The Great Indian Clearance Sale

The Urban Dream

2012-01-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

Published in Mint on 18th January. http://t.co/WF8pieW1
I woke up one dark night. Haunted, frightened, shaky like a leaf. I had the strangest dream and in that dream I saw that I had turned into a consumerist zombie. Made of words they wanted me to believe.
I lived in my own luxury cage of EMI, and I lived my life as an advertising script. I consumed sugar water for happiness and I replaced my brain with an app library.
I had all the money in the world and if I missed the trees, I saw them on a LED tv screen.
My car had a toilet and my world was controlled and the sky was blue, projected on an anti UV dome. And I wondered what took humans to convert this planet into a cave of steel. We should have killed all the animals and cut all the trees and spewed carbon by tonnes much faster.
And I woke up frightened. Not sure if that dream was already part real. I switched on my tablet and turned on the app for counting sheep.

The year of asking questions

2012-01-18T05:02:00.000-08:00

‎2012. The year of asking questions. When you go to a newsstand ask for the latest issue of Down to Earth. There is a little folded surprise for you in there.

The ghosts of the whistleblowers

2011-12-11T00:14:00.001-08:00

A tribute to Shehla Masood and all the whistleblowers of India who speak out and are silenced, assaulted and murdered in this great democracy. And the amazing fact is that there is no law in our country which will safeguard them. (Published in Dec 07, 2011 edition of Mint: http://bit.ly/tqIrgG). With Manta Ray Comics.

The curious case of food safety and factory farming.

2011-12-07T19:26:00.001-08:00

The poverty line.

2011-11-15T19:58:00.001-08:00

The latest comic for Manta Ray. Published full page in the newspaper Mint on October 12, 2011.
Here is the hi res from the epaper.

The Tigerwallahs

2011-10-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

Full page comic in the newspaper Mint. Published Sep 12th, 2011. Link here.

The Red Dot

2011-09-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More activism

It gets more and more relevant in the light of recent news from the dark world of mining:

1. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Essar-GM-arrested-for-paying-protection-money-to-Maoists/articleshow/10141964.cms

2. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/goa-mining-scam-cm-kamat-under-scanner/187261-37-64.html

3. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ballerylike-mining-scam-unearthed-in-orissa/188072-3.html

India's poverty line

2011-09-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

The Planning Commission told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that anyone spending more than Rs 965 per month in urban India and Rs 781 in rural India will be deemed not to be poor. Updating the poverty line cut-off figures, the commission said those spending in excess of Rs 32 a day in urban areas or Rs 26 a day in villages will no longer be eligible to draw benefits of central and state government welfare schemes meant for those living below the poverty line.
From TOI.

A roadmap

2011-09-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read.

Ikeep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are Whatand Why and When and How and Where and Who. Rudyard Kipling

At the very best, The Great IndianClearance Sale is an art and design project that asks questions and visuallyexplores the environmental issues that affect all of us. The process has beenlive through blogging, Twitter and Facebook in the hope to inspire everyone toask questions and explore the world around us in newer and braver ways.

When we began we knew that every art anddesign project comes with an expiry date, but we said to ourselves, ‘not thisone!’. How could we ever stop asking questions?

And we won’t.

And we hope neither will you.

But at some point in time, The Great IndianClearance Sale will become irrelevant and boring, as it happens with art. Itjust fails to appeal to people. And sometimes the artist moves on.

But we hope that you will keep askingquestions. The wonderful reality of our times is that if you ask questions, you will find alot more answers than you ever did. And we believe that, people, armed with theright information will make better choices about their future.

Here’s a little roadmap for your adventurein information. We hope you will enjoy going on this adventure as much as wehave.

Monsanto's ad in the newspapers. Some questions.

2011-08-31T19:08:00.001-07:00

It seems to be a bit factually incorrect.
1. They say in the fine print about Bollgard making cotton resistant against pests.
But:
For the first time anywhere in the world, biotech agriculture giant Monsanto has admitted that insects have developed resistance to its Bt cotton crop. Field monitoring in parts of Gujarat has discovered that
the Bt crop is no longer effective against the pink bollworm pest there.
The company is advocating that Indian farmers switch to its second-generation product to delay resistance further.
-The Hindu, March 06, 2010

2. They throw in percentages like a number game. Since we are all educated, they should tell us what does 87% of Bt Cotton Farmers mean in numbers. We know for a fact that a lot of Cotton Farmers have committed suicide. So, going by this ad, of the remaining few 87% are leading a better life. Right?

3. GM corn and cotton are engineered to produce their own built-in pesticide in every cell. When bugs bite the plant, the poison splits open their stomach and kills them.
The Bt-toxin produced in GM plants, however, is designed to be more toxic and cannot be washed off the plant.
Flu like symptoms are now being reported by farm workers throughout India, from handling Bt cotton.
Studies has also shown Bollworms developing resistance to Bt toxin and becoming infinitely more dangerous and uncontrollable.
Add to this the fact that cotton is not only attacked by Bollworms, but about 160 other pests as well

4. And while we are at it, what about the fact that Bt Corn is a massive failure and is destroying whole crops?
http://money.cnn.com/video/markets/2011/08/29/mkts_midday_monsanto.cnnmoney/
and

5. 42.4 crore additional days of employment. The mind boggles. So let's break it down. If there were 500,000 Bt cotton farmers (unlikely), that would mean 840 additional days of employment for each one of those people. Anyone who has travelled to the cotton belt of India will tell you that if there is so much employment there, it certainly doesn't show. We are not good at Math. Someone, please help us out here.

How to manage our environment - 4

2011-08-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

How to manage our environment - 4. Lessons from real government policies and plans. (If they weren't true, they would be as lame as these cartoons.) Today's lesson from the wikileaks expose and the government’s BRAI plan. (Wikileaks on how US diplomats are promoting GMOs: http://bit.ly/pwini2 How Indian govt is sabotaging public debate on BRAI: http://bit.ly/nvWIeC )

Of foreign hand, circuses and other such.

2011-08-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge

Is that a foreign hand or are you just excited to see us selling India?

There is a foreign hand behind this uprising of people. There is no doubt about it. The government has been selling the nation to companies like Vedanta – foreign, Monsanto – foreign, POSCO – foreign. In fact the whole development model that the government follows is so foreign that people are really fed up and have taken to the streets. So, yes, there is a foreign hand. The movement is to take it out of the corrupt politicians’ a$$e$.

The Liberal’s view of the uprising – It’s a circus

Oh well, some of us are upset about the show and chaos and music and drums and tamasha. Well, guess what, that’s what a revolution in India would look like. Those sadhus and charlatans and unkempt people and crazy histrionics and Gandhigiri and all that is as Indian as you or me. When the revolution comes, these are the people we will be fighting shoulder to shoulder with. Let’s accept it. The revolution we read about in our books and saw in our minds will make for a great play and a great book. Let’s write that book. We’ve had enough of trashy literature anyway. Meanwhile, the real revolution in India will be non-violent and it will be fought on Gandhi’s principles. Nothing else will work in this country. Nothing else has.

Where were these people when other struggles were happening?

In their homes. Trying to figure out where the hell will they get their next dal and roti from. Trying not to eat tomatoes and cut down on onions. You think that is not a struggle? And these are the people who are out on the streets. How is their struggle to live a life any less than a Niyamgiri or a Dantewada?

Anna Hazare

In the last 65 years, this is the first time, and probably the second time in our history as India that one man has brought the entire nation together to fight against the disease that is eating the country alive. If you don’t see greatness in that, check your eyes and hearts for their expiry date.

Independence Day, India.

2011-08-14T17:39:00.000-07:00

Photograph: Deepak Dogra

Overcome by an overwhelmingly celebratory mood this independence day, we looked for ONE defining image of our country today. One image that would accurately describe the governance and the governed. One image that would define our development model. One image that is so 2011, that 2011 stops it its tracks and asks, where the hell did you get this mirror. We found the image! Happy independence day.

Bollworms and Ladders

2011-08-02T18:58:00.001-07:00

Go ahead, take a print out of the game and play. And if you think it is a one sided game, then raise your voice against it. Don't let people die in this game agri companies are playing with millions of farmers.

A bright and rosy death of our nations' food security.

2011-08-01T18:39:00.001-07:00

Project Sunshine, Golden Days, Rainbow, Golden Rays. Sound bright and optimistic? Brace yourself for the most important stories of this year. Which, if not paid attention to, will become the obituary of our nation's food security. (Click on the image to know more).

So what's going on?

2011-07-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

So, what’s going on with all of us? How is it so easy for a few corrupt people and a few corporations to take all of us for a ride and sell our land, our forests, our food, our common sense to the lowest bidders? We dug deep here’s what we found.

How to manage our environment - 3

2011-07-14T22:26:00.001-07:00

How to manage our environment - 3. Lessons from real government policies and plans. (If they weren't true, they would be as lame as these cartoons.) Today's lesson from the coal the hell out of India policy. WHich would make a single Indian state one of the world's top 20 emitters of carbon emissions. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/14/india-coal-rush?intcmp=122

The death of the environment ministry.

