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I have a;ways been saying that secularism is about equal rights of individuals uner conrtitutional law.
Secularization of the Saudi judicial system will be implemented when we give the concept of the law preference over the concept of the fatwa.
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why not? major portion of the margin (retail price - mill gate price) goes to the politicians, which remained protected! and the tax amount is reduced from government which is to be spent for people!! eventually, people received lower price at the expense of their return from the government!!! --- On Thu, 9/2/10, Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com> wrote:
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No problem with Tipaimukh Dam: Bangladesh officialSHILLONG, July 31: Bangladesh today made it clear that it has no problem with the proposed construction of the 1500 mega watt Tipaimukh Hydroelectric project in Manipur if India does without harming its environment and jeopardizing rights of its citizens.
"Bangladesh has no problem with the construction of the project if the Government of India can do without harming and keep in mind grievances we have already expressed," Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board chairman Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam said speaking to Imphal Free Press here.
The Bangladesh official (Islam) is in Meghalaya's capital Shillong attending the "Empowering North East Summit" jointly organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Meghalayagovernment at Hotel Pinewood.
"There is cynicism in our people that construction of Tipaimukh dam would pose negative impact on our environment and jeopardize our rights. But if the Indian government can do by keeping all these problems in mind and without harming, there will be no problem," Islam said.
The stand taken by Bangladesh to accept the project with condition as expressed by Islam, assumed significance days after the assurance made by Union Minister of State for Water Resources, Vincent H Pala who endorsed the stand of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tipaimukh that "India would take Dhaka into confidence before going ahead with the project, so as not to hamper the friendly Indo-Bangla ties."
However, though India's government- owned NHPC Limited had already floated a joint venture company with the government of Manipur and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Limited on April 28 last for implementation of the 1500 MW Multi-Purpose Project, Pala also maintained that views of the local indigenous people will be also taken into confidence before going ahead with the project.
The project would be located 500 meters downstream of the confluence of the Tuivai and Barak Rivers in Manipur's Churachandpur district just 100 km off from Amalshid border of Jakigang of Sylhet district of Bangladesh and is likely to affect two major rivers of Bangladesh, namely the Surma and the Kushiara and another 60000 Manipuri people who depend on the river for livelihood and other activities.
Bangladesh government had sent a team of experts and diplomats to assess the impact of the proposed dam on the livelihood of its citizen living downstream.
Bangladeshi experts estimated that the massive dam will disrupt the seasonal rhythm of the river and have an adverse effect on downstream agriculture and fisheries.
According to the Bangladeshi experts and environmentalists, the dam would have adverse impacts on the ecology, environment and economy of the northeastern region of Bangladesh. The proposed dam falls at the confluence of Indo-Burma, Indo-Malayan and Indo-Chinese biodiversity hotspot zone.
These areas are characterized by the presence of a large number of plant and animal species, like tiger, hillock gibbon, hornbill, turtle, dolphin etc. many of which are not seen or seldom witnessed in other parts of the world.
The Action Committee Against Tipaimukh Project (ACTIP) consisting of local people of the affected area of the project have strongly opposed the construction of the dam.
ACTIP has also termed the signing of the MoU as "undemocratic" accusing the Manipur government of going ahead with the project without taking the local people's consent.Apart from ACTIP several organisations like Citizens Concern for Dams and Development (CCDD), Committee on Land and Natural Resources (COLNAR), Sinlung Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Organisation (SIPHRO) and others are protesting against the project on the ground that the Tipaimukh dam would have adverse impact on the environment and socio-economic lives of the local people living near the project area in the states of Manipur, Assam and Mizoram.
http://mizoramexpress.com/index.php/2010/08/no-problem-with-tipaimukh-dam-bangladesh-official/
Open debate on Tipaimukh Dam:
http://mizoramexpress.com/index.php/2010/06/open-debate-on-tipaimukh-dam/
Tipaimukh Dam Project: The Final View:
http://mizoramexpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Tipaimukh-Ruonglevaisuo-300-x-190-200x126.jpg
Now coming back to this loan agreement. We are supporters of this initiative and some critics as well. Critics are saying the majority of the proposals are targeted at streamlining transition facilities for India. This will include water bodies, roads and railways. Since most of these initiatives are targeted to protect Indian interests, why can't India give this money as "Grant" instead of burdening people of this country by counting this as "LOAN"? The other major concern comes from those who are worried about security and sovereignty of Bangladesh.
Then we have our own problem of inefficiencies and corruption.
I think these are legitimate concerns and needs to be addressed. This sort of mega projects should be supported by public as long people have a clear idea about our long term goals. What Dipu Moni and couple other ministers did in a press conference was absolutely inadequate to reassure people of this country.
We need to have a clear picture about transparency and ROI [ Return on investment ] timeline as well. Since we have vibrant media and internet technology, our government should use technology to connect with common people to gain support for "Nation building" projects like these.
-qr
From: ANDREWL <turkman@sbcglobal.net>
To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, Aug 31, 2010 4:38 am
Subject: [ALOCHONA] Loan from Delhi raisesbillion dollar questions
--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, Isha Khan <bdmailer@...> wrote:
>
> Loan from Delhi raisesbillion dollar questions
>
> *M. Shahidul Islam*
>
> The $1 billion loan agreement signed with India on August 7 begets some
> billion dollar questions: Whose interest will it serve and whether the fund
> was at all needed. Cynicism has exacerbated by the loan coming at a time
> when it is least needed; over $500 million of ADB, IMF and other
> source-loans lying idle in the government's coffer.
