Opening the day's newspaper is like reading through the accounts of a disaster etc. Problem tau hain.Belgian woman found murdered in DelhiDelhi: A Belgian woman was killed at a party in Vasant Vihar late last night.
Murdered Belgian woman was First Secretary at the Belgian embassy.
Belgian woman was stabbed 25 times.
Belgian woman's driver has been detained for questioning !
Source: NDTV (Breaking News)
The central aim of the summit is to strengthen the strategic partnership between EU and India in line with the joint action plan adopted by the two entities in September 2005 in New Delhi.
The Indian delegation to Finland will be led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and will include Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath.
The EU delegation will be led Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. The EU will also be represented by the President of the European Commission (EC), Jose Manuel Barroso; High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana; Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja, Finnish Minister for Trade and Development Paula Lehtomäki and members of the European Commission, Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Peter Mandelson.
The two sides are expected to focus their discussions around trade policy, climate and energy issues and co-operation in the field of science and technology.
Key international and regional issues, such as cooperation in the fight against terrorism and the situation in the Middle East, will also be discussed, according to INEP.
"The EU-India relations have developed quite favourably in recent years. India's stronger international role and fast economic growth provide a new foundation for cooperation with the EU," said an EU press statement.
The Finnish and Indian prime ministers will also attend the EU-India Economic Forum to be held on October 12.
Ranabir Ray Choudhury
Where do Brussels and New Delhi go from here? Will the "advancement" of bilateral relations be in the garb of a free trade arrangement or take the form of a wider CECA?
At one level, it can only be good for the planet if India and the European Union were to form closer bilateral ties, not merely in the economic sphere but also in areas outside the economic domain.
The simple justification for this would of course be that the greater the cooperation among members of the international community, the greater would be the benefits for the world at large.
At a more detailed level, closer cooperation between Brussels and New Delhi would not merely bring a chunk of the world's population closer to each other, but both the parties would, by virtue of the closer links, gain entry (or consolidate their presence where an entry has already been gained) into different continental matrices, perhaps leading to greater bonding among the different regions of the world.
Foot in Europe Affairs
To pursue this line of global reasoning further, closer ties with Brussels would imply that New Delhi would probably have a foot in European affairs so to speak, which would without fail stand it in good stead if and when issues of, say, national security cropped up in European discussions, or in discussions between Europe and the US. In other words, the EU would be mindful of Indian interests when discussing various subjects with countries other than India, which cannot but be seen as a favourable outcome for New Delhi.
Alternatively, there is already an effort to get the EU into SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation), which would certainly be of great help to Brussels in its objective to project itself more forcefully on the Asian stage — a stage that will be the scene of activity of the "emerging economic giants" such as China and India in the years ahead.
Indeed, Brussels has already made some headway in this direction with it being accorded "observer status" in SAARC ("with India's support," as stated in the implementation report on the Joint Action Plan drawn up at the fifth India-EU summit held in New Delhi last year).
The immediate fallout of this will be the presence of the EU as an observer at the 14{+t}{+h} SAARC summit to be held in New Delhi in April 2007, which could have an important bearing on EU-South Asian relations in the years to come.
No key support
Seen in this perspective, it was rather disappointing that the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, was unable to extract firm statements of pointed support for New Delhi's nuclear arrangement with the US, which is still in the works and which would have received a boost had Brussels expressed unqualified support for it, or even backed it indirectly.
On the contrary, the implementation report on the joint action plan referred to India "formally (becoming) a participant in the ITER project on fusion energy with the full backing of the EU," with the joint statement welcoming "the recently established EU-India Security Dialogue, held for the first time in May 2006, as a useful and important forum for an in-depth exchange of views on global and regional security issues, including disarmament and non-proliferation, as well as bilateral issues of common concern."
In para 10, the statement drew attention to the "shared interest" of the two entities "in working together as partners for disarmament and for countering the proliferation of WMD and their delivery systems," a sentiment which could have been written with equal effect and impact two decades ago.
