If you have come across any students coming from poor financial background who have finished their 10th grade this year (April 2009) and scored more than 80%, please ask them to contact the NGO-Prerana (supported by Infy foundation).The NGO is conducting a written test on 14th june and those who clear the test will be eligible for financial help for their further studies.
Please ask the students to contact the people mentioned below to get the form:
Ms. Saraswati,
#580 Shubhakar,
44th cross, 1st ‘A’ main road,
Jayanagar 7th block, Bangalore
Mobile: 91-99009-06338
Mr. Shivkumar - 91-99866-30301 (Hanumanthnagar office)
Ms. Bindu - 91-99645-34667 (Yeshwantpur office )
Friday, June 12, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
My photos in the Haitian Newspaper
The photos I took at the demonstration (see the last blog below) had come in a Haitian Newspaper, screenshot of which is shown below:
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Rally - Bail out the People movement
April 4, 2009 - New York city
It is Time to End the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is Time to Address the Economic Crisis by Cutting Military Spending.
Our nation must end torture and return to the rule of law; our justice system, that disproportionately locks up people of color must be fixed; and our economic policy must be rooted in our communities and not an out-of-date notion of trickle down growth.
Our hope is in the people. Our power has never been greater. We must build on this momentum in every school, every place of worship, every trade union hall, and every community center. A massive shift in our national priorities is crucial if we are to meet the urgent needs of our communities: for jobs, housing, health care, education, transportation, and for justice and equality.
We have hope knowing that our powerful grassroots movements for peace and an end to militarism, for racial, gender and economic justice, for sustainable energy, for human rights and human needs, are coming together to provide the support, the pressure, and the demand in the streets that is necessary to make sure our new administration and the Congress can deliver on their promises of a new direction.
Read more at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=4027
It is Time to End the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is Time to Address the Economic Crisis by Cutting Military Spending.
Our nation must end torture and return to the rule of law; our justice system, that disproportionately locks up people of color must be fixed; and our economic policy must be rooted in our communities and not an out-of-date notion of trickle down growth.
Our hope is in the people. Our power has never been greater. We must build on this momentum in every school, every place of worship, every trade union hall, and every community center. A massive shift in our national priorities is crucial if we are to meet the urgent needs of our communities: for jobs, housing, health care, education, transportation, and for justice and equality.
We have hope knowing that our powerful grassroots movements for peace and an end to militarism, for racial, gender and economic justice, for sustainable energy, for human rights and human needs, are coming together to provide the support, the pressure, and the demand in the streets that is necessary to make sure our new administration and the Congress can deliver on their promises of a new direction.
Read more at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=4027
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Bail Out the People Movement
Statement from United For Peace and Justice and the Bail Out the People Movement
Join Us for Actions on Wall Street in New York City
Friday April 3 and Saturday, April 4
On April 4, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke out against war at his historic 'Beyond Vietnam' speech at Riverside Church in NYC. A year later to the date, April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis where he had traveled to lend support to the struggle of striking sanitation workers.
This year, on April 3 and April 4, we honor the legacy of Dr. King with our urgent call for a new direction by marching on the financial capital of the country: Wall Street. What brings us to Wall St. is clear:
The human costs of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan mount every day, and each month upwards of $12 billion are drained from our national treasury. Now is the time to end these wars, now is the time to bring all the troops home! The long term solution to our nation's economic crisis must include major cuts in military spending and putting our money to work in the rebuilding of our communities.
Instead of pouring our money into bailing out wealthy bankers, we need government investments in spending that creates new jobs, provides health care and quality education for all, ends the foreclosure epidemic, and supports sustainable, clean energy.
Dr. King understood that the struggle for economic and social justice at home is tied to our work for peace abroad. On April 3 and April 4, we are taking the next step on this journey. By bringing people into the streets of the financial center on these two days, we will send a strong, clear message: Now is the time to raise our voices in a unified call for the changes we know must be made, the changes millions of people are demanding!
The activities on Friday, April 3 are being led by the Bail Out the People Movement and the April 4 activities are being led by United For Peace and Justice. On Friday, April 3, United For Peace and Justice will join Bail Out the People's program on Wall Street. On Saturday, April 4, Bail Out the People Movement will gather on Wall Street and join United For Peace and Justice's March on Wall Street that will end at Battery Park. We encourage you to participate in both days of action, but if that's not possible, we hope you will be out with us on at least one of these days.
Join Us for Actions on Wall Street in New York City
Friday April 3 and Saturday, April 4
On April 4, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke out against war at his historic 'Beyond Vietnam' speech at Riverside Church in NYC. A year later to the date, April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis where he had traveled to lend support to the struggle of striking sanitation workers.
