India’s Forests Thrive Under Maoist Control

Hindustan Times, posted on Indian Vanguard, December 1, 2009

Naxal Areas See Green Cover Rise

New Delhi: The good news: India’s forest cover increased by 728 sq km between 2005 and 2007.

The surprising news:  While the overall increase was marginal, there was a big rise in green cover in the tribal areas of many Naxal-affected districts in Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

Of the 728 sq km of new forest area, 690 sq km lay in 188 tribal districts, according to the India State of Forest Report, 2009, released by Environment and Forest Minister Jalram Ramesh on Monday. Orissa’s forest cover increased by 100 sq km and Jharkhand’s by 172 sq km. Bastar and Dantewada, Naxal-hit districts in Chhattisgarh, got greener too. Korba district in the state was the exception, though, and its decline was blamed on mining.

Forest cover fell in tribal-dominated Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland too because of a surge in shifting cultivation–a tribal practice of taking up new forest areas for farming once production in existing areas falls.

“We don’t know the impact of Left-wing extremism on bio-diversity,” Ramesh said. A study can be conducted on the Nagarajuna tiger reserve (Andhra), once under Naxal control.” Unlike Brazil and the US, there is no continuous monitoring of forests in India.

Tribal districts constitute 33.64 per cent of India’s geographical area but contribute 59.72 per cent to its forest cover. Seventy-five million tribals depend on the forests for their livelihood.

Recognising this, the government in 2007 implemented the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act. It told Parliament on Monday that the states had distributed 5.68 lakh land titles till October and another 24.90 lakh claims were pending. It also said Naxal-hit Andhra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal had done a “good job” in distributing land to tribals.

52 Billionaires Control 1/4 of India’s Gross Domestic Product

Mukhesh Ambani, worth 32 billion dollars

Abhi Says, November 29, 2009

Richest persons in India

According to the latest report by Forbes Magazine, India is home of 52 billionaires. Last year, there were 27 billionaires in India but this year there are 52. The combined fortune of India’s 100 richest persons is $276 billion which is almost equivalent to one-fourth India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

In this list, Mukesh Ambani (CMD Reliance Industries) is at the top position with net worth estimated at 32 billion USD. His brother, Anil Ambani is at third position whereas Lakshmi Mittal is on second position in the list. Software czar, Azim Premji is at fourth position with net worth estimated at 14.9 billion USD.

Bollywood Set to Release “Red Alert-The War Within”

Maoist cultural team, an antidote to Bollywood

Judging from two articles posted below, “Red Alert” is part of the Indian media offensive laying the groundwork for Operation Green Hunt. The movie premiered in July 2009 at the Stuttgart Film Festival. See the two minute trailer at: Red Alert the Movie

Bollywood Movie Shows the Solution to Naxal Problem

Hip Hop Gossips

There are many problems that government faces every time like Naxal and Maoist problem. But the Govt. has not been able to find a satisfactory solution to resolve these problems. But it seems that Bollywood has an answer to these problems.

From long time Bollywood has produced movies on many serious issues like corruption, bad politics and Naxal problems. Through these movies directors have tried to bring out a solution to end the war between the government and the Naxalites. Usually in the Bollywood movies, an angry hero destroys a complete mass of terrorists.

To uplift such courage in our security forces and people against Naxal terror, Ananth Mahadevan has made a new film ‘Red Alert – The War Within’. The premier of the movie will be held at the 40th International Film Festival of India.

The movie ‘Red Alert – The War Within’ is the story of a poor cook Narsimha (Suniel Shetty) who delivers food to the Naxal people. Narsimha lives in a Naxalite territory, Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh. Eventually he joins the Naxal people.  One day Narsimha saves the lives of two school kids in a Naxal attack on the school. Unhappy with Naxal philosophy, Narsimha decides to stop the bloody war once and for all. Narsimha kills the Naxal ‘dalam’ leader and captures the police mission. Mahadevan told reporters that, “The idea for the film came from a newspaper report. Its headlines said: “We both fired, he missed, I didn’t.” The report was about a poor farmer who goes on to kill a Naxal leader after being trapped in the movement.”

Suniel Shetty who played the main character of Narsimha said he did a “lot of homework” for the movie. He also said, “The Maoists are not revolting against the country. It is the system they are not happy with.”

According to the director Ananth Mahadevan, he has “made an honest film, which does not cater to the Hindi formula”. Talented actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Seema Biswas and Vinod Khanna have played major roles in the movie.  The movie will release in January 2010.

Prachanda on Drafting New Constitution

Nepal News, December 1, 2009

Maoists to ensure timely drafting of new constitution: Dahal

The remark from the Maoist supremo comes at a time when his party itself is accused of causing delay in constitution writing process due to their continued obstruction of the parliament which has contributed to the prevailing political stand-off.

He said that his party will ensure the timely drafting of the new constitution and logical conclusion of the peace process by shattering the dreams of the forces for status quo who want the continuation of “old Nepal”.

Dahal also regretted the delay in the formation of a High Level Political Mechanism to give a way out to the political deadlock in the country. He said that the delay was caused by conflict within other political parties, chiefly UML and Nepali Congress where leaders are seen divided over the issue.

The former guerilla leader also likened the current government to a “passing cloud”, which will soon clear.

“This government will topple soon and a new government will be formed under Maoist leadership,” he claimed.