who exactly was behind sept 11 '01 attacks?

A few months after the attacks in US on September 11, 2001, I came across write-ups on the internet which raised serious doubts about the official version of the attacks. These were based on common sense and I was surprised at myself that I didn't myself, earlier, spot the blatant misguiding direction of the official version.

Anyway, after that, things appear reasonably clear to me. Much more has been written about on the internet that raises specific questions on the Sept 11 official theory.

9/11 and the Evidence is the latest write-up that I have come across on the subject.

life in financial markets: jittery stock market

Last week, I wrote for Outlook (where I work as a journalist) on stock markets, world over, getting jittery.

life in general: the almost-a-rape of democracy in india

What happened last week in Nandigram village in West Bengal state of India is one of the many culminating results of a hideous obsession with a single top-down model of development as initiated and thrust upon the country in the last decade by the likes of prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh, finance minister P. Chidambaram and deputy chairman of Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

In my understanding, many many development projects and special economic zones (SEZs) are simply excuses to loot the land and resources of India and its non-urban (and urban-poor) people through a widespread abuse of democracy. Ecology considerations are also given a reckless and dangerous go-by by the central government of India and the country's various state governments.

At least three newsreports -- That night in Nandigram, Villagers say more people died, many bodies removed after police firing in Nandigram: Medha and Alarm bells sound in Nandigram for Indian democracy -- bring out some facets of the Gestapo-like operation carried out in Nandigram village by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s state government in West Bengal implicity supported by the Congress-Allies-led central government in Delhi (this is not to say that the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP as it is commonly referred to as, or other political parties in India, would have done anything different).

life in general: "the ripped chest" book

Back in 2002, during the mass murder and destruction of Muslims and their properties in Gujarat, I, like many other Indians, were deeply distressed at the horrors being carried out in Gujarat.

I was doing a lot of reading on the goings-on at that time and among them was a write up by Harsh Mander titled 'Cry, the beloved country'. It was as insightful as some other write-ups that I had come across at at that time.

Over the last four years I have read more about Harsh Mander's work -- both before and after 2002. I am convinced that his works are worth being read and that he is personally a honest and courageous person. One thing though -- I think Mander sometimes fails to highlight the shades of grey among the people whose causes he takes up.

Harsh Mander was among the very very few civil service officers (he quite the IAS 2-3 years ago) who courageously and unflinchingly implemented his powers as an IAS officer upholding the legal rights of common citizens without fear or favour.

His books 'The Ripped Chest: Public Policy and the Poor in India' and 'Unheard Voices: Stories of Forgotten Lives' are worth a read.

I present below some excerpts from Harsh Mander's book 'The Ripped Chest - Public Policy and the Poor in India' that is published by Bangalore-based Books for Change (www.booksforchange.net) and the first edition of which came out in 2004.

from Preface (pages xvi-xxi):
"...India is home to the largest number of poor people in the world. It also has a colossal and still burgeoning interventionist state, whose stated goals and political imperatives impel massive, diverse and multi-faceted demonstrations of public programmes to combat poverty.

Despite some conspicuous successes, the manifest cumulative failure of a half-century of these state efforts to overcome, or even significantly dent, the base of poverty in India is what motivated the investigation that underlies this book. It is written also against the background of the threatened retreat of the state worldwide from its most fundamental responsibilities of ensuring equity, justice and decent living standards for all its people.

The first section attempts a critical appraisal of the dominant neo-liberal notions of 'good governance' in contemporary social science literature. These lay stress on a reduced role of the state that facilitates, nurtures and shares power and responsibilities with a relatively unfettered private sector; liberalised markets; competitive provisioning of public goods by both the public and private sectors; the rule of law, which protects the right to property and the sanctity of contracts, prevents crimes against property and person, and ensures stability and predictability necessary for private investment to flourish; transparency and accountability. If we unbundle these beliefs, they are premised on a number of axioms. The first of these is the structural adjustment policies that liberate the market, rein in government spending, secure macro-economic stability, and liberalise trade and investment, would always lead to enhanced economic growth..."

