National & International Issues

Brief of LTTE You Should Know

2009-01-31T09:09:00.000-08:00

The Ceylon (Srilanka) government (Singhalese majority) began to target minority Tamils in the 70s and 80s . Thousands of Tamils were massacred, their property looted, their women raped and their leaders imprisoned.
There was a huge population of Ceylon-Tamils who came back to India as refugees, unable to bear the burnt of the Singhalese army. At the same time, a lot of Ceylon-Tamils took to arms to counter the oppressive Singhalese. They were admired and supported by Tamils all over the world.

It is true that the initial help (both training & logistics) was provided by India during Indira Gandhi's Time. Almost the entire population of Tamils in India and abroad supported them in many ways. At that time LTTE was just one among the many militant organizations. The leaders of these groups were greatly admired by the Tamils for their valour.

These groups had their training camps in India and had a free run inside Tamil nadu. Late in the 80s a fight ensued among these different groups to claim dominance. At this stage these outfits took Tamil Nadu (India) to ransack causing huge law and order problems and putting the Indians under difficulty. There were bomb blasts and cases of public shootings between the groups.
Indira Gandhi and MGR who nurtured these groups were by then no more. The Indian government began to take a tougher stance against these groups and soon their camps were closed down. Indian governmental support ceased to exist. By this time the militant groups had lost most of the public sympathy in India due to their atrocities. But the sympathy for the Tamil cause in Sri lanka had not died among Indian Tamils. Due to this these groups still got a substantial support from private Indian Tamils and some political organizations.

Soon the LTTE managed to eliminate its competition and emerged as the sole military representative of the Tamils. Rajiv Gandhi, the Indian Prime minister tried to initiate a peace process in SriLanka and sent the India Peace keeping force(IPKF) to the Island. Even though this was accepted by the LTTE at first, things got worse when LTTE saw the presence of IPKF a threat to their goals. Soon fighting erupted and IPKF charged with a lot of human rights abuses was called back.

Rajiv Gandhi assassination
Support for the LTTE in India dropped considerably in 1991, after the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, by an LTTE woman suicide bomber, Thenmuli Rajaratnam. The Indian press has subsequently reported that Prabhakaran decided to eliminate Gandhi as he considered Gandhi to be against the Tamil liberation struggle and feared that Gandhi might re-induct the IPKF, which Prabakaran termed the "satanic force", if he won the 1991 Indian elections.

In 1998 a court in India presided over by Special Judge V Navaneetham found the LTTE and its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran responsible for the assassination.And in a 2006 interview, LTTE ideologue Anton Balasingham stated regret over the assassination, although he stopped short of outright acceptance of responsibility for it.

But to this day the Tigers have remained one of the strongest militant groups in the world with advanced arms, superior gorilla combat capacity, excellent intelligence network and highly trained cadres of both men and women. The LTTE controls a fourth of Sri lanka which is called Tamil Ealam and have their own government in their areas.

Obama & Biden :Change We Believe In

2009-01-22T06:19:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama and Joe Biden's Plan

Jumpstart the Economy

Barack Obama and Joe Biden will enact a windfall profits tax on excessive oil company profits to give American families an immediate $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families pay rising bills.

$50 billion to Jumpstart the Economy and Prevent 1 Million Americans from Losing Their Jobs.

Provide Middle Class Americans Tax Relief

Obama and Biden will cut income taxes by $1,000 for working families to offset the payroll tax they pay.

Eliminate Income Taxes for Seniors Making Less than $50,000: Barack Obama will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year. This proposal will eliminate income taxes for 7 million seniors.

Simplify Tax Filings for Middle Class Americans: Obama and Biden will dramatically simplify tax filings so that millions of Americans will be able to do their taxes in less than five minutes.

Trade

Obama and Biden believe that trade with foreign nations should strengthen the American economy and create more American jobs. He will stand firm against agreements that undermine our economic security.

The North American Free Trade Agreement: Obama and Biden believe that NAFTA and its potential were oversold to the American people. They will work with the leaders of Canada and Mexico to fix NAFTA so that it works for American workers.

