THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS TALKS AGAINST CASTEIST HEGEMONY IN SOUTH ASIA

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS TALKS AGAINST CASTEIST HEGEMONY IN SOUTH ASIA INDIA AGAINST ITS OWN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

PalahBiswas On Unique Identity No1.mpg

Friday, September 9, 2011

Open General License exports notifications likely to be out by next weekendFlour millers today hailed the government's decision to lift a four year-old ban on wheat exports, saying this would not only prevent a further decline in domestic retail pric

Open General License exports notifications likely to be out by next weekendFlour millers today hailed the government's decision to lift a four year-old ban on wheat exports, saying this would not only prevent a further decline in domestic retail prices, but would also enable the export of high protein varieties to the Middle East. Yesterday, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Food decided to lift the ban on wheat exports, subject to a ceiling of two million tonnes. The ban was imposed in early 2007.

Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY Four


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9 SEP, 2011, 04.42AM IST, ET BUREAU

CAG's report on aviation strongly indicts the state ownership of airlines

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Discussion of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on civil aviation has tended to focus on the putative wrongs of the ministry in granting liberal bilateral rights to foreign airlines. This is entirely misconceived.

In fact, public attention needs to focus on the running critique of public ownership of airlines provided by theCAG report, albeit unintentionally.

As is typical of much of audit by the CAG, the focus of the present report is confined to the sector under review, when it criticises the liberal granting of bilateral rights to foreign carriers, endangering the national carrier, Air India, and suggests that grant of such rights could have been held in abeyance till 2010 when Air India's fleet acquisition plans would have given it some tangible capacity.

In making this argument, the CAG forgets the elementary fact that people fly in and out of India to pursue their own businesses, not with the objective of protecting Air India's bottom line.

If Indians and others had not been allowed to fly in and out of India freely and at low cost through a liberal policy on bilateral rights, it would have aborted India's vaunted growth of 8.9% in the four years prior to the crisis year of 2008. India's growth was globalised growth, in which foreign markets, foreign capital, foreign experts, foreign acquisitions and foreign remittances played a huge role.

Foreign travel underlay all these elements of growth. If, instead of looking at the bottom line of an idiotically-run airline, the CAG had examined whether aviation policy served the wider economy, it would have given a seven-gun salute to the liberal grant of 6th freedom rights to foreign airlines (the right of a carrier to fly passengers to and from two foreign countries with a stop in its own country).

The CAG glosses over excess staffing and mismanagement of the national airlines before and after their merger. These and an overall debt burden nearly 40 times the equity derive from state ownership and swamp the airline.

The long delay and the factoring in of geopolitical considerations in fleet acquisition also stem from state ownership. The clear lesson: privatise, to make it fly.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/cags-report-on-aviation-strongly-indicts-the-state-ownership-of-airlines/articleshow/9917987.cms

Open General License exports notifications likely to be out by next weekendFlour millers today hailed the government's decision to lift a four year-old ban on wheat exports, saying this would not only prevent a further decline in domestic retail prices, but would also enable the export of high protein varieties to the Middle East. Yesterday, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Food decided to lift the ban on wheat exports, subject to a ceiling of two million tonnes. The ban was imposed in early 2007. 

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Meanwhile,Senior BJP leader LK Advani's rath yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya brought BJP within striking distance from the seat of power at the Centre. Two decades later as Advani prepares to saddle the rath once again, there is unease within the sangh parivaar.Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani's decision to embark on yet another Rath Yatra, this time against corruption, is the first indication by a leading politician of the possibility of a mid term poll to the Lok Sabha.


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Wonder why Manmohan Singh doesn't robustly rebut the charge that his government is not serious about corruption. It enjoys first mover advantage in the season of jail bharo andolans.

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At least the RSS leadership, sources say, had no prior knowledge of any such move. Now with Advani having announced it in public, there is no option for the RSS but to back the yatra.


RSS Spokesperson Ram Madhav said, "The question of Sangh giving consent to any particular campaign against corruption simply does not arise. Corruption is a huge issue. Many people have launched agitations against corruption. We have asked our supporters to participate in such campaigns. In this case, Advaniji is embarking a yatra, naturally Sangh will also join this campaign and support him."


Even the BJP was caught unawares. Only after the announcement was made, did the Parliamentary board on Thursday discussed the plan in detail.


But Advani's now found aggression has further raked leadership. Issues within the BJP, with Advani in contention, succession plans to post Vajpayee-Advani era for the BJP remains undecided even seven years after BJP lost power at the Centre.


The party however remains ambiguous on who would be the Prime Ministerial candidate for the BJP in the run-up to 2014 general elections.


Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj on Friday said, "The yatra has got nothing to do with that."


Clearly, the world has clearly changed for the rath yaatri.

09/09/2011

To bust Chinese hackers, NATO sees an ally in India

Faced with a common cyber security threat from Chinese hackers, NATO is eyeing India as an ally in securing its computers that hold sensitive information and data against malwares and Trojan viruses.
With US already signing a cyber security collaboration pact with India this July, the 28-nation American-led political and military alliance is of the view that it can collaborate with the South Asian information technology superpower in protecting the cyber world, one of the global commons.
"You have one of the most advanced cyber industries in the world...and information technology industries. The issue of
cyber security is one that affects the United States, NATO and India no matter whether we are aligned or non-aligned," a senior NATO official told IANS at the alliance's headquarters here.
"The cyber world doesn't recognise alignments. It only recognises switches and servers. As a result, we are in this cyber world together, whether we like it or not.
"We better figure out a way to cooperate, particularly since it does matter that you have a neighbour (country) next door, which is pretty much involved in cyber issues, even far away. Because in the cyber world, we are equally close," the official, who did not want to be identified because of the organisation's rules, said.
Although he did not name any of India's neighbours, it was clear he was referring to China, which is suspected of being behind spy software attacks on American, NATO, Indian and Tibetan computers in the last half-a-decade, stealing highly classified military and security data.
In 2009, an investigation by Information Warfare Monitor (IWM) comprising researchers from Ottawa-based think-tank, SecDev Group, and the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, had blamed a spy network of Chinese hackers, called GhostNet, to have breached the firewalls of computers of NATO and other countries, including that of Tibetan leader Dalai Lama.
Their 2010 report claimed that major Indian defence establishments, including the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, National Security Council Secretariat, National Maritime Foundation, and armed forces units were targeted and secret presentations on weapons systems stolen by Chinese hackers.
A cyber security report earlier this year had suggested that the worldwide web-based attacks in 2010 were up 93 percent from 2009.
As recently as July this year, 'anomymous' hackers had targeted NATO in a cyber attack.
Just a month ahead of the latest attack, NATO had decided to create a special task force to detect and respond to such attacks by beefing up its cyber defence capabilities.
Its 2010 summit in Lisbon too recognised the growing sophistication of cyber attacks and set policies for the alliance to cooperation with partner countries.
NATO has already spelt out its intention of having India as a political and military partner country, considering its growing stature as a regional power.
Source: IANS

MUMBAI:A two-day meeting of Team Anna core committee will begin at his village Ralegan Siddhi tomorrow.

"Arvind Kejriwal reached the village this afternoon, while Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan will be reaching tomorrow morning," Hazare's close aide Datta Awari said over phone from Ralegan Siddhi.

The meeting is being held in the backdrop of Hazare making public his displeasure over the government "targeting" his team members. Bedi, Bhushan and Kejriwal have been served breach of privilege noticesand Kejriwal has also been slapped with Income Tax notice.

At the meeting, Hazare and the core committee members are expected to discuss strategy on current issues, including the notices issued by the Centre.

On September 2, while addressing a gram sabha meeting at Ralegan Siddhi, Hazare had launched an attack on the UPA regime, saying half of those in the government were liars. He had singled out Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, describing him as 'mischievous'.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday that the hike in prices of foodgrains was due to some obvious reasons, but the government was still trying to bring it down.

Talking to mediapersons in Kolkata, Mukherjee said the price of lentils rose because India's consumption is more than its production.

"The prices of foodgrains have been due to some obvious reasons. For the last eight months, the price of rice and wheat is steady. Earlier the price of dal (lentils) had increased because India doesn't produce as much as it consumes. India needs 19 million tonnes, but production is only 14 million tonnes. But this year, the production of dal has increased," said Mukherjee.

Mukherjee added the government collects a third of the total production, which sets the benchmark price of foodgrains.

"The support money of one quintal rice was Rupees 600 and now it is Rupees 1,100 per quintal.

Government collects a third of the total production, which sets the benchmark price of foodgrains. These are the reasons for the foodgrain price hike, but we are still trying to cut down the price," added Mukherjee.

India's food price index rose 9.16 percent this year till June 11, government data showed on Thursday (June 23). In the previous week, annual food inflation stood at 8.96 percent.

Food articles have a weight of little over 14 percent in India's inflation basket.

The record food grain produced during farm year July 2010 to June 2011 was 23 million tonnes more than the year before. However, the demand is set to rise with population growing at nearly 1.8 per cent annually.

The government has recently lifted the four-year old ban on wheat exports, even as shipment of the grain is not viable at current global prices.

The government had banned wheat exports since 2007 to boost domestic supply and contain inflation.
"Despite record procurement by the government, there is still so much wheat in the market. The prices have fallen to below support price in some states like Uttar Pradesh," M K Dattaraj, a former President of the Roller Flour Mills Federation, said.

"The decision to allow exports will arrest a further decline in domestic rates," he added.

Dattaraj noted that "high protein (wheat) varieties of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will find some market in the Middle East". In addition, he said some quantities could be exported to Bangladesh from eastern UP.

The government procured a record 28 million tonnes of wheat at Rs 1,170 per quintal in the 2011-12 marketing year (April-March).

In the national capital, prices of wheat dara -- used by flour millers -- stood at Rs 1,145-1,150 per quintal yesterday.

As per Wholesale Price Index data released yesterday, wheat rates fell by 1.04 per cent year-on-year in the week ended August 27.

9 SEP, 2011, 07.55PM IST, PRABHA JAGANNATHAN,ET BUREAU

Open General License exports notifications likely to be out by next weekend

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NEW DELHI: The formal notification on allowing exports of rice and wheat under OGL (open general license) is likely to be out by late next week or early the week after.

This will mean that the physical export of both cereals is likely some early October, in time for the beginning of the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) which in bring in the fresh summer crop into the market. Curiously enough, the notifications allowing for "unrestricted" or "free" exports are only likely to facilitate around 5mt of cereals in all.

:We have already had problems earlier with the courts on specification of qunatiy ceiling under OGL exports and on specific allocation of export quantities to exporters. both wheat and rice will not be specified in the OGL notifications.

In view of that, the ceiling on exports decided for rice and wheat by the EGoM will be informal. However, we will monitor exports strictly and ensure that an informal ceiling of 2mt for wheat and 3mt for rice is adhered to," food minister K V Thomas, who is to brief prime minister Manmohan Singh later this evening on the subject, told ET. Indications are that an MEP could be imposed on rice to regulate exports once the informal ceiling of 3mt is reached.

The OGL notification from the DGFT (directorate general of foreign trade under the Commerce ministry) is unlikely to specify either the "informal" cap of 2mt for wheat but specify mandatory registration of exporters.

For rice, too, the unstated ceiling of 3 mt of exports for rice, including one million tonne of non basmati and 2mt of parboiled rice is unlikely to be specified in the notification since it would technically contradict the concept of "unrestricted" exports. The registration of exporters will allow for those who come in first to be registered for exports first, without specific allocation to individual exporters, subject to the overall informal ceiling.

The urgency to hasten isuse of notification for exports is primarily in order to reduce pressure on storage space available with the government for cereals, even while keeping a gimlet eye on the stocks available with the Centre to service PDS and welfare programmes and the right to food law which is expected to be operational in the coming financial year.

Although open market trade on cereals already exists, the additional avenue of "free" exports for both rice and wheat now created is expected to reduce the pressure on State agencies for procurement from farmers.

Under Food Corporation of India (FCI) rules, the agency has to procure all the cereals brought to it for sales by farmers..FCI, the nodal agency for foodgrains procurement and distribution, had 25.27 mt of rice and 35.87 mt of wheat (61.27 mt in all) in its storage facilities as of August 1..According to the buffer norm prescribed, theFCI should have only 21.2 mt of wheat and rice available as of October 1 every year. This includes 5 mt of strategic reserves.


"The registration of exporters could be done on first come, first registered basis until the capped quantity is exhausted," a government official said. Physical exports from ports to outside (African nations and Bangladesh in particular for non basmati rice) are expected within a month, With the DGFT already having done some groundwork regarding the issue of the notification, it s expected that speedy processing of paperwork necessary for the issue of notification will ensue immediately after the minutes of the EGoM signed by the head, (finance minister Pranab Mukherjee) is forwarded to the DGFT by early next week.

The curious decision by the EGoM on Thursday of resorting to OGL (unrestricted or free) exports with a capped quantity and to specify the need for registration by exporters appears to have been taken in order not to be caught in yet another controversy following earlier run-ins with the court in the case of both non basmati rice exports and controversy over a quantity ceiling on OGL export of cotton.

An earlier decision of the government to allow ceiling specified rice exports under OGL with specific allotments to exporters was challenged by the courts.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/open-general-license-exports-notifications-likely-to-be-out-by-next-weekend/articleshow/9925636.cms
Young BJP MP Varun Gandhi today wondered why his party as well as the government were silent on the CAG report's finding on Krishna Godavari basin and the alleged favours given by the government to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance.

Expressing his views on his Twitter handle varungandhi80, the Pilibhit MP said "CAG indicts Reliance. Clear violation of govt contract terms. Govt & opposition both silent. Wonder why?!"

Gandhi goes on to share details of where CAG has found the government in the wrong as it favoured Reliance.

"(a) Eliminated competition in contracts. (b) Awarded contracts at unreasonable rates. (c) Directly notified oil and gas discoveries without informing government," Gandhi said.

The government has not yet reacted to the CAG report findings.

Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi had spoken on the leaks of the CAG report on KG basin. He had questioned the leaks and sought to know who was behind it. He had also raised eyebrows about the authenticity of the leaked report.

The CAG report will be sent to Parliament's Public Accounts Committee headed by Joshi.

The horrific Delhi high court bombing became the ground for a political slanging match with the opposition BJP on Friday blasting the government for its failure to check terror strikes and the string of unsolved cases, and home minister P Chidambaram sharply replying that one of the cases was with BJP-ruled Karnataka.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley said there were six unsolved terror cases over the last couple of years now, to which Chidambaram said somebody should remind the BJP leader that his party government in Karnataka had failed to solve the case of two low intensity blasts that rocked Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on April 17 last year.

"The Centre was not doing enough to check terror attacks," Jaitley said at a press conference in the morning. Chidambaram, in a briefing soon after, said the BJP had quickly given up its pretence of bi-partisanship when it came to terrorism.

"As far as the so-called unsolved cases, I think he has forgotten the fact that there are state governments in this country. And some of the state governments belong to his party. Somebody should remind him that the Karnataka case is being investigated by the Karnataka police, by the BJP government," the home minister said.

He said of the six pending cases, one was the Varanasi blast of Dec 7, 2010, that left a two-year-old girl dead and another 25 injured.

"I am disappointed that the Karnataka case remains unsolved. I am disappointed that the Varanasi case remains unsolved. But that's not a responsibility that I can take," a combative home minister said at a press conference here, two days after a high intensity blast outside Delhi high court complex claimed 13 lives and left nearly 90 injured.

"I regret the statements made by the BJP leaders, when people have died in the Delhi high court blast and their families are suffering," he added, wondering if it was not in the DNA of BJP to remain bipartisan on terrorism issues.

The other four cases are from Delhi - three blasts on March 29 last year, May 25 and Sept 7 this year, and the shoot-out near Jama Masjid on Sept 18 last year.

"We constantly tell the police to crack those cases. The Pune (German Bakery blast) case has been solved. If someone thinks that the Pune case hasn't been solved, he is wrong," the minister added.

Jaitley, who responded to Chidambaram's remarks, said: "Terrorism in any state is a national problem. Chidambaram should be concerned that there are blast case after case. I don't see a sense of anger and urgency in him. Karnataka or Uttar Pradesh police do not have a national network, as the centre does."

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs plan would boost growth in the sluggish economy, though it likely will not survive intact amid Washington's deep divisions, economists said.

The new plan that Obama proposed to a rare joint session of Congress late Thursday -- a mix of tax cuts and new government spending -- is virtually certain to be sliced and diced when the actual legislation, the American Jobs Act, is delivered to Congress.

"The devil is in the details, and this bill's devils are likely to be larger than usual, in order to get through a Congress that has so recently faced a massive budgetary and fiscal challenge to meet obligations already on the books," said Jason Schenker at Prestige Economics.

Obama said the jobs plan, costing half as much as his 2009 stimulus program criticized by Republicans, would be fully paid for in the years to come under a new budget-deficit plan that he will propose on September 19.

Republicans oppose new spending in the face of huge US deficits and debt. The president's jobs proposal came as a special bipartisan panel of lawmakers began work on a budget plan to cut at least $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years.

Theoretically, economists said, the Obama jobs plan would spur gross domestic product growth -- below a feeble 1.0 percent in the first half of the year -- and job creation.

"President Obama's jobs proposal would help stabilize confidence and keep the US from sliding back into recession," said Mark Zandi at Moody's Analytics.

Zandi estimated the plan would add 2.0 percentage points to GDP growth next year, add 1.9 million jobs, and cut the unemployment rate by a percentage point.

"Many of the president's proposals are unlikely to pass Congress, but the most important have a chance of winning bipartisan support," he said.

Proposed tax cuts make up more than half its cost, aiming to put money in consumers' pockets and encourage hiring as the unemployment rate remains stuck at 9.1 percent and 14 million workers are seeking jobs.

"We estimate that the American Jobs Act, if enacted, would give a significant boost to GDP and employment over the near term," Macroeconomics Advisers economists said in a research note.

Tax cuts, combined with spending increases aimed at maintaining state and local employment and funding infrastructure modernization, would boost GDP by 1.3 percent by end-2012, the MA economists estimated.

Passage of measures within Obama's jobs plan could stimulate the economy, said Nomura analysts David Resler and Ellen Zentner.

The proposed reduction in social security taxes withheld on worker paychecks was projected to raise GDP growth by up to 1.0 percentage point in the first quarter of 2012, and by 0.5 points for the full year.

Zandi highlighted the plan's drawbacks, including its cost and the fact that most of the tax cuts and spending increases are temporary and will fade during 2013, resulting in weaker growth.

"Presumably the economy will be strong enough to handle it by then, but that is far from certain. Moreover, the plan fails to address the ongoing foreclosure crisis and housing slump, major impediments to the recovery," he said.


The Planning Commission today said expansion of healthcare will be one of its top priorities during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17) and it aims to increase spending in the sector to 2.5 per cent of the GDP from around 1 per cent at present by the end of the period.

"In the 12th Plan, we hope that we will be able to increase the percentage of both central and state government spending (on health) as a percentage of GDP somewhere up to 2.5 per cent from a little over 1 per cent," Planning Commission Deputy ChairmanMontek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci seminar.

The healthcare sector, he said, was a focus area in the ongoing 11th Plan as well and the effort will continue in the 12th Plan.

"We tried to make a start in the 11th Plan, but it has to continue in the 12th Plan. India spends too little on the public sector in health," Ahluwalia said.

In its Approach Paper to the 12th Plan, which was approved by the full Planning Commission headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month, the Plan panel had emphasised on increased spending in social sectors, including health and education.

It had also called for greater public-private partnership in the sector.

Ahluwalia, while addressing the seminar, said the Srinath Reddy Committee on Healthcare will submit its report by the end of this month.

The high-level expert group was set up by the Planning Commission in 2010 to examine the prospects for a universal health cover and to develop a blueprint and investment plan for meeting the human resource requirement to achieve the objective of health insurance for all by 2020.

Ahluwalia termed current spending on healthcare as "skewed", with the government contributing only a small portion.

He also said that though the private sector is present in a big way in the health segment, there is a big difference in the quality of service provided by non-state actors.

"In the private sector, there is incredible variety. On the one end, we have some very high-end hospitals and treatment facilities of global standards, which, however, only a fraction of the population can afford and on the other hand, we have hospitals, which are of poor standard," Ahluwalia said.

"We have some of the best doctors in the world and also quacks," the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman added.

He also expressed concern over the low rate of health insurance penetration, even among organised sector employees, and said employers need to make efforts for bringing their staff under appropriate covers.
9 SEP, 2011, 03.45AM IST, ET BUREAU

CAG reports on Air India & RIL trigger fears of policy paralysis

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NEW DELHI: The latest indictment of two key ministries by the country's statutory auditor has raised apprehensions of a further slowdown in decision-making at the Centre.


The scathing criticism of Air India and Reliance Industries' KG Basin contracts come at a time when the government is already been reeling under a series of scams exposed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India's earlier reports which partly made the recent Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption movement such a success.


A politically besieged government will turn even more susceptible to policy paralysis, analysts fear. "Given the scrutiny, there is likely to be some delay in decision-making for sure. I just hope it does not lead to complete paralysis," said Kirit Parikh, economist who has headed many prominent government expert panels.


The home ministry had recently sought the audit of processes of the proposed 30,000-crore housing project for paramilitary forces, the first time a ministry sought such a pre-award scrutiny by the CAG. "It is always better to err on the side of caution," a government official privy to the development had told ET.


Similar is the case with the rural development ministry, which has been deliberating the pros and cons of bidding out contracts for rolling out biometric cards for the rural employment guarantee scheme. "Wherever huge costs are likely to be incurred, we have to be extra cautious, especially when you are involving private contractors," an official in the ministry said.


Former Home Secretary GK Pillai said the government machinery will inevitably stagger in the face of more intense scrutiny. "Decision-makers will become more cautious and this could in turn lead to some delay," Pillai told ET.


The government, that had been widely perceived to have drifted into indecision over the last two years, had chugged into action after the 2011 Budget session with an increase in administrative clearances and important cabinet decisions. However, this spurt did not last. In such a scenario, the government is bound to come under more pressure even as some questions are being raised over whether the CAG is exceeding its brief. Some analysts argue that the CAG's insinuations regarding business decisions, which due to their very nature have a risk component, go beyond its primary mandate of auditing financial results. "CAG should go into both procedural and performance accountability," Parikh said.


Former Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla, however, injected a note of confidence, saying, "People do tend to get more cautious when there is intense scrutiny of decision-making. But the system is aware that there are CAG and a CVC and is accustomed to handling this."


Mathew Joseph, former deputy economic adviser to the finance ministry, too looked at the positive side. "The CAG is only doing its job of looking into whether the policies and procedures are being followed. I think instead of delaying decisions it will improve the quality of decision-making in the bureaucracy and the government," he said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/cag-reports-on-air-india-ril-trigger-fears-of-policy-paralysis/articleshow/9917563.cms
Reserve Bank of India remains bent on fighting domestic inflation despite weakening global conditions, officials with direct knowledge of policymaking said, a week before it is widely expected to raise interest rates once again.

The Reserve Bank of India, which has lifted rates 11 times in 18 months, makes its mid-quarter review on September 16.

Though senior bank officials are hawkish, RBIGovernor Duvvuri Subbarao will not make a final decision before the release of August inflation data on Sept. 14, the sources said.

"We still have high food and non-food manufacturing inflation, good credit growth to industry and growth is also quite good according to our view," said an official with direct knowledge of the matter.

"So, domestic factors will continue to be the key driver for policy framing," the official said.

RBI officials have kept up the hawkish talk in recent weeks even as fears mount that western economies are slipping back into recession, although the central bank is widely believed to be nearing the end of its tightening cycle as its earlier actions exact a toll on demand in Asia's third-largest economy.

Also, the finance ministry is putting pressure on Subbarao, whose term was recently extended for two years, not to continue tightening for much longer. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee this week was quoted as saying that he hoped the RBI will not raise rates further.

Senior finance ministry officials said continued steady rate increases may not have the desired effect of cooling inflation without overly disrupting growth.

"Yes, inflation still remains the big concern but I see that peaking off at the end of the year, but growth will also come into sharp focus," one of the officials told Reuters.

INFLATION FIRST

Last week's jump in food inflation, high non-food manufacturing inflation, the knock-on impact of a June fuel price increase and resilient credit growth all point to a need for continued vigilance, several RBI officials said, declining to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.
7 SEP, 2011, 07.17PM IST, PTI

Government working on new incentive scheme for exporters

NEW DELHI: In the backdrop of strong demands from exporters for retaining the incentive scheme, DEPB, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The exporters have been demanding that the tax-refund Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) Scheme, which is set to expire by the end of this month, should be extended.

"While the DEPB will end on September 30, the commerce and finance ministries are jointly working for an alternative for export incentives," sources said.

Under the 14-year-old DEPB scheme, the government spends annually about Rs 8,500 crore for reimbursing exporters on the taxes paid on import equivalent content of export products.

The main beneficiaries of the DEPB scheme are engineering, automobile and chemicals sectors.

Though India's exports have shown a remarkable performance, growing by 54 per cent between April-July 2011 to USD 108.3 billion, there are concerns that the momentum may not be sustained in the wake of increasing economic problems in the US and Europe.

6 SEP, 2011, 06.37PM IST, PTI

Have to address contentious issues to boost manufacturing: Government

NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday said it will have to address contentious issues like land acquisition and power supply to give a boost to the manufacturing sector.

"Manufacturing is not absolutely a cake walk in India. We need much more to do. In fact, there are issues right from acquisition of land to getting power and other permissions," Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Praful Patel said here.

He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India ( ACMA) summit here.

Patel said the contribution of the automobile industry in the overall manufacturing area needs to grow in order to create more employment opportunities. The sector contributes 22 per cent to the country's manufacturing GDP.

