Safe Pregnancy and Birth mobile app now available for Android phones #Mothersday


In honor of Mother’s Day, we’re proud to announce that our Safe Pregnancy and Birth mobile app is now available for free as a beta release for Android phonesClick here to download it now from the Google Play app store.
  In January, we released our app for iPhones; click here to download it from the Apple store.
If you don’t have an Android or iPhone, you can preview the app here.
Our app is the only comprehensive app on pregnancy and birth developed specifically for low-resource settings. Life-saving information is presented in clear, accessible language rich with illustrations, and an intuitive and friendly navigation—perfect for working with community health workers or midwives with varied literacy levels.  As always, we welcome your feedback.
Hesperian’s other women’s health resources are available in English and Spanish in our bookstore and in our new HealthWiki digital format.
Honor your mother with a Gift of Health

Give a Gift of Health on Mother’s Day. Click here to send free copies of Hesperian health guides to mothers and midwives who cannot afford to buy them.  Include your mother’s e-mail address and we will send her an e-card notifying her of your gift! For mothers who prefer regular mail, let us know by Wednesday, May 9th, and we will send her an illustrated card.

Empowering Mayan midwives in rural Belize

May 7, 2012

I went to Punta Gorda, Belize Central America to train Mayan women to deliver babies in their communities using Hesperian’s A Book for Midwives. Punta Gorda is a town in the southernmost part of Belize with a small hospital. Around the town are numerous Mayan villages. There is a bus service that goes two days a week to most of the villages, but for obvious reasons that is not a reliable way to get to medical help when a woman is in labor. Some of the villages might have one person who owned a truck and they soon became tired of being asked to transport people to town. They were especially leery of women in labor who might deliver in route and make a bloody mess in the process!

The 14 women who attended my training were selected by going to each village and holding meetings. This process took several trips. The first to see if there was an interest and try to set a date and time to return and hold the meeting. The next to actually hold the meeting and then another to follow up. That is if everything went smoothly, which of course was not always the case. In some villages one woman was selected and in others two and in others none. I wanted the women to do the selecting themselves. The midwives would serve their village and I wanted to empower the women by allowing them to decide who they wanted to be trained. Each village ultimately handled this process a little differently. Some wanted men and women to attend the meeting. Some already had selected someone when I returned to meet with them. The village of Jalacte had an especially large turnout and was the only village to hold an election were each women cast a ballot. In the end I had 14 woman who wanted to be in the midwife training.

I started with the first chapter of A Book for Midwives and worked my way through the book. Most of the women in the class were not midwives but wanted to learn. A few had helped at a small number of births. Alfonza, the oldest in the group, had been to lots of births but was afraid to say so at first not knowing if she might get into trouble. As time went on I gained her confidence and we became fast friends. I especially liked it when she would contribute to the discussion and it would be something that we both had experienced at a birth.

I often made comments such as, “This is what I was taught” or “This is what I have seen,” then I would ask if they had a different way of doing it or a different understanding. I felt like it was important to not make the women feel like I thought I was smarter or better than them. I think that this was a good approach and that the women opened up to me and trusted me.

In this part of the world, women are not given a lot of power. Many of them were not used to making decisions for themselves. They were often told what to do by their husbands and people in power. I found the chapters on step-by-step thinking, intuition, creativity and thinking about risks and benefits to be very helpful in teaching them to make decisions.

Many of the women had very little understanding about how their bodies work and how things look on the inside, so the chapters that covered those subjects were also very valuable.

In addition to class room time, I set up a schedule to go to each village and do prenatal checkups with the students and the pregnant women of the village. When I arrived for the first prenatal in the village of San Pedro I was met by two of my students who came running to my jeep waving their arms and shooting, “She is in labor, she is in labor, come quick!” We proceeded to the home of one of the women who we were supposed to be doing a prenatal exam on and sure enough, she was in good strong labor. Instead of a lesson in prenatal care, we had a lesson in childbirth! She delivered a healthy baby boy a few hours later to everyone’s delight.

At our next day of class all the women were abuzz with the story about the birth. We were off to a great start.  The subject for this class was danger signs to watch for during pregnancy, like the signs and symptoms of pre-eclampsia. At the end of class, one of the women came to me and told me about a woman in the village neighboring hers who she was worried about. She was expecting her 9th child and was “all swelled up.” We decided to go to her village next. It turned out that my student was correct, the pregnant woman did have a lot of swelling, her blood pressure was very high, she was experiencing headaches and to make matters worse, it had been raining so much that the road to her village was almost impassible. Soon buses and cars would not be able to get to her village. We decided that the best thing to do would be to transport her.  The hospital decided to do a cesarean section and delivered a 9 pound baby (see the photo of the mother and her newborn baby above).

I heard many stories about breech babies dying while I was in Belize. Often the baby was alive when the feet and body were born but those in attendance would watch as the pink, kicking, limbs turned blue and stopped moving. The head was entrapped and by the time they were able to free it the baby was dead. I knew that the women of the villages would not call the midwives for the easy normal deliveries but would call them when there were problems. For this reason I thought that it was especially important to teach how to handle complications and how to deliver twins and breeches.

Eulaya in the village of Jalacte, which is located far from the hospital, was one of the Mayan women that I trained. The first two babies that she delivered were breech. Both babies survived. Eulaya has gone on to deliver many babies and to be looked up to by the women in her village.

Vicenta loved her copy of A Book for Midwives which soon became dog eared from studying it. She called me one day because she needed help transporting a women who was not due for another month but her water had broken and labor had not started. She was concerned that infection would set in if something wasn’t done. She had to walk from her village where there was no phone to the neighboring village to make the call. At first the hospital would not send an ambulance to pick up this woman so Vicenta called me to see what I could do. With some persuading I was able to convince the hospital to send an ambulance to pick up the pregnant woman and bring her to the hospital. Sure enough, Vicenta was right, the water was broken. At the hospital her labor was started by induction and mother and baby both survived.

One week later another woman in Vicenta’s village started bleeding early in her pregnancy. The bleeding was more than usual and wouldn’t stop. Vicenta again walked to the next village and this time when she called the hospital they knew who she was and they went right away to transport the woman who was bleeding. By this time the woman had lost so much blood that she was barely conscious, and needed a blood transfusion as well as a D&C.

I think that there is a great need for trainings like this one and that A Book for Midwives is an excellent manual for traditional birth attendants and community midwives.

Sincerely,
Deborah Flowers CPM, RN

Read original article here

Jharkhand- 300 tribal children march to Raj Bhavan to save their Land


Children’s plea to Governor: Don’t take our land to build IIM

 

By Newzfirst Correspondent5/8/12

RANCHI – More than three hundreds of tribal children today marched to the Raj Bhavan demanding immediate intervention to stop the ongoing forceful land acquisition by state government to build the Indian Institute of Management and National University for Study and Research in Law (NUSRL) campuses.

The march has come out as the part of Kakenagri villagers struggle to save their fertile agricultural land that is being acquired forcefully by government of Jharkhand to build Indian Institute of Management and National University for Study and Research in Law (NUSRL) campuses.

Children of age 5 to 13 years belonging to the victim families in their hand-written memorandum to the Governor appealed, “We the small children of Kakenagri village are very much worried to see our parents struggling to protect the agricultural land. It is being taken away forcefully from them at the gun point.  Lands are source of livelihood for us. Because of this land they are able to feed us and able to send us to schools. We request you to kindly stop the acquisition.”

Read more here

 

Huts of Adivasis set ablaze- Shining India ?


