1. The modus operandi of publicising and publishing picturesque depictions of emaciated children of African and South Asian Countries has been followed by many developed Western Countries, with the main objective of canvassing for funds purportedly for rehabilitation of these children, but acty used for evangelisation in practice, as Staines was doing in Orissa tribal villages in the garb of "Leprosy Rehalitation" 2. Let Anandita explain, what is the purpose of explicitly exposing these pictures unless it is to project the "developed" INdia in a bad light? If you go to outbacks in Australia or Moari-s in NZ or Pacific islands or in several rote locations even in the so called developed Countries, you would find similar scenes of emaciated bony children. 3. I am reminded of John Kennedy's famous saying " Don't ask what the Country can do to you. Ask what you can do to the Country" A simple uneducated (Std.IV) fisherwoman of Kerala by sheer dint of devotion and love for the poor, old and sick, who does not know any language but Malayalam, in her 50th. year has millions of followers all over the World, several Cities including NJ Mayors have honored her and she has done so much for the earthquake victims of Kutch, Tsunami in TN, orphanages and old age rehabilitations Centres all over the World, free lunch for school children, Universities for higher education..etc. WITHOUT ANY RELIGIOUS DISTINCTION. Invite her "Mata Amritanandamayi" known as AMMA and let her shower the blessings on Jharkand by providing facilities for the depressed WITHOUT ANY STRINGS AS EVANGELISATION attached. BBC and other groups are always looking for an opportunity to denigrate the non-European population by exaggerated reports like this. Has BBC published any report about Australian aborigines, whose children were forcibly taken away by the Police and brought up in missionaries since several decades- four generations? Has BBC published report of distributing Small Pox pus smeared blankets among the local Red Indians by British settlers to exterminate them?
--- On Mon, 7/7/08, anindita dey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: From: anindita dey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Re: [ =>> Jharkhand <<= ] IMF warns of economic 'tipping point'! What's our preparedness? To: [email protected] Date: Monday, July 7, 2008, 12:26 PM Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org. in/forum Hello everybody, We can seek hide behind our false pride but the issue remains the same. Well, my apprehension seems to be true in spite of the fact that our 'harvest has been good and the procurement of wheat has far exceeded the targets set by Govt. and the media showed so much grains piled up in the open covered by tarpaulins- for want of space in godowns- in Punjab'. With a heavy heart I an enclosing herewith the News of BBC (Monday, 07 July, 2008, 5:00 GMT 10:00), being fully aware of the fact that this may also be branded as a report from the agent of East India Company. However, usually pictures do not tell lies until modified by unscrupulous elements. Therefore, preparedness is not only necessary but only sensible solution for any untoward incident. Read on......Read on...... Malnutrition getting worse in India By Damian Grammaticas BBC News, Madhya Pradesh About 60% children in Madhya Pradesh state are malnourished Lying on a bed is a tiny malnourished child. Her limbs wasted, her stomach bloated, her hair thinning and falling out. Her name is Roshni. She stares, wide-eyed, blankly at the ceiling. Roshni is six months old. She should weigh 4.5kg. But when she is placed on a set of scales they settle at just 2.9kg. Roshni is suffering from severe acute malnutrition, defined by the World Health Organisation as weighing less than 60% of the ideal median weight for her height. There are 40 beds in this centre. On every one is a similar child. All are acutely malnourished. Wailing, painful, plaintive cries fill the air. This is the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre in the town of Shivpuri. You might think we are somewhere in Africa. But this is the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh - modern India, a land of booming growth. "The situation in our village is very bad," says Roshni's mother, Kapuri. "Sometimes we get work, sometimes we don't. Together with our children we are dying from hunger. What can we poor people do? Nothing." Typical symptoms The lunchtime meal of boiled eggs, milk and porridge is handed out. Another mother is cradling her daughter, trying to feed her. The girl's name is Kajal. She is two-and-a-half years old and so weak she can hardly eat. Her mother tries to spoon some milk into her mouth. It dribbles down her chin. Kajal barely even opens her eyes. Kajal's skin is pale. Her breath comes sharp, shallow and fast. She too is suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Her weight is 6.7kg. Roshni weighs 2.9kg - her weight should be more like 4.5kg The nutrition centre here was set up by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef). Doctor