French Dassualt Rafale

Long wait has come to an end for the Indian Air Force and combat aircraft lovers. Neither the American way, nor the Russian way, Indian government has gone the European way. French company Dassault Rafale has almost bagged the 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft multi billion dollar largest-ever deal with India.

The Indian Air Force projected a requirement for about 126 aircraft in 2001 considering the aging MiGs, when the strength was at 39.5 squadrons (down from 45). Also recently the expected delay in the development of LCA got the government kick started.

Analysis: Eurofighter Typhoon VS Dassault Rafale: Comparison using Latest 2012 Figures; What India Gained and What it Missed.

The process was started with the issuing of a global tender in 2007 after which all the six contenders were subjected to extensive field evaluation trails by the Indian Air Force at several locations across the globe. They were the Swedish Saab Gripen, Eurofighter Typhoon, French Dassault Rafale, Russian Mikoyan MiG-35, and the American F-16IN and F/A-18IN Super Hornet.

India has had good strategic relations with Russian Mikoyan and French Dassault Aviation. Both the companies have provided the aircrafts as well as the technology to manufacture at home. Indian pilots and manufacturing companies are familiar with French and Russian products. These criterias would have been put under consideration while making the deal.

Although having an upper hand and the status of all weather friend, unfortunately Russian MiG 35 couldn't make up to the finals. It is believed that the officials in the government and Air force are displeased with the delays in delivery as well as supply of parts by the Russians. 

It was Dassualt Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon which made it up to the finals. Dassualt Rafale being the lowest bidder won the deal.

It would be the first sale of Rafale outside France once the deal is finalized. Officials here said that the representatives of Dassualt Aviation have been informed of the results and development and soon (within the next 10 to 15 days) talks could be held for further negotiation on the price of the aircraft.

According to the agreement, the company who wins the contract will have to provide 18 aircrafts from their manufacturing facilities within 3 years or 36 months. Rest of the aircrafts will be manufactured at home facilities within India by HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) under license.

Dassault Aviation said in a statement the decision was "an extraordinary success" for the company, singling out the backing of French President Nicolas Sarkozy for the company's bid, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

"We have won this contract," French Trade Minister Pierre Lellouche said Tuesday.

"But a number of things are yet to be finalized. At this stage I will remain cautious," he told French radio station BFM Business.

"It's a big win for the Dassault and the Rafale - its first overseas order - after a couple of big disappointments in Brazil and UAE, and a big loss for Eurofighter," said James Hardy, Asia-Pacific analyst at IHS Jane's Defence Weekly.

"This is a major win for France, and a major loss for the U.K.," said Endre Lunde, a consultant at IHS Jane's. "This leaves Oman and the UAE as the largest potential markets for the Eurofighter, both of which are significantly smaller than India and are less certain to move forward," Mr. Lunde said.

WSJ reports that the shares in Dassualt Aviation rose up to €735 (a 20% increase) after this news.

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Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev waves 

as he walks with Cuba's President

Posted by Cristina Avram, Geopolitics.ro

Although geographically distant from Russia, Latin America is one of the main priorities of the Russian government's foreign policy. Russian authorities have come very close, in fact, to some Latin American regimes.  Actually Russia's spectacular return to this region is part of its overall strategy to strengthen Russia's interests and position in the world scene. 

Russia's recent tendency to influence Latin America started in 1997. The collapse of the Soviet Union has precipitated the collapse of the Russian Federation's influence in South America, as succesor of the Soviet Union. This has determined the Prime Minister Evgheni Primakov to start reviving Russia's position in Latin America as a global power in 1997. Since then, Russia's objectives have remained remarkably consistent, as  policy instruments: trade, arms sales political support for those governments who were trying to escape USA's influence.

In Latin America, Moscow takes full advantage of the open anti-american climate and the diplomatic tensions with Washington (anti-missile shield, NATO's expansion, the Georgian crisis, the presence of the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Black Sea) to implant itself in the American sphere of influence. Thus, Russians reply to U.S. intrusion in the Caucasian and Central Asian region. Actually, Russia wants to gain the loyalty of new economic partners by making bilateral agreements in the aeronautics, energy and military sphere.