KHAMMAM, May 8, 2012

Staff Reporter, The Hindu

Demolition drive against illegal structures in reserve forest

Helpless:Forest personnel torching huts that came up in the reserve forest land near Vagoddugudem village in Khammam district. (Right) Displaced tribal families taking shelter under the trees on Monday.— PHOTOs: G.N. RAO

Helpless:Forest personnel torching huts that came up in the reserve forest land near Vagoddugudem village in Khammam district. (Right) Displaced tribal families taking shelter under the trees on Monday.— PHOTOs: G.N. RAO

A strong posse of forest personnel allegedly raided a temporary tribal habitation and set ablaze ten huts of impoverished Adivasis near Vagoddugudem village in Aswaraopeta mandal on Monday.

According to sources, a team comprising 30 forest personnel headed by Dammapeta forest range officer U. Koteswara Rao allegedly demolished the huts of the Adivasis at the latter’s temporary habitation near Vagoddugudem in the afternoon. The forest personnel allegedly torched about ten huts as part of the demolition drive.

The inmates of the huts, mostly the labourers enrolled under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, were away from the habitation at the time of the raid. An old woman, who was present in one of the huts at that time, made repeated attempts to dissuade the forest personnel from demolishing the huts, but in vain, sources added.

Meanwhile, CPI (M) division secretary Pullaiah condemned the raid. Speaking to The Hindu , he said it is inhuman to torch the huts of the impoverished Adivasis. The personal belongings of some of the Adivasis were gutted in the incident, he alleged and deplored that the hapless Adivasis were rendered shelterless following the demolition drive. The displaced Adivasis should be rehabilitated and paid compensation, he said.

Cases pending

When contacted, Dammapeta forest range officer Koteshwara Rao said only a few huts were demolished as part of a drive to evict the dwellers from Lankalapalli reserve forest area. We have carried out the demolition drive only after removing the personal belongings of the dwellers, he said adding that several cases were pending against the dwellers of “illegal structures” erected in the reserve forest area.

 


 

  • Inmates of the huts, mostly labourers enrolled under MGNREGS, were away at the time of raid
  • The displaced Adivasis should be rehabilitated and paid compensation, says CPI (M) leader

Immediate Release- Police atrocities on Farmers on Rise in M.P


PRESS STATEMENT

  • Police Atrocities on the Farmers and Nature Based Communities on the Rise in Madhya Pradesh

  • One Killed in Police Firing in Raisen; and 53 Arrested in Anuppur while protesting Land Acquisition

New Delhi, May 8th : Farmers and those dependent on the land and other natural resources are constantly at the receiving end of the police violence these days. Land conflicts are the order of the day and it seems they are here to stay given the corporates hunger for the land, water and forests for commercial exploitation and profit. We strongly oppose and condemn any such forceful acquisition of these scarce resources from people by the government and corporations. NAPM has demanded and continues to struggle for the repeal of the Land Acquisition Act and enactment of a national Development Planning Act. The proposed Bill which is now with the Parliamentary Standing Committee doesn’t address all the concerns raised by us, hope the Committee will take note of the suggestions given by us. India as a nation can only have a healthy growth and development if we look after the interests of the farmers, peasants, landless workers, dalits, divasis and those living on the margins of the society.

Police Firing in Raisen

We strongly condemn the death of Harisingh, 35-year-old former sarpanch, yesterday while a group of farmers blocked traffic in Raisen protesting the suicide by another farmer a day before and shortage of gunny bags. Bhagwan Singh Rajput, a farmer who was not able to sell his wheat for past several days, committed suicide in Barni Jagir village of Raisen on Sunday. It is ironic that while the farmers continue to die the state and central governments rather than providing relief and taking action are blaming each other. Farmers have been agitating since April 16th on this issue but finally it is the death of farmers which has nudged the governments to act. It is extremely unfortunate that the dead body of Mr. Harisingh was not handed over to the relatives after post mortem and police in their presence burnt it on their own. The situation is tense in the villages since police is making arrests and has imposed curfew in the region.

Police Action in Jaithari, Anuppur

In another instance on May 5th, farmers protesting against the forceful land acquisition and demanding higher compensation and jobs for the land acquired for the 1200 MW Moser Baer Thermal Power Plant in Jaithari Tehsil were lathi charged and arrested. Nearly 27 people have received serious injuries and many more are injured. Farmers here have been agitating against the land acquisition for a long time under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Union. The land was acquired from the farmers at the rate of Rs. 65,000 per acre, whereas, the farmers have been demanding a much higher compensation rate. There have been ongoing negotiations but the company has failed to keep the agreement. Jagdish Singh, Rampal Singh and 16 more have been slapped with serious charges under Section 307 and others, while more than 150 people have been arrested.

Mose Baer is currently developing the first phase of 1200 MW (2X600 MW) for which it has acquired 996 acres of land including 93.6 acre of forest land. In the second phase they intend to add 1320 MW additional capacity. It needs to be noted that Anuppur district has a high tribal population (36.4%) and as per the clearance given they need to seek forest clearance under EPA, settle the rights if any under FRA. The Environmental Clearance was also challenged in the High Court citing irregularities and non-compliance with the PESA provisions since the land is in 5thSchedule. Anuppur is a water stress region but even then a thermal power plant of this magnitude has been sanctioned. The EIA report mentions that the 290 families will be displaced by the project but the status of Resettlement and Rehabilitation is also not known till date.

We believe there is a need to do a thorough review of the project, resettlement and rehabilitation, settlement of rights of the adivasis, if any, and pay adequate compensation to the farmers and others who have lost their livelihood due to the project.

Even as we denounce the heavy handedness and the police action against protesters we demand action and a judicial enquiry in both the instances and adequate compensation to the victims and stop harassing the farmers and unconditionally release all those in jail. It is unfortunate that while MP Government claims to be bringing in prosperity for all but the farmers and nature based communities continue to suffer due to large number of thermal power plants coming in Chhindwara, Singrauli, Jhansi and the dams on the Narmada and other rivers. It is high time that Chief Minster, Shivraj Singh Chauhan listened to the people and not sacrificed their lives for the needs of ‘development’ of the other regions. The attack on farmers and commons, and pursuit of neo-liberal policies will only severely impact the food security of the nation and also is a worrying sign for the shrinking democratic spaces for those protesting these.

 

Medha Patkar, Dr. Sunilam, Prafulla Samantara, Dr. Sandeep Pandey, Gautam Bandopadhyay, Anand Mazgaonkar, Bhupendera Singh Rawat, Rajendra Ravi, Vimal Bhai, Madhuresh Kumar

NAPM – National Alliance of People’s Movements
Tel: 91 11 2437 4535
napmindia@gmail.com | http://www.napm-india.org/

Immediate Release- Another death in starving tea garden of Assam


Nederlands: Een vrouw aan het werk op een thee...

Nederlands: Een vrouw aan het werk op een thee plantage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


Another death in starving tea garden of Assam

 

The Barak Human Rights Protection Committee (BHRPC) learnt about untimely death of another worker of a tea garden in Assam. Mr. Lakhi Prasad Dushad, aged about 38 years and a resident of North bank division of the Bhuvan valley tea estate in Assam died on 3 May 2012. He was a permanent worker of the tea estate.

 

The BHRPC earlier reported 14 deaths that were found to be caused by starvation, malnutrition and lack of proper medical care in this south Assam tea garden. With this latest death the toll stands at 15, according to the information available with the BHRPC.

 

According to the BHRPC reports,   the tea estate owned by a private company based in Kolkata, which employed about 500 permanent and approximately another 1000 casual workers, was abandoned by the owners in October 8, 2011 without paying the workers their outstanding wages and other dues. It resulted in loss of means of livelihood of the workers pushing them into the condition of starvation and famine that led to the deaths of 10 people till 27 January 2012. According to the BHRPC fact-finding report released on 1 February, the workers were deprived of their rights as they were forced to do overwork and were paid very low wages (Rs. 41.00 for casual workers and 50.00 to 55.00 for permanent workers) without being provided with any medical treatment while working and, after closure, had the payment of their wages, provident fund and bonus suspended. The rights of plantation workers to fair wage, bonus, provident fund, housing and basic medical facilities in accordance with the Plantation Labour Act, 1951 have not been enforced. In the course of closure, the government failed to make any intervention to guarantee their fundamental rights to live with dignity. It is further found that basic medical care and food distribution for the poor under the government schemes including the ICDS did not properly reach even those workers who lost their livelihoods and that it was one of the causes that led to the deaths.