Vandana Agarwal, Unicef's nutrition specialist for Madhya Pradesh state, points to Kajal's swollen little feet. "There is oedema on both the feet, scaly skin on her legs, even her respiration rate is high," Dr Agarwal says. "The child is in a lethargic condition, her hair is thin, sparse, lustreless, easily-pluckable. These are the typical symptoms of protein energy malnutrition. " India has some of the highest rates of child malnutrition and mortality in under-fives in the world and Madhya Pradesh state has the highest levels in India. There are around 10 million children in the state. A decade ago 55% were malnourished. Two years ago the government's own National Family Health Survey put the figure for Madhya Pradesh at around 60%. So why is it going up? Compounded "It's basically inadequate access to food, poor feeding practices, poor childcare practices," says Dr Agarwal. In Madhya Pradesh the situation is compounded by two significant factors. For four years in a row the rains have failed, so food crops have failed too. And now global food prices have risen, stretching many families beyond breaking point. "In the past year food prices have increased significantly, but people's incomes haven't improved," says Dr Agarwal. "Like wheat, earlier they used to buy it at eight rupees a kilogram, now it's 12 rupees." Children wait for a meal outside an Anganwadi centre in Chitori Khurda "Because of the increase in food prices a mother cannot buy an adequate quantity of milk, fruits and vegetables. So their staple diet has become wheat chapattis," she explains. "A child cannot survive on wheat chapattis alone. About 80% of mothers and children are anaemic because they can't get good quality food." To see why things are so bad, we headed out into the villages around Shivpuri. The drought zone stretches across this part of central India. The land is parched and barren. The air hot and heavy. The village of Chitori Khurda is a ramshackle collection of 80 stone and mud huts on a rocky plain. The villagers here come from the bottom rung of India's social scale. Among the lowest of the low in India's caste system are the Scheduled Tribes, just above them come the Other Backward Castes. Together they make up 95% of the population of Chitori Khurda. Worst hit Even here, in this desolate spot, caste matters consign the lowest to the harshest existence. Chitori Khurda village has no water supply. There are four wells in the fields around, but all belong to higher caste owners who often refuse to let the villagers use them. So these are the people worst hit by rising food prices. They have little land of their own. What they do have is the least fertile, sometimes far away. Without water they cannot irrigate, so they cannot feed themselves. And out here there is not much in the way of work either. India has some of the highest rates of child malnutrition in the world The men of Chitori Khurda get odd jobs labouring for higher castes or just play cards all day. The women sit outside their houses sorting green leaves they have gathered into small bundles. The leaves are sold to make local cigarettes. But it does not earn much. So in almost every home people are going hungry. Unicef says 79% of the children in this village are malnourished. Siya showed me her house, crouching to get in through the low door, we entered a stifling-hot, single room where the family of six live. Siya picked up the can where she keeps her flour. It should hold enough for a week's supply. There were just a few cupfuls left. Her two youngest children, seven-month- old Anjali and two-year-old Aseel, are both severely acutely malnourished. The family can afford to eat only twice a day. The children chewed slowly on a few chapattis flavoured with a tiny bit of onion and ground chillies. It is all they have to eat. Getting worse Siya's husband works as a bonded labourer. He is still trying to pay off a loan he took out 15 years ago. In theory the government provides 30kg of subsidised flour a month to every poor family. But corruption and inefficiency mean the system often does not work. Even with the full allocation a family like Siya's would have to buy an additional 90kg of flour a month at a cost of more than 1,000 rupees. Doctors say inadequate access to food is one of the causes of malnutrition Siya says several days a month the family has to go to bed hungry. "The children cry and create a commotion," she tells me. "I go door-to-door until somebody gives me a little." Every lunchtime the children of Chitori Khurda gather at the Anganwadi centre in the village. It is where nutrition and health services are provided at village level. On the day we visited, each child was given two puris (small bread puffs fried in oil) along with some sweet porridge. The allocation is 80g of food a day per child. The children ate it, then sat hoping for more, but there was none. Madhya Pradesh is trying hard to tackle the problem of malnutrition, but it is getting worse, not better. Corruption and inefficiency hamper the system. Some Anganwadi workers skim off food to sell. Others refuse to give food to lower-caste children. Many simply do not turn up as they are not paid much for the job. Add to that high food prices and the poorest are sliding into hunger. Back in Shivpuri, two-and-a-half- year-old Kajal had to be transferred to hospital. Her condition was so serious, she was so anaemic and her haemoglobin levels so low that she had to have an emergency blood transfusion. Lying in her hospital bed Kajal was reviving, slowly. Her mother, anxious, looked on, a pressing question weighing on her mind. Kajal should survive, but how will she feed her child?  