Dinyar Godrej's blog
Burma: Billion dollar con
Submitted by Dinyar Godrej on May 9, 2008 - 3:35pm.
Ever got a bum deal when changing money in a foreign country? Here’s an exchange rate scam to beat them all. Read more »
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Burma’s referendum among ruins
Submitted by Dinyar Godrej on May 9, 2008 - 3:00pm.
I’ve been reading today’s edition of propaganda rag The New Light of Myanmar. Normally all the railing against ‘foreign stooges’ and exhortations to ‘national duty’ (ie following the diktats of the ruling generals) is good for a cynical chuckle. But, as the song goes, that joke isn’t funny anymore. Read more »
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Burma: Seeing but not believing
Submitted by Dinyar Godrej on May 7, 2008 - 3:15pm.
Of all the images that have emerged from cyclone-hit Burma, the most shocking for me were the most long distance ones. NASA released satellite images of the country before and after the cyclone. The ‘after' image is barely recognizable - the amount of the Irrawaddy delta in the south that is now blue instead of green is staggering. The southern outline of the country bears no relation anymore to what one would expect to see. Read more »
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Burma: destruction and gundown
Submitted by Dinyar Godrej on May 6, 2008 - 4:42pm.
Tropical cyclone Nargis – which hit Burma around midnight on Friday – has ruined many parts of a country which already has poor infrastructure due to the history of blundering by its military dictators. Foreign journalists have posed the question: what will the Burmese people think of a regime that rushes armed soldiers onto the streets to quell any signs of protest but which has been sluggish in assisting the thousands in dire need? I doubt the Burmese will be spending much time over that one - they have more pressing worries and they know the true colours of their rulers well enough by now. Read more »
Our daily bread – and our trespasses
Submitted by Dinyar Godrej on April 15, 2008 - 8:40am.
The spiraling world food grains crisis has been a long time coming. There have been warnings aplenty, but they didn't really grab the headlines. The two things that seem to have caught the world's attention are rising prices (ie food seen in monetary terms) and the social unrest of riots. We rightly fear instability. Read more »
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Depleted Uranium developments
Submitted by Dinyar Godrej on November 15, 2007 - 11:30am.
The ball of activism against DU weapons has been rolling ever onward after our current magazine on the subject.
Readers may be aware that Belgium has become the first country to ban these DU armaments altogether and that the European parliament has been calling for a ban as well. Now, after intense lobbying by the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW), wheels at the UN are beginning to creak. The UN First Committee in New York has just passed a resolution by a landslide majority urging UN member states to re-examine the health consequences of DU weapons. The resolution requests that states and international bodies submit a report on DU to the UN General Assembly during next year’s session. DU will also be on the Assembly’s agenda. A second vote will be needed to confirm this resolution and will take place early next year. Read more »
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