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Coca-Cola and Water Use in India: “Good Till the Last Drop”

Posted by Raymond on March 12, 2010

From ScienceBlogs.com:

The marketing executive who came up with Coca-Cola’s popular slogan in 1908 most likely never expected it would be taken so literally. However, a hundred years ago there probably weren’t many who imagined a term like “water wars” could exist in a region that experiences annual monsoons.

On February 25 a complaint was filed in the New York Supreme Court against the The Coca-Cola Company alleging that they knew about and sought to cover up human rights abuses in Guatemala. While that trial gets started, the company’s controversial practices in India continue involving the over-exploitation of limited water resources and the contamination of groundwater supplies. In response to public outcry the soft drink company is now championing itself as a longtime environmental leader and the business community is eager to advertise…

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Forbes Billionaires List Shifts To China, India & Mexico

Posted by majestic on March 11, 2010

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Carlos Slim Helú. Photo: José Cruz/ABr (CC)

A sure sign that the balance of power is shifting away from the United States and Europe towards developing nations is shown in the new Forbes list, with the Mexican Carlos Slim Helu beating out Bill Gates for the top spot and China claiming more billionaires than any country outside the US.

India’s billionaires, however, are richer, as reported in the Christian Science Monitor:

With the release of the latest Forbes rich list of billionaires, India is finding much to brag about – even as other fast-growing economies like China make their mark.

Eight Indians made Forbes magazine’s latest list of the top 100 billionaires, and two – energy tycoon Mukesh Ambani and steel mogul Lakshmi Mittal – sit in the top 5. Mr. Ambani is now…

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Criticising GM Crops May Land You In Jail

Posted by phunkychic666 on March 1, 2010

Imran Khan for express buzz:

BANGALORE [India]: Criticising Genetically Modified (GM) products could land you in jail — if the draconian draft Biotechnology Regulatory Authority Bill (BRAB) of 2009, which will be tabled in the current session of the parliament by the UPA government, is passed.

In an unprecedented muzzle on the right to freedom of speech of the citizen, Chapter 13 section 63 of the draft bill says, “Whoever, without any evidence or scientific record misleads the public about the safety of the organisms and products…shall be punished with imprisonment for a term that shall not be less than six months but which may extend to one year and with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees or with both.” The BRAI Bill drafted by the department of bio-technology under…

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Zero-Rupee Bribes for Bent Indian Officials

Posted by Raymond on February 14, 2010

From ABC News:

Indians are being urged to hand over a note worth zero rupees when asked for a bribe, in a bid to stamp out corruption among officials.

Last year, international corruption watchdog Transparency International said almost 4 million Indian families had to bribe officials for access to basic services.

Vijay Anand, from the lobby group 5th Pillar, says they began distributing the worthless note because of a lack of practical solutions for tackling corruption.

“The topic of corruption have never been on the surface,” he said.

“Everybody was practising it, paying bribes, getting their jobs done. We thought that the fundamental reason was there was lack of alternatives – there was no practical solutions, no alternatives.

“So we thought we should come up with something. One of our volunteers came up with the idea…

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Let’s Not Deny The Evidence That Australia Has A Problem With Racism

Posted by Wei Ling Chua on January 21, 2010

[disinformation® editor's note: The author is not a native English speaker; we have chosen to leave the article largely "as is" so please bear with his grammatical errors. Please also note that the views expressed are those of the author alone and The Disinformation Company does not necessarily agree with or endorse those views.]

Australia will not win the respect of the world by being defensive on the issue of racism as and when it arise. The issue of racism is not going to go away simply because our politicians (Cream, Gillard, Rudd), police chief (Simon Overland) denied its existence.

Indian government and media have every right to feel angry with what had happened to their fee paying students in Australia. The frequency of attacks and verbal abuses against Indian citizens in Australia…

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Indian Numerologist Transforms Lives With Name Changes

Posted by majestic on December 5, 2009

By Vikas Bajaj for the New York Times:

MUMBAI, India — Sanjay B. Jumaani has your number — and for a fee he can offer you an upgrade.

Mr. Jumaani is one of this bustling city’s most famous numerologists. He studies dates of birth and other numbers associated with his clients — who include Bollywood stars, famed cricket players and corporations — and then suggests changes to names, wardrobe or jewelry that can improve their fortunes.

After seeking help from him and other numerologists, actors have added or dropped letters from their names — the actor Ajay Devgan recently became Ajay Devgn. Filmmakers have deliberately misspelled the titles of their movies — “Singh is Kinng” was a recent hit. And companies have redesigned brands and logos.

Recently, a travel company started a luxury train…

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25-year-old massacre Haunts India’s Sikhs

Posted by Raymond on November 3, 2009

From CNN:

Gurdeep Kaur’s wrinkled face was wet with tears, as she recounted what she saw a quarter century ago: the killings of 21 of family members.She recalled how maddened mobs barged into her home and burned alive her husband, two of her sons and a son-in-law because they were Sikhs, easily identified by their beards and turbans wrapped around their uncut hair as their faith required them.

In her neighborhood in the Indian capital of New Delhi, many of her other relatives were among hundreds killed the same way and for the same reason on a single day, November 1, 1984.

Thousands of Sikhs were lynched or burned alive in parts of India in the wake of the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. The attacks started in…

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Indian Origins of Christianity

Posted by Prithviraj on October 16, 2009

Excerpts from “19000 Years of World History: The Story of Religion” by Prithviraj R – a reconstruction of 19,000 year world history, based on the historical content of the scriptures and theologies of ancient religions. The book, for the first time, explains the precise way in which the major religions of the world were born, in a new framework of human history.

Christian theology keeps tying up scholars in knots. There are a lot unexplained elements in it, which almost look mysterious.

What does the phrase “Son of Man” mean? We can understand what “Son of God” means, but what does “Son of Man” mean? Why are the two phrases “Son of Man” and “Son of God” used interchangeably in the scriptures? The explanation generally given is that Jesus wanted to show…