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Date Posted: 08:23:57 11/11/07 Sun
Author: part 2
Subject: Re: November 10, 2007
In reply to: part 1 's message, "November 10, 2007" on 08:19:37 11/11/07 Sun

UNITED STATES

Our Campaign Against Violent Video Games is Working!

Nov. 9, 2007 (LPAC)--One of the major purveyors of video games,
the retail store Target, announced yesterday that they will not
sell the super-violent game, "Manhunt 2," which concerns two
escapees from an insane asylum, out on a killing spree with
various weapons. The game was banned in England, but given the
blessing of the U.S. Congress's creation, the Entertainment
Software Rating Board.
Target issued the following press release yesterday:
"All video games and computer software sold at Target,
currently carry ratings by the Entertainment Software Rating
Board from early childhood through mature audiences. While
Manhunt 2 was given a mature rating by the ESRB, we received
additional information that players can potentially view
previously filtered content, by altering the game code. As a
result, we have decided not to carry the game." [ddp]

Senator Chuck Hagel Slams Cheney Iran Policy

Nov. 9, 2007 (LPAC)--Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) delivered a
speech on U.S.-Iranian relations at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies yesterday, where he denounced Cheney/Bush
policy as a "self-fulfilling prophecy of the President's warning
of World War III," and outlined an approach echoing the LaRouche
Doctrine for Southwest Asia and the so-called Baker-Hamilton
report.
Stating that the world has "witnessed a disturbing series of
events" over the last few weeks, Hagel warned that "events are
overtaking governments as they swirl in wild gyrations around
us.... The uncontrollable and combustible developments of the
past few weeks present the reality of a world at an historic
crossroads."
For this reason Hagel stressed that "we must not squander
this moment," but, rather, the U.S. must "employ wise statecraft
to redirect deepening tensions with Iran toward a higher ground
of resolution. We are at that crossroads." It "is now time for
the United States to actively pursue an offer of direct,
unconditional, and comprehensive talks with Iran.... By refusing
to engage Iran in direct, unconditional and comprehensive talks,
we are perpetuating dangerous geo-political unpredictabilities."
"Loose talk of World War III," as Bush suggested, or
"intimidation, threats, bellicose speeches, only heighten the
dangers we face in the world. Without offering solutions and
building international alliances we only strengthen the hand of
those who prey upon and play to a confused, frightened and
disorganized world."
He emphasized that "the challenge of Iran will not be
successfully met without Russia and China and the world
community. The answer to dealing with Iran will not be found in
a military operation. The U.S. is currently bogged down in two
wars. Our military is terribly over-burdened and we are doing
great damage to our force structure and readiness capabilities.
"In the Middle East of the 21st Century, Iran will be a key
center of gravity... and remain a significant regional power. The
United States cannot change that reality. America's strategic
thinking and policies for the Middle East must acknowledge the
role of Iran today and well into the future," he said.
"Last month, I wrote President Bush expressing my concerns
about the path that we are now on regarding Iran. I told him
that unless there is a strategic shift in our policies, I believe
the United States will find itself in a dangerous and
increasingly isolated position in the coming months," he
continued. At the same time, Vice President Cheney threatened
Iran once more, even though that strategy "actually has seen the
Middle East become more dangerous and Iran more defiant." So,
asked Hagel, "Is the U.S. pursuing a policy that could very well
produce a self-fulfilling prophecy of the President's warning of
World War III?"
Hagel was not only critical of the Administration and the
Congress, but also of "our Presidential candidates." "Neither
Republican nor Democratic candidates are speaking to the great
challenges of our time--in particular Iran--with depth, strategic
thinking and wise words. We are captive to the lowest common
denominator of `who can talk the toughest' and who is the
`meanest cowboy on the block.'"
Finally, he recalled the statement taken from Michael
Korda's biography "Ike," where Eisenhower warned: "`the United
States has no business transforming itself into an occupying
power in a seething Arab world'--and that if we should ever do
so, `I'm sure we would regret it.'" (drr,wfw)

