DEIR DAR MUSA, 17 October (IRIN) - Jesuit priest Paolo Dall'Oglio has been trying for 22 years to foster better understanding between Syria's Christian minority and the country's Muslim majority.
"Some Christians now feel persecuted by the Arabs," the Italian priest told IRIN at his base in Deir Dar Musa monastery, perched among rocky crags in the sun-bleached mountains north of Damascus.
"They feel the attraction of the West and many emigrate. They have a tendency to copy the West in some aspects of life, "he added.
But Dall'Oglio, who studies the Koran and says mass in Arabic, said that drawing closer to Europe and North America was not the solution .
"This creates a larger gap in local society because many Muslims react against this Westernism," he said.
"Many Muslim Arabs feel very bad about what they see as the aggression of the West - its cultural and financial pressure and its strategic power. So there's a situation of tension."
At Deir Dar Musa, a fortress-like building that clings to a rocky outcrop in sun-bleached mountains overlooking the Syrian desert, Father Dall'Oglio and his colleagues in the religious Community of Saint Moses the Abyssinian, are trying to bridge this gap.
The monastery says mass in Arabic and its church has carpets, like a mosque, for the congregation to sit on, instead of the wooden pews characteristic of most Roman Catholic churches .
The monks study and pray from the Quran and the monastery regularly hosts and participates in interfaith meetings.
"We don't think the solution is to close ourselves off," said Dall'Oglio. "Instead the most important thing is to build a place of meeting. We build bridges through a meeting in which Christians do not just communicate with Muslims but also vice versa."
Christian insecurity
Christians make up about 10 percent of Syria's 18 million population , but the secular Ba'athist government of Bashar al-Assad ensures they are well represented in government and have access to jobs.
The fact that President Assad himself is from the Alawite Muslim group, another religious minority, provides some reassurance for Syrians Christians.
The overwhelming majority of the country's population are Sunni Muslims.
Professor Joshua Landis, who works at the University of Oklahoma's Department of International Studies and lives in Syria, says Christians feel more insecure than other minorities in Syria because they are thinly spread throughout the country. They do not have a regional stronghold where they are in the majority.
Landis says many Syrian Christians to fear that they would lose out if the government, dominated by the Ba'ath party since 1963, were to hold free and fair multi-party elections that might bring Islamic radicals to power.
"Christians are one of the more affluent groups and are largely concentrated in the cities," Landis said. "They don't have a region in which they are the majority, which would guarantee them representation in elections. And they don't believe that Muslims would necessarily vote for a Christian candidate."
However, Georgette Atiya, 55, a prominent Christian intellectual who ran unsuccessfully for parliament as an independent candidate two years ago, says this is not necessarily the case.
"I am a Christian woman yet I got a large number of votes from the Muslim quarter of Meedan in Damascus during the parliamentary election in 2003," she pointed out.
Atiya, a well-known writer and publisher, said she planned to have a second go at getting into parliament in the 2007 elections.
"Syrian Christians are not like Lebanese Christians who have political parties, militias and cantons. I am running a publishing house without raising any concern that I am Christian," she said.
Landis maintains that Syrian Christians benefit from having an Alawite president, since Assad often turns to Syria's minority groups for support in face of the occasionally restive Sunni majority.
Tension beneath the surface
And he warns that any deterioration in the country's economic situation could fuel Muslim resentment against the generally affluent Christian minority.
"On the surface people are getting along fine here," he added. "But if Syria does badly economically, the divides in its society will fester and we will see more of what happened in Qadmous in July."
Landis was referring to clashes between Alawites and Ismailis, who belong to two separate strands of Shia Islam in a provincial town in west-central Syria. Several Ismaili stores were burned in the disturbances.
Despite these concerns, many Syrian Christians say they get along fine with their Muslim neighbours.
Take Abu Fadi, who runs a liquor store in the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Bab Touma in Damascus.
"I have been running this shop for four years and haven't run into any problems because I am selling alcohol," he said." Even in the holy Muslim month of Ramadan I keep working."