Brazil

In Brazil, Russian diplomacy favors, above all, increasing trade and expanding energy, aerospacial and military cooperation. Only in 2008 trade of the two BRIC countries exceeded $ 7.3 billion. The dynamics of the Russian-Brazilian partnership is explained mainly by converging interests in several strategic areas. In the energy sector, Moscow is determined to associate itself with Brazil to exploit Brazilian oil and gas deposits. On the other hand, Brazil wants to purchase Russian equipment for their hydroelectric plants which are under construction, as well for developing their booming rail network. In aerospace, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Rocosmos) signed an agreement with the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) to implement a cooperation and development mechanism for 'Glonass', the Russian system for satellite global navigation,  competitor of the American 'GPS' and future European 'Galileo'. Russian military-industrial complex hopes actually to sell to Brazilians military equipment (weapons, helicopters, bombs, planes, submarines) that the country needs to strengthen its military power. In addition, relanching the Brazilian nuclear program also opens the path for stronger cooperation between Moscow and Brazil in civil and military nuclear. 

Cuba

With Cuba, relationships were initially damaged after the fall of Soviet Union in 1991. In the world after the Cold War, Havana didn't hope to matter anymore to Moscow. The comming to power of Vladimir Putin has changed this geopolitical situation. Since Cuba was still suffering because of U.S. embargo established in 1962, the Russian President was personally involved in the Cuban affairs, supporting the lifting of economic sanctions by the UN, on one hand, and by providing financial credit for many areas, on the other hand. In November 2008, Moscow offered Havana a loan of $ 335 million for the purchase of Russian equipment for the oil, mining and transport sectors. In early 2009, the two countries have signed new agreements. These agreements mainly concern the food and fishing industries, cooperation in education, scientific research, sports and tourism. This Russian-Cuban dialogue allows Moscow to have guaranteed new markets for its products, to expand its influence on the castrist regime and to maintain its presence here, at less than 300 km from the U.S. coastline. 

Venezuela

Venezuela is the key element in the Russian-Latin-American game. The parallel anti-american positions of Russia and Venezuela are already known: Russia out of interest and willingness to become a respected power like USSR used to be, Venezuela by Chavez's ideology and willingness to impose himself as a lider in his country as well throughout the South-American continent. For the anti-imperialist sentiment is growing rapidly in an over-exploited Latin-America by the 'yankee' 's interests for so long.

Caracas is a reliable ally for Moscow in the new energy cold war that is foreshadowing. First producer of gas from South America and fifth worldwide producer of oil, Venezuela incites the Russian gas and oil appetite. In November of 2008, Russian companies Lukoil and Gazprom signed an agreement with the PDVSA oil group which was targeting the exploitation of oil in Orinoco, a river located in the East of the country, hoping to produce more than 1 million barrels per day. If this project materializes, we'll be talking about the most powerfull alliance in the world of oil. Far from being limited to hydrocarbons, Russian strategy in Venezuela is making profit from Venezuela's chavist government military ambitions. Between 2005 and 2007 Caracas signed with Moscow 12 contracts for arms worth 4.4 billion dollars, buying 24 Sukhoi fighter jets, 50 fighter helicopters and 100,000 Kalachnicov rifles. In 2010 Caracas obtained from Moscow a loan of $ 2.2 million to buy T-72 tanks and an undisclosed number of S-300 air-defense bombs, in 2011 negociating a new agreement with Russia to get a $ 4 billion loan, half of which is destined to equip and modernize the armed forces. Also, with Chavez's visit to Moscow in 2010, relations with Russia have been strengthened, Russian President saying that Russia may sell equipment and machinery to Venezuela, and Venezuela might sell agricultural products to Russia. Medvedev claimed that Russia is ready to take part in various regional organizations and Latin American forums which requires a joint task approach such as terrorism, transnational crime, drug trafficking, environmental issues, sustainable development and economic aid. Furthermore, Medvedev considers that Venezuela 'has acted like a true friend' when it followed Russia and recognized former Georgian republics South Ossetia and Abkhazia at the last visit Chavez had made to Moscow in 2009.

In the civil nuclear area, Russians and Venezuelans have signed a bilateral agreement on controlled thermonuclear synthesis and safety of nuclear installations and radiation sources. The nuclear cooperation is also accompanied by a military cooperation. On September 10, 2008, two Russian bombers capable of carrying nuclear bombs landed at Palo Negro in Venezuela to participate in joint manuevers with Hugo Chavez's Bolivarian armed forces. In December 2008, a similar training of naval forces of the two countries, called "VenRus", took place in the Caribbean. These military exercises employed 2,300 people of the Russian and Venezuelan fleet, 3 frigates, an amphibious vehicle and 8 patrol vessels. This strategic cooperation serves Moscow's interests who wants to propose an alternative to the American presence in the region. 