IBERO AMERICA

Mexico's "Katrina:" Engineer Warned Takedown of Infrastructure
Would Lead to Catastrophe

Nov. 9 (LPAC)--Mexican engineer Manuel Frias, an expert in
water-management and flood control, told {EIR} yesterday that in
1999, when the last great flood occurred in the states of Tabasco
and Chiapas, he proposed specific infrastructure projects, and
warned that were they not built, any future flooding would be "a
catastrophe."
Not only were those projects never built, but the few
existing dams and containment walls were not maintained.
Frias reports that the rain which fell in the last few weeks
over this area was not any worse than that of 1999. It is the
{infrastructure deficit} which produced the current catastrophic
conditions--exactly as he had warned. Only a global, integrated,
and properly financed program can solve the problem, Frias
emphasized.
For his part, opposition leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
charges that the privatization policy of the Calderon government,
and its like-minded free trade predecessors, led to the
catastrophe. The charge is that electricity production at the
large state-run dams was deliberately cut back, in favor of the
small, more expensive, {private} electricity producers. The
reservoirs behind the under-used state-managed dams therefore
reached dangerous levels, and when the rains hit, had to be
released, adding to the flood.
The Jan. 7, 2000 issue of EIR magazine contains a detailed
presentation of the national network of dams and canals required
to transfer the enormous water resources of this southern region
to dry areas in the north (the Northern Gulf Hydraulic Plan, or
PLHIGON), in the study of "How to Create 100 Million Jobs in
Mexico," authored by Carlos Cota Meza. [ggs]

A First-Hand Report from Tabasco

Nov. 9 (EIRNS)--As Tabasco health officials warned of the danger
of an explosion of epidemics and even psychosis in the state, a
contact in Tabasco gave EIR the following first-hand report of
the catastrophic conditions which continue, even though the rains
have stopped and many of the overflowing rivers have subsided:
Tabasco is almost in a state of war, the contact reports. We
have been abandoned, with colds and fungus, grimy and filthy,
surrounded by mosquitoes, while no area of the state has been
fumigated yet, he said. People are looting in the cities, because
they are hungry, and the situation is worse in the countryside.
The population can see no real help coming, since the federal
government is using emergency aid to pay the salaries of the
soldiers, doctors and nurses deployed in rescue missions, and to
pay for the helicopters, planes, equipment, health care units,
etc. The government is offering crumbs: emergency projects using
temporary labor, rather than [means] to secure permanent jobs and
build the projects needed to control the more than 17 rivers
which overflowed in the state.
In addition to the known water-management projects that are
needed, this contact pointed to the "Chontalpa Plan" to develop
the rich agricultural potential of the state, by establishing
rice, citrus and fruit farming in the most humid area of the
state, which covers 50% of its territory. [mex/ggs]

EUROPE

Finland School-Killer Was Playing "Battlefield 2" Video Game
Minutes Before Massacre

Nov. 9, 2007 (LPAC)--The perpetrator of Wednesday's school
massacre in Finland, Pekka-Erik Auvinen, went directly from
playing the point-and-kill game "Battlefield 2," to the school
where he shot and killed 8 students and the principal.
The manufacturer of the game, the Swedish IT company Dice,
which specializes in violent video games, published the following
on its blog website yesterday (www.bf2.se/).
"There are many indications that this 18-year old,
Pekka-Erik Auvinen, played BF2 under the nickname
`NaturalSelector89.' He has played 189 hours since March, which
averages 50 minutes per day. At 10:47 AM yesterday [Nov. 7],
immediately before the massacre took place, he played his last
round of BF2. Among those murdered, there is a member of the
multigaming clan eyeGaming, which you can read about in this
blog. Naturally, our thoughts go out to all relatives of the
victims of the tragedy in Finland."
The website also provides the statistics of
"NaturalSelector89" since he joined the game in March 2007
(http://www.bf2stats.nl/player/94933011). The head of the
information section of the Dice company, Jenny Huldschiner,
confirmed these details to the Swedish daily {Expressen}, adding
that "somehow, authentic war games, violent films, violence on
TV, and all other kinds of violence that is drowning us, do have
an impact on us."
However, after making this stunning statement, the
information chief of one of the largest companies drowning youth
under violent war games, said: "As far as I know, there is no
research that confirms a connection between violence and war
games."
Sweden, a neutral country, is one of the largest producers
of violent video games in the world. Along with White Power rock
music, violent video games are one of the growing and crucial
exports of Sweden. Sweden is also the base for an advanced arms
industry, which has now been almost totally taken over by British
Aerospace Systems. [hus]

