Dr. Ernest Albert

WE all know that before 1950 AD the human population was about 3.5 billions. Which means that it took us millions of years to reach that figure. Is'nt it?

Come 2003 and we crossed the 6.5 billion mark. aadmi aurat ne 1950 ke baad kitni mehnat ki.No other species grew so fast, so alarmingly.Just think about it.

Well this fact raises several pertinent questions. One of them is, with more than 30 percent of earth's space occupied by cars, trucks, aeroplanes (transport), whose areas we may have usurped and occupied? Working with His Holiness The Dalai Lama my belief had become a covenant that all living beings are the inheritors of this beautiful, bountiful planet, our Mother Earth, the terra firma.
If men, women want to multiply...no problem.

But if the tigers, the lions, the jungles, the butterflies, the vultures, the earthworms, the honeybees, the Gau Mata, The Ganga Maiya, the Gangotri Glacier, the peacocks the rhinos, the antarctic ice etc etc are the price tag for human life on earth, is it worth having? And how painful it is to know that by the time I would finish writing this piece, one football sized piece of jungle would have gone/cleared forever and ever...Amen!!

Suddenly I am really worried about My Bholay Shankar you know.

His abode is the snowy Kailash Parvat. With Antarctic ice melting who will save Kailash now? Shivling already disappeared a few years ago with the Body hugs, body heat, havans of shiv bhaktas.
Where is this post going? What the hell ??What Shiv ji, Shivling,Shiv bhakts have got to do with the STUPENDOUS increase in population during these fifty, sixty years. I am so stupid, naive and compulsively worrying type,

so what if my Ganga Maiya has become an open sewer, So what if my real Gau Mata has to eat plastic while the one made of stone inside the temple is given milk-bath daily,
So what if Mount Kailash or Shivling melt, why worry where my Bholay Shankar and Ma Parvati will go.

This population increase (?), this everyday act of one or two species becoming extinct forever has no connection. There is no co-relation with the above you see. Imagine it took us thousands of years to reach the number of 3.5 billion till 1950.And in just 60 odd years we outraced most of the insects (I guess) and crossed 6.5 billion mark.

Clapping...we got this huge export order of leather goods from Europe worth crores.

The Europeans will only save 30 to 50 million liters of their clean water by giving us this export order, but we have plenty of clean water to waste in washing animal hides.

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Developing countries win big at G-20 Summit

Swaraj Singh

THE developing countries won in a big way at the just concluded G-20 summit in London. Brazilian President. Lula De Silva emerged as the most influential leader and China emerged as the most influential country. The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries are emerging as a very powerful force in the World.

The G-20 countries agreed that the developing countries should have more say in running of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It is expected that after 2011 America will lose the veto right in these institutions and the other Western countries will lose most of their voting rights. The tradition that an American be the head of the World Bank and a European will be the head of the International Monetary Fund will also end. A new Financial Stability Board will be made, which will have members from all the G-20 countries.

China’s growing influence became clear in the summit. China wanted that there should be a common international currency, which can replace the dollar. Even though this did not happen yet the G-20 countries agreed to have a special fund of 250 billion dollars in the IMF to help the needy countries. This fund will be kept in a basket of currencies such as euro, yen and dollars. Therefore, special status of the American dollars has begun to erode. The poor countries can now directly go to the IMF for help rather than borrow from the Western countries. China showed its economic power by deciding to give 40 billion dollars to the IMF. China also prevailed in preventing Hog Kong and Macao from being black listed as protected tax shelters.

Another trend which became obvious at the summit was that the European countries (except England) agree with the developing countries that the International Monetary Institutions need more supervision and control. These countries felt that it was lack of control and supervision of these institutions which is primarily responsible for the present economic crisis. France and Germany want more supervision and control but America and England are opposed to control and supervision. It is becoming clear that the World economy has become so complicated and inter dependent that the Governments will have to intervene more for its proper functioning.

Europe is the birthplace of the modern industrialist society. England can be considered the major center for the modern consumerist capitalism. America, Canada and Australia can be considered extensions of the British capitalism. The capitalism in these English speaking countries can be considered the main stream and dominant capitalism. However, an alternate capitalist system also developed in Europe. France and Germany were the major centers for the alternate capitalist system. The mainstream capitalism of the English speaking countries can be called consumerist capitalism and the alternate capitalism of the non English speaking countries in Europe can be called utilitarian capitalist system.

There has been a big conflict between the English speaking and the non English speaking capitalist systems resulting in first England’s war with Napoleon of France and later two world wars with Germany. Until today, the conflict is obvious. Charles De Gaul considered America more dangerous for Europe than Russia. President Obama, who wants to improve relations with Europe and who is very popular in Europe admitted that there is anti American feeling in Europe.

President Obama feels that the Anti American feeling in Europe is because Europe is only focusing on the negative aspects of America and is not looking at the positive contributions made by America. However, President Obama seems to admit that there is some validity to the European perception of American arrogance. President Obama also admitted that we should start seeing Europe as the center of the World politics.