It would have been so much better from New Delhi's point of view had Brussels agreed to include an encouraging reference to the on-going India-US nuclear-technology negotiations which, however, was not to be. It can be argued that perhaps it is too naïve to expect such direct support on an issue which is not only extremely complex per se but which has also raised a lot of controversy in the US itself at a time when elections to the Congress are around the corner.
Even if this point is conceded, there is no reason why more substantive and structured suggestions could not be made on the future shape of India-EU trade, investment and business contacts which, among other things, would have had the effect of the Helsinki summit strengthening the `grassroots content' of the Strategic Partnership between the two sides.
Some Hope
It is not that this area has been left entirely untouched by the joint statement.
On the contrary, some hope has been held out, in the process masking, it would appear, serious differences on issues affecting a fruitful economic exchange.
Among other things, the statement has drawn attention to the growing contact at the `micro-level' — "the steady, significant intensification of the dialogue between the strategic partners."
Harping on the same theme, it says that the "level of engagement between India and individual EU members states has...been qualitatively enhanced" and "practical steps taken (to set up) a number of new consultation mechanisms," adding that "EU-India cooperation will be further enhanced through efforts to work towards facilitating the movement of businesspersons, professionals and tourists, as well as researchers, scientists, students and academics between India and the EU member states."
Top Priority
At the `macro-level', the point has been made that the successful outcome of the Doha Round "remains their foremost trade policy priority," the two sides agreeing to ensure that "the deepening of bilateral trade relations supports the larger multilateral trading regime."
Clearly, what this means is that whether it is a free-trade arrangement that is being aimed at or whether the objective is a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA), the Doha `development dimension' will have to be kept in mind, a point that has been repeatedly emphasised by the Union Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, in recent times.
Indeed, it is reported that the Commerce Minister had to burn the midnight oil to bring his EU colleagues around to adopt some sort of a common platform, without which the summit would have been an abject failure.
The question is: Where do Brussels and New Delhi go from here? Certainly, the summits will keep rolling and the "strategic partnership" will continue to be "strengthened" further, resulting in mutual diplomatic spin-offs for both the sides. But the proof the pudding will lie in the precise form the "advancement" of their "bilateral trade relations" will take, namely, whether such progress will be in the garb of a free trade arrangement or will take the form of a wider CECA?
It will not be surprising if Brussels prefers to strike a deal on the trade front which may not go by the World Trade Organisation book.
One would expect New Delhi not only to resist such pressures but also to cajole (if that were possible) the EU into accepting a wider trade and investment arrangement, which would make it subscribe to the Doha Development Agenda through the back door as it were.
Omkar Goswami in BusinessworldThere are 15 Schengen countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden — all of whom barring Norway and Iceland are members of the European Union.
The Schengen visa is a wonderful thing. Suppose you are an Indian visiting The Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy on work or to travel. Instead of getting four separate visas, you can get a Schengen which, once you enter one of these countries, allows you unrestricted access to the other 14. Essentially, it means that that travel between these countries is treated as domestic trips, no different from travelling between Delhi and Bangalore.
With Schengen alleviating border hassles within most parts of Europe, there must be many immigration touts in the developing world who are trying to leverage this system to get their clients into a Schengen country and then make them disappear. Hence, I fully support the Schengen embassies in being careful about who they give these visas to and for how long. What I can’t understand is the ham-handedness of some of these embassies. Here are two recent examples from one such — in this case, the German.
In May this year, my wife Radhika and her colleague were formally invited by the Bonn Biennale to host a major pictorial exhibition that they had curated called ‘Try to See It My Way’. It comprised photographs of children of Kolkata’s sex workers. As is the case for persons so chosen, they were being paid for their work as well as for travel, stay and other incidentals. Everything was completely documented.
Since Radhika had a valid Schengen visa, she did not bother going to the embassy. Her colleague had to submit all the documentation (which is fair), plus details of her bank account, photocopies of credit cards, income tax certificates, plane tickets and the like — which I think are quite unacceptable if you are going as a paid-for invited delegate to something that is being hosted by an arm of the government.
That was the beginning. In the first instance, the visa application was rejected point-blank, with no reasons given. Radhika then called the Biennale director’s office at Bonn, who called the German embassy in India, who called her again to graciously grant a single entry visa for the number of days that the photos were to be exhibited. Seven to be exact. She could arrive two days before to put up the exhibition and leave on the very day the show ended. If she — a photographer and a graphics designer in her own right — chose to travel for even a day after the exhibition, she would be considered an illegal immigrant.
