(NaturalNews) The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is financially backing and publicly endorsing mass polio virus vaccinations in India. In case you didn’t hear him yourself, Bill Gates publicly announced that vaccines could help reduce the world population by 15%. Gates also proclaimed that every newborn should be registered for vaccination
The Indian political class’ inability to handle matters of national security is becoming brazenly manifest. The Government of India’s responses to some recent overtures from Pakistan reflect a horrible mutation of the outlook towards national interests. It seems as though some virus has entered the body politic and is causing a suicidal
There is an anomaly in the way the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) functions. In this country, the Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, is the nodal ministry for development and control of sports affairs. The Department generally acts through various National Sports Federations (NSFs). It says, “Sports prom
India is going through one of its periodic bouts of exuberance over prospects of better ties with Pakistan. Islamabad’s recent willingness to liberalise bilateral trade between the two countries has met with enthusiastic response from the Indian side. While good relations with a neighbour is a highly desirable objective, what should worry us
April 2012 marks the 25 anniversary of the Bofors-India media revelations, which began on April 16, 1987 with revelations on Swedish state radio. The Hoot presents an interview with the man who decided to leak over 350-documents to former Indian journalist Chitra Subramaniam-Duella, then with The Hindu and later with The Indian Express and The Stat
The Goldman Sachs coup that failed in America has nearly succeeded in Europe - a permanent, irrevocable, unchallengeable bailout for the banks underwritten by the taxpayers. In September 2008, Henry Paulson, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, managed to extort a $700 billion bank bailout from Congress. But to pull it off, he had to fall on his knees and
“Sanctions,” New York Times’ reporter Rick Gladstone writes, have subjected “ordinary Iranians” to “increased deprivations” in order to “punish Iran for enriching uranium that the West suspects is a cover for developing the ability to make nuclear weapons.” [1] In other words, Iran is suspected
After running the gamut of destructive vote-harvesting ideas like non-repayable loan melas and farm-loan waivers that brought little relief or advancement to intended beneficiaries, the Congress party has discovered education as the new mantra to entice the masses and defer accountability for non-performance. The promise of universal free education
(1) The third British Empire (by Dan Hind): Historians tell us that there were two quite distinct British empires - the first an Atlantic empire built on North American colonies and Caribbean possessions and the second an Asian empire, built on control of India and coercive trade with China. These two empires were deeply criminal projects, in the s
The historical record of conquest and violence by believers in their ONE true god (monotheism) is well known (and well documented) and need not be repeated here. What is of interest to the non-believer, especially those accustomed to the democratic nature of Polytheism, is why this belief arose. Speaking about the Islamic faith, some historians opi
I thought I’d shine a little light on some of the more outlandish items that expose life in the US for some. There can be no remedy if there is no knowledge. My purpose is to share the knowledge in hopes that we can have receptive attitudes when real solutions are proposed. Please scroll down and review these: At Home While Black; Outsid
Those who fervently believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim generally practice their furtive religion in obscure recesses of the Internet. Once in a while, they’ll surface in public to remind the news media that no amount of evidence can undermine their convictions. In October 2008, at a town hall meeting in Minnesota for Republican presi
For centuries, the dilemma facing Iran (and before it, Persia) has been guaranteeing national survival and autonomy in the face of stronger regional powers like Ottoman Turkey and the Russian Empire. Though always weaker than these larger empires, Iran survived for three reasons: geography, resources and diplomacy. Iran's size and mountainous terra
Great Britain and its followers have begun to exert a full-court press to extend control over Central Asia, north of Afghanistan and south of Russia. Joining the fray are the United States, Israel, London-steered jihadis, Salafi (ultra-radical Sunni) financiers from Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries, and various NGOs. As the war in Afgh
