A River, A Man: The State Responds to Dr GD Agarwal's fast to save Ganga

A River, A Man: The State Responds to Dr GD Agarwal's fast to save Ganga
Dr Sanat Mohanty

In a response, the likes of which we have not seen in the last few decades, both the Government of Uttarakhand and the Government of India responded to 76 years old Dr. G. D. Agarwal's fast-unto-death. Retired professor of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, Dr. Agarwal, was protesting planned projects on the Bhagirathi which threaten the perennial flow of the Bhagirathi and the Ganga.

Both central and the state governments have suspended work on the three projects and promise the maintenance of the perennial flow of the river under all circumstances. The central government has promised review by a high level committee before any further action.

Dr. Agarwal's fast prompted delegations by two independent groups (who could not be more unlike the other) to meet with state and central governments requesting action. The Alumni Association of IIT Kanpur and All India Associations of Sadhus met with the Central Government while representation was also presented to the Government of Uttarakhand.

The letter from the Ministry of Power, Government of India says:
[Begins]
"The Ministry has received the representation sent by the Alumini Association of I.I.T. Kanpur to the Hon'ble Prime Minister of 27th June 2008. This is with reference to your meeting in the Ministry with the Hon'ble Union Minister of Power, today, and on 25th June 2008, and your memorandum of the same date in respect of river Bhagirathi, and in continuation of this Ministry's D.O.No. 37/47/2008-H.II of June 26, 2008. I am directed to say that the government of India commits itself to suitably ensure perennial environmental flow in all stretches of river Bhagirathi. I have to inform you that the Chairman and Managing Director, NTPC has been directed to constitute a high level expert group, including your nominee to examine the various technical issues involved in ensuring the required flow in the river Bhagirathi to keep the river alive. The high level expert group will give its report within three months. We shall invite you for discussion as soon as the recommendations of this high-level expert group are received, in order to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution. We would request Prof. D. D. Agarwal to give up his indefinite fast. The Government assures you of the highest consideration of your concerns." [End]

A letter written in Hindi, and signed by Shatrughn Singh, Secretary of the Uttarakhand Government points out that two of the three proposed projects on the middle section of the Bhagirathi (Bhairav Ghati of 381 MW and Pala Maneri of 480 MW) are state initiatives. The third -- a 600 MW unit at Lohari Nagpala -- is a central government effort. It says that Rs 80 Crores has already been spent on the Pala Maneri Project.

It adds that the state government has decided to stop all work on the two state project with immediate effect and that the state government is committed to ensuring that the river stays unviolated and its perennial flow is maintained and will act to do so, requesting Dr. Agarwal to end his fast.

This has been a major decision by both state and central governments. Acting on this, Dr. Agarwal and his colleagues are planning future steps to raise public awareness about the eco-sensitivity of this region and the importance of maintaining the flow of all of India's rivers. The group led by Dr. Agarwal feels that local mobilization and awareness is necessary to ensure that this is achieved.

When Dr. Agarwal announced his decision to fast-unto-death to protest projects that would end Bhagirathi and Ganga as we know them, many (including this author) wondered whether this would be in vain. The success of his protest is perhaps a sign of the strength of his belief but also the strength of the technical background that was used to critique the projects and predict their impact on the river systems.

Numerous energy projects have been started or have been proposed on the Bhagirathi, Ganga and numerous other rivers that define the Gangetic plain. While energy is a real issue and must be addressed, the human, economic and environmental costs of death of these rivers far surpasses energy benefits -- any community can attest to that. While an energy crisis looms, this is not the choice that benefits anyone.

Dr. Agarwal's effort was successful -- but this is not the end of the story. Conservation of our rivers requires community involvement. Now.

Dr Sanat Mohanty
www.TheSouthAsian.org

Published in
Assam Times, Guwahati, Assam
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
News Track India, Delhi
My News, Delhi
Thai Indian News, Bangkok, Thailand
Bihar and Jharkhand News Service, Bihar/ Jharkhand
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal
News Blaze, USA
Pakistan Post, Islamabad, Pakistan
Central Chronicle, Madhya Pradesh/ Chhattisgarh
The Bangladesh Today, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Bihar Times, Patna, Bihar

A River, A Man: The State Responds to Dr GD Agarwal's fast to save Ganga

A River, A Man: The State Responds to Dr GD Agarwal's fast to save Ganga
Dr Sanat Mohanty

In a response, the likes of which we have not seen in the last few decades, both the Government of Uttarakhand and the Government of India responded to 76 years old Dr. G. D. Agarwal's fast-unto-death. Retired professor of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, Dr. Agarwal, was protesting planned projects on the Bhagirathi which threaten the perennial flow of the Bhagirathi and the Ganga.

Both central and the state governments have suspended work on the three projects and promise the maintenance of the perennial flow of the river under all circumstances. The central government has promised review by a high level committee before any further action.

Dr. Agarwal's fast prompted delegations by two independent groups (who could not be more unlike the other) to meet with state and central governments requesting action. The Alumni Association of IIT Kanpur and All India Associations of Sadhus met with the Central Government while representation was also presented to the Government of Uttarakhand.

The letter from the Ministry of Power, Government of India says:
[Begins]
"The Ministry has received the representation sent by the Alumini Association of I.I.T. Kanpur to the Hon'ble Prime Minister of 27th June 2008. This is with reference to your meeting in the Ministry with the Hon'ble Union Minister of Power, today, and on 25th June 2008, and your memorandum of the same date in respect of river Bhagirathi, and in continuation of this Ministry's D.O.No. 37/47/2008-H.II of June 26, 2008. I am directed to say that the government of India commits itself to suitably ensure perennial environmental flow in all stretches of river Bhagirathi. I have to inform you that the Chairman and Managing Director, NTPC has been directed to constitute a high level expert group, including your nominee to examine the various technical issues involved in ensuring the required flow in the river Bhagirathi to keep the river alive. The high level expert group will give its report within three months. We shall invite you for discussion as soon as the recommendations of this high-level expert group are received, in order to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution. We would request Prof. D. D. Agarwal to give up his indefinite fast. The Government assures you of the highest consideration of your concerns." [End]

A letter written in Hindi, and signed by Shatrughn Singh, Secretary of the Uttarakhand Government points out that two of the three proposed projects on the middle section of the Bhagirathi (Bhairav Ghati of 381 MW and Pala Maneri of 480 MW) are state initiatives. The third -- a 600 MW unit at Lohari Nagpala -- is a central government effort. It says that Rs 80 Crores has already been spent on the Pala Maneri Project.

It adds that the state government has decided to stop all work on the two state project with immediate effect and that the state government is committed to ensuring that the river stays unviolated and its perennial flow is maintained and will act to do so, requesting Dr. Agarwal to end his fast.

This has been a major decision by both state and central governments. Acting on this, Dr. Agarwal and his colleagues are planning future steps to raise public awareness about the eco-sensitivity of this region and the importance of maintaining the flow of all of India's rivers. The group led by Dr. Agarwal feels that local mobilization and awareness is necessary to ensure that this is achieved.

When Dr. Agarwal announced his decision to fast-unto-death to protest projects that would end Bhagirathi and Ganga as we know them, many (including this author) wondered whether this would be in vain. The success of his protest is perhaps a sign of the strength of his belief but also the strength of the technical background that was used to critique the projects and predict their impact on the river systems.

Numerous energy projects have been started or have been proposed on the Bhagirathi, Ganga and numerous other rivers that define the Gangetic plain. While energy is a real issue and must be addressed, the human, economic and environmental costs of death of these rivers far surpasses energy benefits -- any community can attest to that. While an energy crisis looms, this is not the choice that benefits anyone.

Dr. Agarwal's effort was successful -- but this is not the end of the story. Conservation of our rivers requires community involvement. Now.

Dr Sanat Mohanty
www.TheSouthAsian.org

Published in
Assam Times, Guwahati, Assam
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
News Track India, Delhi
My News, Delhi
Thai Indian News, Bangkok, Thailand
Bihar and Jharkhand News Service, Bihar/ Jharkhand
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal
News Blaze, USA
Pakistan Post, Islamabad, Pakistan
Central Chronicle, Madhya Pradesh/ Chhattisgarh
The Bangladesh Today, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Bihar Times, Patna, Bihar

NAPM supports the ongoing fast of Hardoi residents who are demanding land possession due since past 32 years

NAPM supports the ongoing fast of Hardoi residents who are demanding land possession due since past 32 years

107 families of gram panchayat Jajpur, Tehsil Sandila, district Hardoi, were given 'patta' of the lands allotted to them 32 years before, but till-date they haven't got the possession. Powerful landlords still occupy the land allotted to these families. 16 people of these families are fasting since 28 July 2008 in front of Vidhan Sabha in Lucknow demanding justice overdue since past 32 years.