2011-07-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

Today you were killed by the government.
You had been in coma for years before. Until a man called Jairam Ramesh came and breathed life into you.
He said he was doing things “in enlightened national interest”. And he did. He thwarted Monsanto’s attempts at contaminating our biodiversity.
He said no to Vedanta who would have us believe that Niyamgiri was their jagir and the tribals their slaves.
This man tried. Failed. Stumbled. Bumbled. Got pushed over. Made mistakes. Did wrong. Did right.
He was a human after all. Standing in the crossfire between the development debate and the environmental concerns.
It’s a damn tricky place to be in. Try talking to your rich friends about tribals and mining and see how red eared and how blood pressured you become. And this man was making policies and making decisions that not only angered the rich friends and industry but the corrupt politicians as well.
And when they clipped his wings, he still pranced around, making noises.
Then, with one move they chopped off his head. And said they promoted him.
A country where the environment ministry isn’t the most important ministry has lost its bearings. To take away the ministry from a man who cared, is not promotion. It’s murder.
Of the environment ministry.
Monsanto, Vedanta, POSCO, you win this round. There is a chink in our armour.

Monsantorattus

2011-07-07T20:02:00.001-07:00

Public safety warning! A strange new breed of rat has been let loose in India and it feeds on the blood of the farmers and it can't be controlled by pesticides, because it makes them. And the rat has been seen and caught red handed flouting bio-safety norms and threatening India's food supply. http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/news/Monsanto-caught-red-handed-violating-rules/?src=snet

How to manage our environment - 2

2011-07-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

How to manage our environment - 2. Lessons from real government policies and plans. (If they weren't true, they would be as lame as these cartoons.) Today's lesson from the policy of moratorium on industrial pollution. http://downtoearth.org.in/content/gentle-critical-pollution

How to manage our environment-1

2011-06-30T09:49:00.001-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read.

Lessons from real government policies and plans. (If they weren't true, they would be as lame as these cartoons.)
Lesson 1, based on this report:
A High Powered Committee on efficient allocation of natural resources and telecom spectrum puts market above people: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/pay-and-take

TISS protests against the Great Indian Clearance Sale!

2011-05-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

TISS students protest against the great Indian clearance sale. Jairam refuses to listen. Stands firm on Jaitapur. Meanwhile Japan decides to back off nuclear energy. Wonder why they are so afraid? They should learn from India. (photos: Faiza Khan)

An adventure in information

2011-04-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

So here it is then: An adventure in information; our first publication. We asked a lot of questions and found some answers along the way. Here are some of them in this illustrated journey that took us into the heart of darkness and out of it. Hope it helps you on your little quest of finding out the truth.

‎Play Clan has very kindly agreed to stock our publication. You can get your copy at:
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You

2011-03-05T13:48:00.000-08:00

Turn up the volume.

Description: The Great Indian Clearance Sale isn't about the corrupt people. Not about Monsanto. Not about coal. Not about mining. Not about environmental disasters. It is about one person who will be most affected by it. You.

The monsters of consumerism.

2011-03-02T17:23:00.000-08:00

Consumerism sure is inspiring. Here is, hopefully what will become a series, an attempt at an animation. Our billionnaire honcho Ambani's home in Mumbai consumes as much electricity as 7000 families in a month. That's about 21000 people. A family of 5 consuming as much electricity as 21000 people? God help us.

Are you capable of selling your country? Test your IQ now and find out. Test 1: Endosulfan.

2011-02-24T16:54:00.000-08:00

Please click on the picture to enlarge and read the questionnaire.

Think about it. Why is Endosulfan not banned in this country? What could be the reasons?

You may want to read a bit of Wikipedia.

Or, find out more from Center for Science and Environment.

Or an article from one of the 72 countries which have banned it.

You can of course google it too.

The blood of elephants

2011-02-24T11:54:00.001-08:00

Where will we go when we have killed all the elephants? To the Siddhivinayak Temple and pray to Ganesha?

The Other India's 2011

2011-02-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

January

haunted by the ghost of the year gone

cold woebegones

hangover of consumerism

the corrupt plan their loots for the year

nothing about the next eleven months looks promising

something should disrupt the black

but nothing does

February

The corporate plunder

claws at the heart of my country

ghosts of the dead rise and question

the spring season in the capital

the nasturtiums in bloom

could almost make you come out

of your self imposed exile

and if you do

the mixed smell of diesel, blood and perfume

will intoxicate you

to a sleep that the 350 million

are only too content to sleep

Visions of a dystopian future

2010-12-23T06:17:00.000-08:00

Some thoughts on armchair activism.

Let’s sit down with a cup of coffee, shall we. Let’s not talk about anything. Let’s just look around, let the images and words and sounds make their way into our minds. And let’s rise above the noise of it all. What do you feel?

Here’s what I feel. Making my way through the alleys of noise, I find myself being dragged by the sounds of demented television anchors. Loud cacophony of news and views which are more manufactured than the sugary biscuits I munch with the coffee. In this struggle I realize the topic of our discussion is determinants of successful activism and the politics of new technology. And I laugh.

Activism. It’s a loaded word. Let’s google it. Here is what you get. The use of direct, often confrontational action, such as a demonstration or strike, in opposition to or support of a cause.

We will never get far with activism. We don’t need activism in this world. We don’t really have a cause we are fighting for. Or need to fight for. So, if you ask me what are the determinants of successful activism in new media, I’d say, the first step is let’s not talk of activism.

Here’s what I mean.

Have you ever over-eaten? Have you ever let yourself go on that chocolate for instance? How the euphoria that each taste bud feels and each neuron quickly conveys to the brain makes way for the sickly feeling of having overdone it? Dizziness. Nausea.

Now think of our world having over-eaten on the beautiful, delicious thing called profit. It was great in the beginning. Now we are over doing it. Agriculture, mining, industry everything is overdoing, overselling, over consuming the concept of profit.

Of course the dizziness and the nausea is being felt. Every time a Niyamgiri happens, every time a Monsanto tries to control agriculture of a country, you feel sick. It’s not natural.

But there are no villains. I am sure it’s not necessarily what we want, morally, but what we end up with. Profit, like chocolates, or alcohol, or tobacco is an addiction that is amazing in the beginning but eats away the body and the soul eventually.

So, how can you protest march against something we all are a part of? We all want a good life. We all want the luxuries of life. Yes, those who deny the climate change and those who are fighting tooth and nail about the destruction it will bring. We are all the same. We all want a good life.

But we are over doing it. We are getting obese on our concepts and hypnotizing ourselves to believe in them.

Look at the money being spent by oil companies to fund the climate denial lobby. Look at the money Monsanto and other such companies put out to bribe people and governments. Just to propagate what they believe in.

Just like any other addiction. Your mind will convince you to have another one of that drag, that chocolate, that pint. And you will give in.

Will a protest march against your own body help?

Will a protest march against Coal India Limited help when secretly we desire the profits from its oversubscribed issue?

Will a protest march against Vedanta solve anything, when they can buy and sponsor this march. Or just label it as ‘Naxal’ and have the police shoot at you?

The answer is no. Listen to it. It’s sounded alarm bells in your brain.

No to activism.

So how do we fight this then? How do we make that stand for a better world? Here’s my answer: common sense.

Common sense tells us, genetically modified crops cause genetic contamination. Monoculture kills biodiversity. Biodiversity is the key to the future. Hence, Monsanto can go take a hike.

Common sense tells us that the resources are not unlimited. That the destruction caused by mines in ecologically sensitive areas is far more than the profits the mine will bring on the table. Hence, Vedanta can go take aluminum overdose.

But the problem is, common sense isn’t so common these days.

Because we are living in a world where we are being fed on images and words and ideas by a few. How did we let them control what we feel about things? How does a few unintelligent newsreaders feed ideas into our perfectly capable brains? How did we as a nation allow an actor to tell us about the goodness of colas when science proved they had pesticides?

Common sense isn’t common these days, because we ceased to be a democracy. We live in a dictatorship of the market.

Everything is for sale in this country. From our morals to our land to our forests to our agriculture. And most people end up becoming sales agents of The Great Indian Clearance Sale. And those who are not, are classified as activists. A convenient label that takes the ‘common’ away from sense.

But look at the odds. If a Coal India Limited issue is oversubscribed at $3.2 billion, what will a protest march do?

If the most powerful man in the world is selling Monsanto to us, what chances do you and me have to tell people that GM Crops aren’t the way forward?

The truth is, we are staring blankly at an addiction we can’t control. A cancer that will eat its cure first.

So, why fight? Why try to make our lives miserable? Well, hold on to that thought right there.

Let’s talk about chocolates. Again.

How do you convince yourself not to eat so much of it again? Simple, really. You pile up facts about what it can do, you combine it with your experience and there you have it. Temptation vs Facts. Questionable vs Questions.

And in a world where almost all mainstream media is sold out to the companies, what’s your hope to gather facts, start conversations with people who feel that we have had enough of profit. That it is time Bill Gates shut his trap and Monsanto became a museum relic?

The answer is: social media.

The social media revolution is Gandhian by nature. Peaceful, non-violent and very, very effective.

You can force people do follow you by violence, But you can’t convince them, or make them believe. Social media is gentle persuasion. And over time it will turn the tide against the market forces.

But let’s digress and take a quick Chapati break.

The Indian bread that is staple food of a billion people. Rewind to 1857. Indians organized themselves for a fight against the British and till this day the fight continues between historians. Each wanting to outdo the other in putting a label to the revolution. Did I just say revolution? Well, there’s a whole lot which calls it nothing but a sporadic rebellion. Hard to digest. Unlike the amazing little chapatti. Which was used to mobilize people.

Here’s something from the internet http://www.chapatimystery.com/chapatis

The British feared that this news was spreading and the sepoys were mobilizing for a revolt. But how? They suspected that villages across India were using chapatis (flat, round indian bread) to hand-delivered from village to village – especially in Awadh and Bengal – to organize themselves. The secret paper messages were baked inside the chapati, they imagined.