It has become quite clear after the G-20 summit that the World is moving towards multipolarity. America is no longer the only Super power and the Policeman of the World. America will have to change its attitude towards Europe and the developing countries.

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Pakistan: Save the Indus Plead Delta Folk

Zofeen Ebrahim

"THERE was a time when we used to cast our nets into the river [Indus] and haul in no less than 400 to 500 ‘palla’ fish at one go," says 70-year-old Hamzo Jat.

Jat, who belongs to the small fishing village of Tippin comprising about 900 inhabitants, was not exaggerating. Most of his compatriots have similar stories to tell of a time of abundance within living memory.

According to the World Wildlife Fund- Pakistan, palla stock declined from approximately 2,000 metric tons in the 1980s to less than 200 metric tons presently. A marine variety, palla swims up from the Arabian Sea to spawn in the Indus river.

"Now even if you give me palla for free, I won’t eat it," said Jat. "It just does not taste the same."

But it is not just the palla fish that has lost its flavour and abundance. Life on the delta has been changing for the worse since the flow of fresh water from the Indus began to decline as result of irrigation projects upstream.

With salinity, caused by sea water intrusion, on the rise people have been moving inland in droves.

Mohammad Ali Shah of Fisherfolk Forum, a grassroots organisation, estimates that "the delta population of Keti Bandar, which stood at around 700,000 until a decade ago, has now been reduced to 150,000 as a result of sea intrusion and decreased flow of fresh water from the Indus."

Of the 42 settlements, 28 have already been inundated by sea. Tippin village falls in the Hajmaro creek of the Indus delta, in Keti Bandar, an 18th century port famous for its red rice export.

The Indus delta is the sixth largest in the world spanning approximately 600,000 hectares along the coast of Sindh province comprises 17 major creeks and innumerable minor ones and mud-flats. It has been declared a Ramsar Site and has a wildlife sanctuary.

The reduced flow in the delta is the direct result of diversion of the Indus waters by irrigation barrages built upstream, mainly in the province of Punjab. The first one, the Sukkur barrage, was constructed in 1923-32 by the British.

But it was the construction of the Kotri barrage in 1955 and the Guddu barrage in 1962 that sounded the death knell for the delta.

Water scarcity is now a serious political issue between the Sindh and Punjab provinces. From the 170 maf (million acre feet) that Sindh received in the 1930s, the water available now is less than 10 maf below the Koti barrage.

However, for most of the year, there is no flow below Kotri and even the agreed 10 MAF is not supplied. This has also resulted in a reduction in silt from 100 million tons to 30 million tons downstream of Kotri over the last decade.

The rich silt deposits brought down by the river were the main factor behind the fertility of the area along the banks that once supported thriving agriculture.

The waters of the Indus area also a major cause of friction between Pakistan and India which share the waters of the river and its five tributaries, under the World Bank-mediated Indus River Treaty of 1960.

Estimates by the International Water Management Institute indicate that Pakistan is among the 17 countries that are likely to face the most severe water scarcity by 2025.

Ayub Dablo, another fisherman, swears that if the Indus had continued flowing uninterrupted, like it once did and watered the delta, Pakistan would not have been importing grain. He is among the millions of people whose forefathers settled in the Indus delta centuries ago.

Despite the salinity and the danger of cyclones and tsunamis due to reduced mangrove cover, Dablo refuses to leave. "This is where I was born and this is where I will die," he says stubbornly.

This globally acclaimed wetland has now become an example of callous human intervention in nature. The devastation is manifested in reduced mangrove cover, decline in fish stocks and swathes of agricultural land turning infertile and unfit for grazing cattle.

"If the sea level rises and if the sea intrusion continues at this pace, the Keti Bundar will shift further up by the next decade. It would then be the fourth time in 70 years," predicts Zahid Hussain Jalbani, site manager for WWF.

Any hope that the Indus delta will continue to sustain human populations in the future depends on initiatives to arrest environment degradation such as the one by WWF which has vision to see "mankind coexisting with nature in complete harmony..."

The first five-year ‘Indus for all programme’ phase was initiated in 2008 to salvage the man-made and natural ravages wrought on the delta and, luckily for people like Jat, Tippin village seemed to fit in perfectly.

Surrounded by sea-water, the biggest problem for the people of Tippin faced was lack of potable water. "We calculated that they paid more than the city dwellers living in posh localities, on an average Rs 1,500 (18.75 US dollars) per month, and this did not include the fuel used to run the boat or the time consumed," pointed out Jalbani.

WWF decided to provide them with water at their doorstep.

"We deemed it a basic human right and provided them with a boat that would carry 16,000 litres of water for four villages, including Tippin," said Mustafa Talpur, who supervised the project in its initial stage.

The WWF also installed plastic storage tanks with a capacity of 4,000 lt in each village. The villagers buy whatever quantity they need by paying a nominal amount. The money collected is used for operation and maintenance of the boat.

Last month, the WWF constructed a huge reservoir to store 10,000 -12,000 lt near the jetty and fitted it with a sand filter. "Apart from these people getting cleaner water, it saved them the fuel and time to go to the city to fetch water in tankers.’’