I thought it may be a one-off case. No such luck. In late August, a company where I am a director, and which has a significant German subsidiary, decided to hold its board meetings in Bavaria. One of my fellow independent directors who has been in senior positions in leading Indian companies, travels incessantly on work and whose passport is replete with many booklets containing several valid visas at any point of time, also had to submit bank statements, tax certificates, credit card copies and the works. The Germans granted him a six-month visa. But for his equally well-travelled wife it was exactly for the period of the board meeting — five days in all. She was put off enough not to go.
Germany isn’t the only country. I know of Austrian cases as well. So, what’s going on? Am I to assume that the visa counsellors can no longer distinguish between one-off travellers and regular business visitors and their spouses?
Or is there some not too subtle discrimination going on against us Indians? Imagine if we retaliated and asked our embassies in Berlin and Vienna to demand bank statements and income tax certificates. How lovely that would be for the Indo-EU relationship! It bears serious thinking. And sensible course correction.
Poll results :The United Kingdom should be broken up and Scotland and England set free as independent nations, according to a huge number of voters on both sides of the border.
A clear majority of people in both England and Scotland are in favour of full independence for Scotland, an ICM opinion poll for The Sunday Telegraph has found. Independence is backed by 52 per cent of Scots while an astonishing 59 per cent of English voters want Scotland to go it alone.
There is also further evidence of rising English nationalism with support for the establishment of an English parliament hitting an historic high of 68 per cent amongst English voters. Almost half – 48 per cent – also want complete independence for England, divorcing itself from Wales and Northern Ireland as well. Scottish voters also back an English breakaway with 58 per cent supporting an English parliament with similar powers to the Scottish one.
The poll comes only months before the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union between England and Scotland and will worry all three main political parties. None of them favours Scottish independence, but all have begun internal debates on the future of the constitution.
The dramatic findings came as Gordon Brown, the favourite to succeed Tony Blair as Prime Minister, delivered an impassioned defence of the Union at Labour's Scottish conference in Oban yesterday.
In an attack on the Scottish National Party, against whom Labour will fight a bitter battle for control of the Edinburgh-based parliament next May, the Chancellor claimed: "We should never let the Nationalists deceive people into believing that you can break up the United Kingdom."
The ICM poll told a very different story, however, with 60 per cent of English voters complaining that higher levels of public spending per head of the population in Scotland were "unjustified", compared to 28 per cent claiming they were justified. Even among Scots, 36 per cent said the system was unfair, with only 51 per cent supporting it.
Voters also had serious concerns about the so-called West Lothian Question, the ability of Scottish MPs at Westminster to vote on solely English matters while many purely Scottish issues are decided in Edinburgh. Sixty-two per cent of English voters want Scottish MPs stripped of this right and even 46 per cent of Scots agreed. The poll showed that the English are more likely to think of themselves as British than the Scots are. Only 16 per cent of English people said they were "English, not British", compared to 26 per cent of Scots who said they were "Scottish, not British."
In the sporting arena, 70 per cent of English people said they would support a Scottish team playing football or rugby against a nation other than England. But, when the question was put to Scots, only 48 per cent said they would back England with 34 per cent supporting their opponents, no matter which country it was.
There was good news for David Cameron, the Conservative leader, when voters in England were asked who they would back in a general election held tomorrow. The Tories were on 37 per cent, with 31 per cent backing Labour and 23 per cent supporting the Liberal Democrats.
David Cameron
David Cameron: 'The union is good for us all'
Mr Brown said: "There is a debate to be had about the future of the United Kingdom. But I think when you look at the arguments — at the family ties, the economic connections, the shared values, the history of our relationship which has lasted 300 years — people will decide we are stronger together and weaker apart."
Mr Cameron said: "The union between England, Scotland and Wales is good for us all and we are stronger together than we are apart. The last thing we need is yet another parliament with separate elections and more politicians spending more money."