Here’s an excerpt from Homi Bhabha’s essay, “In a Spirit of Calm Violence”, in Gyan Prakash (ed), After Colonialism: Imperial Histories and Postcolonial Displacements. Princeton University Press, 2001. pp. 332-336:

It is at the point of the omen’s obscurity, not in the order of the symbol but in the temporal break of the sign that the interrogative che vuoi of agency emerges: What is the vertiginous chapati saying to me? The “indeterminate” circulation of meaning as rumor or conspiracy, with its perverse, psychic affects of panic constitutes the intersubjective realm of revolt and resistance. What kind of agency is constituted in the circulation of the chapati?

It is at the enunciative level that the humble chapati circulates both a panic of knowledge and power. The great spreading fear, more dangerous than anger, is equivocal, circulating wildly on both sides. It spreads beyond the knowledge of ethnic or cultural binarisms and becomes a new, hybrid space of cultural difference in the negotiation of colonial power-relations. Beyond the barracks and the bungalow opens up an antagonistic, ambiguous area of engagement that provides, in a perverse way, a common battleground that gives the Siphai* a tactical advantage.

Give me a chapati and I will astonish the world.

Well, not really, no. The point is people always look for something where they can all connect. A truth which is universal. And that is the only successful determinant of successful – common sense revolution.

Isn’t it what social media is all about? Bringing people to a common place. Letting them have a conversation. Bridging distances. But can it become a vehicle of social change? Or is it just armchair activism?

To me, there is noting called armchair activism. It’s all a move towards achieving that critical mass. If enough people start feeling strongly about something, it will bring in a change. Slowly. But surely. The process is frustrating and painful. But here’s what will happen if more and more people start talking about an issue, and start discussing it. Armchairs or not.

Information will spread

Questions will be asked

Was Gandhi right about India?

2010-10-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read.

From the pages of our book: An adventure in information.
Time to ask the question and give a real good thought to Gandhian economics and perhaps start looking to it for solutions.

An adventure in information

2010-07-17T23:46:00.001-07:00

A 28 page adventure in information. If you'd like to get this Great Indian Sale book, write to greatindiansale@googlemail.com with your address. The first fifty mails will be sent a complimentary copy.

Water etc. A visual essay.

2010-07-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of things going on with the issue of water, water crisis, bottled water. Are those connected to other things? Placed some facts together, trying to connect the dots. Makes for an interesting read if nothing else. Click on the image to enlarge and read.

Mining happiness, or mining lies? You decide.

2010-07-01T09:52:00.000-07:00

Excerpted from CSE report on mining. Click on the image. Have a read. Think. Get Rich Land, Poor People from CSE.

Darkness at the edge of noon.

2010-06-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

A project for the Sambhavna Trust and the International Coalition of Justice for Bhopal: We want as many people in India as possible to send postcards to the Prime Minister of India reminding him that he and others have been blind to the sufferings of the victims of the Union Carbide Tragedy. The worst industrial disaster in the history of mankind.
This is the launch poster, which has postcards attached to it. You can pick a postcard, if you agree with the message, and post it to the PM.
The postcard project will go to schools and colleges and get students to design the postcards. We'll print and sell these postcards to raise funds for the Sambhavna Trust. And get people to post these cards to the PM as well.
December marks the anniversary of the Union Carbide tragedy in Bhopal. This year it will be the 26th year of being blind. We hope that we can open some eyes.

Tell us Prime Minister, did it hurt when they took out your eyes?

They must be gone because things that appal the rest of us, you seem not to see. You are blind to the agonies of 100,000 people who are still sick in Bhopal 25 years after Union Carbide’s gases leaked there.

Blind to report after report recording the presence of pesticides and heavy metals in soil and water, and blood, in wombs, and mother’s milk.

Blind to the children born blind, lame, limbs twisted or missing, deaf-mute, brain-damaged, with cleft-lips, cleft palates, web fingers, cerebral palsy, tumours where should be

eyes – the children of Bhopal. The living children. The stillborn often can’t be recognised as human.

You are blind to the Supreme Court order to provide clean water and the failure of officials to obey it. MP Chief Minister Babulal Gaur said there was no money for clean water, then unveiled a 600 crore plan to beautify Bhopal with ornamental fountains.

Where were you when Bhopali women brought their damaged children to your house? You had them arrested. The policewomen who led them away wept, but your blind eyes did not.

When they came to your office to protest, did you shut your curtains and say to yourself, ‘I am the Prime Minister of India. I do not have to see police kicking and beating children.’

Why are you blind to promises you made after the Bhopalis walked to Delhi in 2006 and 2008? Where is the Empowered Commission on Bhopal? When will you take steps against Dow Chemical, the owner of Union Carbide?

Why are you blind to the note from India’s justice ministry, holding Dow Chemical

liable for contaminating Bhopal? And for paying for a clean-up?

Why are you blind to Dow’s admitted bribery of Indian government officials?

You have proved yourself blind to justice, blind to honour, blind to decency, and to the suffering of the poor whom your high office binds you to protect.

Blind to everything but foreign dollars.

Prime Minister, can we get our eyes removed too? Because it is becoming extremely

difficult to see you ignore the truth and tell us, everything’s ok.

Greenwashing. It's so stupid, it's genius. - 2

2010-05-15T03:11:00.000-07:00

“WATER is to Coca-Cola as clean energy is to BP.” So declared Jeff Seabright in 2005, Coca-Cola's manager of environmental affairs, when asked about the firm's new global water strategy.
http://www.economist.com/business-finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=4492835

BP
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-05-12-bp-gulf-oil-spill-oil-corporate-greenwashing/

http://www.grist.org/article/2010-05-11-a-three-way-blame-game-in-bp-oil-hearing

Coke
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/homestyle/04/22/blacklash.bottled.water/?hpt=C2&imw=Y

http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article408788.ece

Vedanta
http://downtoearth.org.in/vedanta.asp

Dow
Run for water:
http://theyesmen.org/dowliveearth

Greenwashing. It's so stupid, it's genius.

2010-05-06T00:54:00.000-07:00

Here's the genius at work. Things that BP doesn't want you to know about the oil spill, or things it will get away with:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/05/7-secrets-bp-doesnt-want_n_563102.html#s87354

Let's try and get this right. Or left.

2010-04-07T22:20:00.001-07:00

“On a map of India, mark the districts in terms of forest wealth - where the rich and dense tree cover is found. Then overlay the water wealth - the sources of streams and rivers. On this, plot the mineral wealth - iron ore, coal, bauxite and all things shiny that make economies rich. Then, mark on this wealth of India, another indicator - districts where the poorest people of our country live. These are also the tribal districts of the country. You will find a complete match. The richest lands are where the poorest live. Now complete this cartography of the country with the colour red. These are the same districts where Naxalites roam, where the government admits it is fighting a battle with its own people, who use the gun to terrorize and kill. Clearly, here is a lesson we need to learn about bad development.” - Sunita Narain

So, whose water problem is it anyway?

2010-04-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

(This is an interactive article. The sentences marked in red will lead you to interesting links, videos and resources. Please feel free to use them in the war against the biggest crisis of our times.)

Those of us who buy bottled water without thinking twice should shut up about the water problem. We deserve it. And we deserve what is going to happen in the future. We deserve the water mafia. We deserve corporatisation of water. We deserve the foul smelling water dripping from taps. We deserve to pay a hundred times more for water. With every litre consumed.

Why, you ask.

For if we had questioned that why don’t we get clean water in our taps we would not be here in the first place - throwing our hands in despair while a handful of people hold our water supply to ransom.

Those of us living in cities where monsoon is aplenty deserve to pay hefty sums for water tankers and fill our tanks with worm infested water. We deserve the trickle supply from the municipal corporation.

Why, you ask.

Why indeed the question would come back to us. Why isn’t our building or house equipped with a water harvesting system? Who will come and do it for us? If we don’t know how water harvesting can solve our water problems, whose fault is it? We have access to more information than any other generation of people in any other age. What stops us from googling water harvesting and finding out just how we can benefit from it.

Those of us living in cities where rivers used to run fresh, deserve the gutters these rivers have become. We deserve the Yamuna and the Mithi and the Ganga and the Chambal. Polluted and out of breath.

We deserve the gutters and our complains should end up like bags of degraded plastic thrown in the river at 2000 per second.

Why, you ask.

Why indeed the question will fill our nostrils like stench. Why don’t we come out in numbers and protest. It’s our rivers. If the land mafia would rather they run dry then take the land mafia to task. If the industries would rather they carried effluents and not water, then let the industries know that there are far bigger things than profit.

Fresh water is disappearing fast from the face of this planet. And in India we used to have enough. We wasted it. We are wasting it. Millions of litres every second. There is only one thing we must remember. It’s not government’s water. It’s not municipality’s water. It’s not Coca-Cola’s water. It’s our water. It’s our problem. And we will have to solve it. Unfortunately it will require more than us using 5 litres less water every day. It will require us asking some serious questions. Addressed to ourselves, to begin with.

India Hour, anyone?

2010-03-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

Let’s switch off the lights

There seems to be nothing left to see here anymore. That the unsustainable mining is destroying the country and its ecology and its people has nothing to do with climate change.

That we are killing people so we can “mine happiness” has nothing to do with climate change.

That the tigers being hunted for Chinese libido has nothing to do with water scarcity has nothing to do with climate change.

That Coca-Cola destroying the groundwater has nothing to do with climate change.

That Monsanto is trying to sell GMOs in the name of climate change has nothing to do with climate change.

That our corrupt government officials are trying to introduce a Biotech Bill which will take away our right to protest, our food security has nothing to do with climate change.

