Issues and Policies

for BMC I (Very Important)

What should the government do to solve issues in education, health, environment and foreign affairs?

by Ramchandra Guha

Full article at http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/jun/rgh-policy.htm

I protest. Do you?

By Christopher Hitchens

The obvious evidence of fixing, fraud, and force to one side, there is another reason to doubt that an illiterate fundamentalist like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could have increased even a state-sponsored plebiscite-type majority.

full text: http://www.slate.com/id/2220520/

Iran's better than America. at least it protests

Iran, Iran

Caption: Police force its way into Tehran University to silence the protesting students.


for MMC I (Important. But I can't force you to read. Can I?)


Please continuously follow the ongoing political turmoil in Iran. Please. If all of you voted in Indian elections, understand the anger of the Iranian youth where the elections were rigged.


This what a blogger Abbas Raza wrote on www.3quarksdaily.com wrote today:

I tremble with the eagerness to be with my brothers and sisters in Iran who are peacefully resisting the illegitimate government of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad, and who are about to be slaughtered.

Let the rest of the world no longer remain quiet and hope that by doing so, we will protect the brave forces of change from charges of being allied with foreign interests who are meddling in Iran. The time to remain silent is over. It is time to take sides, AND to urge our governments to take sides. I am a US citizen, and I will use every means at my disposal to push my government to make sure that they let the government of Iran know in uncertain terms that they will be held accountable and punished if the innocent civilians and the brave youth of Iran are attacked, killed, or injured in any way. I hope you will, too. It is NOW the time for the desperate, weak, and lying government of Iran to know that not only their own children, but the world is against them.

If you don't yet understand the urgency of this moment or the imminent savagery that awaits Iranis, have a look at some of the Twitter messages coming out of Iran (all other media are too heavily censored, or completely blocked) that are appended below this note. This is NOT a matter of supporting any Western or other interests, it is a matter of supporting the courageous hopes and defiant dreams of freedom of the Irani masses. This collection of Tweets comes via Andrew Sullivan.

Do something now! Write to whitehouse.gov or your representative. Do something! NOW! NOW! NOW!

Death to tyranny! Long live Iran!

Code of ethics for international journalists

for MMC I

The following principles of professional ethics in journalism were prepared as an international common ground and as a source of inspiration for national and regional codes of ethics.

Full information at: http://ethicnet.uta.fi/international/international_principles_of_professional_ethics_in_journalism

and here: http://ethicnet.uta.fi/international/declaration_of_principles_on_the_conduct_of_journalists

Poverty and unemployment

for BMC I

two important and fresh notes.

1. Unicef attacks India's poverty record

http://sanhati.com/news/1565/

2. Is India's unemployment rate really lower than America's?

http://sanhati.com/front-page/1447/

Price of rice: How to win an election

for BMC I (Compulsory reading)

In the class test, I had asked you to analyse the Lok Sabha election results. Mostof you got it wrong. Read this article by P. Sainath to know why.

http://sanhati.com/articles/1568/

No fear, No fear, we are with each other

I'm with the student protesting against the election fraud in Iran.

Are you?

http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2009/06/iran.html#comments

Support the uprising. Leave you comment on this blog and the blog link given above.

National Security

For BMC I

Syllabus notes on Topic 1

National security issues and policies
Foreign policies

1. New wave of terrorism in India

http://www.idsa.in/reports/anewwaveofterrorisminindia080609.html

2. Taliban Threat to India

http://www.idsa.in/issuebrief/HarinderSingh02062009.htm

3. Foreign policy advices

http://www.idsa.in/policy_briefs/southasia09062009.htm

4. Terrorism portal

http://www.satp.org/

5.

Obama's historic speech at Cairo University today

For MMC I (compulsory reading)

"I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles - principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings."

Full text at: http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2009/06/barack-obamas-speech-at-cairo-university.html#more

The Hero

Photo Caption: This unknown Chinese youth in photo stood alone to block a line of tanks heading to Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989.

In the spring of 1989, more than one million Chinese students and workers occupied Beijing's Tiananmen Square and began the largest political protest in communist China's history.

Six weeks of protests ended with the Beijing massacre of 3-4 June.

Here the BBC charts the events that led to the deadly crackdown - using archive audio and video from the time.

Full story at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8057148.stm

China's Tiananmen generation speaks

China drew worldwide condemnation for brutally quashing a student uprising in Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989. But in the months and years that followed, the incident has remained largely unmentioned inside China, at least in public.