Sir Menzies Campbell, the Lib Dem leader, called for a "calm rational debate" on the role of MPs from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales at Westminster. "The last thing we need is knee-jerk opportunistic political responses."
Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, said: "In England, people quite rightly resent Scottish Labour MPs bossing them about on English domestic legislation. England has as much right to self government as Scotland does."
Me think it is another plot by Ruskie........distributing free radioactive sushi?Holland considers saree ban
NIJMEGEN, the Netherlands
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,
Nov. 23 ? As the results of a national election here gave the ruling
center-right Christian Democrats the most seats, the immigration
minister of the outgoing government, Rita Verdonk, announced that she
would consider extending the proposed legislative ban to sarees and
other full-body garb that pose a grave security threat to the Dutch
public.The government had announced last Friday, just five days before
the elections, that it planned to introduce legislation to ban burqas
and similar garments in public places, saying the garments worn by a
small number of Muslim women in the Netherlands posed a threat.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende?s Christian Democrats, cashing in on
an economic revival and poular measures to crack down on immigration,
won with a wider-than-expected margin over Labour, its closest rival,
led by Wouter Bos ? capturing at least 41 seats to Labour?s 32,
according to near complete results. The Liberals dropped to 22 seats, a
loss of six. Right-wing maverick Geert Wilders also had cause to
celebrate. After leading a one-man faction in the outgoing parliament,
he won nine seats on the strength of his powerful anti-immigrant
message.
The Netherlands has been considering such a ban on wearing certain types
of garments in public for months, in reaction to the burqa and other
articles of clothing that hide the wearer?s face. The government has
raised the fear that a terrorist might wear such a garment to move
beyond security checks and carry out an attack.
?We want to see what people are carrying on their bodies,? Ms. Verdonk
said last week, pointing out that a former prime minister of India,
Rajiv Gandhi, was killed by a suicide bomber who was wearing a full-body
garb. The bomber had wrapped a belt of explosives around her waist.
Sarees are worn predominantly by Hindu women in India, though it is not
uncommon for Muslim and Christian women in India to wear sarees ?
sometimes under a burqa in the case of Muslim women.
The Dutch discussion is part of a European debate about how far
governments can go in legislating what people ? specifically immigrant
women and girls ? can and cannot wear.
It's not illiberal for liberal societies to disapprove the sarees,
French Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal said last night.
Speaking before an audience of mostly women at the Soci?t? de Simone de
Beauvoir, she said the French should be open to extending the current
French ban on the head covering, hijab, to sarees. Sarees inhibit free
movement and discourage women's full participation in professional
careers and sports, she argued, extending the case for the ban on Sarees
beyond security concerns.
However, Dutch-Blegian writer Dr. Konrad Elst has said he would not
support such a ban, considering that several fragments of sarees have
been found as archaeological evidence in Ayodhya which he claims is the
birthplace of the Hindu warrior god Rama. It is well-established that
Rama?s mother Kausalya wore sarees and so did Sita, his wife, he said.
Burqas are entirely different, he added.
The tradition of wearing sarees in India dates back to Greece and the
invasion of India by Alexander, the Macedonian military commander,
according to some historians.
Last month, Britain?s former foreign secretary, Jack
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference ... ne=nyt-per>
Straw, raised a commotion when he urged Muslim women to remove full
facial veils when talking to him, saying the veil was ?such a visible
statement of separation and of difference? that it jeopardized British
social harmony. Prime Minister Tony
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Blair subsequently backed Mr. Straw.
The fate of the Dutch proposal is uncertain, and critics accused the
government of introducing it as a campaign ploy in a country that is
still reeling from the 2004 murder of a filmmaker, Theo van Gogh, by a
Muslim fundamentalist. The attacker was not known to be wearing a saree
or a burqa at the time of the attack.
But if it should pass in Parliament, women would be prohibited from
wearing sarees in a variety of public settings, including schools,
trains, courts and even on the street.
?The cabinet finds it undesirable that full-body covering clothing ?
including the saree ? is worn in public places for reasons of public
order, security and protection of citizens,? the outgoing immigration
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference ... classifier>
minister, Rita Verdonk, said Thursday.