Eisenhower: Montgomery a "Psychopath"

Nov. 9, 2007 (LPAC)--"First of all he's a psychopath," Eisenhower
said of Winston Churchill's favorite Field Marshal, Bernard Law
Montgomery. "Don't forget that."
The archives of journalist, and author of {The Longest Day}
and {A Bridge Too Far}, Cornelius Ryan, have been opened to the
public. Selections of Ryan's archive are part of an exhibition
at the University of Edinburgh, according to a report in today's
Times. The archive itself is held at the University of Ohio.
In a 1963 interview, Eisenhower continued, "He is such an
egocentric that the man thinks... everything he has ever done is
perfect -- has never made a mistake in his life, and on top of
that he is just a... His memory is bad, very bad, but he thinks
it's perfect, so I don't... He even says that all the tactical
operations after he landed from D-Day went absolutely according
to plan."
In his reference to D-Day, Eisenhower is referring to
"Monty's" denying the historical fact that he failed miserably in
breaking through German defenses after the landings on Normandy
Beach. A breakthrough only became possible after Eisenhower
shifted command from Monty to the American General Omar Bradley,
who made a spectacular breakthrough within days, that led to the
fall of most of France within in a matter of weeks. [dea]

Anti-Privatization Strike Hits Freight Rail in Germany

Nov. 9, 2007 (LPAC)--A 42-hour strike of railway engineers in
Germany, which began early Thursday morning, has already
paralyzed 700 of 5,000 freight trains that run on the national
grid every day, mostly affecting eastern Germany. Although
nationally, only 8% percent of all freight is carried by rail,
some sectors of the industry-- automotive, steel, chemical, and
the sea ports-- depend heavily upon supply by rail.
The strike will last until Saturday morning, and may resume
next week, along with new strikes in the passenger train sector,
if railway management does not come up with a new offer. So far,
the management has refused to grant the railway engineers a
bargaining agreement with a guaranteed income, arguing that that
would reduce chances for the planned IPO to privatize the
railways. Unfortunately, management has had the support of the
general railway workers union for the privatization plan, which
the engineers, not organized in that union, have categorically
rejected.
It deserves special attention that the BGL, the German
association of logistics firms, endorsed the railway engineers
against the railway management and the government, charging the
latter two with having provoked a disastrous situation by
insisting on railway privatization (which the engineers oppose)
and stubbornly refusing to grant a bargaining agreement to the
engineers. Thus, whereas this railway strike is a novelty in
Germany, so is the support of entrepreneurs for the engineers'
union. (rap)

Another Breakthrough for Maglev Debate in Germany

Nov. 9 (LPAC)--In a surprise move, two members of the Bavarian
state parliament have gone to the press with a call for the
maglev project in Munich being extended to Regensburg and from
there, to Prague and beyond. The two parliamentarians, both from
the governing Christian Social Union (CSU), have also made the
crucial point that their proposal is not just meant to bring
passengers quickly from one city to another, but rather to create
the infrastructure required to make industrial investments
attractive in the northern Bavarian regions.
Maglev questions were also discussed at a special event
yesterday evening at the Bavarian State's representation in
Berlin. CSU members of the municipal council of Munich also voted
in favor of the maglev city-to-airport project there, but were
narrowly defeated by an unholy alliance of Social Democrats,
Greens and Linkspartei. That vote, however, will not be the last
word on the matter, this news service has learned, from talking
to sources. (rap)