Here people born in the years around the crackdown talk frankly about their knowledge of the event and how they were taught about it.

More from the BBC here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8061483.stm

Lives of Great Men

by Inuo Taguchi, a Japanese poet

Lenin
Lenin is relieved
that the bronze statue of himself was taken down.
In fact for half-a-century
he has wanted to lie down in Red Square
and listen to the Beach Boys,
on some fine Sunday afternoon, for instance,
with his family and close friends, of course.
But he could not confess this sort of thing to anyone,
so he has kept standing as a bronze statue.
Imagine yourself a bronze statue.
Just standing watching history
would wear on him.

Newton

Under an apple tree
Newton encountered the Law of Universal Gravitation
and instantly fell in love with her.

Ah, she was indeed his eternal lover –
the universal love and the universality which was love.
That night he applied all his skill
to the writing of a love letter
entitled,
'On the Law of Universal Gravitation and Her Passionate Function.'

The Law of Universal Gravitation, however,
didn't give a damn about Newton,
because she was crazy about the quadrille
which was popular at that time.

Superman

Superman is strolling the garden
in his wheelchair.
Life is cruelty itself,
though sunlight falling down at this moment
is grace itself.

When I was flying the sky
I was still very young.
I was flying, surely,
but I still didn't yet know
what it meant
to be flying the sky.

But now it's different.
To fly the sky is,
as it were,
to move your little finger,
and even at that no more than half-an-inch.

Life is like a sublime joke.
But it's funny,
isn't it? You have to get a wheelchair
and then you can become superman.


More of his poems at: http://japan.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=6410

Come home Dr Sen…

By Amit Sengupta

THE MORNING OF Monday, May 25, 2009, arrived like a song, crushed by little men, and yet waiting to happen. It sensitised the senses, lifted the mind, and pulled us all into a loop of hope and happiness. After two years, this nation can feel the redemption of relief. Along with thousands across the globe, in the universities and on streets, who cherished this dream of freedom for a man called 'The Good Doctor', imprisoned in a Raipur jail in Chhattisgarh, by a heartless BJP regime.

The joy was not only because the muscle pumping, chest thumping, xenophobic hate machine of the fascists led by a discredited and graceless 80 plus politician was defeated roundly by the people of India, it was also because a grave injustice had been partially corrected. This is because people campaigned for him hard, with the faith that they were on the side of justice and truth.

The bearded man's half smile behind the bars of a police van became an iconic image, especially among youngsters across the global landscape. The highest medical award in the US was given to him, British MPs signed a collective petition in his support. Academics from universities all over the world gave their names in solidarity led by Noam Chomsky, historians Romila Thapar, Sumit Sarkar and others. Twenty one Nobel laureates signed a petition to the prime minister of India and doctors from Christian Medical College in Vellore, where he studied medicine, and from across the medical fraternity in India and abroad, campaigned for him. In blogs, on websites, through email and sms campaigns, T-shirts, calendars, posters, film festivals, roadside shows, there were protests across cities and towns of India and the West, weekly satyagraha at Raipur where people from all over India would come and peacefully court arrest, poems, petitions and editorials were written, singer Sushmit Bose composed a song for him with his guitar and harmonica, documentaries were being made. Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra, his classmate, met him in jail and said he will make a film on his life and work. Sri Sri Ravishankar went to meet him in jail. Rabbi sang Bulla ki Jaana in Delhi for him. 'Free the good doctor' became a living river of solidarity, a movement for freedom and humanism, an ode to peace and justice.

Ministers, MPs, even reportedly the prime minister, were persuaded by delegations. The BJP leadership was approached with fervent pleas that this is grave injustice. The entire Indian media backed his cause, plus prestigious publications like The Economist, The Guardian and medical journal Lancet. Even students of Development Communication bringing out an in-house tabloid in Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, wrote a moving editorial on him. This was a fire which spread on the wings of hope - for freedom, truth and justice.

But nothing touched the BJP-led government in Chhattisgarh and its leadership in Delhi. They remained as cold-blooded and thick-skinned as ever. Popular feelings and world opinion means little to little men whose minds are clogged with fanaticism and hatred, with not one clear stream of consciousness or compassion.