?It?s ridiculous,? said Prashant Desai, a Hindu accountant in
Leidschendam.
?When you go out on the street, how many sarees do you see? None,? he
said, adding that Ms. Verdonk ?should find something better to do with
her time.? The suicide bomber who killed Rajiv Gandhi was not wearing a
saree, Desai pointed out.
About half a million Hindus live in the Netherlands, about 3 percent of
the population, and only 50 to 100 women regularly wear a Saree here,
Hindu groups say, making them a rare sight. In light of that, some
Hindus say they see the entire saree issue as a ploy to gain an upper
hand over potential coalition partners, a suggestion that Christian
Democrat officials deny.
Ms. Verdonk and others noted that the law would extend beyond religious
garments to include head-size helmets with full-length visors and any
other article that completely covers the wearer?s head and face.
The Dutch are not alone among European countries in seeking to restrict
some forms of dress.
France banned from its schools the hijab, the head scarf worn by many
Muslim girls and women, along with other conspicuous religious symbols.
Britain?s highest court ruled this year that a secondary school was
within its rights to bar a female student from wearing a jilbab, a
loose, ankle-length gown, instead of the regular school uniform.
Prime Minister Romano
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Prodi of Italy has also joined the debate. ?You can?t cover your entire
body, you must be seen,? Mr. Prodi said last month. ?This is common
sense, I think. It is important for our society.?
Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference ... ne=nyt-org>
?s Council for Justice and Peace, said, regarding the saree, that
immigrants of other religions ?must respect the traditions, symbols,
culture and religion of the countries they move to.?
Ms. Verdonk said she learned only last week that the Dutch cabinet could
pursue a burqa ban after getting the go-ahead from legal experts. Those
consulted by the government do not believe that such a ban would violate
Dutch or European
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference ... ne=nyt-org>
Union laws regarding religious freedom.
The original articles regarding the ban on burqas can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/ydvdmo (NYTimes)
http://tinyurl.com/ybprkk (Irish Examiner)
India is on everyone's lips in Santa's land
Vinay Kumar
Trade between the countries has touched nearly Euro 400 million
# Wartsila set up 200 captive power plants
# India fourth largest market for Nokia
HELSINKI: The land of lakes, Santa Claus, sauna, and also mobile phones is ready to shake a leg, Bollywood style. Finland, the northernmost European nation, has warmly embraced Bollywood movies, songs and dances, with a good number of boys and girls taking lessons in such dances.
"Bollywood dances are liked by the youth here as they are a combination of traditional Indian and Western dances," says Jeanette Ohman, who works with a Finnish corporation. She is seconded by Katariina Bjorninen, who has been learning yoga for the past five years and Bollywood dance for one year.
Ms. Bjorninen has visited India, and her favourite dessert is the hot, syrupy, and lip-smacking gulab jamun.
Though Bollywood dances are becoming a rage among the youth here, Hindi movies are not being screened in city cinema halls.
"We have to rely on DVDs," says Ms. Bjorninen.
Nor have Bollywood directors and producers shown interest in shooting films in Finland, and they keep flocking to favourite London, Paris or Swiss locales. Clearly, what Nokia has done for Finland, Bollywood movies can do for India.
Promoting ties
The India-Finland Friendship Association is playing an active role in promoting ties — be it in culture, business or exchange visits of parliamentarians or academicians, says Unto Valpas, MP and chairman of the influential forum, which has 28 MPs as members. Mr. Valpas has another "active India link," his daughter having married a software engineer from Chennai.
"India is on everyone's lips," says Ole Johansson, president and chief executive officer of the engineering giant Wartsila Corporation, which set up shop in India two decades ago and has since consolidated its position. The Finnish firm manufactures generator sets and gearboxes for ships. Last year it set up nearly 200 captive power plants in India, which can generate about 3000 MW. "We have a very skilled profile in India. Basically, India has grown in the services sector, and IT design and development, and we, as a knowledge-based country, value our partnership with India, its business houses and people," says Mr. Johansson.