In fact, the geopolitical situation between these two countries illustrates how the relationship between Russia and Latin America becomes more important day by day, not only because of the weapons sold in the region, but also because of the diplomatic resources that Moscow had used in South America. The continously cold relationship between Venezuela and the U.S. in addition to Washington's controversial relationship with Moscow will contribute further to the substantial strengthening of military and diplomatic ties between Russia and Venezuela. This possibility can't make U.S. happy. The new situation facing Washington is that Russia will be a growing factor when it comes to leftist governments in the region, who want autonomy from U.S. policy makers, and which Washington considers dangerous, but that Moscow considers to be very good.

In conclusion, we can say that the policy led by Moscow in Latin America is the product of old aspirations: to establish Russia the status of a great power and of a country which promotes a multipolar world; in fact, it's more of a closing towards USA than an economic policy with strategic objectives. 

Translated in English from Romanian language, Original Article appeared on our Partner website.

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Courtesy: Allvoices.com

In a poll conducted by the Croatians whether to join the European Union or not, Croatians have shown interest in joining the union, despite the high profile protests in the country against joining the European Union. (Read: Protests in Croatia Against Joining European Union)

Thus, Croatia will become second country after Slovenia from the former Yugoslavia to join the European Union.

Reports says that the turn out for the poll was mere 43.58 percent, which was even lesser than the turnout for the general election in the country last year in the month of December. Nevertheless, the voting results are valid regardless of turnout as only a simple majority was required. Among the people who voted, 66% voted in favor of joining the European Union.

Anti EU groups, which were also involved in anti European Union protests, claimed that the results of the vote cannot be considered as valid because of the poor turnout which was less than 50%

Although nearly 40% of the people voted against the idea of joining the European Union, all major political parties are in favor of joining the union, as it is believed it will help in the recovery of the economy of this former Yugoslavia republic which got independence in 1995 after four years of war with Serb rebels.

"The Croatian government can now complete the remaining preparations for membership... so that Croatia can become the Union's 28th member on July 1 2013," the two EU leaders, president Herman Van Rompuy and Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said in a joint statement.

Croatia, whose economy is largely dependent on Adriatic tourism, has been facing some struggle to maintain its economy. Experts believe that the economy might shrink by 0.2 percent this year. At this point, people believe joining the European Union might help in the recovery of economy of the country, though the time of joining might not be a golden time for both, as the European Union is itself asking countries like China, India and gulf countries to bail out their crippling economy. 

Membership in the world’s largest trading bloc may provide the Adriatic nation with hundreds of millions of euros in regional development and infrastructure subsidies. Companies such as Germany’s Siemens AG,  Deutsche Telekom AG and Sweden’s Ericsson AB expect to expand into the Balkans as western Europe’s growth stalls over the debt crisis, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.

“The European Union gives us a ticket to the world in which we can be successful,” Davor Majetic, head of the Croatian Association of Entrepreneurs, said by phone. “We want to work and have an opportunity to turn our ideas into profitable products that can reach that market of 500 million people.”

Meanwhile, Anti Union groups were stressing on low turnout, "This is a defeat of Croatia's freedom (and) independence... We are entering an association that is falling apart," Zeljko Sacic, of the 'Council for Croatia - No to EU' umbrella group, told national television as reported by AFP.

Those opposed to entering the European Union have also expressed fears about a loss of sovereignty and national identity in this country of 4.2 million, says AFP.

It was in the year of 2000, when the pro European government came in this former Yugoslavia republic which transformed the government system in the country into genuine parliamentary democracy. 

With this success of Croatia, other former Yugoslavia republics are also showing their interest in the union.   Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia, all have aspirations to join.

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In a new development from North Africa, Pro Gaddafi's fighters re-emerged to take small revenge.

Pro Gaddafi Fighters loyal to late Libyan leader clashed with revolutionary forces in the former-regime stronghold of Bani Walid on Monday, after the arrest of one of the Gaddaffi Loyalist. With this, they have successfully gained the control over the city. According to few analysts the country is heading towards another civil war. The head of Libya’s National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, has said the country will find itself in civil war if NTC resigns.

The clashes reportedly came after mass protests in the city of Benghazi happened on the weekend, as well as  subsequent resignation of NTC (National Transitional Council) deputy chief, Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, resulting into the death of at least five NTC troops and injury of 30 others.

Sabah al-Mukhtar, President of the Arab Lawyers Association, explained to Russia Today why another civil war is possible in the country.

