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sarikam321799@gmail.com (sarika) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 06:52:00 +0000

sarikam321799@gmail.com (sarika) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:53:00 +0000

Ayurveda at it’s best

The antique health care centre of india , “ the Kottakkal Aryavaidyasala’’ offers ayurvedic medicines and genuine ayurvedic treatments and therapies to patients from all over India and abroad. It was started as a village clinic, and now its fame has crossed the seas to reach the foreigners.
In , 1902,vaidyaratnam P. S. Varier founded the Aryavaidyasala, Kottakkal for preparing Ayurvedic medicines. He is also a master in the practice of Allopathy too. Aryavaidyasala is also well known for its activities in cultural and educational fields. Under Aryavaidyasala there is a classical theatre for kathakali, where it is taught and performed and Aryavaidyasala college offers a mixture of courses for the student.
Aryavaidyasala has two modern medicine(ayurvedic) manufacturing units, has well equipped quality control labs, publishes ayurvedic periodicals and books, cultivates medicinal plants and conduct educational programs. Foreign tourists frequently visited Aryavaidyasala along with the common people. Aryavaidyasala has ayurvedic hospitals at kottakkal, delhi, and kochi. It has branches in all major towns where we get the ayurvedic medicines in their label.
Nowadays people depend on English medicines. Fast relief is the main reason behind it and also they are unaware about the side effects. But ayurvedic medicines never give fast relief and need a longer period of treatment. Apart from this drawback the ayurvedic medicines doesnot have any side effects and it will give a lasting relief from the disease.
Aryavaidyasala is also a charitable institution. It gives free medicines and treatment to the poor people. Today, kottakkal Aryavaidyasala is a name synonymous with Aryavaidyasala.

sarikam321799@gmail.com (sarika) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:51:00 +0000

Warming world

The human development commission report, published by the United Nations development program each year, is researched about different human development thing. In 2008 they has chosen to highlight environment disasters and global warming. The HDR warns about climatic change and its impact which has begun to be felt all over.
Everyone is blaming about the environmental issues especially about temperatures. American academic of science conduct a study on this matter. Its results were very much terrible. It gives a warning that if the temperature increase higher, it will create another natural disaster. Now our environment going balance with some of its peculiarities. Snow hills in Polar Regions heap our environment cool and its calmness. If the temperature increased this snow hill will transformed in to water, then some our countries, island will be under see. It is equal to 100 Tsunamis. Lot of people become homeless, poverty and other kinds of mysteries and syndromes.
Then also, the developing countries have to suffer lot, because the burden of this disaster will highly affect on the standards of living of the people. We are responsible for this global problem. Because of our life style, the use of motor vehicles, industrial pollutions create an enormous setback in environment. We have to control such kinds of activities which are destroying our geographical balance. World temperatures have increased 0.7 c since the advent of industrial era, and the rate is quickening.
As has been pointed out before, climate disasters are likely to be heavily concentrated across the poor countries. 262 million people were affected by the climatic disasters every year and 98% of them were in developing world. The rising temperatures are affecting rainfall patterns at local levels. The poor farmer’s lot in Asia will be to face recurring storms, floods and sea surges. Living in vulnerable rural areas and urban slums, the poorest billion suffer more from the emissions for which they are not responsible.
So the rich poor divide is also leading to a disaster divide. The least developed and the developing countries can’t fight these disasters on their own. The rich have to step in and do what is right. The distribution of current emissions point to an inverse relationship between climate change risk and responsibility. For the protection of environment, geography and our life we have create some awareness among people; it has to start from the school itself.

sarikam321799@gmail.com (sarika) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:42:00 +0000

Malayalam film industry is going through a rough period!!