it is true that IMF and other MNCs are likely to behave like East India Company did. The economic strangulation and slavery afterwards. All should be beware and try to stregthen village economy which will bring people above poverty line not the Malls and big industries. Dr. Dhanakar Thakur On Wed, 02 Jul 2008 S kumar wrote : >The IMF and controlling US are spreading a scary and alrming situation with >ulterior motives, as US is facing a severe recession and it is worsening day >by day. > >We in India have to worry about the situation here. The harvest has been good >and the procurement of wheat has far exceeded the targets set by Govt. and the >media showed so much grains piled up in the open covered by tarpaulins- for >want of space in godowns- in Punjab. > >The monsoon too has so far been fairly good all over giving the rice crops too >a bumper harvest. > >What is required now is proper management of storage, transport and >distribution of the foodgrains all over the Country, particularly to BPL >families under PDS, perhaps by subsidising the rates. Already many State >Govts. have declared " Pre-Election sops of supplying Rice at Rs.2 a KG." a >totally impractical and uneconomical move. > >2. In case of escalating crude prices, the UPA is also responsible for the >cascading effect in the market rates of petrol, of which over 52% consist of >levies by Centre and States. What the Govt. getting ad valorem has shot >through the roof when crude rose from $40 to $140 now. >The minimum Govt. should have done is to abolish duties on the increase to >maintain lower prices. > >And who pays for petrol? The personal cars and two wheelers, who do not get >any petrol allowance or free rides? Over 55% of the petrol consumed by >Govt./Defence as well as all departments. 25% goes to all PSU- where petrol is >used without any restriction. Business houses and industries take petrol in >their expense account. All of these groups would consume petrol even it rises >above Rs.100 in the same quantity > >The sufferers are the two wheelers and personal cars- retired and senior >citizens with limited pensions who consume perhaps 3%-5% of the total sales. > >Should the Govt. penalise this 3-5% eveme by escalating the fuel prices? > >Should not someone ask for the petrol consumption pattern in the Country? > > --- On Wed, 2/7/08, anindita dey <[EMAIL PROTECTED] co.in> wrote: From: anindita dey <[EMAIL PROTECTED] co.in> Subject: [ =>> Jharkhand <<= ] IMF warns of economic 'tipping point'! What's our preparedness? To: "Jharkhand Group" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] ps.co.in> Date: Wednesday, 2 July, 2008, 12:42 PM Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org. in/forum The IMF has warned of economic slowdown and famine in poorer countries. But will the effect be limited to poorer countries? Can we remain isolated in the event of such scenario? In today’s world, certainly not. Next comes the question--what is our preparedness in the event of such scenario? And so, to the members of this esteemed Group, let me pose this question: In the face of above scenario where should we channelise our energy of public discussion? Can we sleep in peace? Should we only engage ourselves in petty politics? Can't we engage in constructive discussion for drawing attention of those who matters towards this dangerous scenario? Can’t we suggest some action points? Thanks and regards, Mrs. Anindita Dey IMF warns of economic 'tipping point'! The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is warning that some countries are at what it calls "a tipping point" because of rocketing oil and food prices. The IMF is warning that if food prices rise further and oil prices stay the same, some governments will not be able to feed their people and maintain stable economies. A new report shows poorer countries are having to pay out billions of dollars extra for imported oil and foodstuffs. However, Thomas Helbling from the IMF's research department says other countries, particularly commodity exporters, are benefiting from the higher prices. "Australia and New Zealand, where particularly in the case of Australia, there have been tremendous terms of trade gains over the last few years," he said. The IMF says it is ready to help countries in need. Courtesy: ABC News (ABC News, Kim Landers, Washington correspondent, North America ) Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org. in/forum