Fadi says the fact that Christians in Syria are not segregated in separate districts, the way they are in Lebanon, helps promote a sense of unity in the country.
"In Syria we don't have separate quarters. Even in Bab Touma, a Christian majority area, there are Muslims who live here. We don't feel we are a minority." Fadi said. "We are Syrians first and Christians second."
Mixing it up
But Dima Fayyad, a 25-year-old nun at Deir Mar Musa, is concerned that despite this superficial harmony, Muslims and Christians do not mix socially a great deal socially because in Syria most socialising is done through the family.
"Actually Christians and Muslims don't know too much about each other - everyone is generally happy just dealing with their own religion," she said.
"We have this catch of the family religion. The religion we are born in is our context and we have to stay in the family's (religious) community."
Nizar Mansour, a 15-year-old Christian who attends a private school in Damascus, says he has friends from both communities.
But occasionally he and his Christian friends do feel isolated from their Muslim classmates.
"We can tell that someone is Muslim or Christian when the Christians leave the class during a lesson on Islam - I would prefer it if all religious education in schools was cancelled," Nizar said.
He admits that he is uneasy discussing religion with his friends and prefers to avoid the topic.
"I don't discuss with my friends about the difference between Islam and Christianity because if the sheikhs and the bishops can't find a common background for dialogue, how can my friends and I?" he asked.
Mixed marriages between Christians and Muslims are generally discouraged by families on both sides of the religious divide and often ead to social tension.
Attiya , the writer and publisher, recalled that the first time she really felt like a Christian was "when I fell in love with a Muslim boy."
The same problem is now looming in Nizar Mansour 's family.
His 20-year-old brother Fadi is studying at a university in northern Lebanon, where his girlfriend is a Syrian Sunni Muslim.
"I spend all my time with her and wish to get married to her, but our society and our two families will oppose our marriage," Fadi said. "According to (the rules of) our society it is banned for Christians and Muslims marry."
He isn't optimistic that things will work out.
"I would want to take my children to church and she wishes to take them to a mosque," Fadi said. "I feel it will be impossible for us to get married."
Muslims feel rejected
Many Muslims in Syria accuse local Christians of keeping too much to themselves and of looking down on their Islamic neighbours.
Ramiz Sammeir, a 29-year-old student at Damascus University, comes from the predominantly Christian town of Jdeide Artoz, 10 km west of the capital.
There, he complains, he is made to feel an unwelcome outsider.
"In the town, if any Christian girl knows that I am a Muslim she refuses to talk to me," Sammeir said.
"If any Muslim woman wearing a hijab [headscarf] comes to visit my family, our neighbours will suddenly be very nosey and ask about the woman who came to visit us," he added. "Muslims and Christians should respect each other and live in a complete co-existence - this is a Muslim majority country."
Sammeir said he used to pay his Christian friends a special visit at Christmas and Easter. But they never paid him a return visit on Muslim holy days such as Eid al Addah or Eid al Fitr, so now he doesn't bother going to see them any more.
The young man said his family now feels so ill at ease in Jdeide Artoz, that they are thinking of selling up and moving to a Muslim neighbourhood.
Most young Syrians - Christians and Muslims - insist however that there is real solidarity between the country's different communities.
Back at Deir Mar Musa, Father Dall'Oglio and his colleagues are trying to chip away at the walls of mistrust by finding common ground between the two religions.
"We have a relationship of friendship and love with Christians - we are all one people in this country," said Ahmed Ismail, a 25-year-old man from an entirely Muslim village who was visiting the 1,500 year-old monastery with a group of friends and family .
It was the first that any of them had been to a Christian religious site. But Ismail and his party were among a steady stream of Syrians of all religious backgrounds visiting Deir Dar Musa, which Dall'Oglio has been restoring since 1991.
"It's true," Ismail said. "Both sides need to know more about each other."
