal to come up with a fair and effective Lokpal Bill for catching corrupt politicians in country also added fuel to the fire.
4.     The UPA government is so terribly frightened of the Islamic terrorism in country that it dare not take any strong action against. Additionally, it has ignored the sufferings of seven lakh Kashmiri Hindus and overlooked their genocide, ethnic cleansing and expulsion from the land of their ancestors.
5.     Hindu girls are kidnapped everyday not only in Pakistan but also in India and are converted to Islam. They are then forcibly married to Muslim men and the Congress Party government watches it all shamelessly. Minority Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh are already living in a state of Islamic subjugation and savagery. In December last year, 250 Hindus had left their homes and hearths in Pakistan and sought asylum in India.
6.     On the top of that, the UPA government’s sinister attempt to arbitrarily increase the quota of government jobs for Muslims taking away a share of OBC has angered the Hindu Society. In order to appease the Muslims for votes, the government avoids taking action on Afzal Guru who was ordered to be hanged by Supreme Court of India for his heinous crime of attacking the nation’s Parliament in 2001. All these crimes against the country made Hindus very unhappy.
7.     UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s son Rahul Gandhi is known to nurse a deep hatred against the Hindus. He considers the patriotic, peaceful and law abiding Hindus to be more dangerous for India than the internationally known Pakistani terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba. The young crown prince is reported to have told the United States ambassador Timothy Roemer that the growth of 'radicalized Hindu groups' could pose a bigger threat to the country.
8.     Under the UPA dispensation, the term secularism has turned into an euphemism for Hindu-bashing and Muslim-appeasement. Even though the country’s Hindu population is over 83%, Hindus are treated as the second class citizens and their voice is gagged.
9.     Thank goodness that the great men like Baba Ramdev, Dr. Subramanian Swamy and the freedom-fighter Anna Hazare are currently playing a big role in exposing the corruption in high places. They have taken up the important task of educating the masses and bringing back the billions of dollars of Indian money stashed in the foreign and Swiss accounts.
10.                         -The Congress party leaders like Digvijay Singh, Salman Khurshid, Rahul Gandhi, and Sonia Gandhi are busy protecting the criminals in government and covering their sins. These people have proved to be ineffective and totally uninspiring to the masses.  They probably believe that just by doing the Bhashan-bazi (giving lectures), they would be able to fool the country’s voters.
With the huge electoral loss of the Sonia-Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party in the UP elections, an old popular Bollywood song has once again come alive, “ jhumka gira re Bareli ke bazar mein.” It points out that the Dynasty has lost in a big way in the market place of Rai Bareli where their party was badly routed even though the region was their stronghold in the past.
We believe, in the upcoming national elections of year 2014, the world will witness the spectacle of rapid and inexorable rout of Sonia Gandhi and her cronies. In those elections, the corrupt ruling politicians and their buddies will suffer cataclysmic consequences for their egregious violations of Hindu Human Rights. 

Prashan Bhushan is a Shameless Traitor

He should be dismissed and disowned byAnna Hazare 

 Narain Kataria in New York

The vituperative comments by Anna Hazare Team Member Prashant Bhushan in the main stream media last week against RSS and Chief Minister Narendra Modi are not only appalling but also highly reprehensible.  It looks as if this loony leftists is suffering from cognitive disorder, Hinduphobia, or both.

It is a matter of great regret and shame that instead of expressing sympathy with 58 innocent Hindu women and children who were burnt alive by 2000 Muslims goons at Godhra station on February 27, 2002, this guy has the temerity to find fault with Hindus and Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi!  Narendra Modi is a very capable administrator and knows full well as to how to handle religious bigots with an iron hand.  That is the reason, in the last 10 years, there is complete harmony and peace in Gujarat!

Conversely, relentless jihad against Hindus and Sikhs is going on in Pakistan and Bangladesh.  Hindu girls are kidnapped, converted to Islam and forcibly married to Muslim men. Hindus live in Pakistan and Bangladesh under Islamic subjugation. In December 2011, 250 Hindus left their homes and hearths and sought political asylum in India.  In November 2011, 4 Hindu doctors were gunned down in Sind by Islamic militants.  In May, 2010, according to a report in DNA 50 Pakistani Hindus were converted to Islam under pressure from their employers.  Hindus have been almost ethnically cleansed in Pakistan.  Bangladesh Minority Watch in January 2012 reported that some Muslims  perpetrators wearing masks and equipped with deadly weapons attacked Hindus and destroyed Hindu deities in Barisal district.

More than half a million Hindus have been forcibly driven from the Indian state of Kashmir by Deobandi / Barelvi / Salafist / Wahhabi Islamic terrorists.

Though Radical Islamists have been murdering innocent people all over the world as mentioned below, it is inexplicable as to why this guy is supporting Islamic terrorism in India. Last year he had been beaten for supporting separation of Kashmir from India. 

This guy is exploiting his position with Anna Hazare to promote his pro-terrorist agenda.  Thus, he is tarnishing the image of Anna Hazare.  This dubious character is a security risk and should be watched by intelligence agencies.  He should also be investigated by CBI for his links with ISI operatives.

It is also disgusting to note that media, particularly English, in collusion with deadly combination of Leftist-Islamist activists cynically exploited the 10^th anniversary of Gujarat riot to denigrate, degrade, demonize and vilify Hindu organizations and Narendra Modi.

A cursory glance at the history of terrorism will clearly indicate the fact that most of the terrorist activities, at least 95% of them, all over the world in the last 50 years have been and are being conducted by the adherents of Islam and trained Islamic terrorists..

The World Trade Center in New York, Beslan in Russia, Bali in Indonesia, Madrid in Spain, London, Mumbai,  Godhra Railway Station in India, India’s Parliament Complex in New Delhi, Thailand and Philippine – these were all cases of global Muslim terrorism.

Recently in his 36 page report entitled “Building Resilience against Terrorism”, Canda’s Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said that muslim extremists are the number one threat to Canada.

In Sudan, Jihad was declared and approximately two and half million Christians were butchered by Islamists.

Boko Haram, an Islamic organization in Nigeria, is believed to be responsible for killing and maiming hundreds of people.

Somali Jihadists and The Islamist al-Shabab militia who are slaughtering people like goats in  Mogadishu are all the followers of Islam.

There is a wholesale attack and murder of Coptic Christians in Egypt by the Islamic Brotherhood.

Last month, 40 Islamic extremist organizations held three big public meetings in Pakistan.  In Multan, Lahore and Karachisomewhere between 50,000 to 100,000 jihadists vigorously participated in each meeting.  They vowed to break India into pieces, kill Americans and wipe out Israel.

Under the circumstances, we  suggest that this guy should be immediately removed from Anna Hazare Team and arrested by Government of India for seditious  activities.