To deal with land related issues, the government is in the process to make a law. The Cabinet cleared theLand Acquisition Bill yesterday.

The government is also coming out with a National Manufacturing Policy, which envisages creating world-class manufacturing and investment zones.

The proposed policy is expected to increase the sector's share to 25-26 per cent in the country's GDP by 2025 and generate 100 million jobs in the next decade.

At present, manufacturing industry contributes 16 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Patel said the auto components sector faces competition not only from China, but also from other nations like Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.

The industry has been asking the ministry for extension of certain incentives, including tax-refund Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) Scheme.

Department of Heavy Industry Secretary S Sundareshan said that his department has written to the finance ministry requesting it to extend DEPB Scheme beyond September 30.

Under the DEPB, the government reimburses exporters on the taxes paid on import equivalent content of export products.

With food inflation falling to a single-digit for the week ended August 27, Finance MinisterPranab Mukherjee today expressed hope that it would moderate further after the end of the festive season, though high prices of non-food items continue to be an area of concern.

"During the festive season, there will be some fluctuation (in food prices). But after that, moderating influence will continue," Mukherjee told reporters here.

His comments came after food inflation slipped to 9.55 per cent for the week ended August 27 from 10.05 per cent in the previous week, data released by the government said.

"In agricultural prices, commodity prices and food items, there could be fluctuations and up and down during the festive season. Tomorrow is Onam. Therafter is Dusshera and Diwali," Mukherjee said.

He said, however, the price situation in the non-food and fuel segments is still not encouraging.

"Though food inflation has come down... (inflation of) other items has increased substantially, particularly the non-food primary articles, which is not at all encouraging," the Finance Minister said.

Inflation in non-food articles, which include fibres, oilseeds and minerals, stood at 19.88 per cent during the week ended August 27, up from 17.19 per cent in the previous week.

Meanwhile, fuel and power inflation stood at 12.55 per cent for the week under review, the same as in the previous week.

"Fuel prices are still a cause of concern, hovering around USD 115 per barrel. I do hope it will be possible for us to have some moderation with the international economy's trend. But it is difficult to predict that right at this juncture," Mukherjee said.

Overall, inflation in primary articles was recorded at 13.34 per cent for the week ended August 27, up from 12.93 per cent in the previous week.

Mukherjee also said the government expects headline inflation to moderate by March, 2012.

"I hope before the end of the fiscal year, it would be possible to have a moderate rate of inflation," Mukherjee said, without giving any numbers.

Headline inflation, which factors in manufactured items, fuels and non-food primary items, besides food articles, stood at 9.22 per cent in June. It has been above the 9 per cent-mark since December last year.

The government had earlier said headline inflation is likely to remain high till the third quarter and then moderate to around 6.5 per cent by March, 2012. The RBI has projected fiscal-end inflation at 7 per cent.

Lower kharif crop not to drag down India's onion output: NHRDF
Though the delayed monsoon is expected to hit 15-20 per cent of summer-sown onioncrops in India, overall output in the country will remain in line with the production target of 15.13 million tonnes for 2011-12, government research bodyNHRDF said.

In India, the world's second largest onion producer after China, the bulb crop is grown in three seasons -- kharif (summer), late kharif and rabi (winter).

"Transplanting of main kharif onion crop in different states is almost completed. Area is less because of scanty rains and the kharif output could go down by 15-20 per cent. However, it would be made up in late kharif and rabi," R C Gupta, the director of Nasik-based National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), said.

The NHRDF, a wing of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), monitors onion cultivation across the country.

Gupta further said total onion production is unlikely to come down due to the possible drop in kharif output, as crops sown during this season only contribute 20 per cent to total output.

"There will not be a change in estimates and total onion output would be higher at 15.13 million tonnes this year, as late rains are expected to boost the prospects of the late kharif and rabi crop," the official said.

Last year, onion production stood at 14.56 million tonnes. Maharashtra is a leading growing state, followed by Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Karnataka.

On the tight supply situation and price rise, Gupta said, "Normally, onions that were stored in cold storages are sold between July and November. Since the storage cost has gone up and mandi prices were not ruling at the level to even cover up the cost, traders were releasing limited stocks in the market and this has led to the rise in prices."

However, prices in mandis, especially around Nasik, in Maharashtra, from where onions are supplied to other parts of the country, have softened since yesterday after the government measures.

Yesterday, the government banned the export of onions to check retail prices, which have gone up by Rs 10 per kg in the last few weeks. Onions were being sold at Rs 25 a kg in the national capital in the last few days.

9 SEP, 2011, 07.01AM IST, DEEPSHIKHA SIKARWAR,ET BUREAU

Private players to help government stem rot in godowns soon

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NEW DELHI: The government is ready with a blueprint to build grain silos through public-private partnershipsto meet the procurement and storage requirementunder the food security bill.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee-headed empowered group of ministers is expected to clear the scheme, which will shift storage systems from producing to consuming states, shortly.

"The framework and the model concession agreement are being finalised... They will be taken up by the EGoM soon," a finance ministry official told ET. Mukherjee had announced the plan for augmenting food storage facilities in his budget speech, after the government drew flak for rotting grain in godowns and open spaces even as food inflation soared past 20%.

Official estimates peg post-harvest losses at 10% of total grain production due to lack of storage facilities. At present, India has 41.21 million tonne (MT) of covered storage space while the total grain production stood at 242 MT in 2010-11.

Besides, the storage requirement is growing with rise in production and government procurement due to better minimum support prices. Creation of storage facilities is also imperative with the expected rise in government's procurement of grain under the food security law.

The government expects PPP to be the mainstay of its plan to build 13MT of capacity in the 12th plan. A substantial part of this capacity will be build in consumption states in order to ensure better supplies to the beneficiaries of public distribution system and also save resources and time.

Though, the plan involves setting up of 2 MT facility in the current year, the government may, on a pilot basis, offer the entire operation from procurement to storage to a single entity in case of silos of 50,000 tonnes, a government official said.

As per the proposed framework, these silos would be built on the basis on design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis for which land would be provided close to the railways establishment by states. Private companies will be responsible for storing grain in consumption states, though initially it may be stored in production states.

The proposed plan will be first implemented for wheat crop. Private entities will receive a recurring service charge for storage from the Food Corporation of India or the other government agencies. The storage requirement of a state would depend on its average off-take in the last three years.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/private-players-to-help-government-stem-rot-in-godowns-soon/articleshow/9918802.cms
Wikileaks India
Congress, which was under attack over the WikiLeaks cables on the cash-for-vote scandal, hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying the cables had exposed the "real face" of the saffron party.
09 September 2011 Last updated at 23:09 GMT

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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/fullcoverage/wikileaks-india
9 SEP, 2011, 05.05AM IST,

Infrastructure & governance patterns matter for growth beyond economic freedom

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C H Hanumantha Rao Honorary Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad

A high correlation between the expansion of economic freedom and accelerated growth in GDP is well-established in India since the early 1990s when economic reforms were introduced. But there are interstate variations in this correlation depending on the differences in the initial levels of infrastructure development and the governance patterns.

A recent publication Economic freedom of the states in India 2011* throws new light on such relationships by using 20 indicators classified broadly under three parameters, viz., size of the government; legal structure and protection of property rights; and regulation of credit, labour and business, for ranking the states.

Swaminathan Aiyar rates Andhra Pradesh as the fastest improver in economic freedom, faring exceptionally well in regulation of labour and business, over 2004-09 when Y S Rajashekhara Reddy was the chief minister. Improved business climate saw the state pushed the state's gross state domestic product (GSDP) growth above the national average.

Aiyar also demonstrates, from the Andhra experience, the compatibility of high growth with programmes for poverty alleviation and social justice. High growth yields revenues and subsidies decline when the share of agriculture in GSDP and poverty decline.

Thus, growth is a necessary condition for achieving inclusiveness, and inclusiveness in turn becomes necessary for sustaining growth politically, as demonstrated by Reddy by returning to power in 2009. Andhra Pradesh had already been pro-reform since the mid-1990s under the leadership of N Chandrababu Naidu.

IT, power, irrigation, water conservation through watershed development and state finances saw reforms. As a result, GSDP growth rate, which remained below the national average for over half a century, surpassed the national average for the first time during 2001-01 to 2004-05, rising to 6.32%, against the All-India growth rate of 5.99%.

The per capita GSDP also crossed the national average for the first time. The lagged effects of reforms introduced earlier helped in Reddy's period. High agricultural growth, twice the national average, achieved in Reddy's period cannot be traced to economic freedom, as there is no indicator bearing on economic freedom in this sector.

But it did contribute significantly to accelerating GSDP growth. By neglecting agriculture, Naidu left considerable slack in this sector, which Reddy made up for, restoring priority to agriculture through the sheer revival of the traditional public support systems like extension and better access to credit and inputs.

Similarly, control of Maoism is also not traceable to the index of economic freedom as constructed, but was responsible for high growth in the northern districts of the state.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/guest-writer/infrastructure-governance-patterns-matter-for-growth-beyond-economic-freedom/articleshow/9918134.cms

9 SEP, 2011, 04.38AM IST, ET BUREAU

CAG's report on oil & gas raises both specific & systemic issues

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The CAG report of its special audit of operations in four oil and gas blocks, including that in the KG basin operated by RIL, raises both specific and systemic issues that do need to be addressed and followed up on.


Specifically, the observations pertain to field activities in the KG field on items of additional project expenditure that were initiated well before the addendum costs were approved: the project expenditure did go up from $2.4 billion to $5.2 billion.


Also in the KG field, questions have been raised about the award of a $1.1 billion 10-year contract for an offshore production vessel, on the basis of a single financial bid.


As for systemic matters, the report avers that the extant profit sharing formula between the government and private contractors based on investment multiple offers an incentive to inflate capital costs. Instead, it recommends a single biddable profit sharing percentage, so as to discourage 'front-ending' or skewing of capital costs.


This is worth considering for future bids. What is also called for is revamp of sectoral oversight, so that the regulator is at an 'arm's length relationship' with the government, to avoid conflict of interest.


The suggestion to deepen the DGH's skill-set is welcome too. We need greater transparency across the board in oil & gas. The audit remark about the technical flaw in the operator undertaking items of additional expenditure even before the added project costs were formally okayed underscores the need for procedural revamp in the hugely capital-intensive upstream hydrocarbon sector.


But it cannot also be gainsaid that it makes sense to plan operations and tie up specialised capital equipment well in advance. The critical observation about the single bid and $1.1 billion contract suffers from its failure to amplify how tight the supply constraints were.


Similarly, on the charge of non-relinquishment of field acreage in subsequent exploration phases in the KG field, the CAG report seems to be erring on the side of caution, given the cited technical grounds for 'continuity of discovery' and the practical futility of putting up small relinquished areas for bidding by third parties of repute who have not exactly been flocking to India.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/cags-report-on-oil-gas-raises-both-specific-systemic-issues/articleshow/9917964.cms


09/09/2011

Janardhana Reddy's bail hearing put off to Monday

Hyderabad: A special court Friday adjourned to Monday the hearing on the bail petition of former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and his brother-in-law Srinivasa Reddy, arrested in an illegal mining case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation's petition seeking their custody will also be heard then. After hearing the arguments of both sides till late in the evening, the special court for CBI cases adjourned the case to Monday.
The arguments which began in the morning continued till 7.30 p.m. and the judge adjourned the hearing at the request of Janardhana Reddy's lawyer Udai Lalit, who flew in to the city in the afternoon by a special aircraft to argue the case.
In an unusual move, Judge B. Nagamurthi Sharma heard the arguments for over seven hours and was even prepared to do so till late in the night to decide on both the petitions but Lalit, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, sought the adjournment.
Lalit is the special public prosecutor in the 2G spectrum case that is being heard in a CBI court in Delhi. While seeking custody of the accused for 15 days, the CBI counsel told the court that the agency had all the evidence against the accused. The investigating agency also submitted to the court documents and other evidences.
Lalit argued that Janardhana Reddy is innocent and that CBI is trying to implicate him in a false case. He said his counsel was only a director of Obulapuram Mining Corporation (OMC) and can't be termed an accused for any irregularities that might have been committed by lower level employees.
Opposing CBI's petition for the custody of the accused, senior counsel Nageshwar wondered what the CBI wants to find out from them. Saying the CBI should question the ministers and officials in the case, he said his clients were not even names as accused in the FIR registered by CBI in 2009.
Public prosecutor Balla Ravindranath opposed the bail petition on the grounds that the accused might tamper with the evidence or even flee the country. He told the court that the accused earned thousands of crores through illegal mining. The court was informed that they exported the iron ore mined illegally to China, Singapore and Malaysia. "The accused have so far exported 23 lakh tonnes of iron ore," he said.
Explaining the reasons for seeking custody of the accused, the CBI counsel said facts can be unraveled only by questioning them. He also claimed the accused had intimidating their employees both in Obulapuram and Bellary and nobody was opening his mouth.
The court was also informed that the satellite images show that no mining took place from 2007 to 2010 in the area leased by Andhra Pradesh government to the OMC owned by Janardhana Reddy. The CBI arrested Janardhana Reddy and OMC managing director Srinivasa Reddy after raiding their houses early Monday in Bellary in Karnataka. The same day they were brought to Hyderabad and the CBI court remanded them to judicial custody till Sep 19. They are currently lodged at the Chanchalguda Central Jail here.
Source: IANS

09/09/2011

Rains cripples Delhi, leaves one dead

New Delhi: The Indian capital came to a virtual halt Friday morning as four hours of torrential downpour flooded streets and numerous neighbourhoods, crippled traffic and left a young girl dead.
The girl died when the boundary wall of an MCD hospital collapsed in Gautam Colony in Narela in west Delhi, police said. Nineteen old buildings were damaged and nearly 20 trees collapsed.
The drencher began before dawn and continued till about 8.30 a.m., the India Meteorological Department said. But heavy rains continued in several areas well up to 11 a.m. There was chaos on Delhi's roads.
With traffic signals failing and several streets turning into near rivers due to clogged drains, traffic crawled initially and then, in many places, came to a standstill, leading to frayed tempers.
Vehicles trying to bypass choked main roads jammed nearby narrow lanes.Stretches of roads caved in central Delhi near the Income Tax Office and at Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi.
Drenched traffic policemen barely balancing their umbrellas struggled to manage the roads. Many motorists flouted rules by barging into side lanes. "This is the worst I have seen in this city in a long, long time," autorickshaw driver Babuddin told IANS. "Until now I was praying for rains and now I am praying for the rains to stop."
Water entered the bustling inter-state bus terminus at Kashmere Gate in north Delhi and the nearby Tiz Hazari Metro station.
"I found my entire area submerged," 27-year-old Annie Rehman from Dibrugarh, Assam, told IANS. "It was like being back in Assam where we see floods." Among the worst hit places was the heart of Delhi, areas near the parliament house and roads leading to Connaught Place.
Parts of south Delhi, housing posh colonies like Vasant Vihar, fared no better. There were major jams on roads leading out of Delhi to Gurgaon in Haryana and Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
In populous Laxmi Nagar and Geeta colony in east Delhi, residents waded through knee deep water. Underpasses of flyovers turned into dirty pools. Autorickshaw drivers either refused to play or fleeced customers.
Some people naturally preferred to stay at home. "Don't go out, Delhi roads are in a mess because of water-logging. Thanks to our civic agencies," Kriti Munjal cried out on Facebook.
A Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) official pleaded helplessness, and said other civic agencies were equally to blame for the mess.
With road traffic badly hit, Delhi Metro proved to be a boon although some delays were reported on the network's elevated lines.
Experts said Delhi would get more rains for the next 48 hours.
A total of 513.9 mm of rain has been recorded in Delhi since the outbreak of monsoon end of June.
Source: IANS

09/09/2011

Flood threat: 3,000 evacuated in Orissa

Bhubaneswar: About 3,000 people were evacuated from the low-lying areas of Orissa after a huge discharge of water from the Hirakud Dam triggered fears of floods in 11 of the state's 30 districts, an official said Friday.
According to reports, at least 1,600 people were moved from low-lying areas to safer places in Boudh district, an official of the state flood control room here told IANS.
About 500 people in Jharsuguda and 300 people in Subarnapur were evacuated from the low-lying areas of these districts. Some were evacuated Thursday night, others early Friday, he said.
Due to heavy rains in the upper catchment areas in the past several days, including in Chhattisgarh, a huge quantity of water is entering the Hirakud reservoir on the river Mahanadi in Sambalpur district, about 350 km from here.
As a result, the dam authorities had to release the excess water by opening 53 of its 64 sluice gates Thursday.
With two more gates opened Friday, the number of total gates opened increased to 55, so far, the official said. The released water is likely to reach several downstream areas by evening.
The inflow of water to the Hirakud Dam was 1,015,093 cusecs and outflow was 888,031 cusecs early Friday, he said.
The state government has asked the collectors of all 11 districts located along the Mahanadi river and its tributaries to remain alert and evacuate more people from the
low-lying areas if necessary, special relief commissioner P.K. Mohapatra said.
Source: IANS

09/09/2011

Kerala immersed in Onam festivities

Thiruvananthapuram: The second day Friday of the week-long Onam festival brought cheer for Keralites as heavy rains, pouring down since a month in the state, have comparatively reduced.
"Since yesterday, things have changed dramatically and there is glee on everyone's face because Onam is basically an outdoor festival," said 60-year-old homemaker Savithiri Devi here.
Since 1961, Onam is the official festival of Kerala. Legend states that on Onam, Mahabali, the mythical Asura king, visits his subjects.
Since Thursday Kerala is having a holiday with most offices being shut.
"The spirit of Onam can never be dampened. Just come out onto the streets and you find it difficult to move freely," said Thomas Joseph, a medical professional.
Incidentally the most important event of the day is the traditional Onam lunch that is served traditionally on a plantain leaf.
"Yes, the 25 dish Onam lunch is a speciality... Today in all my houseboats, we are serving the full Onam lunch," said Tomy Pulikattil who owns more than a dozen houseboats that ply in the Vembanad lake in central Kerala.
Numerous hotels and caterers are ready with the traditional Onam lunch. The lunch is priced from Rs.125 to Rs.400.
Source: IANS

09/09/2011

Afzal Guru denies link to Delhi blast

New Delhi: Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru Friday denied any link to the Delhi High Court bombing saying his name was "unnecessarily" dragged into the "cowardly act" which "must be condemned by all".
"I am disturbed that my name has been unnecessarily dragged in this connection. Some agencies/groups are playing dirty game by falsely involving my name," Guru, whose clemency plea is with the president, said in a statement.
An email attributed to the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) had owned up Wednesday's deadly bombing that killed 13 people outside the court complex in Delhi.
The message traced to an Internet cafe in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district had threatened to carry out more such attacks if the death penalty to Guru was not immediately repealed.
However, Guru said he had nothing to do with the blast. "This is not for the first time that my name has been dragged by some mischievous persons/groups for such heinous crimes. It has become a routine that whenever such blasts take place my name is sought to be dragged in order to de-characterize and malign me to cultivate public opinion against me."
In the statement circulated to the media by his counsel N.D. Panchi, Guru said: "It is a serious matter of concern that some criminal elements and anti-social persons committed that heinous and barbarous crime of bomb blast in the Delhi High Court. It is a cowardly act and must be condemned by all. No religion permits killing of innocent persons."
Source: IANS

09/09/2011

Fourth email surfaces, warns of attack on Ahmedabad; PC calls third one "amateurish"

Another email, the fourth, with regard to the Delhi High Court blast was received by some media houses, according to TV reports on Friday. The latest mail, which also warned of a terror attack in Ahmedabad, claimed that the third email was sent by Indian Mujahideen.
Earlier, Amid conflicting claims on who was behind Wednesday's Delhi High Court bombing, a third email surfaced Friday claiming responsibility for the terror attack. It was sent to the Delhi Police and Home Minister P. Chidambaram said it was written "amateurishly" but was being taken seriously by investigators.
"Third email arrived today (Friday)," Chidambaram said, elaborating that it was written "amateurishly" in a numerical code that was deciphered "easily". "Number 1 reads as A, number 8 reads as H. It seems it is hinting at the next target," he said, adding that Ahmedabad in Gujarat may have been named as the next target.
He said it seemed that the communication "has not been sent by a serious person" but investigators were nevertheless taking it seriously. "We have sent revised advisories to states, including Gujarat," the minister said.
This was the third of four emails reportedly sent in three days since the deadly bombing outside the Delhi High Court Wednesday which killed 13 people and injured over 90. The earlier two emails were attributed to the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) and the home grown terror group Indian Mujahideen which owned up to the bombing.
The HuJI e-mail was tracked to an internet cafe in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district. It threatened to carry out more such attacks if the death penalty to 2001 parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was not immediately repealed.
Chidambaram said the sender of the HuJI email has been identified and taken into custody. But he did not elaborate. "The person suspected of sending the e-mail has been taken into custody for interrogation. We will have to wait for the report (after questioning of the suspect)," he said.
Police had earlier picked up the owners of the cafe. A TV network received the second email in which the Indian Mujahideen said it had plotted the attack and warned that its cadres would strike outside a shopping complex Tuesday.
Later, sources said the third email, recieved on Friday, was traced to Moscow, but there is a possibility it could have been sent from a proxy server with the address in the Russian capital.
"The third email sent to Delhi Police has been traced to Moscow. The NIA (National Investigation Agency) is not sure whether it was sent by proxy server or it is from Moscow indeed," a source told IANS.A proxy server keeps the computers behind it anonymous, mainly for security reasons and to circumvent regional restrictions.
Meanwhile, sleuths led by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) are pursuing scattered leads to crack the case but have not achieved any major breakthrough.
Chidambaram said the investigators were not in a position to say if the blast was the handiwork of Pakistan-based terrorists. "I cannot say if it's the Indian module or the module from across the border," the minister said.
Source: India syndicate & IANS

09/09/2011

RIL, OilMin flouted rules in D6: Report silent on Govt loss

New Delhi: The comptroller and auditor general (CAG) has attacked the petroleum ministry and the country's largest company, Reliance Industries Ltd, for violations in the production-sharing contract (PSC) governing Reliance's crown jewel, the KG-D6 block. In its final report on the functioning of hydrocarbon PSCs tabled in Parliament on Thursday, the government auditor has recommended revisiting the profit-sharing formula. It is, however, silent on the loss that an increased capex in D6 may cause to the government.
In its draft report, the auditor had said the increase in estimated capex from $2.4 billion to $8.5 billion between May 2004 and October 2006 was likely to have 'significant adverse impact on government's financial take'.
Shares of RIL lost 2 per cent during intra-day trades before recovering to close in positive territory on Thursday. The stock of the country's largest private sector entity has been under heavy selling pressure since June, when details about the draft CAG report came out in the open. In the last three months, it lost 30 per cent but gained 20 per cent in the last 10 days. On Thursday, its share price at the BSE touched a monthly high of Rs 859 and closed at Rs 853.50, up 2.6 per cent, hinting the market had already discounted for the adverse CAG report.
In the final report, CAG has accused RIL of hoarding exploration acreage.
It said "RIL was allowed (by DGH) to enter the second and third exploration phases without relinquishing 25 per cent each of the total contract area at the end of Phase-I and Phase-II in June 2004 and 2005, respectively, as against Articles 4.1 and 4.2 of PSC by treating the entire contract area as discovery area. Subsequently, in February 2009, the government also conveyed approval to treat the entire contract area of 7,645 sq km as discovery area, thus enabling the operator to completely avoid relinquishment of area".
CAG has also said RIL's opinion that petroleum existed in the entire contract area was baseless, and DGH should have forced the contractor to relinquish the stipulated area. CAG recommended the petroleum ministry review the determination of the entire contract area of the KG block while strictly complying with the PSC. RIL, however, said in a statement issued on Thursday that as a contractor, it remained "committed to complying with the PSC provisions and procedures including adopting Good International Petroleum Industry Practices (GIPIP)".
With regard to the same block, CAG said the operator submitted an initial development plan (IDP) in May 2004 with an estimated capex of $2.4 billion. The IDP was followed by an addendum (AIDP) in October 2006 with an estimated capex of $5.2 billion for Phase-I and $3.6 billion for Phase-II. "We found most procurement activities were undertaken late in line with the schedules of the IDP of May 2004. By contrast, activities in respect of items in the AIDP were initiated even before the submission/approval of the AIDP," CAG has said.
According to CAG, the current slabs for profit-sharing between the operator and government are so designed that a highly capital intensive project (implying a lower investment multiple or IM) causes a lower government share of profit and vice versa. This implies that the current system of profit-sharing does not give an incentive to keep costs lower.
With respect to the RJ-ON-90/1 block, operated by Cairn, CAG found 13 fresh discoveries were made during or between the appraisal phase and in the development phase in areas already delineated as development areas. "Consequently, in our opinion, the declaration of fresh discoveries during the appraisal/development phases within the delineated discovery/development areas amounted to irregular extension of exploration activities, which is not in consonance with the terms of the PSC". Despite the tabling of the report, Cairn India gained 4.20 per cent or Rs 11.65 to end the day at Rs 289 on the BSE.
On the PMT fields operated jointly by RIL, BG and ONGC, CAG said the government incurred a substantial loss (on account of royalty) by failing to finalise the norms for post well-head costs of gas, and consequentially, gas well-head prices. Even the norms for post well-head costs notified in August 2007 had significant deficiencies. CAG criticised the government's limited role in overseeing the functioning of PSCs. Operational control of E&P operations is largely with private operators, and the government's oversight role is restricted essentially to its representation in the management committee for the block. Further, it also observed the oversight/control of government representatives on high value procurement decisions was very limited in scope.
Source: Business Standard

09/09/2011

'AI's plane acquisition was necessary to survive competition'

New Delhi: Praful Patel, who headed the Civil Aviation Ministry in the UPA-I government, today defended the decision to acquire 111 planes for Air India, saying there was no other way for the airline to compete internationally at that time.
"In 2004, Air India and Indian Airlines had 93 aircraft, most of which were 20 years old. There was no way the airline could have withstood the global competition with these planes," Patel, who is now the Heavy Industries Minister in UPA-II, told reporters here.
His comments came soon after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) questioned the Civil Aviation Ministry's decision to acquire 111 planes for Air India through debt, calling it "a recipe for disaster".
Terming the move for acquiring a "large number" of planes as "risky", CAG in its report tabled in Parliament today, said the aircraft acquisition had "contributed predominantly" to the airline's massive debt liability of Rs 38,423 crore as on March 31 last year.
"Whatever the government did in its wisdom was to make the airline commercially viable. We had to decide immediately as to whether new planes should be bought otherwise the airline would have closed down," Patel said.
He added that if 17 months (of completing the aircraft acquisition process) is tearing hurry, "then let us fix some time frame for this process to happen."
Patel said that the entire ambit of the government, including the Planning Commission and the Public Investment Board, was involved in the process of fleet acquisition.
Source: Business Standard

09/09/2011

Maran hasn't got clean chit in 2G scam: CBI to SC

New Delhi: DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran has not been given a clean chit in 2G scam case, CBI today told the Supreme Court and objected to the allegation that its investigation in this case is "less than honest".
"We have said that the inquiry conducted so far has not revealed element of coercion on the part of Maran (in connection with the sale of Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis group).
The inquiry prima facie revealed that the Malaysian firm was in contact with the minister and his brother prior to the takeover of the company from C Sivasankaran," senior advocate K K Venugopal told a bench comprising justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly.
CBI said an impression has been created due to the "misreporting" of the last hearing in the court by the media that Maran has been given a clean chit in the case.
"There was misreporting and misinterpretation of the status report (filed on September 2 in a sealed cover, the portion of which was read out)," he said.
The agency raised strong objection to the submission made by the NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) that the probe has been "less than honest".
Venugopal was referring to the application filed by NGO's counsel Prashant Bhushan expressing doubts about the probe done by the investigating agency saying CBI's case would collapse in the trial court.
"Prashant Bhushan filed an application making strong statements against CBI. It is very unfortunate. We have objection to the statement as we are carrying out the orders of this court," he said.
Source: PTI

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The Second Green Revolution: A Blue-Print to Control India's Agriculture - Indo-US Treaty, New Seed Act

August 27, 2010

Written by – Dr. Abhee Dutta Majumdar, Dr. Siddharta Gupta, Partha Sarathi Dasgupta, Mrinmoy Sengupta
Published by – Lokayata Sahitya Chakra, May 7, 2010.
Translated by – Sanhati

From the nineties, India opened herself to the world market. As prescribed by the US based IMF and World Bank, India also undertook 'structural adjustment' programme. This had a two-fold effect: on the one hand it resulted in diminishing governmental spending, reduction of subsidies in different social welfare projects, divestment and privatization, while on the other hand it eliminated all hurdles to monopolistic capital to take over the production in the country. The erstwhile regulations were lifted to engineer a new paradigm where capital and product can freely travel across boundaries of the nation state.