...more to follow soon...

life in general: india's budget 2007 - pulling wool over our eyes

This is what I, as an Indian citizen, think of our country's budget 2007 and the media's coverage of it:

This year's budget is more or less a continuing deception from previous ones. The media is portraying it as Chidambaram's succumbing to Sonia Gandhi's or Left parties' diktats. Notwithstanding the fact that those diktats were unwarranted and unnecessary, it is my sense that those diktats were anyway not anti-rich or anti-development as many in the media tend to portray. Last three years has seen the economy grow at a fast pace but the same steep rate of growth is not reflected in the revenue collection figures disclosed in the budget.

Many commentators in the media crib about subsidies to rural sector without highlighting the fact most of these subsidies end up accruing to chemical-based fertiliser and pesticide companies whose products have significantly polluted the fertile lands of rural India, or end up being eaten by government IAS-ICS agents.

The media also chooses to suppress the fact that vast subsidies are given to the affluent or already better-off sections in the form of: tax exemptions to large-sized IT (technology) companies making superlative profits (the 12% minimum alternate tax on IT companies introduced in this budget is a welcome measure but not enough as it is still a lot lower than the 33% tax paid by other companies); tax exemptions to SEZs; heavily-subsidised diesel that today is consumed more by private SUVs and swanky cars running on diesel engines than transportation of goods by trucks across the country; heavy slashing of customs-&-excise duty rates on non-essential products like jewellery, plastics, processed food, aerated beverage drinks like colas; and so on.

Huge and unprecedented increase of Rs 40,000 crore for defense expenditure outlay (taking the total to Rs 96,000 crore) without transparently laying down before the nation a detailed rationale behind it, is another glaring point that the media has chosen not to question adequately. The Tehelka expose of corruption among our defence forces and the ministry of defence is not forgotten by some of us.

I pray that it is not too late before our country, its ecology and its majority non-affluent population get completely devastated by corporate entities and their sophisticated political goons like Chidambarams, Montek Singh Ahluwalias, Manmohan Singhs, Mulayam Yadavs, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjees, Bal Thackerays and Arun Jaitleys, aided and abetted by a 'deliberately-looking-the-other-way' media and a 'consumption-obsessed' urban citizenry.

life in journalism: many media editors in india bend backwards for corporate and political bigwigs

Below is the gist of a real-life phone conversation in India between a journalist and his/her editor (unfortunately, I can not reveal identities, but if you are/become a reliable friend of mine I can disclose it on the phone):

"Editor (angrily): "Why haven't you managed to arrange for a column article by any popular chief of AAAA (one particular corporate sector)? There is no time to wait. Get it fast."

Journalist: "I have approached 2-3 corporate heads that fit your criteria and even followed up with them continuously but have not received any confirmation from them; in fact one of them has explicitly declined to contribute."

Editor (angrily): "You should have got it from one."

Journalist (also now worked up, but at a great risk to his/her future prospects in that media company): "I am sorry but I can not go around begging these corporate heads to write a column for us."

Editor (angrily): "I don't want to listen to this crap. You have to do your job even if you have to beg."

Journalist: "My job does not involve begging."

Editor: (angrily cuts off the phone connection)........"

The above is the story of many media (print and television) editors in India who are allowing themselves to be manipulated and abused by political and corporate bigwigs and also expect their correspondents to do the same. Of course, in front of the pubic and their readers/viewers, they try to portray themselves to be upright and brave.

Do the readers/viewers fall for their tricks? I wonder. At least the corporates and their PR (public relations) firms and politicians don't. Barring a few (who conciously choose not to manipulate) they have perfected the art of manipulating the media editors. One technique is that of being accessible to one and denying access to the other. Which is exactly why the journalist in the above case was not being given confirmation by the corporate bigwigs he/she had approached due to his/her editor's demands.

life in financial markets: budget 2007 - impact on markets

Analysis on the impact of India's budget 2007 on the stock markets that I contributed to Outlook.

life in financial markets: global tremors, budget blues

The finance minister of India, P. Chidambaram, presented India's Budget 2007-08 before the Parliament today. It occurred on a day when the world markets had taken a beating too. Chinese stock market had registered a 7-8% fall yesterday, the highest in a decade. Even the US market fell yesterday and it was the higest fall since September 11 2001.

The budget is as usual obsessed with so-called 'growth' in services and manufacturing sectors and completely ignores the devastating effects of forced "development" on the ecology of the country and the tribals and villagers of India. Growth and development are welcome per se but we have hardly seen any growth in the happiness of majority of India's population nor have we seen any worthwhile development of democratic principles by the polity, judiciary, bureaucracy, police, corporates and society in general.

life in financial markets: using SEZs to loot?

using SEZs to loot?