That we are destroying our agriculture and then inviting companies like Monsanto to take over has nothing to do with climate change.

That while in the International Year of Biodiversity we are propagating GMOs which will destroy biodiversity and lead to monoculture has nothing to do with climate change.

That several hundred million villages in India go without electricity every day and that clean coal is being touted as the panacea to cure that problem has nothing to do with climate change.

Let’s switch off the lights.

And let us all feel glad that we did our bit for the environment.

Epilogue

Last heard Gurgaon in Haryana, India celebrated Earth Hour for 14 hours on March 22, 2010

The cola side of life

2010-03-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read

Our memories are so short. Recently a panel has asked Coke to pay 216 crores in damages to the environment. And people say Coke is being made a scapegoat.
Really?
Did you forget 2003 and 2006 reports of CSE? Have a look at this poster to read what happened in short.
And click here to read what happened then in words of Sunita Narain.
You will also find the detailed report of CSE's findings on their site. Have a look and open an ice cold can of worms. They are delicious.

Google Guerrillas

2010-03-01T09:02:00.000-08:00

What we did:
We looked for Niyamgiri on Google Maps and found it "belonged" to Vedanta. How ingenious. So we decided to tag the greenwashing. We added a review giving a viewpoint other than the companies' one. Then someone posted the Amnesty International report excerpt there. And then another one joined in. We hope it becomes a movement.

What you can do:
Look around you. Everywhere in the country there are environmental crimes happening. Take pictures, make videos, write, look for information. And tag the places on Google maps. So that when people are searching for the place, they can find out about what's happening.

Simply put: Name and shame the greenwashers.

Here is Niyamgiri on Google Maps: Click here to see the entry made by Vedanta and read the reviews. Express your opinion.
Go on, tag the greenwashers!

If you tag a place, let us know as well. We would love to see your work.

The right to freedom of speech and expression.

2010-02-19T03:11:00.001-08:00

Please click on the image to enlarge and read.

Stories you may want to read:
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/84730/LATEST%20HEADLINES/Govt+moots+jail+for+GM+food+critics.html

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?264220

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article107866.ece

The battle for our country's food security. And how it was won.

2010-02-12T21:30:00.001-08:00

A first hand report from the GMO battlefront, India.

For over six months now we have been deeply involved, as ordinary citizens of India in waging a war against the attempts of seed companies like Monsanto to control our food. Add Bill Gates to the mix and you have got a powerful mix of people and companies who will stop at nothing. With the kind of money and political power, it’s next to impossible to stop them.

First the facts: Patented gene technologies will not help small farmers survive climate change, but they will concentrate corporate power, drive up costs, inhibit public sector research and further undermine the rights of farmers to save and exchange seeds.

http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/10558-the-worlds-top-ten-seed-companies-who-owns-nature

Background: Bt Cotton

Armed with the growing power and a 26% share in Mahyco, it’s Indian counterpart, Monsanto unleashed Bt Cotton in India. PR, News and other media bought off, people started hearing how Bt cotton has been successful and made for amazing yields.
Till farmers started committing suicide. Today the numbers are placed at more than 200,000. The magical Bt Cotton was neither magical nor so Bt’ed with common sense. Predictably, the secondary pests developed a resistance and started creating havoc.
But the company had paid off the top politicians and greenwashed, blackwashed, bloodwashed the case of Bt Cotton.
Find out more about this humanitarian, ecological, environmental disaster of Bt Cotton here: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/farmersSuicidesBtCottonIndia.php

Bt Brinjal

So in 2009, the GEAC (Genetic Enginnering Approval Committe) gave the go ahead to the world’s first genetically modified food that was to be directly consumed by humans - the Bt Brinjal. Also known as eggplant and aubergine.

Dr. Pushpa Bhargava was a member of the GEAC. A renowned microbiologist, Dr. Bhargava expressed shock at the approval.
Greenpeace, I am no Lab Rat, Krishi Virasat, Vandana Shiva, Gene Campaign and many others launched a campaign protesting the decision.
Millions of educated Indians got into the act.
And within 72 hours, our environment minister, Mr. Jairam Ramesh’s offices was flooded with over 70,000 faxes and thousands of emails, saying Bt Brinjal must not be approved.

But it was the citizens of India who took it upon themselves to protest against this environmental colonialism. Thousands of letters from housewives, students and just about everyone poured into Mr. Jairam's office. From all corners of the country.

Never before was such a spontaneous environmental protest seen in this country’s history. Jairam Ramesh put off the decision till February. He said he would travel around the country and hold a series of public consultations. He would take the opinion of people, scientists and farmers.

Monsanto-Mahyco had politicians by their side. The science and technology minister of India, the agricultural minister of India came in defense of Bt Brinjal. Said it was harmless.
With all the power in their hands, Monsanto thought it had the game in control
Except they made a little mistake. They hadn’t realized that bigger than money, bigger than politics, bigger than anything else is something called the country.
It was India’s food security at stake and people came out in millions and took a stand against this blatant attempt at a new kind of colonialism.

And the Indians fought a pitched battle against Monsanto and their allies. Watch videos and see reports here: http://greenpeace.in/safefood/

Blogs like this were continuously giving out information which the mainstream media and newspapers refused to cover. http://greatindiansale.blogspot.com/search?q=bt+brinjal

The protest was democratic. More than 100,000 people around the country fasted in protest against Bt Brinjal on Martyrs Day - 30th January (anniversary of Gandhi’s assasination)

It was found that the politicians in favour of Bt Brinjal were singing Monsanto’s tune. In fact, they were quoting form Monsanto’s publicity material. Independent scientists wrote to the PM pointing out how promotional material of a pseudo-scientific organization funded primarily by Monsanto had found its way into government briefings on GM crops:
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?264220

In the consultations, Monsanto brought in paid stooges to pose as farmers that supported Bt brinjals. They made a noise alongside scientists on Monsanto’s payroll. Which scientist would say things like: "people want new technology like iphone so why not btbrinjal?"
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15498385

And then the decision came in. India said no to Bt Brinjal.

Here is one of the most brilliant and transparent reports by a politician we have ever seen: http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article103839.ece

pdf: http://bit.ly/cbncBl

Read every word. It sets s precedent for the world trying to fight the GMO Battle.

Every word of it proves India is a strong democracy. And every word of it proves that science was being hijacked by the GMO companies. (Bad, inadequate research: http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/11932-the-inadequacy-of-gm-brinjal-food-safety-studies-dr-judy-carman)

This was a victory of science.

As the Scottish Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said
"We know very little, if anything, about the long-term effects of growing GM crops. To take risks with our natural environment is wholly indefensible and irresponsible. We simply cannot afford to take risks with untested technologies.

"We are ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with other nations who are opposed to GM and fight for what our people want. It is clear that concerns about GM exist in the developing, as well as the developed world, and I am pleased to see that the Indian Government has listened to public opinion."

The battle of the brinjal has been won. But the war continues around the world.

CONTAMINATION ALERT!

Contamination alert RT @GMWatch: URGENT: Immediate confiscation & destruction of all #Btbrinjal seed stock demanded http://bit.ly/bnzBJt

Further reading:

Monsanto on Monsanto: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main43.asp?filename=Ne200210go_aheads.asp

All the answers to questions like will GMOs solve world’s hunger?
http://greatindiansale.blogspot.com/2009/10/great-indian-lab-rat.html

Sunita Narain on the decision: http://www.business-standard.com//india/storypage.php?autono=385392

photo courtsey: The Hindu

An open letter to Shri Jairam Ramesh

2010-01-15T21:06:00.000-08:00

Dear Sir,

Please accept my congratulations on initiating a public dialogue on Bt Brinjal. What you have done proves our democracy is healthy.
However, I must bring to your notice some valid concerns regarding Bt Brinjal.
To sum up: Here is the situation. A whole lot of scientists are against Genetically Modified Food.
Many are in favour of it.
Those in favour say GM Foods are harmless.
But it’s not proven.
It would take years to find out the real effects of GM Food and then only they should be ‘unleashed’ on humans. If at all.
But why are the companies that make GM Food are in a hurry to get them approved?
Because with climate change they have an excuse of solving the food crisis. But that’s a tall claim and should be well tested.
Or it would mean compromising on our health, our country’s food security, and destroying small farmers.

After doing an extensive study, I list forth some key points that the GMO companies have put forth. And their point by point rebuttal from top scientists around the world.

What the companies say: There is no evidence that presently developed GE foods are harmful to health and environment.
Deceptive. The truth is that there is no scientific proof that the GE foods on the
market are harmless. There are studies, however, that are pointing out to the harmful effects. The Guardian reported that British scientist Dr Arpad Pusztai findings showed that rats fed on GM potatoes (both raw and cooked) after 10 days suffered a weakened immune system as well as severe impairment in the development of the internal organs such as heart, liver, kidney and even the brain.
Environment: The research to investigate long term environmental effects would take many years in each single case of genetic engineering. An expert appointed by the European Parliament to assess this issue concluded: "Our current knowledge does not provide us with the means to predict the ecological long-term effects of releasing organisms into the environment. So it is beyond the competence of the scientific system to answer such a question..."

What the companies say: GE-foods will save the world from global famine through greatly improved crops.
The report from International Assessment for Agricultural Science and Technology for Development, initiated by the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, and conducted by 400 scientists over a period of three years, acknowledges that GM crops will not play a substantial role in addressing the key problems of climate change, biodiversity loss, hunger and poverty. “The future of farming lies in a biodiversity and labour-intensive agriculture that works with nature and the people, not against them.”
This report has been endorsed by the Government of India.

