STUDENT PROTESTS OF 2009: METHODS, CONTEXT AND IMPLICATIONS

Croatian social and political realities have greatly been marked by the students' protests in 2009 mostly due to the use of an innovative means of political action.
The context and the goals of the occupation of twenty faculties throughout the country, the form and broadness of the student movement, as well as some novel aspects of its organization, make these topics quite worthwhile in regards of research and exploration. Therefore, we have decided to organize a student symposium in order to discuss what, how and why happened, as well as to weigh the potential implications for the future of higher education, general trends of commercialization of education and the dynamics of civil society in Croatia. We would like to emphasize the interdisciplinary and international dimension of this symposium and invite any interested parties or individuals to contribute to the creating of a more detailed picture of students' protests and the struggle against the commercialization of education.
Topics include, but are not limited to:

- faculty occupations and other means of protest

- plenum and other methods of organizing and decision-making

- the commercialization of education and the public sector

- protests' impact on the public and politics

- education policies in the EU

- media representation and controlling the media

- protests' results and consequences

- student movement and the civil society


The topic selection is open to other aspects of student protests as well, both in Croatia and worldwide, including those in 2009 and earlier: the implications of neoliberal market capitalism in education, the bologna context of Croatian education system, the organizational and political aspects of plenum decision-making, plenum workgroups and plenum mechanics, plenum as opposed to typical hierarchical structures, the present and future perspective of free education in the EU and worldwide, the political impact of forming the student body as a political subject, the relation between the student protests and civil society etc.


The symposium will be held at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th November, 2009.

Read More

Education is NOT for $A£€ - Global Week of Action '09 (Nov.)

What is the "International Students Movement"?

The "International Students Movement" is a platform used by groups and activists around the world struggling against the commercialisation and privatisation of public education to network and co-ordinate protests together.

The platform is independent from any political parties, unions or other institutions. It is dominated by grassroots movements and generally open to everyone [students, pupils, teachers, parents, workers,...]. The forces pushing for the commercialisation of education [unleashed by global competition] - just like the commercialisation of every other aspect of life - are located on the global level. To effectively counter this development groups struggling for free and emancipatory public education need to unite internationally and globally.

Read More

Maoists propose 17 provinces

Main opposition Unified CPN (Maoist) has proposed 17 provinces with autonomous local bodies in the new constitution.
In its concept paper of the new constitution submitted to the Constituent Assembly (CA) Committee for Restructuring State and Distribution of State Power on Thursday, the Maoists have called for forming 13 provinces based on ethnicity and four regional.

Besides the regional, other states should have the right to self-determination, while the regional state should be directly run by the Centre’s constitution, the concept paper notes.

The Maoists have also floated the opinion that the areas under the ethnicity-based provinces should be made autonomous on the basis of language and population.

The current (nearly) 4,000 VDCs should be transformed into 8-900 small units and be made like the current districts, according to the concept paper.

Presenting the concept, Committee member and Maoist leader Dev Gurung said although flexibility can be exercised in the naming and the demarcation of the state, no agreement will be made in making them autonomous.

The Centre’s constitution should only define the form of the state and the rest acts and law should be made by itself, he said.

The Maoists have visualised Seti, Mahakali, Bheri, Karnali, Tharuwan, Madhes, Magarat, Tamuwan, Tamsaling, Newa, Kirat, Limbuwan, Kochila, Sherpa and Bhote Lama autonomous states.

Ridi, Tamakoshi, Narayani and Bijaypurai have been set as the regional states since they don’t have clear majority of ethnicity-based population.

Eleven political parties including the Maoists have submitted their concept of the new constitution. Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML has not finalised its concept of the state restructuring.

Read More

Electronic national ID cards planned

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said that the government was planning to introduce an electronic national identity card system under which all the citizens of the country would be provided a smart card as their national identity card.
"All the information related to a citizen will be contained in that card," said Prime Minister Nepal addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Government Integrated Data Centre's (GIDC) newly constructed building set up on the Singh Durbar premises. He added that the Election Commission's cards for eligible voters and passports would be machine readable too.

The government had stated in the budget announcement that it would distribute smart cards to each citizen containing a picture as a national identity card which can also be used for election purposes.

Prime Minister Nepal said that the establishment of the GIDC was a foundation for moving the nation into e-governance and helping to further revolutionize the country's information technology sector. "Development of the information technology sector is a must to make service delivery effective to people living in inaccessible areas of the country," he added.

The data centre, which is considered to be the backbone of e-governance and the brain of information and communication technology, was established under a grant assistance of

Rs. 230 million from the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) of the Korean government. It is one of the 31 governmental data centres in the world.

Speaking at the ceremony, Korean Ambassador Hong Sung Mong said that the data centre was a milestone of the friendly relationship between Korea and Nepal. "It will especially support Nepal for implementing e-governance," the ambassador added.

