The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• World Bank Pledges Ongoing Development Support for Burma
• Parliament in Favor of Continued Discussions on Climate Change
• Despite Road Block, Anti-Poppy Campaigners Vow to March On
• Environmental Network Demands Incoming Govt End Salween Dam Projects
• New Translation Recalls Prison and Politics under Burma’s Junta
• Burma’s Income Tax Code Clarified
• Stressing Unity, UNFC Forms New Team to Lead Peace Dialogue
• Ancient Irrawaddy Delta City Believed to be 2,300 Years Old
• US Rejected N.Korea Peace Talks Offer Before Last Nuclear Test: State Dept.
• Indian Army Deploys to Quell Protests, Water Cut to Delhi
• India Pledges US$250 Million to Help Rebuild Quake-Hit Nepal

World Bank Pledges Ongoing Development Support for Burma Posted: 22 Feb 2016 04:48 AM PST Aung San Suu Kyi received a World Bank delegation led by regional Vice President Axel Van Trotsenburg on Monday. (Photo: NLD Chairperson / Facebook) RANGOON — The World Bank's vice president for East Asia and the Pacific pledged to continue development support for Burma, according to a statement released on Monday following a meeting in Naypyidaw with Aung San Suu Kyi. In the statement, Axel van Trotsenburg reaffirmed the World Bank's strong partnership with Burma as it endeavors to cooperate toward "ending extreme poverty and promoting growth." The vice president met with National League for Democracy (NLD) representatives, including Suu Kyi on Monday, as well as senior government officials in Naypyidaw including Minister of Finance Win Shein and Lower House Speaker Win Myint to discuss the World Bank's support for the country. "[Burma's] historic transformation over the last couple of years has delivered significant economic gains," said van Trotsenburg in the statement. "Between 2011 and 2014, [Burma's] economy grew at an average rate of 7 percent per year, which is among the fastest in East Asia. The country now has the opportunity to advance reforms further so growth will benefit more people across geographical areas, ethnic communities and income groups in [Burma]." Priority issues in the meetings between Trotsenburg and Burmese officials were closing the gap in access to basic services, lessening rural poverty while raising agriculture productivity, generating a competitive business environment, expanding financial inclusion and access to energy, and strengthening public sector governance. In 2015, the World Bank Group created its first Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Burma for 2015 to 2017. The CPF details how the World Bank Group can support Burma along its path to a more prosperous democratic government, the statement said. The World Bank re-engaged with Burma in 2012 and since then has pledged to spur development of the country's economy and infrastructure. The post World Bank Pledges Ongoing Development Support for Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Parliament in Favor of Continued Discussions on Climate Change Posted: 22 Feb 2016 04:14 AM PST Civilians on a flooded street in Rangoon on September 30, 2015. MPs warn that Burma could face an increased risk of both flooding and drought in the aftermath of the El Niño weather phenomenon this year. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) Lower House parliamentarians will discuss an urgent proposal on climate change this week, with some lawmakers urging the government to take preventative measures to address socioeconomic problems potentially caused by the weather pattern El Niño. A proposal for the discussion was raised in Monday's session by Dr. Maung Thin of Mandalay Division's Meiktila constituency. He explained that Burma's public could face more natural disasters, such as forest fires, drought, flooding as well as agricultural and health problems this year, in keeping with meteorological warnings. "The collaboration between current government ministries and non-governmental organizations is needed to tackle current and future problems," he told the assembly. The proposal received the support of 391 votes—well over the two-thirds of votes needed to move forward with the discussion. Nine MPs voted against the proposal and 18 abstained from voting. MPs who supported a continued discussion on the matter warned of a water shortage during Burma's summer, March to May, after El Niño passes its peak period this month. The country's Ministry of Health also warned of the higher temperatures in a public announcement last week. Thein Tun, of Irrawaddy Division's Kyaung Kone constituency, advocated for the proposal, saying that Burma should learn from lessons of past El Niño experiences. Quoting archive figures, he cited a period from 1997-98 in which 18 towns across the country experienced unusually high temperatures while the 15 towns faced severely decreased rainfall. Burma faced severe floods across twelve of its 14 states and divisions in July and August 2015, during the first phase of El Niño. Over 100 people were killed due to floods and landslides, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and 1.6 million people affected. The post Parliament in Favor of Continued Discussions on Climate Change appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Despite Road Block, Anti-Poppy Campaigners Vow to March On Posted: 22 Feb 2016 03:16 AM PST Anti-drug campaigners wait in Waingmaw Township after being prevented by the military from carrying out a poppy eradication mission last week. (Photo: Htoi Awng / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — Anti-poppy campaigners encamped at an army checkpoint near the junction of Sadung and Chipwi roads in Kachin State's Waingmaw Township said Monday they will attempt to continue their mission this week to eradicate poppy fields in the area. "Destroying poppy fields isn't a bad thing, and it doesn't go against the government. If they don't let us go through, we'll hold a prayer meeting again on Tuesday, and then we will go through the barriers Tuesday afternoon with the help of God," said Kham Thu Dam Shung, a campaigner from a local anti-drug group. A group of about 2,000 members, led by local civil society organizations as well as local Christian mission organizations, were blocked by authorities on Feb. 16 on their way to reach poppy fields in Sadung and Kambaiti sub-townships. The vigilante anti-drug campaigners have said they have since been beleaguered by water shortages and sanitation problems. "Our mission is to contribute to the government's plan to eliminate poppy plantations and drug problems. Since we received little support from the government, we now only have God to trust in," Kham Thu Dam Shung added. "If they want to arrest us, we don't care." According to the campaigners, local authorities have said that the reason for blocking them is to avoid potential flair-ups between poppy farmers and members of the group. "The authorities said that destroying poppy fields is the responsibility of poppy farmers and that we just need to educate them without destroying their fields by force. Blocking us is a way to ensure our security," said Naw Taung, one of the campaigners. "We've educated the locals for about two years, but they are still planting poppies and still producing opium. Now is the season to collect the raw opium from the poppy pots, and we doubt that the local authorities are giving time for the poppy farmers." In support of the campaigners, locals gathered at the blocked military checkpoint on Sunday and held a prayer meeting. They also urged authorities to open the roads. Anti-poppy and drug elimination campaigns in Kachin State, driven mostly by local civil society organizations, began about two years ago. The campaigns were temporarily suspended after one campaigner was shot dead and three others injured in January. Campaigners said that about 1,500 acres of poppy fields in Tanai Township and another 2,000 acres in Waingmaw Township were destroyed in January. The post Despite Road Block, Anti-Poppy Campaigners Vow to March On appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Environmental Network Demands Incoming Govt End Salween Dam Projects Posted: 22 Feb 2016 02:09 AM PST A stretch of the Salween River in Karenni State. (Photo: Alex Ellgee / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Save the Salween Network (SSN), a group of nine river protection and ethnic civil society groups, released a statement on Monday calling on the incoming government to halt all projects on the Salween River, which extends through China, Burma and Thailand. "In accordance with the new government's promise to guarantee ethnic rights and set up a federal democratic system, the Save the Salween Network urges the new government to stop all plans to build dams on the Salween River, as they will have disastrous impacts on the lives of countless ethnic communities in Burma," the statement read. "This is not only going to create misunderstanding between ethnic peoples and the new government, but will also have impacts on ethnic armed groups and the current peace process." Saw Tha Phoe of Karen River Watch, a network member, said that the SSN is worried about news of an agreement between the Chinese and Burmese governments on Feb. 2 to build 18 new dams along Burma's rivers, though details of the agreement were not publicized. "The government did not officially release any details about the 18 dams. We just know that there are plans to build dams along the Salween River," Saw Tha Phoe told The Irrawaddy. "We want to know why this is being so hurriedly done when the government's term is ending. When the NLD [National League for Democracy] government takes power, they will have to take care of what the previous government did." According to Saw Tha Phoe, six hydropower dams are already underway on the Salween River: Kunlong, Mann Taung, Mong Ton (Tasang) and Naung Pa in Shan State, Ywathit in Karenni State, and Hatgyi in Karen State. The Burma Rivers Network has said previously that these dam projects, which have a combined capacity of 15,000 megawatts and which are funded by Chinese, Burmese and Thai investors, pose a threat to the future of locals and to the Salween basin's rich biodiversity. "The Mong Ton dam, planned on the Salween River in Shan State, will be the largest hydropower project in Southeast Asia, and will threaten the lives, homes and property of countless communities in Shan, Karenni, Karen and Mon states," the network said. "According to research along the Salween by earthquake experts, the building of dams will have seismically disruptive impacts on major fault lines, and should definitely not go ahead," the network added.  