The UK's Guardian recently interviewed “current and former US and European officials with access to intelligence on Iran,” and concluded that the United States, its European allies, and even Israel, agree that Tehran is probably years away from having a deliverable nuclear warhead.[1] Twice in recent weeks, CBC News anchor Peter Mansbri
Ever since Barack Obama lifted his right hand and took his oath of office, pledging to serve the United States as its 44th president, ordinary people and their leaders around the globe have been celebrating our nation’s “triumph over race.” Obama’s election has been touted as the final nail in the coffin of Jim Crow, the boo
In August 2002, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (rechristened Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee) was manipulated by Monsanto and its Indian subsidiary Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company, albeit through the back door, with clandestine support from vested interests in the scientific community and open support of a vocal Rajya Sabha Memb
Failure of the middle classes is not something peculiar to Sri Lanka, it emanates right through our world. The failure is worst in post colonial countries, Sri Lanka being a microcosm of South Asia. To understand the middle classes, one must understand their origin and progress to this day. Sri Lankan society was based on the simple philosophy of t
The Rig Vedic worship of many gods and goddesses provoked commentators from Abrahamic faiths (mainly Christians) to call the system polytheism (the worship of many gods). Modern Hindus are no longer intimidated by the polytheist label. Hindus believe that their land is Punya Bhumi (sacred earth) inhabited by the gods and goddesses of the universe,
Bikram Sambat (Sanskrit, Samvat) is the glory of Nepal. Bikram Sambat 2069 starts from Mekh Sankranti, 1st of Baishk, April 14. Bikram Sambat is an ancient and original Era of Nepal in Himavatkhanda. Before Prithvi Narayan Shah, Sen ruled states, Baisi Chaubisi (22 and 24 independent states of Undignified Nepal), Malla dynasty of Kathmandu, Lalitpu
Humanitarian wars, especially under the guise of the “Responsibility to Protect (R2P),” are a modern form of imperialism. The standard pattern that the United States and its allies use to execute them is one where genocide and ethnic cleansing are vociferously alleged by a coalition of governments, media organizations, and non-governmen
India, ruled de facto by an Italian, seems to be taking to the ways of Ancient Rome: Rex is Lex (the king is the law). Nothing else can explain the government’s decision to exempt Participatory Notes (P-notes) from tax, and its directive to Coal India to sign fuel supply agreements with power producers. At the very moment time when the UPA go
It’s been exactly 50 years since Americans, or at least the non-poor among them, “discovered” poverty, thanks to Michael Harrington’s engaging book The Other America. If this discovery now seems a little overstated, like Columbus’s “discovery” of America, it was because the poor, according to Harrington, we
While the foreign policy elite in Washington focuses on the 8,000 deaths in a conflict in Syria -- half a world away from the United States -- more than 47,000 people have died in drug-related violence since 2006 in Mexico. A deeply troubled state as well as a demographic and economic giant on the United States' southern border, Mexico will affect
Being a Middle East Consultant I continue to monitor the diplomatic standoff between our government officials and other third parties that continue to rub salt in the wound of Syria. The first headline I read was – Cameron: Syria is writing history in blood of citizens. The report stated that the risk of “All-out Civil War” in Syr
The way things stand today, India cannot afford to postpone thinking about her civil-military relations. Much more than frivolous issues like FDI in retail, financial reforms or strategic tie-ups to be a great power, it is the civil-military conundrum that should occupy the strategic debate in the country. Any neglect of the concerns that the armed
It is now obvious that the controversy over the Army Chief’s date of birth had one goal - to install in position persons considered useful by politicians, bureaucrats, and officers linked to the arms lobby. The Supreme Court erred grievously when it forced Gen. VK Singh to withdraw his petition. He remains in the awkward position of havi
This is an attack on workers everywhere. When employers know that they can get away with such abuse offshore, they are empowered to abuse local workers too. I see it in the Childers/ Bundaberg farming area with foreign backpackers. Fruit & vegetable picking and packing companies which employ a high % of backpackers make it hard for local worker