Dr Sandeep Pandey, Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (2002) and national convener of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) supported the fast.

Powerful landlords have been illegally occupying the land which rightfully belongs to 107 familes since past 32 years. These landlords have family members which include Shriram Singh Tomar and Advocate Nageshwar Singh, who is the gram pradhan too.

These landlords are politically connected and have been maneuvering their might to douse the people's agitation for land rights.

These landlords are also accused of forcibly taking away the crop harvest from the fields of these 107 families.

Lekhpal asks for Rs 2000 or more money, and some family members have even paid this amount to Lekhpal, despite of which they couldn't get the land possession.

Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) met the agitators in Lucknow and assured them that police will accompany them tomorrow to give them their much-awaited right to the land. But the people have no trust on verbal assurances and have decided to continue the agitation and fast in front of vidhan sabha.

This fast is led by Rajesh, who can be contacted at: 9793271930

NAPM supports the ongoing fast of Hardoi residents who are demanding land possession due since past 32 years

NAPM supports the ongoing fast of Hardoi residents who are demanding land possession due since past 32 years

107 families of gram panchayat Jajpur, Tehsil Sandila, district Hardoi, were given 'patta' of the lands allotted to them 32 years before, but till-date they haven't got the possession. Powerful landlords still occupy the land allotted to these families. 16 people of these families are fasting since 28 July 2008 in front of Vidhan Sabha in Lucknow demanding justice overdue since past 32 years.

Dr Sandeep Pandey, Ramon Magsaysay Awardee (2002) and national convener of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) supported the fast.

Powerful landlords have been illegally occupying the land which rightfully belongs to 107 familes since past 32 years. These landlords have family members which include Shriram Singh Tomar and Advocate Nageshwar Singh, who is the gram pradhan too.

These landlords are politically connected and have been maneuvering their might to douse the people's agitation for land rights.

These landlords are also accused of forcibly taking away the crop harvest from the fields of these 107 families.

Lekhpal asks for Rs 2000 or more money, and some family members have even paid this amount to Lekhpal, despite of which they couldn't get the land possession.

Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) met the agitators in Lucknow and assured them that police will accompany them tomorrow to give them their much-awaited right to the land. But the people have no trust on verbal assurances and have decided to continue the agitation and fast in front of vidhan sabha.

This fast is led by Rajesh, who can be contacted at: 9793271930

FAQ: Indo US Nuclear Deal - less energy, more hype

FAQ: Indo US Nuclear Deal - less energy, more hype



Will the nuclear deal provide nuclear fuel and reactors to India?



Contrary to the impression being created, the India US Civilian Cooperation Agreement is only a waiver allowing the US to trade with India on nuclear items. Any import of uranium or reactors will have to be separately negotiated with the US or other countries. The reason that this waiver is required is because after India's Pokhran I test, the US passed a law that barred the US from nuclear commerce with countries which had exploded a nuclear device and were defined as non-nuclear weapons countries in the Non-Proliferation Treaty.



How does the Hyde Act impact India?


The Hyde Act gives India a one time waiver and can be withdrawn by the US in case India does not abide the conditions of the Hyde Act. This includes any further tests and also a number of other issues not related to nuclear matters such as India aligning its polices with the US on foreign policy, working with the US on Iran, joining the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) that calls for illegal search and seizure operations in high seas. The US President has to report every year to the Congress on India's "good conduct" and if the US President or the US Congress is not happy, can either terminate or suspend nuclear trade with India. The Hyde Act also makes clear that India cannot get an uninterrupted fuel supply arrangement, cannot stockpile fuel and no other country can give better terms than the US in their nuclear trade with India. The Hyde Act also demanded that while India would not get uninterrupted fuel supply guarantees, it must put its civilian reactors under perpetual IAEA safeguards.



Since the Hyde Act is only an US Law, and the actual agreement with the US is the 123 Agreement, how is India is bound by the Hyde Act?


India is not bound by the Hyde Act, but the US is. For us, the 123 Agreement is a agreement with the US for supply of fuel and equipment. The key issue is how to bind the US as a supplier. The US officials are on record that the 123 Agreement ensures that all the Hyde Act conditions are met, the Government's contrary claims notwithstanding. "..we had to make sure that everything in this U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement, the 123 Agreement, was completely consistent with the Hyde Act and well within the bounds of the Hyde Act itself."(Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs ?Washington, DC ?July 27, 2007).



The US has built into the 123 Agreement that it can pull out whenever it wants: the termination clause makes clear that if either party feels consultation preceding termination will serve no purpose, they can cease further co-operation. In case the US terminates the 123 Agreement, all fuel supplies will stop and all equipment has to be returned to the US. And as per the Hyde Act, the termination clause can come into effect on a broad range of issues including India's continued links with Iran. Therefore, India can be held to ransom over fuel and spare parts for its imported reactors as it was earlier for the two reactors in Tarapur.



Since the issue is our ability to bind the US as a supplier to give guaranteed fuel supplies and spares, no Indian Act passed by Parliament -- as some are arguing -- will help.



Did not 123 Agreement and the IAEA Safeguards Agreement provide for uninterrupted fuel supplies?


The UPA and the PM had assured the country that though the Hyde Act made fuel supply conditional and barred stock piling of fuel except to meet immediate operational requirements, fuel supply assurances would be there in the 123 Agreement and also corrective measures in case of fuel failure would be addressed in the IAEA Agreement. The fuel supply assurances in the 123 Agreement have now been exposed as hollow. The IAEA was held out as the hope for corrective measures, in case fuel supply fails. It is now clear that though the IAEA Draft Safeguards Agreement has perpetual safeguards as per the Hyde Act, the so-called corrective measures are purely cosmetic. There are no corrective measures possible that include pulling Indian reactors out of safeguards once they are offered to IAEA.



Will the Deal not help in lifting sanctions on India for nuclear technology and dual use technology?


The Hyde Act and subsequently the 123 Agreement is clear that sanctions on only uranium fuel and reactors will be lifted. All other technology sanctions -- fuel enrichment, fuel reprocessing, heavy water production and other dual use technologies -- will remain. Dual use technologies are those that are used not only nuclear areas but also other applications such as aerospace, precision manufacturing, electronics, weather prediction, etc. Thus advanced technology for our industries, air crafts, rockets, etc., along with nuclear fuel cycle technology, will continue to be under sanctions. This is in contradiction to what the PM had assured the Indian Parliament.



The Fast breeder Reactors would be regarded as fuel enrichment or fuel reprocessing facilities and would not get access to any technology. Therefore, the mainstay of our future indigenous nuclear energy program will continue under technology sanctions.



Will importing nuclear plants solve our immediate power crisis?


There is a deliberate misinformation being created that nuclear plants will be a quick fix to our huge shortages and power cuts. Nuclear plants have to have detailed studies regarding where and how to put them up and take a long time to build. The import of reactors have to be negotiated commercially and their fuel has to be guaranteed. Typically, the entire process takes 8-10 years. So even if we finish all the steps required to complete the India US Nuclear Deal, it will take not less than 8-10 years before any electricity is produced. And this is an optimistic figure; the last plant that the US commissioned -- the Watts Bar 2 Reactor -- took 23 years to complete. So the belief that nuclear energy will provide an immediate solution to our power crisis is a deliberate fraud on the people.



As against this, the coal-fired plants can be built in 3 1/2- 4 years -- we can build coal-fired plants in about half the time it would take for nuclear plants. Gas fired plants can be put up even faster and with the new strikes of gas in the Kaveri Godaveri Basin, use of gas for producing power quickly is an attractive option.



What is the reason for the power crisis in the country?


This crisis of the power sector is the result of a systematic attempt by successive Governments to starve the sector of public funds hoping to make high-cost private power more acceptable to the people. Instead of investing in the power sector, the Government has gone in for privatisation of the power sector with higher prices of electricity. In the 7th Five Year Plan, we had put in about 21,000 MW; in each of the 8th, 9th and the 10th Plans, we have added less than what we added in the 7th Plan. The net result has been the increasing bankruptcy of State Electricity Boards and converting what was a shortage of the early 90's to a full-blown crisis today.