All the essential services of civilized life, like education, health, drinking water, transportation have been effectively transformed into commodities. Rivers, mountains have been sold, forests occupied. Coastal zones regulations have been relaxed, land ceiling laws have been flouted to commission SEZs. In effect, the entire country is being sold in pieces to private capital, resulting in widespread social inequity, hunger,poverty and starvation.

According to Forbes magazine, the number of trillionaires in India jumped from 27 to 52 just in the year 2006-07. In a recent article Forbes also informs that 56 Indian firms figure in its elite list of 2000 multinationals. Though India is behind US (502) and Japan (210) in numbers, her industrialists are placed right behind those from Canada and China. After the last Loksabha elections, the number of multi-billionaires in the parliament became 300, while only the previous one had 128! In between 1989-90 and 2001-02, only 20 percent of the urban population had an increase of commodity consumption (by 40 percent), while the same period saw a net decrease in rural commodity consumption by 80 percent.

The 2009 United Nations human development index places India at 134th spot amongst 182 countries. In 2007-08 India was 128th. India is ranked first in infant mortality. The most diminutive and disabled children are born in India. The maximum number of hungry and malnourished kids can be found in India – as per the World Bank report. The annual per capita food grain availability (not purchase power) which was 177 Kgs in 1990 has gone down to 152 Kgs in 2005. The latter number is equivalent to the food grain availability in a famine-like situation. It is in such a critical juncture that Indian agriculture policies are about to be transformed radically.

Post 2009 Loksabha elections, the main ruling party in the central government has started to widely advertize a second phase of reforms. This year, the union finance minister has given the call for a 'second green revolution' in Eastern India. The essential idea is to promote widespread contract-farming and replacing cultivation of food-crops with cash-crops. Also, there will be surge in producing fruits and flowers and a voluminous increase in horticultural products, food-processing, dairy products and processed fish-meat products. Food grains will start getting imported from the government-subsidized farms of Europe and the US. The 'first green revolution' introduced petro-technology dependent agricultural practices which led many medium, small and marginal farmers to give up agriculture as they could not afford the high cost of adapting to the new age of farming. History will cruelly repeat itself as we prepare to embrace the 'second green revolution' – we shall hear the same cry of 'farming is no longer profitable' and the new bio-tech guided, petro-power driven farming will cause even more farmers to leave the land for the Tatas, Birlas, Mittals and Ambanis to delve into corporate farming.

The 'seed act' supplements this 'revolution'. The farmers' natural right of seed preservation is taken away. Using only the seeds sold by companies will become the norm. Already the agricultural giants, through their bio-tech innovations and experimentations on seeds and farm animals are exercising considerable control in this sector. The real price will be paid by the farmers of this country and this is most essential for this 'second revolution' (SGR). We shall demonstrate later in this booklet how exactly has the multi-national fiefdom been schemed in the veil of a 'second green revolution'. The ultimate aim is to bring about a transformation of our self-sufficient agricultural system into a market-driven commercial system.

Long before this public call for the SGR that we hear now, the process has been initiated through many farming contracts where the multi-nationals tied up with Indian firms to enter the business of agro-products. The Bharti-Walmart or the Tata Kisaan-Tesco joint ventures are only couple of such instances where American or British retailers have tried to tap in this untouched sector. German Metro Cash and Carry or American PepsiCo has already invested in agricultural production in India. They want to capture the huge domestic market in India as well as re-engineer Indian agricultural production to perfectly match the needs of the west. Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta together control 40 percent of the seeds market and own 47 percent of the seeds. Bayer, Dow and a few more completely control the farm-chemicals market. Only 10 pesticide companies have 89 percent share of the market. Wal-Mart, Kroger, Carrefour and Tesco together control 40 percent of retail. And the unifications and mergers that these corporations frequently undergo are a product of the immense control that financial market exercises over them.

The centre has already admitted the failure of the 'first green revolution'. The need for the SGR is rationalized by citing that there is currently a technological stalemate in the farm sector so that we can no longer maintain the high yields. But the new agro-policies make even more vigorous use of petrochemical dependant agriculture. The epitome of India's green revolution, Punjab, has seen a huge reduction of soil fertility as admitted in a government report.

The rural people of Punjab are still suffering from the ill effects of the FGR. People are suffering from numerous health problems. Chemical pesticides are supposed to be the reason behind many cancer cases here. Train number 339 which passes through this region carries many cancer patients from Punjab to the government cancer hospital in Bikaner every day. It is known as the "cancer-train" there.

It is beyond any doubt that like the FGR, the SGR is also a US government approved, western multinational designed scheme. The plan for corporate domination is a much clearer aspect of this 'revolution' rather than it being 'green'. The state as always will provide the necessarily legal and administrative insurance. It will quell any fuming discontent. But all this will happen in a much wider and more aggressive scale. Thus, a comparative study of the FGR and the SGR is imperative. At the same time, it is desirable to consider SGR as continuation of the process set by FGR. It is an irony that what is claimed as a 'green' revolution is definitely going to be 'bloody' – the experiences of the farmers in Vidharva, Maharashtra with the BT cotton will tell the disastrous results of bio-tech experimentations in agriculture. The astronomical proportions of farmer suicide forced a legislation to keep the morgues open 24 hours a day. The green-revolution hot-bed of Punjab has similar such bloody stories to tell.

Let us reiterate that like the FGR, SGR is also a US driven project. As a part of the greater neo-liberal design, this scheme is to utilize all the tools that multi-nationals have invented to exercise complete control over world-wide production of food and also the agro-market. It is remarkable that our country's agricultural policy is crafted by a few agricultural universities and United States Agency for international Development (USAID). There is a concerted effort to link the food processing, seeds, fertilizer, pesticide, farm equipment, retail and have each segment controlled by a few multinationals. The entire process is driven by an even bigger profit motive. The research on genetically modified organisms (GMO) conducted by the Land Grant University in the US is funded by corporate money. The president of South Dakota State University has been hired as a member of the board of directors on Monsanto for an extremely high compensation.

What do multinationals want?

That investment is essentially directed to strategic production of certain crops and its export. This will be accompanied by setting up of agro-produce processing, food processing and spinning centers. May be some agro-chemical industries will follow. India will be the home for labor-intensive farming and the associated exportable agricultural products. The industrialised west wants to use India as their agricultural and food basket. There is also a clear intention of taking control of India's mineral deposits, forest produces and coastal resources. To be precise, India is to be the supplier of raw material for the west. And, also a large market to sell the finished products. This neo-imperial attack is the same horror as the British East India Company.

July 18, 2005 – Joint Statement:

On July 18, 2005, the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed a number of agreements with the US president George W. Bush in Washington DC. Of these, only the civil nuclear agreement was highlighted. The parliamentary left made a big fuss about this and cried foul as the sovereignty of the country was being jeopardized (however, the urgency to organize widespread public protests against this was sadly lacking). On the same day was also signed another treaty that would affect the lives and livelihood of at least 84 percent of India's population, though it was hardly discussed anywhere or by anybody. This is the draconian Agricultural Knowledge Initiative (AKI). Recall, about 65-70 percent of Indian population is involved in agricultural production. Add to that another 14 percent who are associated with retail trade. This treaty will essentially evict all these people from their livelihood. Exercising control over the agriculture of an agricultural country like India is like controlling its entire economy.

Already, the policies that the third world governments have adopted at the behest of the IMF or the WB have all been a bane to the agriculture and also to the people related to agriculture. Reducing the import duties on the import of food crops, reducing farm subsidies, new preservation policies, genetically engineered seeds and animal proteins have all gone to fill the coffers of these multinationals.

The single most important objective of AKI is to orchestrate the SGR in India. In his speech to the US Congress, in the context of the Indo-US joint declarations and signed treaties, Manmohan Singh remarked, "US had helped India immensely during the FGR. We hope that the AKI will usher in a SGR in India". The disastrous effect of this treaty in the entire chain from cultivation to retail has already been outlined.

AKI is no windfall. It is a recipe for disaster that has been carefully perfected and fits in a greater design. The importance of 18th July, 2005 can hardly be over-emphasised. The joint declaration is undoubtedly a landmark historical document, one that is more likely to be treated as a testimony to the unimaginable betrayal of the Indian people. In every line of this declaration is hidden such abominable clauses that illustrates how using the tools of neo-liberalism and free-trade, India's policies are tailored to suit the needs of the United States of America.

The foremost subject that is captured in this declaration is the US-India Economic Dialogue. This is essentially an attempt to revive the Indo-US economic discussion and use the private sector energy to establish a CEO-platform to cement the economic ties. Trade, Investments and technology transfers would accelerate the economic growth of both the countries through cooperation. It is in this paragraph that AKI has been mentioned. Apart from this, there is reference to Indian Space Research, Indian Democratic Framework, Legal Structure etc; the American intervention in all internal matters of the country is crystal clear.

Incidentally, the 2005 tour of Manmohan saw him in the company of Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Baba Kalyani, Yogi Deveswar, Deepak Parekh and such other industrialists – these are the people who design the economic policies of the country. We discuss all this in detail below.

AKI Treaty:

Although this treaty is publicized as a 'knowledge initiative', the treaty in its entirety is spelled out as – US-India Knowledge initiative on Agriculture education, Teaching, Research, service and Commercial Linkages. The complete name conveys the expanse of this treaty. This treaty is in fact an integral part of a greater treaty called US-India Strategic Economic Partnership. A deeper inspection reveals the essential purpose of this treaty, which is to put Indian education and research to the use of the American multinationals. The recommendations of the haloed 'national knowledge commission' or the topics that dominate the Indo-US Science and Technology Forums reveal how this purpose is being served through the treaty. Questions related to our national sovereignty needs to be raised at this hour which are even more grave than those asked about the 1-2-3 nuclear treaty.

We have already pointed out that US multinational corporations are eager to establish their monopoly control over the Indian agricultural system through the AKI. Not only farming, the tentacles of AKI are spread from seed production to retail and wholesale trade, food processing, education and research, distribution of agricultural produce. The US administration, USDA (US department of agriculture), USAID (US agency of international development), different US universities have launched this attack in a concerted manner. For instance, the business school of Michigan University has drafted the contract farming document of ITC. Cornell University is involved in BT crop research.

Primarily, four fields were targeted in this pact. These were:

a) The field of education, syllabus selection, research and training.

b) Food processing and the utilization of fossil fuels.

c) Biotechnology.

d) Irrigation methods.

As usual, the pact will be implemented by a private – public partnership, or by a "PPP" model, which means that while the government will pay for the infrastructure development, the profit will only go to certain individual owners of large multinationals. These private actors would like to convert the entire world into a large food production unit, and for that purpose, are replacing agricultural production with trade-based contract farming, replacing cultivation of normal crops with farming for cash crops and production of flowers. The main objective of this is to increase export. One can say that this process is bringing back the times of the indigo cultivation, though this promises to be a lot more horrifying.

In brief, lets focus on few aspects of this treaty.

a) The main thrust of the "second green revolution" is the increase of agricultural output using large quantities of geneticaly modified crops. The recent turmoil about BT Brinjal is a direct result of the this treaty. After BT-Brinjal, other BT crops like BT rice are in the pipeline. This will be discussed in detail later.

Not only produce, genetic engineering is going to be used in changing fish and poultry as well. Along with this the issue of patents is also going to be highlighted. This is how the Company Raj is going to be imposed on the farmers of India. The induction of genetically modified crops will drastically reduce seed diversity and the farming of conventional crops. Farming will become so expensive that farmers will be forced to give up their occupations. Apart from permanently taking away the control of seeds from farmers, the special "Biotechnology Regulatory Act" is being formulated so that any sort of protest will also be stifled. This is how the freedom of speech and democratic rights will be usurped.

b) US multi-multinationals will sponsor the training of different Indian agricultural researchers in their own country. This is how foreign companies will develop and control the Indian agricultural research system. Needless to say, this cost will be borne by the Indian government. The BT Brinjal scam exposed clearly how it is possible to have reports favorable to multinationals penned by a few researchers, and how government permission obtained by completely illegal means.
 
c) The syllabus of the agricultural universities of India will be restructured. The curriculum of different institutions will be made favourable for the second green revolution. As a result of this pact, US corporations and universities will be getting the permission of taking seeds from India to their own country. They can then genetically modify these seeds and re-introduce them in India, as new, patented seeds.
 
d) One main aspect of this is contract farming. There are many examples of this in Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. These will then rapidly spread to the other parts of the country following the declaration of the second green revolution. Futures trade would be based on this, and farmers will completely lose control over crop selection in the future. All such selection will be determined by the market, which will mainly promote the growth of food crops that can be exported and processed. This will be the future of the agricultural policy.

AKI board:

The high powered joint committee created for the implementation of Indo-US pact is represented prominently by Walmart, which is the world's number one retailer, Archers Daniel Midlands which is the world's largest food trader, and biochemical, seed and biotech giant Monsanto corporation which unilaterally control the seed market. Recently, in India FICCI and CII have joined this advisory committee.

Indo US CEO forum:
      
In his US visit of the US in 2005 by Manmohan Singh, the Indo-US CEO forum was formed under the supervision of the US-India business council. The primary objective of this forum was to supervise US investment in India and create conditions which would allow unfettered access for foreign capital. In reality, this group will try to implement all economic policies and ideas of the AKI pact. RatanTata has been designated the CEO from the Indian side, and William Harrison of JP Morgan as the CEO from the American side. Besides these, US board members are drawn from Cargill, Citigroup, Pepsico, McGrawHill, Xerox, while India is represented by Pratap Reddy of Apollo Hospital, Baba Kalyani of IndianForge Ltd, Ashok Ganguly of ICICI, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, Yogi Deveshwar of ITC LTD, Deepak Parekh of ICDFC, to name a few. It is the proposal created by this group of corporates which was finally accepted in the parliament.

It is worth mentioning that many of these committee members were directly and indirectly connected to biotech research and agricultural retail croporations like Kishan Sansar of the Tata's and Reliance Fresh of the Ambani's. Besides, US companies that are closely affiliated are taking advantage of the treaty through the export market and are also changing the laws of the country for promoting their own interests. It is notable that the traveling companions of Manmohan Singh in 2005 were Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Baba Kalyani, Y.C.Deveshwar, Deepak Parekh, etc. In one word, the promotion and individual growth of of particular large business and trade interests is being protrayed as the way to help in development of the nation.

Documents of the CEO forum: Tactical Economic Partnership of India and US:

In 2006, the CEO forum published an agenda, which in one word could be said to be the list of demands of the corporate houses. These demands are reflected in the many so called development projects and have different legal aspects.

Starting from infrastructure, and encompassing energy security, different sectors like trade and business intellectual property rights, direct foreign investment, insurance / banking / pension, SEZ, defense, special investment areas, agriculture, and even several aspects of the Indian legal system have been earmarked for "cooperation" within the document published by the CEO forum. In brief, let us try to look at the main points in the document.

1. Public-private partnership (PPP) needs to be encouraged. The Indian government will need to increase the transparency and efficiency of the bidding process in order to attract more US-based corporations. The legal system in India will need to be modified to protect the interests of foreign investors.

2. Large Special Economic Zones (SEZ's) will need to be set up in India, which will service both the domestic and foreign markets. These zones will have international standard infrastructure, developmental projects, energy and transporation advantages, single window of clearance, internationally competitive labour laws and administrative transparency. A task force comprising of various Indian and foreign industry representatives will coordinate with state and national governing bodies / agencies.

3. Foreign corporations are very interested in investing in electricity, petroleum, gas, etc. therefore the govt. should enact more aggressive reforms in these areas, and give special attention to investment.

4. In the way the US based firm Enron was facilitated to invest in the "Dabhol Electricity Project", similarly Dow Chemicals should be allowed into Union Carbide in Bhopal, and all obstacles for such investment should be removed. The restrictions placed on the price of medication by Dr. Pranab Sen's task force need to be reviewed. The government needs to take up the task of building infrastructure. Public-private partnerships need to be welcomed in the fields of investment, all of which could be joint Indo-US ventures.

5. Barriers in investing in the small scale retail market need to be removed. Similarly, hindrances in investment in real estate, media, satellite broadcasts should be reduced. The food processing industry should be opened up to foreign investment, and special investment zones (different from special economic zones) need to be opened up to to attract foreigh investment. These places would have lax labour laws.

6. The CEO forum has emphasized on control over higher education and research in the context of human resource development. They have advocated the establishment of ties with different Indian and American universities and have demanded complete independence in the determination of fees and syllabuses for the affiliated universities. It has been clearly mentioned that the AKI treaty will be specially used in the field of collaborative research between Indian and US universities.

7. The food processing industry will need to be completely privatised. To rejuvenate the food processing industry, a cold storage chain needs to be established. All obstacles in the transport of imported and internal agricultural produce need to be removed. The Agricultural Produce Market Committee regulation needs to be revisited as this poses an obstacle for buyers and food processors for investing and increases the costs of agricultural goods. The import and taxation policies on vegetable oil, oil producing seeds, agricultural produce, need to be relaxed and all barriers to foreign investment in food and agri-business needs to be removed.

8. An US-India agricultural research institute needs to be set up as a part of the AKI pact, and joint research will need to be encouraged. The US and India should jointly try to commercialise biotechnology and encourage in the investment of products and goods that are generated from biotechnology. The appropriate framework for this needs to be created.

9. Direct foreign investment needs to be accelerated. Barriers to retail trade will need to be loosened. Besides, real estate, media, broadcasting, cable TV, etc should have any investment limits removed. Insurance/banking regulations need to be relaxed.

Only selected parts of the document of the CEO forum are discussed here. As the main thrust of this is agriculture, many changes are coming in this sector. These are reforms according to the government, but are in reality a blueprint for corporate takeover.

Like the establishment of SEZ's, food grain export, food processing, the entrance of large capital in retail industry, changes in the APMC law, changes in policies related to education and research, were mentioned to the show the connection between the corporate interests in the two countries. On the Indian side, the signatory was Ratan Tata. In this context it should be mentioned that the golden quadrilateral that came up during the nineties, and the way the rail and land corridors and shopping malls are sprouting up, are all parts of the new agricultural policy. Needless to say this will result in increased food shortages, malnutrition, widespread poverty and starvation.

First Green Revolution versus the Second Green Revolution:

In the 60s a change had been noticed in the agricultural policy that had been termed the first green revolution. A joint venture of the Ford Foundation of Henry Ford, and the Rockefeller Foundation of Standard Oil had made the world's agricultural system more dependent on energy and mineral oil. This was an indivisible part of the strategy of making the world more dependent on petroleum. Behind this "green revolution" there were other motives than just improving the Indian agricultural output. The fulfillment of the self-interest of the US was much greater, especially the fulfillment of the plans of the oil companies who wanted to create a permanent market for themselves through this process. The aim of the first revolution was to introduce petrochemical dependency on farming and make inroads in the fields of ownership of seed distribution, take control over the sectors of pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers, etc.

The initiative to start the first green revolution had begun in Mexico in 1943. At that time, due to the initiative taken by the US based Rockefeller foundation, a joint effort by the US agricultural ministry and the USDA established the wheat and corn research center CMMYIT. Following this, the International Rice Research Center was established in the Philippines. The Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation were also involved in this effort. Among their different objectives, one was to create hybrid seed varieties that would grow well on nitrogen based fertilisers. The IR-8 variety was created by hybridising PETA of Indonesia with Dee-gee Woo Gen of China. After that, several such research efforts have taken place. This was the first attempt to establish private control over the seed sector.

After the WW II, the spectre of communism chased the US all over the world. In their own country, the US established a military economy by striking a deal with labour unions for setting labour policies. If revolutionary movements were afoot in any country, the US would try to identify the roots. There was a specific economic objective to this. And in these efforts, CIA was called in if needed to implement the policies of the World Bank and the IMF.

Even in the areas of improvement of irrigation in Mexico and in the creation of high yielding varieties in Philippines, Indonesia, China, the green revolution was made a model of agricultural growth. At the initiative and due to the funding by the Ford Foundation, the Corn Development project (CDP) gave impetus to the agriculture in this country. After that, the Intensive Agricultural District Region (IADR) was started in the states of Punjab, Haryana, and in some provinces of North-Western UP from 1965.

In this context, it should be mentioned that the way the rich ruling class of this country tried to use the technology and resources of both Russia and the Western nations simultaneously. Due to this, there was some hesitation in accepting the green revolution. Hearsay said that after the US president Lyndon Johnson threatened to withdraw PL-480, the ruling class conceded to implement the required policies to facilitate the first green revolution.

The green revolution entered India by exploiting the food crisis. When a nationwide food crisis was going on in the country in the beginning of the 60's, the green revolution package entered the country through the medium of export reform. Firstly, India was told that a nationwide survey of soil fertility needed to be conducted. The sale of farming equipment in India heralded the use of expensive machinery in Indian agriculture. Also, technology related to chemical fertilizer production was made sophisticated at this time. This was followed by the induction of high yielding seed varieties. Punjab was chosen as the incubation center for the green revolution. Along with the revolution, diesel pump-sets came into India. All of this was tied to the selfish profit motives of the Rockefeller and the Ford Foundations. These technologies were not introduced to alleviate India's hunger.

In order to turn the popular tide of public opinion towards the green revolution, a large scale effort was undertaken to train the scientists who would support it. The US undertook the responsibility of establishing an agricultural university in Punjab. After that, such universities were established in different places like Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu.

Correspondingly, US universities were deputed to prepare the curriculum. It was decided that the agricultural universities in this country would be modeled after the Land Grant based university model of US. In this period, around 33 institutes came to be, including 25 state farming universities, 1 central agricultural university, 1 horticultural and forestry related university, 2 veterinary universities, to list a few. 4 national research centers were also created.

By directly becoming involved in the establishment of 5 universities of the first phase, US established roots in the Indian agricultural education and training arena. National universities had very close associations with US based universities, which often influenced their policy decisions. Examples of such collaborations were the involvements of the Ohio University in Punjab, Michigan University in Tamil Nadu, Purdue, Iowa university in Bangalore.

This is how the green revolution established itself in India. This same idea was applied in other countries.

Tales of increased yield from the green revolution were circulated. Starting from the school textbooks, people were brainwashed on the positive effects of the green revolution. But nowhere were its negative aspects mentioned. While statistics of increased yield were presented, the price for this yield increase was not mentioned. There were three main subjects of the green revolution.

1. Increase in amount of land under agriculture.
2. Fertile lands were directed to have double crops and increased irrigation.
3. Increased use of high yielding variety seeds.