[ENDS]
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Monday
Avian Flu + GM CROPS + WTO (Inside Geneva) + MNCs Marketing Plans
In The Financial Express, India, Oct 17, 2005
**************************************************************
1. Avian Flu In Russia, China, Bulgaria Sends Shivers Down India
2. 14 GM CROPS Approved For Limited Trials
3. WTO (Inside Geneva) - FARM FRONT Discusses Tactics Being Adopted By Developed Countries
4. Reputed Marketing Expert, Dr Mahanama Cautions MNCs To Respect National & Cultural Values
---------------------------------------------------
Avian flu in Russia, China sends shivers down India
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=105816
ASHOK B SHARMA
Posted online: Monday, October 17, 2005 at 0142 hours IST
NEW DELHI, OCT 16: Outbreak of Avian flu in migratory birds in China and Russia has raised fears that this dangerous disease may spread to India.
Outbreak of Avian flu in poultry has recently occurred in Bulgaria.
So far no case of Avian flu has been detected in India either in birds, poultry or humans. “The animal husbandry department and health officials are on alert to take any possible steps to meet the situation,” a senior government official said.
According to WHO, a total of 117 cases of Avian infection among humans (with incidence of H5N1 virus) were reported between January 2004 and October 10, 2005. Out of these 60 cases were fatal. Similar cases have been reported in Cambodia (4 fatal cases), Indonesia (5 cases out of which 3 were fatal), and Vietnam (91 cases out of which 41 were fatal).
The executive director of Centre for International Trade in Agriculture (CITA), Vijay Sardana has called for strict quarantine checks on imported animals and birds and sanitary and phytosanitary checks on imported food.
While some experts feel that there is a possibility of Avian flu virus entering India through migratory birds from China and Russia in the winter season, others believe that it may enter through Andaman & Nicobar Islands and the eastern coast of the country from the Southeast Asian countries.
Wild birds and poultry are the natural hosts of Avian flu virus and hence the name. It is otherwise called Bird Flu. Avian influenza virus spread among susceptible birds when they contact contaminated excretions. Among Avian Flu viruses, H5N1 is considered fatal. The first instance of direct bird-to-human spread of H5N1 virus was reported during the outbreak of Avian Flu among poultry in Hong Kong.
----------------------------------------------
GM Crops : 14 new veggie varieties approved for limited trial
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=105819
ASHOK B SHARMA
Posted online: Monday, October 17, 2005 at 0144 hours IST
NEW DELHI, OCT 15: Fourteen transgenic food crops have been approved for contained and limited field trials in the country. The trials are being conducted by both public and private sector institutions, according to a recent document prepared by the department of biotechnology (DBT).
The target traits of these crops include insect tolerance, herbicide tolerance, viral and fungal resistance and stress tolerance.
The transgenic food crops approved for contained field trials are the brinjal varieties developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Delhi and the Mumbai-based private seed company, Mahyco. IARI has developed the transgenic brinjal with the insertion of cry 1 Ab gene, while Mahyco has developed their variety with the insertion of cry 1 Ac gene.
Mahyco and Sungrow Seeds Ltd, Delhi have developed their varieties of cauliflower with the insertion of cry 1 Ac gene. Sungrow Seeds has also developed transgenic cabbage with the insertion of cry 1 Ac gene.
The International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) which is headquartered in Patenceru near Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh has developed transgenic chickpea, groundnut and chickpea varieties which are in various stages of contained field trials. Icrisat’s transgenic chickpeas contain cry 1 Ac and Cry 1 Ab genes. Its transgenic groundnuts contain IPCVip and IPCV replicas.
The transgenic pigeon-pea developed by Icrisat contain cry1 Ab and SBTI.Monsanto has developed transgenic maize containing CP4 EPSPS which is also under contained field trials.
Transgenic varieties of mustard are developed by IARI, NRCWS, Jabalpur, TERI, Delhi and UDSC, Delhi. IARI’s transgenic mustard varieties contain CodA and osmotin. The mustard varieties developed by NRCWS and UDSC contain bar, barnase and barstar. The transgenic mustard developed by Teri has Ssu-maize Psy and Ssu-tpCrtl. It may be recalled in context that transgenic mustard varieties earlier developed by ProAgro having bar, barnase and barstar was rejected by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC).
The Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) has developed transgenic potato with cry1 Ab gene while NCPGR, Delhi has developed transgenic potato with Ama-1 gene.
Rice is an important staple crop and seven organisations have developed transgenic rice.
The Hyderabad-based directorate of rice research has developed rice varieties for bacterial blight resistance and sheath blight using Xa-21, Cry1 Ab and gna gene. Osmania University, Hyderabad has developed transgenic rice using gna gene. IARI’s transgenic rice varieties contain Bt, chitinase, Cry1 Ac and Cry1B-Cry1 Aa.
Mahyco’s transgenic rice variety contains Cry1 Ac gene. The transgenic rice varieties developed by MKU, Madurai contain chitinase, B-1, 3-glucanase and osmotin. The Chennai-based MS Swaminathan Research Foundation has developed transgenic rice by borrowing genes from mangrove species. The Tamil Nadu Agriculture University has used chitinase in developing their transgenic rice variety.
-----------------------------------------------
FARM FRONT Column
Developed world undermining WTO spirit through FTAs
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=105821
ASHOK B SHARMA
Posted online: Monday, October 17, 2005 at 0146 hours IST
Given the rigid positions of the major negotiating blocs, it seems unlikely that the trade talks in progress in the WTO general council meeting in Geneva will lead to a draft paper acceptable to all. Such a paper would have formed the basis of agriculture negotiations in Hong Kong in December.
G-20, the European Union, US and G-10 have already submitted their proposals. The gap between the WTO general council meeting and mid-November is too short for a consensus to appear.
Much behind-the-scenes activity is on at Geneva.
The developed bloc is interested in undermining the unity of the developing countries to achieve their goal. Lucrative offers, outside the ambit of WTO, are being made to developing countries.
The developed bloc knows for certain that if the unity of the developing countries is weakened by any means, they can aggressively push their agenda for gaining greater market access in the Third World. Even then, there are reports that the unity within G-20 is at stake.
The agenda of the developed bloc is clear - to maintain their level of protection and gain greater market access in the developing country markets.
The developed nations are determined to achieve their goal either through WTO or through free trade agreements (FTAs).
Incidentally, the FTAs are being designed by the developed countries to get more than what the WTO and Trips could give at this stage.
When the developed countries get what they wanted through FTAs, they would then later attempt to place these FTA rules inside WTO.
In most bilateral agreements so far signed by the US with the developing countries, there are rules on investment, government procurement and competition policy. The WTO draft of July 2004 had shelved these Singapore issues and US has brought back these issues through FTAs.
The US in its FTAs with Singapore and Chile has covered not only foreign direct investment, but also portfolio investment, loans, intellectual property issues, investors’ rights including pre-establishment rights. The defination of expropriation has been broadened to include indirect expropriation.
The FTAs signed by the US have rules on market access, national treatment of foreign firms and products and prohibiting preferential treatment for national firms. This is in contrast to the WTO working group discussions where only transparency aspect had been mandated for consideration.
Similarly, the developing countries are obliged to open up their services sector, much to their disadvantage when striking FTA deals with the US. FTAs make use of the “negative list approach” for opening up of the services sector, while the WTO services agreement talks of “positive list approach”.
In the negative list approach, if a particular sector, by mistake, escapes mention as an exception, it is presumed to be open for foreign investment.
FTAs, thus reduces the flexibilities accorded to developing countries under WTO. Besides the dedeveloped countries cite Article XXIV of the GATT to make a case for tariff elimination by parties on “substantially all trade.”
Thus developing countries should be careful in striking any FTA deal with a developed country. They may lose the flexibilities accorded to them under WTO.
The developed bloc are more eager to strike WTO plus and TRIPS plus deals through FTAs. Many developing economies are suffering on account of FTA deals struck with the developed world.
-----------------------------------------------
Consider traditions, cultural values before entering a market: expert
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=105818
ASHOK B SHARMA
Posted online: Monday, October 17, 2005 at 0143 hours IST
NEW DELHI, OCT 16: Rural markets in Asia offer many challenges to marketers. Professional marketers should never be oblivious to social responsibilities when targeting rural societies, said a reputed international marketing consultant, Dr Upali Mahanama.