What the companies say: This is nothing new. Mankind has been modifying genes since thousands of years in breeding.
In mating, a chromosome from the mother is combined with a chromosome of the father. The sequence of DNA "code words" in each chromosome remains unchanged. And the chromosomes remain stable. The mating mechanism has been developed over billions of years and yields stable and reliable results.

In genetic engineering, a set of foreign genes is inserted haphazardly in the midst of the sequence of DNA "code words" (in this case in the DNA inherited from the mother. The insertion disrupts the ordinary command code sequence in the DNA. This disruption may disturb the functioning of the cell, and make the chromosome unstable in unpredictable and potentially hazardous ways.

Are long term tests really possible on GM Crops?
Agritech companies such as Monsanto, Pioneer and Syngenta don’t let their seeds be tested. For a decade their user agreements have explicitly forbidden the use of the seeds for any independent research. Under the threat of litigation, scientists cannot test a seed to explore the different conditions under which it thrives or fails. They cannot compare seeds from one company against those from another company. And perhaps most important, they cannot examine whether the genetically modified crops lead to unintended environmental side effects.
Research on genetically modified seeds is still published, of course. But only studies that the seed companies have approved ever see the light of a peer-reviewed journal. -
Scientific American, August 2009

Sir, we respect you and know that in the light of all the valid criticism against Bt Brinjal, you will impose a moratorium on it, till it proves to be safe.

Kind regards,

Wow! A "public" consultation on Bt Brinjal.

2010-01-13T22:53:00.000-08:00

Some news reports from Kolkata:

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Decision-on-Bt-brinjal-likely-by-Feb/567032/

http://www.ptinews.com/news/467339_Ramesh-loses-his-cool-during-debate-on-Bt-Brinjal-in-WB

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100114/jsp/bengal/story_11982382.jsp

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/High-drama-at-BT-brinjal-public-hearing/videoshow/5441646.cms

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Discussion-on-Bt-brinjal-hits-the-road/567150/

A collaboration with the legendary Indra Sinha

2009-12-31T20:27:00.000-08:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read.
Copy: Indra Sinha, The Great Indian Clearance Sale
Art and Illustration: The Great Indian Clearance Sale

A few writers can make people as uncomfortable with their words as Indra Sinha. And when he saw our Bhopal appeal, he thought it could be infinitely more powerful with facts about the tragedy. Here it is then: An open letter to the Prime Minsiter. Published in Bhopal on the 31st of December. Hope the nation sees the truth.
More on Bhopal by Indra Sinha:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/04/bhopal-25-years-indra-sinha
http://www.greenworld.org.uk/page189/page189.html

Did it hurt when they took away your eyes?

2009-12-09T05:58:00.000-08:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read.

Read the fantastic Down to Earth story here: Subterranean Leak.

You: Sold!

2009-11-23T10:51:00.000-08:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read.

Our favourite magazine Down to Earth speaks our language! The November 30 cover story is a powerful expose on how environmental clearances are being given with total disregard to sense, rules and everything else. The great sale is on, and unfortunately, they are selling you. Find out how. Read the Down to Earth story here.

I've seen the future, brother: it is murder.

2009-11-19T07:45:00.001-08:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read.

The shit, as the say, is going to hit the fan in December. If you read the text on the image you will know why. Here is the full report.

And here are the reasons why you must oppose GM Food. Because if you don't there is going to be nothing left to oppose. We lose our food security, we lose our sovereignty.

But the future does look bleak. We at The Great Indian Clearance Sale have tried to bring you facts that you do not notice otherwise. What you do with the facts, is up to you.

The Great Indian Lab Rat

2009-10-26T14:32:00.000-07:00

Please click on the image to enlarge and read.

It's simple really.
The pro GM Food lobby says GM Good is harmless.
Concerned scientists say, there is no proof it is the case. In fact, their independent researches show that indeed GM Food is harmful and may cause irreversible genetic contamination in the food and environment.
There is only one way to find out. Conduct proper long term tests.
And not introduce GM Food till then.
Introducing them without proper testing, will be undemocratic and inhuman.
We are no lab rats.

In the above poster, when you click and enlarge it, you will find arguments used by the GM Food companies. Beneath each of those is also a rebuttal to those arguments, as presented by scientists around the world. Read and think about it.

Most importantly, please write to the Prime Minister of India and register your protest. Also cc it to the environment minister, Shri Jairam Ramesh. He has invited public opinion till December 31, 2009.

Here are the mail ids of our respected minister: jairam@vsnl.com, jairam@sansad.nic.in, mosef@nic.in

PROTEST WITH ONE CLICK

You can also click and register your protest here with I am no Lab Rat.

or here with Greenpeace.

Here's some more information:

Do we really need GM Crops to solve world hunger?
A recent article in National Geographic says that sustainable agriculture and not GM Crops is the solution.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/cheap-food/bourne-text

And here is a brilliant debate in the New York Times. The best minds debate the issue - Can bitech cure world's hunger:
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/can-biotech-food-cure-world-hunger/

We need proper tests:
Gene flow from Bt brinjal to wild relatives, if commercialized, would therefore be virtually certain. Whether the Bt gene becomes a permanent part of the environment in India would then depend on the properties of the gene in the wild plants–something that cannot be predicted without performing tests. No such tests have been performed according to the records available.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11611:gene-flow-testing-for-bt-brinjal-useless-expert

But are these tests possible?
Agritech companies such as Monsanto, Pioneer and Syngenta don’t let their seeds be tested. For a decade their user agreements have explicitly forbidden the use of the seeds for any independent research. Under the threat of litigation, scientists cannot test a seed to explore the different conditions under which it thrives or fails. They cannot compare seeds from one company against those from another company. And perhaps most important, they cannot examine whether the genetically modified crops lead to unintended environmental side effects.
Research on genetically modified seeds is still published, of course. But only studies that the seed companies have approved ever see the light of a peer-reviewed journal.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=do-seed-companies-control-gm-crop-research

Why Bt Brinjal is no solution.
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/bt-brinjal-is-no-solution/532815/2

Vandan Shiva on Bt Brinjal
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/trouble-on-the-plate/532814/

The case against GM Crops which answers many questions.
http://www.sgr.org.uk/GenEng/CaseAgainstGMcrops.html

Harassing Farmers
The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) rejected four key Monsanto patents related to genetically modified crops that PUBPAT challenged last year because the agricultural giant is using them to harass, intimidate, sue - and in some cases literally bankrupt - American farmers.
http://www.pubpat.org/monsantorejections.htm

So what's the climate action day all about. And why Indians should stand up and be counted.

2009-10-22T01:01:00.000-07:00

October 24th. The International Day of Climate Action.
You have heard about it. You have seen the 350 banners. You have seen the Indian newspapers flimsily mention it.
So what's the big deal?
Well, for starters, this is the revolution we have been waiting for.
We always say, politicians are corrupt and won't do anything for our country.
We always say, oh but what can people do?
Two words. Civil Disobedience.
Two days from now, the people of the world will gather together, from wherever they are, and stand united. There will be millions of voices demanding a fair, ambitious and binding deal on climate change.
No bullshit. No false solutions. No political nonsense.
Our climate is not their business. And this is what October 24th is all about.

So what happens if Indians don't stand up and be counted?
We make a statement that we don't care. And that, friends, is an open invitation to a lot of bogus solutions like 'clean coal' and 'carbon trading' and 'GM Food' which will be sold cheap to willing buyers. And if the country of Gandhi doesn't care about civil disobedience, it becomes an easy prey to hawkish businessmen and politicians setting out ot make a quick buck. You have all seen how powerful the Bt Brinjal / GM Food lobby is. Wait till you see the clean coal brigade. It's got greedy governments on its side.

It's our future at stake here. And which is why stand up and make yourself be counted. Let's add a couple of more thousands to the number if not millions. It will be a start. Remember, Copenhagen is not about the governments, it is about us. And seeing all the people around the world coming together, it's already successful.

Onwards and upwards!

350.org PowerPoint Slideshow

View more presentations or Upload your own.

You can catch the latest on the biggest civil disobedience movement in the history of the world, here:

Click here for climate justice action:

Because the world needs to know:

Are those brinjals in your brain, or are you just happy to read this post?

2009-10-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

Screw the science.
That’s the rule, the climate sceptics, companies and their lobbyists seem to play by.
And then one day this happens.
A Monsanto owned company files a report saying how good Bt Brinjals are. Also known as GM foods and so on.
A committee approves the report and lo and behold the Bt Brinjals get an, dramatic music please, environmental clearance!!!

What a dark day for India.

And many such dark days later, Bt Brinjal will be unleashed upon Indians. The first food crop to be tested on humans, anywhere in the world.
All in the name of climate change – lack of food – the immense power of GM Crops logic.
Of course, Europe has banned GM Food. There are massive protests in America. But India, as always remains open for exploitation.
Because our minister says: there are arguments for it, and there are arguments against it. And we will decide once we have looked at all the arguments.
So, what have we been doing all these years?

Let me present some quick facts.

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC, the clearing house for all gm crops in India), has cleared Bt brinjal on the basis of test results submitted by seed company Mahyco, which has developed the crop.

Mahyco is owned by Monsanto.

Activists managed to get their hands on Mahyco’s test results through a Right to Information petition. They sent the results to several independent scientists for review. Two scientists got back. Their analyses showed inconsistencies in Mahyco’s interpretation of the test results.
They also showed the tests were inadequate.