If we now have enough money for the power sector, we need then to think on the quickest and cheapest way to remove the current electricity shortages while keeping all our options open.



Will the India US Nuclear Deal provide energy security?


The India US Nuclear Deal is not about India's energy security. Energy security lies in using indigenous energy resources such as coal, gas, hydro, etc., and ensuring our future energy supplies from Iran and other countries in West and Central Asia. Obviously, augmenting indigenous coal production, building hydro plants, investing in oil exploration, securing gas supplies through Iran Gas Pipeline are much more important for India's energy security than buying imported reactors and importing uranium for such nuclear plants.



If we do want to build nuclear power plants, we can also build these indigenously. The original three-phase nuclear energy program was based on indigenous fuel and indigenous technology and can give us nuclear energy without making us dependent on imported uranium and imported reactors.



The Government is pushing hard for immediately importing 40,000 MW of Light Water Reactors. Such a scenario would make India completely dependent on imported uranium, which is controlled by a small international cartel. It because of this cartel that the price of uranium has gone up by five times in the last few years. The US, which controls the uranium cartel, would be therefore able to dictate its terms as it will have a stranglehold over these 40,000 MW of nuclear plants.



What are the relative costs of building nuclear plants and coal fired ones?

The nuclear plants -- if we take the cost of imported reactors -- are about three times (Rs. 10-12 crore per MW) the cost of coal-fired plants (Rs. 4 crore per MW). Simply put, with the same amount of money, we can install three coal-fired plants against one nuclear plant of the same size. If we want to install 40,000 MW by 2020 with imported nuclear plants as the Government wants to do, with the same amount of money it can build 100,000 MW of coal fired plants, that too in half the time.



The French company Areva is building a new 1600 MW nuclear plant in Finland. When the estimates were made, Areva had given estimates of $ 2,000 per KW. By the time the plant was ordered, it had gone up about $ 2,800 per KW. Currently, the costs have already shot up to a mammoth $ 6.1 billion or almost $ 4,000 per KW. This is four times the cost of coal-fired plants and also more than twice that of indigenous nuclear plants built by Nuclear Power Corporation. At these costs, even solar energy using solar thermal plants would be competitive!



What are the comparative costs of electricity from nuclear and coal-fired plants?



The cost of electricity from imported nuclear plants is high because of the high capital cost. Even without including de-commissioning costs, storage of spent fuel indefinitely, etc., the cost of electricity from imported nuclear plants will be more than Rs. 5.00 per unit as against about Rs. 2.00 to 2.50 from coal-fired plants. The cost of electricity is therefore at least twice that from coal fired plants.



For those who might remember the Enron case, would know that at that time, India was pushed to accept expensive private power only to help Enron. Once Enron started to produce power, its cost of Rs.5-7 per unit sank the Maharashtra State Electricity Board. If a 2,000 MW Enron plant sank the largest State Electricity Board in the country -- the impact of pushing high cost 40,000 MW of nuclear energy using imported reactors, as the Government wants to do, may well be imagined.



How much can nuclear energy contribute to our energy needs?


Even if we decide to invest heavily in nuclear energy, its contribution to our total energy needs is of limited importance. India has installed capacity of 143,000 MW currently and is slated to raise this to 700,000 to 800,000 MW by 2032. Coal currently meets about 66% of our electricity generation. In this nuclear energy is only 3% of current capacity electricity generating capacity and will at best reach a figure of 8% by 2032. The primary energy source for India will remain coal, which we have in adequate quantities for the next 100 years.



Is there a nuclear renaissance in the world as the Government is claiming?


Nuclear power is not the energy of choice for most advanced countries. Nuclear renaissance is a hype created by the nuclear industry in the US, Western Europe and Japan. In all these countries, the total number of nuclear plants currently being built is only 3. This is against 20 new plants being commissioned every year in the heydays of nuclear energy in these countries.



The US itself has commissioned its last reactor in 1996 and has not licensed a new reactor now for more than 27 years. Its interest in supplying India with reactors is in order to revive its own dying nuclear equipment industry, which has yet to secure a single order in the US despite the promise of billions of dollars in subsidies from the Bush Administration.



It is in order to bail out its dying nuclear industry that the US is so keen that India sign on the Nuclear Deal. Condoleezza Rice, testifying before Senate Foreign Relations Committee (April 5, 2006), pointed out the importance of the Deal for the US, "The initiative may add as many as three to 5,000 new direct jobs in the United States and about 10,000 to 15,000 indirect jobs in the United States, as the United States is able to engage in nuclear commerce and trade with India."



Is there a serious uranium shortage in the country for which we need this Nuclear Deal?


The Department of Atomic Energy has always maintained that we have enough indigenous uranium for 10,000 MW of nuclear power for 30 years. We are not yet close to that number. The present mismatch in uranium availability for operating reactors is a consequence of poor planning, and inadequate prospecting and mining. If we focus on our know uranium deposits and prospect for new ones, there will be enough uranium for a robust indigenous nuclear power programme.



It is because of a smaller availability of indigenous uranium that the 3-phase program started under Homi Bhabha, envisaged Fast Breeder Reactors. Breeder reactors can produce 50 times more energy from the same amount of uranium. This program also planned to use thorium, which we have in abundance. India is a world leader in Fast Breeder technology and is very near to commercialising it. It is not surprising that this is precisely the time that people who have put India under nuclear sanctions for the last 30 years are now talking about making India a member of the nuclear club. A simple objective is to get India to give up its quest for independence in nuclear technology and fuel.


Will nuclear energy address the issue of global warming?


The Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change, the most authoritative body on climate change has made clear that nuclear energy will have only a marginal impact on global warming. That is simply because its total contribution to the energy needs of the world would be relatively insignificant, even if we consider a very ambitious nuclear energy program. Therefore, the major thrust for reducing greenhouse gases would be greater energy efficiency, public transport, thrust for renewable energy sources and clean coal technologies.



Cynically, the US has been advancing the reduction of India's greenhouse gases as an argument for the India US Nuclear Deal. Nicholas Burns writes, "This agreement will deepen the strategic partnership, create new opportunities for U.S. businesses in India, enhance global energy security, and reduce India's carbon emissions" (Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2007). It is strange that this argument is being advanced when India's per capita emissions are one twentieth that of the US, which has yet to accept a cap on its own greenhouse emissions. The US position is that if the world is endangered by greenhouse emissions, it is countries such as India and China that need to limit their emissions. For the US, no reduction of greenhouse gases is possible; George Bush senior expressed this quite clearly, "American lifestyles are not open to negotiations".


Will investing heavily in nuclear energy reduce our dependence on imported oil and therefore reduce the burden of rising oil price?


Oil and gas, in primary energy terms, are much more important than nuclear as they are already about 45% of our primary energy demand. Oil alone is about 35% of our primary energy demand of which more than 50% is in the transport sector -- cars, buses and trucks and the rest in petrochemicals and fertilizers. Nuclear energy, in contrast is only 1.5% of our primary energy demand. Only a negligible amount of oil -- less than 3% of the total oil consumption -- is used in the power plants. Nuclear energy cannot be used as a substitute for oil except for this 3%; unless the Government experts have found a new way to burn uranium directly in cars and buses!



Though nuclear energy cannot be used in transport, natural gas can -- as we can see in the large number of buses and cars that run on CNG in Delhi. It is indeed strange that the Government, faced with a huge and ever rising oil bill, should focus on the nuclear deal while ignoring the Iran Gas Pipeline project, which will partly insulate India from oil price shocks. It only makes sense if we understand that one of the objectives of the US is to de-link India from Iran through the nuclear deal. "Diversifying India's energy sector will help it to meet its ever increasing needs and more importantly, ease its reliance on hydrocarbons and unstable sources like Iran. This is good for the United States." (Condoleezza Rice, testifying before Senate Foreign Relations Committee, April 5, 2006).



About 13,000 MW of gas-fired plants are partially idling as we also have a shortage of gas in the country. If we had gone ahead with the LNG or the Iran Pipeline project, we could have removed some of the electricity shortage we have in the country today.


How is the nuclear deal related to the India US Strategic ties?