“Those who venture into rural markets without giving due consideration to cultural, traditional and national values will have to face the consequences. Only true professionals who have a desire to enter markets by providing appropriate products, consistent with accepted rural values while adhering to strategic marketing principles will survive in the long run,” Dr Mahanama said.
Dr Mahanama was recently in India at the invitation of Birla Institute of Management Technology.
Dr Mahanama held many big companies and multinationals guilty of ignoring social responsibilities and cultural and traditional values. “We often hear cries from village leaders and religious dignitaries that such companies corrupt rural societies steeped in culture and tradition”, he said.
Another general accusation, Dr Mahanama said, is that marketing promotes materialism. This, he said is not confined to rural societies alone but even to affluent societies in the West. Justifying his statement he quoted Arnold Toynbee’s words : “ All mass marketing and production has been excessive, causing a spiritual breakdown. A hungry and destitute Indian peasant is less unhappy than a Western worker, who eats a streak for dinner and has a refrigerator, a TV, air conditioning and a car.”
With a view to promote successful marketing without giving scope to such resentments, Dr Mahanama said, “The ideal situation is to ensure that products in all aspects, such as marketing communications, pricing, design and promotion satisfy the demands of society as well. Professionals who subscribe to the intrinsic philosophy of marketing, should give the leadership to promote products consistent with the lifestyles of rural people and carve a favourable niche for themselves for long-term mutual benefit.”
Dr Mahanama, however did not rule out the need for innovation. He said that new products have to be developed on a planned basis to satisfy new needs of the consumers. He noted that with increased competition, the “life cycles” of products are becoming shorter. Hence through the process of product development, a product could be given a new lease of life and the cycle could commence.
He said that there is a high risk in product development. Even in the West with very sophisticated marketing, the rate of market failure is as high as 80%.
--------------------------------------------
to subscribe, write to mailto:indiansocietyag@yahoo.co.in
**************************************************************
1. Avian Flu In Russia, China, Bulgaria Sends Shivers Down India
2. 14 GM CROPS Approved For Limited Trials
3. WTO (Inside Geneva) - FARM FRONT Discusses Tactics Being Adopted By Developed Countries
4. Reputed Marketing Expert, Dr Mahanama Cautions MNCs To Respect National & Cultural Values
---------------------------------------------------
Avian flu in Russia, China sends shivers down India
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=105816
ASHOK B SHARMA
Posted online: Monday, October 17, 2005 at 0142 hours IST
NEW DELHI, OCT 16: Outbreak of Avian flu in migratory birds in China and Russia has raised fears that this dangerous disease may spread to India.
Outbreak of Avian flu in poultry has recently occurred in Bulgaria.
So far no case of Avian flu has been detected in India either in birds, poultry or humans. “The animal husbandry department and health officials are on alert to take any possible steps to meet the situation,” a senior government official said.
According to WHO, a total of 117 cases of Avian infection among humans (with incidence of H5N1 virus) were reported between January 2004 and October 10, 2005. Out of these 60 cases were fatal. Similar cases have been reported in Cambodia (4 fatal cases), Indonesia (5 cases out of which 3 were fatal), and Vietnam (91 cases out of which 41 were fatal).
The executive director of Centre for International Trade in Agriculture (CITA), Vijay Sardana has called for strict quarantine checks on imported animals and birds and sanitary and phytosanitary checks on imported food.
While some experts feel that there is a possibility of Avian flu virus entering India through migratory birds from China and Russia in the winter season, others believe that it may enter through Andaman & Nicobar Islands and the eastern coast of the country from the Southeast Asian countries.
Wild birds and poultry are the natural hosts of Avian flu virus and hence the name. It is otherwise called Bird Flu. Avian influenza virus spread among susceptible birds when they contact contaminated excretions. Among Avian Flu viruses, H5N1 is considered fatal. The first instance of direct bird-to-human spread of H5N1 virus was reported during the outbreak of Avian Flu among poultry in Hong Kong.