End Tax Breaks for Companies that Send Jobs Overseas: Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that companies should not get billions of dollars in tax deductions for moving their operations overseas. Obama and Biden will also fight to ensure that public contracts are awarded to companies that are committed to American workers.

New Jobs Through National Infrastructure Investment

Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that it is critically important for the United States to rebuild its national transportation infrastructure – its highways, bridges, roads, ports, air, and train systems – to strengthen user safety, bolster our long-term competitiveness and ensure our economy continues to grow.

Technology, Innovation and Creating Jobs

Barack Obama and Joe Biden will increase federal support for research, technology and innovation for companies and universities so that American families can lead the world in creating new advanced jobs and products.

Invest in the Sciences: Barack Obama and Joe Biden support doubling federal funding for basic research and changing the posture of our federal government from being one of the most anti-science administrations in American history to one that embraces science and technology.

Support Small Business

Tax Relief for Small Businesses and Start Up Companies: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will eliminate all capital gains taxes on start-up and small businesses to encourage innovation and job creation.
- Obama and Biden will also support small business owners by providing a $500 “Making Work Pay” tax credit to almost every worker in America.
- Self-employed small business owners pay both the employee and the employer side of the payroll tax, and this measure will reduce the burdens of this double taxation.

Protect Homeownership and Crack Down on Mortgage Fraud

Obama and Biden will crack down on fraudulent brokers and lenders. They will also make sure homebuyers have honest and complete information about their mortgage options, and they will give a tax credit to all middle-class homeowners.

Address Predatory Credit Card Practices

Obama and Biden will establish a five-star rating system so that every consumer knows the risk involved in every credit card. They also will establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights to stop credit card companies from exploiting consumers with unfair practices.

Obama and Biden will create a credit card rating system, modeled on five-star systems used for other consumer products, to provide consumers an easily identifiable ranking of credit cards, based on the card's features.
- Credit card companies will be required to display the rating on all application and contract materials, enabling consumers to quickly understand all of the major provisions of a credit card without having to rely exclusively on fine print in lengthy documents.

Reform Bankruptcy Laws

Obama and Biden will reform our bankruptcy laws to protect working people, ban executive bonuses for bankrupt companies, and require disclosure of all pension investments.

Amendments In Terror Laws(India) - UAPA ,1967

2009-01-15T04:23:00.001-08:00

New anti-terror legislation, drafted in response to the series of attacks in Bombay (Mumbai) on 26 November, was approved by the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the bicameral legislature) on 18 December, having been approved by the Lok Sabha (the lower house) the previous day. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act provided new powers for the security services, most controversially the ability to hold suspects for six months without charge.

The organization has called on India's President to reject the new amendments and for the President, Indian authorities and lawmakers to urgently review them. The amendments include changes to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, (UAPA), 1967, and provisions of the new legislation aiming to set up a National Investigating Agency (NIA), exclusively meant to probe acts of terrorism in the country.

**New amendments to anti-terror laws include:--

sweeping and overbroad definitions of "acts of terrorism" no clear and strict definition of what constitutes "membership" of a "terrorist gang or organization".

minimum period of detention of persons suspected to be involved in acts of terrorism extended to 30 days from 15 days and the maximum period of detention of such persons to 180 days from 90 days – already far beyond international standards.

denial of bail to foreign nationals who may have entered the country in an unauthorised or illegal manner, except in very exceptional circumstances.

the requirement, in certain circumstances, of accused people to prove their innocence.

the new legislation on the National Investigating Agency authorises special courts to close hearings to public without defining or limiting the grounds under which they may do so.

It also made provision for the establishment of a National Investigating Agency responsible for gathering and processing intelligence and investigating terrorism.

Very Basics Of NPT

2009-01-15T03:54:00.000-08:00

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT or NNPT) is a treaty to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, opened for signature on July 1, 1968. There are currently 189 countries party to the treaty, five of which have nuclear weapons: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the People's Republic of China (the permanent members of the UN Security Council).
The Treaty entered into force with the deposit of US ratification on 05 March 1970.

