July 2007 Edition
Aga Khan seeks private sector led peace
Umesh Anand
Kabul
AKHTER Rezai is 24 years old. Five years ago all he would have had on his
mind was survival and escape from a part of the world so caught up in the
turbulence of war that it did not seem to have a future. But now Akhter
supervises a call centre at Roshan, Afghanistan’s leading mobile phone company.
He wears a coat and necktie and speaks with practised formality..
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Partha Majumdar
Kolkata
GROUPS cutting across activist and political positions met in Kolkata from June 2 to 3 to oppose Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The turnout was not huge but it was significant that people came from all parts of the country. “We could not bring in people from the SEZ affected areas because the cost implications were unmanageable,” said Sumit Choudhury, one of the organisers of the All India Convention on Nandigram and SEZs.
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Samita Rathor
THE law of the country forbids any form of cruelty towards animals. Under
IPC 428 and IPC 429, killing, poisoning and maiming an animal is punishable.
The Prevention of Cruelty towards Animals Act was passed in 1960.
Despite our laws, the unofficial way of killing stray animals includes clubbing,
electrocuting, burning alive and stabbing, to name a few.
The Hindu belief of the sacredness of animals is a dominant and beautiful
aspect of its culture. Hinduism has many animal deities.
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Severine Fumoux
New Delhi
THE Salaam Balaak Trust (SBT) started their City Walk programme
in April 2005. Their office, a few yards away from
New Delhi Railway Station, is an oasis for street children
ensuring them safety, education and a vocation.
All the guides for the walks are rescued children. As you stroll
around the railway station and through Paharganj’s myriad lanes,
you get to see the city through the eyes of a lost street child.
The idea of the walk came from John Thompson, a British
volunteer. It provided him an excellent excuse for teaching
street children spoken English and communication skills.
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Vidya Viswanathan
New Delhi
MURALI Srinivas is an entrepreneur who has recently incorporated Tripod Housing, a company that will build houses for lower income groups (LIG)
and the economically weak sections (EWS). Tripod will initially construct
400 sq ft apartments adjacent to industrial areas in Hyderabad and Dehradun.
Srinivas is raising Rs 4 crore through equity for the project, and is investing Rs
25 lakh. Srinivas claims that he can give a 50 per cent return on the invested
amount in two years.
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Aditi Sharma
Heiligendamm, Germany
WHY are AIDS and public health activists crying foul at the G8's generous
pledge of $60 billion to fight diseases such as AIDS, TB and malaria?
Leaders of the eight richest countries meeting in the German seaside
resort of Heiligendamm from June 6 to 8, seemed to give considerable thought
to the infectious diseases that claim more than six million lives every year and
are devastating communities and economies, particularly in Africa.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who chaired the summit, accorded a
prominent place to Africa and AIDS on the official agenda even though the
leaders had assembled to mainly discuss ways to promote growth and stability
in the world economy.