----------------------------------------------
GM Crops : 14 new veggie varieties approved for limited trial
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=105819
ASHOK B SHARMA
Posted online: Monday, October 17, 2005 at 0144 hours IST
NEW DELHI, OCT 15: Fourteen transgenic food crops have been approved for contained and limited field trials in the country. The trials are being conducted by both public and private sector institutions, according to a recent document prepared by the department of biotechnology (DBT).
The target traits of these crops include insect tolerance, herbicide tolerance, viral and fungal resistance and stress tolerance.
The transgenic food crops approved for contained field trials are the brinjal varieties developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Delhi and the Mumbai-based private seed company, Mahyco. IARI has developed the transgenic brinjal with the insertion of cry 1 Ab gene, while Mahyco has developed their variety with the insertion of cry 1 Ac gene.
Mahyco and Sungrow Seeds Ltd, Delhi have developed their varieties of cauliflower with the insertion of cry 1 Ac gene. Sungrow Seeds has also developed transgenic cabbage with the insertion of cry 1 Ac gene.
The International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) which is headquartered in Patenceru near Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh has developed transgenic chickpea, groundnut and chickpea varieties which are in various stages of contained field trials. Icrisat’s transgenic chickpeas contain cry 1 Ac and Cry 1 Ab genes. Its transgenic groundnuts contain IPCVip and IPCV replicas.
The transgenic pigeon-pea developed by Icrisat contain cry1 Ab and SBTI.Monsanto has developed transgenic maize containing CP4 EPSPS which is also under contained field trials.
Transgenic varieties of mustard are developed by IARI, NRCWS, Jabalpur, TERI, Delhi and UDSC, Delhi. IARI’s transgenic mustard varieties contain CodA and osmotin. The mustard varieties developed by NRCWS and UDSC contain bar, barnase and barstar. The transgenic mustard developed by Teri has Ssu-maize Psy and Ssu-tpCrtl. It may be recalled in context that transgenic mustard varieties earlier developed by ProAgro having bar, barnase and barstar was rejected by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC).
The Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) has developed transgenic potato with cry1 Ab gene while NCPGR, Delhi has developed transgenic potato with Ama-1 gene.
Rice is an important staple crop and seven organisations have developed transgenic rice.
The Hyderabad-based directorate of rice research has developed rice varieties for bacterial blight resistance and sheath blight using Xa-21, Cry1 Ab and gna gene. Osmania University, Hyderabad has developed transgenic rice using gna gene. IARI’s transgenic rice varieties contain Bt, chitinase, Cry1 Ac and Cry1B-Cry1 Aa.
Mahyco’s transgenic rice variety contains Cry1 Ac gene. The transgenic rice varieties developed by MKU, Madurai contain chitinase, B-1, 3-glucanase and osmotin. The Chennai-based MS Swaminathan Research Foundation has developed transgenic rice by borrowing genes from mangrove species. The Tamil Nadu Agriculture University has used chitinase in developing their transgenic rice variety.
-----------------------------------------------
FARM FRONT Column
Developed world undermining WTO spirit through FTAs
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=105821
ASHOK B SHARMA
Posted online: Monday, October 17, 2005 at 0146 hours IST
Given the rigid positions of the major negotiating blocs, it seems unlikely that the trade talks in progress in the WTO general council meeting in Geneva will lead to a draft paper acceptable to all. Such a paper would have formed the basis of agriculture negotiations in Hong Kong in December.
G-20, the European Union, US and G-10 have already submitted their proposals. The gap between the WTO general council meeting and mid-November is too short for a consensus to appear.
Much behind-the-scenes activity is on at Geneva.
The developed bloc is interested in undermining the unity of the developing countries to achieve their goal. Lucrative offers, outside the ambit of WTO, are being made to developing countries.
The developed bloc knows for certain that if the unity of the developing countries is weakened by any means, they can aggressively push their agenda for gaining greater market access in the Third World. Even then, there are reports that the unity within G-20 is at stake.
The agenda of the developed bloc is clear - to maintain their level of protection and gain greater market access in the developing country markets.