This year, on April 3 and April 4, we honor the legacy of Dr. King with our urgent call for a new direction by marching on the financial capital of the country: Wall Street. What brings us to Wall St. is clear:
The human costs of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan mount every day, and each month upwards of $12 billion are drained from our national treasury. Now is the time to end these wars, now is the time to bring all the troops home! The long term solution to our nation's economic crisis must include major cuts in military spending and putting our money to work in the rebuilding of our communities.
Instead of pouring our money into bailing out wealthy bankers, we need government investments in spending that creates new jobs, provides health care and quality education for all, ends the foreclosure epidemic, and supports sustainable, clean energy.
Dr. King understood that the struggle for economic and social justice at home is tied to our work for peace abroad. On April 3 and April 4, we are taking the next step on this journey. By bringing people into the streets of the financial center on these two days, we will send a strong, clear message: Now is the time to raise our voices in a unified call for the changes we know must be made, the changes millions of people are demanding!
The activities on Friday, April 3 are being led by the Bail Out the People Movement and the April 4 activities are being led by United For Peace and Justice. On Friday, April 3, United For Peace and Justice will join Bail Out the People's program on Wall Street. On Saturday, April 4, Bail Out the People Movement will gather on Wall Street and join United For Peace and Justice's March on Wall Street that will end at Battery Park. We encourage you to participate in both days of action, but if that's not possible, we hope you will be out with us on at least one of these days.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sri Lanka Ceasefire Petition
Sri Lanka Ceasefire Petition
India was represented at the SAARC meeting in Colombo this week by Shri E. Ahamed, Union Minister of State, and not by Shri Pranab Mukherji, External Affairs Minister. Shri Mukherji's decision not to attend is significant, and is an indication that New Delhi is responding to mounting public pressure from within Tamilnadu and around the world. Let us keep up the pressure on multiple fronts until a ceasfire is declared, and a meaningful peace process is set in place.
To: Ministry of External Affairs, India
H.E. Shri Pranab Mukherjee
Union Minister for External Affairs
South Block, New Delhi
Tel: +91-11-2301 1127/1165/1463
Fax: +91-11- 2301 3254
Ref: India must urge ceasefire agreement at the SAARC Foreign Ministerial meeting to be held in Colombo on 27th and 28th February, 2009.
Your Excellency, Shri Mukherjee,
When you represent India at the SAARC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to be held at Colombo later this week, we urge you to use the opportunity in calling for an immediate ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. The civil war in Sri Lanka has its origins in complex socio-economic issues, but has now shamefully devolved into a one-dimensional “ethnic conflict”. While people of all ethnic and social groups have suffered greatly, the Tamil population is, currently, in the most vulnerable position. The Sri Lankan government has launched what can only be described as the systematic ethnic cleansing of the Tamil minority population. Under these circumstances, India’s presence at the SAARC meeting must not carry even the remotest suggestion of “business as usual” with the Colombo regime.
India’s strident anti-terrorism / anti-LTTE stance cannot possibly justify its failure, or refusal, to intervene and to halt this bloodbath. What is happening in the northern and the eastern parts of the island is, quite simply, a form of collective punishment being inflicted on the entire Tamil civilian population.
Recently, Union Minister of State, H.E. Shri Anand Sharma, declared at a press conference that India could only “counsel”, and “not intervene”, in the affairs of another country. In principle, this is true, but in fact, we have now reached a critical point which mandates Indian leadership. The civil war in Sri Lanka concerns India at all levels.
At the global level, this is a humanitarian crisis of staggering proportions, and India, as the world’s largest democracy, cannot remain passive. Each moment’s delay in calling for a ceasefire translates into more avoidable deaths. The aggressive military action of the Sri Lankan government risks permanently alienating the Tamil minority, thereby rekindling separatist aspirations and crushing hopes for a future federal structure. For the sake of future peace and reconciliation within a united and stable Sri Lanka, India must assert leadership now.
At the regional level, India has always remained a part of the equation for historical and geo-political reasons. At this moment, it is well within India’s capability to use its diplomatic leverage in compelling Colombo to agree to an immediate ceasefire. If India cannot help resolve a conflict in the Indian Ocean region – in its own neighbourhood - it cannot present a credible case for global power status, or for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council.
At the national level, there are two compelling reasons for urgent action by India; namely the public outrage in Tamilnadu, and the political future of Sri Lankan refugees in India. Even nominally apolitical segments of the Tamilnadu population have been angered by the deaths, displacements and mayhem unleashed on Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka. The Union government can no longer ignore this sensitive situation, and must act to rectify the public’s perception that New Delhi is condoning the chauvinistic policies of the Rajapakshe regime. Further, the political future of over 80,000 refugees living in Tamilnadu, hangs in the balance. How the conflict ends will determine how well they can re-integrate into post-conflict Sri Lankan society. If there is a negotiated settlement led by India, the refugees have a higher chance of returning home in safety and dignity.