 

On receiving information about the death of Mr Dushad, a team from the BHRPC visited the garden and talked with his family and other labourers on 3 May. The team was informed that the immediate cause of the death apparently was tuberculosis. But the labourers contended that because of long time malnutrition the deceased had been very week and vulnerable to attacks of such diseases. This is the reason for a large number of the labourers having tuberculosis while people residing in nearby villages seldom have this disease, they claim.

 

On the basis of the information provided by the workers, the BHRPC thinks that this is prima facie a clear case of death due to malnutrition and lack of proper medical care since the underlying cause of the death is obviously malnutrition and the immediate cause of tuberculosis is a treatable disease. Moreover, going by the definition of starvation death provided in the National Food Security Bill, 2010 drafted by the National Advisory Council and the Starvation Investigation Protocol prepared by the Supreme Court Commissioners on the right to food the unfortunate death can be termed as the one caused by starvation. This is also a case of failure of both the union government of India and the state government of Assam to ensure right to live with dignity to which every citizen of India is entitled under Article 21 of the Constitution of India as well as international human rights law.

 

The BHRPC continuously reported to the authorities in India about the hunger deaths in the Bhuvan valley tea garden since 1 February 2012 but they have not yet taken any effective actions to ameliorate the situation and improve the working condition of the labourers in accordance with the international human rights obligations and laws passed by the Indian parliament. The Assam government only made the owners re-open the garden and ordered an inquiry as eyewash. Without enforcement of legal obligations of the owners and human rights obligations of the governments the re-opening of the garden appears on the ground nothing short of the return of the beast. Because, it worsened the conditions, instead of ending the woes of the labourers. There are complaints that labourers are not getting loans from provident fund (PF) to get over their cash crunch as the management had only paid 50% of the arrears of PF through the district administration which is even not being released by the authorities. Even the PF claims of the dead labourers were also not being cleared. The garden hospital is still totally non-functional and the hospital run by the government under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has no full time qualified doctor. Though rationing of some staple food has also been started but it excludes most of the dependents of the workers. According to the labourers, both the quality and quantity of the food items supplied are not consumable by human beings.

 

At this point, the BHRPC is very concerned over the plight of the survivors of Mr Dushad. He left behind his wife Imti Dushad (aged about 30), his sons Kishan Dushad (15), Eleven Dushad (13), Sujit Dushad (11), Hitesh Dushad (8) and 5 year old daughter Sweetie Dushad. Their survival is uncertain in the situation as it now stands for them.

 

The BHRPC made a supplementary submission about the death of Lakhi Prasad Dushad and the situation now prevailing in the estate to the office of the Supreme Court Commissioners on the right to food as well as the National Human Rights Commission who took cognizance of the hunger deaths in Bhuvan valley on the petitions of the BHRPC. The authorities including the prime minister of India and the chief minister of Assam have also been informed.

 

Date: 8 May 2012

Guwahati-6

 

For any clarification or information please contact

Waliullah Ahmed Laskar

Mobile: 094012234

Email: wali.laskar@gmail.com

Why Koodankulam reactors are Killers of Indians and Fisheries


From- dianuke.org

Just  as a highly irritated snake  kills a man, nuclear plants silently  kill  mankind and nature for providing illegal money to the greedy contractors, officials and politicians ?

Nuclear Plants are just silent killers of man and Nature. In nature the Uranium ore contains 99.3% of  Uranium-238 and the remaining 0.7% is Uranium-235 and they are almost harmless in nature.  But greedy business people dig the Uranium ore and convert  the least harmful Uranium-235  into the fuel form of Uranium-235  by purifying it to make it a fuel by enriching it from 0.7% to about 4%.   It is packed into pellets  which are put into Fuel rods and inserted into the core of the nuclear reactor for producing both electricity and  Radioactive material for making the killer nuclear  bombs.   In the reactor  when the nuclear atom is given a blow  by a neutron, enormous intense heat and other poisonous Radio-active atoms like Xenon, Barium, Cesium, Strontium and  Plutonium and a few neutrons  are produced.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission

These radioactive substances are discharged into the air and water by several ways and   they enter into the environment consisting of air, water and soil and foods like vegetables, fishes, prawns and they ultimately get into human beings and produce cancers and birth defects in generations of people for many decades to come.

http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/fission/fission.htmlhttp://sites.google.com/site/shivajirao32/nuclearsafety-2

These poisonous radioactive substances  destroy natural and human life and culture and convert lands upto hundreds of kilometers into permanent nuclear burial grounds for ever.

1) AS A THREATENED COBRA KILLS A MAN, PURIFIED URANIUM IN REACTORS POISON MANKIND AND NATURE:

How the harmless Uranium ore materials in nature are converted by man  into destructive and killer materials can be understood by the following simple example. For instance king cobras live in nature in anthills in forests and lead their normal life peacefully by catching their prey for food during nights.   But greedy who want to extract their venom people go and poke their iron rods into their abodes and disturb the Cobras when they become angry and bite the trespassers to inflict death over them by their poisons.   Similarly, the selfish business people are mining the harmless Uranium and converting it into harmful  Enriched Uranium and then using it to produce electricity by means of the Nuclear plants and in the process they are producing Radioactive pollutants that poison man and nature as radioactivity gets into the environment.  In course of time if an accident occurs in the Nuclear plant due to several reasons like in Fukushima or Chernobyl, the poisonous pollutants are thrown into the atmosphere and they kill thousands of people slowly and inflict cancer to millions of people living downstream upto hundreds of Kilometers as in case of Fukushima and Chernobyl accidents.

2) NUCLEAR EXPERTS MISLEAD ON ABSOLUTE SAFETY OF NUCLEAR PLANTS:

The Nuclear plant operators are misleading the public by stating that Nuclear power is safe and cheap just like the medical representatives of various pharmaceutical companies praise before the doctors about the virtues of their medical tablets and tonics as part of their sale promotion activity the nuclear authorities are praising the nuclear plants as safe and cheap energy producers which is a social crime.  This misinformation is dangerous to public health and welfare because in European states almost all people agree that safety of Nuclear power is a Myth as accepted by Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany. She had consulted the genuine experts on nuclear plants and realized that nuclear safety is a myth and ordered for gradual closure of all the nuclear plants in Germany.  If Indian Prime Minister and Union Cabinet Ministers including the Chief Ministers of the states want to know the truth about the safety of the nuclear power plants they must go and visit advanced countries like Germany and Japan and discuss the issue with foreign experts so that they can refrain from promoting nuclear plants as is done by the peoples leader like Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal.   For more scientific details see the above web sites on this topic prepared by independent experts.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110530/coalition-agrees-nuclear-free-germany-by-2022-110530/

 

i)  Center and State Government Nuclear experts are recklessly propagating that  nuclear reactors are absolutely safe because firstly they are not at all experts as per Section 45 and 51 of Indian Evidence Act and they cannot understand nuclear safety  as envisaged by the standards specified by International Atomic Energy Agency.