The Nuclear Deal is a part of a larger vision which seeks to subordinate India to the US's strategic vision. For the last two years, the Government has been taking a number of steps that align India to the US's strategic interests. It is known that the US strategic thinking calls for dominance in all possible theatres. In Asia, the US has been handicapped that it has only one major base -- Okinawa, Japan -- in East, South-east and South Asia. The only other base it has in this region is in the Indian Ocean in Diego Garcia. That is why the US's interest in making India as a junior partner in Asia.



One of the major steps was signing of the New Framework for India-US Defence Relationship in Washington on June 28, 2005, just prior to Bush Manmohan Singh Agreement of July 18, 2005. In the Agreement, it is stated, "U.S.-India defence relationship derives from a common belief in freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, and seeks to advance shared security interests". Considering that the Iraq invasion was justified by the US as "bringing democracy to West Asia", a reference to a shared belief in "democracy and rule of law" cannot be acceptable to the Indian people. The Defence Framework Agreement is also sweeping in its scope; it envisages a host of strategic and military relations -- joint exercises, joint planning, joint operations, and defence procurement. India has also joined in with the US, Japan and Australia (or what is called the trilateral nations) for naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal, as a part of this.



The Manmohan Singh Bush agreement was followed immediately by India's two votes against Iran in the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA). Senator Lugar in his opening remarks in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had noted, approvingly, "We have already seen strategic benefits from our improving relationship with India. India's votes at the IAEA on the Iran issue last September and this past February demonstrate that New Delhi is able and willing to adjust its traditional foreign policies and play a constructive role on international issues." Manmohan Singh's oft-repeated claims that India's foreign policy would not change due to this Deal, is not borne out by his Governments' record, especially when the US officials are busy selling the agreement to the US Congress on the strategic value of India aligning with the US as a consequence of this agreement.



Currently, the Manmohan Singh Government is negotiating a Logistics and Service Agreement. It essentially allows refuelling and complete access to Indian facilities for all US ships and aircraft. The US navy can bomb Iraq and Iran and then come to India's ports for rest, recreation and refuelling, before going back for another round of hostilities. Step by step, from a vote against Iran, we are now to become hosts to the US navy in US-Israel military misadventures in West Asia.



Launching the TecSar spy satellite for Israel, which is being used to plan military attacks on Iran and Syria, show the depth of the strategic ties that India already has developed with Israel. India is not only Israel's biggest arm-buyer, it also buys more arms from the Israeli arms industry than the Israeli defence forces.



The Logistics and Service Agreement as well as the Defence Framework Agreement have also requirements of "interoperability". This calls for both sides to have the same equipment so that military personnel of both sides can use each other's equipment and operate better together. This also means spares can be shared by the two sides. That is why such agreements invariably lead to buying of US arms, particularly expensive aircraft and missiles. Billions of dollars of aircraft and missile sales is now in the offing -- F16 Aircraft, missile systems and ships.



COMMITTEE FOR AN INDEPENDENT FOREIGN POLICY

NEW DELHI

FAQ: Indo US Nuclear Deal - less energy, more hype

FAQ: Indo US Nuclear Deal - less energy, more hype



Will the nuclear deal provide nuclear fuel and reactors to India?



Contrary to the impression being created, the India US Civilian Cooperation Agreement is only a waiver allowing the US to trade with India on nuclear items. Any import of uranium or reactors will have to be separately negotiated with the US or other countries. The reason that this waiver is required is because after India's Pokhran I test, the US passed a law that barred the US from nuclear commerce with countries which had exploded a nuclear device and were defined as non-nuclear weapons countries in the Non-Proliferation Treaty.



How does the Hyde Act impact India?


The Hyde Act gives India a one time waiver and can be withdrawn by the US in case India does not abide the conditions of the Hyde Act. This includes any further tests and also a number of other issues not related to nuclear matters such as India aligning its polices with the US on foreign policy, working with the US on Iran, joining the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) that calls for illegal search and seizure operations in high seas. The US President has to report every year to the Congress on India's "good conduct" and if the US President or the US Congress is not happy, can either terminate or suspend nuclear trade with India. The Hyde Act also makes clear that India cannot get an uninterrupted fuel supply arrangement, cannot stockpile fuel and no other country can give better terms than the US in their nuclear trade with India. The Hyde Act also demanded that while India would not get uninterrupted fuel supply guarantees, it must put its civilian reactors under perpetual IAEA safeguards.



Since the Hyde Act is only an US Law, and the actual agreement with the US is the 123 Agreement, how is India is bound by the Hyde Act?


India is not bound by the Hyde Act, but the US is. For us, the 123 Agreement is a agreement with the US for supply of fuel and equipment. The key issue is how to bind the US as a supplier. The US officials are on record that the 123 Agreement ensures that all the Hyde Act conditions are met, the Government's contrary claims notwithstanding. "..we had to make sure that everything in this U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement, the 123 Agreement, was completely consistent with the Hyde Act and well within the bounds of the Hyde Act itself."(Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs ?Washington, DC ?July 27, 2007).



The US has built into the 123 Agreement that it can pull out whenever it wants: the termination clause makes clear that if either party feels consultation preceding termination will serve no purpose, they can cease further co-operation. In case the US terminates the 123 Agreement, all fuel supplies will stop and all equipment has to be returned to the US. And as per the Hyde Act, the termination clause can come into effect on a broad range of issues including India's continued links with Iran. Therefore, India can be held to ransom over fuel and spare parts for its imported reactors as it was earlier for the two reactors in Tarapur.



Since the issue is our ability to bind the US as a supplier to give guaranteed fuel supplies and spares, no Indian Act passed by Parliament -- as some are arguing -- will help.



Did not 123 Agreement and the IAEA Safeguards Agreement provide for uninterrupted fuel supplies?


The UPA and the PM had assured the country that though the Hyde Act made fuel supply conditional and barred stock piling of fuel except to meet immediate operational requirements, fuel supply assurances would be there in the 123 Agreement and also corrective measures in case of fuel failure would be addressed in the IAEA Agreement. The fuel supply assurances in the 123 Agreement have now been exposed as hollow. The IAEA was held out as the hope for corrective measures, in case fuel supply fails. It is now clear that though the IAEA Draft Safeguards Agreement has perpetual safeguards as per the Hyde Act, the so-called corrective measures are purely cosmetic. There are no corrective measures possible that include pulling Indian reactors out of safeguards once they are offered to IAEA.



Will the Deal not help in lifting sanctions on India for nuclear technology and dual use technology?


The Hyde Act and subsequently the 123 Agreement is clear that sanctions on only uranium fuel and reactors will be lifted. All other technology sanctions -- fuel enrichment, fuel reprocessing, heavy water production and other dual use technologies -- will remain. Dual use technologies are those that are used not only nuclear areas but also other applications such as aerospace, precision manufacturing, electronics, weather prediction, etc. Thus advanced technology for our industries, air crafts, rockets, etc., along with nuclear fuel cycle technology, will continue to be under sanctions. This is in contradiction to what the PM had assured the Indian Parliament.



The Fast breeder Reactors would be regarded as fuel enrichment or fuel reprocessing facilities and would not get access to any technology. Therefore, the mainstay of our future indigenous nuclear energy program will continue under technology sanctions.



Will importing nuclear plants solve our immediate power crisis?


There is a deliberate misinformation being created that nuclear plants will be a quick fix to our huge shortages and power cuts. Nuclear plants have to have detailed studies regarding where and how to put them up and take a long time to build. The import of reactors have to be negotiated commercially and their fuel has to be guaranteed. Typically, the entire process takes 8-10 years. So even if we finish all the steps required to complete the India US Nuclear Deal, it will take not less than 8-10 years before any electricity is produced. And this is an optimistic figure; the last plant that the US commissioned -- the Watts Bar 2 Reactor -- took 23 years to complete. So the belief that nuclear energy will provide an immediate solution to our power crisis is a deliberate fraud on the people.



As against this, the coal-fired plants can be built in 3 1/2- 4 years -- we can build coal-fired plants in about half the time it would take for nuclear plants. Gas fired plants can be put up even faster and with the new strikes of gas in the Kaveri Godaveri Basin, use of gas for producing power quickly is an attractive option.



What is the reason for the power crisis in the country?