How the EU's Free Trade Kills French Fishermen

Nov. 9 (LPAC)--The striking French fishermen are requesting that
Sarkozy and the government re-establish a regulatory mechanism
for the price of diesel fuel for their ships. A special fund
(Fonds de prevention des aleas de la peche, FPAP) or "gasoline
fund" was set up in 2004 to regulate variations of oil prices,
compensating fisherman 6 or 7 cents per liter when prices went
high. The French state initially advanced the funds in
expectation that oil prices would drop after a short, difficult
period, but that period turned out to be never-ending and
worsening. In January 2007, still under the Villepin government,
but at the specific demand of the EU headquarters in Brussels,
the regulatory mechanism was scrapped and the last compensations
were awarded to the fishermen in April. Sarkozy's proposals of
temporary tax relief have been rejected by the fishermen, who
demand the return of a state-backed regulatory mechanism and
refuse to translate the rising cost of their labor into the price
of fish on the market. (kav)

Danish Press Covers Gillesberg

COPENHAGEN, Nov. 8 -- With the slogan, "After the Financial
Crash, Maglev Across the Kattegat," there is an explosion of
major press coverage of Tom Gillesberg's independent candidacy in
Copenhagen for Parliament.
On Nov. 7 and 8, the press coverage of Gillesberg, chairman
of the Schiller Institute in Denmark,has exploded, with stories
in the most widely viewed national evening TV news broadcast, the
third of the three major Copenhagen dailies, two of the four free
newspapers found in every bus and subway station, and Copenhagen
University's radio station. The coverage concentrates on the
financial crash, maglev, and that Tom is running as an
independent. All of the above was actually generated by the media
themselves calling in to Tom's campaign headquarters. The
three-week election period, which has really put the financial
crash, maglev and the Schiller Institute on the political map,
ends on election day, Tuesday. See the latest coverage at:
www.sive.dk on the front page right under "seneste nyt."
For further details, see Euro Ops.

EURASIA

$18 Billion for a Vital Transit Route between Europe and Asia

Nov. 9, 2007 (LPAC)--On Nov. 3, ministers of eight
countries--Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, the Peoples Republic of
China, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan, meeting in the Tajik capital city, Dushanbe, agreed
to an $18.7 billion investment to improve Central Asia's network
of roads, railroads, airports and seaports, to make the region a
vital transit route for trade between Europe and Asia. The
agreement was supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and
five other multilateral institutions which were present at the
meeting. The plan calls for an $18.7 billion investment over the
next decade in six new transport corridors, mainly roads and rail
links.
Although the financial commitment, and the overall objective
of developing the trade routes, fell far short of what is
required, and what the LaRouches have been proposing for almost a
decade, the agreement of the eight countries to look at the
potential and importance of the project at this time of
international financial crisis, shows courage and foresight.
"Central Asia is becoming a pivotal region in Eurasia, a
vital land-bridge linking Europe, the Russian Federation, the
People's Republic of China, South Asia, and the Middle East," the
Ministers said, in a joint declaration at the end of the 6th
Ministerial Conference of the Central Asia Regional Economic
Cooperation (CAREC) Program.
Although Central Asia lies at the center of the Eurasian
continent, less than 1% of all trade between Europe and Asia
currently goes through the region. Inadequate transport
infrastructure and cumbersome border processes have resulted in
nearly all trade going by sea. [RMA]