Websites: http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=krishnaareti

                  http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1273_web.pdf

ii)  The Government appointed experts have never studied how Fukushima reactors exploded only due to a series of human failures as had happened even in the case of Bhopal disaster.  The experts never studied  the case of Bhopal disaster to realize that human errors cause disasters for several reasons.   The experts never studied even the 1985 reports on Environmental Impact Assessment  report published by the British Government for 1100MW nuclear power plant at Sizewell including the risk analysis, disaster scenario depicting the travel of radioactive pollutants upto 160km from the reactor, the emergency evacuation procedures, rehabilitation of the victims  and the cost benefit analysis.  They have never studied even the causes and effects of nuclear reactor explosions in Three Mile Island in USA in 1979,  the Chernobyl disaster in Russia in 1986 and  Fukushima explosion in Japan in March 2011 and the damaging effects on public health and ecological systems and the enormous costs of compensation amounting to 4 lakh crores of rupees leading those countries to virtual economic bankruptcy.

http://www.whatisnuclear.com/articles/nucreactor.html

3) SAFE LIGNITE COAL TO BE USED FOR ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION IS DIVERTED FROM TAMILNADU TO UTTARA PRADESH AND THRUST IMPORTED AND RISKY REACTORS OVER THE HEADS OF TAMILIANS:

  While it was the duty of the  experts to identify several alternate methods of producing the same amount of electricity in place of the proposed hazardous reactors they have omitted describing such alternatives by utilizing the cheaper, safe and socially acceptable solar power, wind power, natural gas and lignite coal which are available in plenty in India itself.  The experts failed to point out to the state and central Governments that their plan to divert lignite coal from Neyveli of Tamilnadu to a far-off sate like  Uttara Pradesh in North India to generate same electrical power amounts to denying the supply of electricity by using their own local resource instead of dumping on the heads of the people the most costliest and deadliest large reactors to be imported all the way of from the far off country like Russia.  Such an action amounts to denying the right to life, right to health and right to livelihood of lakhs of people of Tamilnadu.

i) Since the Tamilnadu expert committee consists of 2 mechanical engineers, one commerce Post Graduate and one Physicist,  they do not have the necessary  academic background to grasp the fundamentals of the different kinds of radioactive substances in the natural background and their damaging impacts on the mode of braking the single strand and double strands of the helix in the DNA located in the Chromosomes present in the nucleus of the different kinds of cells present in different organs of humanbeings, animal population, marine fishery organisms and the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.  They may not be in a position to grasp the food chains and food webs in nature through which the different kinds of radiation may enter the fisheries and other food.   The biological magnification of some of these  radioactive particles with both short and long half life spans are bound to cause  prolonged damaging effects on normal cells and sperm cells which may  result in the birth of mutilated and unnatural offspring.

ii) Consequently the state nuclear experts are disabled to grasp that any increase in radiation above natural background radiation is bound to  damage  the life systems by causing sickness including cancer and loss of immunity that are conducive for promotion of the incidence of several  exotic diseases and new forms of  ill-health in the organisms.   Some of these experts blindly believe that as compared with the background level of radiation, their nuclear plants at Kudankulam containing one or more large sized reactors are going to contribute radioactive pollution to the Environment which will be negligible as compared with the background levels.  These experts are blind to the real facts that a nuclear reactor discharges enormous amounts of radioactivity into the atmosphere and into the natural water courses like lakes and oceans on a very large scale as can be seen by the data published by several honest nuclear plant operators in other countries.  See Website:

http://www.dianuke.org/nuclear-safety-experts-shivaji-rao/  

http://bhujangam.blogspot.in/2011/08/probable-nuclear-reactor-1100-mw.html     

iii) The Indian experts also bluff the public by designating the nuclear accidents as excursions and nuclear plant locations which will be nuclear burial grounds as nuclear parks.  They also do not know that nuclear reactors are responsible for several small scale, medium scale and large scale accidents running into hundreds of accidents per year as can be seen from the following website:http://www.ib.cnea.gov.ar/~protrad/biblioteca/3Accidentes.pdf (Item No.812, Page-115)

http://www.tshivajirao.blogspot.in/2011/10/why-nuclear-accidents-are-difficult-to.html

During all these accidents high levels of radioactivity will be discharged into the Environment but  the plant owners never present the true facts to the public and hence the people only know these facts by the increased levels of cancer and birth defects among the population living in the vicinity of the nuclear plants in Rajasthan, Uttara Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamilnadu as assessed by the independent medical practitioners located  in their respective areas.  Thus nuclear plants are just silent killers of mankind and nature.

4) SAFETY OF REACTORS:  In order to avoid the core melt-down, experts have provided a series of safety devices.  One major line of defence is emergency core cooling system (ECCS) which provides an instantaneous water supply that keeps the core from melting.  Another lineof defence is the concrete containment that surrounds the core and the pressure vessel so that even during a loss of coolant accident, no radioactivity will escape into the outside environment.  Such engineering safety measures also fail sometimes.  If the main pipe in the primary cooling breaks, immediately the control rods eliminate the nuclear fission process, halting the activity.  But the radioactivity  in the  already disintegrating fission products cannot be arrested.  In a 650MW plant, the heat formation by the radioactive disintegration process amounts to roughly 200MW three seconds after the reactor is switched off, 100 MW after one minute, 30MW after one hour and 12MW after 24 hours.

Under normal operating conditions, the reactor has an external fuel casing temperature of about 350oC, while the interior fuel rods remain at 2220oC.  If the cooling liquid is lost, the outer surface  of the rods heats up rapidly within 10 to 15 seconds, the fuel casing will begin to break down and within a minute, the casing will melt.

http://tshivajirao.blogspot.in/2011/09/why-indian-nuclear-plants-are-bound-to.html  

Unless the emergency cooling system comes into operation within a minute, the fuel (approximately 100 tonnes) and the supporting structure will all begin to melt, leading to a major accident.  At this stage even if the emergency cooling system works, it will make the situation worse.  The molten metals react with the cooling water to produce steam and hydrogen and heat from the fission products adds to this, thus  sinking the melten core to the ground.  In a 200MW nuclear reactor radio-fission products accumulated after one year would be equivalent to the amount released by approximately 1000 atom bombs of the Hiroshima variety.  Since the reactor pressure vessel contains the core, any loss in the pressure vessel in excess of the supply from ECCS leads to the escape of the coolant, thereby exposing the core that gets overheated within seconds.   The failure of the vessel can inflict serious damage to the core and also break the containment.

5)  EMERGENCY COOLANT FAILS: According to the advocates of nuclear power when the primary coolant comes out of the major pipe break in the coolant water loop, the control rods are immediately driven into the core to stop the fission reaction and the ECC system releases the cool water from the accumulators intended to cope with such emergencies.  But the environmental experts and opponents of nuclear power emphasise that by the time the emergency coolant water gets in the core, the temperature in the core would become so high that the water turns into high pressure steam, either obstructing the entry of more coolant or forcing it to exit through the breakage in the pipes  so that the reactor core gets overheated to cause a major disaster.  When the Aerojet Nuclear Company conducted tests of ECC system at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho, USA, mechanical failure occurred.  Subsequent tests at Oakridge National Laboratories indicated that the Zircalloyclad fuel rods may swell, rupture and obstruct the cooling channel thereby preventing the emergency cooling water from reaching the reactor core.  Fuel rod swelling commenced about 1400oF and at 1880oF the coolant channels were blocked by 50 to 100 percent and such a blockage could be catastrophic.  The combined effect of the rapid cooling during an emergency core cooling with the rapidly rising pressure in a reactor vessel could lead to its rupture, an accident that no nuclear plant is designed to cope with.  Failure of the vessel could occur due to inherent weakness in the construction of  the vessel itself or due to factors such as molten fuel coolant explosion or the gross failure of the vessel support system.  Steam generators also cause problems due to deformation of tubes  because of corrosion of support of plate materials, fatigue failures and tube pitting problems.  The feed water system piping is exposed to water-hammer, leading to the damage of valves.  These valves on their own face problems from packing, gasket leakage and erosion. http://armypubs.army.mil/eng/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/tm5_698_4.pdf