Fast growing market
Dubbing India one of the world's fastest growing markets, Jukka Ahtela, director, and Simo Karetie, chief policy adviser of the Confederation of Finnish Industries, say more than 70 companies have been established in the country. While Nokia employs about 3,000 people in India, Wartsila and Elcoteq have around a thousand each on their rolls.
Other major companies operating in India include UPM, Finnair, Kone and Andritz. Indian majors Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Infosys, Bluestar Infotech, Zensar Technologies and Tooltech have established a foothold in Finland. The total volume of trade between the countries till October 2006 touched nearly euro 400 million, showing a steady growth over the past decade.
Consultancy is available through "Invest in Finland," which promises to chart business graphs for companies keen on investing in Finland as it can provide easy access to European Union countries, and the Russian and Nordic market.
"Last year alone, we have had euro 100 million worth of Indian investments in Finland," says Tuomo Airaksinen, chief executive officer of the consulting company.
Mr. Airaksinen cites the recent acquisition by Wipro of Saraware, a 21-year-old Finnish company, for about euro 25 million last year. The Bangalore-based Sasken Communication Technologies acquired for euro 35 million Botnia Hightech Oy, a leading provider of wireless research and development and testing services.
Mobile phone giant Nokia, which clocked sales of euro 34,191 million in 2005 and expects to touch euro 40 billion in 2006, is upbeat over its India operations; its Chennai plant has hit the high growth graph. "India will become the world's second largest mobile device market in terms of volumes by 2010, and it is already the fourth largest market for us. India is adding five-six million mobile subscribers a month; this is phenomenal," Arja Suominen, vice-president, communications, at the Nokia headquarters here told visiting Indian journalists.
The European Parliament will hold a special debate on Kashmir in February.
This was announced by Francisco Da Camara Gomes, the Head of the European Commission delegation in New Delhi.
Gomes told media persons on Wednesday that the European Parliament had discussed last week a draft report on Kashmir prepared by Baroness Emma Nicholson, over which Pakistan had raised objections saying that it was biased in favour of India.
Terming as ridiculous the campaign against Baroness Nicholson in Pakistan, Gomes said she had prepared an 'objective and balanced' report.
He said the report may not reflect the opinion of everyone, which can be gauged from the fact that it had received 455 requests for amendments. "It can qualify for an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records and is an indicator to how lively the debate would be," Gomes said.
Human rights - 01-02-2007 - 11:46
Parliament adopted a resolution put forward by the Development Committee on the human rights situation of the Dalits in India. The resolution notes that implementation of laws protecting the rights of Dalits remains grossly inadequate, and that atrocities, untouchability, illiteracy, inequality of opportunity, manual scavenging, underpayment of wages, bonded labour, child labour and landlessness continue to blight the lives of India’s Dalits.
The House nevertheless welcomes the various provisions in the Constitution of India for the protection and promotion of the rights of Dalits.
The National Human Rights Commission of India has reported that the implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act remains very unsatisfactory, and whereas it has published numerous recommendations to address this problem.
The European Parliament expresses its concern at the low rate of conviction for the perpetrators of such crimes and calls on the Government of India to improve its criminal justice system in order to facilitate registration of charges against perpetrators of crimes against Dalits, to increase the conviction rate for such perpetrators, to significantly reduce the duration of court procedures; and to take special measures for the protection of Dalit women.
The House calls on the Government of India to take urgent steps to ensure equal access for Dalits to police stations and all other public institutions and facilities, including those related to its democratic structure such as panchayat buildings and polling booths.
MEPs urge the Government of India to engage further with relevant UN human rights bodies on the effective elimination of caste-based discrimination, including the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the UN Special Rapporteurs assigned to develop Principles and Guidelines for the Elimination of Discrimination based on Work and Descent. MEPs call on the Government of India to ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and to take preventive measures to reduce the risk of Dalits facing torture, to take legal measures to criminalise torture in India, to take punitive measures to prosecute police who commit torture, to consistently provide rehabilitation and compensation for torture victims and to put in place an independent complaints mechanism for victims of torture that is accessible to Dalits.
The European Parliament notes with concern the lack of substantive EU engagement with the Indian Government, notably within the EU-India Summits, on the vast problem of caste-based discrimination. The European Parliament urges the Council and the Commission to raise the issue of caste-based discrimination during EU-India Summits and other meetings as part of all political, human rights, civil society, development and trade dialogues and to inform the committees concerned of the progress and outcome of such dialogues.
Lastly, the House urges the European members of the Joint Action Committee to develop dialogue on the problem of caste-based discrimination in terms of its discussions on democracy and human rights, social and employment policy and development cooperation.
).....it is for us to choose.The two countries are determined to double their bilateral trade to $10 billion by 2010. Italy is looking at India as a big opportunity and has declared it as a focus country for its overseas investment. It will showcase its core strength in textiles, automobiles, food processing, defence and lifestyle sectors to the Indians.
By IANS, [RxPG] Chennai, Feb 10 - India and Italy will ink pacts on countering terrorism and energy cooperation during Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi's six-day visit to the country that began Saturday.
The two memoranda of understanding will relate to setting up a joint working group - on combating international terrorism and transnational crime, and on cooperation in the sphere of renewable energy.
The two countries will also sign a cultural exchange programme for 2007-09.
Prodi, who is accompanied by top ministers and over 100 leading entrepreneurs, began the visit to India from Chennai. He will travel to Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata before arriving in New Delhi Feb 14 for a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his top aides and ministers, after which the agreements will be signed.
A string of seminars and meetings will be held in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore under the aegis of the India-Italy Business Forum with business leaders of both countries getting the chance to have one-on-one meetings and strike deals.
The two countries are determined to double their bilateral trade to $10 billion by 2010. Italy is looking at India as a big opportunity and has declared it as a focus country for its overseas investment. It will showcase its core strength in textiles, automobiles, food processing, defence and lifestyle sectors to the Indians.
From India's point of view, getting Italian investment and technology in infrastructure projects would be a priority.
New Delhi, Feb. 16 (PTI): The European Union (EU) today hoped to launch talks on comprehensive trade and investment agreement with India by May as it announced a grant of 470 million Euros (Rs 2585 crores) to assist in education and healthcare programmes of this country over next seven years.
When will India stop taking alms from western countries?Kakkaji wrote:EU to give 470 mn euros for India's education, healthcare
New Delhi, Feb. 16 (PTI): The European Union (EU) today hoped to launch talks on comprehensive trade and investment agreement with India by May as it announced a grant of 470 million Euros (Rs 2585 crores) to assist in education and healthcare programmes of this country over next seven years.
Balthazar Napolean de Bourbon, a jovial Indian lawyer and part-time farmer settled in Bhopal, has been told that he is the first in line to the lost French throne.
Prince Michael of Greece, the cousin of Prince Philip, this week published a historical novel called Le Rajah de Bourbon, which traces the swashbuckling story of Bourbon's first royal ancestor in India.
Prince Michael believes Jean de Bourbon was a nephew of the first Bourbon French king, Henry IV. In the mid-16th century Jean embarked on an action-packed adventure across the world which saw him survive assassination attempts and kidnap by pirates to be sold at an Egyptian slave market and serve in the Ethiopian army.
In 1560, he turned up at the court of the Mogul emperor Akbar. It was the beginning of a long line of Bourbons in India, who centuries later would serve as the administrators of Bhopal and become the second most important family in the region.
http://www.elsevier.nl/nieuws/europese_uni...1591/index.html contains the originalGermany wants a European history book
Friday 23 February 2007
Temporary EU-chairman Germany wants that a uniform European history book will come for all the member states. But critics fear a 'sanitised version' version of the history.
According to the British paper The Guardian, Germany wants to make use of the chairmanship this present half-year to launch a European history book.
Ridiculous
Next week, the European ministers of Education will gather together in the German university town of Heidelberg and the Germans would want to use this occasion to make their proposal. But the proposal to prescribe a uniform history will probably call up/give rise to much resistance .
Rainer Rudolph, spokesperson for the German government, stresses that it is certainly not the intention to rewrite European history: 'The suggestion that certain events will be omitted which will be uncomfortable for Germans or others, is ridiculous.'