They forgot that this man they had put behind bars had inherited the incredible non-violent legacy of legendary mass leader Shankar Guha Niyogi, who transformed the lives of mine workers in Chhattisgarh with his innovative synthesis of 'sangharsh aur nirman' - struggle and creation. Niyogi never propagated violence. Not only were the mine workers the best paid, with collective social safety structures, they financially supported thousands of peasants and jobless workers across the terrain of Bhilai, Dalli Rajhara and Rajnandgaon for years. Tens of thousands would eat in this collective kitchen. Schools, public distribution systems, a Shaheed Hospital was built, where 'The Good Doctor' gave years of his life. This was a creative synthesis of peaceful, responsible mass action and greater common good.

This was the visionary legacy which was inherited by Dr Binayak Sen who chose to work among the poorest, setting up clinics, hospitals and health centres. Between this and his work in the civil liberties movement, there was no contradiction. He has always denied any links with Maoists and opposed all forms of violence - State, military, Maoist - or against people forcibly displaced from their land and resources. "Our agenda is clear," he said after coming out of jail on May 26. "Peace, not war. Political engagement, not military violence."

His work speaks, his conscience is clear. That is why every fabricated charge against him did not stick, the entire false edifice collapsed, and the whole nation and the world were convinced that this injustice is unacceptable. A great weight was thus lifted when he was released on bail by the Supreme Court. And a great wave of hope and happiness spread through the scorching summer streets of our hearts. Because, in his freedom also lies our collective redemption.

Come home, Dr Sen. Come to the world. Between home and the world (Ghore-Baire), the parched earth waits for rain.

from: http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/

Tips on how to write and report

Five news writing tips for all

1. The latest development on a story is not always the lead-point. Often it's best to stay with the original 'peg' but update the story to insert later news high up. For instance, BBC radio reported that two dogs had killed a baby, but very soon it was leading on the fact that "two dogs have been destroyed after killing a baby..." Wrong; the baby's death should still have been the lead point as its was more important than the dogs' destruction. Another example: an explosion and fire at an oil refinery killed dozens of workers. Within the same news cycle, another broadcaster moved on too soon to report that "An inquiry has been launched into a major explosion which..." Again, the later development (the inquiry) was not the most important angle at that stage - that remained the explosion and casualties.

2. Louis Heren, a legendary correspondent for The Times of London, said when asked his advice to young political reporters: “Find out why the lying b*****ds are lying.” It may sound extreme and over-cynical in these days of touchy-feely politics. But there is good reason why reporters should keep an adversarial relationship with politicians and not cosy-up to them. Heren’s advice was simple: assume that the politician is concealing the truth, and then look for the reason why. If you can find neither lie nor reason, it may be that the truth actually is being spoken – at least you have tried to test it.

3. Many readers and listeners to the news are natural sceptics and don't want to believe anything you write. It’s your task to convince them of your veracity and fairness. If you believe what you are writing, make them believe you!

4. Be a talker as well as a listener. Good reporters talk to just about everyone. Most folk want to talk with a reporter and tell them what they think, and often you can learn something useful. The best interviews can happen when you find something your subject really wants to talk about

5. Honesty breeds trust, and trust often leads to good stories. Don’t try to be too clever. Tell it like it is, as they say.


From: http://www.reuterslink.org/tips/index.htm

For news in Hindi

For all students who write in Hindi

This is a link to a website where you can find Hindi versions of any international or national news you want.
Is site par aap kisi bhi khabar ka hindi main anuvaad pa sakte hain.

http://cgi.wn.com/?t=worldnews/adv_search.txt

After labourers took over landlords' lands

For BMC I

Apropos of the ongoing agitation in Mansa regarding the Panchayati land acquisition, a series of protests were organised in Sangrur, Barnala, Mansa, Ludhiana, Chandigarh under the banner of CPI (ML) Liberation. Tarsem Jodhan, speaker of CPI (ML) Liberation said that the government’s anti-Dalit face has come to the fore. He also said that the party will work towards strengthening the revolutionary left movement in the country.

The arrested labourers in jails of Gurdaspur, Bathinda, Patiala have gone on hunger strike. Today in the Mansa local court the judge did not allow the labourers to appear in the court. He instead appointed a Naib Tehsildar to visit the labourers in the jail. The labourers were disappointed as they were not given an opportunity to put their views in the court.

An all party meeting is to held at Ludhiana on 02 July, 2009 to discuss the further course of the movement.

From a press release by Revolutionary Youth Organization (RYA), the youth wing of CPI (M-L)