This crisis of the power sector is the result of a systematic attempt by successive Governments to starve the sector of public funds hoping to make high-cost private power more acceptable to the people. Instead of investing in the power sector, the Government has gone in for privatisation of the power sector with higher prices of electricity. In the 7th Five Year Plan, we had put in about 21,000 MW; in each of the 8th, 9th and the 10th Plans, we have added less than what we added in the 7th Plan. The net result has been the increasing bankruptcy of State Electricity Boards and converting what was a shortage of the early 90's to a full-blown crisis today.



If we now have enough money for the power sector, we need then to think on the quickest and cheapest way to remove the current electricity shortages while keeping all our options open.



Will the India US Nuclear Deal provide energy security?


The India US Nuclear Deal is not about India's energy security. Energy security lies in using indigenous energy resources such as coal, gas, hydro, etc., and ensuring our future energy supplies from Iran and other countries in West and Central Asia. Obviously, augmenting indigenous coal production, building hydro plants, investing in oil exploration, securing gas supplies through Iran Gas Pipeline are much more important for India's energy security than buying imported reactors and importing uranium for such nuclear plants.



If we do want to build nuclear power plants, we can also build these indigenously. The original three-phase nuclear energy program was based on indigenous fuel and indigenous technology and can give us nuclear energy without making us dependent on imported uranium and imported reactors.



The Government is pushing hard for immediately importing 40,000 MW of Light Water Reactors. Such a scenario would make India completely dependent on imported uranium, which is controlled by a small international cartel. It because of this cartel that the price of uranium has gone up by five times in the last few years. The US, which controls the uranium cartel, would be therefore able to dictate its terms as it will have a stranglehold over these 40,000 MW of nuclear plants.



What are the relative costs of building nuclear plants and coal fired ones?

The nuclear plants -- if we take the cost of imported reactors -- are about three times (Rs. 10-12 crore per MW) the cost of coal-fired plants (Rs. 4 crore per MW). Simply put, with the same amount of money, we can install three coal-fired plants against one nuclear plant of the same size. If we want to install 40,000 MW by 2020 with imported nuclear plants as the Government wants to do, with the same amount of money it can build 100,000 MW of coal fired plants, that too in half the time.



The French company Areva is building a new 1600 MW nuclear plant in Finland. When the estimates were made, Areva had given estimates of $ 2,000 per KW. By the time the plant was ordered, it had gone up about $ 2,800 per KW. Currently, the costs have already shot up to a mammoth $ 6.1 billion or almost $ 4,000 per KW. This is four times the cost of coal-fired plants and also more than twice that of indigenous nuclear plants built by Nuclear Power Corporation. At these costs, even solar energy using solar thermal plants would be competitive!



What are the comparative costs of electricity from nuclear and coal-fired plants?



The cost of electricity from imported nuclear plants is high because of the high capital cost. Even without including de-commissioning costs, storage of spent fuel indefinitely, etc., the cost of electricity from imported nuclear plants will be more than Rs. 5.00 per unit as against about Rs. 2.00 to 2.50 from coal-fired plants. The cost of electricity is therefore at least twice that from coal fired plants.



For those who might remember the Enron case, would know that at that time, India was pushed to accept expensive private power only to help Enron. Once Enron started to produce power, its cost of Rs.5-7 per unit sank the Maharashtra State Electricity Board. If a 2,000 MW Enron plant sank the largest State Electricity Board in the country -- the impact of pushing high cost 40,000 MW of nuclear energy using imported reactors, as the Government wants to do, may well be imagined.



How much can nuclear energy contribute to our energy needs?


Even if we decide to invest heavily in nuclear energy, its contribution to our total energy needs is of limited importance. India has installed capacity of 143,000 MW currently and is slated to raise this to 700,000 to 800,000 MW by 2032. Coal currently meets about 66% of our electricity generation. In this nuclear energy is only 3% of current capacity electricity generating capacity and will at best reach a figure of 8% by 2032. The primary energy source for India will remain coal, which we have in adequate quantities for the next 100 years.



Is there a nuclear renaissance in the world as the Government is claiming?


Nuclear power is not the energy of choice for most advanced countries. Nuclear renaissance is a hype created by the nuclear industry in the US, Western Europe and Japan. In all these countries, the total number of nuclear plants currently being built is only 3. This is against 20 new plants being commissioned every year in the heydays of nuclear energy in these countries.



The US itself has commissioned its last reactor in 1996 and has not licensed a new reactor now for more than 27 years. Its interest in supplying India with reactors is in order to revive its own dying nuclear equipment industry, which has yet to secure a single order in the US despite the promise of billions of dollars in subsidies from the Bush Administration.



It is in order to bail out its dying nuclear industry that the US is so keen that India sign on the Nuclear Deal. Condoleezza Rice, testifying before Senate Foreign Relations Committee (April 5, 2006), pointed out the importance of the Deal for the US, "The initiative may add as many as three to 5,000 new direct jobs in the United States and about 10,000 to 15,000 indirect jobs in the United States, as the United States is able to engage in nuclear commerce and trade with India."



Is there a serious uranium shortage in the country for which we need this Nuclear Deal?


The Department of Atomic Energy has always maintained that we have enough indigenous uranium for 10,000 MW of nuclear power for 30 years. We are not yet close to that number. The present mismatch in uranium availability for operating reactors is a consequence of poor planning, and inadequate prospecting and mining. If we focus on our know uranium deposits and prospect for new ones, there will be enough uranium for a robust indigenous nuclear power programme.



It is because of a smaller availability of indigenous uranium that the 3-phase program started under Homi Bhabha, envisaged Fast Breeder Reactors. Breeder reactors can produce 50 times more energy from the same amount of uranium. This program also planned to use thorium, which we have in abundance. India is a world leader in Fast Breeder technology and is very near to commercialising it. It is not surprising that this is precisely the time that people who have put India under nuclear sanctions for the last 30 years are now talking about making India a member of the nuclear club. A simple objective is to get India to give up its quest for independence in nuclear technology and fuel.


Will nuclear energy address the issue of global warming?


The Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change, the most authoritative body on climate change has made clear that nuclear energy will have only a marginal impact on global warming. That is simply because its total contribution to the energy needs of the world would be relatively insignificant, even if we consider a very ambitious nuclear energy program. Therefore, the major thrust for reducing greenhouse gases would be greater energy efficiency, public transport, thrust for renewable energy sources and clean coal technologies.



Cynically, the US has been advancing the reduction of India's greenhouse gases as an argument for the India US Nuclear Deal. Nicholas Burns writes, "This agreement will deepen the strategic partnership, create new opportunities for U.S. businesses in India, enhance global energy security, and reduce India's carbon emissions" (Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2007). It is strange that this argument is being advanced when India's per capita emissions are one twentieth that of the US, which has yet to accept a cap on its own greenhouse emissions. The US position is that if the world is endangered by greenhouse emissions, it is countries such as India and China that need to limit their emissions. For the US, no reduction of greenhouse gases is possible; George Bush senior expressed this quite clearly, "American lifestyles are not open to negotiations".


Will investing heavily in nuclear energy reduce our dependence on imported oil and therefore reduce the burden of rising oil price?


Oil and gas, in primary energy terms, are much more important than nuclear as they are already about 45% of our primary energy demand. Oil alone is about 35% of our primary energy demand of which more than 50% is in the transport sector -- cars, buses and trucks and the rest in petrochemicals and fertilizers. Nuclear energy, in contrast is only 1.5% of our primary energy demand. Only a negligible amount of oil -- less than 3% of the total oil consumption -- is used in the power plants. Nuclear energy cannot be used as a substitute for oil except for this 3%; unless the Government experts have found a new way to burn uranium directly in cars and buses!



Though nuclear energy cannot be used in transport, natural gas can -- as we can see in the large number of buses and cars that run on CNG in Delhi. It is indeed strange that the Government, faced with a huge and ever rising oil bill, should focus on the nuclear deal while ignoring the Iran Gas Pipeline project, which will partly insulate India from oil price shocks. It only makes sense if we understand that one of the objectives of the US is to de-link India from Iran through the nuclear deal. "Diversifying India's energy sector will help it to meet its ever increasing needs and more importantly, ease its reliance on hydrocarbons and unstable sources like Iran. This is good for the United States." (Condoleezza Rice, testifying before Senate Foreign Relations Committee, April 5, 2006).