It is not clear why on earth one would need the great opinions of American experts regarding the first two abovementioned steps. There was no need for the eminent experts to tell us that more grain can be produced by cultivating more land which would help in building up the farming system of the country. Second, neither is there any doubt that production would rise if two crops are grown instead of one. The third advice was for securing their hold in seed market. This raised per acre yield undoubtedly. But one also has to consider that cost of production has gone up in the same rate. There is no efficiency gain in obtaining more power by spending more power.

In newly independent countries like India where the bourgeoisie rules, the "green revolution" was accorded the status of national agricultural policy. In order to protect from the danger of second world war and world wide economic depression, the interest of the saviour of world capitalism, namely the United States, and that of the Indian bourgeoisie converged on the same point.

In the agricultural system of colonial age the government was not concerned about the food availability of common people. Without attaining any development in agriculture many exportable crops such as jute, coffee, tobacco, cotton were grown. In the interest of imperialism through permanent settlement, zamindari, mahalwari, ryotwari tenure systems capitalist production were carried on. The main aim of the British government was to collect taxes, to that end it compromised with the local feudal structure.

Immediately after independence therefore food crisis, problems of all around rural development cropped up along with problems of expansion of capitalism in agriculture. The reason why the Indian capitalist class interest started following the blue print prepared by the two American organisations, Rockfeller and Ford Foundation are as follows,

1.In the newly independent country the torch bearer of democracy, the Congress Party, followed a system of mixed economy to achieve welfare for all. But while doing so crisis on food front became the biggest issue. To reach food to industrial workers and ordinary citizens control should be exercised over supply of food and its price. Therefore, the central government adopted green revolution oriented agricultural policy to quell possibilities of imminent rebellion and insurrections.

2.Some investments were legitimately taking place in agriculture. A major part of the compensation paid to the princely states also got invested in industries and share market. But in spite of all this the capitalist structure in agriculture was not taking a robust shape because of elements of semi-feudalism, slavery, begar system (bonded labour system in agriculture). So land reform, technology oriented farming, high yielding variety seeds, expansion of irrigation and such measures were taken.

3.Western influences were leaving deep imprint on the thinking, practice, values (especially in the field of technology) in the middle and upper class for decades before independence was attained. In the newly independent country that western influence, mainly in technology, became US oriented within a decade.

On the other hand as far as the harmful effects of green revolution are concerned the first is stability. The yield per acre could not be sustained. Two, countries which had adopted this technology are importing food at present. Possibly the global food merchants had this aim in mind. Three, hunger of the poor has not gone down, it has risen on the contrary. Serious harms were done to ecology. The farmers are finding farming no longer profitable courtesy adoption of the expensive farming system. Besides the well off farmers, conditions of small and marginal peasants have deteriorated (92% of peasants in West Bengal are small and marginal). Most importantly, the government itself is admitting that the first green revolution technology has lost efficiency. The edge has worn out in ten years. On can go on over this, but let us stop here for the time being.

India Produces:

17% of world milk production, 41% of mango, 30% of cauliflower, 24% of cashewnut, 36% of green peas, 21% of sugar cane, 22% of rice, 21% of pulses, 15% of wheat, 28% of tea. Besides, there are fruits, herbs etc.

Farmer Suicide:

No matter how loud the leaders blow their trumpets over agricultural development, incidence of farmer suicide has been growing. Existence of crores of marginal and small farmers are at risk due to the attack of neoliberal economic policies. National Crime Records Bureau reports that between 1997 and 2008 1,99,132 farmers were forced to commit suicide. Five states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh contributed the most to this. Mumbai, the capital city of Maharashtra, is supposed to be the life centre of financial activities in India. The same state saw about 45000 farmer suicides. In 2008 alone Maharashtra clocked 436 and Karnataka 398 farmers suicides. In the five years 2003 to 2008 incidence of suicides has gone up by 1900 per year.

The Punjab Experience:

It is heard that Punjab has prospered a lot due to the first green revolution and the lives and livelihood of the farmers in Punjab have improved. After this propaganda the central government is preparing the grounds for the second green revolution. But what is the actual state of Punjab peasants? Of all states, the highest number of indebted farmers is in Punjab. The average level of indebtedness per agriculturist is about Rs 42000. The volume of total indebtedness is Rs 25000 crores. From 1998 to 2009, 2116 farmers have committed suicide in this state. According to non-official sources the actual number is several times more than this. About 60% of farmers are in debt. The price of the first green revolution by is being paid by small and middle peasants committing suicide. The finance minister of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee has chosen the eastern states such as West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa for unveiling the second green revolution. In this manner, the central government has arranged for mass scale farmer suicide in these states in near future.

Due to land reforms, small and marginal farmers own most of the land in West Bengal. They have succeeded in achieving all round improvement of agriculture in the state. West Bengal is one of the major states in agricultural production. One of the sinister aims of neoliberal globalisation is to establish the dominance of capital in agricultural business. Many infamous multinational companies and capitalists of this country have entered the fray to secure their business power in agriculture. These businessmen are eager to put into practice a capital and technology intensive agricultural system. If they are successful the small and marginal farmers will either be thrown off their occupation and turn into farm labourers. Or they will choose the final option of suicide through the debt route.

It is well known that the aim of many national and international big capitalists is to grab large tracts of land, invest huge sums of money and modern technology and earn windfall profit in the agricultural business. To achieve this the first task would be to reverse whatever little land reform that has taken place. As it is, per capita land ownership is less in eastern India. After the land reform in West Bengal per family land ownership has gone down further. One of the aims of the second green revolution is to nullify the land reform system and establish the unchallenged dominance of big capitalists in place of the big landlords of yesteryears.

We must fend off this ominous future.

The Main Theme of the Second Green Revolution:

The first green revolution has failed, therefore more green revolution. We have already noted that the impact of the second wave is going to be much more lethal. The first revolution targeted capturing the market of farm implements or exporting agricultural produce after growing them domestically. The new revolution one hears is not restricted to sphere of production alone. From primary implements to the final distribution of the produce – the entire network is attempted to be swallowed up. In the first stage ordinary people could manage to benefit in a limited way through public distribution system, agriculture subsidy, internal market, procurement at remunerative price etc. There were flaws in all these. But the attack in the second stage is much more far reaching.

The main technological weapon in the second green revolution is biotechnology. Monsanto wants to exercise control over the entire seed stock of the world through this. Not only seeds the multinational corporations are keen to control over the entire animal kingdom. In cattle and fish production gene technology is already being used extensively. The multinational corporations have gained dominance over scientific research of all description. They are using scientific and technological research according to their own will and requirements. India has become part of their nefarious plan through many deals.

Genetically Modified Crop: The Main Weapon of the Second Green Revolution
BT cotton and BT brinjal: Ominous Project

If HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers, pesticides were the tools through which via the first green revolution agrarian economy of India and the third world were captured, the principal weapon of the so called second green revolution or forever green revolution is GMO or Genetically Modified Organisms. It includes cotton, potato, maize, rice, jawar, soya bean, canola, tomato, papaya and BT brinjal, the centre of the latest controversy. Gradually newer commercial crops, food grains, vegetables would be encompassed.

From the last decade of the last century a process of merger between the giant chemical companies, farm and seed monopolies started. For instance pioneer Hybreed and Dupont (1997), Novartis AG and Geneca (2002), Dow and Rohm and Has (2001) etc. These agglomerated giants started to monopolise the seed market, so that the third world farmers are not able to preserve seed, so that each year they get forced to buy seeds from Monsanto, Singenta, Dupont or Cargill at extortionary price, so that all over the world seed and crop market get monopolised by monopoly capital.

The first step in this direction is to biotechnologically modify one or two genes of crops so that the gene of a different organism gets established.

The second step, to relentlessly propagate that GM crop is more productive, pest resistant and has greater longevity. Less chemical fertilisers would needed, less harvest will get wasted – profits of the farmer would rise as a result. 90% of such propaganda is false, incomplete or based on unscientific research and lies. But agricultural scientists and researches of India would be used for the propaganda – with the help of foreign tours (in the name of training), research funding and gifts. The universities of India and the third world would be utilised for the same purpose.

In the third state, the government would be pressured to approve those untested and harmful side effects containing seeds so that they can be produced commercially for the domestic market. If need be at first the seeds would be distributed freely and they would reach the farmers through the government agricultural departments. This has happened in the case of BT cotton and attempts are being made for the same in case of BT brinjal. If things don't work out simply extremely undemocratic and anti-national laws such as 'Biotechnology Bill' would be passed through the client governments.

The fourth stage is catastrophic. Within five, ten or fifteen years natural genome of all crops will get polluted through cross-pollination of infused outside genes. For example Cry 1ac gene of soil bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis has been infused in BT brinjal. This gene will enter the 25 varieties of brinjal in India and also other crops. Biodiversity created over thousands of years will get destroyed. It is worthwhile to recall that 2000 varieties of paddy have vanished because of the first green revolution. After 20 years perhaps only GM potato, maize and rice will be left with us.

The main game of giant companies unfolds in the fifth stage. Local seed stock has been destroyed. Only the distorted seeds of Monsanto, Syngenta are all we are left with. Farmers will have to purchase these year after year at a premium. Otherwise farmers may go to the jail or get fined courtesy patent law or the Seed Act, which is pending parliamentary approval.

The field where BT or similar crops have been cultivated get unsuitable for crops which are not genetically modified. This way the entire seed market of the country will be usurped by multinational giants or their national agent organisations.

However these high price seeds can not guarantee high crop yield. There is no certainty that the gene injected inside another crop by biotechnology, will succeed in yielding large harvest. Cotton growing areas of Vidharbha of Maharashtra is a cataclysmic example. We have discussed this elsewhere in this booklet. In short, after buying seeds and farm implements at exorbitant price, experiencing crop failure and therefore unable to pay the bank of money lender loans, thousands of BT cotton farmers have committed suicide. The suicide count exceeded 4000 in 2005-06 alone.

After soaking their hands in the blood of peasants, after doing business of billions of rupees, Monsanto (father of BT cotton) is now saying perhaps one of their GM seeds, 'Bollgard- I', has been a failure. Pests have become immune. Use of pesticide has not come down, neither has the yield gone up they admit. Therefore the company advices that their newest invention, two gene modified 'Bollgard -II' seed should be used. Massive success follow.

The false admit of error by Monsanto is part of their global business strategy. After the profit of the first stage seed has been completely appropriated they want to push the more expensive Bollgard – II. Transforming the blood and flesh of Indian peasants into profit is the blueprint of these multinational corporations.

Thus GM crops are an indispensable part of the second green revolution and India-US agricultural knowledge initiative. It's a such sure shot ammunition to secure all-encompassing of monopoly capital over Indian agriculture.

At present the much publicised story of high productivity yielding green revolution has taken an U-turn. Fertility of soil has plummeted. Ground water level has gone down alarmingly. Many toxic and poisonous particles are being detected in water. Due to relentless and extensive application of chemical manures and inorganic pesticides rural ecology and even the forests have been damaged.

The favourite projects of the central government such as the special economic zone (SEZ), due to large scale land grab by the big capitalists in search of minerals, the supply of land available for farming has gone down significantly. Besides, in spite of many cautions the central government has refused to restore the universal rationing system. It has instead embarked on a bizarre plan to provide food grain to the poor by introducing food coupon system. All these is part of a deep treacherous behaviour pattern.

After forward trading has been given permission big capitalists have taken to hoarding of food grain and black marketing. The Vajpayee government has weakened the essential commodities act. Manmohan Singh is walking the same path. As a result, punitive actions against black marketers and hoarders have become difficult to slap. Distribution of ration cards and correctly fixing the poverty line in the states are not being executed. The poor irrespective of caste, religion or creed are unable to afford food grain. Food crisis has grown deeper and deeper.

We have already discussed that an agricultural system oriented towards open market economy is fast gaining ground. The fallout of this is that food grains would not be grown for feeding the hungry, but the main aim of the farming would be to establish commercial agriculture. Agricultural diversity is getting destroyed. Agricultural production is becoming inconsistent with the rising population growth of the country. One shudders to think what danger food crisis may portend in near future.

It has to be pointed out, all over the world food crisis is taking an increasingly dangerous dimension. As the crisis deepens, demand for food rises exponentially. Consequently, the countries which are rich in agriculture, those which grow gold from land, face the gravest dangers from ruthless land grabbing predators.

Food is for People, It is a Right, It is not for Profit:

Demands:

1.Seeds and right to preserve seeds cannot be snatched away from peasants.
2.Invasion of national or international big capital in agriculture and contract farming should not be allowed.
3.So called food coupon based distorted food security system cannot be allowed.
4.Universal rationing system should be implemented throughout the country.
5.Black marketing and hoarding should be stopped by making essential commodities act strict.
6.Forwarding trading of food grain should be banned.
7.Excessive water, high level chemical fertiliser and pesticide based agriculture system must stop.
8.Privatisation of distribution of water and irrigation should be stopped.
9.In the interest of the poor land reform should be implemented throughout the country.
10.Land cannot be taken under the dictates of big capital.
11.Not under the control of capital, the local agricultural society must be intensely involved in order to restructure procurement and distribution of crop.
12. All genetically modified seed based crops including BT cotton and brinjal should be banned.
13.Indo-US agricultural knowledge initiative must be scrapped.

The deepening crisis in agricultural production and distribution is entangling the entire nation in an unprecedented crisis. To fight against this vicious present and future all progressive people, those who are committed to the cause of humanity must come together. One cannot afford to be too discerning regarding the allies, that way no meaningful resistance against the despicable conspiracy can be forged. Consolidation of the largest number of people and a commitment towards an united struggle is the need of the hour.

At the present juncture one needs development of consciousness and propagation of the same to thwart the conspiracy of the Indian capitalist who acting as junior partners of imperialist powers. Sanskriti Parishad in involved in this task. We believe in the coming days booklets of this nature would be published on a bigger scale by ensuring participation of larger number of people.

10 Responses to "The Second Green Revolution: A Blue-Print to Control India's Agriculture - Indo-US Treaty, New Seed Act"

  1. Jyotsna Kapur Says: 
    August 29th, 2010 at 2:08 am

    Thank you. Very informative.

  2. pradip kar Says: 
    August 30th, 2010 at 6:16 am

    It is very much helpful to the readers

  3. Sayantani Says: 
    September 13th, 2010 at 7:14 am

    Thanks for making people aware of the SGR

  4. nil Says: 
    September 15th, 2010 at 2:31 am

    i need bangala version of this book.
    please organize a rally & come at street against
    SRG , 123 , nuclear liability bill.

  5. nil Says: 
    September 15th, 2010 at 2:34 am

    sorry , at above comments ,that is SGR, NOT SRG.

  6. arnab Says: 
    September 16th, 2010 at 2:43 am

    we have to combat so called evergreen revolution to save our soil,seed,knowledge and people

  7. Shilpa.S.L Says: 
    November 10th, 2010 at 2:20 am

    Nature has provided us for the needful requirement, but not for the greedy.

  8. Rati kanta naik ,ag student Says: 
    January 14th, 2011 at 1:52 am

    The sgr information has described vert effectively,thans fr giving valuable information.

  9. Rati kanta naik ,ag student Says: 
    January 14th, 2011 at 1:53 am

    thnks fr giving the valuable information.

  10. Kumaraswamy.K Says: 
    March 2nd, 2011 at 8:11 pm

    The article gives multi-directional view of Second/Sustainable/Ever Green Revolution,

    http://sanhati.com/excerpted/2698/

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Famine in India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Famines in India (Estimated deaths in millions)




Famine has been a recurrent feature of life in the Indian sub-continental countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and reached its numerically deadliest peak in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Historical and legendary evidence names some 90 famines in 2,500 years of history.[15] There are 14 recorded famines in India between the 11th and 17th centuries. Famines in India resulted in more than 60 million deaths over the course of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. The last major famine was the Bengal famine of 1943. A famine occurred in the state of Bihar in December 1966 on a much smaller scale.[16][17]The drought of Maharashtra in 1970–1973 is often cited as an example in which successful famine prevention processes were employed.[fn 1] Famines in British India were severe enough to have a substantial impact on the long term population growth of the country in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on the climate of India: a favorable southwest summer monsoon is critical in securing water for irrigating crops.Droughts, combined with policy failures, have periodically led to major Indian famines, including the Bengal famine of 1770, the Chalisa famine, the Doji bara famine, the Great Famine of 1876–78, and the Bengal famine of 1943.[19][20]Some commentators have identified British government inaction as contributing factors to the severity of famines during the time India was under British rule. The 1883 Indian Famine Codes, transportation improvements, and changes following independence have been identified as furthering famine relief. In India, traditionally, agricultural laborers and rural artisans have been the primary victims of famines. In the worst famines, cultivators have also been also susceptible.[21]

Contents

[edit]Ancient, medieval and pre-colonial India

Kalinga in 265 BCE – Ashokan inscriptions record hundreds of thousands dying from famine and disease after the Kalinga War in 269 BCE.

One of the earliest treatises on famine relief goes back more than 2000 years. This treatise is commonly attributed to Kautilya, who recommended that a good king should build new forts and water-works and share his provisions with the people, or entrust the country to another king.[22] Historically, Indian rulers have employed several methods of famine relief. Some of these were direct, such as initiating free distribution of food grains and throwing open grain stores and kitchens to the people. Other measures were monetary policies such as remission of revenue, remission of taxes, increase of pay to soldiers, and payment of advances. Yet other measures included construction of public works, canals, and embankments, and sinking wells. Migration was encouraged.[22] Kautilya even advocated raiding the provisions of the rich in times of famine to "thin them by exacting excess revenue."[21] Information on famines from ancient India up to colonial times is found in four primary sources:[23]

  1. Legendary tales passed down in oral tradition that keep alive the memory of famines
  2. Ancient Indian literature such as the Vedas, Jataka stories, and the Arthashastra
  3. Stone and metal inscriptions provide information on several famines before the 16th century
  4. Writings of Muslim historians in Mughal India

Legendary famines preserved in oral tradition are the Dvadasavarsha Panjam (Twelve-year Famine) of south India and the Durgadevi famine of the Deccan from 1396 to 1407.[24][2] From Hindu literature, there is the 7th century famine due to failure of rains in Tanjore district mentioned in the Periya Puranam. According to the Purana, Lord Shiva helped the Tamil saints Sambandhar and Appar to provide relief from the famine.[24] Another famine in the same district is recorded on an inscription with details such as "times becoming bad", a village being ruined, and cultivation of food being disrupted in Alangudi in 1054.[25] However, the primary sources for famines in this period are incomplete and locationally based [26]

The ancient Ashokan edicts of the Mauryan age around 269 BC record emperor Ashoka's conquest of Kalinga, roughly the modern state ofOrissa. The major rock and pillar edicts mention the massive human toll of about 100,000 due to the war. The edicts record that an even larger number later perished, presumably from wounds and famine.[1] The Tughlaq dynasty under Muhammad bin Tughluq held power in Delhi during the famine in and around Delhi in 1335–42. The sultanate offered no relief to the starving residents of Delhi during this famine.[27] The oldest famine in pre-colonial Deccan with well-preserved local documentation is the famine of 1791–92.[2] Relief was provided by the ruler, thePeshwa Sawai Madhavrao II, in the form of imposing restrictions on export of grain and importing rice in large quantities from Bengal[28] via private trading,[2] however the evidence is often too scanty to judge the 'real efficacy of relief efforts' in the Mughal period.[29] Other pre-colonial famines in the Deccan were the Damajipant famine of 1460 and the famines starting in 1520 and 1629. The famine in the Deccan and Gujarat, was another famine in India's history.[30] An estimated 3 milion perished in Gujarat and one million in the Deccan. In the second year the famine killed not only the poor but the rich as well.[31] The Damajipant famine is said to have caused ruin both in the northern and southern parts of the Deccan.[2] Famines hit the Deccan in 1655, 1682 and 1884. A further famine from 1702-1704 killed over two million people.[32]

According to Mushtaq A. Kaw, measures employed by the Mughal and Afghan rulers to fight famine in Kashmir were insufficient due to geographic obstacles, corruption in the Mughal administration.[33][fn 2] Mughal officials took no long term measures to fight famines in Kashmir,[35] and the land tax system of Mughal India often contributed to the scale of famines by depriving Indian peasants of much of their harvest in the goods years, denying them the opportunity to build up stocks.[36]

[edit]British rule

Victims of the Great Famine of 1876–78 in India
People waiting for famine relief in Bangalore. From the Illustrated London News, (20 October 1877)

The late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw the worst famines.[fn 3] These famines in British India were worse enough to have a remarkable impact on the long term population growth of the country, especially in the half century between 1871-1921.[37] The first, theBengal famine of 1770, is estimated to have taken the lives of nearly one-third of the population of the region—about 10 million people.[38] The impact of the famine caused East India Company revenues from Bengal to decline to £174,300 in 1770–71. The stock price of the East India Company fell sharply as a result. The company was forced to obtain a loan of £1 million from the Bank of England to fund the annual military budget of between £60,000–1 million.[39] Attempts were later made to show that net revenue was unaffected by the famine, but this was possible only because the collection had been "violently kept up to its former standard".[40][fn 4] The 1901 Famine Commission found that twelve famines and four "severe scarcities" took place between 1765 and 1858.[42]

Researcher Brian Murton states that the famines recorded after the arrival of the English, but before the establishment of the Indian Famine Codes of the 1880s, bear a cultural bias regarding the stated causes of the famine because they "reflect the view of a handful of Englishmen."[43] These sources, however, contain accurate recordings of weather and crop conditions. Florence Nightingale made efforts to educate British citizens about India's famines through a series of publications in the 1870s and beyond.[44] Evidence suggests that there may have been large famines in south India every forty years in pre-colonial India, and that the frequency might have been higher after the 12th century. These famines still did not approach the incidence of famines of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries under British rule.[43]

Major famines in India (Death estimates in millions, where available)

Before British rule (1000–1745)[3][45][46] British era (1770–1947)[3][45][46]
Century Famines Location
11th
2
 local
13th
1
 Around Delhi
14th
3
 local
15th
2
 local
16th
3
 All local
17th
3
 Area not defined
18th
(1745)
4
 Northwestern provinces
Delhi, Sindh (twice), local
Total
18
-
Years Famines Deaths
1770–1800
4
21[6][7][8]
1800–1825
5
1
1825–1850
2
0.5
1850–1875
6
5
1875–1900
18
26
1900–1925
1
0.23[14]
1925–1947
1
5[14]
Total
40
58.73

[edit]Scholarly opinions

Florence Nightingale pointed out that the famines in British India were not caused by the lack of food in a particular geographical area. They were instead caused by inadequate transportation of food, which in turn was caused due to an absence of a political and social structure.[47]

Nightingale identified two types of famine: a grain famine and a "money famine". Money was drained from the peasant to the landlord, making it impossible for the peasant to procure food. Money which should have been made available to the producers of food via public works projects and jobs was instead diverted to other uses.[47] Nightingale pointed out that money needed to combat famine was being diverted towards activities like paying for the British military effort in Afghanistan in 1878–80.[47]

Amartya Sen implies that the famines in the British era were due to a lack of a serious effort on the part of the British government to prevent famines. He links the lack of this serious effort to the absence of democracy in British India.[fn 5] The father of India's green revolution M. S. Swaminathan credits the elimination of famines to Indian independence from the Britain despite the trebling of population.[fn 6]

Tirthankar Roy suggests that the famines were due to environmental factors and inherent in India's ecology.[fn 7][fn 8] Roy argues that massive investments in agriculture were required to break India's stagnation, however these were not forthcoming owing to scarcity of water, poor quality of soil and livestock and a poorly developed input market which guaranteed that investments in agriculture were extremely risky.[52]After 1947, India focused on institutional reforms to agriculture however even this failed to break the pattern of stagnation. It wasn't until the 1970s when there was massive public investment in agriculture that India became free of famine[53], although Roy is of the opinion that improvements in the market efficiency did contribute to the alleviation of weather-induced famines after 1900, an exception to which is the Bengal famine of 1943.[54][Full citation needed]

Mike Davis regards the famines of the 1870s and 1890s as 'Late Victorian Holocausts'. This negative image of British rule is common in India.[55]

Michelle Burge McAlpin has argued that economic changes in India during the 19th century contributed towards the end of famine. The overwhelmingly subsistence agriculture economy of 19th century India gave way to a more diversified economy in the 20th century, which, by offering other forms of employment, created less agricultural disruption (and, consequently, less mortality) during times of scarcity.[56] The construction of Indian railways between 1860 and 1920, and the opportunities thereby offered for greater profit in other markets, allowed farmers to accumulate assets that could then be drawn upon during times of scarcity. By the early 20th century, many farmers in the Bombay presidency were growing a portion of their crop for export. The railways also brought in food, whenever expected scarcities began to drive up food prices.[57] Similarly, Donald Attwood writes that by the end of the 19th century 'local food scarcities in any given district and season were increasingly smoothed out by the invisible hand of the market[58] and that 'By 1920, large-scale institutions integrated this region into an industrial and globalizing world—ending famines and causing a rapid decline in mortality rates, hence a rise in human welfare'[59]

[edit]Causes

The famines were a product both of uneven rainfall and British economic and administrative policies.[60][61][62] Colonial polices implicated include rack-renting, levies for war, free trade policies, the expansion of export agriculture, and neglect of agricultural investment.[63][64] Indian exports of opium, rice, wheat, indigo, and cotton were a key component of the economy of the British empire, generating vital foreign currency, primarily from China, and stabilizing low prices in the British grain market.[65][66] Export crops displaced millions of acres that could have been used for domestic subsistence, and increased the vulnerability of Indians to food crises.[65] Others dispute that exports were a major cause of the famine, pointing out that trade did have a stabilizing influence on India's food consumption, albeit a small one[67]