February 26 2007 (Monday)

Early this month, I contributed an input to a news article on Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Outlook. It follows below.

Along with the write-up are four important data tables that one needs to look at to get a better understanding of the location, nature and size of the SEZs:

-- Statewise: SEZs notified as of December 2006 (after SEZ Act came into force in 2006),

-- Statewise: SEZs that have received formal approval as of October 2006,

-- Statewise: SEZs that have received in-principle approval as of October 2006, and

-- 10 largest SEZs in all three categories (as of October 2006).

SEZs first receive an in-principle approval, then a formal approval and then a final notification.

The SEZ Act 2005 came into force after the SEZ Rules 2006 were notified in February 2006.

Here is the write-up:

It all began in 1965 with the setting up of Asia's first export processing zone in 1965 in India in Kandla, Gujarat. It was followed by about five-six others. Then in 2000 the Export and Import (Exim) Policy allowed for a Special Economic Zone policy with an ostensible intention to speed up the growth in exports. Two years following this, a few states notified their independent SEZ policies which led to the creation of a handful of SEZs.

Legislating SEZ Act 2005. The whole thing got formalised when the Special Economic Zones Act 2005 was passed by both houses of the Parliament with just one day of debate. It became effective when the Special Economic Zones Rules 2006 were notified in February 2006. Prima facie the objectives were the same as previous SEZ notifications – promotion of clustered development (minimum 1000 hectares, i.e. 10 sq km of contigous uninterrupted area for multi-product units, minimum 100 hecatres i.e 1 sq km for one-product unit and minimum 10 hectares i.e. 100 square metre for certain specified categories of products) of export-oriented production of goods or provision of services.

Incentives provided. The carrot being dangled was the waiving of ALL taxes (excise, income, service, revenue, electricity etc etc) for a period of five years and 50% for the next five years. But it is not the only one. The enticements extend to independent control of the earmarked SEZ areas by the promoters and units operating in them. They are offered the right of independent generation of electricity, independent residential complexes for employees/workers and independent creation of infrastructure within the SEZ without having to comply with provisions of law that any industry or company outside SEZs would have to.

Concern on lack of regulatory oversight. One concern arising out of the whole SEZ Act and Rules is that while regulatory oversight is laid down under the Act and Rules is there is no move yet to bring confidence to the people that an enormous regulatory machinery is already in place which will implement effectively and without corruption the checks and balances in the SEZ legislations .

Empolyment generation claims. Employment is the biggest justification to grant such concession but no hard-hitting technical report is presented by the government that defines employment and the lack of it in the absence of such concessions like what the SEZ legislation aims to provide. Says an official of Pune-based National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS): "Around two years ago the Commerce Minister said that they had done a study on the employment benefits but so far we haven't seen it being made public."

Groups like NCAS point towards the abysmal track record of employment generation in majority cases of industrial or development projects. Says Surekha Dalvi, a Mumbai-based lawyer representing some SEZ-affected villages: "You can generate employment in agri-based activities at a far low cost compared with the huge capital required to set up industrial units."

Another school of thought says that the SEZ policy will only encourage existing industrial units to shift to SEZ areas and new ventures will not be much. International Monetary Fund's chief economist, Raghuram Rajan, recently expressed his reservations to this effect.

Using the imperial Land Acquisition Act of 1894. The SEZ Act and Rules conveniently ignores the reality that the minimum area requirment of 10 sq km for a multi-product SEZ can not be met by most companies and even state governmental enterprises just like that. Such a large area can only be acquired by buying existing land that already belongs to individuals/entities or a state government, including fertile agricultural lands. And it is here where the biggest perceived injustice starts.

At the time of application under the SEZ Act the corporate or state government applicant has to only name the area where it wants to set up the SEZ. Ownership proof is not required at this stage. Only when the Board of Approval (set up under SEZ Act) gives an in-priniciple approval does the applicant entity have to provide the ownership details of the land in the proposed SEZ.