AFRICA

Tensions Rise in the Horn of Africa

Nov. 9, 2007 (LPAC)--Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu, backing
Somalia's shaky Transitional Federal Government (TFG), were
engaged today in heavy fighting with the insurgents ostensibly
seeking to uproot the TFG. The clash killed at least 40 Somalis.
The eruption of violence in Mogadishu coincides with a
recent report of the International Crisis Group (ICG), warning
the international community that the "Great Game" between Eritrea
and Ethiopia has brought the Horn of Africa to the verge of a
war. ICG believes the war could break out as early as within a
couple of weeks, qualifying its observation by claiming both
Eritrea and Ethiopia are ruled by narrow elites, which take all
major decisions in secrecy, making it difficult to be precise in
predicting events.
The ICG warning is based upon an alarming level of military
build-up on both sides along their common border over the past
few months. The war situation has developed because of the
virtual breakdown of the Algiers agreement which had stopped the
war in 2000.
Ethiopia claims an encroachment by Eritrean troops into the
Temporary Security Zone (TSZ), demarcated in the Algiers
agreement. Ethiopia announced on September 25 that it was
considering terminating the Algiers agreement. In reply, Eritrea
accused Ethiopia of repeated violations of that peace treaty and
has called upon the UN Security Council to enforce the decision
on Boundary dispute.
In this conflict, the most important external factor is the
United States, ICG claims. Having recognized Ethiopia as the
primary power in that area, Washington has remained virtually
oblivious of Ethiopia's power plays. On the other hand,
Washington has played tough with Eritrea. Recently, the US State
Department threatened Eritrea that it may declare Eritrea a state
sponsor of terrorism. [RMA]

SOUTHWEST ASIA

US Neo-Cons Cover Up the Potential of Losing the Fifth Fleet in
Case of an Attack on Iran

Nov. 9 LPAC--The neo-con's war-party, led by Vice President Dick
Cheney, has reportedly covered up the disastrous effect on the US
Fifth Fleet, based in the Persian Gulf, in the case of an attack
on Iran, said Michael Salla in his expose in The Canadian. Salla
said that US Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper led a hypothetical Persian
Gulf state in the 2002 Millennium Challenge war games that
resulted in the destruction of the Fifth Fleet. His experience
and conclusions regarding the vulnerability of the Fifth Fleet to
an asymmetrical military conflict and the implications for a war
against Iran have been ignored. The "Millennium Challenge" was
one of the largest war games ever conducted, involving 13,500
troops spread out at over 17 locations. The war games involved
heavy usage of computer simulations, extended over a three-week
period, and cost $250 million.
In an effort to intimidate Iran, neo-cons have pushed the
Bush administration to place two aircraft carrier group
formations in the Persian Gulf since 2006. The size and timing of
possible U.S. military attacks on Iran's nuclear and/or military
facilities, will influence the speed and scale of an Iranian
response. According to Salle, Iran's response, based upon its
stockpile of a large number of cruise missiles, will predictably
result in a military escalation that culminates in Iran using its
arsenal of anti-ship cruise missiles on the U.S. Fifth Fleet and
closing off the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping. Iran's ability
to hide and launch cruise missiles from mountainous positions all
along the Persian Gulf will make all Fifth Fleet ships in the
Persian Gulf vulnerable. The Fifth Fleet would be trapped and
unable to escape to safer waters. The Millennium Challenge war
games in 2002 witnessed the sinking of most of the Fifth fleet.
The sinking of the Fifth Fleet was ignored and the war games
declared a success for the "new war-fighting concepts" adopted by
Gen. Kernan. This led to Lt. General Paul Van Riper, the
commander of the mythical Gulf State, calling the official
results "empty sloganeering". [RMA]

