Saturday, August 9, 2014

M.P. High Court threatens to ‘proceed against’ officers of Govt. of MP for non-provision of full-time officers to Justice Jha Commission of Inquiry

Gujarat’s petition to intervene in M.P. Corruption case dismissed
[Order Copy enclosed] 

In yet another significant order, the Bench of Hon’ble Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court (Jabalpur Principal Seat) Shri A. M. Khanwilkar and Hon’ble Justice K.K. Trivedi yesterday directed that, if the Justice Jha Commission, appointed by the Court in 2008, to inquire into the corruption in the rehabilitation of the Sardar Sarovar Project affected families reports to the Court that the “State Government has failed to provide suitable assistance of Police Officers, Revenue Officers and PWD Engineers to the Commission, the “Court may consider issuing appropriate directions including to consider the option of proceeding against the competent Authorities who have failed to comply with the directions issued by this Courtrepeatedly since 2008 in that behalf”.

The Court issued notice to the Secretary of the Commission to appear before it in person on 5thSeptember, 2014 and report the factual position with regard to the non-appointment of the Revenue Officers, Police Officers and PWD Engineers to assist the Commission. Taking serious note of the vacant posts, the Court also directed the State Government to fill in the vacant post of Accountant (vacant since March, 2014) within one week and two posts of LDC and three posts of peon within two weeks and report back compliance. The Secretary was also directed to submit response and explain as to why an interim report on the issues of fake registries and irregularities in resettlement sites (as per Order dated 21-08-2008) cannot be made available to the Court.

This order assumes significance in the light of the fact that the High Court had on numerous occasions in the past been issuing stern orders to the state government to provide full-time officers, staff, finances and other facilities to the Commission to be able to effectively carry out the herculean task of inquiry into thousands of land registries alleged to be fake, examination of thousands of witnesses, assessment of the resettlement sites, disbursement of livelihood grants, inquiry into irregularities in the house plot allotments, declaration of oustees, scrutiny of thousands of cases pertaining to cash disbursement etc.

It may also be noted that the Supreme Court has repeatedly endorsed and strengthened the power of the High Court and Justice Jha Commission to proceed on the corruption issue. The latest order of the Apex Court dated 4-8-2014 emphasized that the W.P. on corruption can continue in accordance with law before the High Court although the issue of dam height would have to be agitated before the Supreme Court. This order of the Apex Court was in the light of the petition filed by the Narmada Control Authority to transfer the entire petition on corruption, being heard by the High Court for 7 years to the Supreme Court. This was however turned down by the Apex court.

The High Court also issued notices to the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) and NCA in another application filed by NBA with regard to the violation of Order dated 11-05-2009 of the Apex Court and Order dated 18-07-2013 of the High Court in W.P. No. 18623/2013 requiring mandatory scrutiny by the Jst. Jha Commission of all cases of disbursement of cash compensation to the oustees. The Commission has complained to the Court in its latest report of 1st July, 2014 that the NVDA has taken back files for scrutiny from the Commission my referring to certain other orders.  The High Court also rejected the application of SSNNL, a company of the Govt. of Gujarat to intervene in the ongoing corruption PIL, since the issue of raise in dam height is to be agitated before the Supreme Court.

Medha Patkar, argued on behalf of Petitioner Narmada Bachao Andolan. Adv Syed Naqvi and Adv. Dharmendra Sharma, Counsels appeared for the NCA. Advocate General Shri R.N. Singh along with Arpan Pawar appeared for the state government and NVDA.