The current Salween dam projects, the network said, are also violating the human rights and indigenous rights of local people. "The Salween dam projects are fuelling tension and conflict between different ethnic armed groups," SSN said. "Government troops are also using the pretext of providing security for the dams to expand their presence in ethnic areas. This is threatening the peace process and the lives, homes and property of local ethnic peoples." The post Environmental Network Demands Incoming Govt End Salween Dam Projects appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

New Translation Recalls Prison and Politics under Burma’s Junta Posted: 22 Feb 2016 01:57 AM PST The launch of the Burmese translation of "The Lizard Cage" in Rangoon on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. (Photo: Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Under decades of repressive military dictatorship in Burma, thousands were jailed for their political activities, including student leaders, politicians, monks, artists and others. Many of the stories of their time spent behind bars have gone unheard. "The Lizard Cage," a novel newly translated into Burmese, offers a window onto the travails of the country's prisoners of conscience. The award-winning Canadian author, Karen Connelly, visited Burma in the 1990s and over the years interviewed several former political prisoners inside the country and along the Thai-Burma border. She was eventually banned from entering Burma under the military regime but "The Lizard Cage," her debut novel, was published in 2005. The book tells the story of a Burmese student leader who was jailed for more than twenty years and held in solitary confinement in the notorious Insein Prison for penning protest songs that were used in pro-democracy movements. He lost contact with his brother who fled from the country to the Thai border following the nationwide pro-democracy uprising in 1988. The book won the UK's Orange Broadband Prize for New Writers in 2007, was shortlisted for the US Kiriyama Prize for Fiction in 2006 and listed for the Impac Dublin Award the same year. It has already been translated into several languages. "My original book was banned here for a few years," Connelly writes in the preface to the new edition. "I once imagined that my book would be translated and published here one day… But I couldn't have said whether it would be published legally." Connelly attended the launch of the Burmese translation in Rangoon on Friday, alongside former political prisoners including The Irrawaddy's English edition editor Kyaw Zwa Moe, National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker Nay Phone Latt, and PEN Myanmar chairperson Ma Thida. During the event at Pansodan Scene gallery in downtown Rangoon, Connelly told the audience she was glad that the new Burmese translation could bring this recent history to life. "Prisons were a kind of life-learning classroom [under the previous junta]. We can't exclude the experience from Burma's politics or from history," said Kyaw Zwa Moe, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison as a 19-year-old for his role in student-led protests. "We were banned from writing and reading. But we tried to learn there. If you can come out of prison mentally healthy and physically strong despite physical and mental torture and the terrible conditions, you passed the examination." San Mon Aung of Our Literature Publishing House told The Irrawaddy the organization decided to publish the Burmese edition to let readers know the hardships political prisoners endured under the previous military regime. The book hits stores this week and is 4,000 kyat. The post New Translation Recalls Prison and Politics under Burma's Junta appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma’s Income Tax Code Clarified Posted: 22 Feb 2016 12:10 AM PST Stacks of Burmese kyats are prepared at a bank ahead of being transported in Rangoon on October 19, 2015. (Photo: Minzayar / Reuters) RANGOON — Burma's Internal Revenue Department released a notice on Friday regarding changes to the individual income taxation system for the 2016-17 fiscal year, including specific measures regarding monetary relief and exemptions. The IRD released an official notice in the state-owned newspaper The Mirror that any citizens with an annual income of less than 4.8 millions kyats (US$4,000) will be exempt from paying income tax. It stated that the effective start date will be April 1. However, basic monetary relief and other personal relief for spouses, children and dependent parents will be deducted from the annual taxable income. Income tax will then only be imposed on individuals with an annual net salary over two million kyats (US$1,625) after the deduction, the notice stated. According to the notice, the basic monetary relief for individuals will be 20 percent of their annual income and not more than 10 million kyats (US$8,120).  