The Orissa famine of 1866–67, which later spread through the Madras Presidency to Hyderabad and Mysore, was one such famine.[68] The famine of 1866 was a severe and terrible event in the history of Orissa in which about a third of the population died.[69] The famine left an estimated 1,553 orphans whose guardians were to receive an amount of 3 rupees per month until the age of 17 for boys and 16 for girls.[70]Similar famines followed in the western Ganges region, Rajasthan, central India (1868–70), Bengal and eastern India (1873–1874), Deccan (1876–78), and again in the Ganges region, Madras, Hyderabad, Mysore, and Bombay (1876–1878).[68] The famine of 1876–78, also known as the Great Famine of 1876–78, caused a large migration of agricultural laborers and artisans from southern India to British tropical colonies, where they worked as indentured laborers on plantations.[71][72] The large death toll—about 10.3 million—offset the usual population growth in the Bombay and Madras Presidencies between the first and second censuses of British India in 1871 and 1881 respectively.[73]

The large-scale loss of life due to the series of famines between 1860 and 1877 was the cause of political controversy and discussion which led to the formation of the Indian Famine Commission. This commission would later come up with a draft version of the Indian Famine Code.[74] It was the Great Famine of 1876–78, however, that was the direct cause of investigations and the beginning of a process that led to the establishment of the Indian Famine code.[75] The next major famine was the Indian famine of 1896–97. Although this famine was preceded by a drought in the Madras Presidency, it was made more acute by the government's policy of laissez faire in the trade of grain.[76]For example, two of the worst famine-afflicted areas in the Madras Presidency, the districts of Ganjam and Vizagapatam, continued to export grains throughout the famine.[76] These famines were typically followed by various infectious diseases such as bubonic plague and influenza, which attacked and killed a population already weakened by starvation.[77]

[edit]Bengal famine of 1943

Main article: Bengal famine of 1943

The Bengal famine of 1943 reached its peak between July and November of that year, and the worst of the famine was over by early 1945.[78]Famine fatality statistics were unreliable, and a range of between 2–4 million has been suggested. Although one of the causes of the famine was the cutting off of the supply of rice to Bengal during the fall of Rangoon to the Japanese, this was only a fraction of the food needed for the region.[79] According to the Irish economist and professor Cormac Ó Gráda, priority was given to military considerations, and the poor of Bengal were left unprovided for.[80] The Famine Commission of 1948 and economist Amartya Sen found that there was enough rice in Bengal to feed all of Bengal for most of 1943.[81] These studies, however, did not account for possible inaccuracies in estimates or the impact of fungal disease on the rice.[81] De Waal states that the British government did not enforce the Famine Codes during the Bengal famine of 1943 because they failed to detect a food shortage.[82] The Bengal famine of 1943 was the last catastrophic famine in India,[83] and it holds a special place in the historiography of famine due to Sen's classic work of 1981 titled Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation.[84]

[edit]British response

A contemporary print of the Madras famine of 1877 showing the distribution of relief in Bellary,Madras Presidency. From the Illustrated London News, (1877)

The first major famine that took place under British rule was the Bengal Famine of 1770. About a quarter to a third of the population of Bengal starved to death in about a ten-month period. East India Company's raising of taxes disastrously coincided with this famine[85] and exacerbated it, even if the famine was not caused by the British regime.[86] Following this famine, "Successive British governments were anxious not to add to the burden of taxation."[87] The rains failed again in Bengal and Orissa in 1866. Policies of laissez fairewere employed, which resulted in partial alleviation of the famine in Bengal. However, the southwest Monsoon made the harbor in Orissa inaccessible. As a result, food could not be imported into Orissa as easily as Bengal.[88] In 1865–66, severe drought struck Orissa and was met by British official inaction. The British Secretary of State for India, Lord Salisbury, did nothing for two months, by which time a million people had died. The lack of attention to the problem caused Salisbury to never feel free from blame.[fn 9] Some British citizens such as William Digby agitated for policy reforms and famine relief, but Lord Lytton, the governing British viceroy in India, opposed such changes in the belief that they would stimulate shirking by Indian workers. Reacting against calls for relief during the 1877–79 famine, Lytton replied, "Let the British public foot the bill for its 'cheap sentiment,' if it wished to save life at a cost that would bankrupt India," substantively ordering "there is to be no interference of any kind on the part of Government with the object of reducing the price of food," and instructing district officers to "discourage relief works in every possible way.... Mere distress is not a sufficient reason for opening a relief work."[90]

In 1874 the response from the British authorities was better and famine was completely averted. Then in 1876 a huge famine broke out in Madras. Lord Lytton's administration believed that 'market forces alone would suffice to feed the starving Indians.'[85][fn 10] The results of such thinking proved fatal (some 5.5 million starved),[92] so this policy was abandoned. Lord Lytton established the Famine Insurance Grant, a system in which, in times of financial surplus, INR 1,500,000 would be applied to famine relief works. The result was that the British prematurely assumed that the problem of famine had been solved forever. Future British viceroys became complacent, and this proved disastrous in 1896.[93] About 4.5 million people were on famine relief at the peak of the famine.

Curzon stated that such philanthropy would be criticized, but not doing so would be a crime.[fn 11] He also cut back rations that he characterized as "dangerously high," and stiffened relief eligibility by reinstating the Temple tests.[95] Between 1.25 to 10 million people died in the famine.[96][97] The famine during World War II lead to the development of the Bengal Famine Mixture. This would later save tens of thousands of lives at liberated concentration camps such as Belsen.[98]

[edit]Policy influences

British famine policy in India was influenced by the arguments of Adam Smith, as seen by the non-interference of the government with the grain market even in times of famines.[76][75] Keeping the famine relief as cheap as possible, with minimum cost to the colonial exchequer, was another important factor in determining famine policy.[63][75] According to Brian Murton, a professor of geography at the University of Hawaii, another possible impact on British policy on famine in India was the influence of the English Poor Laws of 1834,[75] with the difference being that the English were willing to "maintain" the poor in England in normal times, whereas Indians would receive subsistence only when entire populations were endangered.[99] Similarities between the Irish famine of 1846–49 and the later Indian famines of the last part of the 19th century were seen. In both countries, there were no impediments to the export of food during times of famines.[99] Lessons learnt from the Irish famine were not seen in the correspondence on policy-making during the 1870s in India.[100][99]

[edit]Famine Codes

See also: Indian Famine Codes

The Famine Commission of 1880 observed that each province in British India, including Burma, had a surplus of food grains, and that the annual surplus amounted to 5.16 million metric tons.[101] The product of the Famine Commission was a series of government guidelines and regulations on how to respond to famines and food shortages called the Famine Code. These had to wait until the exit of the viceroy Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton, and were finally passed in 1883 under a liberal British viceroy, George Fredrick Samuel Robinson. They presented an early warning system to detect and respond to food shortages.[102] Despite the codes, mortality from famine was highest in last 25 years of the 19th century.[103][104] At that time, annual exports of rice and other grains from India was approximately one million metric tons.Development economist Jean Drèze evaluated the conditions before and after Famine Commission policy changes: "A contrast between the earlier period of frequently recurring catastrophes, and the latter period when long stretches of tranquility were disturbed by a few large scale famines" in 1896–97, 1899–1900, and 1943–44.[105] Drèze explains these "intermittent failures" by four factors—failure to declare a famine (particularly in 1943), the "excessively punitive character" of famine restrictions such as wages for public works, the "policy of strict non-interference with private trade," and the natural severity of the food crises.[105]

There was a threat of famine, but after 1902 there was no major famine in India until the Bengal famine of 1943. This famine was the most devastating; between 2.5 and 3 million people died during World War II.[106] In India as a whole, the food supply was rarely inadequate, even in times of droughts. The Famine Commission of 1880 identified that the loss of wages from lack of employment of agricultural laborers and artisans were the cause of famines. The Famine Code applied a strategy of generating employment for these sections of the population and relied on open-ended public works to do so.[107] The Indian Famine Code was used in India until more lessons were learnt from the Bihar famine of 1966–67.[74] The Famine Code has been updated in independent India and it has been renamed "Scarcity Manuals." In some parts of the country, the Famine Code is no longer used, primarily because the rules embodied in them have become routine procedure in famine relief strategy.[108]

[edit]Impact of rail transport

See also: History of rail transport in India
Railroad network on the eve of the worst famines in Indian history in 1870

During the famines of the 1870s, the failure to provide food to the millions who were hungry has been blamed both on the absence of adequate rail infrastructure and the incorporation of grain into the world market through rail and telegraph. Davis[109] notes that, "The newly constructed railroads, lauded as institutional safeguards against famine, were instead used by merchants to ship grain inventories from outlying drought-stricken districts to central depots for hoarding (as well as protection from rioters)" and that telegraphs served to coordinate a rise in prices so that "food prices soared out of the reach of outcaste laborers, displaced weavers, sharecroppers and poor peasants." Members of the British administrative apparatus were also concerned that the larger market created by railway transport encouraged poor peasants to sell of their reserve stocks of grain.[110]

Rail transport, however, also played an essential role in supplying grain from food-surplus regions to famine-stricken ones. The 1880 Famine Codes urged a restructuring and massive expansion of railways, with an emphasis on intra-Indian lines as opposed to the existing port-centered system. These new lines, extended the existing network to allow food to flow to famine-afflicted regions.[111] Jean Drèze (1991) also finds that the necessary economic conditions were present for a national market in food to reduce scarcity by the end of the 19th century, but that export of food continued to result from that market even during times of relative scarcity. The effectiveness of this system, however, relied on government provision of famine relief: "Railroads could perform the crucial task of moving grain from one part of India to another, but they could not assure that hungry people would have the money to buy that grain".[112]

Railways also had a separate impact on reducing famine mortality. By generating broader areas of labor migration and facilitating the massive emigration of Indians during the late 19th century, they provided famine-afflicted people the option to leave for other parts of the country and the world. By the 1912–13 scarcity crisis, migration and relief supply were able to absorb the impact of a medium-scale shortage of food.[113]Drèze concludes, "In sum, and with a major reservation applying to international trade, it is plausible that the improvement in communication toward the end of the nineteenth century did make a major contribution to the alleviation of distress during famines. However, it is also easy to see that this factor alone could hardly account for the very sharp reduction in the incidence of famines in the twentieth century".[114]

[edit]Republic of India

Since the Bengal famine of 1943, there has been a declining number of famines which have had limited effects and have been of short durations. Sen attributes this trend of decline or disappearance of famines after independence to a democratic system of governance and a free press—not to increased food production.[83][115] Later famine threats of 1984, 1988 and 1998 were successfully contained by the Indian government and there has been no major famine in India since 1943.[116] Indian Independence in 1947 did not stop damage to crops nor lack of rain. As such, the threat of famines did not go away. India faced a number of threats of severe famines in 1967, 1973, 1979 and 1987 in Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Gujarat respectively. However these did not materialize in to famines due to government intervention.[117] The loss of life did not meet the scale of the 1943 Bengal or earlier famines but continued to be a problem. Jean Drèze finds that the post-Independence Indian government "largely remedied" the causes of the three major failures of 1880–1948 British famine policy, "an event which must count as marking the second great turning point in the history of famine relief in India over the past two centuries".[118]

[edit]Infrastructure development

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
NABARD headquarters in Mumbai, India
NABARD headquarters in Mumbai, India
Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Established July 12, 1982[119]
Currency Rupees (INR)
Reserves INR118,176 crore (US$26.35 billion)(March 31, 2009)[120]
Website Official Website

Deaths from starvation were reduced by improvements to famine relief mechanisms after the British left. In independent India, policy changes aimed to make people self-reliant to earn their livelihood and by providing food through the public distribution system at discounted rates.[103] Between 1947–64 the initial agricultural infrastructure was laid by the founding of organizations such as the Central Rice Institute in Cuttack, the Central Potato Research Institute in Shimla, and universities such as the Pant Nagar University. The population of India was growing at 3% per year, and food imports were required despite the improvements from the new infrastructure . At its peak, 10 million tonnes of food were imported from the United States.[49]

In the twenty year period between 1965–1985 gaps in infrastructure were bridged by the establishment of The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development(NABARD). During times of famines, droughts and other natural calamities, NABARD provides loan rescheduling and loan conversion facilitates to eligible institutions such as State Cooperative banks and Regional Rural Banks for periods up to seven years.[121][122] In the same period, high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice were introduced. Steps taken in this phase resulted in the Green Revolution which led to a mood of self-confidence in India's agricultural capability.[49] The Green Revolution in India was initially hailed as a success, but has recently been 'downgraded' to a 'qualified success'— not because of a lack of increased food production, but because the increase in food production has slowed down and has not been able to keep pace with population growth.[123] Between 1985 and 2000, emphasis was laid on production of pulses and oilseed, as well as vegetables, fruits, and milk. A wasteland development board was set up, and rain-fed areas were given more attention. Public investment in irrigation and infrastructure, however, declined. The period also saw a gradual collapse of the cooperative credit system.[49] In 1998–99, NABARD introduced a credit scheme to allow banks to issue short-term and timely credit to farmers in need via the Kisan Credit Card scheme. The scheme has become popular among issuing bankers and the recipient farmers with a total credit of INR33,994 crore (US$7.58 billion) made available via the issuing of 23,200,000 credit cards as of November 2002.[124] Between 2000 and present day, land use for food or fuel has become a competing issue due to a demand for ethanol.

[edit]Local Beliefs

The Rattus and Mus genus of rats are a part of the mechanism that causes a decline in food availability in northeastern India[125]

Since the time of Mahabharata, people in several regions of India have associated spikes in rat populations and famine with bamboo flowering.[126] The northeastern state of Mizoram hasbamboo as a dominant species over much of the state which experiences a cyclical phenomenon of bamboo flowering followed by bamboo death.[127] The bamboo plants are known to undergo gregarious flowering once in their life cycle which can happen anywhere in a range of 7 to 120 years.[128] A common local belief and observation is that bamboo flowering is followed by an increase in rats, famine and unrest amongst the people.[128] The first such event in the Republic of India was reported in 1958 when the local Mizo District Council cautioned the Assam government of an impending famine which the government rejected on the grounds that it was not scientific.[129] A famine did occur in the region in 1961.[129]

In 2001 the Government of India began working on an emergency plan to address regional food shortages after reports that bamboo flowering and bamboo death would occur again in the near future.[130] According to Forest Department Special Secretary K.D.R. Jayakumar, the relationship between famine and bamboo flowering, while widely believed to be true by the tribal locals, has not been scientifically proven.[128] John and Nadgauda, however, strongly feel that such a scientific connection exists, and that it may not simply be local myth.[131] They describe a detailed mechanism demonstrating the relationship between the flowering and the famine. According to them, the flowering is followed by a large quantity of bamboo seeds on the forest floor which causes a spike in the population of the Rattus and Mus genus of rats who feed of these seeds. With the changing weather and onset of rains, the seeds germinate and force the mice to migrate to land farms in search of food. On the land farms, the mice feed on crops and grains stored in granaries which causes a decline in food availability.[125] In 2001, the local administration tried to prevent the impending famine by offering local villagers the equivalent of $2.50 for every 100 rats killed.[132] The botanist H. Y. Mohan Ram of the University of Delhi, who is one of the country's foremost authorities on bamboo, considered these techniques outlandish. He suggested that a better way of solving the problem was to teach the local farmers to switch to cultivating different varieties of crops such as ginger and turmeric during periods of bamboo flowering since these crops are not consumed by the rats.[133]

Similar beliefs have been observed thousands of kilometers away in south India in the people of Cherthala in the Alappuzha district of Keralawho associate flowering bamboo with an impending explosion in the rat population.[126]

[edit]Bihar famine

The Bihar famine of 1966-7 was a minor famine with relatively very few deaths from starvation as compared to the famines of the British era.[16] The famine demonstrated the ability of the Indian government to deal with the worst of famine related circumstances.[17] The official death toll from starvation in the Bihar famine was 2353, roughly half of which occurred in the state of Bihar.[134] No significant increase in the number of infant deaths from famine was found in the Bihar famine.[37]

The annual production of food grains had dropped in Bihar from 7.5 million tonnes in 1965–66 to 7.2 million tonnes in 1966–1967 during the Bihar drought. There was an even sharper drop in 1966–67 to 4.3 million tonnes. The national grain production dropped from 89.4 million tonnes in 1964–65 to 72.3 in 1965–66 — a 19% drop. Rise in prices of food grains caused migration and starvation, but the public distribution system, relief measures by the government, and voluntary organizations limited the impact.[135] On a number of occasions, the Indian-government sought food and grain from the United States to provide replacement for damaged crops. The government also setup more than 20,000 fair-price stores to provide food at regulated prices for the poor or those with limited incomes.[136] A large scale famine in Bihar was adverted due to this import, although livestock and crops were destroyed. Other reasons for successfully averting a large scale famine were the employing various famine prevention measures such as improving communication abilities, issuing famine bulletins over the radio and offering employment to those affected by famine in government public works projects.[137]

The Bihar drought of 1966–67 gave impetus to further changes in agricultural policy and this resulted in the Green Revolution.[103]

[edit]Maharashtra drought

A child suffering Marasmus, extreme starvation, in 1972, a drought in which there were zero deaths and one which is known for the successful employment of famine prevention policies.[138][18]

After several years of good monsoons and a good crop in the early 1970s, India considered exporting food and being self-sufficient. Earlier in 1963, the government of the state of Maharashtra asserted that the agricultural situation in the state was constantly being watched and relief measures were taken as soon as any scarcity was detected. On the basis of this, and asserting that the word famine had now become obsolete in this context, the government passed the "The Maharashtra Deletion Of The Term 'Famine' Act, 1963".[139] They were unable to foresee the drought in 1972 when 25 million people needed help. The relief measures undertaken by the Government of Maharashtra included employment, programs aimed at creating productive assets such as tree plantation, conservation of soil, excavation of canals, and building artificial lentic water bodies. The public distribution system distributed food through fair-price shops. No deaths from starvation were reported.[138]

Large scale employment to the deprived sections of Maharashtrian society which attracted considerable amounts of food to Maharashtra.[140] The implementation of the Scarcity Manuals in the Bihar and Maharashtra famines prevented the mortality arising from severe food shortages. While the relief program in Bihar was poor, Drèze calls the one in Maharastra a model program. The relief works initiated by the government helped employ over 5 million people at the height of the drought in Maharashtra leading to effective famine prevention.[141] The effectiveness of the Maharashtra was also attributable to the direct pressure on the government of Maharashtra by the public who perceived that employment via the relief works program was their right. The public protested by marching, picketing, and even rioting .[142] Drèze reports a laborer saying "they would let us die if they thought we would not make a noise about it."[143]

[edit]West Bengal drought

The drought of 1979–80 in West Bengal was the next major drought and caused a 17% decline in food production with a shortfall of 13.5 million tonnes of food grain. Stored food stocks were leveraged by the government, and there was no net import of food grains. The drought was relatively unknown outside of India.[144] The lessons learned from the Maharashtra and West Bengal droughts led to the Desert Development Program and the Drought Prone Area Program. The intent of these programs was to reduce the negative effects of droughts by applying eco-friendly land use practices and conserving water. Major schemes in improving rural infrastructure, extending irrigation to additional areas, and diversifying agriculture were also launched. The lessons from the 1987 drought brought to light the need for employment generation, watershed planning, and ecologically integrated development.[103]

[edit]Other issues

Main article: Malnutrition in India

Deaths from malnutrition on a large scale have continued across India into modern times. In Maharashtra alone, for example, there were around 45,000 childhood deaths due to mild or severe malnutrition in 2009, according to the Times of India.[145] Another Times of India report in 2010 has stated that 50% of childhood deaths in India are attributable to malnutrition.[146] Around 7.5 million people per year die of malnutrition in modern India, the largest death rate caused by malnutrition for any country.

Growing export prices, the melting of the Himalayan glaciers due to global warming, changes in rainfall and temperatures are issues affecting India. If agricultural production does not remain above the population growth rate, there are indications that a return to the pre-independence famine days is a likelihood. People from various walks of life, such as social activist Vandana Shiva and researcher Dan Banik, agree that famines and the resulting large scale loss of life from starvation have been eliminated after Indian independence in 1947.[fn 12] However, Shiva warned in 2002 that famines are making a comeback and government inaction would mean they would reach the scale seen in the Horn of Africa in three or four years.[147]

[edit]See also

[edit]Footnotes

  1. ^ "India's great 'success story' of famine prevention is more justly dated in 1972-3, when another very severe drought hit large parts of the country. The worst affected state was that of Maharashtra..."[18]
  2. ^ 'the Mughal and Afghan rulers in Kashmir took measures to fight famines, but...their measures were too weak and in certain respects were even worse than those of their predecessors'.[34]
  3. ^ "Although all of India suffered to some extent in the early eighteenth century, without question the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were that country's time of famines."[15]
  4. ^ The Company was widely regarded as a pack of bloodsuckers; the Whig leader Lord Rockingham, called them guilty of "rapine and oppression" in Bengal.[41]
  5. ^ Famines are easy to prevent if there is a serious effort to prevent them, and a government of a democratic country-facing elections, criticisms from opposition parties and independent newspapers-cannot but make a serious effort to prevent famines. Not surprisingly, while India continued to have famines under British rule right up to independence (the last famine was in 1943, four years before independence, which I witnessed as a child), they disappeared suddenly, after independence, with the establishment of a multi-part democracy with a free press.[48]
  6. ^ It is to the credit of Independent India that famines of this kind have not been allowed to occur, although our population has grown from 350 million in 1947 to 1,100 million now.[49]
  7. ^ 'For centuries, agriculture in the region had been characterized by dependence on monsoon rainfall, archaic techniques and crude tillage, low intensity of inputs, subsistence farming, proneness to famines, and the low productivity of land.'[50]
  8. ^ 'the prospect of a devastating famine every few years was inherent in India's ecology'[51]
  9. ^ "I did nothing for two months. Before that time the monsoon had closed the ports of Orissa—help was impossible—and—it is said—a million people died. The Governments of India and Bengal had taken in effect no precautions whatever... I never could feel that I was free from all blame for the result." --The British Secretary of State for India, Lord Salisbury.[89]
  10. ^ In the despatch addressed to the Duke of Buckingham, in which the Viceroy announced his intention of visiting the famine districts of Madras and Mysore, the general principles for the management of famine affairs were once more laid down. After stating that the Government of India, with approval of Her Majesty's Government, were resolved to avert death by starvation by the employment of all means available, the Viceroy first expressed his conviction that 'absolute non-interference with the operations of private commercial enterprise must be the foundation of their present famine policy.' This was based on the belief that 'free and abundant trade cannot co-exist with Government importation' and that more food will reach the famine-stricken districts if private enterprise is left to itself (beyond receiving every possible facility and information from the government) than if it were paralysed by Government competition.[91]
  11. ^ Any government which imperiled the financial position of India in the interests of prodigal philanthropy would be open to serious criticism; but any government which by indiscriminate alms-giving weakened the fiber and demoralized the self-reliance of the population, would be guilty of a public crime.[94]
  12. ^ There has not been a large-scale loss of life since 1947.[147]