i) Places to be evacuated during accident at Kudankulam: When an accident at a nuclear plant releases enormous quantities of radioactivity into the air, water and soil environment, there will be immediate fatalities and long-term genetic damage among the exposed populations.  All the people within the zone of influence from the reactors must be evacuated.  Evacuation must be completed within 6 hours for 2 to 5km, 12 hours for 5 to 25km, 24 hours for 25 to 75km and 40 hours for over 75kms downwind from Kudankulam as per the British Accident scenario for the 1100MW, Sizewell reactor, based on a wind speed of 5m/sec rainfall of 1mm/hour and natural stability conditions of the atmosphere.  After thorough scrubbing and decontamination of lands, equipment and residences due to radioactive pollution from an accident, people may be permitted  to return to their original residence along with their cattle and other properties after three weeks upto 170kms, one year upto 140km, from 5 years upto 115km, 10 years upto 98km and 20 years upto 77kms distance from the nuclear plant.  Depending upon the weather conditions during the accident, certain places will be more affected than others.  Many villages of Ramanathapuram, Tirnelveli and Kanyakumari of Tamilnadu and Trivandrum and Quilon districts of Kerala will be affected seriously.  Killakkarai, Sattirakudi, Abiramam, Virudhnagar and Watrap of Tamilnadu and Gudalur, Thekkadi, Vengamala, Pantalam and Karunagapalli of Kerala lie within 170kms.  Sayalkudi, Nattakkadu, Sivakasi and Sattur of Tamilnadu, Edathora, Aruppokottair, Srivilliputtur and Rajapaliyam lie in between 140km and 170kms.  Karilgatti, Kalugumala and Puliyangudiof Tamilnadu, Tenmala, Kadakkal, Attingal and Kadiamkulam of Kerala lie within 115km.  Taruvaikulam, Kadambur, Tirumalapuram and Tenkasi of Tamilnadu and Palad and Attipara lie within 98kms.  Tuticorin, Kayattar and Trivandrum lie in between 98kms and 77kms, Sayarpuram Pudukkottai, tirunelveli, Ambassamudram, Mannar, Balaramapuram, Neyyattinkara, Nanguneri, Panakudi, Kolachel, Nagercoil and Cape Comorin lie within 77kms from the nuclear plant site.

http://tshivajirao.blogspot.in/2011/10/kudankulam-nuclear-plant-explosion.html

http://tshivajirao.blogspot.in/2012/02/kudankulam-nuclear-bomb-over-tamilnadu.html

http://www.dianuke.org/lessons-of-chernobyl-and-fukushima-nuclear-safety-is-an-oxymoron/#comment-2782

 

6)  WHY TAMILANDU NUCLEAR EXPERTS MISUNDERSTAND NUCLEAR SAFETY?:                    When radioactive atomic nuclei breaks up due to instability  or impinged by neutrons radiation is released as particulates or high energy wave radiation.  When such radiation hits on living cells the atoms in the cell get ionized.   The atomic nucleus contains in its electronic sheath negatively charged electrons equal to positively charged protons in the atomic nucleus and so an atom is electrically neutral in its outward effects.  If a negatively charged electron of Beta particle radiation bombards a neutral atom one or more electrons will be thrown out of the electoral sheath of the atom which becomes an ion that is a positively recharged atomic residue the newly formed ions have considerable electrical attractive power and so have capacity for strong chemical reaction.  If such reactions occur in air or dead matter nobody bothers but if ionization of atoms occurs in living tissue  it often causes damage resulting in cancer cells it causes severe damage like deformities, still births, enzyme defects and metabolic disorders.  It has to be assumed that even the smallest quantity of radioactivity can cause a corresponding damage in living cells.  If the radioactive particles or rays bombard a DNA molecule it causes ionization of atoms and the subsequent chemical reactions cause variations in basic arrangement of base sequels and break either a single strand or double strand of the double helix in DNA and so changes occur in the heritable information and the consequential damages on living organisms.  The strand of the helix sequences of phosphoric acid residual and Deoxyribose residues while the bases contain ,Adenine,Thymine, Guanine, and cytosinev residues.

 http://www.dianuke.org/nuclear-safety-experts-shivaji-rao/

 

 7) RADIATIONS DAMAGE THE HUMAN AND ANIMAL CELLS ALSO:                       Inside the nucleus of human cells there will be 23 pairs of chromosomes each of which is packed with DNA the genetic material to receive from the parents.  The DNA is always exposed to damaging agents like ultraviolet light, chemicals and reactive oxygen species generated by ionizing radiation.  Direct radiation like alpha or Beta (electrons) particles or X-rays which create ions that physically break one or both of the sugar phosphate backbones or break the base pairs of the DNA.  The base pairs of ATGC are held together by weak hydrogen bonds.  The bonding of these base pairs can also be damaged by ionizing radiation.  The base pairs of the DNA form sequences called nucleotides which inturn form the genes.  The genes direct the cell to make proteins which determine the cell type and regulate its working when such breaks occur the DNA repairs itself by a process called excision which occurs in 3 steps.

  1. Endonucleases cut out the damaged DNA
  2. Resysnthesis of the original DNA by DNA polymerase
  3. Ligation by which the sugar phosphate backbone is repaired

Since evaluation of species occurred in sea of radiation the DNA repair processes constantly occur.

8) WHY INDUSTRY HIDES FACTS ON RADIOACTIVE ROUTINE  RELEASES ALSO:

Everyday DNA gets 10,000 injuries due to routine chemicals.  A radioactive substance contains 1 curie when 37 billion radioactive disintegrations occur in it per cell.  Natural radioactivity of earth per gram is 1 pico curie equivalent to 1 trillionth of a cancer.  In dry air one Roentgen or Rad or Rem produces 2 billion ions per cm3.  One Rad is the radiation dosage given out by 100 ergs of energy for gram of any substance.  But since different radiations have different energy dosages their biological effectiveness is given a quality factor to identify Relative Biological effectiveness.  The RB factor is one for Beta, Gamma and X-Ray radiations.  While alpha and proton radiations have 10 times higher while neutron radiation has 4 units for slow neutron that gradually rise to 20 for fast neutron radiations.  Proton at one 10-millionth part of a gram can cause cancer as it emits alpha rays of very high radiation doses with a high factor of 3 lakh units.  If a lorry containing 25kg were to overturn in road accident the plutonium thus released could cause 250 billion cases of lung cancer.  25kg of Plutonium can be used for an atomic bomb.  Tritium with its weak Beta rays comes into waste water at 100 curies to 1000 curies per annum for a nuclear plant of 1000MW capacity.  During decay tritium atom emits an electron and is converted into stable Helium.  Tritium occurs in natural waters at 40 pico curies per liter and in public water supplies its concentration is limited to 3 million pico curies per liter.    If one strand of DNA breaks the second strand of helix as a duplicate repairs like replacing one spoiled bulb by a new one and holds the chromosome together.  Even when double strand breakages for a radiation of 100 to 500 rads exposure the repair is done in 2 to 8 hours.  But when dosage of 0.08 rads per year for a decade caused extra chromosomal damage among people of Alaska.  There will be 600 millions cells in one CC .  In Humans one percent of single strand lesions (breaks) are converted to about 50 double strand breaks in DNA for cell cycle.  Similar to the double produced by 1.52 to 2 Grays of sparsely ionizing radiation.  Although DSBs are repaired on a reliable basis, the errors in repair mechanism often cause high rate of cancer in human beings.  100 rads Gamma rays cause 300 tracks cross every nucleus of the cell based on 630KeV Gamma rays  from Ce 137 and one track for nucleus is due to 0.33 rads of Ce 137.  Background radiation causes a fraction of one track per year.  An X-ray produces 6 to 10 tracks per cell nuclei.  A Gamma ray produces one MeV( soft Gamma ray gives 100 KeV) Beta particle produces 2 MeV and Alpha particle produces 6 MeV.  1 Sv or 100 rems give one Joule per kg of energy in human tissue.  Radiation causes DNA damage in Million molecule lesions per cell per day. Human exposure to background radiation is about 2.4 mSv per year and the nuclear plants add to the public about 1 mSv  and 20 mSv for workers per year  and  this limit is based on the assumption that there is no threshold dose below which there would be no effect which means that any additional dose will cause proportional increase in damage to public health and it is based on the precautionary principle which is universally accepted. While one kg of granite or coffee produces 1000Bq, one kg of coal ash 2000  Bq, one kg 7000 Bq and 1 kg of low level radioactive waste produces one million Bq. Since the Indian Nuclear Power Corporation hides facts about routine releases of radioactivity from nuclear power plants  it becomes inevitable for Indians and others to know the  true facts from published literature in other countries dealing with nuclear power plants.  The following website present the detailed data http://www.ieer.org/sdafiles/16-1/tritium_releases.html