Iran Still Far from Bomb

Nov. 9 (LPAC)--Israeli commentator Ronen Bergman writes in
today's Ynet that despite Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
claim that Iran has 3,000 centrifuges, Iran's uranium-enrichment
program, and therefore its capacity to produce a bomb, are
greatly overstated. Berman writes that "Israeli intelligence
officials have cast great doubt on the veracity of this claim,"
referring to Ahmadinejad's statement. "The officials say that as
a result of a wide array of malfunctions, Iran is still a long
way from reaching the point of no return." According to these
sources, due to technical problems the 3,000 centrifuges are not
functioning at the level required to enrich uranium to the level
required for a bomb. Even after they get these centrifuges
working as required "it would take a long time to produce
material needed for a nuclear bomb."
Bergman concludes that Israel has an interest in presenting
Iran's progress as greater than it is in order to get
international action against the program. As for Iran it wants to
say it is more advanced than it is as part of its bargaining
position with the IAEA. [dea]

Iraq-Iran Pipeline Underway?

Nov. 9--According to a source in Iraq's South Oil Co., cited by
UPI and KUNA, construction has begun on a cross-river pipeline
between ports in the southern Iraqi city and the Abadan port in
Iran. The company is state-owned and produces and transports oil
from Basra, where 80% of the country's reserves are. According to
Al-Mashriq paper, the pipeline could transport 200,000 barrels
per day.(mlm)

SOUTH AND EAST ASIA

Six-Party Talks May Become Permanent

Nov. 9, 2007 (LPAC)--South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon
confirmed today, that there are concrete plans to make the
Six-Party Talks into a permanent organization to deal with
regional security policy.
In his prepared remarks at a Wilson Center seminar on the
topic "The Republic of Korea-U.S. Alliance in the 21st Century,"
Minister Song said that South Korea had put forward the idea of a
regional security dialogue.
When asked by LPAC if this involved making the six-party
talks into a permanent forum for regional cooperation, Song
replied, "A security dialogue format is accepted by all the six
parties, but the level of enthusiasm is different with different
parties.
"Right now," he continued, "we have working-level talks on
the regional issues, as one of the working groups of the
six-party process. We envision six-party ministerial talks on
the subject as the process continues. That could be he kick-off
for a meeting at a higher level. But it is in the pipeline."
When LPAC asked about the progress that had been made on
extending the railroad from North to South Korea, some of the
audience snickered, and the forum moderator commented, "Watch out
what you wish for." Song, however, took the question quite
seriously. "There will be inter-Korean talks next week," Song
said. "The railroad connection for cargo transport is already
beginning, and it will soon be regularized and will become more
frequent."
Then he went on, without any urging, to say, "but there is a
bigger idea in the works, which is to connect a main Inter-Korean
line with the Trans-Siberian Railroad. And this would bring trade
through the entire region." [WCJ]

Pro-Globalizers of India: Watch Out!

Nov. 9, 2007 (LPAC)-Because India has adopted an export-based
growth model since 2000, thus jeopardizing the future of millions
of poor people in order to earn foreign exchange and GDP growth,
the collapse of the US dollar has set a cat among the pigeons in
India's new-growth sectors. According to Washington Post
reporter Rama Lakshmi, 4 million poor Indians, who were living
from hand to mouth by working in the cut-throat garment industry,
have already lost their livelihood to the collapse of the dollar.
His report indicates that another 4 million garment workers are
on the chopping block.
In recent months, the Indian currency, the Rupee, gained
significantly against the hapless dollar. On Jan. 1, the dollar
was 46 Indian rupees, and now it is 39.
The collapse of the dollar has hit the poor in India two
ways. First, the reduction of purchasing power of Americans, who
were the sales target of Indian employers, has reduced demand.
Second, the higher value of rupee has made the "Made in India"
garments more expensive than the garments of those poor nations--
such as Vietnam, for instance--whose currency is linked fully to
the dollar.
The 4 million newly unemployed in the garment industry,
caused by the weakening dollar, are at least twice as numerous as
those employed by India's much-vaunted Information Technology
sector. [RMA]