“Reason number one is that the arms are still in the hands of the various militias in various areas," in addition to competing tribes in those areas, explained.  

“At the same time, the political views of the people are in conflict. You have a situation when people want Islam to be a part of the constitution, while you have others, that are liberals, who do not.”

“So you have the conflict on policies as well as the availability of arms,” he concluded.

Sabah al-Mukhtar also says there are dramatic divergences in what the NTC says and what it actually does.

“Many of them are actually from the old regime – including the leader who was a Minister of Justice under Gaddafi – and there are many other people like his deputy, like many others, who were men of Gaddafi and at the same time now they say, 'we will not allow those who benefited from Gaddafi`s regime to stand for elections.'"

The lawyer pointed out that the head of NTC himself served as a Minister of Justice under Gaddafi and turned blind eye to many injustices in the country, as told by RT.

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Demonstrators burning EU flag

In an another important development in Eastern Europe, hundreds of thousands of Hungarians came out on the streets to protest against the European Union's attitude towards their government and head of the state, Prime Minister Victor Orban.

The protest labelled as "Peace parade for Hungary" is the largest rally since the government assumed the power in May 2010, indicating that the majority of the countrymen are with their government in the row with European Union.

The European Commission - the EU's executive arm - has opened legal proceedings against Hungary over reforms like the independence of the national central bank, the retirement age of judges, and the independence of the country's data protection authority aiming to prop up its battered forint currency and keep access to financial markets. The commission is also seeking more information in regard to the independence of the judiciary, said the president of The European Commission, Barroso.

The Commission launched an infringement procedure against Hungary on Tuesday, the first stage of which is a warning calling for changes to the controversial laws. Infringement proceedings are a step preceding legal action, intended to enable a state to make changes to conform with EU law rather than be taken to court. 

Barroso had written to Orban in December requesting him the withdrawal of two recent bills related to the country's financial stability and the central bank. The prime minister of Hungary, Orban, had then rejected the requests.

The Commission can go as far as imposing fines and taking Hungary to the European Court of Justice. Both the European Union and International Monetary Fund have said they will refuse to extend aid to Hungary, which is struggling financially, unless the government in Budapest guarantees the independence of the central bank. The process could lead to Hungary losing voting rights in Brussels, not to mention bankruptcy if the EU torpedoes Hungary’s bid for an urgently needed financial bailout.

Hungarian Prime Minister, Orban, is travelling to Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday to try to come out with a political agreement with EU Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, in order to be able to start formal talks with the EU and International Monetary Fund about a loan deal worth $25 billion (20bn euros) to service its debts which Hungary wanted to secure from a while back. Hungary's total debt has risen to 82% of its output, while its currency, the forint, has fallen to record lows against the euro.

Orban has faced domestic protests against him demanding his resignation for passing anti democratic bills. Tens of thousands of people protested in Budapest against the new constitution earlier this month. The demonstration lasted only mere five hours and was organized by opposition parties and civil society groups.

But the current protests in Hungary are pro government, demonstrating anger against the European Union.

Deputy PM Zsolt Semjén told hard-right station Lánchíd Rádió that he knows the government has made “millions and millions of mistakes but I believe that there were no strategic errors committed”, and attacks against Hungary have no factual basis whatsoever.

Semjén said Hungary should respond much more strongly to criticism because it is unacceptable for certain politicians in the European Union to attack the country on issues that are more strictly regulated in their own countries.

According to Gábor Vona, the leader of the radical right Jobbik, Hungary should secede from the European Union. Responding to it, Semjén said it is rational for Hungary to exercise its rights within the 27-member bloc. But the real question is what would happen the day after Hungary leaves the EU? “There are two wrong ideas about this issue,” Semjén said. “One belongs to the liberal side, which looks at the EU as a goal of Hungary. The other error is being hostile towards international organisations due to certain emotional reasons. I can understand the latter to a certain extent but if we are not with the EU, where are we? Are we to be a part of Russian interests or do we hover in the no man’s land between the EU and Russia?”

Protesters on the streets of Budapest, (c) AFP

The protesters told Reuters in a single voice that they won't bow down to West. "We won't be a dominion, we don't want to be a colony," news magazine editor Andras Bencsik told the crowd. "This is our message to those abroad. "The other is we fully support Viktor Orban, and we are proud of what we achieved at the 2010 elections."

"They have shown the political left that the street does not belong to them," Politics analyst Zoltan Kiszelly told Reuters. "And they have sent a message to the government's partners abroad to stop trying to tell us what to do, the government is doing fine."