In conclusion, we urge the Indian government to act in a courageous and principled manner by calling for an immediate ceasefire, and by ensuring that international protection is accorded to Tamil civilians who are stranded or caught in the crossfire. India must urge Colombo to work closely with the UN, and to facilitate the return of international humanitarian workers and media to the conflict zone. Finally, India must help carry forward a process that advocates a permanent and honourable political settlement to the current conflict, rather than wait for the military annihilation of one side by another.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
India was represented at the SAARC meeting in Colombo this week by Shri E. Ahamed, Union Minister of State, and not by Shri Pranab Mukherji, External Affairs Minister. Shri Mukherji's decision not to attend is significant, and is an indication that New Delhi is responding to mounting public pressure from within Tamilnadu and around the world. Let us keep up the pressure on multiple fronts until a ceasfire is declared, and a meaningful peace process is set in place.
To: Ministry of External Affairs, India
H.E. Shri Pranab Mukherjee
Union Minister for External Affairs
South Block, New Delhi
Tel: +91-11-2301 1127/1165/1463
Fax: +91-11- 2301 3254
Ref: India must urge ceasefire agreement at the SAARC Foreign Ministerial meeting to be held in Colombo on 27th and 28th February, 2009.
Your Excellency, Shri Mukherjee,
When you represent India at the SAARC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to be held at Colombo later this week, we urge you to use the opportunity in calling for an immediate ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. The civil war in Sri Lanka has its origins in complex socio-economic issues, but has now shamefully devolved into a one-dimensional “ethnic conflict”. While people of all ethnic and social groups have suffered greatly, the Tamil population is, currently, in the most vulnerable position. The Sri Lankan government has launched what can only be described as the systematic ethnic cleansing of the Tamil minority population. Under these circumstances, India’s presence at the SAARC meeting must not carry even the remotest suggestion of “business as usual” with the Colombo regime.
India’s strident anti-terrorism / anti-LTTE stance cannot possibly justify its failure, or refusal, to intervene and to halt this bloodbath. What is happening in the northern and the eastern parts of the island is, quite simply, a form of collective punishment being inflicted on the entire Tamil civilian population.
Recently, Union Minister of State, H.E. Shri Anand Sharma, declared at a press conference that India could only “counsel”, and “not intervene”, in the affairs of another country. In principle, this is true, but in fact, we have now reached a critical point which mandates Indian leadership. The civil war in Sri Lanka concerns India at all levels.
At the global level, this is a humanitarian crisis of staggering proportions, and India, as the world’s largest democracy, cannot remain passive. Each moment’s delay in calling for a ceasefire translates into more avoidable deaths. The aggressive military action of the Sri Lankan government risks permanently alienating the Tamil minority, thereby rekindling separatist aspirations and crushing hopes for a future federal structure. For the sake of future peace and reconciliation within a united and stable Sri Lanka, India must assert leadership now.
At the regional level, India has always remained a part of the equation for historical and geo-political reasons. At this moment, it is well within India’s capability to use its diplomatic leverage in compelling Colombo to agree to an immediate ceasefire. If India cannot help resolve a conflict in the Indian Ocean region – in its own neighbourhood - it cannot present a credible case for global power status, or for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council.
At the national level, there are two compelling reasons for urgent action by India; namely the public outrage in Tamilnadu, and the political future of Sri Lankan refugees in India. Even nominally apolitical segments of the Tamilnadu population have been angered by the deaths, displacements and mayhem unleashed on Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka. The Union government can no longer ignore this sensitive situation, and must act to rectify the public’s perception that New Delhi is condoning the chauvinistic policies of the Rajapakshe regime. Further, the political future of over 80,000 refugees living in Tamilnadu, hangs in the balance. How the conflict ends will determine how well they can re-integrate into post-conflict Sri Lankan society. If there is a negotiated settlement led by India, the refugees have a higher chance of returning home in safety and dignity.
In conclusion, we urge the Indian government to act in a courageous and principled manner by calling for an immediate ceasefire, and by ensuring that international protection is accorded to Tamil civilians who are stranded or caught in the crossfire. India must urge Colombo to work closely with the UN, and to facilitate the return of international humanitarian workers and media to the conflict zone. Finally, India must help carry forward a process that advocates a permanent and honourable political settlement to the current conflict, rather than wait for the military annihilation of one side by another.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)