Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

bananas

(27,509 posts)
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 09:24 AM Jun 2014

Greenpeace funding: Home ministry to serve notice to 10 more NGOs under FCRA within a week

Source: Economic Times of India

All set to take action against Greenpeace India, the ministry of home affairs served a show cause notice to the international NGO on Friday asking why its permission to get foreign funding under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA) should not be withdrawn. At least ten more NGO's could receive similar notices within a week.

Greenpeace, a NGO working on environment issues, has been in the centre of controversy with a Intelligence Bureau (IB) report indicting it for fuelling anti-nuclear agitations and adversely effecting Indian economy. A senior MHA official told ET the evidence against Greenpeace was foolproof and it would be difficult for the organisation to defend itself.

At least 10 more NGO's will be sent notices under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 by the Union Home Ministry by next week, asking them to explain their funding and spending pattern as a "stricter fund monitoring" regime for NGO's is set to kick in and a "review is already underway" after the IB has raised an alert, a ministry official said.

The NGO's facing the heat would include six NGOs involved in opposing genetically modified organisms and certain NGO's in the North-East in touch with Dutch NGO Cordaid. An earlier IB report had named Cordaid role in agitations that led to the Home Ministry withdrawing Cordaid's permission to get foreign funding.

<snip>

Read more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/greenpeace-funding-home-ministry-to-serve-notice-to-10-more-ngos-under-fcra-within-a-week/articleshow/36509663.cms

27 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Greenpeace funding: Home ministry to serve notice to 10 more NGOs under FCRA within a week (Original Post) bananas Jun 2014 OP
India blames environmental activists for its economic problems bananas Jun 2014 #1
The NGOs don't really have grass roots support cosmicone Jun 2014 #2
"In India, Greenpeace is growing exponentially" the IB report says bananas Jun 2014 #6
They will be stopped. cosmicone Jun 2014 #8
What is your source of information? kristopher Jun 2014 #7
The IB report and all its exhibits. n/t cosmicone Jun 2014 #9
More like Alex Jones... kristopher Jun 2014 #12
I'm so flattered that you're hanging on to my every word .... n/t cosmicone Jun 2014 #13
NOT TRUE!! SkyDaddy7 Jun 2014 #14
When Greenpeace and similar organizations' funds are cut off cosmicone Jun 2014 #15
Full text of the IB report bananas Jun 2014 #3
Obviously, Greenpeace and others cosmicone Jun 2014 #10
Swami Agnivesh to Left wingers: Who the IB report on NGOs names bananas Jun 2014 #4
IB’s NGO-scare report to Modi plagiarises from old Modi speech bananas Jun 2014 #5
Good for Modi cosmicone Jun 2014 #11
"satisfying the carnal lusts of foreign do-gooders"? Really? Nihil Jun 2014 #21
Would you like your neighbor down the street cosmicone Jun 2014 #22
What utter crap. Nihil Jun 2014 #24
Your self-righteous lecture notwithstanding cosmicone Jun 2014 #25
Feel free to regurgitate the same old capitalist/nationalist propaganda as every Republican. Nihil Jun 2014 #26
Now you are stooping down to calling me a republican cosmicone Jun 2014 #27
Appears to be a move toward isolation and nationalism. Don't know if they are correct about this. freshwest Jun 2014 #16
Modi is an extreme right-winger. bananas Jun 2014 #17
Looks a lot worse than his nationalist thing. freshwest Jun 2014 #18
Much worse, he was banned from the US because of his role in the 2002 riots. bananas Jun 2014 #19
Yet he was voted in as a man of the people, so to speak. Demagogue win again. freshwest Jun 2014 #20
Modi was cleared by three independent inquiries cosmicone Jun 2014 #23

bananas

(27,509 posts)
1. India blames environmental activists for its economic problems
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 09:27 AM
Jun 2014
http://grist.org/business-technology/india-blames-environmental-activists-for-its-economic-problems/

India blames environmental activists for its economic problems
By John Upton
14 Jun 2014 7:39 AM

India’s economy is growing, but not as quickly as some pundits had forecast. You might guess that rampant corruption was curbing the country’s economic potential. Or maybe you would put some blame on worsening heat waves, which have been knocking out electrical grids. Or perhaps the crippling health effects of pollution from coal power plants?

Well, we’ve got some surprising news for you from India’s intelligence agency: Environmental activists like you must shoulder some of the blame. Your peeps in India have been accused of reducing the nation’s GDP by 2 to 3 percent every year. Reuters reports:

India’s domestic spy service has accused Greenpeace and other lobby groups of hurting economic progress by campaigning against power projects, mining and genetically modified food, the most serious charge yet against foreign-funded organizations.