Personal tax relief of one million kyats (US$812) for each dependent parent or spouse and 500,000 kyats (US$406) for each child will also be granted annually. Life insurance premium fees and social security funds will also be deducted. According to a calculation system in the notice, a rate of five percent tax will be imposed on people who earn between two and five million kyats, 10 percent for those who earn five to 10 million kyats, 15 percent for those earning between 10 and 20 million, 20 percent for those earning 20-30 million, and 25 percent for citizens who earn above 30 million kyats annually. An official from the Rangoon office of the Service Department for Tax told The Irrawaddy, under the condition of anonymity, that the government's tax revenue will not fully reflect the incomes of its taxpayers. The official said that employers are responsible for employees' monthly income tax deduction; the government then generates tax based on "declared" salaries, which may differ from actual income. Burma collected about 4.3 trillion kyats from tax revenue in 2014-15 while about 3.8 trillion kyats were collected in 2013-14. The post Burma's Income Tax Code Clarified appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Stressing Unity, UNFC Forms New Team to Lead Peace Dialogue Posted: 22 Feb 2016 12:03 AM PST Members of the United Nationalities Federal Council at a meeting in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, which ended on Sunday. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — A meeting of ethnic armed groups in Thailand ended on Sunday with the forming of two separate teams tasked with resolving ongoing conflict in northern Shan State and leading peace negotiations with the incoming government. During the four-day meeting in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, nearly 50 leaders of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) discussed developments in the country's military and political affairs as well as the prospects for federalism. One of the outcomes of the meeting was the creation of a five-member "negotiation team" led by Nai Hong Sar, a senior negotiator for Burma's ethnic armed groups. The body will aim to reduce tensions between UNFC member the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S), a non-member. "We will try to have both sides, who have expressed a desire to negotiate, meet. A ceasefire is necessary for public safety," said brigadier general Sao Sai Htoo of the Shan State Progress Party, the political wing of the Shan State Army-North, a member of the UNFC. The UNFC in December spoke with SSA-S members about ending the conflict, but no gains were made in cooling tensions. Over 4,000 people in Kyaukme and Namkham townships have been displaced after fighting, which first broke out late last year, intensified earlier this month. "It is not that easy [to resolve]," said Khu Oo Reh, UNFC general secretary. "We have to find out the proper approach to negotiations." The UNFC also restructured its Delegation for Political Negotiation (DPN), which now includes 13 new members led by Khu Oo Reh, in preparation for political talks with the incoming government. Some ethnic leaders contend that a genuine ceasefire is hampered as the current government has only expressed a desire to meet with ethnic groups individually, rather than with the entire UNFC body. Burma's chief peace negotiator, Aung Min, asked to meet with some of the strongest armed groups—including the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the SSPP, the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the RCSS and the Karen National Union (KNU)—in Chiang Mai this week. UNFC members, however, said that they do not want to meet as individual groups. "We will only meet under the UNFC title," said Khu Oo Reh. "And we are against the divide-and-meet policy that the [current] government is using." Current UNFC members are all non-signatories of the so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), concluded in mid-October. The UNFC suspended two of its members, the Chin National Front (CNF) and the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO), from the alliance after they signed the pact. The KNU left the alliance prior to the NCA signing. Membership applications have been received from other ethnic armed groups, including the active Arakan Army, whose potential for joining the council was discussed at the meeting. Khu Oo Reh said that the UNFC suggested that the Arakan Army merge with the Arakan National Council, which is already a UNFC member. "We formed an intervention committee for them [the two Arakan groups] to help a merger take place no later than May of this year," Khu Oo Reh said. The UNFC was formed in late 2010 to represent most of Burma's ethnic armed groups during peace negotiations with the government. Many UNFC members were also members of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), which led negotiations with the union government during the peace process before it was replaced by a restructured body. The post Stressing Unity, UNFC Forms New Team to Lead Peace Dialogue appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ancient