Consequently the common people cannot trust the experts of the Government organization about radiation exposure due to nuclear power plants and hence must anticipate that under different kinds of nuclear accidents there will be large scale radioactivity discharged into the environment at all the existing plants which are causing serious health impacts  as reported by independent scientists.  Since the nuclear plants cannot be prevented by the Indian experts to discharge radioactive pollution from the reactors the people have to make their own estimates in the matter and visualize what kinds of illnesses including cancer are waiting in the wings to harm lakhs of people in the near and distant places from Kudankulam reactors upto hundreds of kilometers downwind.

Description and Effects of Different Doses and Dose Rates

 Dose

Description / Effects

0.3 to 0.6 mSv/a

This is the typical range of dose rates from artificial sources of radiation, mostly medical.

0.2 to 0.8 mSv/a

This is the range of worldwide average annual radiation dose from ingestion of foodstuff and water.  Variations about the mean values by factors 5 to 10 are not unusual for many components of exposure from natural sources.

2.4 mSv/a (approximately)

The normal average background radiation from natural sources.  Approximately half of this exposure is from radon in air.

13 mSv/a

This is the highest known average annual dose from background radiation that occurs in the Kerala and Madras states in India where a population of over 100 000 people is exposed to this level.

20 mSv/a

This dose averaged over 5 years is the limit for regulated practices and working activities such as the nuclear industry employees and mining and mineral processing workers, who are closely monitored.

50 mSv/a

This dose is conservatively the lowest dose rate where there is any evidence of cancer being caused.  It is also the dose rate that arises from natural background levels in several places. Above this, the probability of cancer occurrence (rather than the severity) increases with dose.

1000 mSv

This dose accumulated over some time, would probably cause a fatal cancer many years later in 5 of every 100 persons exposed to it (i.e. if the normal incidence of fatal cancer were 25%, this dose would increase it to 30%).

1 000 mSv

This dose received as a short-term dose would probably cause (temporary) illness such as nausea and decreased white blood cell count, but not death.  Above this dose the severity of illness increases with dose.

Between 2 000 and 10 000 mSv

This dose over a short-term dose would cause severe radiation sickness with increasing likelihood that this would be fatal.

10 000 mSv

 This dose in a short-term dose would cause immediate illness and subsequent death within a few weeks.

 

9) DAMAGE TO LIFE FORMS IS OFTEN IRREVERSIBLE AND INEVITABLE MAKING NUCLEAR SAFETY A PIE IN THE SKY AND HENCE PEOPLE MUST OPPOSE THEM:

When  an electron passes through a biological cell the electron releases its energy along its path (called a track) by interacting with the electrons of nearby molecules.  The energy thus released is absorbed by atoms near the track causing excitation ( a push in the orbit of an electron to a higher energy level) or ionization (release of an electron from the atom) and the residue unstable atoms are known as radicalsand are chemically highly active.  X-ray and gamma rays unlike Beta particles release high speed electrons from atoms first.  Positively charged particles transfer energy to molecules in the cells electrically uncharged neutrons impact of the nuclei of hydrogen atoms namely protons.  Since the masses of the proton and neutron are similar the impact results in an elastic scattering process  as occurs in Billiards game.  The ejected protons work like charged protons.  Ionizations due to   radiation act directly on cell molecules or indirectly on water molecules causing water derived radicals which react with nearby molecules causing breakage of chemical bonds or addition of oxygen atoms by oxidation of the affected molecules.  The major effect in biological cells is at DNA breaks either in single strand or double strands and the later is important biologically.  Single strand breaks can be repaired normally because of the double stranded nature of the DNA(the two strands complement each other so that an intact strand serves as a template for repair of its damaged opposite strand) In case of double strand breaks  the repair is  more difficult and the erroneous rejoining of broken ends may occur and such misrepairs  cause mutations, chromosome abrasions or cell death.

Radiations  differ not only by their components like electrons, protons and neutrons but also by their energy.  Radiations by neutrons and alpha particles cause dense ionization along their track and are called High Linear Energy Transfer ,High LET  radiation that is energy released per unit length of the track.  Low LET radiations by X-Rays and Gamma rays produce ionizations sparsely along their track and homogeneously within the cell.  High LET radiations release energy in a small region of the cell and the localized DNA damage caused by High LET radiations is more difficult to repair than the diffuse DNA damage caused by the sparse ionizations from Low LET radiations.  The same radiation dosage produce the same total number of ionizations with the difference that Low LET radiation causes sparse ionizations whose damaging effects can be normally repaired while the High LET radiation causes dense ionization along their track causing double strand breaks which are more difficult for repair and hence are bound to cause cell deaths or mutations resulting in cancer and other forms of illness.http://www.rerf.jp/radefx/basickno_e/radcell.htm

10) CRUCIAL ROLE OF THE PUBLIC TO SAVE THEIR RIGHT TO LIFE, RIGHT TO HEALTH AND RIGHT TO LIVELIHOOD AT ANY COST:

When India became  independent Mahatma Gandhi addressed a public meeting on the occasion.  He said “by making Pandit.Jawahar Lal Nehru as the Prime Minister of India I call him an uncrowned King of India.  Like anyone of us he is a humanbeing and all of you know that to err is human.  In course of his work to uplift the nation he will plan and execute  several developmental projects during the course of administration he may commit some errors who will correct such errors.  His Minister or his administrative officers will not dare to point out his mistakes and rectify them and then who will take the responsibility to put the nations destiny on the right track”.  Since none of them people presented the meeting opened their mouths he told them point blank “ it is you, the people of this great social welfare state in the democracy who have to correct even the mistakes of a Prime Minister.  If you do not come forward to rectify such defects you are unfit as responsible citizen of the great social welfare state.  Similarly Prime Minister Mrs.Indira Gandhi also wanted all the responsible citizens to protect public interest and for the purpose amended article 51A and introduced sub clause “g”  by which she proclaimed that it is the first duty o the responsible citizen to protect the water, the air, the forests, the wild life and to develop compassion for all living creatures. “That is why it has been always said that eternal vigilance is a price that the Indian people have to pay to sustain their democracy.  Thus it is the people of India who have to fight against the anti peoples actions perpetrated by the Government at the state and Central levels to safeguard the health and welfare of the present and future generations of the people in India. Coming to the case of Kudankulam nuclear reactors the people must play an active role to stop them as they are just silent killers.