Tippin now has a one-room school accommodating about 24 children - 18 of them girls. "To break the vicious cycle of poverty, and to bring about change, we thought we needed to start with the children," explained Jalbani.

This may be just a drop in the ocean as there are about 100 kids of school-going age. "But it’s a start nevertheless," says Jalbani enthusiastically.

To provide the school with electricity, the WWF has set up 200-watt solar panels capable of running two fans, three energy saver bulbs and one computer.

Because villages on the creek are hard to access it is costly to run in power cables from the main electricity line, they have an incentive to look for cheap alternate energy sources.

Apart from the solar panels, WWF decided to install windmills. Two 500 watt wind turbines, each costing Rs 160,000 (2,000 dollars), takes care of basic lighting needs. The villagers pay Rs 50 (0.62 dollars) each, per month, for electricity supply.

To be able to see after sunset has already brought a lifestyle change in the village. "I never knew there was life after dark," said Haleema happily. ‘’Now women often sit and chat till late in the night and do embroidery together. It’s nice to unwind after a day’s work."

But these are considered stopgap measures that will do little to prevent seawater ingress and the steady desertification of the Indus delta. [*Written under the aegis of CSE Media Fellowship]
[Courtesy IPS]

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Malaysia: New Prime Minister should repeal internal security Act

MALAYSIA'S new Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak, should follow up on his surprise release of 13 detainees by promptly acting to rescind the internal security law, Human Rights Watch said.

On April 3, 2009, his first day in office, Prime Minister Najib ordered the release of 13 detainees and promised that the government would review the Internal Security Act (ISA) under which they were held. The ISA permits indefinite detention without charge or trial. By April 5, all 13 had been freed, including eight terrorism suspects, three alleged forgers, and two leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf). Three foreigners among them have been deported, while the 10 Malaysians remain under police supervision.

"The release of 13 detainees is a welcome surprise from Prime Minister Najib, who had long supported the Internal Security Act," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "We hope that his promise to review the law is genuine and that he realizes that it is a blight on the Malaysian justice system and the country's reputation."

The detention of the Hindraf members exemplifies the government's long misuse of the ISA. The release of the two Hindraf leaders, V. Ganabatirau and R. Kengadharan, leaves three Hindraf members in ISA detention for more than 15 months for their part in organizing a massive demonstration on November 25, 2007, to protest educational and economic discrimination against Malaysian Indians.

Hindraf had held the rally even though the police had refused to issue a permit. All five have been accused of threatening national security by "upsetting harmony" among Malaysia's Malay, Chinese, and Indian communities. Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan publicly stated, without providing any supporting evidence, that the five "clearly have links with international terrorist organizations and they are involved in activities that amount to inciting racial hatred."

"The government imposed the ISA instead of charging the Hindraf activists with credible criminal offenses," said Adams. "If it can't promptly charge them and others still held and give them a fair trial, it should release them."

Also on his first day in office, Prime Minister Najib lifted the ban on two opposition party newspapers, Suara Keadilan, published by Parti Keadilan Rakyats (PKR), and Harakah, published by Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). The ban had been imposed on March 23, 2009, and was widely seen as an attempt to limit opposition parties from getting their messages to voters before by-elections on April 7. Under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, annual license renewal is mandatory for all newspapers. The Home Affairs Ministry can restrict or ban a publication outright on several vaguely defined grounds, but no legal remedy is available as the minister's discretion to grant, revoke, or suspend licenses is "absolute" and not subject to judicial review.

Human Rights Watch said that lifting the ban was an important step and called for a revision of the printing and publications law to ensure it was consistent with the right to freedom of expression.
The government also continues to use criminal defamation and other laws to undermine opposition politicians and critics of the government. Raja Petra Kamaruddin, founder and editor of Malaysia's most popular website, MalaysiaToday, was originally detained under ISA for demeaning Islam. He was freed on procedural grounds on October 7, 2008. The government is appealing the ruling. He also has been criminally charged with sedition under the Sedition Act 1948 and criminal defamation under the Penal Code on what Human Rights Watch considers to be a politically motivated charge of defaming a government leader.

Opposition parliamentarian and Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairperson Karpal Singh had been charged under the Sedition Act for remarks he made in relation to political changes in Perak, one of Malaysia's 13 states. And opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is currently facing trial on politically motivated sodomy charges.

"If Prime Minister Najib wants to back up his claim as a reformer, he will repeal laws empowering the government to censor the media or to engage in dirty tricks used previously against political opponents," Adams said.

Also crucial for improving freedom of expression in Malaysia is repeal of the Police Act 1967, which mandates the need for a police permit for public assemblies of three or more people. In 2008 alone, the law was used to shut down peaceful vigils supporting the repeal of the ISA and to limit election rallies by opposition parties.

"Free expression and peaceful assembly are bedrocks of a rights-respecting society," said Adams. "Until Malaysia's government stops carving out legal rules to attack its political opponents, it cannot claim to be a modern democratic state."

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