Mahyco claimed it did not find any significant difference between Bt brinjal and non-Bt brinjal in the biosafety tests. The company said it carried out toxicity and allergenicity studies on rats and its impact on soil microbes. It also assessed the impact on beneficial insects and the environment. Based on these, the GEAC cleared them for large-scale field trials. But the data is generated and analyzed by the company itself, said Suman Sahai, geneticist and convenor of the non-profit Gene Campaign. “There have been instances when companies have fudged data for obvious reasons.”

But our minister says: there are arguments for it, and there are arguments against it. And we will decide once we have looked at all the arguments.

This is no college, and we are in no classroom debate session. This is about the health and safety of a billion people. This is about food safety. This is about food standards. And if you don’t know how harmful genetically modified crops are, even after there is so much science that proves it, say so. Admit that you have been ignoring the overwhelming proofs against GMOs. Do whatever, but don’t pass that law which will cause an irreversible damage to our country, our environment, our health and our food security.

And if a debate really helps, I invite our environment minister to an open public debate on the issue. I am no scientist. I am an ordinary Indian, but I have something that will make me win this debate.

It’s called common sense.

Here are some questions and their answers. Click on the links. And you too can invite the environment minister for a nice little debate.

But first, write a letter to the environment minister. Please. Click here.

(Click on the questions to know the answers. Open in a different window)

Does India need GM crops? Are they safe? How much does the consumer know?

Biotechnology has failed in the world, why promote it here?

What are the health hazards, and how does it affect the land and environment?

What's the risk factor? And, isn’t it about MNCs continuing with their monopolistic hegemony by selling GM seeds in third world countries?

Why I still oppose GM Crops?

To hell with GM Crops. How can organic farming stop global warming?

Write a letter to our environment minister. Please.

2009-10-14T04:46:00.000-07:00

Sir,

It is heartbreaking to hear that Bt Brinjal has been given an environmental clearance.
Around the world, there is genuine opposition backed with facts that GM food is dangerous. We request you to please stop it from being introduced in the country.
Our country does not need GM food. In fact, the world doesn’t need GM Food.
We wanted to put a counter argument here against GM food, but we are sure there will be many qualified people who would present a solid case against it.
Here is a Center for Science and Environment report on the same:
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20090415&filename=news&sec_id=9&sid=42

Sir, as Indians and as a citizens of the world, we humbly request you to please not introduce GM food.

Sincerely,

Here are the mail ids of our respected minister: jairam@vsnl.com, jairam@sansad.nic.in, mosef@nic.in

The anatomy of our greed

2009-10-09T06:52:00.001-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read. The poster is based on Arundhati Roy's various essays, Shoma Chaudhary's brilliant articles in Tehelka, and common sense.

Just think about this before you start shouting like a television anchor who is baying for blood:

The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution grants tribals complete rights over their traditional land and forests and prohibits private companies from mining on their land.

Human rights activists have long argued that the real intention of the Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh was to capture tribal land — brimming-rich with minerals — and hand it over to private companies. The fact that 600 tribal villages have been evacuated in the last few years gives credence to this theory. If tribals no longer live on that land, the inconvenient Fifth Schedule of the Constitution will not apply.

-From the powerful story in Tehelka by Shoma Chaudhary. Click here to read.

About time you read the Fifth Schedule?

Here's a bit more on it.

Here is Arundhati Roy's powerful essay on which this poster is based.

Read it word for word. It will open your mind.

And here is the interview every Indian must listen to. They have a transcript for you to read as well.

From the interview:

AMY GOODMAN: Arundhati Roy, we just have less than a minute. What gives you hope?

ARUNDHATI ROY: What gives me hope is the fact that this way of thinking is being resisted in a myriad ways in India, you know, from the poorest person in a loincloth in the forest saying, “We’re going to fight,” right up to me, who’s at the other end, you know. And all of us are joined together by the determination that, even if we lose, we’re going to fight, you know? And we’re not going to just let this happen without doing everything we can to stop it. And that gives me a tremendous amount of hope.

That says it all, doesn't it?

A public service announcement

2009-10-04T10:54:00.001-07:00

Click on the image to read

The Great Indian Sale is offering a free check-up for you and your loved ones. Just spend a little time on this blog. Look up at some of the posters, read a few links. If at the end of it, you do not feel outraged enough at what is happening to our country, then the monster may have already eaten away your soul.

But there is a way to reclaim it. If you really want to, that is. It's going to be tough, but you need to start asking questions. For example: Why do I think going to a mall is a perfectly healthy exercise, when I KNOW going to a park will be better for me?

This will lead to the second question: What the hell happened to the parks?

And the third: What about the forests?

And the fourth: And the rivers?

The next step is a bit obvious. Take these questions to those people you have elected. You are paying their salaries.

We have surveyed and found that there is an alternative to reclaiming the soul too. It's making extensive trips to malls and spending as much money as possible. Just stuff the emptiness left by your soul with burgers and colas. It's working with a lot of us Indians it seems.

Here's a little link for you to think about: George Monbiot talking about climate change and why not to blame the poor for it.

And in the specific Indian context, you may want to see this wonderful video by Greenpeace:

Anyone for a revolution?

2009-09-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

Some images from our second entry to the EJC competition. Please read the entry here, and leave a comment, start a debate. We should discuss the ordinary Indian citizen's point of view at this international forum.

Will COP 15 change anything?

2009-09-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

TH!NK2 Climate Change is a 3 month blogging competition with a focus on UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) in December 2009. Some 90 bloggers from 43 countries, including all 27 EU Member states, India, China, Brazil and the USA, the world's biggest players in climate policy, will come together on the European Journalism Centre's thinkaboutit.eu platform, to exchange ideas and debate the issues of climate change.

Here is The Great Indian Clearance Sale's entry into the competition. Have a read and leave a comment on what you think. Click here.

Find out if you have the virus. Take the Bhopal Gas Tragedy test.

2009-09-15T08:59:00.001-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge it, and take the test.

Shri Ramesh says: the greenery around the abandoned premises of Union Carbide was better than most other places, and asked “Would it have been (so) with all the toxicity around?” Hope Mr. Ramesh is aware tht even Chernobyl site is teeming with nature but still not fit for humans http://bit.ly/3k4vDw

“I went inside today, touched toxic material and I am alive. I am not
coughing,” Jairam Ramesh on visiting Union Carbide Factory in Bhopal.
He also "advised" 25 years after thetragedy, it was time to move on. Really? http://www.alternet.org/environment/20627?page=1

Here's the latest report from Center for Science and Environment which shows just how contaminated the water and soil is, in Bhopal.
http://downtoearth.org.in/webexclusives/story1.htm
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal:

http://bhopal.net/

Reports in Hindu:

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article19277.ece

Times of India:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Bhopal-gas-victims-burn-Jairams-effigy/articleshow/5011375.cms

Indian Express:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/truth-about-bhopal-gas-leak-tragedy-uncomfortable-says-jairam/516435/0

Frontline story about TATA and Dow:

http://www.thehindu.com/fline/fl2402/stories/20070209001704300.htm

Paint it black

2009-09-08T08:56:00.001-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read.

You have been saying a couple of things about this blog.

You say, this is too pessimistic.

You say, tell us the solutions.

You say a lot and don't do much.

Alright. Here's a deal. We are going to tell you what to do about the fact that the food you are eating is poisoned by genetically modified ingredients.

And we are going to tell you about what to do about the toxic paint you have been putting on your walls.

But first, you must know about these two things in detail.

Here's the first one. About food.

Greenpeace released this study today and it tells you the brands which use those sick ingredients. Click here. You know you want to. To make it easy we are making the whole damn line clickable. Click and download the report and read it. Remember it's the food you eat. Every single day.

And then number two.

The toxic paint you have been putting on your walls. Which causes stunted growth in children. Ironically, they use cute kids to sell you those paints. Click here to see the report. Damn, you have to read it and it's hard work. But hey, it's the children!

And now, what to do. Let's make this simple. You know the culprit brands. You are too lazy to write to the ministry. So here's what you can do in one easy step.

Boycott these products.

Surely, you don't want to bring home poison and feed it to yourself and your kids. Or, are you o.k doing it?

Now, don't start whining.

A call to arms

2009-09-01T08:22:00.001-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge.

Will anything positive come out of Copenhagen? The answer is a well known one. It is a resounding "no!". Even as you read this, powerful lobbies are at work, stuffing governments with money and ill-logic. By December, all the selling and dealing will be done. And there will be no remarkable solution, no powerful legislation. Just empty promises.

Then why are we fighting?

Because Copenhagen is not about the government and not about the lobbyists. It is about us. 6 billion of us. It is about making each one of us aware and informed about the dangers we agce as a planet. So we can say NO and STOP to the industries and the businessmen and the governments.

There is no army, no government, no lobby in the world that can stop 6 billion voices.

This is a call to arms.

Talk about the issues that face us. Discuss them. Spread the word. And start making a stand. If we are to die, let us do that with honour. And not with carbon footprints on our faces. That is an ugly death.

Here are a few links that will tell you how to get involved. Click on each to know and see some amazing things.

24th October. Day of Action. Don't forget.

Greenpeace: 100 days to save the climate

The Age of Stupid. A film that MUST be screened.

Watch HOME on your computer. A film by Yann Arthus Bertrand.

Here is an interesting idea.

And here is a countdown clock to Copenhagen. Which you can download from here.

And if you have any doubts, watch a 13 year old speak:

Hello, tiger conservationists

2009-08-26T06:18:00.001-07:00

The death of the tiger points to a bigger, more sinister problem. The problem of people’s rights caused by our greed for land, and hunger for money. And the ease by which the creators of this problem divert our attention.

In the name of development we are violating human rights with an abandon only seen in savages of past. While poor people are being driven away from their lands, all sorts of justifications are available.