The leak of the Intelligence Bureau’s report comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new administration seeks way to restore economic growth that has fallen to below 5 percent, choking off investment and jobs for millions of youth entering the workforce. …

“A significant number of Indian NGOs funded by donors based in US, UK, Germany and Netherlands have been noticed to be using people-centric issues to create an environment, which lends itself to stalling development projects,” the Intelligence Bureau said.

These included coal-fired power projects, genetically modified organisms, mega industrial projects including South Korean firm POSCO’s steel plant and Vedanta’s bauxite project both in Odisha, hyro-power projects in Arunachal Pradesh, the strategic state on the border with China.


Greenpeace, naturally, denies the accusations, describing them as an effort to silence dissent.

The timing of the leak is interesting, given that the country has a new prime minister — one who campaigned on a business-friendly, pro-development platform. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a solar energy fan who has been talking nice about the environment, but he also appears set to push for the approval of highway projects delayed by concerns over wildlife and other environmental issues. Modi is a military hawk, and his new environment ministry has pledged to prioritize the granting of approvals for defense projects. It has already moved to hastily approve a stalled reservoir expansion that’s expected to force 250,000 people from their homes, despite pleas from local activists.

It looks like life is becoming more hostile for environmental activists in a nation with a long and rich history of protest. Because, you know. Economic growth.

 

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)
2. The NGOs don't really have grass roots support
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 09:42 AM
Jun 2014

They spend money on recruiting professional protesters on a per diem basis and create a much bigger protest. A lot of the protests are timed to derail projects where the donors' did not win the contracts.

The economic reality is that food on the table is far more important than pristine water or air in the beginning of development. Wasn't that the case in the USA and Europe? To force China and India to start development with environmental regulations of today (which took 60-70 years to achieve) is more geared towards stalling growth rather than any genuine concern for the environment.

Why don't they spend their money to lobby US so that the US will sign environmental treaties?

bananas

(27,509 posts)
6. "In India, Greenpeace is growing exponentially" the IB report says
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 09:58 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.firstpost.com/india/swami-agnivesh-to-left-wingers-who-the-ib-report-on-ngos-names-1569081.html

<snip>

“While its (Greenpeace) efforts to raise obstacles to India’s coal-based energy plans are gathering pace, it has also started spawning mass-based movements against developmental projects and is assessed to be posing a threat to national economic security. In India, Greenpeace is growing exponentially in terms of reach, impact, volunteers, movements it supports and media influence”, the IB report says, citing specific instances on public protests in Singrauli, the Mahan coal block, and against Sasan ultra mega power project.

“These activists have mapped out Indian coal mining companies, specifically mentioning Coal India Limited (CIL), Hindalco, Aditya Birla Group and Essar, which have been targeted because they stand in their way. Greenpeace aims to fundamentally change the dynamics of India’s energy mix by disrupting and weakening the relationship between the key players, including the CIL”, the report said.

<snip>

 

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)
8. They will be stopped.
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 11:34 AM
Jun 2014

It is India's playground and no outside organization has a right to interfere in India's internal policies. I wouldn't mind if Greenpeace is banned in India. Greenpeace should focus on convincing republicans that the global warming is real. US fossilized fuel emissions cause far more damage to the world than dams in India.

I wouldn't be surprised if these organizations are covertly funded by foreign intelligence agencies to interfere in India's domestic development.

I don't see as much effort and funds devoted by Greenpeace to stop the killing of Dolphins in Denmark or whales by Japan or massive projects in China.

Until Narendra Modi, India had a weak, impotent government. Now, putting food on the table has a higher priority than treehugging.

SkyDaddy7

(6,045 posts)
14. NOT TRUE!!
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 06:30 PM
Jun 2014

It may have taken "60-70yrs" here but could have been done quicker with little negative impact on the economy but industry got their way. Greenpeace is bringing literally a world of experience to help speed up the process like they should!

And NO, Greenpeace is growing in popularity in India & will continue to as people learn they can do things to clean up without hurting the economy.

Are President Obama's new EPA standards on coal plants also going to destroy our economy...Or "stall growth"?

 

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)
15. When Greenpeace and similar organizations' funds are cut off
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 11:51 PM
Jun 2014

there will be no popular support. Foreign currency control act in India is extremely strict and violations are a criminal offense. Subverting another government's internal policies with foreign money will not be tolerated anywhere.

Do you think Americans would like Chinese organizations using Chinese money to organize demonstrations and riots?

If Greenpeace can raise funds in India in Indian currency to do its dirty work, fine, but I doubt they will be able to raise much in India, the reason being they have no support. The only reason they have a voice is because they are raising funds abroad from corporations who are not getting Indian contracts.