> Decoding the mindset of policy makers in Dhaka and Delhi has become a
> futile exercise since the coming to power of the AL-led regime in early
> 2009. While any definitive answers to such questions will remain unanswered
> for obvious reasons, a glance at the targeted projects where the borrowed
> money will be spent may provide some valuable clues to unearthing the real
> motive behind this unprecedented economic collaboration between the two
> South Asian neighbours.
>
> *Whose interest?*
> Of the 14 projects for which the predominance of the borrowed $1 billion
> is slated for spending, over 76 per cent of the fund is earmarked for the
> (1) construction of Ashugonj port and dredging of navigation route leading
> to Tripura border, (2) upgrading of railway tracks and purchase of railway
> locomotives and oil tankers to transport Indian goods across the border, (3)
> construction of bridges astride Indo-Bangladesh border, including over the
> Bhairab and the Feni river connection Tripura, (4) construction of
> Ramgar-Subrom land port and the connecting roads, and, (5) construction of
> Bheramara-Bahrampur 400 KV inter- connected lines at a cost of $150 million,
> to name but a few.
> The agreement stipulates that the pipeline projects must incur 85 per
> cent of the costs by procuring goods and services from India only, and, the
> consultants hired for advising must be from India too. That alone will
> divert back 90 per cent of the fund to India.Add to this .50 per cent
> penalty for non-completion of any project, 1.75 per cent annual interest and
> .5 percent commitment fee per annum. The entire venture has little or no
> value added dividend for Bangladesh, excepting an estimated $25 million or
> so that is expected to come annually from custom fee and the allied levies
> that are yet to be decided.
>
> Simply put: Delhi will plan, fund and complete all these strategically
> important projects inside Bangladesh with materials from India, to serve
> India's interest, while the cost incurred is a loan to Bangladesh which the
> country may not be able to pay off within the stipulated 20 years time
> frame. Besides, the loan's conditionality is so stringent that the negation
> of any future government to comply with the projects' completion will not
> absolve the nation from paying the interests and the penalties during the 20
> years amortization period.
>
> As well, the 1.75 per cent interest is too high, compared with the loan
> transactions occurring at public and private levels anywhere in the world;
> due to the recession-battered prime landing rate being either zero, or at
> best one per cent in the leading economies of the world. More disturbing is
> the 20 years payment deadline, which covers only half of the payment
> time-line usually offered by major international financial institutions
> while the stipulated interest rate is seven times of what the IMF loan
> charges, .25 per cent at best.
>
> *Why policy- shift?*
> Despite that, our finance minister is on record for accusing the
> opposition BNP of lying, as the latter insisted on not to sign the loan
> accord in consideration of upholding national interest. The gala and the
> glittering of the signing ceremony had also dwarfed the potential of an
> economic and geopolitical disaster this particular loan is sure to bring
> upon our nation.
>
> The finance minister is not alone in touting the issue as an epoch -
> making economic bonanza. Prior to Dhaka consenting to inking the agreement,
> few in the nation took pain to study the economic and the arithmetical
> rationale for doing so, especially at a time when the decision to borrow
> from external sources marked a radical shift from existing policies which
> proved successful over the decades by reducing debt-dependency on external
> sources, often phenomenally.
>
> We also feel numb as none among the policy makers even bothered to ask,
> why Dhaka needed $1 billion credit from India when its debt-GDP ratio stood
> at all time high, over 32 per cent of the GDP, or well over $50 billion, of
> which public debt alone rose by over $2 billion since the coming to office
> of the AL-led regime in late 2008 (Source: CIA fact sheet). Bangladesh bank
> data also reveals, total government borrowing was Tk. 597.9 billion in FY
> 2007, out of which Tk. 522.0 billion (87 percent) came from domestic sources
> while the net flow of public borrowing from external sources remained nearly
> stagnant in FY06-07, and declined further subsequently.
>
> *Deadly geopolitics*
> Such compelling economic rationales aside, India's generosity remains
> questionable; the loan coming to Dhaka at a time when India itself is
> bleeding under a slew of catastrophic afflictions spurred by a lingering
> recession, accelerated centrifugal drives spearheaded by insurgents from
> Kashmir to Mizoram to Assam, and the widespread public discontent created by
> a combustive mix of mass unemployment and hyper inflation which Delhi seems
> totally unable to tackle.
> Some observers say, this is hardly a micro-managed regional bonhomie to
> bolster fraternity with a smaller neighbour in crisis. Faced with
> unprecedented domestic crisis, Delhi had to display some geopolitical
> acrobatics to deflect attention outward and the scheme fitted neatly with a
> Machiavellian design to turn Bangladesh into an economic and military
> hinterland that has been in the making since Delhi decided to join the
> US-led anti terror bandwagon in 2001.
> They say, ever since, Delhi has been on the driving seat in Dhaka while
> irritating silence and procrastination remained our national hallmark amidst
> the gradual but systematic enfeebling of the nation by (1) rendering the
> armed forces impotent, and, (2) bludgeoning the economy through orchestrated
> destruction of the main export sector, the RMG.
>
> This line of analysis jibes well with the desperation Delhi felt lately
> as it witnessed, helplessly, Nepal turning into a Maoist state, Sri Lanka
> drifting away toward China and the Pakistani success in checkmating Delhi in
> Afghanistan amidst successive Taliban victory in the battles against the
> India-allied NATO forces. They say as most of the earmarked projects involve
> land and marine connectivity between India's north east with the mainland
> via Bangladesh, our nation is being turned into a virtual India corridor.
> This constitutes serious compromises of our territorial integrity and
> sovereignty.
>
> http://www.weeklyholiday.net/front.html#02
>
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