In case of Kudankulam reactors it is better that the local people and school children must collect funds by begging in Tamilnadu villages and towns and present the money to the Chief Minister and Prime Minister for abandoning the present reactors on the plea that in case these reactors experience explosions on the pattern of Fukushima rectors, the people have to pay a heavy penalty of Rs.4 lakh crores which will make the state and the country fall into the trap of economic bankruptcy.  Infact in one of the villages of Cuddapah the school children who found that their family members addicted to liquor are not only dying but also ruining their families because the state Government  has considered liquor business as their main economic source of survival.  The children wanted to pay that amount realized through liquor sales to the state Government to ban liquor sales so that the families will save their own heads of families who are  the bread winners.  In Tamilnadu the experiment can be copied and implemented to stop the reactors and thereby stop the state Government do indirectly declare a nuclear war on millions of people of South Tamilnadu.

Even in history there are many instances when a Kingdom was invaded a treacherous foreign ruler the local people used to fight against the invasion or alternatively purchase peace by paying compensation money to the invader.  Veera Pandya Kattabhraman refused to yield to the dictators of the treacherous British rulers so he was hanged in public.  Today the people of this historical Pandyan Empire have to save their lives and of their progeny against the invasion by the people in the North of Pandya Kingdom in Tamilnadu and those from the North India.  The Pandyans if they want the survival of their future generations they must resort to this  alternative course of action as followed by the children of the Cuddapah village of Andhra Pradesh.

 

Open Letter Demanding the Release of Baba Jan Hunzai- Noam Chomsky


  • by Signed by Tariq Ali, Noam Chomsky, Farooq Tariq…

    FREEBABAJAN2.jpg
  • For the past 8 months Baba Jan Hunzai and four fellow activists have languished in various jails of Gilgit. Twice in this period he has been removed from jail and tortured by military and police agents.  He and his colleagues have been charged under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Ordinance.  Baba Jan, however, is not a terrorist.  He is a respected political activist of Gilgit-Baltistan (the mountainous north of Pakistan). He is being held due to his activism in support of the oppressed of the region and must be released immediately.

    In January 2010, a mountain collapsed into Hunza River and created what is now termed the Attabad Lake.  As the lake formed, village after village was submerged.  In total, over 1000 were displaced and over 25,000 were cut off from the rest of the country (the lake had destroyed the one road that connects the area to Pakistan).  The plight of Gilgit-Baltistanis was ignored. Baba Jan, an activist of Labour Party of Pakistan, toured the country lobbying for the government to drain the lake and create transport facilities for the affected. The Pakistan Peoples Party government acted too late.  The lake is now a permanent feature of the area. To off-set the protests of the displaced, the government promised compensation.

    For some, compensation never arrived.  An official list of those who were to receive compensation named 457 families.  However, over a hundred of these families did not receive their compensation. Allegedly, the compensation, instead, went to families who were sympathizers of the Pakistan Peoples Party.

    On 11th August around 200 people protested for the rights of those families who had not received compensation as the Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, Mehdi Shah, was visiting the town of Aliabad.  The police, instructed to remove the protesters by any means, started with a baton-charge, then used tear gas before opening fire with live ammunition. Their first victim was Afzal Baig, a 22 year old student. Then, when Baig’s father tried to retrieve the body of his son, he too was shot. Both died. The valley erupted and a police station was burnt down by the protesters.

    Baba Jan arrived 6 hours later. He organised the protesters and they were promised an investigation and firm action against the police officers responsible for the killing.  The protesters waited for the government to act.

    It acted a week later.  Arrest warrants were issued for numerous protesters including Baba Jan.  While most of those arrested have been released on bail, Baba Jan and 4 activists remain behind bars.  Twice they have been picked up from jail and tortured.  First, starting on the 12th of September 2011,   for three nights for three to four hours at a time, he was beaten with sticks and had his feet crushed under boots, while, another activist (Iftikhar) had candle wax dropped on his genitals.  Again on the 28th of April 2012, Baba Jan was tortured.  Police and Pakistani Rangers (a paramilitary force) entered his jail cell and beat him up. They then whisked him to an unknown location where he was again brutally beaten, and to humiliate him, had his head shaved. He has fractured fingers and is being denied medical treatment. Further, he has been moved to Zulfiqarabad Jail, Gilgit, and put in a cell with hardened criminals.  There is reason to believe that he may be killed ‘accidentally’ while in this cell.

    Meanwhile, a judicial inquiry into the killing of Afzal Baig and his father was conducted.  Its findings have not been made public but journalists who have seen it claim it lays the blame on the police force and local bureaucracy for the incident.

     

    We, the undersigned, call on the Government of Pakistan to publish the findings of the judicial inquiry into the killing of Afzal Baig and Sher Ullah Baig.  We call on the Government of Pakistan to treat Baba Jan and fellow activists as political prisoners and kept in separate cells from other prisoners.  Further, we ask the Government of Pakistan to drop the charge it has manufactured against Baba Jan and fellow activists. We also demand compensation for the families affected by the Attabad landslide.

     

    Tariq Ali, Writer

    Noam Chomsky, MIT

    Qalandar Bux Memon, FC College

    Pervaiz Vandal, Architect

    Amanullah Kariapper, Activist

    R C Young, New York University

    Vijay Prashad, Trinity College

    Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Birkbeck, University Of London

    David Barsamian, Journalist

    Magid Shihade, Birzeit University

    Saadi Toor, Writer

    Farooq Tariq, Labour Party of Pakistan

    Simon Crithcley, New School, New York

     

    Please go sign petition here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/free-baba-jan

    original post here

Hitler a coke head who farted uncontrollably- Medical Documents


PTI,  May 8,2012

Washington: Adolf Hitler was apparently a coke head who farted uncontrollably, ingested some 28 drugs at a time and received injections of bull testicle extracts to bolster his libido.

It’s a whole other side to the Nazi dictator, whose poor health condition was revealed in medical documents that are now up for auction online at Alexander Historical Auctions of Stamford.

Bidding for the documents – which include ten X-rays of various views of the dictator’s skull, the results of several electroencephalogram (EEG) tests and sketches of the inside of his nose – ends Tuesday and Wednesday. The cache consists of a 47-page account compiled by his six chief physicians, each specializing in different areas of treatment, and of a 178-page report dated June 12, 1945, which was compiled by Dr Erwin Giesing, while he was interned by US forces.

'Hitler used cocaine, had fart problem'

The US military commissioned the medical reports provided by Hitler’s personal doctors, Bill Panagopulos, president of Alexander Autographs the New York Daily News. Among the more surprising notes, Autographs said, was that the “Mein Kampf ” madman used powdered cocaine extensively to soothe his sinuses and throat, and was also prone to passing gas. In the attempt to control it, the Nazi dictator regularly ingested up to 28 drugs, including “anti-gas” pills which containing strychnine, a poison , “which probably explains his stomach pains”, he said.

Hitler also used chamomile plants as a “cleansing enema” , the reports said. One of the doctors reported that the Mein Kampf madman received injections of extracts of seminal vesicles, testis and prostata of young bulls.

“Morrell believes that Hitler, although not strongly inclined to sexual activity, did have sexual intercourse with Eva Braun, though they were accustomed to sleep in separate beds,” said one of the papers.
The medical reports are expected to fetch as much as USD 2,000 each.

Immediate Release- Indian activists ask PMO to sincerely engage with Burma


8 May 2012

Indian civil societies urge the Prime Minister of India to sincerely engage with Burma

New Delhi: Today, Burma Centre Delhi submitted a memorandum on behalf of Indian civil society groups to the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh before his upcoming landmark visit to Burma.

The memorandum conveys important message to end atrocities targeting ethnic areas, to follow proper environmental standard on the ongoing developmental projects implemented by the two countries and to strengthen historical and bilateral ties.