For years, the Trots and their Anarchist fellow-travellers have lambasted those who oppose immigration as racist and “far right”. Now, however, the Unions see that the livelihoods of ordinary Australian workers are being undermined by mass immigration of workers to displace them. The Trots & Anarchists have gone strangely quiet on t
Anyone closely following the ongoing crisis in Syria will notice that the desire for reforms is coming from a large part of the Syrian population which has no ties to the armed insurgency supported by foreign powers. These groups, many of them Wahhabi or Salafi terrorists, constitute a serious threat to the unity of Sunni, Shia, Alawite, Christian
Talks about US final exit from Afghanistan, if, and when, that occurs, do not make Russia or the Central Asian nations feel relieved. That much is certain. Concerns about “sudden” US withdrawal from Afghanistan make Russian policymakers uncomfortable. That discomfort has been expressed very many ways in the Russian media by Russian acad
The war in Afghanistan has been under way for more than 10 years. It has not been the only war fought during this time; for seven of those years another, larger war was waged in Iraq, and smaller conflicts were under way in a number of other countries as well. But the Afghanistan War is still the longest large-scale, multi-divisional war fought in
Sensationalism is currently the bedrock of Indian journalism. In keeping with the decline in every aspect of our private and public life, our media has also deteriorated. But even by the known standards of our degradation, the full page story on the front page of the Indian Express (4 April 2012), bearing the byline of the editor in chief himself,
Credit for the successful Sri Ram Navami Shobha Yatra in Hyderabad on 1 April 2012 must be given where it is due – to the devotees who sought to demonstrate that no city in the punya bhumi of Bharat can diminish or expel Sri Rama merely because it has a substantial Muslim population, and to Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Reddy and his administr
The birth anniversary of 24th Tirthankara Sri Mahavir Ji is an appropriate occasion to ponder how this tiny faith successfully tamed the natural impulses of human hedonism and emerged as a sparkling exemplar of the Indian civilisational spectrum. India’s native traditions lie embedded in a common geographical and spiritual-cultural matrix, so
Hindu ‘polytheism’ – the worship of the Divine in its diverse expressions and manifestations – is the Rig Veda’s gift to the Indian subcontinent, which is why the land is called punya bhumi (sacred earth) by Hindus. The tradition of worshipping a pantheon of gods was a worldwide phenomenon in the ancient world, and was
Myanmar's ongoing liberalization and its normalization of relations with the outside world have the possibility of profoundly affecting geopolitics in Asia -- and all for the better. Geographically, Myanmar dominates the Bay of Bengal. It is where the spheres of influence of China and India overlap. Myanmar is also abundant in oil, natural gas, coa
Washington has made known this week to 12 nations that are purchasing Iranian oil, that unless they significantly reduce those imports in the coming months, they could be subject to US sanctions. What form such sanctions would take has not been announced. The 12 nations are China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Nigeri
After sleeping through a six-month siege of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant worksite by protestors, India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh woke up on Feb. 24 to tell the US-based Science magazine in an interview: “The atomic energy program has got into problems because these NGOs [non-governmental organizations], mostly I think based
An American psychologist Dr. Harvey Cleckley, professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Medical College of Georgia, wrote ‘The Mask of Sanity’ published in 1941. In this book Dr. Cleckley talks of psychopathic personalities, humans that are without conscience; outwardly they don’t differ from ordinary men and women but as a recent
Last week I spent two days in court for a pretrial motions hearing in the court martial of Bradley Manning, the private accused of leaking documents to WikiLeaks that showed widespread unethical and illegal behavior by the Department of Defense and State Department. Manning has suffered the fate the Queen put on Alice when she was in Wonderland, &#
Internal forces within UMNO are sharpening their knives. The knives are being sharpened before the general election. In the political tsunami of 2008, the knives were sharpened after the general election. The three main factions in UMNO as well as the lesser opportunistic cliques, are staring at the jaws of defeat and are in total disarray. The fog