Only four recognized sovereign states are not parties to the treaty: India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea.

**Main Points of this treaty one should know :-

Each nuclear-weapons state (NWS) undertakes not to transfer, to any recipient, nuclear weapons, or other nuclear explosive devices, and not to assist any non-nuclear weapon state to manufacture or acquire such weapons or devices.

Each non-NWS party undertakes not to receive, from any source, nuclear weapons, or other nuclear explosive devices; not to manufacture or acquire such weapons or devices; and not to receive any assistance in their manufacture.

Each non-NWS party undertakes to conclude an agreement with the IAEA for the application of its safeguards to all nuclear material in all of the state's peaceful nuclear activities and to prevent diversion of such material to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
so...
Signed at Washington, London, and Moscow July 1, 1968
Ratification advised by U.S. Senate March 13, 1969
Ratified by U.S. President November 24, 1969
U.S. ratification deposited at Washington, London, and Moscow March 5, 1970
Proclaimed by U.S. President March 5, 1970
Entered into force March 5, 1970

For Further Details..click here.

How US President Elected ?

2009-01-13T09:44:00.000-08:00

Elections for President and Vice President of the United States are indirect elections in which voters cast ballots for a slate of electors of the U.S. Electoral College, who in turn directly elect the President and Vice President. They occur on Election Day, the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November.The most recent election occurred on November 4, 2008, with the next one scheduled for November 6, 2012.

When a person wants to be President they announce themselves before the first primary election. The first primary is held in February the year before the actual election. Primary elections held in each state, help the individual political parties decide whom their Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates will be. Citizens who want to help the political parties decide to register as a member of a certain party and vote in that primary. For example, if somebody registers as a Democrat they only vote in the Democratic primary. The primary vote helps the parties decide who their candidates will be.
To be President, you have to be born in the United States, live in the United States for at least 14 years, and you have to be at least 35 years old.

There is a presidential election every 4 years, when the people of the United States vote for the person they want as president for the next four years, called a term. The Constitution says that a President cannot serve for more than 2 terms, which is 8 years.

In the summer of the election year, the parties hold a convention where the party chooses its candidate. It is usually the person who has won the most delegates in the primary elections and caucuses. That person chooses his or her running mate, who becomes the Vice Presidential candidate.

Once the candidates are officially nominated by their parties, the race is on! All of the candidates travel around the country meeting people, making speeches, etc.Candidates also have debates about important issues to help people decide which candidate they want to vote for.

The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November is Election Day. On Election Day people go to vote(United States citizen, at least 18 year old). A person who is in jail or is on probation for committing a felony cannot vote.

Usually you find out who won the popular vote by the morning after the election. The candidate who won the popular vote is still not the President. Now they have to win the electoral vote! The citizens don't actually decide who the President is. The Electoral College decides. Each state has a number of electors depending on the population of the state. The electors usually vote the way the citizens vote. If a candidate wins the election in a state , he or she gets all of the state's votes.
The candidate must get at least 270 electoral votes in all to win the election. Here is a map of the U.S. with each state's electoral votes.

After the electors vote we find out who the president and the vice president will be.

On January 20, the new president and vice president are sworn in into office. They make a speech and promise to do their job well.

What is Kyoto Protocol ?

2009-01-03T09:17:00.000-08:00

Agreed in 1997, the Kyoto protocol aimed to cut emissions of greenhouse gases across the developed world by about five per cent compared with 1990. It came into force in 2005, following ratification by Russia, which means the deadline for the legally binding cuts to be made is 2008-12. It was based on the “common but differentiated responsibility” approach to global warming, with countries most able to make cuts asked to do so. Many countries were allowed to increase pollution, including all those in the developing world.

Kyoto introduced mechanisms such as carbon trading to help countries meet their targets in “flexible” ways – often in other countries – rather than by making cuts at home.