If Vedanta wants a tribal hill, it is necessary in the name of development to drive tribals out of there.

If Tata wants a factory land, they are given fertile land and farmers driven away from it.

The tiger is on the verge of extinction. And who do we blame? Tribals.

While the tribals right to forest bill has been passed (and diluted), the dissent in tiger conservationists voices is apparent. They have been crying hoarse that the tribals should be driven out of these forests.

And most of us believe and buy that argument.

It’s too easy to believe. Tribals crowd the forests, hence tiger dies. Foolproof.

Or, is it?

Here is an amazing story of how tribals and animals co-exist. And why we must go back to their culture if we want to preserve our country.

http://infochangeindia.org/Environment/The-paradox-of-environmentalism/The-tribal’s-right.html

The tribals aren’t stupid people. Their knowledge and ways of co-existence with the environment is what we need.

People’s rights to their land and environment are not conflicting issues. The conflict is brought about by corporate greed. And the blame falls on indigenous people.

In this confusion caused by short term solutions, we will not only lose the tiger, we will lose our country and all that it ever stood for. To the lowest bidders. The Great Indian Sale is on.

Don’t let them tell you that tribals are the sole reason for tigers going extinct.

http://infochangeindia.org/Agenda/Reporting-conflict/Is-it-really-tiger-vs-tribal.html

The Down to Earth story about tigers:

http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/node/40407

And some more news on the Forest Rights Act:

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20080131&filename=news&sec_id=4&sid=1#

And here's how they kill animals for fur in China. If you read the Time magazine story here, you can well imagine this is what the poachers do to the tigers in our own backyards.

So you'd rather save water when it comes to a choice?

2009-08-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

Just in case you didn't notice, according to NASA's new and detailed study, North India's groundwater levels are depleting rapidly. "If measures are not taken to ensure sustainable groundwater usage, consequences for the 114 million residents of the region may include a collapse of agricultural output and severe shortages of potable water."
Oh and tigers are about to become extinct.
So what's the relation between tigers and water? Click on the poster to read. This isn't fiction, this is science. You may recognize the logic from primary school.

Happy Independence Day

2009-08-12T14:43:00.001-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read.

Every day, every single minute a poor farmer is being driven away from his land. His land is being given to corporates to build malls, industries and other temples of development.A Buddha statue is to be installed at the cost of $250 million dollars. It will displace 2990 families. Where will they go? Will they ever get compensated? Has anyone ever got compensated?

This Independence Day let’s stop saying everything is going to be alright.

No it will not. Unless we start questioning our systems in larger numbers than we have ever done before. Make use of RTIs. Question. Question. Question. And if you don’t get answers, demand them.

This Independence Day let’s stop saying everything is going to be alright. This Independence Day, let’s start making things right.

The Land Acquisition Act is dispossessing millions of Indians of their homes, their basic human rights. And that’s neither pessimistic, nor optimistic. That’s plain and simple reality.

This poster is based on a powerful Tehelka story by Magsaysay Award winner, Sandeep Pandey. Click to read it.

A little idea to help bring electricity to villages.

2009-08-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to read the idea in nice big font and see the images.

India is making all kinds of noises about climate negotiations. No, we won’t do it. The west will have to pay. Alright. The west should pay. Agreed. And what are we going to do with the money? Invest in alternate energy, clean energy. Yeah right. And how are we going to do that?

Let’s take wind energy for instance. For years now it has been sucked dry due to corruption. And the government can’t do better than to make committees which investigate how the wind turbines blow away the monsoon clouds. Did they employ kindergarten students in that committee? And what was the result? How dare politicians make such comments in the first place? We should have an immediate IQ assessment test of our leaders.

It’s been said here, and we will say it again. We need to cap corruption to stop climate chaos. Carbon’s got nothing to do with it.

Here’s the full story on wind energy. Do yourself a favour. Read it and start asking questions.

And while our rich look at wind energy as an ‘alternative’ way to save taxes, the poor of the world by their ingenuity are building wind turbines and generating their own electricity. See the amazing video below. If the poor of India were to do that, guess what would happen to them? They would be bollocked into jails and branded as anti-social elements.

Fairy Tales we will be telling our children

2009-08-02T14:12:00.001-07:00

You can read the fairy tale if you click on the image and make it bigger. And should you feel you can't read it, it is reproduced below in three parts, which you can click and read. And fresh off the press is a "proof" of this fairy tale: click here.

Animal Farm

2009-08-02T01:05:00.000-07:00

Forget carbon emissions, India needs a cap on corruption to fight poverty.

2009-07-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read.

It would almost seem that India was really serious about tackling poverty the way it is rebuffing the world leaders. We will not cap carbon emissions, we have gone and thundered to the world. Like not capping carbon was the magical cure.
Boom! In a momentous explosion of soot and dust and CO2, India will gain its place amongst the decadent. We will too have a lifestyle to feel screwed about. We will build temples of consumption, more temples that is. There are already a zillion malls. And we will eradicate poverty.
Boom! Like that.
But.
What about thousands and thousands of crores of rupees that are required to alleviate poverty, that are already there. They just vanish in the black holes of corruption.
(More than 100,000 crores rupees every year are consumed by hungry officials.)
And that is the reason why poverty is never going to be eradicated from this country.
Carbon’s got little to do with it.
If we don’t cap corruption and we refuse to cap our emissions we will be left with one of the most corrupt and one of the most polluted countries in the world and a planet in peril.
Correction. An even more corrupt and an even more polluted country, and a planet even more closer to annihilation.

Read about the rice scam and the coal import contract in the latest issue of Outlook.

Here is the farmer scam in detail. 82,000 crores! What are the politicians doing with all this money? Buying mountains in Switzerland so they can shove them up their wrinkly behinds in their old age?

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne180709the_rat.asp

Here are some very inspiring warriors fighting against corruption. Join them if you are clueless as to what to do about the problem.

JN Jayashree is married to a bureaucrat who has spent his career protesting against bribery and swindling in government practices. When she started to fear for her husband's safety, she decided to start up a blog to protect him and document their anti-corruption movement.

http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=479&catID=1

And here is a unique concept called Zero Currency. They print zero currency notes so that if someone asks for bribes, you can hand over zero rupee notes to them.
http://zerocurrency.org/

You can download the zero currency notes here:
http://india.5thpillar.org/ZRN

As always a little google will help you find scores of others. Unless you are happy to breathe the monoxide and call it development.

If you love the Himalayas, well, too bad.

2009-07-19T08:29:00.001-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read.

Himalayas. Our last escape. Every one of us runs to the hills to get a sense of life and reality.
Over the last few years haven’t we all noticed how the Himalayas are being eaten away? There has been a rumble of construction in ecologically fragile areas. There has been much too much garbage strewn around hopelessly.
There has been dams which have come up without any environmental clearance. And you didn’t know that perhaps, there are plans afoot to build a massive ski village (which will use acrylic to make snow, hurray!) that will host winter Olympics and some such. The grandson of Mr. Ford is involved in that, no less.
The truth is, we can say goodbye to the Himalayas.
While we were busy “raiding da Himalayas”, they were busy being sold off.
Forest fires were busily ‘degrading’ forests. Poachers were busy ringing death knells in the night of god knows how many species.
So unless you want to go to the Himalayas and spend time in swanky malls, there isn’t much hope left for you.
Before I forget. Some years back a Delhi girl landed up in Kasauli and looked around and asked, incredulously, what…no McDonalds?
Here are a few links. Just remember, the news is all around you. Look for it in places you don’t look for. We are sure, if you know what is going on, maybe, maybe you will act.
Unless you are desperate for a Chicken Mc Nugget in the valley of flowers.

Ps: before you see how we are destroying the Himalayas, here is a little paragraph on how “environmental clearances” are being attained for everything:

http://tehelka.com/story_main41.asp?filename=hub310109environment_clearence.asp

Are we destroying the Himalyas? Hydro-electric projects in Himalayas

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-bin/blogs/voices.php/2007/11/13/are_we_destroying_the_himalayas

Himalyan Ski Village in Himachal

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/ski-village-in-himachal.html

In Arunanchal 104 large hydroelectric projects of a cumulative capacity of 55,556 MW coming up:
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main38.asp?filename=cr120408rumble_jungle.asp

Dam on Ganga riverbed govt announces pilot study

http://www.livemint.com/2008/11/12230236/Govt-announces-pilot-study-on.html?d=1

Happy reading.

An open letter to our environment minister.

2009-07-12T11:55:00.001-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge and read the letter.

Don't look for links to get convinced. Look around you. Everywhere. The evidence of what polythene bags do is staring at your face. And if you must, watch this one video:

The poor little rat.

2009-07-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More agent orange

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW FULLSCREEN

All that you wanted to know about GM Crops but were too unconcerned to ask.

2009-07-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge.

Let’s play a little game.
Let us give you a bumper crop or two and make you rich for a while. In exchange, we will only control your food industry, your farming and agriculture.
No, this isn’t a game called SUCKERS, this is the reality of GM Crops.

If your crop fails, buy more seed from us. Sell something and buy it. Your house, your land. Sell it. C’mon.
Didn’t we tell you, GM Crops are seedless. We control them. You will have to buy them from us again and again.
And when pests develop resistance to them, we will sell you another improved version!
So goodbye to small farmers and hello to corporations. Five or so companies will control the food supply of this planet. Including your country.

The company which controls GM Crops is a company called Monsanto. Yes, the same company behind such amazing inventions such as Agent Orange.
Agent Orange is the code name for an herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War.
4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects.

