| Greetings
from FNF South Asia |
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| Welcome to the first
edition of the FNF South Asia eNewsletter for 2010! |
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Dear Friends of FNF
South Asia,
This is the first issue of our
eNewsletter in the year 2010. The South Asia team of FNF looks forward
to new developments and fresh beginnings.
I take your farewell as I
will be leaving South Asia in June and, later this summer, take up the
position of Regional Director for Central, East and Southeast Europe,
South Caucasus and Central Asia, based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Staying for
some nine years in South Asia (almost five years in India and four
years in Pakistan in the 1990's) certainly left a mark, not only in my
professional but also in my personal life. Altogether, it has been a
great time! Nevertheless, I am also looking forward to new challenges.
My successor will be
Siegfried Herzog, currently Representative of FNF in the Philippines
and a good friend of South Asia. Most of you will remember him, since
he had a previous tenure in India as Project Director from 1994-2001.
The last quarter was
marked by the visit of Dr. Irmgard Schwaetzer, Member of FNF's Board of
Directors and former MP and Federal Minister, who came to India once
again and, among other things, represented the Foundation at our
Symposium on the 60th Anniversary of the Indian and German
Constitutions.
Dr. Otto Graf Lambsdorff,
the Foundation's former Chairman, passed away just before his 83rd
Birthday. We pay tribute to one of the great statesmen of Germany. He
will be missed not only by his family and friends, but by the
Foundation and the international liberal community as well.
The last quarter of 2009
was filled with activities, on Economic Freedom and Property Rights,
Active Citizenship, and Conflict Resolution. Our intense work in all
these areas will continue in the year 2010. In addition, the Foundation
will also implement a project on “Dialogue Initiative for Peace and
Conflict Resolution in Kashmir” in the next three years, funded mainly
by the European Union.
For updates and recent
news, please also do visit our homepage at www.southasia.fnst.org,
and the Foundation's German homepage at www.freiheit.org.
-
Dr. René Klaff, Regional Director, FNF South Asia |
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| FNF News Flash
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Exchange
of Best Practices at the FNF South Asia Regional Meeting
The first FNF South Asian regional meeting
for 2010 took place in Kathmandu, Nepal amidst the dynamic
developments taking place in the region, be it the presidential
elections in Sri Lanka, the increased violence in Pakistan or the
political powerplays in India. The FNF team also had the opportunity to
interact with the German Ambassador to Nepal, former partners and the
representative of the Tibetan exile community in Nepal. |
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The Foundation mourns for Otto Graf Lambsdorff
The
Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit is deeply saddened over the
demise of its former Chairman Dr. Otto Graf Lambsdorff who has passed
away in a hospital in Bonn on Saturday, 5 December 2009, only a few
weeks before his 83rd birthday. Graf Lambsdorff was Chairman of the
Foundation's Board of Trustees from 1977 to 1979, and Chairman of the
Board of Directors from 1995 to 2006. Read more |
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Celebrating
Freedom: 20 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall
“For Germans,
the ‘threshold-day’ in history is indeed 11/9, not 9/11” said Dr. René
Klaff, Regional Director, FNF South Asia, welcoming participants at the
panel discussion hosted by FNF to remember the remarkable events that
took place on 9 November 1989 and beyond, when the people of the
socialist German Democratic Republic (GDR) raised up against the
Government and paved the way to German Unification.Read more |
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Empowering
India receives Manthan Award 2009
Empowering India, an initiative of the
Liberty Institute, and supported by the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für
die Freiheit, was among the winners in the e-governance category of the
Manthan Awards 2009 for South Asia. The awards seek to recognise
innovative digital contents in over a dozen categories. This is the
sixth year that the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) is hosting
this event.
Read more
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| Recent Events |
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Deepening
SAFTA
“South Asia is the least integrated
region of the world”, claims the Director General of the Pakistan
Institute of Trade and Development Dr. Safdar Sohail. The state scholar
calculates the loss up to 15 bn US-Dollars in the recent 16 years for
lack of trade within in the region. As Sohail could not see any advance
in the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) since its signing ceremony
on January 6, 2004, he called himself a “SAFTA –Pessimist”. Read more |
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Constitutions for Freedom: The German and Indian Democracies Turn 60
For 60 years
Germany and India have been stable democracies. This is indeed
remarkable, since the preconditions for a functioning democracy were
difficult for different reasons in both countries. In 1948/49, Germany
had just lost a devastating war and faced severe destruction and a
complete breakdown of the political system and the economy while being
occupied by foreign forces.Read more |
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SAARC
Business Leaders Conclave
The 3rd SAARC
Business Leaders Conclave (SBLC) was organized on 22-23 November 2009
at Hotel at Colombo, Sri Lanka, by the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (SCCI), the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in
Sri Lanka (FCCISL), and the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die
Freiheit (FNF). Read more |
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The
new RTI act Empowers Citizens of Bangladesh
Countless stories
from around the globe testify to the power of the Right to Information
(RTI) as a tool to increase transparency and accountability. As such,
RTI is a master key in the hands of the people to demand other human
rights from their governments. Just after returning to a democratic
form of governance in 2009, Bangladesh’s National Assembly also passed a
Right to Information Act. Read more |
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Let,s
do Business…
Le'ts do Business
was the motive when TANSTIA-FNF Service Centre invited representatives
of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) from nine countries of South
Asia and ASEAN to explore business opportunities and to understand the
policies and support systems for enhancing exports by SMEs in SAARC and
ASEAN countries.