[edit]Citations

  1. ^ a b Keay 2001, p. 91.
  2. ^ a b c d e Bombay (India : State) 1883, p. 105.
  3. ^ a b c Bose 1918, pp. 79–81.
  4. ^ Rai 2008, pp. 263–281.
  5. ^ Koomar 2009, pp. 13–14.
  6. ^ a b Desai, Raychaudhuri & Kumar 1983, p. 528.
  7. ^ a b Grove 2007, p. 80.
  8. ^ a b Grove 2007, p. 83.
  9. ^ a b c d Fieldhouse 1996, p. 132.
  10. ^ Desai, Raychaudhuri & Kumar 1983, p. 529.
  11. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India vol. III 1907, p. 488.
  12. ^ Davis 2001, p. 7.
  13. ^ Desai, Raychaudhuri & Kumar 1983, pp. 530.
  14. ^ a b c d Desai, Raychaudhuri & Kumar 1983, p. 531.
  15. ^ a b Murton 2000, p. 1412.
  16. ^ a b Lancaster 1990, p. 233.
  17. ^ a b Mehta 2001, p. 43.
  18. ^ a b Drèze 1991, p. 46.
  19. ^ Nash 2003, pp. 22–23.
  20. ^ Collier & Webb 2002, p. 67.
  21. ^ a b Drèze 1991, p. 17.
  22. ^ a b Drèze 1991, p. 19.
  23. ^ Currey & Hugo 1984, pp. 71–74.
  24. ^ a b Currey & Hugo 1984, p. 72.
  25. ^ Currey & Hugo 1984, p. 73.
  26. ^ Carrey and Hugo, 1984, p. 72
  27. ^ Walsh 2006, pp. 71, 292.
  28. ^ Bombay (India : State) 1885, p. 85.
  29. ^ Dreze, Famine Prevention in India, WIDER Working Papers, 1988 p.12
  30. ^ Donald Attwood,'Big is Ugly? How Large Scale Institutions Prevent Famines in Western India', World Development, Vol. 33, No. 12, 2005, p.2070
  31. ^ Ibid., p.2070
  32. ^ Attwood, 'Big is Ugly?', 2005, p.2070
  33. ^ Kaw 1996, p. 64.
  34. ^ Kaw 1996, p. 59.
  35. ^ Kaw 1996, p. 65.
  36. ^ Kaw 1996, pp. 67-8.
  37. ^ a b Singh 2002, p. 112.
  38. ^ Visaria & Visaria 1983, p. 477.
  39. ^ James 2000, pp. 49–52.
  40. ^ Bowen 2002, p. 104.
  41. ^ James 2000, pp. 51.
  42. ^ Desai, Raychaudhuri & Kumar 1983, p. 477.
  43. ^ a b Currey & Hugo 1984, p. 75.
  44. ^ Gourlay 2003, p. 276.
  45. ^ a b Rai 1917, pp. 263–281.
  46. ^ a b Koomar 1920, pp. 13–14.
  47. ^ a b c Nightingale, McDonald & Vallée 2006, p. 707.
  48. ^ Iqbal & You 2001, pp. 12–14.
  49. ^ a b c d Swaminathan 2007, p. 1.
  50. ^ Roy 2007, p. 240.
  51. ^ Fergusson 2003, p. 23.
  52. ^ Roy 2007, pp. 243-4.
  53. ^ Roy 2007, p. 248.
  54. ^ Roy, 2006, p.36
  55. ^ Ferguson 2004, p. 22.
  56. ^ McAlpin, Michelle B. (1979), "Dearth, Famine, and Risk: The Changing Impact of Crop Failures in Western India, 1870–1920", The Journal of Economic History 39 (1): 143–157, p. 157
  57. ^ Ibid., p.153-155
  58. ^ Attwood, 'Big is Ugly?', 2005, p.2071
  59. ^ Attwood, 'Big is Ugly?
  60. ^ Srivastava 1968.
  61. ^ Sen 1982.
  62. ^ Bhatia 1985.
  63. ^ a b Mander 2009, p. 1.
  64. ^ Davis 2001, p. 299.
  65. ^ a b Davis 2001, pp. 299–300.
  66. ^ Wong 1998.
  67. ^ Martin Ravallion, Trade and stabilization: Another look at British India's controversial foodgrain exports, Explorations in Economic History, Volume 24, Issue 4, October 1987, Pages 354-370
  68. ^ a b Walsh 2006, p. 145.
  69. ^ Samal 1990, p. 6.
  70. ^ Samal 1990, p. 23.
  71. ^ Roy 2006, p. 362.
  72. ^ Roy 1999, p. 18.
  73. ^ Roy 2006, p. 363.
  74. ^ a b Currey & Hugo 1984, p. 91.
  75. ^ a b c d Currey & Hugo 1984, p. 92.
  76. ^ a b c Ghose 1982, p. 380.
  77. ^ Walsh 2006, p. 144-145.
  78. ^ James 2000, p. 581.
  79. ^ Ó Gráda 2007, pp. 26.
  80. ^ Ó Gráda 2007, p. 12.
  81. ^ a b Ó Gráda 2007, p. 23.
  82. ^ Waal 1997, p. 14.
  83. ^ a b Rorabacher 2010, p. 32.
  84. ^ Ó Gráda 2007, pp. 20,37.
  85. ^ a b Ferguson 2004.
  86. ^ Schama 2003.
  87. ^ Johnson 2003, p. 30.
  88. ^ Fiske 1869.
  89. ^ Davis 2001, p. 32.
  90. ^ Davis 2001, pp. 31, 52.
  91. ^ Balfour 1899, p. 204.
  92. ^ Keay 2001, p. 454.
  93. ^ Gilmour 2007, p. 116.
  94. ^ Davis 2001, p. 162.
  95. ^ Davis 2001, p. 164.
  96. ^ Davis 2001, p. 173.
  97. ^ Nash 2003.
  98. ^ Channel 4 Television 2007.
  99. ^ a b c Currey & Hugo 1984, p. 93.
  100. ^ Donnelly 2005, p. 1.
  101. ^ Bhatia 1970, p. 6.
  102. ^ Walsh 2006, pp. 144–145.
  103. ^ a b c d Thakur et al. 2005, p. 585.
  104. ^ Desai 1984, p. 504.
  105. ^ a b Drèze 1991, pp. 32–33.
  106. ^ Portillo 2008.
  107. ^ Drèze 1991, p. 98.
  108. ^ Drèze 1991, p. 26.
  109. ^ Davis 2001, pp. 26–27.
  110. ^ McAlpin 1979, p. 148.
  111. ^ McAlpin 1979, pp. 149–50.
  112. ^ McAlpin 1979, p. 150.
  113. ^ McAlpin 1979, pp. 155–57.
  114. ^ Drèze 1991, p. 25.
  115. ^ Iqbal & You 2001, p. 13.
  116. ^ Devereux 2007, p. 5.
  117. ^ Drèze & Sen 1991, p. 9.
  118. ^ Drèze 1991, p. 35.
  119. ^ Prabhu 2007, p. 1.
  120. ^ National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development 2009, p. 30.
  121. ^ Somashekher 2004, p. 222.
  122. ^ Singla et al. 2004, p. 376.
  123. ^ Rorabacher 2010, pp. 442–443.
  124. ^ Singla et al. 2004, p. 379.
  125. ^ a b John & Nadgauda 2002, p. 261-2.
  126. ^ a b John Nadgauda, p. 261.
  127. ^ BBC 2004, p. 1.
  128. ^ a b c Maitreyi 2010, p. 1.
  129. ^ a b John & Nadgauda 2002, p. 261.
  130. ^ Bagla 2001, p. 1.
  131. ^ John & Nadgauda 2002, p. 262.
  132. ^ Bagla 2001, p. 2.
  133. ^ Bagla 2001, p. 1-2.
  134. ^ Drèze & Sen 1991, p. 59.
  135. ^ American Association for the Advancement of Science et al. 1989, pp. 378–9.
  136. ^ Cuny & Hill 1999, p. 54.
  137. ^ London School of Economics and Political Science et al. Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, p. 61.
  138. ^ a b American Association for the Advancement of Science et al. 1989, pp. 379.
  139. ^ Sainath 2010, p. 1.
  140. ^ Drèze 1991, p. 89.
  141. ^ Waal 1997, p. 15.
  142. ^ Drèze 1991, pp. 92–93.
  143. ^ Drèze 1991, pp. 93.
  144. ^ American Association for the Advancement of Science et al. 1989, pp. 380.
  145. ^ TNN 2010, p. 1.
  146. ^ Dhawan 2010, p. 1.
  147. ^ a b Massing 2003, p. 1.

[edit]References

 Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide), or an abbreviated title. (March 2011)

[edit]Further reading

List of conspiracy theories

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.

The list of conspiracy theories is a collection of the most popular unproven theories related but not limited to clandestine government plans, elaborate murder plots, suppression of secret technology and knowledge, and other supposed schemes behind certain political, cultural, and historical events. They did not have any link to the actual incidents. Some theories are meant to cover up the accusers' own schemes, such as Holocaust denial. Most of them are imaginary works of some people.

Conspiracy theories usually go against a consensus or cannot be proven using the historical method.

Contents

[edit]New World Order

Main article: New World Order (conspiracy)

This conspiracy theory states that a small group of international elites controls and manipulates governments, industry, and media organizations worldwide. The primary tool they use to dominate nations is the system of central banking. They are said to have funded and in some cases caused most of the major wars of the last 200 years, carry out false flag attacks to manipulate populations into supporting them, and they have a grip on the world economy, deliberately causing inflation and depressions at will. Operatives working for the New World Order are said to be placed in high positions in government and industry. The people behind the New World Order are thought to be international bankers, in particular the owners of the private banks in the Federal Reserve System and other central banks, and members of the Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission and Bilderberg Group.[1] The New World Order is also said to control supranational and global organizations such as the European Union, United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the proposed North American Union. The term gained popularity following its use in the early 1990s, first by President George H. W. Bush when he referred to his "dream of a New World Order" in his speech to the United States Congress on September 11, 1990, and second by David Rockefeller in a statement to the United Nations Business Council in September 1994, sometimes cited as evidence that the New World Order had a motive for carrying out the September 11, 2001, attacks:

"We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order."[2]

The concept of this shadow government predates 1990; it is accused of being the same group of people who, among other things, created theFederal Reserve Act (1913), supported the Bolshevik Revolution (1917), and supported the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, all for their own agenda.[3] The World Bank and national central banks are said to be the tools of the New World Order; war generates massive profits for central banks because government spending (hence borrowing at interest from the central banks) increases dramatically in times of war and distress.[4] Many conspiracy theorists believe that Denver International Airport is the western U.S. headquarters of the New World Order, and a massive underground base and city is believed to exist underneath the airport. Reasons for this include the airport's unusually large size (larger than some major cities), distance from the Denver, Colorado city center, and the set of environmentally themed murals by artist Leo Tanguma depicting burning cities, gas-mask wearing soldiers and girls in coffins, and the capstone of the Great Hall which includes Masonicsymbols and strange writing.[5] It is believed that secret fleets of black helicopters are ready to take control when the New World Order is set up.

[edit]Federal Reserve System

The New World Order is said to control the wealth of nations through central banks, via the issuance of currency. The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States, though not a part of the government, created in 1913. There is a theory that the Federal Reserve System is designed to transfer wealth from the poor and middle classes of the United States to the international bankers of the New World Order.[6]

[edit]False flag operations

False flag operations are covert operations conducted by governments, corporations, or other organizations, which are designed to appear as if they are being carried out by other entities. Numerous conspiracy theories have developed suggesting that false flag operations have been carried out throughout the 20th century, and the secrecy of the true nature of the events have been maintained by successful cover-ups. The following are some attacks that are believed by some to be examples of false flag attacks:

[edit]Wars

The motivations for nations starting, entering, or ending wars are often brought into question by conspiracy theorists. Munitions suppliers are often blamed[11] for devising, coordinating and precipitating the events that lead nations into war, either in part or in toto. According to this view, there is always a party within a nation that benefits from war, on whatever pretext: the suppliers of weapons and other military material. President Dwight Eisenhower referred to this source of potential conflict of interest as the military-industrial complex. President Abraham Lincoln is known to have made a similar observation near the close of the American Civil War, and in 1865, I. Windslow Ayer alludes to conspiracies of Copperheads and of the Sons of Liberty in his historical work, The Great North-Western Conspiracy in All Its Startling Details.[12]

Related is the allegation that certain wars which are claimed by politicians to be in the national interest, or for humanitarian purposes, are in fact motivated by the conquest and control of natural resources for commercial interest. In the Spanish-American War, the explosion of theUSS Maine prompted the United States annexation of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. Opponents of the war, such as Mark Twainand Andrew Carnegie, claimed that it was being fought for imperialist motives.

A war planned for economic gain can be seen as a conspiracy in the conventional sense of a secret plot—particularly when the public is presented with false pretexts for war. It has also been suggested that war is a perfect way of distracting citizens, as an electoral tactic, from difficulties facing the current government. This premise is the basis of the film Wag the Dog, and the George Orwell novel 1984.

Some have claimed[who?] that this was the motivation behind the Falklands War. At that time the National Reorganization Process, the right-wing dictatorship that ruled Argentina between 1976 and 1983, was facing increasing discontent among the population over its Dirty War and this may have contributed to the decision to invade the Falkland Islands.

In many cases, critics have accused the U.S. of engaging in realpolitik in the cynical sense of political action without regard for principle or morals. In recent times, wars in the Middle East such as the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq have been described as wars for oil, as well as power, money and land.

[edit]Coups d'état

Governments, particularly the United States government, have been accused of carrying out false flag coups d'état, in order to install friendly governments in foreign countries. Some of these have since been acknowledged – such as Operation Ajax (1953), a covert coup to topple the democratically elected leaders of Iran. Some other coups that some believe may have been actively supported by the United States government include the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt.[13]

[edit]Assassinations and other deaths

See also: List of assassinated people

Conspiracy theories sometimes emerge following assassinations of prominent people. The best known is the assassination of John F. Kennedy (1963), which has caused a number of conspiracy theories to develop. Central to this theory is the claim that the injuries received by Kennedy and Governor John Connally could not have been caused by a lone gunman behind the motorcade and to the right. This theory was popularised by the Oliver Stone movie, JFK. Three polls conducted in 2003 suggest that there is widespread disbelief (between 68% and 83% of respondents) among the U.S. public about the official story of a lone gunman. An ABC News random telephone poll found that just 32% (plus or minus 3%) of Americans believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, while 68% do not believe Oswald acted alone.[14] The "Discovery Channel" poll (sampling method not given) reveals that only 21% believe Oswald acted alone, while 79% do not believe Oswald acted alone,[15] (self-selected responses) details that only 17% of respondents believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, while 83% do not believe Oswald acted alone.[16]

The assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X are also the subject of conspiracy theories. In many cases, it is asserted that a "Manchurian candidate" may have been used. The question of "Who benefits?" is also often asked, with conspiracy theorists asserting that insiders often have far more powerful motives than those to whom the assassination is attributed by mainstream society. Earlier examples of assassinations about which there are conspiracy theories include those of Abraham Lincoln and Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. The assassinations of historical figures, such as Eric V of Denmark and Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich of Russia remain subject to conspiracy theories. More recent examples include those of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Carrero Blanco, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Olof Palme, Yitzhak Rabin, Alexander Litvinenko, Benazir Bhutto and Osama bin Laden.

Some deaths that are officially recorded as accident, suicide or natural causes are also the subject of some conspiracy theories. Examples include the car crash that killed Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed in 1997, the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. in a plane crash in 1999, and the death of Senator Paul Wellstone in a plane crash in 2002. Other examples include: the suicide of Deputy White House CounselVincent Foster; the plane crash that killed United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown; the Mayerling Incident; and the deaths of U.S. Presidents Zachary Taylor and Lyndon B. Johnson, Władysław Sikorski, James Forrestal, British political leader Hugh Gaitskell, Australian prime minister Harold Holt, James P. Brady, New Zealand prime minister Norman Kirk, Jimmy Hoffa and David Kelly. There are also theories about untimely deaths of celebrities, the number one example arguably being the death of Marilyn Monroe, but also Sam Cooke, Brian Jones,Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jeff Buckley, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, Bob Marley and John Lennon.

There are also theories that some assassination attempts have been carried out by secret conspiracies, in some cases failures but in other cases entirely staged events. The motive for staging an unsuccessful assassination attempt can be to augment the popularity of the person involved; public opinion polls tend to be boosted by unsuccessful attempts on the life of a prominent politician. There have been numerousunsuccessful attempts to assassinate U.S. Presidents. Some of them, such as the attempted assassinations of Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush have aroused suspicion from conspiracy theorists that the events might have been staged.

In India there are several conspiracy theories circulating about the 1945 death of pro-Axis Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose – that he did not die in an accident, as officially claimed, but was assassinated; that he did not die at that time, but much later; or that he is still alive and hidden somewhere.

[edit]US Presidency

Some conspiracy theories have been directed at American Presidents.

[edit]Clinton Body Count

The Clinton Body Count, as it is popularly known, is a conspiracy theory that Bill Clinton, while he was president and before, was quietly assassinating his associates (ostensibly anyone who got in the way of his career, such as Vince Foster). It was started as a retaliation to the Bush Body Count (which ostensibly had various members of the Bush family responsible for events like JFK assassination and theOctober surprise killing lesser co-conspirators on their way).[17] The Clinton Body Count is a list of about 50–60 associates of Clinton who have died "under mysterious circumstance".[18] The list began circulating over the Internet starting in the mid-1990s.[citation needed] The list grew out of a 1993 list of about 24 names prepared by the pro-gun lobby group American Justice Federation[19] which was led by Linda Thompson. The list was posted to the group's Bulletin board system.[20] Snopes.com has debunked this list, noting 1) many of those claimed to be assassinated actually died from very well documented accidents that leave no possibility of assassination 2) a political figure who becomes President of the United States will have a loosely defined circle of "associates", and many of these associates are in dangerous positions (police officers, pilots, soldiers) or older men in high stress jobs (therefore at greater risk of dying of stress related disease or suicide).

[edit]Barack Obama birth conspiracy theories

Main article: Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories

A closely related cluster of conspiracy theories are associated with the 44th President, Barack Obama, the first President of African descent, who was born in Honolulu in 1961 to a Kenyan father and a mother from Wichita. The essence of all such theories is an allegation that his claim to the Presidency is illegitimate due to the circumstances of his birth. It is alleged that either his birth certificate was faked or he secretly holds dual citizenship and this disqualifies him as President. The conspiracy theories have been tenacious despite the early release of Obama's Hawaii birth certificate by his election campaign and the April 2011 release of a certified copy of Obama's original Certificate of Live Birth (so-called "long form birth certificate"). Related rumors involve questioning the President's avowed religion, Christianity, and suggesting that he is or was at one time a Muslim.

[edit]Ethnicity, race and religion

[edit]Antisemitic conspiracy theories

Further information: Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory

Antisemitism has, from the Middle Ages, frequently taken on characteristics of conspiracy theory. Antisemitic canards continue to circulate. In medieval Europe it was widely believed that Jews poisoned wells, had killed Jesus, and used the blood of Christians in their worship, although blood is not kosher.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the notion grew up that Jews were plotting to establish control over the world. This idea was grafted on to an existing conspiracy theory according to which Freemasons were plotting to take over the world.[21] The most famous text alleging the existence of this "Judeo-Masonic" plot is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. A more modern manifestation of such ideas is the myth of a Zionist Occupation Government.

Various conspiracy theories have been advanced regarding Jews and banking,[22] including the myth that world banking is dominated by theRothschild family,[23] that Jews control Wall Street,[23] and that Jews control the United States Federal Reserve.[24] A related canard is that Jews control Hollywood or the news media.[25]

Most Holocaust denial claims imply, or openly state, that the Holocaust is a hoax arising out of a deliberate Jewish conspiracy to advance the interest of Jews at the expense of other peoples.[26] For this reason, Holocaust denial is generally considered to be an antisemitic[27]conspiracy theory.[28]

[edit]Armenian International Conspiracy

See also: Anti-Armenianism and Denial of the Armenian Genocide

Samuel A. Weems (1936–2003) was a writer and a disbarred lawyer in Arkansas, United States, who was allegedly paid by the Turkish lobbyin the United States, who is in turn sponsored by the Turkish government.[29] In his book, Armenia: The Secrets of a Christian Terrorist State(2002), he argued in favor of the myth that the Armenian Genocide was a gigantic fraud designed to fleece Christian nations out of billions of dollars. He also claimed that the Armenian Church was a state-owned entity that organizes and funds terrorist (including ASALA) attacks and that Armenians had infiltrated the United States.[30] That book states that Armenian Diaspora communities in the United States and throughout the world are actually colonies/political bases intended to gain money and support for Armenian Republic. The book also states that Armenia is founded on land stolen from Muslims and that Armenians have perpetrated enormous massacres against Turks and Azeris, both recently (in the Nagorno-Karabakh war) and in the past. He has been quoted as saying "The religion of the Armenians is fake" and that his research shows "that there is clearly an Armenian Master Plan that generates Armenian hate around the world."[31] Prior to his death in 2003, he was preparing to write a second book claiming the international Armenian community collaborated with and supported Nazi Germany.

[edit]"Babylon" and racist oppression

Some Rastafarians maintain that a white racist patriarchy ("Babylon") controls the world in order to oppress the African race.[32] They believe that Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia did not die when it was reported in 1975, and that the racist, white media (again, "Babylon") propagated that rumour in order to squash the Rastafari Movement and its message of overthrowing Babylon.[33] Other Rastafarians, however, believe in peace and unity, and interpret Babylon as a metaphor for the established "system" that oppresses (or "downpresses", in Rasta terminology) groups such as Africans and the world's poor.

[edit]Eurabia

Main article: Eurabia

British-Egyptian writer Bat Ye'or, author of Eurabia: The Euro–Arab Axis, later followed by Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci and the bloggerFjordman, proposed a conspiracy they said was hatched between a cadre of French elites within the European Economic Community and the Arab League in the mid-1970s to form a strategic alliance against the United States and Israel, and to turn Europe into an appendage of the Islamic world.[34]

[edit]Arab-fascist axis

Radio talk show host David Emory claims that Nazi leader Martin Bormann never died and has built a global empire involving, among many others, the Bush family, Hassan al Banna, Grover Norquist, Meyer Lansky, and Michael Chertoff.

[edit]Baha'i

Main article: Political accusations against the Baha'i Faith

Iran's Baha'i minority has been the target of persecution since its inception and has been the subject of various conspiracy theories entailing involvement with foreign or hostile powers. Iranian government officials and others have claimed that Bahá'ís have had ties to foreign powers, and were agents of Russian imperialism, British colonialism, American expansionism, Zionism, as well as being responsible for the policies of the previous Shah of Iran.[35] These accusations against the Bahá'í have been disputed, and described as misconceptions,[36] with no basis in historical fact.[37][38] Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, taught that Bahá'ís are to be loyal to one's government, not be involved in politics, and to obey the laws of the country they reside in.[39]

[edit]Apocalyptic prophecies

Apocalyptic prophecies, particularly Christian apocalyptic and eschatalogical claims about the end times, the Last Judgment, and the end of the world have inspired a range of conspiracy theories. Many of these deal with the Antichrist (Arabic: المسيح الدجّال/ Masih ad-Dajjal). This Antichrist, also known as the Beast 666, is supposed to be a leader who will create a world empire and oppress Christians (and, in some readings, Jews as well). In apocalyptic conspiracy theory, some person from current events is alleged to be the Antichrist, and some supranatural organization is alleged to be the Antichrist's world organization of evil.[40]

Countless historical figures have been called "Antichrist" in their times, from the Roman emperor Nero to Adolf Hitler to Ronald Reagan toJavier Solana to Barack Obama. At times, apocalyptic speculation has mixed with anti-Catholicism to yield the interpretation that the reigningPope is the Biblical Antichrist. A more recent conspiratorial interpretation sees the Antichrist as a world leader involved with the United Nations, who will create a one world government (aka New World Order) and establish a single monetary system. The latter is identified with the Mark of the Beast, which the Bible states that people in the end times will need in order to conduct trade.[40]

Two nations often involved in apocalyptic conspiracy theories are Israel and Iraq. The former is the location of both the Temple Mount andArmageddon (Megiddo), places seen as important in prophecy. The latter is the ancient location of Babylon, which also figures in the Book of Revelation. During the Gulf War, some suggested that Saddam Hussein had ordered the excavation and re-population of the city of Babylon, thus casting Saddam as an Antichrist figure. Other interpretations have held that "Babylon" in the Book of Revelation refers to another mighty nation, such as the Roman Empire, the Vatican (in Rome) and the Catholic Church, or more recently the Soviet Union or the United States of America.

[edit]Bible conspiracy theory

Bible conspiracy theories posit that much of what is known about the Bible, in particular the New Testament, is a deception. These theories variously claim that Jesus really had a wife, Mary Magdalene, and children, that a group such as the Priory of Sion has secret information about the bloodline of Jesus, that Jesus did not die on the cross and that the carbon dating of the Shroud of Turin was part of a conspiracy by the Vatican to suppress this knowledge, that there was a secret movement to censor books that belonged in the Bible, or the Christ myth theory, proposed for example in Zeitgeist, the Movie as a means of social control by the Roman Empire. A fictionalized contrivance of this is portrayed in the novel The Da Vinci Code.

[edit]Catholicism as a veiled continuation of Babylonian paganism

The Two Babylons was an anti-Catholic religious pamphlet produced initially by the Scottish theologian and Presbyterian Alexander Hislop in 1853. It was later published as a book in 1919.

Its central theme is the allegation that the Catholic Church is a veiled continuation of the pagan religion of Babylon, the veiled paganism being the product of a millennia old conspiracy.[41][42] It has been recognized by scholars as discredited and has been called a "tribute to historical inaccuracy and know-nothing religious bigotry" with "shoddy scholarship, blatant dishonesty" and a "nonsensical thesis".[43][44]

Although scholarship has shown the picture presented by Hislop to be absurd and based on an exceedingly poor understanding of historical Babylon and its religion, his book remains popular among some fundamentalist Christians.[41] The book's thesis has also featured prominently in the conspiracy theories of racist groups such as The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord[45] and other conspiracy theorists.[46]

Although extensively footnoted, giving the impression of reliability, commentators (in particular Ralph Woodrow) have stated that there are numerous misconceptions, fabrications and grave factual errors in the document, and that this book follows the line of thought of works like: Martin Luther – On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520), Titus Oates – An Exact Discovery of the Mystery of Iniquity as it is now in Practice amongst the Jesuits (1679), Conyers Middleton – Letter from Rome (1729).[47]

[edit]Dominionism

See the Dominionism article.