Oh but you don’t care. You are a city slicker and why would you bother about farmers? Did we ever tell you about genetic pollution and how easily it would affect your health? Why should we? Google it and it’s all there.

Here is a little video of someone you don’t pay much attention to. Only if you did. Oh, only if you did, our sale would never take off.

Here are a few links that if you bother to read will make you aware of our nasty little plan. Don't say we didn't tell you.

Why are farmers committing suicide and how can we stop this tragedy?

Biotechnology has failed in the world, so why promote it here?

And a couple of links on how Monsanto swindled India with the 'magic' Bt Cotton.

http://www.scidev.net/en/features/gm-in-india-the-battle-over-bt-cotton.html

http://www.grain.org/btcotton/?id=398

Since this post was written, there have been remarkable developments. Monsanto recently admitted that BT Cotton has developed resistance to bollworms. So they are now selling a new version! More in this TOI report:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bt-cotton-failure-a-profit-ploy/articleshow/5673195.cms

Worried about power cuts? They will soon be solved.

2009-07-01T05:21:00.000-07:00

The Great Indian Clearance Sale is on and the only thing in short supply is common sense.

We are getting away with this delicious sale because no one in our country listens to sense. Here are two people who can lead us into the future with our heads held high, but then, we love hanging our heads in shame don’t we?

First up, here is Sunita Narain:
Another big-ticket concern is dryland and rainfed agriculture. Most of India today, after years of public investment in surface irrigation structures, remains dependent on increasingly variable rain. The monsoon is the true finance minister for most poor Indians. We must recognize multipurpose agriculture as practised in dryland areas—combining coarse cereals with animal care and its products all mixed with off-farm products like artisanal craft—is one way to build affordable and resilient economies. Today our policies discount and destroy these local economies. Tomorrow, our strategies must build on their strengths. For instance, fiscal policies must recognize crops that minimize the use of water—more crops per drop —and include ‘coarse’ cereals in the public distribution system. Simultaneously, we must build local water security, to enhance productivity. We must do this not by increasing costs of cultivation but reducing costs and investing in resilience.

Here is the powerful editorial:

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/editor.asp?foldername=20090615&filename=Editor&sec_id=2&sid=1

The dispossessed in India have nowhere to go to. Vandana Shiva

If you have THREE minutes of your precious time, here is another amazing lady, Vandana Shiva. You will see how the west will sell us clean coal and other such, and we will lap it up, and we will get sold:

Oh and while you are on the internet, why don’t you check out some other videos of Vandana Shiva, and read what Ms. Narain says.

Good luck, if you don’t.

Delhi's water problems? This is how we did it.

2009-06-27T07:16:00.001-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge.

Do you think we should also start the business of water tankers? They are pretty popular in Vasant Kunj. We will infest the water with less worms. White, wriggly worms. Promise! You will have to pay a little more for the water though.
Now, if you have time read a few links that pay tribute to our treacherous minds:

http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/taxonomy/term/1266

http://downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20090215&filename=news&sec_id=4&sid=4

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Govt-nod-for-DTC-parking-on-Yamuna-flood-plain/480102/

Here is our CM saying Yamuna cannot be cleaned before the games. Ha! Ha!

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cant-clean-up-yamuna-before-the-games-says-sheila/480493/2

Double Speak

2009-06-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

So much for the green Commonwealth Games, Yamuna and our insatiable stupidity.
Here are a few links:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Govt-nod-for-DTC-parking-on-Yamuna-flood-plain/480102/

http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/taxonomy/term/1266

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/india-to-host-green-commonwealth-games_100201381.html

And here is Double Speak on the issue of “Degraded Forests”.
Which one do you believe?

1.
I believe forest cover is better than monoculture plantations, for the former are multi-layered eco-systems. Our first challenge is to preserve the existing forest cover, roughly 24 percent, and to improve its quality. Nearly 60 percent is degraded forests, which we must improve to high-density forests. That will have a tremendous impact on carbon sequestration. But India’s targetted 33 percentgreen cover can only come from afforestation.

Jairam Ramesh in an interview to Tehelka. Here is the interview:

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=hub270609the_forest.asp

2.

Bloomberg cited Mr Jairam Ramesh environment minister as saying that India will expedite environmental approvals and allow mining in degraded forests to double the nation’s coal output.
Mr Ramesh said the country needs to increase coal production to 1 billion tonne in the next 7 years to feed new power plants. He said “Our power plants won’t materialize unless we produce a billion tons of coal.”
He said “As far as we are concerned, all degraded forests are go and all medium or heavy density forests are no go.”

Is anyone listening? Hello?

Our customer service

2009-06-23T07:31:00.001-07:00

And here are the links. The news has been staring at our faces all along. Maybe we did not notice enough:

Criminals in 15h Lok Sabha

and

Dynastic Politics

Selling now: Forests

2009-06-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge.

Here are the facts:

No such thing as a degraded forest exists. Even in the terminology of the Forest Survey of India. But of course, if we 'degrade' the forests, it's easy to exploit them.
So lo and behold, we have 'degraded forests'.
Common sense tells us that we need forests. So what does it take to 'upgrade' forests? Do we have so much green cover that we can do away with 55% of our forests that our environment minister says are degraded?

Here are a few links:

http://bit.ly/xF6fh

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090620/nation.htm#7

and

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090619/main5.htm

An excerpt:

Sunita Narian-led Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and the National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers (NFFPFW) say the expression ‘degraded forests’ was unclear and ambiguous, thereby making the decision controversial.

NFFPFW forest rights activist Souparna Lahiri termed it the move as a “preemptive kind of comment”. “The minister said around 55 to 60 pc of the forestland is degraded. I don’t know whether the data he is quoting is correct.”
As per Forest Survey of India classification, said Lahiri, no terminology as ‘degraded forest’ existed. “Forests have been classified as open forest, dense forest and very dense forest.

The Great Indian Clearance Sale

2009-06-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to enlarge

SALE: Orissa
BUYER: Vedanta

Interesting interview:
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main39.asp?filename=Ne310508cover_story.asp

This is where you will find how Vedanta manufactures lies and feeds them to the ever so hungry government:
http://www.survival-international.org/behindthelies/vedanta

Here are the orders of the government clearing the way for Vedanta:
http://downtoearth.org.in/vedanta.asp
Check out the pdfs for the official documents. They are an amazing read.

Of course, if you google it, you will find more truths about how we sold Orissa to this company.

If you are interested in bringing your evil empire to India, flouting environmental norms, or crushing people's rights, please feel invited to our great country. The Great Indian Clearance Sale is on. And we are selling everything.

The Great Indian Clearance Sale

The Urban Dream

The year of asking questions

The ghosts of the whistleblowers

The curious case of food safety and factory farming.

The poverty line.

The Tigerwallahs

The Red Dot

India's poverty line

A roadmap

Monsanto's ad in the newspapers. Some questions.

How to manage our environment - 4

Of foreign hand, circuses and other such.

Independence Day, India.

Bollworms and Ladders

A bright and rosy death of our nations' food security.

So what's going on?

How to manage our environment - 3

The death of the environment ministry.

Monsantorattus

How to manage our environment - 2

How to manage our environment - 2. Lessons from real government policies and plans. (If they weren't true, they would be as lame as these cartoons.) Today's lesson from the policy of moratorium on industrial pollution. http://downtoearth.org.in/cont​ent/gentle-critical-pollution

How to manage our environment-1

TISS protests against the Great Indian Clearance Sale!

An adventure in information

You

The monsters of consumerism.

Are you capable of selling your country? Test your IQ now and find out. Test 1: Endosulfan.

The blood of elephants

The Other India's 2011

Visions of a dystopian future

Was Gandhi right about India?

An adventure in information

Water etc. A visual essay.

Mining happiness, or mining lies? You decide.

Darkness at the edge of noon.

Greenwashing. It's so stupid, it's genius. - 2

Greenwashing. It's so stupid, it's genius.

Let's try and get this right. Or left.

So, whose water problem is it anyway?

India Hour, anyone?

The cola side of life

Google Guerrillas

The right to freedom of speech and expression.

The battle for our country's food security. And how it was won.

An open letter to Shri Jairam Ramesh

Wow! A "public" consultation on Bt Brinjal.

A collaboration with the legendary Indra Sinha

Did it hurt when they took away your eyes?

You: Sold!

I've seen the future, brother: it is murder.

The Great Indian Lab Rat

So what's the climate action day all about. And why Indians should stand up and be counted.

Are those brinjals in your brain, or are you just happy to read this post?

Write a letter to our environment minister. Please.

The anatomy of our greed

A public service announcement

Anyone for a revolution?

Will COP 15 change anything?

Find out if you have the virus. Take the Bhopal Gas Tragedy test.

Paint it black

A call to arms

Hello, tiger conservationists

So you'd rather save water when it comes to a choice?

Happy Independence Day

A little idea to help bring electricity to villages.

Fairy Tales we will be telling our children

Animal Farm

Forget carbon emissions, India needs a cap on corruption to fight poverty.

If you love the Himalayas, well, too bad.

An open letter to our environment minister.

The poor little rat.

All that you wanted to know about GM Crops but were too unconcerned to ask.

Worried about power cuts? They will soon be solved.

Delhi's water problems? This is how we did it.

Double Speak

Our customer service

Selling now: Forests

The Great Indian Clearance Sale

How to manage our environment - 2. Lessons from real government policies and plans. (If they weren't true, they would be as lame as these cartoons.) Today's lesson from the policy of moratorium on industrial pollution. http://downtoearth.org.in/content/gentle-critical-pollution