Among industrialised nations, 16 are on target to meet their Kyoto obligations, including France, the UK, Greece and Hungary, the UN said. Some 20 countries are off-course, including Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and Spain.
Nations that miss their Kyoto target in 2012 will incur a penalty of an additional third added to whatever cut they agree under a new treaty in Copenhagen.

The key issue – who will cut their carbon by how much and by when.
To be meaningful, targets must be short-term, perhaps something like 25-40 per cent by 2020 for the developed world. Developing countries, such as China, could be allowed to increase pollution, as long as they reduce the rate of increase, and agree to take on proper reductions within 15 years or so.
For more details :
Link 1
Link 2

GLOBAL WARMING

2008-07-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

“Global Warming”…We often read this word many times via various sources like
newspapers ,news channels etc…But ,What we do about it ? Just Listen ,Show a little concern and let it go. We are not percieving it properly ,not giving the concern and attention it needs from Us.
Mark Twain has remarkably said, “Everyone talks about weather but nobody ever does anything about it”. Global Warming is one of the most serious long term environmental threats our planet facing today.An international scientific consensus predicts that average global temperature will rise during the coming century and the resulting changes will have substantial and adverse impacts on global weather patterns.
Global Warming is not a future prediction, its already happening. Some of the already observed examples in climate changes are :

•Increase in global average surface temp of about 10F in 20th century.
•Decrease of snow cover and sea ice extent.
•Rise in Global sea-level and increase in ocean water temperature.
•Increase in frequency of extreme precipitation events in some regions of World.

So, if we have minuscule intelligence, we can make out that how dreadful the consequences may be if we don’t show the concern for it today.Most of Us are not aware of what global warming can really do to us in near future.Here are some happenings which are quite expected of Global warming..:

•More heat waves, more risk of heat related diseases and deaths.
•Cities and towns along major rivers likely to experience frequent flooding.
•More extensive and prolonged draught.
•Some irretrievable changes to experience at some relaxing sites like lakes, streams etc.

The scientific consensus is in.Our planet is warming and we are helping make it happen by contributing more heat trapping gases like carbon dioxide(CO2). Burning of fossil fuels including in our automobiles account for nearly 75% of annual CO2 emissions from human activities.Deforestation accounts for another 20%.

For years, we have heard so much about climate changes, that we missed the fact that there are some simple ,practical solutions that can slow down this growing problem ,if not finish.By investing in renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency products, we can take some mandatory steps towards reducing our dependencies on oil and reduce global warming simultaneously.Some common sense solutions like fuel efficient vehicles, renewable energy sources, protecting threatened forests would definitely not only help to reduce global warming but also save us a lot of money.
But……these solutions are on the part of businesses and govt. Have you ever thought whats your own personal contribution to Global warming.?? Must be NO..isnt’it ?

There are various easy means through which we can reduce our personal contribution to this great problem.To start with, saving gasoline, oil, electricity in your daily life. It’s understable that these solutions doesn’t seem to be much practical and above that we just think..’Why we first’.Obviously ,its human tendency to think so. But ,why don’t we think that ‘Why not we first’.Start and set example for others to follow.Not much to do ,just some simple changes to bring in daily life..This would save you a lot of money too.

•Using a fuel efficient car. Not much compromising with quality but still many good cars available with good fuel efficiency.
•Switching off lights as soon as they are not in use.Plan a target to reduce electricity bill to a considerable extent.

•Preferring bikes instead of cars for small distances and walk instead of bike for very small distances.
•If possible,using public transport sometimes instead of always using personal car always.

India ranks fourth in the ranking of top CO2 emmiters in the world, toppers being USA,China, and Russia.
Procrastination is no more any viable option.Scientists agree that if we wait for another 10, 20 yrs ,problem will become much more difficult to handle and consequences can be very much more serious.
Lets take some action today.Dont wait for tomorrow.
Commiting ourselves to action today can help ensure our children and grandchildren inherit a healhy and joyful life !
Note :If you have any other ideas to share about how we can contribute to reducing this global threat to some extent ,please be free to share.Please post your comments here to share your views globally.
Thank you.