A copy of memorandum submitted to the PM of India is below

MEMORANDUM

May 8, 2012

To

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India

Respected Prime Minister,

We heartily welcome your proposed landmark visit to Burma from 10-12 May 2012 which is taking place at a time when the country is going through political reforms and not long after the country witnessed the thumping victory of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy in the April 1 Parliamentary by-elections. You are also aware that these political developments are welcomed by other international communities as is evident from the series of visits made by prominent dignitariesfrom governments around the world including US Secretary of State Hillary ClintonBritish Prime Minister David Cameron and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

This much-awaited political reform will enhance Burma’s engagement with other countries like EU, US and ASEAN. Thus, at this important turn of events in its immediate strategic neighbour, India should also take an opportunity and play a significant role by strengthening its historical relations and engage with pro-democracy groups led by Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy and other ethnic political parties.

As this landmark visit will strengthen bilateral ties between the two neighboring countries, it is pertinent for India to develop a fresh thinking in this new political scenario in Burma.Alongside its national interest, India must be sincerely committed to strengthen democracy and facilitate the process of national reconciliation in Burma.

We the Civil Society Groups and citizens of India would like to draw your kind attention before your upcoming landmark visit to Burma on the following crucial issues that urgently need your kind intervention and action.

1.       The issue of ethnic nationalities remains a serious concern and must be made a priority while engaging with President Thein Sein’s government in order to secure a durable political settlement. India should also press for an end to atrocities targeting ethnic areas particularly in Kachin state, restoration of the civil and democratic rights of the Rohingya, end of atrocities in Arakan and safe repatriation of the Rohingya refugees.

2.       The ongoing developmental joint ventures implemented by the two countries for which a standard Environmental Impact Assessment, implementation process such as public consultation should be conducted as envisaged in the project to ensure the desired vision is achieved. Project related documents should also be made public. That these developmental projects should not have undesired effect such as displacement of the communities in both the countries.

3.       Construction of Tamanthi Hydroelectric Power Project (THPP) on the Chindwin River in northwest Burma’s Sagaing Division is another serious concern. The water current due to construction of this proposed Dam is estimated to wipe out an area of approximately 1,400 sq km. (the size of Delhi) displacing over 45,000 people living nearby. Over 2,400 villagers have already been forcibly evicted in 2007 from the Dam site, with a mere compensation of US $ 5 (Rs 500 INR).

4.       The Kaladan Multi-Modal Project, developed by India in 2008 to improve connectivity between the two countries has raised several concerns in border areas of Burma and India. The project requires an estimated 196.75 hectares of forest land to be cleared. The development along the port and river will displace thousands of people from their homes and livelihood. While an environmental and Social Impact Assessments have not been conducted till date, the project implementation is already way behind its stipulated time frame of 2010. Communities specifically beneficiaries inhabiting border areas in Burma and India have no information about the proposed project.

We strongly urge the Honourable Prime Minister to take these matters into utmost importance while meeting with President Thein Sein.

We urged Hon’ble Prime Minister to ensure democratic process and people’s participation in the development process of the two countries, whereby developing strong ties and strengthening neighbourly relations.

We are confident that the visit of our Honorable Prime Minister to Burma will bring encouraging results and strengthen ties not only in trade and security but also enhance co-operation at the people-to-people level.

Sincerely,

Indian Civil Society Groups

Endorsed by:

1.       Burma Centre Delhi

2.       Grassroot Development Network

3.       Zo Indigenous Forum

4.       MANUSHI

5.       Vinish Gupta

6.       Campaign for Peace & Democracy (Manipur)

7.       Arun Khote

8.       Peoples Media Advocacy & Resources Center- PMARC

9.       Dalits Media Watch

10.   Anand Bala – Bangalore

11.   Peoples’ Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR)

12.   Vidya Bhushan Rawat

13.   Journalists’ Forum Assam, Guwahati

14.   CACIM

15.   Dr. Vandana Shiva, Navdanya/Research Foundation for Science Technology & Ecology

16.   Himalayan Peoples Forum

17.   Uttarakhand Parivartan Party (UKPP)

18.   Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, Editor, The Milli Gazette, New Delhi

19.    Mahtab Alam, Civil Rights Activist and Journalist

20.   Kamayani Bali Mahabal, Human rights lawyer and activist, Mumbai

21.   Amar Kanwar

22.   Anjuman Ara Begum, Guwahati

23.   Pradeep Esteves, Context India, Bangalore

24.   Dr. Subash Mohapatra, Journalist

25.   Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF)

26.   Jharkhand Alternative Development Forum

27.   Hiren Gandhi and Saroop Dhruv, DARSHAN, Ahmedabad

Contact:

Burma Centre Delhi

Vikaspuri, New Delhi – 110018

Tele:             +91-11-45660619

Email: office@burmacentredelhi.org

www.burmacentredelhi.org

Why Protest Psychiatry? – Human Rights Activism @Mindfreedom Radio , May 12th


MindFreedom International News-Human Rights Activism in Psychiatry

http://www.mindfreedom.org/radio
~~~~~~~~~

“Why Protest the American Psychiatric Association?”

Your Calls Welcome!

MindFreedom Live Free Web Radio Next Guests:

Protesters at this Past Weekend’s “Occupy APA”! —       Susan Rogers & Frank Blankenship, And Your Calls

   **THIS** Sat., 12 May 2012, 2 pm ET, 11 am PT

Listen and call in live as these two activists and others report on and discuss the protest of the American Psychiatric Association’s upcoming Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, at MindFreedom Live Web Radio here:
www.blogtalkradio.com/davidwoaks
Call-in Number:             (646) 595-2125

GUESTS:

SUSAN ROGERS, one of the coordinators of Occupy APA, directs the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse, a peer-run national technical assistance center funded in part by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (Organization listed for identification purposes only.)


FRANK BLANKENSHIP is a long-time activist, blogger and protester for human rights in the mental health system, and founder of MindFreedomFlorida. Frank chairs the MFI Affiliate Support Committee.

The protest itself was held directly across the street from the Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association when they met in Philadelphia this past weekend, 5 May 2012. Solidarity actions were held in a number of other locations internationally.

For news, photos, video, etc. from this event, along with info about solidarity events and how you can participate anywhere, go tohttp://www.boycottnormal.org.

HOST: CELIA BROWN is a psychiatric survivor in New York City, and President of MindFreedom International, is takes the place of host David Oaks.

~~~~~~~

HOW TO LISTEN & CALL IN LIVE

Why or Why Not Protest American Psychiatric Association? What’s your view?

At the start of the show, this Sat., 12 May 2012, 2 pm ET or 11 am PT, go directly to the Blog Talk Radio site hosting the monthly “Second Saturday” show, here:

www.blogtalkradio.com/davidwoaks

There you can listen and call in LIVE, or hear the archive later.

Call-in Number:             (646) 595-2125

YOUR live calls, suggestions, questions are encouraged.

You can call in via phone, BlogTalkRadio web site or Skype.

Can’t get to a computer that day? First 50 listeners can use the call-in number             (646) 595-2125       just to listen, like a teleconference.

Online, you can also join a live chat with MFI Web Mad Radio show producer Sophie Faught.

~~~~~~~~~
Clickable version of above news alert with more tips and photos of guests, here:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/radio
~~~~~~~~~
Please FORWARD this to all who may support a nonviolent revolution in the mental health system.
~~~~~~~~~

Support MindFreedom International, an independent, united, activist coalition.

All are welcome. While a majority of MFI’s members identify as survivors of abuse in the mental health system, members include family allies, advocates and concerned mental health professionals.

MFI is one the few groups in mental health to say “no” to mental health industry funding… Therefore YOUR membership and donation drive MindFreedom International’s campaigns for human rights and alternatives.

Join or donate now:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donate

Benefits include the MindFreedom Journal, special web and e-mail networking, discount on http://www.madmarket.org purchases, MindFreedom Shield, member services office… and a nonviolent revolution in mental health.

Mind Your Freedom!

Donate, join now or renew early here:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donate

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