"The way the Italian or the Greek governments were removed will not work in Hungary, and early elections are out of the question with this kind of public support."

The common people of Hungary are enraged with the behaviour of leaders of EU against their prime minister. "This is no way to negotiate, this is no attitude to any country."

Also Read: Anti government protests in Romania against Health Reforms and EU
                     Protests in Croatia against joining EU

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Banner saying "Not in the EU"

A large number of Croatian protesters gathered on the street to raise slogan against the European Union. Croatia has hence become another East European country, after Ukraine, Romania and Hungary, to protest against the EU. Unlike Romania and Hungary, Croatia is not a part of European Union yet, but is expected to join in 2013.

The protest's main focus is to warn government against joining the European Union which they feel is an organization to serve the West's need with East's resources.

The protests came just a day before the country's referendum on whether it will join the European Union or not. 

Meanwhile the reports are coming of clashes between the police and protesters which began at the end of the protest rally when a group of angry demonstrators attempted to take down the EU flag. A recent survey results show that about 40% of the public in Croatia feels joining EU is not a good decision.

Protesters raised Anti EU slogans and demonstrated their anger with banners reading "No to the EU" and "I love Croatia".

The protests, which were initially peaceful, resulted into clashes with police that caused arrest of at least three protesters and several were injured.

Today (22 Jan 2012) citizens of Croatia will be asked to answer the question, "Do you support the membership of the Republic of Croatia in the European Union?"

Protesters are encouraged seeing the condition in Romania and Hungary, as more and more people are raising their voice against EU in the other two East European countries which are already member of EU. Croatians are warned and have a thought that EU in no way has helped Romania and Hungary and don't want the same to happen with their country.

Patrick Young, Executive Director of the investment advisory firm DV Advisors also believes that the people  that would say "no" to this question will be due to what they are seeing in neighboring countries that have joined the EU. (Anti Government Protests in Romania against Healthcare Reforms Continues)

People are "protesting because they see the European Union not delivering its side of the deal – and the deal is free trade and jobs,” he explained as quoted by Russia Today.

He also points to the EU's vast economic problems as one a reason why so many Croatians are against joining.

“Ultimately, there is economic chaos within the European Union at the moment, driven from the Eurozone – and that is not to the advantage of Croatian citizens.”

“The problem is that the European Union really cannot solve its internal problems at the moment. Rather, it is in total denial about a problem – about the Euro,” he concluded.

The question now is whether Croatia should join the EU at a moment when the union is deep in crisis, international consultant and former Belgian MP Lode Vanoost told RT.

“If now they say, ‘No, we’d rather wait’, they might be waiting forever, and that’s the risk they – at least the political class in Croatia – does not mean to take. What strikes me is that all the political parties represented in parliament are for EU accession – all the manifestations that we see are done by organizations that are not present in it.”

Regarding the fact that protesters defend an opinion held by some 40 per cent of the population – that is, opposition to EU membership – that’s a bad sign for the Croatian political class, Vanoost told Russia Today.

Romania and Hungary are blaming EU and IMF (International Monetary Fund) that they are dictating terms on their government and stealing their resources. While Hungarians are shocked how can EU warn their democratic government and Prime Minister, who is the head of the state with a two-third majority, Romanians are protesting against their government and head of the state for accepting selling resources to EU for the benefit of himself and western countries at the cost of his own citizen. Protests in Hungary are pro  government and anti EU, while protests in Romania are anti government, anti EU.

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A Romanian man holding the national flag with a hole,
Earlier there used to be a symbol on that place,

which was later dropped.

 Translate article in Romanian

Thousands of Romanians protesters marched through the streets and University Square in the capital, Bucharest. The protest against the government has now spread to over 40 cities in the country, demanding the resignation of the president for imposing harsh austerity measures in order to receive international loans for the nation's slow economy.

Romania is seeing one of the largest protests in recent time. Last big revolution was in 1989 which brought down the communist regime in the country. The same University Square was the place where anti communist revolution took place, hence it keeps a great historical significant for the citizens of Romania.

Protesters hanged the dummies of President Basescu and other ministers (such as the Tourism and Regional Development Minister Elena Udrea) to demonstrate their anger towards his corrupt government and laws. So far most of the protesters and protest demonstrations have been really peaceful, except few incidences.

A Romanian reporter giving Rose to the policemen 

The editor of Cadran Politic Review and a close friend of ours, Gabriela Ionita went through the depth of the event and analyzed the situation with her experience in journalism.