Subarna Shakya, executive director of the National Information Technology Centre, said that the data centre was set up under the government's master plan to develop infrastructure for implementation of e-governance in the country. "The establishment of the data centre can also be taken as the beginning of e-governance in the country," Shakya added.

The data centre has a capacity of storing up to 26 terabytes of data for about 15 years and will compile data from all the ministries, departments and government offices.

The centre is equipped with the most sophisticated and modern equipment and stands near the Ministry of Home Affairs. The two-storey reinforced concrete structure is spread over 1,601 sq ft. The centre is built to withstand natural disasters and is earthquake resistant up to 9 on the Richter scale.

The data centre features high-end computing infrastructure, storage area network, high-speed local area network, multi-tier security, high-speed internet connectivity, 24/7 help desk, multi-level redundant power backup, air conditioning and fire detection and control system.

Read More

Indonesian quake death toll reaches 57

Rescuers dug through rocks and debris with their bare hands Thursday in search of dozens of villagers believed buried in a landslide triggered by a strong Indonesian earthquake that killed at least 57 people and damaged thousands of buildings.

At least 110 people were hospitalized with injuries from the 7.0 magnitude quake just off the coast of densely populated Java island, Disaster Management Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono said, adding 10 were in critical condition.

The earthquake Wednesday afternoon caused destruction across West Java province, where more than 18,300 homes and offices were listed as damaged, about 9,000 seriously, Kardono said. At least 5,300 people were forced into temporary shelters.

Some rural areas could not be reached by telephone and there may be more victims and damage, officials said.

Many of the deaths and injuries were caused by falling debris or collapsed structures.

The death toll continued to rise Thursday. More bodies were found in Cianjur district, where a landslide buried a row of homes under tons of rock and mud in the village of Cikangkareng. Villagers were still searching for dozens of others believed missing.

"Everything is gone, my wife, my old father-in-law and my house ... now I just hope to find the bodies of my family," farmer Ahmad Suhana, 34, said as he pried at giant stones with a crowbar.

Heavy digging equipment had not reached the remote village, which President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was to visit later Thursday. Police, military personnel and villagers used their hands to remove rubble.

Maskana Sumitra, a district administrator, said 11 houses and a mosque were buried by the landslide and estimated more than 50 people were trapped and feared dead.


When the quake struck it was felt hundreds of miles (kilometers) away on the neighboring resort island of Bali. In the capital, Jakarta, 125 miles (190 kilometers) north of the underwater epicenter of the temblor, thousands of panicked office workers flooded out of swaying skyscrapers onto the streets, some of them screaming.

A tsunami warning was issued after the quake but was lifted an hour later. Several dozen aftershocks were measured by geological agencies.

Hospitals in towns and cities across West Java quickly filled with scores of injured people, most with broken bones and cuts.

In Cikangkareng, Dede Kurniati said her 9-year-old son was playing at a friend's house when the earthquake struck and is now "buried under the rocks."

"I lost my son ... now I just want to see his body, I want to bury my lovely son properly," she said, weeping.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago, straddles continental plates and is prone to seismic activity along what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. A huge quake off western Indonesia caused a powerful tsunami in December 2004 that killed about 230,000 people in a dozen countries, half of them in Aceh province.

Read More

YCL atrocities continue

YCL ...................................................
Police and local administration are facing increased political pressure to release a Maoist-affiliated Young Communist League (YCL) activist who was arrested on the charges of his involvement in a human trafficking case in Birgunj, according to reports.

Hari Pattel, YCL's area in-charge of Pipra VDC in Parsa district, was arrested last week on charges of selling Anita Kumari of the same VDC to
an orchestra company in India on February 15 this year, according to reports.

Anita was rescued 3 months later and reunited with her family.

Birendra Sah, Anita's father, was threatened with life by Pattel if he lodged complaints against him anywhere.

Few days ago, a Young Communist League (YCL) cadre had abducted a boy from Chhapari VDC-5,Darchula district.

The YCL cadre, Dipendra Singh Kunwar alias 'SLR', is learnt to have abducted 17-year-old Dev Singh Dhami, son ofChandra Singh Dhami, from his house on the night of August 25.

Read More

China provides more student scholarships for Nepal in return for curbing free-Tibet activities

China has increased the scholarships quotas for Nepali students who want to study in China.

A delegation of Communist Party of China (CPC), led by Zhang Gaoli, a member of Central Committee Political Bureau of Communist Party of China (CPC) and Party chief of China's Tianjin municipality met Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal at the latter's residence today and signed an agreement to that effect.

Picture:-Former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala shakes hand with politburo and central committee member of the Communist Party of China Zhang Gailo after the meeting at his Maharajgunj residence, Sep 01 09.

Read More

Three more contract swine flu

Swine Flu: Swine flu apperrs in Nepal. Three persons arriving in Nepal from foreign countries who work in Qatar and Saudi Arabia were influienced by H1N1. A 29 years old male returning from Qatar and two males, 23 and 29 years old , returning from Saudi Arabia wrer contracted with swine flu

Read More