About 13,000 MW of gas-fired plants are partially idling as we also have a shortage of gas in the country. If we had gone ahead with the LNG or the Iran Pipeline project, we could have removed some of the electricity shortage we have in the country today.


How is the nuclear deal related to the India US Strategic ties?


The Nuclear Deal is a part of a larger vision which seeks to subordinate India to the US's strategic vision. For the last two years, the Government has been taking a number of steps that align India to the US's strategic interests. It is known that the US strategic thinking calls for dominance in all possible theatres. In Asia, the US has been handicapped that it has only one major base -- Okinawa, Japan -- in East, South-east and South Asia. The only other base it has in this region is in the Indian Ocean in Diego Garcia. That is why the US's interest in making India as a junior partner in Asia.



One of the major steps was signing of the New Framework for India-US Defence Relationship in Washington on June 28, 2005, just prior to Bush Manmohan Singh Agreement of July 18, 2005. In the Agreement, it is stated, "U.S.-India defence relationship derives from a common belief in freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, and seeks to advance shared security interests". Considering that the Iraq invasion was justified by the US as "bringing democracy to West Asia", a reference to a shared belief in "democracy and rule of law" cannot be acceptable to the Indian people. The Defence Framework Agreement is also sweeping in its scope; it envisages a host of strategic and military relations -- joint exercises, joint planning, joint operations, and defence procurement. India has also joined in with the US, Japan and Australia (or what is called the trilateral nations) for naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal, as a part of this.



The Manmohan Singh Bush agreement was followed immediately by India's two votes against Iran in the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA). Senator Lugar in his opening remarks in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had noted, approvingly, "We have already seen strategic benefits from our improving relationship with India. India's votes at the IAEA on the Iran issue last September and this past February demonstrate that New Delhi is able and willing to adjust its traditional foreign policies and play a constructive role on international issues." Manmohan Singh's oft-repeated claims that India's foreign policy would not change due to this Deal, is not borne out by his Governments' record, especially when the US officials are busy selling the agreement to the US Congress on the strategic value of India aligning with the US as a consequence of this agreement.



Currently, the Manmohan Singh Government is negotiating a Logistics and Service Agreement. It essentially allows refuelling and complete access to Indian facilities for all US ships and aircraft. The US navy can bomb Iraq and Iran and then come to India's ports for rest, recreation and refuelling, before going back for another round of hostilities. Step by step, from a vote against Iran, we are now to become hosts to the US navy in US-Israel military misadventures in West Asia.



Launching the TecSar spy satellite for Israel, which is being used to plan military attacks on Iran and Syria, show the depth of the strategic ties that India already has developed with Israel. India is not only Israel's biggest arm-buyer, it also buys more arms from the Israeli arms industry than the Israeli defence forces.



The Logistics and Service Agreement as well as the Defence Framework Agreement have also requirements of "interoperability". This calls for both sides to have the same equipment so that military personnel of both sides can use each other's equipment and operate better together. This also means spares can be shared by the two sides. That is why such agreements invariably lead to buying of US arms, particularly expensive aircraft and missiles. Billions of dollars of aircraft and missile sales is now in the offing -- F16 Aircraft, missile systems and ships.



COMMITTEE FOR AN INDEPENDENT FOREIGN POLICY

NEW DELHI

From politics of representation to the politics of numbers

From politics of representation to the politics of numbers
Medha Patkar

Time for the politics of people's movements to prevail

The game of numbers was never at its vulgar ebb as it is today. It is clear by now, more than ever before that electoral politics is nothing more than valueless and opportunistic arithmetic. Votes and candidates, parties and parliamentarians are being traded in the electoral bazaar of India as if politics is a game sans values. It probably is.

This is the irrefutable message that almost all the political parties have sent out this past week to the millions across India, the millions of dalits, adivasis, farmers, labourers, fish workers, hawkers, women and others who are economically, socially and politically marginalized, yet repose trust in their elected representatives and continue to vote for them, with a trust in their promises, if not their perspectives. This trust of the vast majority of India in the political establishment, which is manifested in their manifestos (though does not translate into reality) has been shattered yet again and the hidden faces and agendas are in the open for all to witness.

What initially began with the support for or opposition to the nuclear deal, has now turned into a full-fledged political 'tamasha' with almost all the parties realigning and reformulating political associates. Though it is being claimed that the ongoing process of political realignments is not just over the nuclear power deal, a vicious attempt to push the deal, staking all values and democratic norms is top on the agenda, which we cannot afford to overlook.

Those parties that had a popular image of a certain 'ideology' are proving that ideology and people's issues are a trifle if they cannot fetch the 'numerical victory'. The hoax of nuclear energy has already been busted, but the Congress is bent on pushing it at any and all costs and its newfound 'allies' care a pittance about India's sovereignty and national interests, let alone the
hazards of nuclear energy. They are more than content with grabbing a ministerial berth or two and throwing ideology (which some of us thought, had existed) to the winds. These erratic and valueless somersaults by political parties is also a blatant transgression of the internal party democracy, as many of the cadres, obviously, do not endorse such opportunity-driven shifts.

Though the Left has taken a consistent stand on the issue of the nuclear deal, they still have not taken a clear position against nuclear energy and related concerns, which are equally grave issues.

The mammoth electoral drama that is on in the capital of India will culminate very soon, probably even tomorrow and hit the headlines any moment. Presuming the Congress would be able to tide over this crisis, the Prime Minister has already announced his ambition to go a step ahead with his pet-agenda, 'Reforms'. This time, more reforms in the Insurance, Banking and Pension sectors. In the political imbroglio, we, the people's movements, cannot afford to ignore these vital issues as well.

Amidst all this drama, the real and pressing concerns of the people, be they of spiralling price-rise, rising communalism, fascism and regionalism, corporate loot of land, water and other natural resources, or of lop-sided 'reforms' to name just a few, are not only side-tracked but are in a way actively promoted by these very same parties at various levels. These events, have however, acted as an eye-opener once again to people's movements, proving the opportunism of
those in electoral politics.

Given these fast-paced and value-sapped moves by parties, people's movements are already rethinking their strategies to combat this pattern of vulgar electoral gambles by forging strong alliances among various mass-based groups across the country.

We must continue to put forth and assert our multi-point transformative and self-reliant action agenda as against the single-point agendas of electoral parties and dependence on multilateral institutions like the World Bank and WTO, and must in fact have no engagement with these institutions. It is about time the people's movements ponder with collective earnestness of the future of popular issues and movements, and move toward empowering ourselves towards this
end. Asserting our allegiance to non-compromising values of peoples' struggles and non-negotiable positions on basic rights, we all should accord utmost priority to the real issues that country is facing and ensure the rights and dues of a vast majority of agricultural and unorganized labourers, construction workers, fish workers and other sections who are affected.

People's right to decentralized and democratic development, opposing caste and gender oppression, towards managing our resources is at the core.

The National Alliance of People's Movements expresses its deep anguish and disapproval of these happenings and reminds political parties of the promises that they have been making to the people of this country. Even as we wait and watch this game of numbers, we must also feel stronger, in the realization of the fact that a vast majority of this country's populace is neither privy to nor does it approve of such political machinations. This is a call to the diverse people's struggles and movements across India to see political parties for what they are and continue to struggle for our economic, social, political and cultural spaces and rights by concretely furthering the process of non-electoral people's politics as a mainstream and inevitable alternative.

Medha Patkar

(The author is the recipient of Right Livelihood Award for the year 1991. She received the 1999 M.A.Thomas National Human Rights Award from Vigil India Movement. She has also received numerous other awards, including the Deena Nath Mangeshkar Award, Mahatma Phule Award, Goldman Environment Prize, Green Ribbon Award for Best International Political Campaigner by BBC, and the Human Rights Defender's Award from Amnesty International. She is the national convener of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) and has led Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) for more than a decade.)

Published in
Rediff News, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal
Assam Times, Guwahati, Assam
Top News,
News Track India, Delhi
Fresh News, Delhi
My News, Delhi
News Blaze, USA
Daijiworld, west coast, India
Orissa News, Bhubhneshwar, Orissa
Bihar and Jharkhand News, Bihar/ Jharkhand
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
The Statesman, Kolkata, West Bengal
Pakistan Post, Islamabad, Pakistan

From politics of representation to the politics of numbers

From politics of representation to the politics of numbers
Medha Patkar

Time for the politics of people's movements to prevail

The game of numbers was never at its vulgar ebb as it is today. It is clear by now, more than ever before that electoral politics is nothing more than valueless and opportunistic arithmetic. Votes and candidates, parties and parliamentarians are being traded in the electoral bazaar of India as if politics is a game sans values. It probably is.

This is the irrefutable message that almost all the political parties have sent out this past week to the millions across India, the millions of dalits, adivasis, farmers, labourers, fish workers, hawkers, women and others who are economically, socially and politically marginalized, yet repose trust in their elected representatives and continue to vote for them, with a trust in their promises, if not their perspectives. This trust of the vast majority of India in the political establishment, which is manifested in their manifestos (though does not translate into reality) has been shattered yet again and the hidden faces and agendas are in the open for all to witness.

What initially began with the support for or opposition to the nuclear deal, has now turned into a full-fledged political 'tamasha' with almost all the parties realigning and reformulating political associates. Though it is being claimed that the ongoing process of political realignments is not just over the nuclear power deal, a vicious attempt to push the deal, staking all values and democratic norms is top on the agenda, which we cannot afford to overlook.

Those parties that had a popular image of a certain 'ideology' are proving that ideology and people's issues are a trifle if they cannot fetch the 'numerical victory'. The hoax of nuclear energy has already been busted, but the Congress is bent on pushing it at any and all costs and its newfound 'allies' care a pittance about India's sovereignty and national interests, let alone the
hazards of nuclear energy. They are more than content with grabbing a ministerial berth or two and throwing ideology (which some of us thought, had existed) to the winds. These erratic and valueless somersaults by political parties is also a blatant transgression of the internal party democracy, as many of the cadres, obviously, do not endorse such opportunity-driven shifts.

Though the Left has taken a consistent stand on the issue of the nuclear deal, they still have not taken a clear position against nuclear energy and related concerns, which are equally grave issues.

The mammoth electoral drama that is on in the capital of India will culminate very soon, probably even tomorrow and hit the headlines any moment. Presuming the Congress would be able to tide over this crisis, the Prime Minister has already announced his ambition to go a step ahead with his pet-agenda, 'Reforms'. This time, more reforms in the Insurance, Banking and Pension sectors. In the political imbroglio, we, the people's movements, cannot afford to ignore these vital issues as well.

Amidst all this drama, the real and pressing concerns of the people, be they of spiralling price-rise, rising communalism, fascism and regionalism, corporate loot of land, water and other natural resources, or of lop-sided 'reforms' to name just a few, are not only side-tracked but are in a way actively promoted by these very same parties at various levels. These events, have however, acted as an eye-opener once again to people's movements, proving the opportunism of
those in electoral politics.

Given these fast-paced and value-sapped moves by parties, people's movements are already rethinking their strategies to combat this pattern of vulgar electoral gambles by forging strong alliances among various mass-based groups across the country.

We must continue to put forth and assert our multi-point transformative and self-reliant action agenda as against the single-point agendas of electoral parties and dependence on multilateral institutions like the World Bank and WTO, and must in fact have no engagement with these institutions. It is about time the people's movements ponder with collective earnestness of the future of popular issues and movements, and move toward empowering ourselves towards this
end. Asserting our allegiance to non-compromising values of peoples' struggles and non-negotiable positions on basic rights, we all should accord utmost priority to the real issues that country is facing and ensure the rights and dues of a vast majority of agricultural and unorganized labourers, construction workers, fish workers and other sections who are affected.

People's right to decentralized and democratic development, opposing caste and gender oppression, towards managing our resources is at the core.

The National Alliance of People's Movements expresses its deep anguish and disapproval of these happenings and reminds political parties of the promises that they have been making to the people of this country. Even as we wait and watch this game of numbers, we must also feel stronger, in the realization of the fact that a vast majority of this country's populace is neither privy to nor does it approve of such political machinations. This is a call to the diverse people's struggles and movements across India to see political parties for what they are and continue to struggle for our economic, social, political and cultural spaces and rights by concretely furthering the process of non-electoral people's politics as a mainstream and inevitable alternative.

Medha Patkar

(The author is the recipient of Right Livelihood Award for the year 1991. She received the 1999 M.A.Thomas National Human Rights Award from Vigil India Movement. She has also received numerous other awards, including the Deena Nath Mangeshkar Award, Mahatma Phule Award, Goldman Environment Prize, Green Ribbon Award for Best International Political Campaigner by BBC, and the Human Rights Defender's Award from Amnesty International. She is the national convener of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) and has led Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) for more than a decade.)

Published in
Rediff News, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal
Assam Times, Guwahati, Assam
Top News,
News Track India, Delhi
Fresh News, Delhi
My News, Delhi
News Blaze, USA
Daijiworld, west coast, India
Orissa News, Bhubhneshwar, Orissa
Bihar and Jharkhand News, Bihar/ Jharkhand
The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea
The Statesman, Kolkata, West Bengal
Pakistan Post, Islamabad, Pakistan

NAPM condemns murder of its Karnataka state convenor

NAPM condemns murder of its Karnataka state convenor

[To read this posting in Hindi language, click here]

We are shocked to learn of the gruesome murder of senior activist and campaigner for prohibition of liquor, Mr. A.D. Babu, one of the state convenors of NAPM in Karnataka. This is one more instance of the continuing chain of violence targeting activists working among the poorest and downtrodden, whether they be campaigners against liquor or against corruption. And more often than not Governments not only stand as mute witnesses to such acts but are often involved either in cover ups or at least lackadaisical in investigations of such crimes. We hope the new Karnataka Government which has made various promises to the people of the state will order a thorough investigation of the murder and bring all those involved, however strong and powerful they are, to book.

The NAPM convenors meeting in Wardha today offers its most heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and stands with it at this tragic hour.

We demand a CBI enquiry in this case as we apprehend that the state authorities may not be able to take a neutral stand.

We also propose that the governments rethink about the policy of allowing liquor sale. With the kind of revenues and vested interests involved in production and sale of liquor, anti-social elements will always continue to dominate this business and such incidents as above would continue to take place. Liquor has played havoc with the lives of poor people, especially women in the families, and is a curse on society. We demand a total ban on liquor.

Medha Patkar, P. Chennaiah, D. Gabriele, S.R. Suniti, Anand Mazgaonkar, Ulka Mahajan, Swati Desai, Mukta Srivastava, Srikanth, Sandeep Pandey


NAPM contact Numbers in Karnataka:
Sr. Celia, 09945716052; Balakrishnan: 080-23392354; David Selveraj, 09880290181

Funeral is tomorrow in Mangalore.


National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM)

NAPM condemns murder of its Karnataka state convenor

NAPM condemns murder of its Karnataka state convenor

[To read this posting in Hindi language, click here]

We are shocked to learn of the gruesome murder of senior activist and campaigner for prohibition of liquor, Mr. A.D. Babu, one of the state convenors of NAPM in Karnataka. This is one more instance of the continuing chain of violence targeting activists working among the poorest and downtrodden, whether they be campaigners against liquor or against corruption. And more often than not Governments not only stand as mute witnesses to such acts but are often involved either in cover ups or at least lackadaisical in investigations of such crimes. We hope the new Karnataka Government which has made various promises to the people of the state will order a thorough investigation of the murder and bring all those involved, however strong and powerful they are, to book.

The NAPM convenors meeting in Wardha today offers its most heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and stands with it at this tragic hour.

We demand a CBI enquiry in this case as we apprehend that the state authorities may not be able to take a neutral stand.

We also propose that the governments rethink about the policy of allowing liquor sale. With the kind of revenues and vested interests involved in production and sale of liquor, anti-social elements will always continue to dominate this business and such incidents as above would continue to take place. Liquor has played havoc with the lives of poor people, especially women in the families, and is a curse on society. We demand a total ban on liquor.

Medha Patkar, P. Chennaiah, D. Gabriele, S.R. Suniti, Anand Mazgaonkar, Ulka Mahajan, Swati Desai, Mukta Srivastava, Srikanth, Sandeep Pandey


NAPM contact Numbers in Karnataka:
Sr. Celia, 09945716052; Balakrishnan: 080-23392354; David Selveraj, 09880290181

Funeral is tomorrow in Mangalore.


National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM)

Help Aamir Khan to keep promises and quit smoking

Help Aamir Khan to keep promises and quit smoking

Last week the bollywood heartthrob film-star Aamir Khan was found smoking after the launch of the latest blockbuster movie 'jaane tu … ya jaane na'. Earlier in June 2008, he was reported saying that he is back to smoking due to 'stress' related to the forthcoming release of 'jaane tu … ya jaane na' film and he will quit smoking right after the film-release. Although the film has been successfully released and is doing well at box office, the cigarettes are hard to leave… and Aamir continues to smoke.

Tobacco is addictive, and some researchers feel nicotine is as addictive as heroin. It is not impossible to quit, but not easy too, because tobacco is so powerfully addictive!

India, luckily, has a strong tobacco control policy framework today, with a national parliamentary Act (The Cigarette and other Tobacco Products Act 2003) and is a party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) - the first global corporate accountability and public health treaty. But it is undoubtedly lagging too far behind in implementation of these tobacco control policies that are known to work.

Services to treat tobacco dependence are fully available in only nine countries with 5% of the world's population, and India is not one of them. India must establish and rapidly scale-up programmes providing low-cost, effective interventions for tobacco users who want to quit.

Scaling up tobacco cessation clinics by integrating it in present healthcare system and building upon the capacities of the existing healthcare staff to provide tobacco cessation counseling and services, is going to take much longer than we expect. Thankfully India has well-equipped and trained healthcare personnel in a very limited number of tobacco cessation clinics (TCC). These existing TCCs should function as training resource centre to other primary, secondary and tertiary levels of private-public healthcare centres, and facilitate rapid scale-up of tobacco cessation services nation-wide.

The tobacco industry has failed to warn its customers of the harms caused by its products and instead has spent millions falsely portraying tobacco use as glamorous and appealing. Film-stars have tremendous influence on young-minds and this is one big reason why India's Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss has been making repeated appeals to bollywood film-fraternity to refrain from on-screen tobacco use.

We must move rapidly to protect health by requiring picture-based health warnings on tobacco products. Despite conclusive evidence, relatively few tobacco users understand the full extent of their health risk. Graphic warnings on tobacco packaging deter tobacco use.

Chandigarh, India's first city to go smoke-free on 15 July 2007, can potentially become a good example for the rest of the country to go smoke-free - only if government officials, civil society and other stakeholders effectively synergise to enforce existing tobacco control policies with due diligence. All people have a fundamental right to breathe clean air. Smoke-free places are essential to protect non-smokers and also to encourage smokers to quit.

Partial bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, do not work because the industry merely redirects its resources to other non-regulated marketing channels. The 'Red & White' bravery awards are an example of the surrogate advertising.

Raising taxes and therefore prices, has proven to be an effective way to reduce tobacco use, and especially to discourage young people from using tobacco. Only 4 countries, representing 2% of the world's population, have tax rates greater than 75% of retail price. India did raise the taxes on non-filter cigarettes but is clearly mandated to do a lot more on raising taxes of all tobacco products significantly.

In India about a million people die needlessly each year from tobacco use. The single most preventable cause of death world wide, is tobacco use. Tobacco use has been found to kill one-third to one-half of its users. When International tobacco companies like Japan Tobacco are applying to Government of India to increase their stake in tobacco business on Indian soil, there is all the more reason to team up and strengthen tobacco control policies in India.

The paramount influence film-stars have on young minds is well-documented. Quitting tobacco use by youth icons like Aamir Khan will inspire millions of youth in India to go smoke-free. Aamir demonstrated that influence with his movie 'Taare Zameen par' which certainly increased the sensitivities of people towards dyslexia in one of the most powerful manner. Aamir should continue to be an inspiration.

Published in

Central Chronicle, Madhya Pradesh/ Chhattisgarh

American Chronicle, USA

Assam Times, Guwahati, Assam

Thai Indian News, Bangkok, Thailand

California Chronicle, California, USA

Los Angeles Chronicle, Los Angeles, USA

Orissa News, Bhubhneshwar, Orissa

News Blaze, USA

News Track India, Delhi

My News, Delhi

The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea

Fresh News, Delhi

Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal

Bihar and Jharkhand News, Bihar/ Jharkhand

Pakistan Post, Islamabad, Pakistan

Help Aamir Khan to keep promises and quit smoking

Help Aamir Khan to keep promises and quit smoking

Last week the bollywood heartthrob film-star Aamir Khan was found smoking after the launch of the latest blockbuster movie 'jaane tu … ya jaane na'. Earlier in June 2008, he was reported saying that he is back to smoking due to 'stress' related to the forthcoming release of 'jaane tu … ya jaane na' film and he will quit smoking right after the film-release. Although the film has been successfully released and is doing well at box office, the cigarettes are hard to leave… and Aamir continues to smoke.

Tobacco is addictive, and some researchers feel nicotine is as addictive as heroin. It is not impossible to quit, but not easy too, because tobacco is so powerfully addictive!

India, luckily, has a strong tobacco control policy framework today, with a national parliamentary Act (The Cigarette and other Tobacco Products Act 2003) and is a party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) - the first global corporate accountability and public health treaty. But it is undoubtedly lagging too far behind in implementation of these tobacco control policies that are known to work.

Services to treat tobacco dependence are fully available in only nine countries with 5% of the world's population, and India is not one of them. India must establish and rapidly scale-up programmes providing low-cost, effective interventions for tobacco users who want to quit.

Scaling up tobacco cessation clinics by integrating it in present healthcare system and building upon the capacities of the existing healthcare staff to provide tobacco cessation counseling and services, is going to take much longer than we expect. Thankfully India has well-equipped and trained healthcare personnel in a very limited number of tobacco cessation clinics (TCC). These existing TCCs should function as training resource centre to other primary, secondary and tertiary levels of private-public healthcare centres, and facilitate rapid scale-up of tobacco cessation services nation-wide.

The tobacco industry has failed to warn its customers of the harms caused by its products and instead has spent millions falsely portraying tobacco use as glamorous and appealing. Film-stars have tremendous influence on young-minds and this is one big reason why India's Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss has been making repeated appeals to bollywood film-fraternity to refrain from on-screen tobacco use.

We must move rapidly to protect health by requiring picture-based health warnings on tobacco products. Despite conclusive evidence, relatively few tobacco users understand the full extent of their health risk. Graphic warnings on tobacco packaging deter tobacco use.

Chandigarh, India's first city to go smoke-free on 15 July 2007, can potentially become a good example for the rest of the country to go smoke-free - only if government officials, civil society and other stakeholders effectively synergise to enforce existing tobacco control policies with due diligence. All people have a fundamental right to breathe clean air. Smoke-free places are essential to protect non-smokers and also to encourage smokers to quit.

Partial bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, do not work because the industry merely redirects its resources to other non-regulated marketing channels. The 'Red & White' bravery awards are an example of the surrogate advertising.

Raising taxes and therefore prices, has proven to be an effective way to reduce tobacco use, and especially to discourage young people from using tobacco. Only 4 countries, representing 2% of the world's population, have tax rates greater than 75% of retail price. India did raise the taxes on non-filter cigarettes but is clearly mandated to do a lot more on raising taxes of all tobacco products significantly.

In India about a million people die needlessly each year from tobacco use. The single most preventable cause of death world wide, is tobacco use. Tobacco use has been found to kill one-third to one-half of its users. When International tobacco companies like Japan Tobacco are applying to Government of India to increase their stake in tobacco business on Indian soil, there is all the more reason to team up and strengthen tobacco control policies in India.

The paramount influence film-stars have on young minds is well-documented. Quitting tobacco use by youth icons like Aamir Khan will inspire millions of youth in India to go smoke-free. Aamir demonstrated that influence with his movie 'Taare Zameen par' which certainly increased the sensitivities of people towards dyslexia in one of the most powerful manner. Aamir should continue to be an inspiration.

Published in

Central Chronicle, Madhya Pradesh/ Chhattisgarh

American Chronicle, USA

Assam Times, Guwahati, Assam

Thai Indian News, Bangkok, Thailand

California Chronicle, California, USA

Los Angeles Chronicle, Los Angeles, USA

Orissa News, Bhubhneshwar, Orissa

News Blaze, USA

News Track India, Delhi

My News, Delhi

The Seoul Times, Seoul, South Korea

Fresh News, Delhi

Media for Freedom, Kathmandu, Nepal

Bihar and Jharkhand News, Bihar/ Jharkhand

Pakistan Post, Islamabad, Pakistan