 

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)
10. Obviously, Greenpeace and others
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 11:48 AM
Jun 2014

have been caught red-handed, interfering in the domestic affairs of a sovereign country.

bananas

(27,509 posts)
4. Swami Agnivesh to Left wingers: Who the IB report on NGOs names
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 09:49 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.firstpost.com/india/swami-agnivesh-to-left-wingers-who-the-ib-report-on-ngos-names-1569081.html

Swami Agnivesh to Left wingers: Who the IB report on NGOs names
by Sanjay Singh
Jun 14, 2014 10:40 IST

The 23-page Intelligence Bureau (IB) report titled ‘Concerted efforts by select foreign-funded NGOs to take down Indian development projects’ names many eminent Indians who have either wittingly or unwittingly supported these NGOs, with or without financial consideration. While some of these prominent personalities were engaged in a variety of projects in India, others were invited abroad to attend conferences where they were briefed on how and why some kinds of mining and power projects – coal-fired and nuclear – and the construction of dams must be opposed.

Take Swami Agnivesh, for instance. The saffron socialist, IB report says, was invited to Geneva in Switzerland as one of the lead speakers in a “side event” on how “extractive industries” interfere with the enjoyment of human rights (14 September, 2012). He was invited by a Netherlands government-funded donor called CORDID. A `Geneva coalition’ has begun working on extractive industries which has opposed oil drilling by Jubilant Energy in three districts of Manipur, dam-building in Arunachal Pradesh and mining projects in Meghalaya.

Elsewhere, while detailing foreign-funded anti-nuclear power activism, the IB report says that these networks are guided by eminent (often Left-wing) Indians, including Praful Bidwai, Achin Vanaik, Admiral (Retd) Ramdas, Lalitha Ramdas, Medha Patkar, Neeraj Jain, Banwarilal Sharma, Karuna Raina, Fr Thomas Kocherry, Arti Choksey and MG Devasahayam. The IB report has devoted quite a few paragraphs to SP Uday Kumar’s German “contact” and Ohio State University funding to the Kudankulam anti-nuclear protests.

The report says that there are territorial networks, which are closely linked and supported by superior networks of the numerous pan-Indian organizations, including Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, National Alliance of Anti Nuclear Movement (NAAM), People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), Greenpeace, Indian Social Action Forum, and the People’s Education and Action Centre (PEACE).

<snip>

bananas

(27,509 posts)
5. IB’s NGO-scare report to Modi plagiarises from old Modi speech
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 09:56 AM
Jun 2014
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/ibs-ngo-scare-report-to-modi-plagiarises-from-old-modi-speech/

IB’s NGO-scare report to Modi plagiarises from old Modi speech
Written by Jay Mazoomdaar | New Delhi | June 13, 2014 9:10 am

In its 21-page classified report, Impact of NGOs on Development, first reported by The Indian Express, that identifies certain foreign-funded NGOs as threat to India’s national economic security and the Gujarat model of development, the Intelligence Bureau has cut and pasted from a published speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to describe the modus operandi of certain organizations.

On September 9, 2006, then Gujarat chief minister Modi had lashed out in a speech at a “wealthy” and “influential” class of NGOs that “hire PR firms to continually build their image” with “money coming from abroad.” The occasion was the release of the first edition of NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds: Anti-Nation Industry edited by Radha Rajan and Krishen Kak — a collection of articles on what they called the anti-Hindu agenda and corrupt practices of certain NGOs and activists — at New Delhi.

Modi’s speech at that function was included in the second edition of the collection.

The second paragraph on the fourth page (page number 417 in the book) of Modi’s article, NGOs as Non-Accountable Businesses, reads as follows:

<snip>

 

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)
11. Good for Modi
Sat Jun 14, 2014, 12:54 PM
Jun 2014

He is bringing development and jobs to impoverished people instead of satisfying the carnal lusts of foreign do-gooders interfering in India's sovereignty.

 

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)
22. Would you like your neighbor down the street
Mon Jun 16, 2014, 01:05 PM
Jun 2014

give an allowance to your kids to complain how bad a parent you are just for kicks because he doesn't like you?

 

Nihil

(13,508 posts)
24. What utter crap.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 04:28 AM
Jun 2014

First, your accusations that "Greenpeace are raising funds abroad from corporations
who are not getting Indian contracts" is so much bilge-water, and now you liken the
activities of environmentalists to some "neighbour down the street" who doesn't like you?

Talk about rabid nationalistic/xenophobic paranoia ...

(Or "Modi" for short?)


 

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)
25. Your self-righteous lecture notwithstanding
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 10:55 AM
Jun 2014

NO country will allow its internal organizations to be entirely foreign funded and carry out activities against the national interest.

How long will the US tolerate entirely Chinese funded demonstrations and riots?