Irrawaddy Delta City Believed to be 2,300 Years Old Posted: 21 Feb 2016 10:00 PM PST Click to view slideshow. Most people know little of Burma's ancient Pyu people but for the ruins of their civilization at Sri Ksetra, Halin and Beikthano in central Burma—the first sites in the country to receive UNESCO World Heritage status. Now another ancient city in Lower Burma's Irrawaddy Delta is believed to be as old as the Pyu sites, the size of which would have been greater than the old royal capital of Mandalay. The laterite stone city covers an area of eight square miles and is located near Taung Zin Village in Ingapu Township, Irrawaddy Division. About three miles into the village lies the site, believed to have been built more than 2,300 years ago during the Pyu period. "As it is a remote place, only monks went there to meditate in the past. In 2008, at the instruction of my senior monks, I started to live in a hermitage here, and conserve the ancient religious buildings and cultural heritage of the city," said Pinna Siri, a monk at the on-site Kyet Pyin Monastery. With the help of people from nearby villages, Pinna Siri cleared the area of brush and in 2009 he invited historian Phone Tint Kyaw to observe the city's ruins. Phone Tint Kyaw came with a team, and after studying alphabets, laterite structures and Buddha images there, he concluded that they might be the works of the Pyu, one of Burma's most ancient civilizations. It was the presence of Brahmi-based script that tipped him off; Phone Tint Kyaw explained that the writing system found at the site is the same as those documented in three other Pyu cities, as well as in Pegu and Danyawaddy in Arakan State. The alphabet was used from the sixth century until the third century B.C. "The Brahmi script disappeared as the empire of King Ashoka collapsed after he died," said Phone Tint Kyaw, referring to the Indian emperor who passed away in 232 B.C. His conclusion is further supported by carvings found at a stupa identical in style to those found at a religious site in Shwe Taung town in Pegu Division. In addition, bricks in the steps were laid vertically in the city, in the architectural fashion of Pyu period. "I assume that that city came to ruins before the fourth Pagan period, before King Anawrahta succeeded to the throne," said Phone Tint Kyaw. "We've found nothing about that city in the historical records of fourth Pagan period and the Mon period. If that city still existed that time, it would have been mentioned in the historical records of Pagan." Lost City by the Sea There were 22 Pyu city-states which existed between the sixth and third centuries B.C. One is described as "Pinle Pyu," which translates to "Sea Pyu." Its location was previously unknown, but Phone Tint Kyaw speculates that the ancient city in Ingapu Township might be Sea Pyu. "In Pyu historical records, there was a city called Pinle Pyu. It was called that because it is located near the sea. I think the old Ingapu city is Pinle Pyu because it is the only city that is the size of a royal city and is located near the sea," he explained. According to the administrative structure of Pyu period, only the monarchs could build large cities; feudal lords were only allowed to build cities half or one-third of the size of a royal city. The city in Ingapu Township was built on a mountain ridge over 100 feet high, to a backdrop of the Arakanese mountain range. The town was designed around pagodas, stupas and water sources. Stone walls were constructed on the left and right sides of city, while vast plains and smaller villages lay to the east. "They built the city systematically. There were sentry boxes on the ridges on the left and right sides of the city and the entrance was built in the middle. So, there was only one entrance for merchants, envoys or enemies to get into the town," said Phone Tint Kyaw. As it covers an area of eight square miles, the city in Ingapu is one of the biggest Pyu settlements after Sri Ksetra in Pegu Division. 'Government Intervention is Needed' Previously, the oldest ruins found in Irrawaddy Division could be dated back to the Ava period, which began in the 1300s. The discovery of a Pyu city which predates the Ava period would have implications for the history not only of the Irrawaddy Delta but also of Burma. Phone Tint Kyaw has called for systematic excavation of the Ingapu site and Pinna Siri, the Kyet Pyin Monastery monk, has called on the government to protect the area. He said that that some people who do not know the historical value of the ancient city have used the laterite blocks to pave roads and have removed ancient buildings to make way for cultivation. "It is important that the government immediately takes care of the old city as an ancient cultural heritage zone," said Pinna Siri. "Even now, a company is reclaiming the land at what was the site of an elephant stockade in the ancient city and it has been destroyed." "I am doing as much as I can, but government intervention is needed right now," he added. At present, there is only one city designated for conservation by the Ministry of Culture as in Irrawaddy Division—Myaungmya. The Naypyidaw Department of