Contact for details:  Meera @ 09179148973 

2014 U.S-Africa leaders’ summit

9082014

Alemayehu G. Mariam

2014-08-06, Issue 690

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The guest list of African ‘leaders’ and ‘partners’ attending the summit in Washington this week includes some of the 21st century’s worst criminals against humanity, killers, torturers, con men and scammers in designer suits and sunshades. The meeting will change nothing about Africa
The African circus is coming to town. It is officially called ‘U.S-Africa Leadership Summit’ (not ringling African brothers). It is scheduled to be held on August 5-6 in Washington D.C. The theme of the ‘summit’ is ‘Investing in the Next Generation’.
According to the pre-summit hype, in the first ever ‘U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit, African leaders will have an opportunity to engage with President Obama, his cabinet members, and other key leaders, including business executives from the U.S. and Africa, members of Congress, and members of civil society.’ It is expected to be a 5-ring circus with stages for ‘expanding trade and investment ties, engaging young African leaders, promoting inclusive sustainable development, expanding cooperation on peace and security, and gaining a better future for Africa’s next generation.’
Human rights is definitely not on the menu. So, I must speak up! That is, speak truth to those in power who are indifferent to the powerless, those who abuse and misuse power and those who are ‘deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity’, as Thomas Jefferson might have said.
President Obama proclaimed on the Whitehouse web page, ‘I do not see the countries and peoples of Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world – partners with America on behalf of the future we want for all of our children…’ Is this some kind of ‘lawyerese’ doubletalk? He specifically referred to ‘countries and peoples of Africa’. How about ‘leaders of Africa’? Are they a ‘world apart’? From a different world? ‘Partners’ with America?
Of course, the ‘countries and peoples of Africa’ are not coming to Washington, D.C. African ‘leaders’ are. That’s where President Obama and I part ways. Maybe not. I do not see ‘leaders and partners’ in the African ‘leaders’; I see the proverbial pig in lipstick, to borrow a campaign metaphor from President Obama. ‘You know, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called ‘change.’ It’s still gonna stink after eight years,’ declared candidate Obama on his way to the White House.
I say you can assemble a whole bunch of African criminals against humanity, propagators of genocide, torturers and mass murderers in the White House and call them ‘leaders’, but after the lipstick wears off at the end of the day, they are who they are. You can wrap a whole bunch of African dictators and thugtators in a fancy label and call them ‘partners’, but after rotting in power for decades, they stink to high heaven.
I don’t want to rain on the African Leaders’ circus parade. I can almost hear my critics bellyaching, ‘Here he goes again bashin’ and ribbin’ African leaders. He just never cuts them no slack.’ In my defence, I interpose paraphrased wisdom from W.C. Fields. ‘Never give a dictator an even break’. The point is I have to tell it like I see it. The so-called African leaders meeting in the White House, in my view, are a breed apart who crawled from a planet where the rule of law is anathema and government wrongs are dolled up as human rights.
Guess who’s coming to dinner at the White House?
The guest list of African ‘leaders’ and ‘partners’ includes the names of some of the 21st Century’s worst criminals against humanity, killers, torturers, con men and scammers in designer suits and sunshades. Here is a partial list:
UHURU KENYATTA OF KENYA: In office since 2013, Kenyatta is on trial at the International Criminal Court on various counts of crimes against humanity in connection with the communal post-election violence in 2008. The U.N. estimated some 1,200 people died in Kenya in weeks of unrest between December 2007 and February 2008, and 600,000 people were forcibly displaced. I predict the case against Kenyatta will be dismissed for ‘lack of evidence’ in October, unless it is continued again for the umpteenth time. (See my commentary, ‘Saving African Dictators from the ICC’.)
PAUL BIYA OF CAMEROON: In power since 1982, the 80-year old Biya is Cameroon’s second president since independence in 1960. Biya has decades-long record of gross human rights violations including torture, extrajudicial killings and brutal crackdown on journalists, authors and protesting students.
BLAISE COMPAORE OF BURKINA FASO: After seizing power in a bloody coup in 1987, Compaore turned Burkina Faso into a private estate for himself and his cronies. His record of human rights violations include excessive use of force against civilians and detainees, maintenance of harsh and life-threatening prison conditions and massive corruption.
PAUL KAGAME OF RWANDA: In power since 1994 (first as vice president and defense minister), a recent UN report accused Kagame of ‘stoking a rebellion in eastern Congo, across Rwanda’s border, that has led to the displacement of 300,000 people and the arrest, exile or killing of many political opponents and rivals.’ Theogene Rudasingwa, Kagame’s former Ambassador to the U.S. reported hearing ‘Mr Kagame boast in 1994 that he ordered the shooting down of the plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana.’ Kagame told BBC’s HardTalk programme in 2007 that he did not give a damn one way or the other. ‘I am not responsible for Habyarimana’s death and I don’t care, I wasn’t responsible for his security and he wasn’t responsible for mine either. He wouldn’t have cared if I had died and I don’t care that it happened to him.’
YOWERI MUSEVENI OF UGANDA: In power since 1986, Museveni has a long record of human rights violations. Human Rights Watch in 2012 reported, ‘President Museveni’s government has steadily tightened a noose around the media, civil society, the political opposition, and anyone else that might criticise his governance style. Over a dozen members of parliament have faced police interrogations and in some cases criminal charges for speaking out or participating in demonstrations against government policy.’