You are not getting the external interference theme in this. Like I said, if Greenpeace raised its funds ENTIRELY in India and carried out its activities, it is ok. However, I am sure not many Indians would give a dime to Greenpeace's Pollyanna.

As to the rival corporations, read about Vedanta Plc. (A FTSE 100 listed company) which won a contract for mining and refining Aluminum and who is funding anti-Vedanta activities.

However, feel free to regurgitate the same old same old against India in general and Modi in particular. Modi was elected in a landslide for a reason.

 

Nihil

(13,508 posts)
26. Feel free to regurgitate the same old capitalist/nationalist propaganda as every Republican.
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 04:53 AM
Jun 2014

You appear to be incapable of recognising exactly what a "global non-governmental environmental
organisation" is.

It is not an American organisation, nor a British one nor a Chinese one, nor Russian nor Chilean ...

It has offices in over forty countries and raises funds in far more than that - yes, including from
the more enlightened members of the Indian community too - so your analogy to "tolerating
entirely Chinese funded demonstrations and riots" is the complete bullshit that I called you on.

But yes, feel free to continue to spout exactly the same defensive hyperbole as your fellow Republicans
do in the USA when their pet polluting industries are being "threatened" by people who care more
about the state of the planet than the state of their personal bank account.

 

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)
27. Now you are stooping down to calling me a republican
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 09:24 AM
Jun 2014

hahahahahahahaha

Little do you know that global NGOs are frequently fronts for intelligence agencies and like ANY organization will have operational flexibility when it comes to money.

bananas

(27,509 posts)
17. Modi is an extreme right-winger.
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 04:59 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.democraticunderground.com/101690138

Advisers to India's Modi Dream of a Thatcherite Revolution

When Indian opposition leader Narendra Modi gave a speech on the virtues of smaller government and privatization on April 8 last year, supporters called him an ideological heir to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died that day.

"If you define Thatcherism as less government, free enterprise, then there is no difference between Modi-nomics and Thatcherism," said Deepak Kanth, a London-based banker now collecting funds as a volunteer for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Kanth, who says he is on the economic right, is one of several hundred volunteers with a similar philosophy working for Modi in campaign war-rooms across the country. Among them are alumni of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan trading floors.

"What Thatcher did with financial market reforms, you can expect a similar thing with infrastructure in India under Modi," he said, referring to Thatcher's trademark "Big Bang" of sudden financial deregulation in 1986.

Modi's inner circle also includes prominent economists and industrialists who share a desire to see his BJP draw a line under India's socialist past, cut welfare and reduce the role of government in business.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/06/us-india-election-modi-insight-idUSBREA3500S20140406

bananas

(27,509 posts)
19. Much worse, he was banned from the US because of his role in the 2002 riots.
Sun Jun 15, 2014, 04:05 PM
Jun 2014
http://election.democraticunderground.com/1014769644

The nine-year US visa ban on Narendra Modi will automatically be lifted and he would enjoy diplomatic immunity if he becomes the prime minister, a Congressional report has said.

“Modi is widely considered to be one of the front-runners as prime ministerial candidate of his Bharatiya Janata Party. If Narendra Modi were to become Prime Minister of India, he would automatically be eligible for an A-1 (diplomatic) visa as head of state, regardless of the purpose of his visit,” the Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in its communication to US lawmakers.

In 2005, the US had denied visa to Modi in the wake of the 2002 Gujarat riots and has since not revoked its decision.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narendra_Modi

Modi's involvement in the events of 2002 has continued to be debated. Several scholars have described the events of 2002 as a pogrom, while others have called it an instance of state terrorism.[63][64][65] Summarizing academic views on the subject, Martha Nussbaum stated that "There is by now a broad consensus that the Gujarat violence was a form of ethnic cleansing, that in many ways it was premeditated, and that it was carried out with the complicity of the state government and officers of the law."[66] In 2012, Maya Kodnani, a former minister in Modi's Government from 2007 – 2009, was convicted of having participated in the Naroda Patiya massacre during the 2002 riots.[67][68] She was both the first female and the first MLA to be convicted in a post-Godhra riots case.[69] While initially announcing that it would seek the death penalty for Kodnani, Modi's government eventually pardoned her in 2013 and settled for a prison sentence.[70][71][72]


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=773830

6:47

He (Narendra Modi) gave us free hand for 3 days. He told us "Do everything you want for three days." He said this to us openly. ...

For what he has done, he has become so popular that other politicians can't handle it.


 

cosmicone

(11,014 posts)
23. Modi was cleared by three independent inquiries
Mon Jun 16, 2014, 01:07 PM
Jun 2014

including one by the supreme court.

However, you are welcome to keep repeating false information over and over Faux News style.

Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»Greenpeace funding: Home ...