Malayalam film industry which is known for making extremely realistic movies and this industry was in its peak during the 70’s and 80’s, is now going through a bad phase. With the coming of cable channels and video piracy this industry has become sick and is still unable to revive and also unfortunately now itself the industry is mostly depended upon the superstars like Mammootty and Mohanlal etc.
Malayalam films are often classified in to two types, commercial and parallel. In a year basis at least 50 or 60 films were released in Kerala among them 5 or 6 parallel films others are fully or partially commercial.In Kerala the releasing centers are lesser than that we compared to other south Indian states. In 2008 the number of releasing centers is upgraded to 60 or 70 centers but it is only applicable for super starrer oriented films. The total amount of money spend for a superstar tilting film is 3 crore , the remuneration of the superstar itself is 1 crore. If the film become a collapse the producer is the sole person who take all the risks. Because of this reason the producer and the distributor simply expected for the quick return of the money that they invested for the film. For this purpose films are directly formed for the fans of the super stars.
The ban of simultaneous release of Tamil films in Kerala has been lifted by the film distributors association. The Tamil producer’s council took some serious efforts to sort out this issue smoothly with the Kerala film industry. According to the new terms, all the Tamil films will be released simultaneously in Kerala from January 2008 with maximum number of prints. Malayalam films are very hard to compete with Tamil films because their budget and area of releasing is so wider than our films.
Some popular Telugu films are being dubbed in to Malayalam. In these types of films actor Allu Arjuns films had a good market in Malayalam film industry. Some of the films even celebrating hundred days in few centers. Stars from Kerala too have migrated and finding value for their talent in the Tamil and Telugu industry.
In competing with Tamil films, dubbed telugu or kannada films and even Hindi films the Malayalam films some how managed to hang on the theatres. Some of the tamil actors like Vijay, Vikram, Ajith and Jayam Ravi’s films has a huge market in Malayalam industry. Rajanikanth and kamalhasans films never formulate any harms to the Malayalam films as they have only 1 film in a year. In 2008 at least 30 Malayalam films were released among them only 4 films became huge hits and 4 or 5 films were average hits and other films turn to be bigger flops.
In 2008, compared to 2007 only superstar oriented films are create some sort of success to the industry. There are also bigger flops from the films of superstars in this year too. In the part of parallel films the situation was not different. Only 3 so called films have been released and from them itself two of them were superstar acted films, mizhikal sakshi, akasagopuram and the other was 5 national award winning film adyalangal. The theatre owners and distributors were not ready to take risk. Among them Mohanlal starrer Malayalam film akasagopuram, the first in the south Indian language to be shot entirely in the UK with an international crew is directed by the national award winner K.P Kumaran. He adapted the story from Henrick Ibsen’s classic play “the master builder”.
`Other major trends in 2008 are the coming of bigger industries like reliance to the Malayalam film production. They are signed with superstars, famous directors to produce films. The other important issue in the industry in this year is the Dllep and Thulasidas issue. It leads to a divide in Macta federation. This issue has any solution today itself. Because of all these reasons Malayalam films are going through a troubleful way. The theatres are rebuilt in to auditoriums and reality show stages and the number of ‘b’ or ’c’ class theatres are decreased and to sort out from this problem the distributors are released some super star oriented films in these centers(wide release).

sarikam321799@gmail.com (sarika) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:41:00 +0000

Beijing 2008- India’s proud?