Archaeology, National Museums and Libraries studied the Ingapu site in 2013, but have not yet taken measures to designate the ancient city as a cultural heritage site. "Personnel from the Naypyidaw headquarters inspected the old Ingapu city. So far, we have not yet received any instructions for the ancient city," said Thida Win, assistant director of Irrawaddy Division's Department of Archaeology, National Museums and Libraries. In the meantime, Pinna Siri is collecting artifacts discovered by locals at the site. "Locals find earrings, pipes and broken pots while farming. I have asked them to donate those things to me. So far, I have kept around 20 bricks and old pipes," he said. Though there are over 350 ancient cities documented in Burma, the Department of Archaeology, National Museums and Libraries has only excavated materials from around ten of them. Only through the systematic excavation of these old cities will a standardized history of Burma be able to be compiled, said Phone Tint Kyaw. "It is important for a country to have standardized history. Even our neighbor, Thailand, has compiled a standardized history. To write [this kind of] history, we need to systematically excavate and study the old cities. I believe the old Ingapu city would have played a part in the history of our country," he said.  Translated by Thet Ko Ko. The post Ancient Irrawaddy Delta City Believed to be 2,300 Years Old appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

US Rejected N.Korea Peace Talks Offer Before Last Nuclear Test: State Dept. Posted: 21 Feb 2016 08:44 PM PST North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (front) attends a photo session with the scientists, technicians, workers of earth observation satellite Kwangmongsong-4 in this undated file photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 19, 2016. (Photo: KCNA / Reuters) WASHINGTON — The United States rejected a North Korean proposal to discuss a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War because it did not address denuclearization on the peninsula, the State Department said on Sunday. State Department spokesman John Kirby made the comment in response to a Wall Street Journal report that the White House secretly agreed to peace talks just before Pyongyang's latest nuclear bomb test. The newspaper, citing US officials familiar with the events, said the Obama administration dropped its condition that Pyongyang take steps to curtail its nuclear arsenal before any peace talks take place, instead calling for North Korea's atomic weapons program to be just one part of the discussion. Pyongyang declined the proposal, and its Jan. 6 nuclear test ended the diplomatic plans, the newspaper reported. "To be clear, it was the North Koreans who proposed discussing a peace treaty," Kirby said in an emailed statement. "We carefully considered their proposal, and made clear that denuclearization had to be part of any such discussion. The North rejected our response," he said. "Our response to the NK proposal was consistent with our longstanding focus on denuclearization." The isolated state has long sought a peace treaty with the United States and other parties in the 1950-53 Korean War, as well as an end to military exercises by South Korea and the United States, which has about 28,500 troops based in South Korea. North Korea said on Jan. 6 it had tested a nuclear device it claimed was a hydrogen bomb, provoking condemnation from its neighbors and the United States. Weeks later, it launched a long-range rocket carrying what it called a satellite, prompting renewed criticism. On Jan. 16, Pyongyang had demanded the conclusion of a peace treaty with the United States and a halt to US military exercises with South Korea to end its nuclear tests. But US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said then that Pyongyang needed to demonstrate by its actions that it was serious about denuclearization before any dialogues could start. The Korean War ended in 1953 in an armistice, not a peace treaty, signed by the United States, representing United Nations forces; the North Korean military and the Chinese army. Now North Korea wants those three sides and South Korea to sign a treaty. The post US Rejected N.Korea Peace Talks Offer Before Last Nuclear Test: State Dept. appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indian Army Deploys to Quell Protests, Water Cut to Delhi Posted: 21 Feb 2016 08:30 PM PST Demonstrators from the Jat community sit on top of a school bus as they block the Delhi-Haryana national highway during a protest at Sampla village in Haryana, India, February 21, 2016. (Photo: Adnan Abidi / Reuters) BAHADURGARH, India/NEW DELHI — India deployed thousands of troops in a northern state on Sunday to quell protests that have severely hit water supplies to Delhi, a metropolis of more than 20 million, forced factories to close and killed 10 people. Rioting and looting in Haryana by the Jats, a rural caste, is symptomatic of increasingly fierce competition for government jobs and educational openings in India, whose growing population is set to overtake China's within a decade. The latest unrest threatens to undermine Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of