The developed nations are determined to achieve their goal either through WTO or through free trade agreements (FTAs).
Incidentally, the FTAs are being designed by the developed countries to get more than what the WTO and Trips could give at this stage.
When the developed countries get what they wanted through FTAs, they would then later attempt to place these FTA rules inside WTO.
In most bilateral agreements so far signed by the US with the developing countries, there are rules on investment, government procurement and competition policy. The WTO draft of July 2004 had shelved these Singapore issues and US has brought back these issues through FTAs.
The US in its FTAs with Singapore and Chile has covered not only foreign direct investment, but also portfolio investment, loans, intellectual property issues, investors’ rights including pre-establishment rights. The defination of expropriation has been broadened to include indirect expropriation.
The FTAs signed by the US have rules on market access, national treatment of foreign firms and products and prohibiting preferential treatment for national firms. This is in contrast to the WTO working group discussions where only transparency aspect had been mandated for consideration.
Similarly, the developing countries are obliged to open up their services sector, much to their disadvantage when striking FTA deals with the US. FTAs make use of the “negative list approach” for opening up of the services sector, while the WTO services agreement talks of “positive list approach”.
In the negative list approach, if a particular sector, by mistake, escapes mention as an exception, it is presumed to be open for foreign investment.
FTAs, thus reduces the flexibilities accorded to developing countries under WTO. Besides the dedeveloped countries cite Article XXIV of the GATT to make a case for tariff elimination by parties on “substantially all trade.”
Thus developing countries should be careful in striking any FTA deal with a developed country. They may lose the flexibilities accorded to them under WTO.
The developed bloc are more eager to strike WTO plus and TRIPS plus deals through FTAs. Many developing economies are suffering on account of FTA deals struck with the developed world.
-----------------------------------------------
Consider traditions, cultural values before entering a market: expert
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=105818
ASHOK B SHARMA
Posted online: Monday, October 17, 2005 at 0143 hours IST
NEW DELHI, OCT 16: Rural markets in Asia offer many challenges to marketers. Professional marketers should never be oblivious to social responsibilities when targeting rural societies, said a reputed international marketing consultant, Dr Upali Mahanama.
“Those who venture into rural markets without giving due consideration to cultural, traditional and national values will have to face the consequences. Only true professionals who have a desire to enter markets by providing appropriate products, consistent with accepted rural values while adhering to strategic marketing principles will survive in the long run,” Dr Mahanama said.
Dr Mahanama was recently in India at the invitation of Birla Institute of Management Technology.
Dr Mahanama held many big companies and multinationals guilty of ignoring social responsibilities and cultural and traditional values. “We often hear cries from village leaders and religious dignitaries that such companies corrupt rural societies steeped in culture and tradition”, he said.
Another general accusation, Dr Mahanama said, is that marketing promotes materialism. This, he said is not confined to rural societies alone but even to affluent societies in the West. Justifying his statement he quoted Arnold Toynbee’s words : “ All mass marketing and production has been excessive, causing a spiritual breakdown. A hungry and destitute Indian peasant is less unhappy than a Western worker, who eats a streak for dinner and has a refrigerator, a TV, air conditioning and a car.”
With a view to promote successful marketing without giving scope to such resentments, Dr Mahanama said, “The ideal situation is to ensure that products in all aspects, such as marketing communications, pricing, design and promotion satisfy the demands of society as well. Professionals who subscribe to the intrinsic philosophy of marketing, should give the leadership to promote products consistent with the lifestyles of rural people and carve a favourable niche for themselves for long-term mutual benefit.”
Dr Mahanama, however did not rule out the need for innovation. He said that new products have to be developed on a planned basis to satisfy new needs of the consumers. He noted that with increased competition, the “life cycles” of products are becoming shorter. Hence through the process of product development, a product could be given a new lease of life and the cycle could commence.
He said that there is a high risk in product development. Even in the West with very sophisticated marketing, the rate of market failure is as high as 80%.