Read more |
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Civil Society has to take a Stand for Police Reforms
“Policing in
the region is largely unprofessional and unaccountable”, said Sanjay
Patil, expert on Policing in South Asia of the Commonwealth Human
Rights Initiative (CHRI) at the beginning of the two-day round table
conference on ‘Police Reforms in South Asia: Role of Civil Society’ in
New Delhi.
Read more |
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Sri
Lanka’s Constitution – Where do westand thirtyyears later?
The Institute for
Democracy and Leadership (IDL) ended its activities in year 2009 with a
Public Forum. The event was organized together with FNF to commemorate
the late Hon. Lalith Athulathmudali, another great liberal personality
of Sri Lanka and a close friend of the Foundation. Read more
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Key
Persons Forum
On 22 January 2010,
Project SMED, a project of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and
Industry in Sri Lanka (FCCISL) and the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung für
die Freiheit (FNF), conducted their 1st Key Persons Forum for the
current year. The Speaker was Dr. P.B. Jayasundara, the Secretary to
the Treasury. Read more
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Costs
and benefits of Migration
The fertile region of the Indus used to
have an enormous attraction to different peoples in the past. These
attributes, nowadays called pull factors, was a magnet Indo-Europeans,
Hellenes, Arabs, Turks, British and so on. Today, the push factors have
become overwhelming. Consequently, the net migration rate of Pakistan
is minus 3.13 per 1.000 inhabitants. That means more Pakistanis are
leaving the country than other people coming to Pakistan.
Read more
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Sunshine
is law in Pakistan
The sun is shining over Pakistan. There
is an average of 8.5 hours of sunlight every day, 3094 hours per year.
Depending on the region rainfalls are limited, only about four days per
month with rain, sleet, snow etc. Thus, sunshine is almost a law for
Pakistan. Most likely it has always been like that – almost a law, but
in 2002 sunshine became law in Pakistan not only for some hours but 24
hours seven days a week. Read more
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Freedom Gate Pakistan
(FGP) Forming the Future
Today, the
terrorism-stricken Pakistani society is oscillating in the hands of a
dilemma resulting in the physically and mentally crippled manpower,
emotionally bruised families and stagnating economy. The society, the
common man wishes to breathe in the safe and secure environment. Read more |
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Property as Basis of Human Action
For good and for bad: property is a basis
for human interaction. It serves in a free society and free market as
ground for trade, growth and wealth for everybody’s benefit. On the
other hand property is misused, encroached, or stolen in case of
absence of law and order, people are murdered when defending their and
others’ property. Read more |
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Do
your Homework, Civil Society!
“First your assumptions must change! Don’t fool yourself! We are no
heroes. First we have to pay salaries, run our companies and make
profit for the shareholders.” Describing media in this way, award
winning journalist and chief editor of The Friday Times, Najam Sethi,
opened the eyes of members of the civil society.
Read more |
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Responsibility
in Cyber Space
Bol! Speak! I have knowledge, and
potential, and courage. I have the freedom to speak. Politician does
it, academician does it, celebrity does it, then, why shouldn’t I, as
common citizen of Pakistan not do it? While famous people get space in
media there is an equal place for me, too: cyber space. Read more |
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Citizens
have the Right to Know
Awareness empowers the common man. Knowing
our rights is our first and foremost responsibility as responsible
citizens. Making the citizens more active, motivating them to be more
vocal and playing their role in ensuring good governance, Liberal Forum
Pakistan & Centre for Policy Development Initiative Pakistan
organized two consecutive training workshops on Freedom of Information
in Lahore and Islamabad in collaboration with
Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit, Pakistan. Read more |
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Communication, Learning, Teaching need
Self-responsibility
“What a shame, for all of your life has been waste, not having such
knowledge”, shouted the skipper to the drowning philosopher with his
vast knowledge but who never had learned to swim. This story of the
famous Sufi Jalal uddin Rumi (1207–1273) was one example given to the
participants of “Communication Skill Training for teachers” in Lahore:
It does not suffice to pass on knowledge.
Read more |
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| Liberal Resources |
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eNewsletter by Network for Improved Policing in
South Asia (NIPSA) |
NIPSA is to build a network of likeminded groups and
individuals across the region to work together on issues of policing. It
is an attempt to share experiences (both successes and failures) and
develop a common understanding on what is wrong and devise specific
ways forward. NIPSA publishes an eNewsletter. To sign up, please
contact: sanjay@humanrightsinitiative.org.
Read more |
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The Private Provision of Public Goods
Fred E. Foldvary,
2009 |
| Foldvary illustrates the differences between public and
private communal goods, criticizes the notion of implicit agreements
between citizens and the state and presents examples contractual
provisions of public goods in private communities.
Read on |
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Auto-rickshaws and Economic Freedom
A Documentary |
On one hand, government spends heavily on employment
guarantee schemes and provides stimulus to combat the global financial
crisis,
on the one hand, it restricts the livelihood
of self-employed poor through the license-permit. One such heavily
regulated sector is the auto-rickshaw sector in Delhi leading to both a
grey market and a sub-standard services for the commuters. What does
economic freedom mean for this sector and can it help release it from
the clutches of the exploitative auto mafia?
UTube |
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| Upcoming Events |
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Online
Conference on "Community Policing in South Asia", Commonwealth Human
Rights Initiative, New Delhi, April 2010
Launch of "Police Organisations in Pakistan", FNF, CHRI and HRCP,
Lahore, 29 April, 2010
Visitors Programme on ‘Doing Business:
Models for Regional Cooperation in the SME Sector’, TANSTIA-FNF Service
Centre and SMED, Germany, April 2010
Public Policy Workshop for Journalists,
Centre for Civil Society, