Indian community burgeoning in America

By ERIN TEXEIRA AP National Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

EDISON, N.J. — The train station billboards tell it all.

Local travel agents promise the best airfares from New York to Mumbai. Shagun Fashions is selling dazzling Indian saris. And DirecTV offers "the six top Indian channels direct to you."

Roughly every third person who lives Edison, a New York suburb, is of Asian Indian ancestry. Many are new immigrants who have come to work as physicians, engineers and high-tech experts and are drawn to "Little India" by convenience _ it's near the commuter train _ and familiarity.

Here they can "get their groceries and goods from home," says Aruna Rao, a mental health counselor who lives in town.

Although a steady stream of Indians have settled in the U.S. since the 1960s, immigrants positively poured into the country between 2000 and 2005 _ arriving at a higher rate than any other group.

Not only is the Indian community burgeoning, it's maturing. Increasingly, after decades of quietly establishing themselves, Indians are becoming more vocal in the American conversation _ about politics, ethnicity and many other topics.

"I've been studying the community for 20 years and in the last four or five years something different has been happening," said Madhulika Khandelwal, president of the Asian American Center at Queens College in New York. "Indian-Americans are finally out there speaking for themselves."

Roughly 2.3 million people of Indian ancestry, including immigrants and the American-born, now call the U.S. home, according to 2005 Census data. That's up from 1.7 million in 2000.

They have big communities in New Jersey, New York, California and Texas, and their average yearly household income is more than $60,000 _ 35 percent higher than the nation overall. Indian Americans, sent about $3 billion back to India in 2005, World Bank data show.

And so when Virginia Sen. George Allen was caught on video in August calling an Indian American man "macaca" _ a type of monkey and an offensive term _ the community quickly responded.

Within days after the reports emerged, Sanjay Puri, founder of the U.S. Indian Political Action Committee, and other Indian leaders in the Washington, D.C., area requested and got a lengthy meeting with Allen, Puri said. The senator publicly apologized.

If this had happened 10 years ago?

"It would have been a lot harder," Puri said. "But this is a prosperous and fast-growing community. People are beginning to understand that we are contributing politically, so that made a big difference."

Many Indian immigrants arrived in the U.S. focused almost entirely on individual success _ getting a top-notch job, making good money and pushing their children to do the same.

But things are changing. After the Sept. 11 attacks, many Indian Sikhs, who wear turbans as part of their faith, were mistaken for Muslims _ and terrorists. Hundreds were harassed or worse: In Mesa, Ariz., a Sikh gas station owner was shot and killed on Sept. 15, 2001, by a man who told police "all Arabs had to be shot."

Few knew their rights because few had been engaged politically, said Amardeep Singh, executive director of The Sikh Coalition in New York.

"We were caught with our pants down," he said. "Sept. 11 created a confrontation. We realized we now need to actively involve ourselves in the policy-making process. Otherwise policies will be made that exclude us."

The group now has two bills pending in the New York city council _ one would allow city employees to wear turbans and the other would make city officials craft plans to prevent hate crimes if another terrorist attack happened. The community recently saw three Sikhs elected to low-level offices around the city. "It's a good first step," Singh said.

The push extends beyond Sikhs, Puri said.

"The question that every Indian-American is asking lately: Is the American dream _ making a lot of money and having fancy cars _ enough?" he said. "Giving back and being active is also happening."

In New Jersey, Ready to Run, a Rutgers University-based project that helps women seek public office, will next year for the first time court Asian women, said Reema Desai, an immigration lawyer who is helping organize the outreach.

Indians also are working outside politics to influence broader society. They are overrepresented among college professors, engineers and technology workers. Between 10 percent and 12 percent of all medical school students are Indians, according to the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, the biggest physicians' group in the nation after the American Medical Association.

Half of all motel rooms in the nation are owned by Indians, according to the Asian American Hotel Owners Association.

In New York City, Basement Banghra, a popular Indian music event that blends hip-hop rhythms with Indian melodies, attracts hundreds of partygoers to Sounds of Brazil nightclub each month. It will mark its 10th anniversary next year.

There are novelists, including Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri of Brooklyn; filmmakers like Mira Nair, whose "The Namesake," based on Lahiri's novel and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, is due in theaters next spring; and prime-time television stars such as Parminder Nagra on "E.R." and Naveen Andrews on "Lost."

"Many of these things are converging around the same time, so it all adds up," Khandelwal said. "It seems like every other day there's a big book or movie or high-profile accomplishment."

Increasingly, American-born Indians _ who call themselves Desis _ have the confidence to make their voices heard. "There is a clear rise of this generation," she said.

With rapid growth, the community is becoming more complex.

Layered atop the dizzying diversity of India itself _ there are dozens of languages, and distinct regional differences in culture, politics and cuisine _ are growing class differences among Indian-Americans.

About one-tenth live in poverty, and as many as 400,000 are undocumented, said Deepa Iyer, executive director of South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow in Takoma Park, Md.

"This is a community of contrasts," Iyer said. "We hear so much about this highly educated and affluent group, but we also have segments that are not fluent in English and are battling immigration problems and hate crimes."

Such topics are often discussed in New Jersey, home to 170,000 Asian Indians as of Census 2000. Many have fresh memories of gangs of anti-Indian white youth in the late 1980s in Jersey City _ then the nexus of the state's Indian community _ who called themselves Dotbusters, referring to the decorative bindi some Hindi women wear between their eyebrows. In 1987, a finance manager was beaten to death with a baseball bat while his attackers shouted "Hindu! Hindu!"

Such crimes have diminished, but they never disappeared, said Singh of The Sikh Coalition. Last year, he said, two Sikh youth suffered violent harassment in New Jersey public schools.

In Edison in recent years, there's been low-grade tension between Indians and police, residents said, and it erupted during this year's July 4 celebrations. Police were called to a heavily Indian apartment complex to disperse a crowd of nearly 800, and one Indian man said he was beaten by police, said Jerry Barca, spokesman for Edison's mayor.

When the community held a protest the next month, the man was arrested on the spot for being an illegal immigrant. He remains in federal custody.

"There's definitely tension and suspicion," said Rao, who has lived in Edison for seven years and said the problems have left some Indians disillusioned. "People feel like, 'What am I doing in this country?' A lot of it is, 'I told you so. We'll never be accepted or assimilated.'" She added that there are no Indians on Edison's school board or city council.

City officials called on state mediators to help build bridges in the community, and the advisory body includes two Indian-Americans, Barca said. "It's going to take time, but it's good because now people in Edison are talking _ as opposed to `you live over there and we live over here,'" he said.

Desai, the immigration lawyer, has lived in New Jersey since she was 3, and said she sees many signs of positive change compared to a generation ago.

"We've made an impact in all sorts of things, and now you even have people knowing about our holidays and our culture," she said. "Things are different now. We're more visible."

India's Silicon Valley Government support Research on Holy Cow Urine!

Four students from SRNM College in Shimoga, the souther indian state of Karnataka claimed that the urine of "Malnad Gidda" ( a cattle species found in Karnataka state ) They claimed that it has medicinal value and can be best used as a fungicide in agriculture. K R Akshatha, M D Akshatha, K Bellishri, and B S Bhavya said they proved it after nearly three years of research.

Press reports says that, Karnataka Government, which is ruled by an alliance of RSS, a hindu extremist group has allocated 20 acres of land for research on cow urine. Rs 10 lakh grant will be provided for such institutions and Rs 25 lakh reserved to conduct research on cow urine by University of Veterinary Animal Fisheries Sciences (KVAFS) in Bidar and Bangalore . It sent another project proposal seeking Rs 9 crore to conduct research on cow urine.

Dr Girish, a spokesman of GOU SANSAT (Cow Parlianment) ,a camoflauged organization promoted by RSS says that ‘Gou-Mootra’ (cow urine) had a lot of medicinal value and it has potential to cure major diseases, including cancer. RSS is the hindu militant organization which promotes right wing nationalism in India. Critics believe that the research on such controversial projects are made by hindutva groups for finding tactical governmental funding to Hindu militant groups. In India, RSS and its various affiliate bodies together known as "Sangh Parivar ". The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) advocates a form of Hindu nationalism, which seeks to establish India as a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation), and rejects the notion of a composite Indian identity brought about by a synthesis of different cultures and faiths.

Recently, an attempt by Hindu extremists to stop the ritual slaughter of cows by Muslims triggered riots that killed two muslims in Mangalore, a city in the same state. Relations between Hindus, who make up more than 80 percent of India's billion people, and Muslims — who at 14 percent form the country's largest religious minority — have been largely peaceful since India's independence from Britain in 1947 despite sporadic bouts of violence.

In India, "Holy Cow conscept is as famous as the caste system. It’s a comic idea to nations of hamburger eaters and almost incomprehensible given how many go hungry in India. However, when you consider that 70% of India still lives in the country it becomes clearer. Cows are worshipped as the worldly manifestation of goddess Laxmi (goddess of wealth). Legend has it that gods and goddess reside in each and every cow. The Gai (Cow) Pooja is considered as worshiping the mother of the universe – the cow. The Gai Pooja is performed by giving a tika to a cow on her forehead, and a flower garland (leis) on the neck, and offering good meals. Those performing Gai Pooja place her manure in different parts of the home; drink a drop or two of the cow's urine as a part of a purification process. Gai Pooja is one of the biggest festival of Hindu culture across India and Nepal.

So far, many research had been done on different qualities of cow urine by RSS sponsored research centres. They claimed that it has been used as nutrient and natural fertilizer in agriculture since generations. But none had till now worked on its quality as a fungicide. These four students were the first to do research on this aspect.

Emil Steiner, Washington Post, October 28 2006

Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006 : India remains at one of the lowest position, 105

26 October 2006

War, the destroyer of press freedom in Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority

France and the United States slip further The Arab world affected by row over Mohammed cartoons

New countries have moved ahead of some Western democracies in the fifth annual Reporters Without Borders Worldwide Press Freedom Index, issued today, while the most repressive countries are still the same ones.

“Unfortunately nothing has changed in the countries that are the worst predators of press freedom,” the organisation said, “and journalists in North Korea, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Burma and China are still risking their life or imprisonment for trying to keep us informed. These situations are extremely serious and it is urgent that leaders of these countries accept criticism and stop routinely cracking down on the media so harshly.

"Each year new countries in less-developed parts of the world move up the Index to positions above some European countries or the United States. This is good news and shows once again that, even though very poor, countries can be very observant of freedom of expression. Meanwhile the steady erosion of press freedom in the United States, France and Japan is extremely alarming,” Reporters Without Borders said.

The three worst violators of free expression - North Korea, bottom of the Index at 168th place, Turkmenistan (167th) and Eritrea (166th) - have clamped down further. The torture death of Turkmenistan journalist Ogulsapar Muradova shows that the country’s leader, “President-for-Life” Separmurad Nyazov, is willing to use extreme violence against those who dare to criticise him. Reporters Without Borders is also extremely concerned about a number of Eritrean journalists who have been imprisoned in secret for more than five years. The all-powerful North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, also continues to totally control the media.

Northern European countries once again come top of the Index, with no recorded censorship, threats, intimidation or physical reprisals in Finland, Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands, which all share first place.

Deterioration in the United States and Japan, with France also slipping

The United States (53rd) has fallen nine places since last year, after being in 17th position in the first year of the Index, in 2002. Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of “national security” to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his “war on terrorism.” The zeal of federal courts which, unlike those in 33 US states, refuse to recognise the media’s right not to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all with terrorism.

Freelance journalist and blogger Josh Wolf was imprisoned when he refused to hand over his video archives. Sudanese cameraman Sami al-Haj, who works for the pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera, has been held without trial since June 2002 at the US military base at Guantanamo, and Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein has been held by US authorities in Iraq since April this year.

France (35th) slipped five places during the past year, to make a loss of 24 places in five years. The increase in searches of media offices and journalists’ homes is very worrying for media organisations and trade unions. Autumn 2005 was an especially bad time for French journalists, several of whom were physically attacked or threatened during a trade union dispute involving privatisation of the Corsican firm SNCM and during violent demonstrations in French city suburbs in November.

Rising nationalism and the system of exclusive press clubs (kishas) threatened democratic gains in Japan, which fell 14 places to 51st. The newspaper Nihon Keizai was firebombed and several journalists physically attacked by far-right activists (uyoku).

Fallout from the row over the "Mohammed cartoons”

Denmark (19th) dropped from joint first place because of serious threats against the authors of the Mohammed cartoons published there in autumn 2005. For the first time in recent years in a country that is very observant of civil liberties, journalists had to have police protection due to threats against them because of their work.

Yemen (149th) slipped four places, mainly because of the arrest of several journalists and closure of newspapers that reprinted the cartoons. Journalists were harassed for the same reason in Algeria (126th), Jordan (109th), Indonesia (103rd) and India (105th).

But except for Yemen and Saudi Arabia (161st), all the Arab peninsula countries considerably improved their rank. Kuwait (73rd) kept its place at the top of the group, just ahead of the United Arab Emirates (77th) and Qatar (80th).

War, the destroyer of press freedom

Lebanon has fallen from 56th to 107th place in five years, as the country’s media continues to suffer from the region’s poisonous political atmosphere, with a series of bomb attacks in 2005 and Israeli military attacks this year. The Lebanese media - some of the freest and most experienced in the Arab world - desperately need peace and guarantees of security. The inability of the Palestinian Authority (134th) to maintain stability in its territories and the behaviour of Israel (135th) outside its borders seriously threaten freedom of expression in the Middle East.

Things are much the same in Sri Lanka, which ranked 51st in 2002, when there was peace, but has now sunk to 141st because fighting between government and rebel forces has resumed in earnest. Dozens of Tamil journalists have been physically attacked after being accused by one side or the other of being biased against them.

Press freedom in Nepal (159th) has shifted according to the state of the fighting that has disrupted the country for several years. The “democatic revolution” and the revolt against the monarchy in April this year led immediately to more basic freedoms and the country should gain a lot of ground in next year’s Index.

Welcome changes of regime

Changes of ruler are sometimes good for press freeedom, as in the case of Haiti, which has risen from 125th to 87th place in two years after the flight into exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in early 2004. Several murders of journalists remain unpunished but violence against the media has abated.

Togo (66th) has risen 29 places since the death of President Gnassingbe Eyadema in February 2005, the accession to power of his son and internationally-backed efforts to make peace with the opposition.

A coup in Mauritania in August 2005 ended the heavy censorship of the local media and the country has risen to 77th position after being 138th in 2004, one of the biggest improvements in the Index.

Improvement in North Africa, except for Tunisia

Things got better in Algeria and Morocco, where the authorities treated the media better than in previous years. Reporters Without Borders was also allowed into Libya for the first time ever to meet regime officials.

The lessening of restrictions by the royal family and the opening up of broadcasting moved Morocco up 23 places to 97th position. But two independent weeklies, Tel Quel and Le Journal hebdo, were sentenced in 2006 to pay huge fines after being found guilty of libel.

Algeria (126th) was up three places and Libya up 10 (152nd). Algerian journalists got a break with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s partial amnesty in July 2006 but no structural reform was made to expand press freedom. The Libyan regime allowed more access to news, especially online and through Arab and other foreign satellite TV stations, but still cracked down just as hard on all criticism of the government.

In Tunisia (148th), seizures of newpapers, unjustified dismissals of journalists and suspending them without pay were common. The November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis was a farce. Several foreign journalists covering it were closely and openly spied on by the secret police. Just before the Summit opened, a journalist of the French daily Libération was beaten up and stabbed, a Belgian RTBF TV crew roughed up and two journalists of France’s TV5 harassed.

Repression continues in Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia (161st), Syria (153rd) and Iran (162nd) were again among the bottom group on the Index, as they have been for years since they have no independent media, only organs that spout government propaganda. The rulers of these countries keep a tight grip on the news and have set many red lines journalists must not cross. Self-censorship remains the best protection for journalists. Foreign journalists can only rarely get entry visas.

Newcomers to the top ranks

Two countries moved into the Index’s top 20 for the first time. Bolivia (16th) was best-placed among less-developed countries and during the year its journalists enjoyed the same level of freedom as colleagues in Canada or Austria. But the growing polarisation between state-run and privately-owned media and between supporters and opponents of President Evo Morales could complicate the situation.

Bosnia-Herzegovina (19th) continued its gradual rise up the Index since the end of the war in ex-Yugoslavia and is now placed above its European Union member-state neighbours Greece (32nd) and Italy (40th).

Ghana (34th) rose 32 places to become fourth in Africa behind the continent’s three traditional leaders - Benin (23rd), Namibia (26th) and Mauritius (32nd). Economic conditions are still difficult for the Ghanaian media but it is no longer threatened by the authorities.

Panama (39th) is enjoying political peace which has helped the growth of a free and vigorous media and the country moved up 27 places over the year.

http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/cm2006.pdf

India flunks UNESCO test in child education

Toufiq Rashid, Indian Express,October 26, 2006

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 25: While the Sachar Committee report highlighted the worsening education indices for the Muslim community in India, a Unesco report released in Paris has more bad news for the education sector in the country.

The report gives India minus points (-1.7) in reducing the number of illiterates among adults above the age of 15 years in the country. According to the Education For All (EFA) Global Monitoring report, while India had 27,30,66,000 illiterates in 1990, the number marginally reduced to 26,84,26,000 in 2004. This number is the highest in the world. This despite increasing literacy rate from 49.3% in 1990 to 61% in 2004.

India figures along with three other countries — Ethiopia, Nigeria and Pakistan — which account for a significant proportion of the world’s out-of-school children. The report says the children comprise child labour; children who cannot afford school fees; hard-to-reach groups such as those living in small settlements or remote areas where no schooling is available; children of migrant families; children in coastal fishing communities; those with special needs; Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe children; urban deprived children; and children from minority groups (read mostly Muslims).

India also tops in terms of gender disparity in education — for every 100 out-of-school boys, there are 136 girls. The numbers are comparable to Arab states (134), South and West Asia (129), Benin (136). Only Yemen (184) and Iraq (176) are worse than India.

On the EFA development index, the report gives India a score of 0.7. While 90 per cent children get enrolled in primary schools, only 79 per cent study till Class V. Only 71 per cent of these children enroll for lower secondary and 40 per cent for upper secondary. For tertiary education, the percentage enrollment is just 12.

Referring to a survey commissioned by the Government of India in 2005 (Social and Rural Research Institute), the report says a nationwide survey showed that 13.5 million children were out of school. The percentage for the 6-13 age-group was nearly 7 and for the 6-10 age-group, 6.1.

The analysis focuses on results for the 6-13 age group, in line with the practice by the Centre and state governments in India. The highlights are:

• The 7% rate of out-of-school children reflects 6.2% for boys and 7.9% for girls

• The 7.8% rate in rural areas is significantly higher than 4.3% in urban areas

• In urban areas the rates for boys and girls are similar while in rural areas they are 6.8% and 9.1%, respectively

• The variations across social groups were much larger than those across gender and place of residence — 10.0% for Muslims, 9.5% for Scheduled Tribes, 8.2% for Scheduled Castes, 6.9% for Other Backward Castes and 3.7% for the remaining social groups

• Among the states, the rates are highest in Bihar (17%), Jharkhand (10.9%), Assam (8.9%), West Bengal (8.7%), Madhya Pradesh (8.6%), Uttar Pradesh (8.2%) and Rajasthan (6.9%)

• By contrast, in the south, some states appear to have virtually achieved universal schooling for the age-group — Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu record out-of-school rates between 0.5% and 2.1%

• Surprisingly, the number of SC and Muslim boys who are out of school are higher than those for girls. This is not the case for Other Backward Castes or STs

The only positive remark is about the India’s Open Basic Education (OBE) programme of the 1990s, which has targeted neo-literates who have successfully completed literacy and post-literacy programmes.

Asian women lowest-paid workers in Britain

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA, October 23, 2006

LONDON, OCTOBER 23: Leading black and Asian professional women in Britain have called on their peers to ‘storm the doors’ of blue chip companies, following a report this week that shows that a form of employment apartheid is rife in Britain.

Asian and black women are the lowest-paid workers in Britain, according to a report for the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Essex University.

While black men are paid less than white men, black and Asian women are paid the least of all. Some earn 28 per cent less than white women.

Saira Khan, the businesswoman who came to national prominence on the BBC reality programme The Apprentice, said that it wasn't the figures that made her angry, but that the EOC should do more to promote role models.

"I don't need a report to tell me black and Asian women are low paid," she said. "I knew that already."

36-year-old Khan, who has just launched a baby products business, said "Where I differ from other Asian women is that I've always tried to get into blue chip companies so I could learn and work my way up.

"If I failed an interview I didn't think it was because I'm Asian or a Muslim. Prejudice is an obstacle that has to be overcome in any work situation.

One of the reasons is because (Asian women) don't have role models to live up to. So they work for family businesses with no training, no opportunities for growth. Or there is this tendency to start your own business - but you need to learn how to do it," she added.

It's official: India's dazzling growth fails to dent poverty

Mahendra Kumar Singh, 19 Oct, 2006 TIMES NEWS NETWORK

NEW DELHI: Economic growth may have been spectacular since 1993 — that is, post-economic reforms — but it seems to be trickling down rather slowly.

A soon-to-be-released official report has estimated that poverty declined by a mere 0.74% during the 11-year period ended 2004-05. Although there are signs of things moving a little faster, at 0.79%, between 1999-2000 and 2004-05, going by another measure, the number of people below poverty line may have remained unchanged.

National Sample Survey Organisation’s (NSSO) findings show the number of people living below poverty line (BPL) at 22.15% in 2004-05, compared with 26.09% in 1999-2000. In the same period, the country’s GDP grew at around 6%.

This mismatch between growth and its distribution is politically worrying as it indicates a rise in economic disparities. Economists say uneven growth often leads to social unrest which, in turn, can cause problems for politicians.

Anyone consuming less than 2,100 calories in urban areas, and 2,400 calories in rural areas, is classifed in the BPL category.

The NSSO study also shows that poverty declined the sharpest in the poorer states.


Study: BPL population up in Delhi, Maha and Haryana

NEW DELHI: A National Sample Survey Organisation’s study suggests that while economic growth is trickling down very slowly, poverty has declined the sharpest in the poorer states.

Leading them were Assam and the north-eastern states, where people below the poverty line decreased by nearly 4% annually, followed by Jharkhand (2.51% a year during the five-year period), Chhattisgarh (2.15% a year) and Bihar (1.69%). Apart from the slow reduction of poverty, government also seems worried about a lower decrease in poverty ratios in urban areas, compared to rural areas. BPL population in rural areas decreased 4.68% between 1999-2000 and 2004-05, which was over twice the pace of the decrease in urban centres, estimated at 2.12%.

The trend of slower poverty reduction in urban areas, say economists, could be due to migration of the poor from rural areas. But they wonder whether if that is indeed the case, then the rate of actual decline of poverty in rural areas could be over estimated.

The NSSO findings also reveal an increase in BPL population in Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan and Goa. This is possibly because migrant labour is moving out of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand to these states in search of jobs.

There are also fears that dipping state growth rates, as witnessed in the case of Maharashtra, have added to the increase in the BPL population. Among the poorer states, Orissa has the highest proportion of poor — nearly 40% of its population is below the poverty line. The population of poor in Orissa’s villages decreased 8.36% during the five-year period while the urban BPL population fell 1.2%.

Next in line is Jharkhand, which had a marginally higher BPL population of 47.40% compared to Orissa’s 47.15% in 1999-2000. At the end of June 2005, Jharkhand’s poor constituted 34.83% of the state’s population. Bihar remained in the third spot with 32.57% population under BPL.

The estimates were prepared using monthly consumption expenditure of individuals during 365 days on clothing, footwear, education, durables in addition to their medical expenses. This method is called the Mixed Reference Period Method (MRPM). Going by the other measure used by NSSO — Uniform Reference Period which measures poverty based on every consumption for the last 30 days of the survey — BPL population accounted for 27.81% in 2004-05, compared with 35.97% in 1993-94. Economists, however, believe that the methodology is suspect as consumption during 30 days is not the right measure and the government, too, prefers MRPM.

The largest mass migration in history is unfolding in India

Suman Guha Mozumder in New York, Rediff.COM

October 19, 2006

Wellknown journalist P Sainath told an audience in New York on Wednesday that while food courts are springing up almost everywhere in India's big city malls catering to the palates of well-off Indians, an average family in the country's rural areas has less to eat today than it had six years ago.

"The average rural family today is eating nearly 100 grams less of foodgrains than six or seven years ago and the average per capita availability of food grains has declined sharply. In 1991, when reforms began, availability of food per person was 510 grams, today it has fallen to 437 grams," Sainath said.

"At a time when people of our class are eating foods like we never had in our lives before, India's agriculture sector is in the midst of a collapse," Sainath said while speaking on 'India's Brave New World: The Agrarian Crisis, Farm Suicides and the Wages Of Inequality,' hosted by the South Asian Journalists Association in New York.

Giving snapshots of what he described was the spectacular inequality that has been growing faster in the past 15 years in India than at any time since the country was colonised by the British, Sainath said while India has eight billionaires and hundreds of millionaires, the country ranks 127th in the Human Development Report Index. Labour productivity has been 84 per cent in a period of reform during which real wages dropped to 24 per cent.

"So, on the one hand we have this incredible emerging tiger economy. . . (on the other hand) it should be remembered that the incredible tiger economy produces a very shameful kind of human development indicators," Sainath said.

"The life expectancy of average Indians is lower than people in Mongolia or Tajikistan. Per capita GDP might be booming at a growth rate which is astonishing but our per capita GDP is lower than that of Nicaragua, Vanuatu or Indonesia and the farm sector is in the midst of most incredible crisis that you can imagine," he said.

He said the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra has seen 968 suicides by farmers, including 120 on an average every month in the last three months. In March, Parliament was told by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar that in the last ten years over 120,000 farmers have committed suicide in India.

"Suicides by farmers today are actually a symptom of a much wider crisis in India's farm and agricultural sector," Sainath said, adding that this was the result not of a natural calamity or some accident but a systematic and structured move to shift to corporate farming from small family farming practices as well as mindless deregulation that has ruined the farming community. "You get a picture of India in Vidarbha."

Without saying so in as many words, Sainath ripped apart the claims of the present and the previous governments that the country as a whole is making progress and reaping the benefits of development for all sections of the people.

Reeling out figures and statistics from the National Sample Survey Organisation as well as other government outfits, he said, "The claims that India is shining are true. I believe it, although it is happening for just the ten percent of the population."

"If you talk about the top section of the population, the benchmark today are the US, Western Europe, Japan and Australia, but if you look at the bottom part of the population, the benchmark is sub-Saharan Africa, even there some of the countries provide a better level of nutrition to their people than India does," he said.

Sainath -- the first reporter in the world to win Amnesty International's Global Human Rights Journalism Award in its inaugural year, 2000, and who was awarded the Judge's Prize in the Harry Chapin Media Awards in the newspaper category in 2006 -- said that for any real solution of the farmers' problems, the long-term land-related issues need to be solved.

"It is an explosive situation in India today as far as agriculture is concerned and the farmers are concerned with the employment rates in rural areas being the lowest since the late 1990s. We keep hearing about huge displacements due to dam-building or canal-digging, but let me tell you the biggest displacement is in agriculture where the largest mass migration in the history is beginning to unfold following displacement of people from their land," he said.

GDP walas misleading world : Rise of China used to make India slave of America

October 2006, Dalit Voice

Judging a country’s growth and its “economic development”, based on GDP, may give a fairly accurate picture but in this hierarchically arranged casteist “Hindu India” built on the ascending order of reverence and descending degree of contempt it will present only a misleading if not a totally false picture.

Because India’s upper castes, forming the apex of the caste pyramid (Hinduism), sucking the blood of the entire Bahujan Samaj (85%) have become stinking rich. We know that their filthy wealth triggers stock market boom, lavish lifestyle and unending demand for goods and services. True.

But, please note, those suffering from this bursting wealth are a micro-minority of 15% who are also directly causing the pauperisation of the rest of the population (Bahujans).

This is India and its reality. How then the growing wealth of its ruling class can be called the growth of entire India? The upper caste rich are no doubt galloping but the rest are shrinking — if not collapsing. This is what is happening today.

India not a “nation”: Therefore, GDP will not and cannot present a true picture of India’s growth — if we have to be sincere to ourselves. When over 85% of India’s 1,000 odd million population is in great pain how can it present a picture of health, wealth and happiness?

Our GDPwalas are deliberately misleading the world.

India is not a “nation”. It is a country of several warring “nations”. A small part of this multi-national country comprising the upper castes (Hindus) — who themselves are not a single nation — may be jumping with joy after stealing the wealth and exploiting the innocent “lower castes”.

How can the ill-gotten wealth of this tiny patch of population be taken as the growing affluence of India as a whole?

This GDP is utter humbug.

PM bluffing: There is a mania among Western writers to boast that India is tailing China in economic upsurge and the two Asian giants are rising, the balance of economic power in the world is shifting from West to Asia and the two countries are to be watched. Nonsense.

As India’s original inhabitants and partners in the country’s socio-economic-cultural struggle we don’t agree with this tendency to put India just behind China. We are not able to understand how these economic pundits can club India with China. Yes. China is galloping. And enough has been said in DV itself quoting reliable sources. But what about India?

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Chidambaram are bluffing the world by using India’s GDP figures. The GDP calculators, who belong to the (upper caste) Brahminical ruling class, are juggling with figures and thus misleading the world.

Brahminical people packed in the World Bank and IMF are misguiding the Western people to put India immediately behind China in GDP growth.

Can we take GDP as the real, genuine indicator of India’s growth? When over 85% of India continues to be still deprived, how can the skeleton be called a muscleman?

Bulging stomach: Those who depend upon GDP figures have not taken into account the state of the 85% of the country’s deprived population comprising its SC/ST/BCs (65%) and Muslim/Christian/Sikh (20%). Their GDP figures are based on the rising riches of the 15% upper castes whose stomachs are bulging.

Yes. They are drinking more, eating more, dancing more, sleeping more, buying more. They may also constitute a staggering 15-odd crore out of India’s 100-odd crore population. This 15 crore is no ordinary population. It has enormous purchasing capacity. In some cases each upper caste family has more than one car.

This 15% upper caste rulers hide themselves under a confusing name called the “middle class” — though in fact it is the topmost class — the ruling class of India.

The Manmohan Singh-Chidambaram-Ahluwalia ruling trio is boasting about India’s burgeoning GDP without disclosing the fact that the other 85% is sinking in debt and penury. (V.T. Rajshekar, Development Redefined, DSA-2006).

Two reasons for China’s rise: It is this ruling class economists encouraged by the trio are putting India immediately behind China to deceive the outside world that India is also fast catching up with China. There is no bigger falsehood than this.

China galloped for two basic reasons:

(1) It is a communist country which has abolished god and religion while protecting minority religions like Islam and Christianity. But India has 330 million gods and millions of godmen all busy converting “Hindus” into intoxicated monkeys.

(2) In China, there is no right to property which is owned exclusively by the state. India’s reigning Hindu religion gives the highest value to property because its ruling Brahminical castes are the biggest property owners. That is why the govt. in India can take no step towards economic advancement because the right to property blocks the passage.

These are the two basic causes that serve as a grindstone round the neck of Hindu India keeping its population under perpetual superstition, karma theory confusion, endless litigation causing frequent physical violence resulting in huge waste of time in its Hindu religiosity — the sole purpose of which is to keep Muslims and Christians as the target of violence.

How can such a country be put along with China which is a revolutionary country?

India made enemy of China: The bid to put India behind China is done consciously knowing full well that India is rotten to the core but hiding the reality under concocted GDP statistics.

The Western leaders and media know the truth but they are hiding the truth of India’s gloom and doom. (DV Edit April 1, 2006: “Defeated in anti-Islamic war, US shifts focus on China: India joins clash of civilisations?”).

The rise of China has actually helped the West to make India a slave of America and even enemy of China.

GDP-mongers in their enthusiasm to promote their jatwalas have actually harmed the country. We have to pay a heavy price for selling the country to America and converting India as enemy of China.

To repeat, GDP is not a real genuine indicator to decide a county’s health and happiness. Particularly in the case of India. India is already a failed state if social indicators are taken as the deciding factor. In the field of health, infant mortality, education, infrastructure, housing, agriculture, employment China is miles and miles ahead of India. Corruption at the top is rampant. Caste system has made India a sick country. Persecution of Muslims, Christians and Dalits has made it the world’s most violent country.

Now by jumping into the American bandwagon, India’s rulers have further harmed the country.

GDP walas are warned.

India's Untouchables turn to Buddhism in protest at discrimination by Hindus

By Justin Huggler in Delhi, Independent UK, 13 October 2006

Across India this month, thousands of Hindus from the former Untouchable castes are converting to Buddhism in protest at the continuing discrimination they face. Mass conversion ceremonies are being held throughout the month, from Delhi in the north, to Hyderabad in the south. Organisers are claiming that more than 100,000 people have already converted.

Conversion is a highly charged political issue. Several states have passed laws this year making it harder to convert, and the mass ceremonies will infuriate Hindu nationalist parties that have been campaigning to stop lower caste Hindus changing their religion.

But for many Dalits, as Untouchables are now known, conversion is the only way to escape the oppression they still face in Hindu society. Untouchability has been illegal in India since independence, but it is still commonly practised. In many villages Dalits are not allowed to drink clean water from a well. In some areas, tea shops keep a different glass for Dalits to use, so higher-caste Hindus are not "polluted" by drinking from the same vessel, even after it has been washed. After the 2004 tsunami, Dalit survivors in Tamil Nadu were prevented from sharing water in relief camps.

Dalits are converting in large numbers this year because it is the 50th anniversary of the conversion of their most important leader of modern times, B R Ambedkar, who first called on Dalits to become Buddhists in order to escape discrimination.

When Mahatma Gandhi was leading non-violent protests against British rule, Ambedkar was using the same methods to demand equal rights for Untouchables. He was critical of Gandhi, and outspoken in his attacks on Hinduism.

"These people are converting as a protest," says Sakya Ponnu Durai, one of the organisers of the mass conversion ceremonies. But Mr Durai, a Dalit who himself converted two years ago, says he has wholeheartedly become a practising Buddhist. "After converting, I have much more satisfaction," he says.

Many of those converting are doing so to escape the menial jobs traditionally assigned to Dalits. Under the rigid rules of the caste system, it is difficult to change to a job reserved for a higher caste. Although this is no longer the case in the cities, in villages it is still practised. Many Dalits are forced to work as scavengers and latrine cleaners.

Mr Durai was more fortunate: his father was in the Indian military and was able to give him a good education in Chennai. But he says he still faced discrimination.

Even at university, Mr Durai says he was badly beaten by higher-caste students enraged that a Dalit had got better marks than them. Today, he is a federal government worker in Delhi. He is fully aware that conversions are a potentially explosive issue. Hindu nationalist parties are unhappy with the large numbers of lower-caste Hindus converting, not only to Buddhism but also Christianity.

This year several states, including Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, have introduced laws that anyone wishing to convert will have to obtain official permission first. Gujarat, home to some of the most hardline Hindu groups, has introduced a more controversial law under which Buddhism is considered part of Hinduism.

In a separate rally this weekend, not connected to the conversion ceremonies, thousands of Dalits plan to burn the new laws.

By a strange irony, as well as the 50th anniversary of Ambedkar's death, the conversions are taking place amid controversy over the funeral of the Dalits' most powerful political leader, Kanshi Ram. Ram had also converted to Buddhism, but some of his relatives objected when his cremation was carried out according to Buddhist rites.

Across India this month, thousands of Hindus from the former Untouchable castes are converting to Buddhism in protest at the continuing discrimination they face. Mass conversion ceremonies are being held throughout the month, from Delhi in the north, to Hyderabad in the south. Organisers are claiming that more than 100,000 people have already converted.

Conversion is a highly charged political issue. Several states have passed laws this year making it harder to convert, and the mass ceremonies will infuriate Hindu nationalist parties that have been campaigning to stop lower caste Hindus changing their religion.

But for many Dalits, as Untouchables are now known, conversion is the only way to escape the oppression they still face in Hindu society. Untouchability has been illegal in India since independence, but it is still commonly practised. In many villages Dalits are not allowed to drink clean water from a well. In some areas, tea shops keep a different glass for Dalits to use, so higher-caste Hindus are not "polluted" by drinking from the same vessel, even after it has been washed. After the 2004 tsunami, Dalit survivors in Tamil Nadu were prevented from sharing water in relief camps.

Dalits are converting in large numbers this year because it is the 50th anniversary of the conversion of their most important leader of modern times, B R Ambedkar, who first called on Dalits to become Buddhists in order to escape discrimination.

When Mahatma Gandhi was leading non-violent protests against British rule, Ambedkar was using the same methods to demand equal rights for Untouchables. He was critical of Gandhi, and outspoken in his attacks on Hinduism.

"These people are converting as a protest," says Sakya Ponnu Durai, one of the organisers of the mass conversion ceremonies. But Mr Durai, a Dalit who himself converted two years ago, says he has wholeheartedly become a practising Buddhist. "After converting, I have much more satisfaction," he says.

Many of those converting are doing so to escape the menial jobs traditionally assigned to Dalits. Under the rigid rules of the caste system, it is difficult to change to a job reserved for a higher caste. Although this is no longer the case in the cities, in villages it is still practised. Many Dalits are forced to work as scavengers and latrine cleaners.

Mr Durai was more fortunate: his father was in the Indian military and was able to give him a good education in Chennai. But he says he still faced discrimination.

Even at university, Mr Durai says he was badly beaten by higher-caste students enraged that a Dalit had got better marks than them. Today, he is a federal government worker in Delhi. He is fully aware that conversions are a potentially explosive issue. Hindu nationalist parties are unhappy with the large numbers of lower-caste Hindus converting, not only to Buddhism but also Christianity.

This year several states, including Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, have introduced laws that anyone wishing to convert will have to obtain official permission first. Gujarat, home to some of the most hardline Hindu groups, has introduced a more controversial law under which Buddhism is considered part of Hinduism.

In a separate rally this weekend, not connected to the conversion ceremonies, thousands of Dalits plan to burn the new laws.

By a strange irony, as well as the 50th anniversary of Ambedkar's death, the conversions are taking place amid controversy over the funeral of the Dalits' most powerful political leader, Kanshi Ram. Ram had also converted to Buddhism, but some of his relatives objected when his cremation was carried out according to Buddhist rites.

India ranks 3rd from bottom of the world on malnourished kids

Sonu Jain, Indian Express,October 14, 2006

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 13: Yet another report confirms India’s losing battle against hunger. In the Global Hunger Index, India ranks 117th for the prevalence of underweight children. Only Bangladesh and Nepal are worse-off.

Overall, India is ranked 96th out of 119 countries covered by the index, which doesn’t paint a rosy picture per se. But India comes off far worse in its record for malnutrition in children, as measured by body weight.

The proportion of children found underweight in India, according to the latest figures is 47.5 per cent, which makes it worse than conflict-plagued, drought-stricken Sub-Saharan Africa, where the figure is some 30 per cent on average. India’s figure is also worse than that of individual Sub-Saharan countries.

These findings are from a report released globally today by the Washington-based International Food Policy Institute (IFPRI).

The Global Hunger Index combines three indicators: child malnutrition, child mortality, and estimates of the proportion of people who are calorie-deficient.

The index has been calculated for 1981, 1992, 1997, and 2003. The latest round ranks 119 countries, of which 97 are deemed “developing” and 22 “in transition.”

Speaking to The Indian Express on phone from Washington, the report’s lead author Doris Wiesmann said the two major factors for India’s low ranking were that per capita food availability did not increase from 1997 onward, and that child malnutrition rates remained at very high levels, with more than 46 per cent of children under five years being underweight.

India is a different story from Sub-Saharan Africa. A higher proportion of the population (33 per cent) is calorie-deficient there than in India (21 per cent) or South Asia as a whole (22 per cent). The sub-text to India’s dismal showing is malnutrition in children under five.

“Mothers, who are usually children’s primary caretakers, and their education, nutritional knowledge, well-being and status in families and communities are particularly important in this respect,” said Wiesmann.

The results are a direct fallout of the low status of women in Indian society, several earlier studies have pointed out.

“In India, women eat the last and the least, increasing the chances of anaemia,” she explained. This practice partly explain why 83 percent of women in India suffer from iron deficiency anaemia, as opposed to about 40 percent in sub-Saharan Africa.

Not surprisingly, one-third of the babies born in India are born with low birth weight, compared to one-sixth in sub-Saharan Africa.

“It has been observed that the women who have a say in the family, allocate more resources to their children’s nutritional needs. Men have other priorities,” she said.

There have been other studies that have explained India’s presence as a hotspot despite its growing GDP.

Lisa Smith, a IFPRI research fellow, and Usha Ramakrishnan, Associate Professor at Emory University, identified three factors contributing to the nutritional status gap between South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa in a recent study.

The first, making by far the greatest contribution among the three, is women’s status, followed by sanitation and urbanization

The implication for policy is clear: in the interests of improving child nutrition, women’s status should be raised.

The study also concluded that in regions where women’s status is low, programmes to improve child nutritional status would have more lasting impact when combined with efforts to improve women’s status.

India has a large programme that aims to provide supplementary nutrition for children called the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).

Studies have shown that preventing child malnutrition in the most critical phase of child development between six months and two years is more effective than targeting children under the age of five once they have become malnourished.

By the time a child has developed signs of malnutrition, the damage may already be irreversible.

New Delhi: The New Capital of Capitalism

Thomas Bobinger, 08 Oct, 2006

The natural vegetation in New Delhi is the highway. Grey and dusty it thrives in the city despite being plagued by a myriad of potholes which cover it like a rash. When the monsoon starts in July the mega city Delhi turns into a little ocean. Delhi which harbors around 15 million inhabitants and thus outnumbers the entire population of the Netherlands becomes a vast lake of dirty, brown and stinking water in which children take a bath and play football and businessmen complain about their drenched cell phones and wet Armani-suits.

When the rain starts the streets are teeming with little yellow and green three-wheelers, the so-called “tuk-tuk”. Like bugs they swarm the city, ploughing their way through the two foot high water and only too often the engine denies its loyalty and the driver gets stuck in the middle of the water masses. As a tourist these tuk-tuks are both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand they can provide cheap transportation. On the other hand, the drivers always try to cheat and overcharge the tourist. Traveling through Delhi thus becomes a stressful adventure in which the game of negotiating about the price is repeated over and over again. Ironically, it is not only the tourists that are cheated in this society. Since 1998 about 25 000 Indian farmers have committed suicide because they could not repay their debts. These debts, however, have largely accumulated because these farmers were severely overcharged by their money-lenders asking for up to 32% of interest. India is a culture of money-makers and the bureaucracy is driven by corruption. Yet, India is also a proud nation, aware of its 5000 year old history and cultural heritage. It is proud of its diversity and celebrates it under the motto: unity in diversity, something that we use to hear from the EU as well. American cultural imperialism had to adapt to the conditions it found in India. Mac Donald and Subway exist, but they offer a specialized range of food, that excludes beef and pork.

Foreigners often feel like celebrities in India. One cannot go three steps without being harassed by an Indian businessman who wants to sell something or who wants to show a place where he would get a commission if you buy something. Children usually awe at the sight of a white man and the thought of his comparable richness. Indeed Delhi displays like any other city a spectrum of wealth that ranges from utterly poor to amazingly rich. Whereas one runs the risk of being electrocuted in certain areas because of poor cable isolation which cause certain water-filled potholes to become death traps, other parts like the diplomatic quarter have gotten rid of the straying dogs, the unemployed who sleep on the side of the street, ameliorated their infrastructure and removed the street-roaming cows. In fact the holy female cow runs freely through the poorer parts of the city. I never imagined cows to be city-animals, but instead of fleeing to the countryside, they wander undisturbed into shops, houses, and rest on the middle of the street. Apart from being holy, they also function as the city’s waste disposal system. As dustbins have failed to make their way into the city infrastructure people continue throwing their waste on the street. It is the cows who eat not only the rotten fruits but also the plastic bags. Bessy and Berta for instance, the two white cows which love to linger in front of my hotel manage to keep the street marvelous.

And then there is of course the resurgence in national pride in India. If Russia can claim to be a great economic power with 6% of growth in GDP, then India with its 8% rightly feels on track on its way to become a major global player. Among the people this shows in their new found confidence in the English language, a legacy from the British. For decades they have suffered from an inferiority complex because they could not get their pronunciation right. Nowadays, Indians are aware that they can beat booming China and Korea in an English competition at any time. Especially proud on their IT-sector they refuse to call their country a developing one. The sexual culture has become more open towards gay people in the recent years. Despite the act of homosexuality being prohibited by law, gay parties are thriving, people become openly transgender, and one can find gay magazines at newspaper stands. The attitude towards homosexuality is basically the same as in the West: As long as it does not affect someone directly no one will care. Hence, when a prince in Rajasthan outed himself, his family was quick to dispossess him as their reputation was directly threatened. Indeed, the northern Indians form a classical macho-culture. Rickshaw drivers stop to show tourists pictures from the Kamasutra, and when you ask them why everybody is wearing a mustache you get as an answer that it is manly. Sometimes you feel like being sent back to the 80s in Europe, with people wearing tight jeans, long hair and mustaches. For Indians it is their family, their well-being and their body which they appreciate the most, all the more as the threat of violence always looms in the background. Terrorist attacks have not subsided since the India-Pakistan relationship thawed. The various separatist groups and religious fundamentalists make the people live in fear. Security guards in front of the richer peoples’ houses and at every entrance to the New Delhi Metro are a sign of the government’s awareness of their vulnerability.

All in all Delhi is a city that can teach you to become arrogant, cruel, selfish and indifferent. You can learn to ignore the herds of begging children and disabled old man just like the Indians themselves disregard them. You can learn to become callous in the way you drive and risk a smashing accident just to not let the other driver overtake you. At the same time Delhi can teach you to become compassionate and thankful for your own life, for the human rights you enjoy back home, for the clean air that you breathe and the fact that you can sue a hotel if there are mice running all over your stuff. It is all up to oneself and as a hotel boy once told me: If you don’t look out for yourself, nobody will.

Article published in "A Different View", a publication of the International Association for Political Science Students (October 2006)

Indian companies are most corrupt on Transparency Bribe Payers Index

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

NEW DELHI: In a global recognition to the "Much Merited Upper Class Rule", India has been ranked as the worst performer by Transparency International on its global Bribe Payers Index, which is based on the propensity of companies from the world's 30 leading exporting countries in bribing abroad. India has been ranked at the 30th position in the Transparency International 2006 Bribe Payers Index (BPI), with a score of 4.62. A score of 10 indicates a perception of no corruption, while zero means corruption is seen as rampant. India's major weapon supplier, Israel also ranked as one of the most bribing nation, with a score of 6.01. Israel accounted for 0.4% of global trade in 2005.

Upper castes — that is, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas — constitute less than 20 per cent of the Indian population but controles the business and civil service sector of the country. They claim perhaps 80 per cent of the jobs in the new economy, in sectors such as software, biotechnology, and hotel management. The large corporates and MNCs in India prefer candidates come from the upper caste families, so that they can get their jobs done using their contacts and networks. The scores of corruption among these groups explain why they want to shut every door for the Dalits and backward communities in the name of 'Merit'.

The BPI Index results draw from the responses of more than 11,000 business people in 125 countries polled in the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey 2006. In first place Switzerland scored 7.81 points out of a possible 10 in the BPI. Israel tied with Hong Kong with 6.01 points (Hong Kong accounted for 2.8% of global trade in 2005). The US, which accounts for the 8.9% of global trade, the highest proportion, received a score of 7.22 points. China, with 5.5% of global trade, and India, with 0.9%, closed the list.

Under BJP's rule, India became Israeli arms industry's prized market and there were also reports in 2003, of the Israeli defense establishment dispatching "scores of agents" to persuade the Indian armed forces in to buying weapons resulting in large scale bribes among civil servants and politicians. The ideological bond between Zionism and Hindutva made India as the second largest trade partner for Israel in Asia, after China. It is currently working hard with their old "Hindutva bureacrats" to make India as their "biggest trade partner". Since the advent of Hindutva's grip on the Indian elite castes, every visit by a delegation of Israeli officials either preceded or followed the cementing of ties involving the purchase of weapons, or the training and/or expansion of cooperation between Israeli armaments interests and their Indian counterparts.

In 2005, Israel has achieved a four-fold increase in the bilateral trade with India which stood at $2.4 billion. Business Week reported in 2005 that India became Israel's largest importer of weapons the previous year, accounting for about half of the $3.6 billion worth of weapons exported by that country. Not coincidentally, that year also proved to be the second best recorded year for the Israeli weapons industry, making Israel the 5th largest weapons exporter in the world and accounting for about 10 percent of the world's weapons trade. Obviously the Israeli armaments industry values India as a major new market for its weapons, and as such has much to gain from maintaining and deepening the appetite for arms by the Indian state.

The international corruption watchdog on Wednesday said overseas bribery is still common among the world's export giants despite the existence of international anti-bribery laws, while companies from emerging export powers India, China and Russia are the worst performers. Switzerland has been ranked at the top slot with a score of 7.81, followed by Sweden, Australia, Austria and Canada at the top five positions on the index. The US and UK have been ranked at 10th and sixth positions respectively.

Transparency International said that Switzerland has managed a leading score of only 7.8, which is far from perfect. This indicates there might be variations here but there are no real winners, it added.

According to the report, businesses from India, China and Russia, who are at the bottom of the index, have the most propensity to pay bribes.

This year's BPI data shows that leading exporters are undermining the development with their dirty business practices overseas, while the foreign bribery by emerging export powers is disconcertingly high.

Companies from the wealthiest countries have been ranked in the top half, but they still routinely pay bribes, particularly in developing economies, it added.

"In the case of China and other emerging export powers, efforts to strengthen domestic anti-corruption activities have failed to extend abroad," the report said.

"Bribing companies are actively undermining the best efforts of governments in developing nations to improve governance, and thereby driving the vicious cycle of poverty," said Transparency International Chairwoman Huguette Labelle.

"It is hypocritical that Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) based companies continue to bribe across the globe, while their governments pay lip-service to enforcing the law," Transparency International CEO David Nussbaum said.

"The enforcement record on international anti-bribery laws makes for short and disheartening reading," he added.

"Domestic legislation has been introduced in many countries following the adoption of the UN and OECD anti-corruption conventions, but there are still major problems of implementation and enforcement," he added.

The index has been prepared on the basis of responses of more than 11,000 business people in 125 countries polled in the World Economic Forum's Executive Opinion Survey 2006.

The watchdog said that India consistently scores worst across most regions and sub-groupings, while China is the world's fourth largest exporter and ranks second to last in the Index.

Transparency International Chairwoman said, "With growing influence comes a greater responsibility that should constitute an opportunity for good."

"This is the right time for Russia, China and India to commit to the provisions of the OECD Convention against bribery and contribute to the vitality of tomorrow's markets. In doing so they will become part of the effort to make corruption history."

Transparency International says the countries can be divided into four groups. In the first group - those whose companies are least likely to pay bribes - are Switzerland (which came top in the survey), Sweden, Australia, Austria, Canada, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the US and Japan.

In the second group - somewhat more likely to bribe - are Singapore, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, France, Portugal and Mexico.

The third group - even more likely to bribe - are Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, South Africa and Malaysia.

Finally - and most likely of all to pay bribes - are Taiwan, Turkey, Russia, China and India (which came bottom in the survey).

Before countries near the top of the list start patting themselves on the back, it's worth noting that their companies often apply different standards, according to where they are doing business. "Companies from the wealthiest countries generally rank in the top half of the index, but still routinely pay bribes, particularly in developing economies," Transpency International says. It continues:

Even high scorers are in major need of improvement. The behaviour of the Australian Wheat Board in the UN oil-for-food programme is just one example.

In March of this year, German-US motor company DaimlerChrysler admitted that an internal probe confirmed allegations of "improper payments" made by their staff in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.

Turkey, in 27th place, is nearly at the bottom of the BPI. This is a crucial result as the country pursues its bid for European Union membership. The poor score also raises troubling questions about the country's commitment to the OECD (Organisation of for Economic Cooperation and Development) Anti-Bribery Convention, which entered into force there in 2003 ...

The United States, which blazed new trails with its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, ought to be leading the way, but ranks behind many OECD countries.

The United Kingdom has demonstrated minimal enforcement of the Convention, despite scandals implicating firms such as British Aerospace.

Companies often try to shrug off bribes as a way of fitting in with local customs and practices, and there is a popular notion that the recipient, not the giver, is the guilty party. Apart from the fact that such payments are often illegal, they undermine any efforts to promote good governance in developing countries. Bribes also have a corrupting effect on the firms that pay them. Often, the payments are made by local subsidiaries - allowing parent companies to pretend that their hands are clean.

Transparency International warns:

Multinationals cannot be absolved of the corrupt activities of their foreign branches, subsidiaries or agents, and they must conduct due diligence before engaging with joint venture or alliance partners. The purchasing, export, and marketing and sales departments remain the business functions most vulnerable to bribery and corruption.

It adds:

The cost of a tarnished image "back home" can be immense. And companies with a culture of bribery overseas face a heightened risk of being undermined by the unethical acts of their own employees. In the long run, it pays for companies to take proper measures to end corrupt practices.

About 150 years ago, there were no Black Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in the US, there were no rights for Blacks and there was no cultural influence from Blacks. But now, 75 Black CEOs are working in major US companies. On the contrary, there are no Dalits as CEOs in any private company in India today.

In 1930, the IBM Company in America gave reservation to Blacks, and at present almost all business houses there are accommodating Blacks, Native Americans, and Hispanics. Since the intention of our Govt. is not to empower Dalits otherwise on similar lines how US had done for Blacks and others, Dalits can be given participation in govt. contracts and the supply-chain of different articles. After millennia of oppression, it was the British in 1932 which gave reservation through the historic Poona Pact. English and public school education in India is undoubtedly out of reach for Dalits, and this is resulting in lack of English knowledge which is blocking Dalits to take up high profile jobs.

In India, the perception is that if you are a Backward then you do not deserve anything. And the worst is that the Backward is being touted as the hurdle to the ushering in the era of competitiveness. The reservation policy is only to deceive the rest that we have been properly taking care of the Backwards. But India is absolutely clueless about what results have been achieved through the huge money allocated and the policies being pursued for the development of SC/ST/BCs over the last 50 years. According to NSSO, Census of India and NFHS-II, 37 percent of Dalits living below poverty in India while 45 percent them don't know how to Read and Write. When any insurgent or terrorist strikes, the ready answer is: "foreign hands bent upon to destabilizing our social fabric and economy". If the reservation is introduced, our industrial giants would put the blame on reservations.

The Govt. of India protected our industry from foreign direct competition. Are they not reservations? If they talk of survival on the basis of "merit" then let the Indian market be open to foreign companies.
Who is to blame for the dismal performance of PSUs or their closure? Why do we forget that "meritorious" professionals are heading most of the PSUs since their inception? Why only PSUs enjoying a monopoly in the Indian economy are doing well? In whose interests a few PSUs (even the profit-making ones) are forced to either close down or are sold to private parties at a paltry sum?

When a person born Untouchable as per the Hindu caste system is condemned to carry the cross then why is this bogey of "merit" raised constantly by the educated elite? Let us not forget that a caste-ridden society like ours hardly provides a level playing field for a large section of Indian society. A person's station in life is largely determined by birth. In such a system, there is little space for "merit" and efficiency. The recruitment practices in the private needs scrutiny. The upper castes have been enjoying unstated birth-based reservation since centuries. And extending the benefits of reservation to Backwards at any cost can only neutralize this. When can we see 17.5% IAS officers from Dalits, 27.5% from backward communities and 7.5% from tribal?

Someone who is familiar with the Indian social fabric know the age old doctrine of exclusion legitimised and sanctified by the Brahminical ideology. This upper caste elite controles the Business and Civil Service structure in India, by culminating "Bribing" as a ‘routine matter’ in India's daily life. Transparency International's BPI Index proves how this dangerous ideology of "self purity and pollution" has extended its wings to the "Globalization of Corruption."
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Tehelka's three rules of graft for arms-dealers.
1. If it's a bit dodgy, do it in cash.
2. If it's unethical, outsource it.
3. If its totally illegal, do it through the MOD's licensing procedure.

Download the Transparency International Report from

http://www.transparency.org/news_room/in_focus/bpi_2006