I know this kind of question will make everyone angry. Why this kind of a question? Yes we have to ask or think about this matter deeply. If Indian government have any right to proud for facing success, Abhinav bindra, an extra ordinary driven shooter fights back injury and set backs to records India’s greatest sporting achievements, his Olympic gold bringing redemption to his sport not given to high fives. It resolves around stillness, silence and a purity of focus, it is why he is good for Olympic gold?
It is not the power of India. It shows the power of money. Because his parents give him that much supports (money). They are milliners and arrange air conditioned shooting range in his house. And sent him abroad for more training. Abinav has got a good training and supports from his family. So the achievement by him is only meant for himself, it is also the attainment of his parents.
When we consider about others who got medal from Beijing, is totally different. Because of lack of money and training they have to satisfy with these medals than a gold medal. If they get a good training and good coaching they also carry the gold medal. Our sports officials take very much interest to go to Beijing for watching Olympics. If they take that much interest in supporting of these sportsmen India will achieve some of its peaks in Beijing. Another thing is that we could not consider these young persons who have ability. Medias and sport councils only give support those who have glamour personality and publicity like Anju baby George, Sania mirza etc. Our medal expectations only till them not for others. When we consider about the performance of Sania and an Anju we can see that their carrier graph is very low compared with their publicity and glamour’s.
We can hope that this Beijing Olympics will open a new chapter before us. Because the authority have got the knowledge of more coaching of new comers or young people and their support. Firstly we have to start a good training and coaching centers for each sports items and it will help our growing sports. It is a need. Government spent lot of money for luxury and unnecessary things and now it is the right time to think about the need for the support for the sports person.

sarikam321799@gmail.com (sarika) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:40:00 +0000

Girl child – born for death

There is no phrase more contentious than ‘the best interest of the child’. The latest to come to terms with this reality is the national commission for the protection of child right (NCPCR). Now you will think that why I argued about these things. Yes, it is the time to think about child rights. Because now girl child – their life is in a great threatening. Science has advanced, consequently you can find out the sex of the child before it born. Sadly, some people are misusing it. If it is a girl, her life will end before her birth or after the birth, with in 2 or 3 days.
Pratiba patil, Jayalalitha, Mayawathi, Sania Mirza etc, we can proudly say about these women as Indian. For each modern, successful woman that we appreciate and respect, there is an in avertable reality is that in the village in India, even a lifetime is not something women can take for granted. A woman has to face many hard things prior to their life, when they are in their mothers stomach they have no escape, the brutality of human being reach here, then what will be future of our country? Surveys are depicting the real face of our country that the sexual ratio between boys and girls has great difference. It is only in Kerala, the number of girls is larger than boys. If there is no girls what is our future?
A statutory body of government of India setup in march 2007 under the commissions for protection of child act 2005 NCPCR’S stated objective is “to protect, promote and defend child’s rights’ in the country. But was it justified for the NCPCR to devote considerable resources to this case, given the scale of child right violations in the country?
No, because there are lot of children’s in juvenile homes, without parents even if they have parents. From them some are adopted by a few merciful persons. But there is also a discrimination, towards girls. Educated persons are often prefer boys, rather than girls, for the reason of thinking about the capital needed for spending for their marriage. There are cases were the parents kill their girl child and they confer lot of stories of sufferings, poverty etc. Some parents are acting under immense social pressure, some of these parents who aborted their children rather than killing them, some of them give their children to government with the hope; the opportunity to improve the Childs life will be a good and better one than given by them.
The governments draw together these kid’s and given to some agencies or charitable institutions who took care child. Government officials have unaware about what happened to these children after they are handed over to adoption agencies, because no one kept any records. The studies found that there was big competition among the adoption agencies to get babies from the governments cradle baby scheme, and it also find that, the agencies received heavy donation from(parents or from foreign countries) who receive children from agencies.
After all these deals if a child reach in the hands of a brutal? There are cases that shows that girl children become victims of sexual harassment and other kinds of human rough treatments by their adopted parents or organizations. What will be the future of woman in our country? If we want a Sania or Pratibha Patil, we have to secure girl child. Otherwise in future there will be no girl. The government and every citizen has to work jointly for the eradication of this evil practices against children.

sarikam321799@gmail.com (sarika) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:37:00 +0000

Wayand

Tourism in India is growing in present scenario. In which Kerala play a vital role, because a large scope of tourism is in Kerala. In Kerala wayanad is an inseparable part. If somebody ask me that, in gods own country (Kerala) where is the heaven? I will answer without any further study, that it is wayanad.
What are the peculiarities of wayanad? Wayanad is the skull of Kerala which have a separate identity. It is the boundary of tamilnadu and Karnataka, and stands many kilometers higher from seashore. A person who travels to wayanad, will never said that he fed up with journey. Because it is so interesting. When we reach the’ Thamarassery churam’ (road to hills) it is an outstanding experience, it means from the dryness to coolness. Everyone can feel the coolness of trees and water. The ‘Churam’ is a fantastic feast for eye.
Wayanad is the land of hills and forests. When we enter in to the boarder of wayanad itself we can get a clear idea about the cultural and geographical conditions of Wayanad. The sudden climatic changes and natural beauty will surely make the travelers more fascinated and it provide a fresh feeling for them. There are many places for the visitors especially the tourists like, the Pookode lake, Edakkal cave, Pakshi pathalam, Chempra peak, Kuruva dweep, Jaina temple, Banasura sagar etc. Another specialty in wayanad is Aadivasies who, is a central for all for years, their life style are very interesting and different from the common people and their inventiveness in bamboo products etc , are very enthralling to the visitors especially to the tourists.
In wayanad we can get total character of a Kerala. Because, wayanad is the mixture of many cultures and people from different places, including malayalees and other state people also. Now government give special; considerations to wayanad. Because tourism in wayanad is booming and here established hotels and restaurants which is directly aims the tourists.

sarikam321799@gmail.com (sarika) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:10:00 +0000

We have to think about future

Now India is booming in to world in the fields of science, technology and economic field etc. The world is looking towards us not only in these fields but also in producing excellent and brilliant human brain, we can proudly say that we are Indian. In every ground of attainment there will be a hand of an Indian. Although after some years there will not be any scope for proud and nothing productive. Because our children’s are in great dilemma, we forgot one thing that is present child is the future citizen.
In 1986 Indian government passed a child labor prohibition and regulation act. According to this act any children below 14 are not allow to do any kinds of mental and physical job, it is against law and punishable. But according to the authorized survey 12.7 billions of children are engaged in child labor. But some independent organizations and international labor organization discovered that, it is more than 60 million children are labors. It is the higher rate in the world that 5% of Indian population is belonging to child labors. When we take total Indian labors, it is 3.15% are children. Most of them (20.28%) work in the field of fishery, farming etc jobs which need physical labor more.
At first sight they look like any other children. Every growing child has the dream that when he or she grows up would like to became doctors, collectors, policemen etc. In normal aspirations one would assume but, in this case, they are indeed significant considering that all of them were slogging their days and even nights out in working field. The units that operate on water-thin margins can easily employ children who, unlike adult workers, do not complain, learn quickly and are more productive.
Compared to other states, child labor is less in Kerala. In the field of education Kerala is first. But, then also we cannot stamp out child labor completely. The growth of this evil is increasing day after day. Child labor is equal to slavery. State and central government implement several policies and programs in order to steer clear of child labor. But these projects cannot reach its aim. The deep route for child labor is poverty and unemployment. The parents send their kids for work that they have no way for their daily food. Children are runaway from their villages in order to feed themselves and their family.
This is to be more a social problem and wants the government to initiate poverty alleviation measures to wipe out the evil. No independent survey has been done since Globalization and industrialization craft India a well established country. The number of millioners is increase in India, but a major part of people are suffering with poverty and unemployment. We fought no less than 150 years for independence and against other social evils like racial discrimination, un touchability etc.. We do not need slavery, again in our country. When government agrees in developing policies like nuclear deal and other kinds of programs, they have a remembering about future citizens to eradicate child labor and slavery.

sarikam321799@gmail.com (sarika) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:07:00 +0000

Hoping a prosperous year

Without any celebrations malayalees welcome one another new year. According to the Malayalam calendar chingam is the first month; used in Kerala. It is locally called Andu pirappu. Every person accepts New Year with great ambitions and dreams. The first day is welcomed by special pujas and people in large numbers visit the temple.
Kerala is an agricultural state. The day is also great significance to the farmers. This day is known as ‘karshakadinam’ . Chingam is the time of harvest in Kerala. Farmers conduct special poojas with their agricultural products. After the rain drenched karkidakam with its privations, chingam is a welcome month of plenty special schemes and several new initiatives are made in the agricultural sector in this month.
Onam also celebrate in this month. Onam is the symbol or memory of a wealthy and prosperous life. Onakodi, atha pookkalam, ona sadhya and different kinds of games are examples for its past wealthyness. In Kerala the calander system was began on chingam 1, 825 AD; which happened to be 15th august. Many stories surround the commence of this calendar. Udaya marthanda varma was king of Kerala around the year AD said around the year 800AD. The kollam era has also been associated with the story of cheraman perumal and his embarkation for Mecca; others claim that, era was founded in memory of sankaracharya.
In 2008 August 17, Sunday we enjoy kollavarsham 1184. Malayalam punchangam for the year is also released in this month. It is a holy month for all religious people, with special religious practices and poojas. It is also the season of marriages.
We welcome the new-year with out any exaggerations or lavishness. But we have lot of hope and expectations; it may come to truth with prosperity and wealthyness.

sarikam321799@gmail.com (sarika) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:27:00 +0000

Struggle for life …..ends in death = quarry

Vazhayoor: - Vazhayoor, the very place surrounded with hills and forests, is a feast for any ones eyes . But posing a threat to its natural beauty. Many industries are functioning in Vazhayoor and the prominent among them are quarries and crush mills.
The recent periods have witnessed the mushrooming of crush mills and quarries, where a lot of people work to make both ends meet. Workers are from both in and outside the state. Work in quarries start at morning 5’o’ clock and continue till evening 6’o’ clock. They have to work in all conditions even if there is heavy rain. They are struggling for their life as even if they work a whole day they hardly earn the money needed for their daily chores only, so there is no savings.
Considering the potential of the place which is blessed with both natural and human resources, a lot of people are coming forward to setup such kinds of industries in Vazhayoor.
It is sure that such kinds of acts will change the face of Vazhayoor soon. But nobody including the social workers not ready to break the silence and react to the issue. Even if they are bothered the owners will some how change their mind.
Poverty and unemployment are the big factors which allude the people here to chose adding a big blow to the present problems, the numbers of accidents happening in quarries are on a rise.
In a state where a major issue becomes a case for strike or harthal; such grave issue never caught the attention of political parties here.

sarikam321799@gmail.com (sarika) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:24:00 +0000

The distinction between right to bandh and right to strike

A distinction has to be made between the right to bandh and right to strike. Strike action evolved as an expression of dissent during the 19th century. The right to strike without disrupting public order is a given in all democracies and is a tool that workers use to negotiate terms of work, not to be confused with bandhs or hartals, which evolved in late 19th century from the idea of a general strike. Bandh and hartal are Indian versions of mass strikes. They were powerful expressions of popular discontent during the independence movement. Hartal was M K Gandhi’s adaptation of an existing weapon to his unique idea of non-violent protest against colonial rule. It involved the closing of schools and shops, offices, courts of law and other work.Two features distinguish hartal from other forms of protest: it has to be voluntary and it has to involve some sacrifice for a larger cause. Hartal was essentially a powerful moral argument against imperial rule. A bandh in independent India, however, is a subversion of the original idea of hartal. The action is seldom voluntary. Political parties who call for a bandh enforce it ruthlessly. Forced shutdown of social and economic activity backed by the implicit threat of violence is how bandhs are claimed to be ‘successful’. In most cases, political parties succeed in enforcing their call because people fear for their safety. Voluntarism has been given a quiet burial. Even essential services are not spared during a bandh or a hartal.There is a case for bandhs and hartals against autocratic governments.
Often, they are spontaneous acts of mass action with political overtones. Recent events in Pakistan and Myanmar show the relevance of mass strikes as a political strategy in totalitarian regimes. Such justification is hard to come by in India where democracy is alive and kicking. Absurdly, we have political parties calling for bandh while holding office. Who is their protest aimed at? A mass strike is protest against an administration and an attempt to force change. Can a party holding office subscribe to the moral argument in a hartal without demitting office? But our political parties couldn’t care less. Hopefully, the Supreme Court’s intervention would force them to take a hard look at such disruptive tactics.
The Supreme Court’s order on the bandh in Tamil Nadu is welcome. It is a timely reminder that the apex court’s 1998 ruling upholding a Kerala high court judgment declaring bandhs illegal is applicable to the whole country. Political parties have since the ’98 order subverted the spirit behind the ruling with a twist in classification: they now announce a hartal instead of a bandh. The two, bandh and hartal, are exactly the same in practice.

sarikam321799@gmail.com (sarika) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:18:00 +0000

What is Nuclear Deal?

The nuclear agreement between India and the United States will be seen as one of those decisive moments in international politics when two powers who have been courting each other for some time decide finally to cross the point of no return. The U.S. and India have `come out', so to speak, and the world will never be the same again. Every world order needs rules in order to sustain itself but sometimes the rules can become a hindrance to the hegemonic strength of the power that underpins that order. Following India's nuclear tests in 1998, the U.S. had two options: continuing to believe the Indian nuclear genie could be put back, or harnessing India's evident strategic weight for its own geopolitical aims before that power grows too immense or is harnessed by others like Europe or China.
The U.S. has chosen the latter option, and the joint statement released by President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 18 is the most dramatic textual manifestation of what Washington is attempting to do. India too, had a choice. It could use its nuclear weapons status as a lever to push for a multipolar world system as well as for global restraints on the development of weapons of mass destruction. Or it could use its status as an instrument to help perpetuate an order based on the production of insecurity and violence in which it eventually hoped to be accommodated as a junior partner. The erstwhile Vajpayee Government was never interested in the former option and longed desperately for the latter. The fact that Dr. Singh has managed this is the real source of the BJP's bitterness, not the fact that India's nuclear weapons capability is to be capped (which it is not).
Those in India who marvel at how Mr. Bush could blithely walk away from 40 years of non-proliferation policy do not understand the tectonic shift that is taking place in the bilateral relationship as a result of increasing fears in U.S. business and strategic circles about China. Giving India anything less, or insisting that it cap or scrap its nuclear weapons, is seen by Washington's neo-conservatives as tantamount to strengthening China in the emerging balance of power in Asia. "By integrating India into the non-proliferation order at the cost of capping the size of its eventual nuclear deterrent the U.S. would threaten to place New Delhi at a severe disadvantage vis-à-vis Beijing, a situation that could not only undermine Indian security but also U.S. interests in Asia in the face of the prospective rise of Chinese power over the long term" (India as a New Global Power: An Action Agenda for the United States, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005). This, then, is the real value of the deal in American eyes and the Indian public should be aware of it.
Predictably, critics in the U.S. have raised objections of one type or another. The non-proliferation lobby argues that President Bush's decision to sell nuclear technology and equipment to India will encourage other countries to go down the nuclear path. Not so say the advocates. Mr. Tellis — a former RAND Corporation analyst who served as an advisor to Robert Blackwill when he was U.S. Ambassador to India — is most forthright. He acknowledges the contradiction between the two goals of U.S. foreign policy — building India up as a counter to China and upholding the non-proliferation regime — but says the circle can be squared. His solution: don't jettison the regime "but, rather, selectively [apply] it in practice." In other words, different countries should be treated differently "based on their friendship and value to the U.S." With one stroke of the Presidential pen, India has become something more than a `major non-Nato ally' of the U.S. It has joined the Free World. It has gone from being a victim of nuclear discrimination to a beneficiary. India is not alone. Israel is already there to give it company.From a strategic perspective, one of the most puzzling aspects of the joint statement was the inclusion of a reiteration by India of its unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing without the U.S. making an explicit reciprocal commitment to abide by its own 1992 moratorium. At stake is not a formal question of protocol but the very real danger that the U.S. might go down the path of testing at some point in the future.

The 2002 Nuclear Posture Review was quite explicit on this point: "The United States has not conducted nuclear tests since 1992 and supports the continued observance of the testing moratorium. While the U.S. is making every effort to maintain the stockpile without additional nuclear testing, this may not be possible for the indefinite future." Stockpile safety is, of course, a ruse, given the fact that the U.S. is running active research programmes on a new generation of smaller and `smarter' nuclear weapons like `mini-nukes' and deep earth penetrators. Earlier this month, in fact, the U.S. Senate voted to keep alive the bunker-buster programme in the face of demands that it be scrapped.

The development of deadly new nuclear weapons by the U.S. should be a matter of great concern to India for their eventual deployment will degrade the security environment in the world and Asia. The same is true of the U.S. missile defence programme, which India, regrettably, will continue to remain engaged with. The Pentagon's goal in developing a missile shield is 'full-spectrum dominance,' including the weaponisation of space. Preventing this has been a major goal of most countries at the Conference on Disarmament (CD), with China insisting that a treaty on the prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS) is as important as the fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT) , which would place no effective constraint on the U.S. or Russian arsenal because of their huge stockpiles of fissile material. In agreeing to "work with the U.S." on an FMCT, India has accorded primacy to this treaty over PAROS and other long-standing Indian goals at the CD such as negative security assurances and comprehensive disarmament where the U.S. is dragging its feet.

Of all the misgivings present in the public mind, it is the fear of a quid pro quo on some other front that the Prime Minister most needs to dispel. When it comes to "global energy stability" are India's interests in alignment with those of the U.S.? Clearly not. It is not a coincidence that the two "American concerns" a Wall Street Journal editorial demanded the Prime Minister address during his visit were India's relations with Myanmar and Iran. Both these countries have gas reserves that are vital for our energy security. Addressing the Africa-Asia summit in Jakarta in April this year, the Prime Minister had said : "While our continents include both major producers and consumers of energy, the framework within which we produce and consume energy is determined elsewhere. We must end this anomaly." And yet, in baldly stating that no international bank would want to underwrite the Iran gas pipeline, Dr. Singh would appear to have strengthened the very outside "framework" he once spoke against.

In addition to facing pressure on Iran, India is likely to be asked to let its Navy operate more frequently alongside the U.S. Navy in Asia. The purpose of these joint operations is essentially military and the U.S. wants India to also sign up for the Proliferation Security Initiative. Mr. Tellis's report had predicted that a nuclear deal would "increase [India's] enthusiasm for taking part in counter-proliferation activity in the Indian Ocean." The joint statement makes no direct mention of such cooperation though it speaks of a new "U.S.-India Disaster Relief Initiative that builds on the experience of the Tsunami core group." The real purpose of this initiative is revealed by the apparently inappropriate sub-heading under which it finds mention: `For Non-Proliferation and Security.' All told, the deal signed in Washington raises a number of questions about the Manmohan Singh Government's policies in the field of nuclear energy, disarmament, `promotion of democracy,' energy security and strategic stability in Asia. No doubt the Government has answers. Spinning euphoric reports in the mass media is not the way of providing them. The Government owes it to the people to provide a detailed account of its nuclear policy in the form of a White Paper. Let the details of the Strobe Talbott-Jaswant Singh negotiations be made public.

Let the Government place on record its estimate of how much the proposed separation of civilian and military nuclear facilities will cost and what the benefits of last week's agreement will be. And let it say openly that nuclear deal or not, India will continue to work for global disarmament and has no desire to play the role of a `hedge', fence or `tether' in the U.S. plan to contain China.