In her recent article Romania – a revolution for evolution? on her blog, she explains that the protests in the country are for various reason. The anger against the government was stacking up for years and was only sparked by the resignation of Deputy Health Minister, Raed Arafat. It all started with President Basescu calling him enemy of health reform on national TV.

Arafat, a Syrian who became Romanian citizen, is the founder of advanced state of the art emergency rescue system (SMURD). The system is so sound that even some West European countries like France want to implement it.

The protests don't focus only on the health reforms but has now has widened against the corruption and the bad governance of Basescu's government.

The Government, in a failed attempt, tried to appease the protesters and the situation in the country with some excuses that didn't convince the people of Romania. The heads of the government, Prime Minister and President, are maintaining a low profile and in between have mimic the protests by calling it a political game by opposition, similar to what we have been observing in India, which is in the state of peaceful protest and demonstration of public demands since early 2011 (as the country saw protest against Black Money and Corruption).

A Romanian kid giving a heart shaped balloon to the police

A large number of Romanian protesters are demanding for early election and change in the government, a possibility which has been rooted out by the government saying it would create dangerous precedent and economic instability. The people of Romania seem unconvinced with this, as in 2011 the amount of foreign investments in Romania fell down by 36%, 18% of Romanians have fallen below the poverty line, a poor Romanian employee now earns 159 euros achieving the lowest minimum wage in EU countries, as compared to UK ~ 967 Euros, Bulgaria ~ 233 Euros, Poland ~ 326 Euros, says Gabriela.

As Romania became ally of western bloc joining NATO and EU, the country was supposed to be benefited but didn't experience much change. Many Romanian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq unnecessarily in the name of NATO army, though the actual war was in America's interest.

Romanian Protesters claim that the President and his close allies have sold their country resources for the benefit of himself and richer west European countries.

A similar blame was slapped on former government of Ukraine which was considered a puppet to US and West Europe, but Ukrainians were quick to realize the destiny of their country in the hands of Pro western government. The government changed in the next election, the process to join NATO was stopped and ties with Russia were fixed. (Read More: Europe or Russia? Whom will Ukraine Choose?).

Looking at the scenario in Romania, the theory of East Europe loosing confidence in Democracy, capitalism and western powers looks even stronger. In an article posted few weeks ago (Democracy, Capitalism Loosening in Former Soviet Union, Union is Being Missed) we took example of three East European countries, Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia to show that the public confidence in their economy, democracy in their country and western powers is declining. Now Romania is joining the same league, showing that governance and economy culture enforced by western countries is not working out in this region as the current ruling politicians are not much enlightened on how to lead a democratic society.

US, which claims to support the voice of the people in the name of democracy, is currently quiet and is just following the protest incidents happening in the country. As the deal of Anti Ballistic missile with Romania is on the way, US wouldn't like the government to fall down. 

It is very much similar to what happened in Egypt. Mubarak was a dictator, but at the same time an ally of US. When people marched and organized rally in protest against their Egyptian leader, US was mere a spectator. But when people came out to protest against Libyan leader Gaddaffi, NATO and European force came up with full military, monetary and medical support.

Just like conventional media, this protest event in Romania has taken over the social media as well. While Romanians are posting the updates of the events, people living in different countries are getting the real picture which is sometimes purposely not covered by mainstream media.

Protesters on the streets being monitored by the Police

Facebook is full of pictures and videos from the University Square.

A commentator on our Facebook page (Join Now) says, "The generation of protest is the favorite and catchy scenario all over the world .No body is satisfied with anybody. Once the protestors are satisfied with their victory, next they start fighting amongst themselves to establish his/her (group) hegemony. This continues till a powerful group with support of Arms and Ammunition s from neighboring / interested greedy country, takes over through a massacre of human lives. This is NOT THE END. Vultures are available to exploit with slight provocation. The century of protest is on."

Davis Wendy on RT says, "It's a coincidence I guess that the entire globe's developed nations are simply coming unglued. It's funny how the collapse of economies simultaneously occurred just as a handful of "savvy businessmen" got richer than stink. Credits ruined, homes lost, jobs outsourced, medical care unattainable, currency crashes, the banks becoming consolidated into a mega corporation. All just a fluke, right? Do you think we are stupid? The party is OVER. It was devised, designed to end with them with everything and us with NOTHING. Pawn shops have never done so well. How dare men without regard for human suffering are now equipped with their very well-trained personal armies!"