--------------------------------------------
to subscribe, write to mailto:indiansocietyag@yahoo.co.in
Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories
On Thursday October 20 at 10 pm ET, PBS will air a shocking documentary that reveals a dark secret of our nation’s family courts – that some domestic abusers also physically and sexually abuse their children, and judges are awarding them custody!
Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories presents the stories of mothers who lost custody to their batterers and of children who tell the horror of being placed in the custody of parents they have named as their physical and sexual abusers. It exposes the discredited theory of Parental Alienation Syndrome, which claims that mothers brainwash children into saying they are abused, and shows how misinformed and sometimes corrupt judges and lawyers rely on PAS as a basis for awarding custody to abusers.
Please join Stop Family Violence in thanking PBS for bringing this important issue to light.
Visit www.stopfamilyviolence.org/194 for more information and to show PBS your appreciation by telling your stories and showing your professional, organizational or individual support. We will compile your comments and deliver them to PBS.
Together we can.. http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org
Irene Weiser
Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories presents the stories of mothers who lost custody to their batterers and of children who tell the horror of being placed in the custody of parents they have named as their physical and sexual abusers. It exposes the discredited theory of Parental Alienation Syndrome, which claims that mothers brainwash children into saying they are abused, and shows how misinformed and sometimes corrupt judges and lawyers rely on PAS as a basis for awarding custody to abusers.
Please join Stop Family Violence in thanking PBS for bringing this important issue to light.
Visit www.stopfamilyviolence.org/194 for more information and to show PBS your appreciation by telling your stories and showing your professional, organizational or individual support. We will compile your comments and deliver them to PBS.
Together we can.. http://www.stopfamilyviolence.org
Irene Weiser
dao transformation
| My apologies for not sending out the meditation yesterday: I am sending it today so we don't get behind. The daily meditations stopped for a month as I was unable to pay the list provider but it appears we are up and running now! Do consider visiting the shop and purchasing sumething to help support us if you cannot donate outright. And consider the shop for holiday needs. For YOUR DISCOUNT: I cannot set up a discounted price for people on the cafe press site but it is mirrored on the duckdaotsu.org site so I can certainly provide a discount there. All art prints will be signed by the artist if you order through duckdaotsu as well. Thank you so much for your patience and your support through these lean times! | |||||
In the past, warriors fought by striking the same points that acupuncture use. One famous swordsman nearly died in a duel in which his opponent attacked him in such a way. After that, the swordsman became a wanderer and tried to renounce the martial life. Years later, his enemy found him and challenged him to duel again. They fought. In the first flurry of blows, the aggressor stepped back in surprise. The swordsman smiled and said, “I trained for twenty years to move my vulnerable spots.” With that, he was finally able to triumph. Spirituality is a process of inner healing. The wounds of the past can be the greatest obstacles for self-cultivation unless we find them all and heal them. This task can take years, but we must accomplish it. In many cases, our wounds were inflicted by other people—enemies. This is subtle. Our enemies can be others on the street, or people much more intimate with us: parents, teachers, siblings, lovers, friends. If we move away from such people and succeed in our practice, they will have no chance to come back in our lives. How can they? We change whatever made us vulnerable in the first place. transformation 365 Tao daily meditations Deng Ming-Dao (author) ISBN 0-06-250223-9 duckdaotsu.org tao hub support sustain Bessie at Cascade Falls (Basset Grace) Leica m3 90mm Zeiss Kodacolor 100 © 1983 - 2005 lisbeth west http://www.cafepress.com/duckdaotsu/682398
archived at http://www.duckdaotsu.org/105/transformation.html a reading list of books and interpretations of the Daodejing is available at http://www.duckdaotsu.org/dao_books.html
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dao merging
merging 365 Tao daily meditations Deng Ming-Dao (author) ISBN 0-06-250223-9 duckdaotsu.org tao hub support sustain Alpine Wildflower Nikon 42-86 Macro Fujichrome © 1975 - 2005 lisbeth west http://www.cafepress.com/duckdaotsu/847004
archived at http://www.duckdaotsu.org/105/merging.html a reading list of books and interpretations of the Daodejing is available at http://www.duckdaotsu.org/dao_books.html
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