China Announces its Long-Term Nuclear Power Generation Plan

Nov 9 LPAC--The National Development and Reform Commission's
(NDRC) plans on national nuclear power development (2005-20) has
been approved by the State Council, NDRC's web site says.
According to the plans, the installed capacity of nuclear
power in operation will reach 40 gigawatts (Gwe) in 2020, with
about 18 GWe of nuclear power projects under construction. China
has eleven nuclear power reactors in commercial operation, five
under construction, and several more about to start construction.
The proportion of nuclear power in the total installed capacity
in China will increase from the current less than 2%, to 4%, and
the annual output of nuclear power will reach 260-280 billion
kilowatt-hours in 2020. Construction of these projects requires
an estimated total investment of more than $60 billion.
According to the plans, based on the import, assimilation
and absorption of a new generation of nuclear power stations with
1,000-megawatt (MW) pressurized water reactors, China will
independently design and manufacture advanced pressurized
water-reactor technology and be capable of building a large
quantity of Chinese nuclear power stations in 2020.
China's total installed power generation capacity presently
is about 508 GWe (15% growth in 2005). In 2006 some 102 GWe of
generating capacity was added -- a 20% growth, and this rate of
growth increased slightly to 20.8% through June 2007. About three
quarters of the power is used in industry. [RMA]

India's Push on Electrical Power Generation Brings in China and
Japan

Nov. 9 (LPAC)--Having set itself an ambitious target of providing
another 78,000 megawatts of electrical power for the nation by
the year 2012, New Delhi is in the process of developing joint
cooperation with foreign power companies.
India's largest engineering and construction company, Larsen
& Toubro (L&T), has signed a joint venture agreement with Japan's
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Tokyo to set up a manufacturing
plant to supply super-critical steam turbines and generators for
power plants with a capacity of 500 MW to 1,000 MW. Manufacturing
operations at the $215 million facility will start in 2009. Both
companies will invest $73 million in the project and the balance
will be raised as a loan. The probable site for the project is at
Hazira in Gujarat. Mitsubishi will hold 49% of the project.
The Essar Group, with a current construction schedule of the
three power stations rated at 1,200 MW each, has placed an order
with China's Harbin Power for equipment for two of the projects.
Harbin Power has a production capacity of 30,000 MW per year.
Essar will import four boiler turbo generator packages and other
materials for the Essar Power's projects at Jamnagar in Gujarat
and Mahan in Madhya Pradesh. The order has an estimated value of
$1 billion. The total investment in each power station will be
about $1.2 billion.
Based on the progress visualized by government planners for
the nation during the next two decades, the country's power
generating capacity needs to increase to 400,000 MW by 2030 from
the existing 130,000 MW. [RMA]

Gates and Baker Voice Sanity on Pakistan Crisis

Nov. 9 LPAC--In the midst of mindless cacophony of neo-cons and
liberal democrats in the United States demanding an immediate end
of military rule while situation within Pakistan is worsening by
the hour, two voices of sanity have emerged urging restraint.
On Nov. 9, on his way back from Tokyo, US Defense Secretary
Robert Gates said he was concerned that instability in Pakistan
could distract Pakistani forces from anti-terrorist operations.
"The concern I have is that the longer the internal problems
continue, the more distracted the Pakistani army and security
services will be in terms of the internal situation rather than
focusing on the terrorist threat in the frontier area," Gates
said. Pakistan's entire western part has turned against foreign
troops and anti-Islamabad.
Also, former US Secretary of State James Baker III,
addressing the Clinton Presidential Library at Little Rock,
Arkansas, on Nov.8, said that while Pakistan has undergone a
''regrettable overthrow of democracy,'' the United States must
reach out to the country and other authoritarian governments to
achieve its goal. He offered a realpolitik view when it came to
dealing with Pakistan, likening it to U.S. relations with the
Soviet dictator Josef Stalin during World War II. ''You have to
weigh how you approach that issue with the importance of the war
on terror,'' he said. [RMA]

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