Nazi past
Rudolph refers particularly to the German nazi past, and the recently growing attention for the German victims of World War II. Critics, especially in neighbouring Poland and the Czech Republic, are afraid of a 'sanitised' version, wherein the dark sides of European history will be softened or even omitted.
Graham Brady, spokesperson of the European conservatives, additionally calls the idea of a uniform history book a 'typically bureaucratic mission which gives him the creeps.'
Museum
Germany is putting all efforts in to make the half-year chairmanship a success and to get the European project moving (forward?) again. In this way, one of the goals of German chancellor Angela Merkel is to once again blow new life into the European Constitution.
And the new chairman of the European Parliament, the German Hans-Gert Poettering, pleaded at his swearing-in last week for a museum of the European Unification. That's where the memory of the 'unique story of the European Unification would have to be kept alive.' This museum would have to, just like the European history book, strengthen European identity.
By Robbert de Witt
Divided reactions to European history book
Thursday 1 March 2007
The European Union (EU) is condering to write a European history book, but not everyone's been waiting for this.
That turned out to be the case today at an informal EU-meeting of ministers of Education in Germany's Heidelberg.
The German minister of Education, Annette Schavan, pleaded a short time ago for a EU-history book in all of the the EU-member states.
According to Schavan, a centrally-written history book can strengthen the cultural identity of Europeans and contribute to the growing-closer/coming-together of the inhabitants of the member states. But not all member states have the same views on this.
'Different points of view'
Poles turned down the idea. 'We do not believe in this possibility. Poles and Germans already have different points of view about central questions. Then it will become difficult to endorse European values and societal perspectives,' the Polish minister of Education Roman Giertych reacted.
Also the Netherlands is 'holding back greatly', according to top-official Gerard Maas of the ministry of Education. 'It does not fit in with the Dutch (ways of doing things?) that men make such a history book centrally.'
'Valuable contribution'
Austria and Belgium did react enthusiastically. 'The citizens know too little about European history. Thus far/for that a common history book will certainly be a valuable contribution,' said the Belgian minister Oliver Paasch.
There already exists a joint history book of Germany and France that is being used in different schools in those countries.
By Claudia van Zanten
x-posted from IF...Gerard wrote:Bhopal farmer in line to French throneBalthazar Napolean de Bourbon, a jovial Indian lawyer and part-time farmer settled in Bhopal, has been told that he is the first in line to the lost French throne.Prince Michael of Greece, the cousin of Prince Philip, this week published a historical novel called Le Rajah de Bourbon, which traces the swashbuckling story of Bourbon's first royal ancestor in India.
Prince Michael believes Jean de Bourbon was a nephew of the first Bourbon French king, Henry IV. In the mid-16th century Jean embarked on an action-packed adventure across the world which saw him survive assassination attempts and kidnap by pirates to be sold at an Egyptian slave market and serve in the Ethiopian army.
In 1560, he turned up at the court of the Mogul emperor Akbar. It was the beginning of a long line of Bourbons in India, who centuries later would serve as the administrators of Bhopal and become the second most important family in the region.
From Deccan Chronicle, News Plus Segment, 29 August 2006Bhopal’s Bourbons could have been kings
The Localist : By Sudhir K. Singh
Bhopal: Bourbon who, ask many. A Bourbon in Bhopal, query even those with a nodding acquaintance with the region’s history. An advocate making the rounds of the district court? With a Dutch wife running a commonplace English medium higher secondary school in a back alley of congested Jahangirabad? And a teenaged son wanting to make films like Satyajit Ray and Akira Kurosawa? Amusing, perplexing if not altogether shocking. Talk of the perfect square peg in a round hole.
Indeed, “C’est moi,â€
Polish-Indian defense ministers confer
New Delhi, March 9, IRNA
A high level Polish defense delegation led by Marek Zajakala, minister of state of national defense called on the Indian Minister of State for Defense MM Pallam Raju here yesterday.
The talks were held in a cordial and friendly atmosphere. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the meeting of the second India-Poland Joint Working Group held earlier in the day.
Raju later presented a memento to Zajakala.
The Polish delegation is on a six day visit to India. The delegation, Wednesday visited factories of the Bharat Earth Movers Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited in Bangalore, capital of south Indian state of Karnataka.