Another commentator on Facebook says, "Americanism...Romanians you caught that one ...part of the American bankster extortion or harvesting program...you too can now have mind numbing psychotropic drugs with little effort. Don't stress about it and no need to protest about it....there is always Prozac. hahaha. (made in Taiwan)"

Aleahim said, "None of you know the truth about how hard is to live nowadays for the people in Romania. We have no industry, no doctors, the education system was crushed... everything is being sold to other countries for 50 cents... people can't stand this anymore! First get informed and then comment! The protests will go on until some changes will be made, for better living conditions hopefully!"

An intellectual gentleman Dan Veliscu told RT, "In Romania - a country were almost nothing works as it should or as it's claimed, we have one working emergency service - the SMURD. And now a good-for-nothing president tries to close it. People have sided with the SMURD, against the president who, on his second term, can't show anything that he's done for the country - not like he did anything tangible before being elected president when he held positions such as transports minister or mayor of Bucharest.

Now the intended closure of the SMURD is just the tip of the iceberg - the spark that ignited the masses - as there are countless reasons to protest and overthrow the regime.

WE ROMANIANS DON'T NEED THE IMF! We don't want any money from the IMF, we don't need to borrow and we don't want any debts for us or for our children to pay. Previous money the IMF gave to Romania were ALL stolen, most of it by banks which sent billions outside the country just as soon as they got their bailouts, and the rest was stolen by politicians. We don't need foreign money and foreign debt, we can make it on our own. Politicians which demand IMF money are all thieves and traitors, since they want that money for their own pockets, not for the country. Let them pay the debts, not us!"

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In the year 2011 we saw lots of development. From winning Cricket World Cup to the death of Osama, but the event and the development which was on the headlines throughout the year, specially the second half, was the protest led by Anna Hazare to make the Jan Lokpal Bill as a law in the country.

Anna Hazare with his team, as well as Baba Ramdev, tried to their best they could to make the government take this necessary step. But every time the discussion took place in the parliament, disappointment was the only thing which we all got. Today, all the anger is on the current ruling government, despite of various parties, including BJP, voiced against the bill in the parliament few days back. Though now BJP claims that it voted against the bill because they don't want a weak Government's bill but want a strong bill like Jan Lokpal.

Lokpal bill is not a new thing. It was first introduced in Lok Sabha in 1968 and after that it has been introduced many times but was a failure each time. The question is, if BJP is really in support of strong Lokpal bill, then why did it not pass when it formed the ruling government from 1999-04?

We analyze and look back on the news papers of that time and try to find the answer.

Friday, January 26, 2001: The LokPal Bill, as appeared on The Hindu.

MR. ATAL BEHARI Vajpayee's recent statement about to the Lok Pal Bill settles the question about whether the office of the Prime Minister will fall within its purview. Over the last couple of months, there have been (unfounded) worries that conflicting views within the Union Government over the wisdom of including the Head of Government within the Bill's ambit would eventually result in the Prime Minister's exclusion, thereby diluting the proposed legislation in a significant way. Although fears were expressed that inclusion may result in the Prime Minister's office being open to all manner of charges (including frivolous ones), bringing the Head of Government within the purview of the Lok Pal legislation is essential to send out the important signal that no one - irrespective of the importance of the office he holds - is above the law. An earlier draft of the Lok Pal Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha in 1998 (not passed because of the collapse of the previous BJP-led Government) specifically brought the Prime Minister within its ambit. Therefore, there was never any justification for the latest draft Bill to alter this provision. One of the major reasons why a Lok Pal Bill has failed to be passed by successive Governments is differences over the question of inclusion - those opposed strongly arguing that the Prime Minister's office must be insured from the risk of too much litigation.

Then Prime Minister was not only thinking of bringing the Lokpal Bill back on table, but according to the news above, BJP had introduced the Lokpal bill in 1998 but couldn't be passed because the government had collapsed after a mere 13 months of term.

On April 18, The Union cabinet had cleared the Lokpal bill to be brought to the Parliament for review. Like the previous version of the bill under BJP government, this one also included Prime Minister under it.

April 18, 2001: Cabinet clears Lokpal Bill, as appeared on The Times of India.

The Union Cabinet is understood to have on Tuesday night cleared the long-discussed Lokpal Bill to check corruption in high places, bringing within its ambit the office of the Prime Minister and members of Parliament. 

The Bill, which has been awaiting government's nod, aims at ensuring probity in public life. 

The approval of the cabinet, at its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, comes barely a month after the Tehelka expose of corruption in fictitious defence deals. 