[edit]Technology and weapons

See also: List of topics characterized as pseudoscience

[edit]Suppression of technologies

  • Avro Arrow—Cancellation of this system.[citation needed]
  • Termination of rocket experiments at Cuxhaven.[citation needed]
  • Vril Society Conspiracy which suggests that a secret form of energy, called "Vril", is used and controlled by a secret subterranean society of matriarchal socialist utopian superior beings. The theory also claims that Nazi Germany used this technology to create advanced aircraft (flying saucers).[citation needed]
  • A typical suppressed invention story is that of the incredibly efficient automobile carburetor, whose inventor was supposedly killed or hounded into obscurity by petroleum companies desirous to protect their business from an engine that would make their product obsolete. It has been claimed that the Elsbett diesel engine running on plant oil had to put up against unfair competition practices.[citation needed]
  • The documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? alleged that electric car technology has been largely suppressed by big oil and gas firms. The first suppression of such occurred shortly after the turn of the 20th century (in 1899 the world's land speed record was set by an electric car at 65 mph); the second time was in 1913–1914 when the same interests sabotaged Henry Ford's and Thomas Edison's attempt to produce an 'inexpensive' electric car.[citation needed]
  • Inventor Nikola Tesla has been the object of several conspiracy theories, with claims relating to revolutionary energy generation and distribution technologies which may or may not have been utilised by "HAARP", an American military-funded research program. While the technology Tesla discovered was real and exists today, his discoveries have often been linked to such pseudoscience as Wilhelm Reich's "orgone" generator which was supposedly suppressed by the establishment.[citation needed]
  • The Phoebus cartel set up in 1924 certainly seems to have stopped competition in the light bulb industry for some years, and has been accused of preventing technological advances that would have produced longer-lasting light bulbs.[48] However, the Phoebus cartel also features in Thomas Pynchon's fictional Gravity's Rainbow, which has led some to blur fact and fiction.[citation needed]
  • Free energy suppression[citation needed]

[edit]Development of weapons technology

  • Philadelphia Experiment – A supposed attempt to turn a U.S. Navy warship invisible that allegedly caused severe harm to on-board crew members. According to official sources, the experiment's actual goal was only to make the ship invisible to torpedoes, throughdegaussing technology and other methods.[citation needed]
  • Montauk Project – A continuation of the Philadelphia Experiment, the Montauk Project would put government trained psychics (Duncan Cameron) into a program with the intent of mind control, time travel, and even mental manifestation. Although denied by the government, a few (Preston Nichols, Al Bielek) have given lectures and written books on the subject.[citation needed]
  • High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program theory claims that HAARP could be used as directed-energy weapon, weather control,earthquake induction device and/or for mind control.[citation needed]
  • It has been speculated that the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami may have been caused intentionally by a "tsunami bomb" – a nuclear weapondetonated in a strategic position under the ocean. Some reason that the technology is at least feasible since research into such technology has been conducted by the military as far back as World War II.[citation needed] According to declassified files, top-secret "tsunami bomb" experiments utilising explosions to trigger "mini-tidal waves" were conducted off the coast of New Zealand in 1944 and 1945.[49] The U.S. Defense Department had even expressed concern about earthquake-inducing technology in warfare well before the 2004 disaster. In 1997 Defense Secretary William S. Cohen stated, "Others are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves."[50][not in citation given (See discussion.)]
  • Chemtrail theory: Clouds behind aircraft, having the general appearance of contrails, but alleged to be chemical spraying performed for some secretive purpose.[citation needed]

[edit]Weapons testing

[edit]Surveillance, espionage and intelligence agencies

Particular technologies of surveillance and control arouse concern that has bordered upon, or crossed over into, conspiracy theory. These are technologies being developed by governments which are intended to intrude into the privacy or harm the persons of citizens, particularly dissenters. Conspiracy theories of this sort cast government agencies as pursuing vast technical powers in order to spy on people, control their minds, or otherwise suppress an alienated populace. The plausibility of establishing such surveillance capabilities, by technical means or by a widespread network of informants, should perhaps be viewed in the context of events in former Eastern bloc countries, particularly the activities of the East German Stasi before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The various services provided by Google have also been considered to invade people's privacy, thus enabling intelligence agencies to monitor their activities.[citation needed]

Many governments use intelligence agencies to promote national policies in secretive ways—in several cases including the use of sabotage, propaganda, and assassination. Intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, KGB, MI6, BND and Mossad, are a common element of political conspiracy theories precisely because they are known to participate in some activities similar to those described in conspiracy theories.[55]Indeed, conspiracy theories about espionage agencies go back at least as far as the 17th century, with allegations the English spymasterRobert Cecil was responsible for the Gunpowder plot of 1605. Some examples include the Pine Gap satellite tracking system in Australia, which is believed by some to be a global database used to track individuals Big Brother style.

Numerous theories have been put forward surrounding Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Boeing 747, carrying 269 people including anti-communist Cong. Larry McDonald. KAL 007 was shot down near Moneron Island by the Soviet military after it strayed into prohibited airspace in 1983.[56] These theories started in a Cold War era of heightened tensions and mutual distrust, and have been fanned by subsequent misinformation, deception, suppression of evidence and political events.

[edit]Media

[edit]DTV Transition

Some theorists claim that forced transition to digital television broadcasting is practical realization of "Big Brother" concept. They claim that miniature cameras and microphones are built into set-top boxes and newer TV sets to spy on people. Another claim describes use of mind control technology that would be hidden in the digital signal and used to subvert the mind and feelings of the people and for subliminal advertising.[57]

[edit]Medicine

The subject of suppressed-invention conspiracy also touches on the realm of medical quackery: proponents of more unlikely forms ofalternative medicine are known to allege conspiracy by mainstream doctors to suppress their cures. Such conspiracies are often said to include government regulators, to the extent that a legal decision may be relevant. Some medical conspiracy theorists argue that the medical community could actually cure supposedly "incurable" diseases such as cancer (like the noted Luigi di Bella's medicines) and AIDS if it really wanted to, but instead prefers to suppress the cures as a way of maintaining the multi-trillion dollar "cancer industry". The costs for long-term treatment are generally higher than for a one-time cure. Other medical conspiracies charge that pharmaceutical companies are in league with some medical practitioners to "invent" new diseases, such as ADD, ADHD, HSV, HPV and even HIV.

[edit]Drug legalization

Some activists and spokespersons for legalization of drugs (especially marijuana) have long espoused a theory that government and private industry conspired during the first half of the 20th century to outlaw hemp, allegedly so that it would no longer provide inexpensive competition to pulp paper and synthetic materials.[58] William Randolph Hearst is often pointed to as one of the businessmen responsible due to his involvement in the printing industry and his eminence in the public eye.[58] An extensive study on the subject has been done by Jack Herer in his book The Emperor Wears No Clothes.

[edit]Chemtrails

Main article: Chemtrail conspiracy theory

Some people believe that chemtrails contain chemicals or biological agents purposely sprayed on the population by governments or other authorities.

[edit]Diet

This type of theory posits that, with the help of the food industry and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the medical industry is generating billions in drug and treatment revenue from consumers who have become unhealthy as a result of poor or incomplete diet guidelines from the FDA. It is claimed that as long as the medical industry's dietary research studies are accepted and enforced as the measure, they will continue to suggest a minimum calorie intake above the actual healthy level, and will also continue to suppress any findings of the greater benefits of fasting and other calorie restriction type diets, and as long as the consumer continues to eat at the level suggested by the FDA, the incidence of obesity will continue to rise and the medical industry will continue to profit. Thus, it would be self-defeating for the medical industry to produce a cure for the many services that they depend on to generate revenue from unhealthy dietary practices of their customers.[citation needed]

[edit]Creation of diseases

There are claims that AIDS is a human-made disease (i.e., created by scientists in a laboratory). Some of these theories allege that HIV was created by a conspiratorial group or by a secretive agency such as the CIA. It is thought to have been created as a tool of genocide and/or population control. Other theories suggest that the virus was created as an experiment in biological and/or psychological warfare, and then escaped into the population at large by accident. Some who believe that HIV was a government creation see a precedent for it in theTuskegee syphilis study, in which government-funded researchers deceptively denied treatment to black patients infected with a sexually transmitted disease.

It has been claimed that the CIA deliberately administered HIV to African Americans and homosexuals in the 1970s, via tainted hepatitisvaccinations.[59] Groups such as the New Black Panther Party and Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam assert that this was part of a plan to destroy the black race. Others claim that it was administered in Africa as a way of crippling the development of the continent.

There have been suggestions that either the HIV virus or a sterilizing agent has been added to polio vaccines being distributed by the World Health Organization in Nigeria. Since these claims have been in existence, there has been a marked increase in the number of polio cases in the country, because Muslim clerics have urged parents not to have their children vaccinated.[60]

[edit]Water fluoridation

Water fluoridation is the controlled addition of fluoride to a public water supply to reduce tooth decay.[61] Although almost all major health and dental organizations support water fluoridation, or have found no association with adverse effects, efforts to introduce water fluoridation meet considerable opposition whenever it is proposed.[62] Since fluoridation's inception in the 1950s, opponents have drawn on distrust of experts and unease about medicine and science.[63] Conspiracy theories involving fluoridation are common, and include the following:[62]

Claims that:

  • Fluoridation is part of a Communist, Fascist or New World Order or Illuminati plot to take over the world. This notion is mentioned, with comical effect, in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.[62]
  • Fluoridation was designed by the military–industrial complex to protect the U.S. atomic weapons program from litigation.[64][65]
  • Fluoridation was pioneered by a German chemical company to make people submissive to those in power.[65]
  • Fluoridation was used in Russian prison camps and produces schizophrenia.[62]
  • Fluoridation is backed by the aluminum or phosphate industries as a means of disposing of some of their industrial waste.[65]
  • Fluoridation is a smokescreen to cover failure to provide dental care to the poor.[62]

Fluoridation researchers are accused to be in the pay of corporate or political interests as part of the plot.[62] Specific anti-fluoridation arguments change to match the spirit of the time.[66]

[edit]Traditional, natural and alternative medicines

Many proponents of traditional, natural and alternative medicines claim that pharmaceutical companies and various governments and government agencies conspire to maintain profits by ensuring that the general public uses only modern medicines. For example, many countries have laws that prevent unproven medicinal claims from being printed on packaging, advertisements, etc., for medicines. Any substance for which medicinal claims are made are deemed "drugs". (See Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.) Many of these laws originated in part to due to when snake oil and other such remedies were sold without any government regulation[citation needed]. Proponents of traditional, natural and alternative medicines often claim that since herbs, etc., are of natural origin, they are not drugs and that such laws fallaciously define them as drugs in order to control and ultimately limit or prevent their distribution thus ensuring profits for thepharmaceutical industry.

A variation on this conspiracy is claimed by Kevin Trudeau, author of Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About. He claims that in the USA, "they" (pharmaceutical companies, the FDA and FTC) conspire to withhold natural cures because "they" can make more profit selling long-term treatments, that do not cure, in perpetuity.

[edit]Peak oil

There are theories that the "peak oil" concept is a fraud concocted by the oil industries to increase prices amid concerns about future supplies. The oil industry is aware of vast reserves of untapped oil, according to these theories, but it deliberately refuses to utilize them in order to maintain the illusion of scarcity.

Parallels have been drawn between this and the diamond industry, where it is recognized that a monopoly cabal maintains an illusion of scarcity of diamonds in order to increase their value. Such an idea was featured prominently in the novel Shock Wave by Clive Cussler.

The alleged presence of large quantities of oil has led to increased interest in the Western world in a theory of the origin of oil that was popular in the 1950s and 1960s in the Soviet Union—the abiogenic petroleum origin theory.

[edit]Real groups said to be involved in conspiracies

The past or present existence of these groups is not disputed, and a variety of theories regarding hidden plots and/or agendas actively guarded from the general public have been proposed. There is dispute as to whether any of these theories are true.

[edit]Alleged groups associated with conspiracy theories

These groups are often discussed in conspiracy theories, however their existence is disputed:

[edit]The Plan

Main article: The Plan (Washington, D.C.)

In U.S. cities that are controlled by African-American majorities, a persistent conspiracy theory holds that Caucasians are plotting to regain control and take over those cities. Cities that are experiencing an urban renaissance, such as Washington, D.C., are particular centers of "The Plan".[citation needed]

[edit]Paranormal activity

[edit]Evil aliens

See also: Alien invasion

A somewhat different version of this[which?] theory maintains that humanity is actually under the control of shape-shifting alien reptiles, who require periodic ingestion of human blood to maintain their human appearance. David Icke has been a devoted proponent of this theory.[69]Reportedly the Bush family and the British Royal Family are actually such creatures, and Diana, Princess of Wales was aware of this, presumably relating to her death.[69] David Icke's theory, which encompasses many other conspiracy theories, is that humanity is actually under the reptilians; with evidence ranging from Sumerian tablets describing the "Anunnaki" (which he translates as "those who from heaven to earth came"), to the serpent in the Biblical Garden of Eden, to child abuse and water fluoridation.

[edit]Extraterrestrials

Main article: UFO conspiracy theory

A sector of conspiracy theory with a particularly detailed mythology is the extraterrestrial phenomenon, which has become the basis for numerous pieces of popular entertainment, the Area 51/Grey Aliens conspiracy, and allegations surrounding the Dulce Base. It is alleged that the United States government conspires with extraterrestrials involved in the abduction and manipulation of citizens. A variant tells that particular technologies, notably the transistor—were given to American industry in exchange for alien dominance. The enforcers of the clandestine association of human leaders and aliens are the Men in Black, who silence those who speak out on UFO sightings. This conspiracy theory has been the basis of numerous books, as well as the popular television show The X-Files and the movies Men in Blackand Men in Black II. The X-Files based the plots of many of its episodes around urban legends and conspiracy theories, and had a framing plot which postulated a set of interlocking conspiracies controlling all recent human history.

There are claims about secret experiments known as the Montauk Project conducted at Camp Hero, Montauk, New York. Allegedly, the project was developing a powerful psychological war weapon. The project is often connected to other alleged government projects such as thePhiladelphia Experiment and Project Rainbow, both of which involved the use of the Unified field theory to cloak vessels. Experiments involving teleportation, time travel, contact with extraterrestrials, and mind control are frequently alleged to have been conducted in the camp.Preston B. Nichols has authored five books on the subject, including Montauk Project: Experiments in time.

[edit]Miscellaneous

 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010)
War
  • That the Pearl Harbor attack was not a surprise event and the US president Franklin D. Roosevelt knew about the risk of a military attack by the Japanese, so he ordered the US Department of State to keep it quiet through late 1941 because he knew that the attack would galvanize public opinion in favor of the United States entering World War II. (See Pearl Harbor advance-knowledge debate)
  • That the 1999 US bombing of the People's Republic of China embassy in Belgrade had been a deliberate retaliation. China was secretly helping Yugoslavia in resisting NATO forces, particularly, by providing advanced radar technology which enabled the Army of Yugoslavia to shoot down an F-117 stealth fighter – the first US stealth aircraft lost in action. An alternative theory states China had bought the remains of that F-117 from Yugoslavia and stored them temporarily inside its embassy's basement. US force discovered this and attempted to destroy these remains before they were to be shipped to China. It was stated that one hardened penetrator bomb was amongst the bombs dropped, that bomb reached the basement after penetrating several floors, but failed to explode. Most of the F-117 remains were eventually transported to China, as well as the laser-guided bomb.[citation needed]
  • It has been said that Adolf Hitler never did commit suicide and was alive well after World War II because the Soviet Union never found his body.[citation needed]
  • The death of former NFL player, and US Army Ranger Corporal Patrick D. Tillman was believed by many to have died in Afghanistan in 2004 not be a result of a friendly fire incident, but a intentional act of murder by the U.S. government, carried out by the U.S. military to boost support for the war. What was confirmed was that the military indeed tried to cover up the circumstances of his death.
Nature
  • Several theories are advanced regarding the cause and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.[70]
  • Conspiracy theories related to the causes of the devastating 2010 Pakistan floods abound, with even mainstream newspapers repeating allegations that India and/or the US are responsible.[71][72]
Advertising
  • There is a theory that the famous "computer vs. human" chess game – between Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov and IBM's Deep Blue computer – involved cheating by IBM, to ensure they would achieve a victory that would be widely publicized. This theory is argued by the documentary Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine.
  • Another conspiracy theory related to advertising is that The Coca-Cola Company intentionally changed to an inferior formula with New Coke with the intent of driving up demand for their classic product, later reintroducing it for their financial gain. Alternatively, people believe the switch was made to allow Coca-Cola to reintroduce "classic" Coke with a new formulation using less expensive corn syrup.[73] Donald Keough, president of Coca-Cola, replied to this theory: "The truth is, we're not that dumb, and we're not that smart."[74]
Space
Main article: Moon landing conspiracy theories
  • Theorists claim that some or all of the Apollo moon landings were "staged" in a Hollywood movie or other studio either because they never happened or to conceal some aspect of the truth of the circumstances of the actual landing.
  • Another theory regarding the moon landings is that the Apollo astronauts found a human skeleton and footprints on the moon. (Despite the fact that there is no way for anything to decompose on the moon because its lack of atmosphere would prevent this.) The theory received more widespread attention when the Weekly World News twice published stories about a human skeleton on the moon, first on Nov 28, 1989,[75] and then again on Jul 15, 1997.[76] This same story had been told before in a 1977 novel, Inherit the Stars, by James P. Hogan.
  • Soviet space program conspiracy accusations suppose that some failed human spaceflights in the USSR occurred but were concealed by the government.
  • Also some theorists claim that China secretly tried a manned spaceflight in the winter of 1978/1979 but it was a failure.
Communism
Celebrities
  • In October 1969, a rumour began circling that Paul McCartney, one of The Beatles, died in a car crash in late 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike. Proponents of the theory, which is commonly referred to as the Paul is dead hoax, cite "clues" in the form of peculiar album covers, possible symbolism in strange lyrics, and backmasking.
  • John Lennon also of The Beatles is supposed by some to have been assassinated by the CIA using mind manipulation upon Mark Chapman, because Lennon had too much influence.
  • There have been many purported sightings of Elvis Presley over the years since his death in 1977. Several conspiracy theories have developed suggesting that he is still alive.
  • Kurt Cobain, singer and guitarist of Nirvana was suggested to not to have committed suicide, but was in fact murdered.
  • Some people believe that comedian Andy Kaufman faked his own death. Some believe Tupac Shakur also faked his death. Some claim that Michael Jackson is still alive, having faked his death.
  • Some people believe Jimi Hendrix was killed by his manager, who would gain $2,000,000 if Hendrix was to die.
  • Some people believe that Bob Marley was assassinated by the CIA. Allegedly someone gave him a pair of boots, and when he put them on a small copper wire inside jabbed him in the toe-the same toe that gave him the cancer (acral lentiginous melanoma) that would eventually kill him.
Global Warming
  • The Global warming conspiracy theory asserts that the global community of climate scientists have colluded to fabricate a vast body of scientific evidence and literature in order to deceive the world into believing there is a significant anthropogenic component to increases in global temperatures, with the objective of misdirecting research funding, political power, or simply money.
History
  • Some New Chronology theories, such as the Phantom time hypothesis of Heribert Illig and the Fomenko-Nosovsky chronology, claim that the conventional dating of historical events is incorrect, and that the historical timeline has been purposely distorted by powerful interests.
  • Revisionist history in regards to the Irish Potato Famine was more of a result by the British naval blockade around Ireland when the international community began to send naval ship food shipments and the British reroute those naval ships to England.
Sports
  • The "Frozen Envelope Theory" suggests that the NBA rigged the 1985 NBA Draft Lottery so Georgetown University standout Patrick Ewing would land with the New York Knicks, who had the first pick in that year's draft. Conspiracy theorists argue that the New York Knicks' envelope was placed in the freezer so that when NBA commissioner David Stern reached into a bowl containing the envelopes of all the teams participating in the draft lottery, he would be able to identify the Knicks' envelope by its being colder than the others.[77]
  • The death of Phar Lap, the champion New Zealand and Australian racehorse, was purported to be a deliberate poisoning. There are also several theories concerning the disappearance of the champion racehorse, Shergar.
Electronic banking conspiracy
  • The Theory of Electronic Conspiracy is said to be a variant of modern New World Order conspiracy theories. The theory consists of the belief that a secret group has attempted for centuries to reach world domination, even if the result by design would be world destruction. According to this theory, the worldwide dominion has been planned from antiquity and follows the following phases:[78]
  1. The substitution of precious metal-based coin currency by paper currency. This process began in the Renaissance, with the beginning of the use of tickets which allowed for people to have a tangible good (such as silver or gold pieces) by paper—a more virtual, but comfortable, medium which the state was committed to provide the equivalent amount of precious metal if such was required.
  2. The appearance of virtual money, with credit cards: money approaches wholly virtual status. Money is no longer a tangible paper- or metal-based object but rather a series of numbers recorded in magnetic stripes.
  3. The proliferation of Internet and Electronic commerce: credit cards are no longer required in order to purchase or sell goods and services from an Internet-connected computer.
  4. The concentration of the worldwide bank into few hands, by means of continuous international banking fusions.
  5. The worldwide implementation of an electronic identity card.
  6. The great worldwide blackout. A tremendous disaster will take place when, after a great electrical blackout on a planetary scale, the data of all electronic accounts erase simultaneously. After this event, chaos and poverty will immediately ensue throughout the planet; and civilization will revert to its primitive forms of slavery to survive. This is the last aim of the "secret organization" which has spent centuries guiding this process. The worldwide blackout will be preceded by partial blackouts that would only be tests and "signals" to communicate that different phases of the process are being fulfilled. An example of these partial blackouts would be those that have been produced almost simultaneously in different parts around the world; and, at the beginning of the 21st century, shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks: the blackouts in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

[edit]See also

[edit]References

  1. ^ The Criminalization of the State Michel Chossudovsky 3 February 2004
  2. ^ "The Criminalization of the State Michel Chossudovsky 3 February 2004". Globalresearch.ca. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  3. ^ "9/11: Cheney's crime, not a "failure"". Oilempire.us. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  4. ^ "The Money Masters: How International Bankers Gained Control Of America". Video.google.com. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  5. ^ Jared Jacang Maher (2007-08-30). "DIA Conspiracies Take Off". Denver Westword.
  6. ^ "Secrets of the Federal Reserve". Apfn.org. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  7. ^ The Telegraph (UK), 15 Apr. 2001, "Historians Find 'Proof' that Nazis Burnt Reichstag,"http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1310995/Historians-find-proof-that-Nazis-burnt-Reichstag.html
  8. ^ "Terror-99". Eng.terror99.ru. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  9. ^ Prima-News[dead link]
  10. ^ "Agujeros Negros del 11-M".
  11. ^ Butler, Smedley. "War is a Racket". Retrieved 02-02-2008.
  12. ^ The Great North-Western Conspiracy in All Its Startling Detailsat Gutenberg.
  13. ^ Observer International, 2002, 'Venezuela coup linked to Bush team', Accessed 22 September 2007
  14. ^ official investigations.ination.pdf GO.com
  15. ^ The "History Channel" poll
  16. ^ The History Channel.
  17. ^ By Lars-Erik Nelson (1999-01-04). "nydailynews.com". New York: nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  18. ^ "Colorado Media Matters". Colorado Media Matters. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  19. ^ "American Justice Federation at www.nizkor.org". Nizkor.org. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  20. ^ "The Clinton Body Count". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  21. ^ See J.M.Roberts, The Mythology of the Secret Societies, summarised and reviewed here
  22. ^ "ADL Report "Blaming the Jews: The Financial Crisis and Anti-Semitism"".
  23. ^ a b Levy, Richard (2005). Antisemitism: a historical encyclopedia of prejudice. p. 55. ISBN 1851094393.
  24. ^ "ADL report "Jewish "Control" of the Federal Reserve: A Classic Anti-Semitic Myth"".
  25. ^ Levy, Richard S. (Ed.) (2005). Antisemitism: a historical encyclopedia of prejudice and persecution. A-K, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. pp. 375–376. ISBN 1851094393.
  26. ^ A hoax designed to advance the interests of Jews:
    • "The title of App's major work on the Holocaust, The Six Million Swindle, is informative because it implies on its very own the existence of a conspiracy of Jews to perpetrate a hoax against non-Jews for monetary gain." Mathis, Andrew E. Holocaust Denial, a Definition, The Holocaust History Project, July 2, 2004. Retrieved May 16, 2007.
    • "Jews are thus depicted as manipulative and powerful conspirators who have fabricated myths of their own suffering for their own ends. According to the Holocaust deniers, by forging evidence and mounting a massive propaganda effort, the Jews have established their lies as 'truth' and reaped enormous rewards from doing so: for example, in making financial claims on Germany and acquiring international support for Israel." The nature of Holocaust denial: What is Holocaust denial?, JPR report #3, 2000. Retrieved May 16, 2007.
    • "Why, we might ask the deniers, if the Holocaust did not happen would any group concoct such a horrific story? Because, some deniers claim, there was a conspiracy by Zionists to exaggerate the plight of Jews during the war in order to finance the state of Israel through war reparations." Michael Shermer & Alex Grobman. Denying History: : who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and why Do They Say It?, University of California Press, 2000, ISBN 0520234693, p. 106.
    • "Since its inception...the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), a California-based Holocaust denial organization founded by Willis Carto of Liberty Lobby, has promoted the antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews fabricated tales of their own genocide to manipulate the sympathies of the non-Jewish world." Antisemitism and Racism Country Reports: United States, Stephen Roth Institute, 2000. Retrieved May 17, 2007.
    • "The central assertion for the deniers is that Jews are not victims but victimizers. They 'stole' billions in reparations, destroyed Germany's good name by spreading the 'myth' of the Holocaust, and won international sympathy because of what they claimed had been done to them. In the paramount miscarriage of injustice, they used the world's sympathy to 'displace' another people so that the state of Israel could be established. This contention relating to the establishment of Israel is a linchpin of their argument." Deborah Lipstadt.Denying the Holocaust -- The Growing Assault onTruth and Memory, Penguin, 1993, ISBN 0-452-27274-2, p. 27.
    • "They [Holocaust deniers] picture a vast shadowy conspiracy that controls and manipulates the institutions of education, culture, the media and government in order to disseminate a pernicious mythology. The purpose of this Holocaust mythology, they assert, is the inculcation of a sense of guilt in the white, Western Christian world. Those who can make others feel guilty have power over them and can make them do their bidding. This power is used to advance an international Jewish agenda centered in the Zionist enterprise of the State of Israel." Introduction: Denial as Anti-Semitism, "Holocaust Denial: An Online Guide to Exposing and Combating Anti-Semitic Propaganda", Anti-Defamation League, 2001. Retrieved June 12, 2007.
    • "Deniers argue that the manufactured guilt and shame over a mythological Holocaust led to Western, specifically United States, support for the establishment and sustenance of the Israeli state — a sustenance that costs the American taxpayer over three billion dollars per year. They assert that American taxpayers have been and continue to be swindled..."Introduction: Denial as Anti-Semitism, "Holocaust Denial: An Online Guide to Exposing and Combating Anti-Semitic Propaganda", Anti-Defamation League, 2001. Retrieved June 12, 2007.
    • "The stress on Holocaust revisionism underscored the new anti-Semitic agenda gaining ground within the Klan movement. Holocaust denial refurbished conspiratorial anti-Semitism. Who else but the Jews had the media power to hoodwink unsuspecting masses with one of the greatest hoaxes in history? And for what motive? To promote the claims of the illegitimate state of Israel by making non-Jews feel guilty, of course." Lawrence N. Powell, Troubled Memory: Anne Levy, the Holocaust, and David Duke's Louisiana, University of North Carolina Press, 2000, ISBN 0807853747, p. 445.
  27. ^ Antisemitic:
    • "Contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include ... denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust)." Working Definition of AntisemitismPDF (33.8 KB), Fundamental Rights Agency
    • "It would elevate their antisemitic ideology — which is what Holocaust denial is — to the level of responsible historiography — which it is not." Deborah Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust,ISBN 0-14-024157-4, p. 11.
    • "The denial of the Holocaust is among the most insidious forms of anti-Semitism..." Roth, Stephen J. "Denial of the Holocaust as an Issue of Law" in the Israel Yearbook on Human Rights, Volume 23, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1993,ISBN 0792325818, p. 215.
    • "Contemporary Holocaust deniers are not revisionists — not even neo-revisionists. They are Deniers. Their motivations stem from their neo-nazi political goals and their rampant antisemitism." Austin, Ben S. "Deniers in Revisionists Clothing", The Holocaust\Shoah Page, Middle Tennessee State University. Retrieved March 29, 2007.
    • "Holocaust denial can be a particularly insidious form of antisemitism precisely because it often tries to disguise itself as something quite different: as genuine scholarly debate (in the pages, for example, of the innocuous-sounding Journal for Historical Review)." The nature of Holocaust denial: What is Holocaust denial?, JPR report #3, 2000. Retrieved May 16, 2007.
    • "This books treats several of the myths that have made antisemitism so lethal... In addition to these historic myths, we also treat the new, maliciously manufactured myth of Holocaust denial, another groundless belief that is used to stir up Jew-hatred." Schweitzer, Frederick M. & Perry, Marvin. Anti-Semitism: myth and hate from antiquity to the present, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, ISBN 0312165617, p. 3.
    • "One predictable strand of Arab Islamic antisemitism is Holocaust denial..." Schweitzer, Frederick M. & Perry, Marvin.Anti-Semitism: myth and hate from antiquity to the present, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, ISBN 0312165617, p. 10.
    • "Anti-Semitism, in the form of Holocaust denial, had been experienced by just one teacher when working in a Catholic school with large numbers of Polish and Croatian students." Geoffrey Short, Carole Ann Reed. Issues in Holocaust Education, Ashgate Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0754642119, p. 71.
    • "Indeed, the task of organized antisemitism in the last decade of the century has been the establishment of Holocaust Revisionism - the denial that the Holocaust occurred." Stephen Trombley, "antisemitism", The Norton Dictionary of Modern Thought, W. W. Norton & Company, 1999, ISBN 0393046966, p. 40.
    • "After the Yom Kippur War an apparent reappearance of antisemitism in France troubled the tranquility of the community; there were several notorious terrorist attacks on synagogues, Holocaust revisionism appeared, and a new antisemitic political right tried to achieve respectability." Howard K. Wettstein, Diasporas and Exiles: Varieties of Jewish Identity, University of California Press, 2002, ISBN 0520228642, p. 169.
    • "Holocaust denial is a convenient polemical substitute for anti-semitism." Igounet, Valérie. "Holocaust denial is part of a strategy", Le Monde diplomatique, May, 1998.
    • "Holocaust denial is a contemporary form of the classic anti-Semitic doctrine of the evil, manipulative and threatening world Jewish conspiracy." Introduction: Denial as Anti-Semitism, "Holocaust Denial: An Online Guide to Exposing and Combating Anti-Semitic Propaganda", Anti-Defamation League, 2001. Retrieved June 12, 2007.
    • "In a number of countries, in Europe as well as in the United States, the negation or gross minimization of the Nazi genocide of Jews has been the subject of books, essay and articles. Should their authors be protected by freedom of speech? The European answer has been in the negative: such writings are not only a perverse form of anti-semitism but also an aggression against the dead, their families, the survivors and society at large." Roger Errera, "Freedom of speech in Europe", in Georg Nolte, European and US Constitutionalism, Cambridge University Press, 2005, ISBN 0521854016, pp. 39-40.
    • "Particularly popular in Syria is Holocaust denial, another staple of Arab anti-Semitism that is sometimes coupled with overt sympathy for Nazi Germany." Efraim Karsh, Rethinking the Middle East, Routledge, 2003, ISBN 0714654183, p. 104.
    • "Holocaust denial is a new form of anti-Semitism, but one that hinges on age-old motifs." Dinah Shelton, Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, Macmillan Reference, 2005, p. 45.
    • "The stress on Holocaust revisionism underscored the new anti-Semitic agenda gaining ground within the Klan movement. Holocaust denial refurbished conspiratorial anti-Semitism. Who else but the Jews had the media power to hoodwink unsuspecting masses with one of the greatest hoaxes in history? And for what motive? To promote the claims of the illegitimate state of Israel by making non-Jews feel guilty, of course." Lawrence N. Powell, Troubled Memory: Anne Levy, the Holocaust, and David Duke's Louisiana, University of North Carolina Press, 2000, ISBN 0807853747, p. 445.
    • "Since its inception...the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), a California-based Holocaust denial organization founded by Willis Carto of Liberty Lobby, has promoted the antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews fabricated tales of their own genocide to manipulate the sympathies of the non-Jewish world." Antisemitism and Racism Country Reports: United States, Stephen Roth Institute, 2000. Retrieved May 17, 2007.
    • "The primary motivation for most deniers is anti-Semitism, and for them the Holocaust is an infuriatingly inconvenient fact of history. After all, the Holocaust has generally been recognized as one of the most terrible crimes that ever took place, and surely the very emblem of evil in the modern age. If that crime was a direct result of anti-Semitism taken to its logical end, then anti-Semitism itself, even when expressed in private conversation, is inevitably discredited among most people. What better way to rehabilitate anti-Semitism, make anti-Semitic arguments seem once again respectable in civilized discourse and even make it acceptable for governments to pursue anti-Semitic policies than by convincing the world that the great crime for which anti-Semitism was blamed simply never happened -- indeed, that it was nothing more than a frame-up invented by the Jews, and propagated by them through their control of the media? What better way, in short, to make the world safe again for anti-Semitism than by denying the Holocaust?" Reich, Walter. "Erasing the Holocaust", The New York Times, July 11, 1993.
    • "There is now a creeping, nasty wave of anti-Semitism ... insinuating itself into our political thought and rhetoric ... The history of the Arab world ... is disfigured ... by a whole series of outmoded and discredited ideas, of which the notion that the Jews never suffered and that the Holocaust is an obfuscatory confection created by the elders of Zion is one that is acquiring too much, far too much, currency." Edward Said, "A Desolation, and They Called it Peace" in Those who forget the past, Ron Rosenbaum (ed), Random House 2004, p. 518.
  28. ^ Conspiracy theory:
    • "While appearing on the surface as a rather arcane pseudo-scholarly challenge to the well-established record of Nazi genocide during the Second World War, Holocaust denial serves as a powerful conspiracy theory uniting otherwise disparate fringe groups..." Introduction: Denial as Anti-Semitism, "Holocaust Denial: An Online Guide to Exposing and Combating Anti-Semitic Propaganda", Anti-Defamation League, 2001. Retrieved June 12, 2007.
    • "Before discussing how Holocaust denial constitutes a conspiracy theory, and how the theory is distinctly American, it is important to understand what is meant by the term 'Holocaust denial.'" Mathis, Andrew E. Holocaust Denial, a Definition,The Holocaust History Project, July 2, 2004. Retrieved December 18, 2006.
    • "Since its inception...the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), a California-based Holocaust denial organization founded by Willis Carto of Liberty Lobby, has promoted the antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews fabricated tales of their own genocide to manipulate the sympathies of the non-Jewish world." Antisemitism and Racism Country Reports: United States, Stephen Roth Institute, 2000. Retrieved May 17, 2007.
  29. ^ "Arkansas Legal Ethics". Law.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  30. ^ Weems, Samuel A. 2002. Armenia: secrets of a Christian terrorist state. The Armenian Great deception series, v. 1. Dallas: St. John Press.
  31. ^ "Press Center". Aaainc.org. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  32. ^ Jah Rastafari (2005-10-07). "Questions about Rastafari". Rastafaritimes.com. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  33. ^ Rastafarianism[dead link]
  34. ^ "Il nemico che trattiamo da amico – Corriere della Sera". Corriere.it. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  35. ^ Ghanea, Nazila (2003), Human Rights, the UN and the Bahá'ís in Iran, Martinus Nijhoff, ISBN 9041119531
  36. ^ Cooper, Roger (1993), Death Plus 10 years, HarperCollins,ISBN 0002550458
  37. ^ Simpson, John; Shubart, Tira (1995), Lifting the Veil, Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, ISBN 0340628146
  38. ^ Tavakoli-Targhi, Mohamad (2008), "Anti-Baha'ism and Islamism in Iran", in Brookshaw, Dominic P.; Fazel, Seena B., The Baha'is of Iran: Socio-historical studies, New York, NY: Routledge, ISBN 0-203-00280-6
  39. ^ Smith, Peter (2000). "government, Bahá'í attitude towards". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 167. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
  40. ^ a b "Revealing Apocalyptic Prophecy and the End of Time!". .telus.net. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  41. ^ a b Grabbe, Lester L. Can a 'history of Israel' be Written? p. 28, 1997, Continuum International Publishing Group
  42. ^ [1] Christian Book Reviews November 12, 2005
  43. ^ Book Review: Plan 9 From Saturday Christian Book Reviews November 12, 2005
  44. ^ Book Review: Honesty is the Best Policy Christian Book Reviews November 12, 2005
  45. ^ Michael Barkun Religion and the Racist Right, pp. 192–193, UNC Press 1997
  46. ^ Michael Barkun A Culture of Conspiracy, p. 210, Univ. of California Press 1997
  47. ^ Woodrow, Ralph BOOK REVIEW – The Two Babylons: A Case Study in Poor Methodology Christian Research Institute, Vol. 22, No. 2, 2000
  48. ^ Phillips Academy Andover[dead link]
  49. ^ "The New Zealand Herald". Sweetliberty.org. 2000-06-30. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  50. ^ "DefenseLink News Transcript: DoD News Briefing: Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen". Defense.gov. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  51. ^ "Nexus magazine". Nexus magazine. Retrieved 2010-08-03.[dead link]
  52. ^ "The Tom Bearden Website". Cheniere.org. 1985-12-12. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  53. ^ "The Tom Bearden Website". Cheniere.org. 1996-07-17. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  54. ^ "Hugo Chavez Says U.S. Hit Haiti With 'Earthquake Weapon'". Fox News. 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  55. ^ Hacked Your System Core-Project at [www.anthraxattacks.net The Anthrax Attacks, 9/11, & War]
  56. ^ Peter Knight (2003). Conspiracy Theories in American History. ABC-CLIO. p. 382. ISBN 1576078124. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
  57. ^ DTV Mind control – From David Icke's website[dead link]
  58. ^ a b "The Real Reason Hemp is Illegal". Illuminati News. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  59. ^ See in particular Leonard Horowitz's 1996 book Emerging Viruses. More at Leonard Horowitz.
  60. ^ "Progress on polio vaccinations, but resistance lingers". IRIN Africa. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
  61. ^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2001)."Recommendations for using fluoride to prevent and control dental caries in the United States". MMWR Recomm Rep 50 (RR-14): 1–42. PMID 11521913. Lay summary – CDC (2007-08-09).
  62. ^ a b c d e f Armfield JM (2007). "When public action undermines public health: a critical examination of antifluoridationist literature". Aust New Zealand Health Policy 4 (1): 25.doi:10.1186/1743-8462-4-25. PMC 2222595.PMID 18067684.
  63. ^ Carstairs C, Elder R (2008). "Expertise, health, and popular opinion: debating water fluoridation, 1945–80". Can Hist Rev 89(3): 345–71. doi:10.3138/chr.89.3.345.
  64. ^ Bryson C (2004). The Fluoride Deception. New York: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1-58322-526-9.
  65. ^ a b c Freeze RA, Lehr JH. The Fluoride Wars: How a Modest Public Health Measure Became America's Longest-Running Political Melodrama. Wiley; 2009. ISBN 978-0-470-44833-5. Fluorophobia. p. 127–69.
  66. ^ Newbrun E (1996). "The fluoridation war: a scientific dispute or a religious argument?". J Public Health Dent 56 (5 Spec No): 246–52. doi:10.1111/j.1752-7325.1996.tb02447.x. PMID 9034969.
  67. ^ Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer (2009-07-06). "San Francisco Bay Area". Sfgate.com. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  68. ^ The Brotherhood, Stephen Knight, Granada 1984, Prologue page 1
  69. ^ a b "David Icke Interview: Aliens among us". Metatech.org. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  70. ^ AlterNet / By Earl Ofari Hutchinson (2005-10-10). "Katrina's Flights of Fancy". Alternet.org. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  71. ^ BBC News / By Aleem Maqbool (2010-10-21). "Is Pakistan in denial about tackling its problems?". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  72. ^ "Where is this all Water coming from..". Pak Tribune. August 17, 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
  73. ^ "Snopes.com". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  74. ^ Greenwald, John (2005-04-12). "Coca-Cola's Big Fizzle". Time.
  75. ^ Weekly World News, Nov 28, 1989. Books.google.com. 1989-11-28. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  76. ^ Weekly World News, Jul 15, 1997. Books.google.com. 1997-07-15. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  77. ^ Books.google.com. Books.google.com. 2008-06-01.ISBN 9781556527074. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  78. ^ Estulin, Daniel. «Hacia una sociedad sin dinero en efectivo», La verdadera historia del Club Bilderberg, Barcelona, Planeta, 2005,ISBN 84-8453-157-0, pages: 175–233 (Spanish).

[edit]Further reading

Emerging markets

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emerging markets are nations with social or business activity in the process of rapid growth and industrialization. Based on data from 2006, there are around 28 emerging markets in the world[citation needed] (data from 2010 says there are 40 emerging markets[citation needed]). The economies of China and India are considered to be the largest.[1] According to The Economist many people find the term outdated, but no new term has yet to gain much traction.[2] Emerging market hedge fund capital reached a record new level in the first quarter of 2011 of $121 billion.[3]

The ASEAN–China Free Trade Area, launched on January 1, 2010, is the largest regional emerging market in the world.[4]

Contents

[edit]Terminology

   Developing countries that are neither part of the least developed countries, nor of the newly industrialized countries

In the 1970s, "less economically developed countries" (LEDCs) was the common term for markets that were less "developed" (by objective or subjective measures) than the developed countries such as the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. These markets were supposed to provide greater potential for profit, but also more risk from various factors. This term was felt by some to be not positive enough so the emerging market label was born. This term is misleading in that there is no guarantee that a country will move from "less developed" to "more developed"; although that is the general trend in the world, countries can also move from "more developed" to "less developed".

Originally brought into fashion in the 1980s by then World Bank economist Antoine van Agtmael,[5] the term is sometimes loosely used as a replacement for emerging economies, but really signifies a business phenomenon that is not fully described by or constrained to geography or economic strength; such countries are considered to be in a transitional phase between developing anddeveloped status. Examples of emerging markets include Indonesia, Iran, some countries of Latin America, some countries in Southeast Asia, most countries in Eastern Europe, Russia, some countries in the Middle East, and parts of Africa. Emphasizing the fluid nature of the category, political scientist Ian Bremmer defines an emerging market as "a country where politics matters at least as much as economics to the markets".[6]

The research on emerging markets is diffused within management literature. While researchers including C. K. Prahalad, George Haley,Hernando de Soto, Usha Haley, and several professors from Harvard Business School and Yale School of Management have described activity in countries such as India and China, how a market emerges is little understood.

In the 2008 Emerging Economy Report,[7] the Center for Knowledge Societies defines Emerging Economies as those "regions of the world that are experiencing rapid informationalization under conditions of limited or partial industrialization." It appears that emerging markets lie at the intersection of non-traditional user behavior, the rise of new user groups and community adoption of products and services, and innovations in product technologies and platforms.

Newly industrialized countries as of 2010. This is an intermediate category between fully developed and developing.

The term "rapidly developing economies" is being used to denote emerging markets such as The United Arab Emirates, Chile and Malaysia that are undergoing rapid growth.

In recent years, new terms have emerged to describe the largest developing countries such as BRIC that stands for Brazil, Russia, India, and China,[8] along withBRICET (BRIC + Eastern Europe and Turkey), BRICS (BRIC + South Africa),BRICM (BRIC + Mexico) , BRICK (BRIC + South Korea), Next Eleven (Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Turkey, and Vietnam) and CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa).[9] These countries do not share any common agenda, but some experts believe that they are enjoying an increasing role in the world economy and on political platforms.

It is difficult to make an exact list of emerging (or developed) markets; the best guides tend to be investment information sources like ISI Emerging Markets and The Economist or market index makers (such as Morgan Stanley Capital International). These sources are well-informed, but the nature of investment information sources leads to two potential problems. One is an element of historicity; markets may be maintained in an index for continuity, even if the countries have since developed past the emerging market phase. Possible examples of this are South Korea[10] and Taiwan. A second is the simplification inherent in making an index; small countries, or countries with limited market liquidity are often not considered, with their larger neighbours considered an appropriate stand-in.

In an Opalesque.TV video, hedge fund manager Jonathan Binder discusses the current and future relevance of the term "emerging markets" in the financial world. Binder says that in the future investors will not necessarily think of the traditional classifications of "G10" (or G7) versus "emerging markets". Instead, people should look at the world as countries that are fiscally responsible and countries that are not. Whether that country is in Europe or in South America should make no difference, making the traditional "blocs" of categorization irrelevant.

The Big Emerging Market (BEM) economies are (alphabetically ordered): Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, Poland,Russia, South Africa, South Korea[10] and Turkey.[11]

Newly industrialized countries are emerging markets whose economies have not yet reached first world status but have, in a macroeconomic sense, outpaced their developing counterparts.

Individual investors can invest in emerging markets either through ADRs (American depositor Receipts - stocks of foreign companies that trade on US stock exchanges) or through exchange traded funds (exchange traded funds or ETFs hold basket of stocks). The exchange traded funds can be focused on a particular country (e.g., China, India) or region (e.g., Asia-Pacific, Latin America).

[edit]FTSE list

The FTSE Group distinguishes between Advanced and Secondary Emerging markets on the basis of their national income and the development of their market infrastructure. The Advanced Emerging markets are classified as such because they are upper or lower middle income GNI countries with advanced market infrastructures or high income GNI countries with lesser developed market infrastructures.[12][13]

The Advanced Emerging markets are:

 Brazil  Czech Republic[14]  Hungary  Malaysia[14]  Mexico
 Poland  South Africa  Taiwan[15]  Turkey[14]

 Greece is currently classified as developed by FTSE, but it is being considered for a demotion to Advanced Emerging.

The Secondary Emerging markets include some low income, lower middle, upper middle and high income GNI countries with reasonable market infrastructures and significant size and some upper middle income GNI countries with lesser developed market infrastructures. The secondary emerging markets are:

 Chile  China  Colombia[16]  Egypt  India
 Indonesia  Morocco  Pakistan  Peru  Philippines
 Russia  Thailand[17]  UAE

[edit]MSCI list

As of May 2010, MSCI Barra classified the following 21 countries as emerging markets:[18]

The list tracked by The Economist is the same, except with Hong Kong, Singapore and Saudi Arabia included (MSCI classifies the first two as developed markets and the third one as a frontier market).

[edit]S&P list

As of 31 December 2010, Standard and Poor's classified the following 19 countries as emerging markets[19]:

The  United Arab Emirates,  Qatar, and  Jordan are currently under review for being upgraded to the status of emerging market by S&P. [20]

[edit]Dow Jones list

As of May 2010, Dow Jones classified the following 35 countries as emerging markets:[21]

[edit]Frontier Strategy Group (F10) list

In July of 2011, Frontier Strategy Group released the F-10, a list of the top 10 emerging markets Western multinational senior executives at Fortune 500 companies are tracking globally. [22]

The F-10 emerging market list is as follows: |

|}

[edit]BBVA Research

In November of 2010, BBVA Research introduced a new economic concept, to identify a key emerging markets.[23] This classification is divided in two set of developing economies.

EAGLEs (Emerging and Growth-Leading Economies): Expected Incremental GDP in the next 10 years to be larger than the average of the G7 economies, excluding the US.

NEST: Expected Incremental GDP in the next decade to be lower than the average of the G6 economies(G7 excluding the US) but higher than Italy's.

[edit]Emerging Markets Index

The Emerging Markets Index is a list of the top 65 cities in emerging markets. The following countries had cities featured on the list (as of 2008):

[edit]Among the lists

If we plot the lists above to table below, there are only 3 countries always appear in every list (Next Eleven/BRIC, CIVETS, FTSE, MSCI, The Economist, S&P, Dow Jones). They are Indonesia, Turkey, and Egypt. Indonesia and Turkey, which have been categorized as four emerging markets. Egypt, since January 25, 2011, has been affected by protests and is now in a transition process. There are also several countries to only appear on one list. They are Iran (Next 11), Hong Kong, Singapore, Saudi Arabia (The Economist), Bahrain, Bulgaria, Estonia, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Mauritius, Oman, Qatar, Romania, Slovakia and Sri Lanka (Dow Jones).

Emerging Markets by Each Group of Analysts
Country Next-11/BRIC CIVETS FTSE MSCI THE ECONOMIST S&P DOW JONES EAGLEs/Nest
 Argentina . .
 Bahrain .
 Bangladesh . .
 Brazil . . . . . . . .
 Bulgaria .
 Chile . . . . .
 China . . . . . . . .
 Colombia . . . . . .
 Czech Republic . . . . .
 Egypt . . . . . . . .
 Estonia .
 Hong Kong .
 Hungary . . . . .
 India . . . . . . . .
 Indonesia . . . . . . . .
 Iran .
 Jordan .
 Kuwait .
 Latvia .
 Lithuania .
 Malaysia . . . . . .
 Mauritius .
 Mexico . . . . . . .
 Morocco . . . . .
 Nigeria . .
 Oman .
 Pakistan . . . .
 Peru . . . . . .
 Philippines . . . . . . .
 Poland . . . . . .
 Qatar .
 Romania .
 Russia . . . . . . . .
 Saudi Arabia .
 Singapore .
 Slovakia .
 South Africa . . . . . . .
 Sri Lanka .
 South Korea . . . .
 Taiwan . . . . .
 Thailand . . . . . .
 Turkey . . . . . . . .
 UAE . .
 Vietnam . . .

[edit]Global Growth Generators

"Global Growth Generators", or 3G (countries), is an alternative classification determined by Citigroup analysts as being countries with the most promising growth prospects for 2010-2050. These consist of Indonesia, Egypt (but not Turkey), seven other emerging countries, and two countries not previously listed before, specifically Iraq and Mongolia. The only country to appear in all emerging market lists or groups is Indonesia.[24]

[edit]Six major emerging economies

According to World Bank issued at May 2011, BRIC countries plus South Korea and Indonesia will lead the world's economy with more than a half of all global growth by 2025.[25]

[edit]See also

[edit]References

  1. ^ "Emerging Economies and the Transformation of International Business" By Subhash Chandra Jain. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006 p.384
  2. ^ "Acronyms BRIC out all over". The Economist (The Economist). September 18, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
  3. ^ http://www.investoo.co.uk/emerging-markets-hedge-funds-at-record-levels/
  4. ^ "China-ASEAN FTA prompts growing trade among border cities". channelnewsasia.com (Singapore: MediaCorp). January 5, 2010. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
  5. ^ FT.com / Columnists / John Authers - The Long View: How adventurous are emerging markets?
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ Emerging Economy Report
  8. ^ Five Years of China's WTO Membership. EU and US Perspectives on China's Compliance with Transparency Commitments and the Transitional Review Mechanism, Legal Issues of Economic Integration, Kluwer Law International, Volume 33, Number 3, pp. 263-304, 2006. by Paolo Farah
  9. ^ "After BRICs, look to CIVETS for growth - HSBC CEO"
  10. ^ a b Classified by FTSE as a developed market.
  11. ^ Yale University Library: Emerging Markets - The Big Ten Countries
  12. ^ See FTSE Country Classification, September 2010
  13. ^http://www.ftse.com/Research_and_Publications/FTSE_Glossary.jsp
  14. ^ a b c Moved to Advanced Emerging from June 2011. See:http://www.ftse.com/Indices/Country_Classification/Downloads/Sept%202010/FTSE_Country_Classification_Sept_2010_Update.pdf
  15. ^ Possible promotion to Developed.
  16. ^ Possible demotion to Frontier.
  17. ^ Possible promotion to Advanced Emerging.
  18. ^ MSCI Emerging markets.
  19. ^ The S&P Global Broad Market Index, 31 December 2010; p. 2.
  20. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/12/gulf-upgrade-idUSL6E7IC06P20110712
  21. ^ Dow Jones Total Stock Market index.
  22. ^ http://blog.frontierstrategygroup.com/2011/07/keeping-an-eye-on-latin-america-you%E2%80%99re-in-good-company
  23. ^http://www.bbvaresearch.com/KETD/fbin/mult/EconomicWatchEM140211_i_tcm348-249020.pdf
  24. ^ BRICS is passe, time now for '3G' http://www.business-standard.com/india/printpage.php?autono=126725&tp=on
  25. ^ http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/05/18/ri-may-become-one-six-major-economies.html

Investment Issues in Emerging Markets - Research Foundation of CFA Institute

[edit]Sources

[edit]External links

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