TEODORO OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO OF EQUATORIAL GUINEA: After seizing power in a bloody coup in 1979, Obiang has rigged every election to stay in office with more than 95% of the vote. Obiang’s son and ‘crown prince’ Teodorin Obiang was the subject of a 46-page civil forfeiture action filed by the U.S. Justice Department in California and the District of Columbia. The allegations included ‘extortion’, ‘money laundering’ and the ‘misappropriation, theft or embezzlement of public funds by or for the benefit of a public official’ of a foreign government. (See my commentary, ‘To Catch Africa’s Biggest Thieves Hiding in America!’)
JOSÉ EDUARDO DOS SANTOS OF ANGOLA: In power since 1979, dos Santos has been running his government like a family business (more like a crime syndicate). His daughter, Isabel Dos Santos is the richest woman in Africa (even richer than the widow of the late Meles Zenawi); and according to Forbes Magazine Africa’s only female billionaire. Nearly 70 percent of the Angolan population lives below the poverty line of $USD1.7 a day, while 28% live on less than 30 cents. Dos Santos paid nearly USD $4bn to the Chinese to build mixed residential development of 750 eight-storey apartment buildings, a dozen schools and more than 100 retail units. Nova Cidade de Kilamba is today a ghost town!
IDRISS DEBY OF CHAD: In power since 1990, Deby has an atrocious human rights record. According to the 2013 U.S. State Department human rights report, ‘the most significant human rights problems [in Chad] were security force abuse, including torture; arbitrary arrests and lengthy pre-trial detentions harsh prison conditions, denial of fair public trial, executive influence on the judiciary, and property seizures.’
JOSEPH KABILA OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: Inherited the presidency from his father at age 30 in 2001. Kabila is said to be ‘the highest-paid politician in the world, pulling in an astonishing $75 million between July 2012 and July 2013, a nearly $40 million lead over his closest competition.” His estimated net worth in 2013 was $215 million.
JACOB ZUMA OF SOUTH AFRICA: Re-elected in May 2014, he is currently facing a corruption investigation. The South African public prosecutor accused Zuma of improperly spending nearly USD$7 million to improve his private estate, calling the expenditure, ‘unconscionable, excessive, and caused a misappropriation of public funds.’ Chump change on the titanic scale of African corruption, but it says something about South Africa’s anti-corruption efforts.
GOODLUCK JONATHAN OF NIGERIA: He finally met the families of the abducted girls 100 days after the event. The terrorist group Boko Haram continues to massacre, maim and abduct thousands of innocent Nigerians every year as Johnathan dithers on whether to crush them, bribe them or amnesty them. According to the annual U.S. human rights report, ‘massive, widespread, and pervasive corruption affects all levels of government and the security forces’ in Nigeria.
YAHYA JAMMEH OF THE GAMBIA: In power since 1994 when he was 29 years old following a military coup, the buffoonish Gambian leader shocked the world in 2007 by claiming that he is able to cure HIV/AIDS with concoctions of natural herbs and urged patients to abandon their retroviral medications. According to a 2014 Amnesty International report, Jammeh’s ‘government tolerates no dissent and commits serious human rights violations. Human rights defenders, journalists, political opponents and other Gambians who are critical of government policies continue to face intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, ill-treatment, death threats and enforced disappearance.’
HAILEMARIAM DESALEGN, THE CEREMONIAL PRIME MINSTER OF ETHIOPIA is expected to attend, though his puppet masters will remain in the shadows and within earshot as he hobnobs with the other African ‘leaders’.
There are some African ‘leaders’ who apparently were not invited to dinner. Old Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and International Criminal Court war crimes suspect Omar al-Bashir will not be there. It seems the invitations sent out to the ‘leaders’ of Eritrea, Guinea Bissau and the Central African Republic were lost in the mail.
To be perfectly frank, the thought of being in the same room (city) with these criminals and con men gives me the willies.
AFRICAN BEGGARS MAKING A BEELINE AT THE WHITE HOUSE?
President Obama is optimistic that these African ‘leaders’ can ‘partner with America on behalf of the future we want for all of our children.’ I do not see it that way. I see them as beggars in America who strike a bad example of beggary for future African children.
The culture of beggary among African leaders is not something I discovered. It was foretold decades ago by the famed Nigerian nationalist, author and statesman Chief Obafemi Awolowo. In 1967, at the 4th Summit meeting of the Organization of African Unity, Chief Awo spoke prophetically: ‘Today, Africa is a Continent of COMPETING BEGGAR NATIONS. We vie with one another for favours from our former colonial masters; and we deliberately fall over one another to invite neo-colonialists to come to our different territories to preside over our economic fortunes.’
African leaders, despite the millions and billions they have stolen and stashed away and Africa’s fabled wealth, are quintessentially beggars in the way they think and act. When they are not pulling out their guns and knives to rob, cheat and steal from their people, they are holding out their begging bowls for alms from the international community. Their motto is, ‘Ask what America, Europe, China… can do for Africa… always.’ They never ask what they can do for Africa by themselves without alms, charity and hand-outs from America, Europe or China.
Who paid for the new African Union (AU) headquarters inaugurated in 2012 in Addis Ababa? That was ‘China’s gift to Africa.’ China picked the entire USD$200 million tab for the building, fixtures and furniture. The China State Construction Engineering Corporation constructed the building using nearly all Chinese workers. Could ‘China’s gift to Africa’ be China’s Trojan horse in Africa?
The late Meles Zenawi waxed poetic as he blessed the new building and consecrated the ‘continuing prosperous partnership’ between Africa and China. Meles was the beggar-in-chief for Africa. He was the ‘step and fetch it’ guy at all of the G-something and climate change summits. I hang my head in shame whenever I think of Africa’s wealth and resources and the supposed inability of African ‘leaders’ to collectively come up with the chump change needed to build the most symbolic and iconic structure for the continent. They just had to beg. (See my commentary, ‘African Beggars Hall’.)
Africa has long been a bottomless pit for alms and hand-outs. Dambissa Moyo argues, ‘In the past fifty years, more than $1 trillion in development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Has this assistance improved the lives of Africans? No. In fact, across the continent, the recipients of this aid are not better off as a result of it, but worse—much worse.’ In 2013, bilateral aid (from single donor country to a single recipient country) to sub-Saharan Africa was USD 26.2 billion. Total bilateral U.S. development assistance from the USAID and the U.S. State Department to sub-Saharan Africa was over $7.08 billion in FY 2012.
IS THE DRAGON EATING THE EAGLE’S LUNCH IN AFRICA?
Is the U.S. finally playing catch-up with China, the European Union and Japan who have been running African leadership summits (some say scams)? There is no question that China is today Africa’s largest bilateral trade partner. Could it be that the U.S. is finally realizing China is eating its lunch in Africa? (See my commentary, ‘The Dragon Eating the Eagle’s Lunch in Africa?’.)
The Obama Administration has been talking about investments, trade, infrastructure development and stuff like that for a few years. Last year, President Obama announced his ‘Power Africa Initiative’ which was supposed to increase American energy company investments with a $7 billion aid package to back it up. The only kind of power I see in Africa today is abuse and misuse of power by African ‘leaders’. (See my commentary, ‘Power Africa? Empower Africans!’)
In 2012, President Obama invited a number of African leaders to a ‘Food Summit’ and declared, ‘The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition is a shared commitment to achieve sustained and inclusive agricultural growth and raise 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years by aligning the commitments of Africa’s leadership to drive effective country plans and policies for food security.’ To implement the ‘New Alliance’ and spark a Green Revolution in Africa, dozens of global food companies, including multinational giants Cargill, Dupont, Monsanto, Kraft, Unilever, Syngenta AG signed a ‘Private Sector Declaration of Support for African Agricultural Development’. Are Africans more food secure today than they were 20 or 30 years ago? (See my commentary, ‘Food for Famine and Thought!’)
President Obama launched the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) in 2010 as a signature initiative to support upcoming young African leaders. How many young Africans are being trained in the U.S. today to strengthen democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across the continent? It seems the most capable young Africans who could strengthen democracy in Africa — young journalists, bloggers, opposition leaders and peaceful dissenters — are being prosecuted, persecuted and jailed in large numbers. I wonder how many of the young leaders will actually return to Africa after tasting the good life in America. (See my commentary, ‘Will the U.S. Stand by the Side of Brave Africans?’
THE ‘AWOLOWO PARADOX’: HOW TO KICK THE BEGGING HABIT AND BEAT THE HAND-OUT ADDICTION
African ‘leaders’ must heed the prophetic and paradoxical words of Chief Awolowo if they are to save Africa and themselves. In his 1967 speech, Chief Awolowo cautioned African leaders:
‘We may continue and indeed we will be right to continue to use the power and influence which sovereignty confers, as well as the tactics and manoeuvres which international diplomacy legitimatises, to extract more and more alms from our benefactors. But the inherent evil remains—and it remains with us and with no one else: unless a beggar shakes off and irrevocably turns his back on, his begging habit, he will forever remain a beggar. For the more he begs, the more he develops the beggar characteristics of lack of initiative, courage, drive and self-reliance.’
I believe African leaders are rich beggars. When they look in the mirror, they do not see millionaires, billionaires and a continent brimming with wealth and resources. They see a reflection of themselves and a continent wallowing in an ocean of poverty and drowning in privation made opaque by corruption and human rights violations. They prove the proposition that poverty is not only a physical and economic state but also a state of mind. Because they are morally bankrupt, they must always beg and endlessly seek to engorge themselves with alms, hand-outs and charity. It makes them feel better. The ‘begging habit’ and the hand-out addiction is in their blood stream and the only question is whether they ‘will forever remain beggars’ as Chief Awo wondered so long ago.
As a human rights advocate, I would only remind President Obama of his own words when he visited Accra, Ghana in 2009. ‘…Make no mistake: history is on the side of these brave Africans, and not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions…’ I wonder if President Obama is making a big mistake by standing on the side of Africa’s ‘strongmen’.
I get the heebie geebies just imaging President Obama standing on the side of Africa’s ‘strongmen’ and wining and dining them in the White House. Eeek!
My only question to President Obama is this: How can African ‘leaders’ invest in the next generation when they are divesting and wasting the current generation?
* Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.
* THE VIEWS OF THE ABOVE ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR/S AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE PAMBAZUKA NEWS EDITORIAL TEAM
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Obama summons Africa to Washington to talk trade (and how to cut out China)

Glen Ford

2014-08-06, Issue 690


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The summit in Washington was supposed to be about trade, but it’s not. US imperialism does not sustain itself by competitive trade, but by force of arms. The real objective was to ensure that mutually beneficial African trade with China and Brazil results in no shift in African nations’ political orientation away from the US
Leaders from the vast bulk of Africa’s nations were summoned to Washington, this week, for a three-day U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit under the theme “Investing in the Next Generation.” According to the White House, the guest list includes all those leaders who are “in good standing” with the United States, a definition that excludes Zimbabwe, Sudan and Eritrea. Not coincidentally, the three shunned states are the only African nations that have rejected any relationship with AFRICOM, the U.S. military command that now dominates the continent.

AFRICOM has everything to do with the question of who will comprise the “Next Generation” of African leaders, and whom their trading partners will be. In the course of just six years, AFRICOM has reduced the armies of the continent to appendages of the Pentagon, dependent on the United States for training, financing, equipment, intelligence – even troops’ salaries and the medical care of soldiers and their families. African heads of state are acutely aware of their own commanders’ intimate ties to the AFRICOM sugar daddy. Ultimately, soldiers are loyal to those who finance and equip them.

The African Union, itself, is incapable of mounting even the most modest “peace keeping” missions without AFRICOM’s comprehensive support. The AU’s biggest operation, in Somalia, is entirely paid for by the U.S. and Europeans, and directed by the CIA. Therefore, when the White House says that invitees to this weekend’s summit must also be “in good standing” with the African Union, it is with confidence that the AU’s list is identical to its own.

No longer in good standing among the subservient political classes of Africa are the followers of Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba and Thomas Sankara. Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, envisioned a continent united to forge true economic and political independence under its own military defense. He was deposed in a CIA-sponsored coup. Among Dwight Eisenhower’s last acts as president was to order the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, Congo’s first democratically elected prime minister. Burkina Faso’s Thomas Sankara, once known as “Africa’s Che Guevara,” was assassinated by former comrades who quickly reversed the nationalization of foreigners’ properties. Burkina Faso now hosts a U.S. drone base.

Six million Congolese are no longer standing above ground, victims of the worst genocide since World War Two, begun in 1996 by the Clinton administration’s proxies, the military governments of Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Paul Kagame, of Rwanda. The bloodbath was set in motion by a previous genocide in Rwanda, sparked by the downing of an airplane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and neighboring Burundi by the forces of then-rebel leader Kagame. Both Rwanda and Uganda remain in the best of standing with Washington, which proclaimed them shining examples of the “new generation” of African leaders. This distinction is shared with the leadership of Ethiopia, which is engaged in multiple genocides at home and, with George Bush’s full spectrum military support in 2006, interrupted a brief outbreak of peace in Somalia with an invasion that resulted in “the worst humanitarian crisis” on th continent and the deaths of half a million people, setting the whole of the Horn of Africa ablaze.

Muammar Gaddafi was definitely not a leader in good standing with Washington, although he was a respected personage in the African Union, having co-founded the organization in 2002 to replace the moribund Organization of African Unity, and served as chairman in 2009 and 2010. Gaddafi infused $300 million into direct development of Africa, and pledged billions more – a process cut short by the U.S. and its NATO allies in 2011 when, as future president Hillary Clinton gleefully described it, “We came, we saw, he died.” As Gaddafi had predicted, the resulting chaos has set the Sahel region and West Africa afire, destabilizing Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Cameroon and Chad – all of whose leaders were [url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/17/west-african-countries-must-unite-fight-boko-haram-nigeria summoned to Paris[/url] in May of this year to accept a western plan for their common security – mainly under the auspices of AFRICOM.

This week’s summit in Washington is supposed to be about trade, but it’s not. If the U.S. empire was based on the give and take of trade, it would be a third rate influence in Africa, where China does twice as much business as the U.S. and European trade far exceeds that of the U.S. and China, combined. Brazil, India and Turkey are also major players in Africa. If the $900 million in deals that the U.S. Commerce Department claims will be announced at the August 4-6 Washington conference is crucial to African development, then the $1 trillion in loans, alone, that China will extend to the continent by 2015 should seal the deal in favor of Beijing. If the lasting fruits of trade is creation of permanent infrastructure such as ports and roads, then the Americans have nothing to offer to match the Chinese, who also provide the most favorable terms of investment and no political strings attached.

However, U.S. imperialism does not sustain itself by competitive trade, but by force of arms. It is a predatory system maintained by military coercion. AFRICOM exists to ensure that mutually beneficial African trade with China and Brazil results in no shift in African nations’ political orientation, and is perpetually subject to curtailment by the U.S. AFRICOM spins its web of Special Forces, warlords, mercenary armies and “counterinsurgency” infrastructure throughout the whole of the “resource continent.” The West’s purpose is not to exploit the entirety of Africa’s natural bounty, which is beyond the economic capacity of a purposely de-industrializing finance capitalist order centered in New York, London and other bankers’ redoubts, but to establish the military presence in depth that will allow Washington and its allies to stymie, at will, the integration of Africa into a multi-polar world in which China is the center of gravity.

The aim is not so much to keep China, Brazil, India and other rising economies out of Africa – not for the time being, anyway – since the economically declining West cannot possibly satisfy the continent’s need for investment. An attempt to choke off China could spark a revolt among the indigenous capitalist and aspiring classes of Africa – perhaps even among the more entrepreneurial elements of the military.

But, it was also imprudent for the United States to engineer a coup in Ukraine to provoke a war on Russia’s doorstep, inflicting great economic pain on its European allies. The Obama administration has placed all its bets on U.S. imperialism’s sole surviving advantage: overwhelming military superiority, without which economic sanctions are unenforceable.

Obama’s “pivot” to the Pacific will inevitably result in a similar throw-down against China – sooner rather than later, since America’s descent into madness will greatly accelerate the growing Sino-Russian alliance. Just as the Americans strong-armed the Europeans into sanctioning Russia, the U.S. will soon flex its AFRICOM muscles against China.

In theory, at least, a multiplicity of trading partners gives Africa an opportunity to negotiate the best deal, a semblance of independence from the colonial past. However, the U.S. imperial overlord, now deeply embedded in all but a few African nations, believes it has the power to pull the plug on the China connection – which, you better believe, is the subtext of this weekend’s summit, in Washington.


* Glen Ford is executiove editor of Black Agenda Report, where this article was first carried.

* THE VIEWS OF THE ABOVE ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR/S AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE PAMBAZUKA NEWS EDITORIAL TEAM

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चीनी मीडिया ने नरेंद्र मोदी को बताया ‘चतुर’

चीनी मीडिया ने नरेंद्र मोदी को बताया ‘चतुर’

समाचार4मीडिया ब्यूरो
प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी की सरकार की कार्यशैली से चीनी मीडिया काफी प्रभावित है। नरेंद्र मोदी की नेपाल यात्रा के बाद सिर्फ भारत और नेपाल में ही नहीं चीन में भी उनकी तारीफ हो रही है। चीन के सरकारी मीडिया ने भारत-नेपाल संबंधों को फिर से स्थापित करने के प्रयासों के लिए प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी को ‘चतुर’ बताया है, साथ ही चीनी मीडिया ने ये भी कहा है कि द्विपक्षीय संबंधों में गरमाहट लाने के लिए नेपाल को एक अरब डॉलर का सस्ता कर्ज काफी नहीं है।
चीन की सरकारी संवाद समिति शिन्हुआ ने मोदी की हाल की नेपाल यात्रा पर अपनी टिप्पणी में यह बात कही है। किसी भी भारतीय प्रधानमंत्री की यह 17 साल बाद नेपाल की पहली आधिकारिक यात्रा थी। समिति ने कहा है, ‘मोदी चतुर हैं। नेपाल के साथ भारत के संबंधों को प्रगाढ़ बनाने के उनके कूटनीतिक प्रयास आंशिक रूप से सफल रहे हैं विशेषकर संविधान सभा में उनका संबोधन।’
मोदी की नेपाल यात्रा पर शिन्हुआ की यह दूसरी टिप्पणी है। इसमें कहा गया है कि ‘नेपाल के आंतरिक मामलों में हस्तक्षेप न करने तथा दोनों पक्षों के सभी मुद्दों को मित्रवत तरीके से सुलझाने की अपनी इच्छा जताकर मोदी ने समानता की ओर बढ़ते भारत-नेपाल रिश्तों के भविष्य की झांकी दी है।
चीन ने हालांकि मोदी की यात्रा पर कोई टिप्पणी नहीं की है लेकिन आधिकारिक मीडिया इस यात्रा पर काफी ध्यान दे रहा है। चीन ने बीते दस साल में नेपाल में अपना प्रभाव बढ़ाते हुए उस खालीपन को भरने की कोशिश की है जो नेपाल पर भारत के बीच राजनीतिक मतभेदों के कारण पैदा हुआ था। मोदी ने बंदूक के बजाय मताधिकार को चुनने के लिए नेपाल की सराहना की और संघ, लोकतांत्रिक गणतंत्र के रूप में उसमें सम्मान दिखाया।

समाचार4मीडिया देश के प्रतिष्ठित और नं.1 मीडियापोर्टल एक्सचेंज4मीडिया की हिंदी वेबसाइट है। समाचार4मीडिया.कॉम में हम आपकी राय और सुझावों की कद्र करते हैं। आप अपनी राय, सुझाव और ख़बरें हमें mail2s4m@gmail.com पर भेज सकते हैं या 09015296346 पर संपर्क कर सकते हैं। आप हमें हमारे फेसबुक पेज पर भी फॉलो कर सकते हैं।

The Third C K Prahalad Memorial Lecture 2014

The Third C K Prahalad Memorial Lecture 2014

9082014
Ananta Aspen Centre
To Me
Today at 9:31 AM
CKP Header 08-08-14

Cordially invite you to attend
The Third C K Prahalad Memorial Lecture 2014
delivered by
 G V Sanjay Reddy 08-08-14
G V Sanjay Reddy
Vice Chairman, GVK Power and Infrastructure Limited
on
My Journey Beyond Business

Thursday, August 14, 2014 |3:00 PM  – 4:30 PM
WWF India Auditorium, 172-B, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi-110003
Ananta Aspen Centre and CII – Young Indians (Yi) cordially invite you to the Third C K Prahalad Memorial Lecture 2014.  Dr C K Prahalad (1941-2010), management guru, teacher, thinker and visionary was of the opinion that a Leader is “somebody who gets you to be as good you can be”. According to him, a Leader’s point of view is “not about our current affairs but how the world can be 10 years from now”.
In the words of Mr G V Sanjay Reddy, who was CK’s student, “The Job of leadership is not to just make Money but to make Meaning. This thinking has driven me in everything I do. Dr. Prahalad was my inspiration when I was his student at the University of Michigan. I hope I will be able to inspire a few others the way he inspired me as there can be no greater joy than when you impact others well-being.”
Mr. G V Sanjay ReddyVice Chairman, GVK Power and Infrastructure Limited, will deliver the Memorial Lecture.   Mr. Gautam ThaparFounder & Chairman Avantha Group, Chairman Ananta Aspen Centre will Chair the proceedings.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Mr. G V Sanjay Reddy holds multiple positions and plays a key management role in GVK, one of India’s eminent business conglomerates. As Vice Chairman of GVK Power and Infrastructure Limited, he leads GVK’s businesses in key areas of infrastructure such as energy, resources, airports and transportation that are vital for India to fulfil its tremendous potential and for its economic development. Sanjay’s efforts and farsighted vision of ensuring fuel security have enabled GVK to acquire a strategic equity stake in the Australian Coal Mines, a rail and port project to set up one of world’s largest coal mining operations, thus ensuring fuel security for the company. The acquisition was rightly rated as the “Asia Deal of the Year”. As Managing Director of Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd., he is instrumental in shaping the transformation of India’s busiest airport, the CSIA, Mumbai which is a one-of-its-kind and most challenging airport modernization projects in the world. He is also the Managing Director of Kempegowda International Airport Limited and is leading the expansion of Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru as a Gateway to South India. He is on the Board of Directors of the TAJGVK Hotels and Resorts Ltd. and has played a significant role in setting up premium hotel projects in Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Chennai. Sanjay was instrumental in setting up GVK Biosciences in 2001 and currently heads as its Vice Chairman. GVK Biosciences has emerged as India’s leading Contract Research Organization with a rapidly growing client base of global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and academic institutions. Sanjay is the Vice Chairman of GVK EMRI, a pioneer in Emergency Management Services in India and a not-for-profit organization operating under the PPP model. EMRI, country’s only professional emergency service provider, serves 15 States and two UTs. Sanjay describes his passion for excellence as his core competency. Educated in the United States, he combines his professional expertise and knowledge with a global perspective and a practical approach to business. He holds a Bachelor’s in industrial engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Sanjay was recently elected as Chairman of CII, Southern Region for 2012-13. He actively participates and contributes to various programs of national interest through forums like Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), Mindmine Summit and the prestigious Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art. He has also been declared as the “Emerging Business Leader of the Year” by AIMA Managing India Awards, in 2011. Sanjay was among the 25 Indians chosen as Young Global Leaders 2007 by the World Economic Forum and was primarily selected for his professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping a better future.
CHAIR
 Gautam Thapar 08-08-14Mr Gautam Thapar, Founder & Chairman Avantha Group, Chairman Ananta Aspen Centre
Gautam Thapar is Founder and Chairman of the Avantha Group a diversified multinational conglomerate with interests in engineering, pulp & paper, energy and life insurance. After studying chemical engineering in the U.S.A., Gautam returned to India and started his career as a factory assistant. He rose steadily and steered the organization through a strategic and visionary turnaround, involving resilience and restructuring.
Gautam became Group Chairman in 2006. In 2008, he received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Manufacturing. Gautam is widely recognized for his thoughts on business, education and leadership development. He has the distinction of being the first businessman to be appointed the National Security Advisory Board; Government of India’s highest security organization. Gautam takes his social responsibilities seriously and has served as the Founder or Director of numerous philanthropic organizations and trusts. He is President of Thapar University, Chairman of the Board of Governors- National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Chairman of The Ananta Aspen Centre, Chairman of the CII-Avantha Center for Competitiveness for SMEs, Past President of All India Management Association (AIMA). He is an AIMA Honorary Life Fellow and a Fellow of King’s College, London.
WHEN
Thursday, August 14, 2014 |3:00 PM  – 4:30 PM
Registration begins at 02:30 PM. Please be seated by 02:45 PM
WHERE
WWF India Auditorium, 172-B, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi-110003
RSVP
Wednesday, August 13, 2013 by 17:00 hrs
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