better days to come for Indians who elected him in 2014 with the largest majority in three decades. As before, the 65-year-old leader ignored the protests—instead giving a speech on rural and urban development in the eastern state of Chattisgarh, unveiling a statue to a late Indian guru and praising a 104-year-old woman for backing his campaign for a Clean India. The federal government deployed 4,000 troops and 5,000 paramilitaries in a massive show of force, and ordered an end to the protests by Sunday night. Home Minister Rajnath Singh met Jat leaders and offered to meet their demands. In Bahadurgarh, on the road west from Delhi, around 2,000 protesters occupied a highway intersection and stopped truck traffic. Shops in the town were closed. "We are here to die," said Rajendra Ahlavat, a 59-year-old farmer and protest leader. "We will keep going until the government bows to our pressure. There is no way we will take back our demands." TV reports from Jhajjar, further west, showed troops fanning out on the streets against a backdrop of burning and damaged buildings—evidence of the fury of Jats who make up a quarter of Haryana's population and number more than 80 million in all. Haryana's police chief said the death toll had risen to 10 and 150 more had been injured. "We are trying to identify the conspirators and take action," Director General of Police Yash Pal Singal told a televised news conference. An official from Singh's nationalist party—which also rules Haryana—said after talks at his residence that it would bring a bill in the state assembly to grant "reservation," or a guaranteed quota of government jobs, to Jats. Water Station Attacked Protesters have attacked the homes of regional ministers, torched railway stations and staged sit-ins on tracks, blocking hundreds of trains. They sabotaged pumping equipment at a water treatment plant that provides most of Delhi's water. "No water available now. Still no hope to get it," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said in a tweet on Sunday. The Delhi government ordered schools to shut on Monday and rationed water supply to residents to ensure that hospitals and emergency services have enough. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, India's biggest carmaker by sales, suspended operations at its plants in the state after the protests disrupted the supply of some components. Modi wants to attract foreign investment to back his 'Make in India' drive to create 100 million manufacturing jobs by 2022. At the current rate India may only create 8 million jobs in that period, by one independent estimate. The post Indian Army Deploys to Quell Protests, Water Cut to Delhi appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

India Pledges US$250 Million to Help Rebuild Quake-Hit Nepal Posted: 21 Feb 2016 08:24 PM PST Children play near a house that was damaged during the earthquake last year, in Bhaktapur, Nepal, January 29, 2016. (Photo: Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters) NEW DELHI — India on Saturday pledged US$250 million for post-earthquake reconstruction in Nepal as the two countries try to heal strained ties following protests in Nepal over the country's new constitution. The assistance, covering housing, health, education and cultural heritage in Nepal's earthquake-hit areas, is part of an accord signed by the countries' foreign ministers during Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli's visit to India. Nearly 9,000 people were killed in a 2015 earthquake and aftershocks in Nepal. Nearly a million houses and buildings were damaged. Oli and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also inaugurated on Saturday a transmission line for the supply of Indian electricity to Nepal under an Indian credit line of $13.5 million. Nepal will use $100 million of the Indian assistance for the construction of 50,000 houses in the 14 districts most severely affected by the quake. Under the accord, $50 million each would be utilized in the health, education and cultural heritage sectors in 31 earthquake-hit districts of Nepal. Oli said the main purpose of his visit "is to clear the misunderstanding that surfaced in the last few months." Political protests in Nepal disrupted the supply of petroleum and other products from India, creating a rift in bilateral relations. Nepal blamed India and its support of ethnic Madhesi protesters for the disruption in supplies, a charge denied by India. The Madhesis called off their blockade early this month, easing severe shortages of fuel, medicine and other supplies that persisted in Nepal since the blockade and a general strike in the south started late last year. The Madhesis in southern Nepal say the new constitution carved Nepal's seven states unfairly with borders that cut through their ancestral homeland. They want a larger state, more government representation and more local autonomy. More than 50 people were killed in protest-related violence in the past six months. The post India Pledges US$250 Million to Help Rebuild Quake-Hit Nepal appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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