The bill would now be brought before parliament to secure its passage. The ruling NDA in its election manifesto had pledged that its government would enact the Lokpal Bill with adequate powers to deal with corruption charges against anyone, including the Prime Minister. 

"In the administration of justice, we shall not allow discrimination between the rich and the poor, the empowered and the powerless, restore the majesty of law and objectivity of the state," it had said. 

The Bill, which has been awaiting government's nod, aims at ensuring probity in public life.

After the green signal from the Union cabinet, the bill headed towards the parliament and was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 14th.


August 14, 2001; Lokpal Bill Introduced in Lok Sabha Eighth Time, as appeared on The Hindu

The Lokpal Bill, seeking to check corruption in high places in the Government, including the office of the Prime Minister, was introduced in the Lok Sabha today.

The much-awaited but often-delayed bill was introduced by the Minister of State for Personnel and Pension, Ms. Vasundhara Raje Scindia, amid noisy scenes over alleged police excesses at a DMK rally in Chennai.

The bill, providing for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against public functionaries, including the Prime Minister, has been in the pipeline for more than three decades.

It proposes to appoint the Lokpal and two members by the President on the recommendation of a committee headed by the Vice-President and comprising the Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Home Minister, Leader of the House other than the House in which the Prime Minister is a member and Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

The Lokpal will inquire into complaints alleging that a public functionary has committed an offence punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The ``public functionary'' will cover the Prime Minister, the Ministers, the Ministers of State, the Deputy Ministers and the Members of Parliament. Other constitutional functionaries such as Judges of the Supreme Court, the Election Commissioners have been kept out of the purview of the bill.


Later the bill received tough response and criticism from opposition and other parties, specially there was a disagreement among them on the inclusion of Prime Minister under the range of this bill.

August 16, 2001; Is Lokpal Bill headed for panel again? as appeared on The Times of India

V K Malhotra said the government was keen to pass the bill in this session, sources in the union cabinet indicated that since this was a "fresh bill", which had serious implications, the "normal practice" would be to send it to a parliamentary committee for scrutiny before taking it up. 

A senior cabinet minister compared the lokpal bill to the women's reservation bill: he said while no one would dare oppose it publicly, there was virtually an unspoken understanding among parties not to allow it to come to the house for voting, as it would be politically embarrassing to be seen defeating it there.

The Samajwadi party says the MPs should be left out from the scrutiny of the lokpal. The main opposition party, the congress, which has publicly stated it supports the bill and wants it passed in this session, is also internally ambivalent on the issue. Of course, if the bill comes up for voting in the house, it is committed to pushing it through. The bill provides for inquiry into any complaint against ministers of the union government, including the prime minister and MPs. 

After deep reviews and discussion, the bill was rejected in the Parliament as the majority of the opposition and other political parties didn't agree and considered a lot of revisions, like exclusion of MPs and Prime Minister.

It was only two years from that day that BJP led government again cleared the Lokpal bill in 2003, which again included the Prime Minister.

June 28, 2003; Cabinet clears new Lok Pal Bill, as appeared on The Hindu.

The Union Cabinet has once again decided to put in place a Lok Pal regime, intended to check corruption in high places.

The office of Prime Minister has also been brought under the jurisdiction of the proposed Lok Pal. The Government would try to get the proposal passed in the coming monsoon session of Parliament.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting this evening presided over by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajapayee.

The Cabinet decided to incorporate the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Home Affairs on the Lok Pal Bill, 2001 (introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 14, 2001).

The Standing Committee presented its report to the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman on December 31, 2001; and, the report itself was laid on the table of the House on February 26, 2002.

Like its many predecessors, the Vajpayee Government too has intermittently sought to mobilise parliamentary support for an anti-corruption institutional watchdog. In fact, the first time a Lok Pal Bill was introduced was as early as 1969; since then, six more attempts were made, and each legislative initiative was allowed to lapse, invariably with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.

Finally, the attempt by BJP to promote this bill to form a law went in vain as the Government was brought down in the 2004 elections by the powerful public of India. Congress led UPA formed the government and the progress in Lokpal bill was blocked. Today Anna Hazare, his team and many other intellectuals are repeatedly explaining and encouraging government to promote this bill as it is for the good of all.

Lets begin the new year 2012 with the hope of seeing this bill as Law which will be good for India and hence for the world.

Disclaimer: We don't support or criticize any political party, however we are keen on researching, analyzing and publishing what is not very known.

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