State governments are actively helping applicants by using the 1894 legislation of Land Acquistion Act, 1894 to forcibly buy the lands in the proposed SEZs. And all of this is happening in fertile lands in rural India. Take, for instance, this notice by a Maharashtra governmental authority in Raigad district in June 2006 that stated that under Section 4 of Land Acquisition Act, 1894, it intends to buy lands in 2-3 talukas of Raigad for Maha Mumbai SEZ in which Mukesh Ambani's Reliance is a partner.

The Land Acquisition Act, 1894, was introduced by the imperial British empire to enable it to take over vast areas of India as and when it thought it fit to expedited its imperial goals and objectives.

Under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, the government is the ultimate owner of all lands and properties and can choose to take over any of it for an undefined 'public purpose'. All it has to do is offer compensation that it deems is enough. The SEZ controversy is primarily around this forced acquistion.

Firstly, farmers and landowners are pissed off that their lands will be the first ones targeted for SEZs (unlike that of urban dwellers and corporate areas which will almost never be touched) and they will have no choice but to give away. The Land Acquisition Act, 1894, gives them right to appeal to the high court against the price but this too can be severely compromised if local goons or sophisticated politcal agents are involved in the acquistion process. Moreover, they find it hard to digest that for no fault of theirs they have to take time out (and bear expenses) towards fighting in the high court for getting fair price just because the government applies draconian laws like the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

Tax concession for exports. Existing exporters feel that it is not a level playing field in case they can not set up a unit in a SEZ and get the tax concession. Privately controlled SEZs will run without the Industrial Disputes Act being applicable to them so the claims of employment are being taken with huge doses of salt since the SEZ units can end up exploiting manpower to the hilt by paying them less wages.

Loss of revenue to exchequer. As per figures in commerce ministry's 2005-06 annual report, exports from SEZs, existing prior to SEZ Act 2005, were to the tune of Rs 18,309 crore. Compared to the total export turnover in the country of Rs 4,30,888 crore it works out to 4.2 per cent. The SEZ Act 2005 is likely to jack up this percentage in coming years. On a rough estimate of it touching 50-60 per cent the tax-exempt export turnover can touch around Rs 2,50,000 crore on which an estimated tax loss of 30-40 per cent would amount to aroun Rs 1,00,000 crore.

Other concerns. The land acquisition on a huge scale getting facilitated by the SEZ Act is also being looked upon a real estate scam. In an interview last year with Outlook Business (September 5, 2006), HDFC's chairman, Deepak Parekh, had wondered whether the SEZ policy was an economic policy or a real estate giveaway.

These concerns arise because some part of a SEZ area will be used for residential complexes, hotels, schools, shopping malls for the employees working in the productive areas of the SEZ area. These are a lucrative proposition for construction conglomerates like the DLFs, Ansals, Hiranandanis and Rahejas.

life in general: film on gujarat genocide 2002

I saw Parzania movie today. Its on a middle class family getting shattered in the horrendous genocidal violence inflicted by Gujarat's chief minister, Narendra Modi, on the minority citizens of Gujarat in February-March 2002. Parzania is a movie which I will not hesitate watching multiple times for the close-to-reality portrayal of the horrors of that time. In fact I would like to watch the uncensored version of the movie (what I saw in the movie theatre today had many cuts forced upon the filmmakers by the official Censor Board and more so by the hooligan unofficial censors emanating from Modi's team, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Bharatiya Janata Party and the wolf-in-sheep's-clothing Congress-cum-allies.

The only other film made on Gujarat Genocide 2002 is Dev which was released around two years ago. But what struck me particularly about Parzania is that it minces no words in illuminating some of the harsh truths (which I am sure would be more pronounced in the uncensored version). And in this respect it surpasses Dev. Also, the direction, music, acting in Parzania is competent and moving. Sarika is deeply moving in her portrayal of the missing boy's mother.

Parzania is a must watch. If it goes out of the theatres buy the DVD/VCD as and when available. There is an excellent documentary film too --Final Solution by Rakesh Sharma -- on Gujarat Genocide 2002 that is worth watching and whose DVD/VCD is worth purchasing.

Two comprehensive non-film reports on Gujarat Genocide 2002 are here and here. Such events are a part of a vicious cycle of violence that our Earth's human inhabitants have been carrying out against each other for thousands of years. Yet when I see it happening it at close quarters in my country I can not but feel anguished. When the brutal bomb blasts took place in Bombay's suburban train in July 2006 I wrote something about the factors, causes and the vicious cycle.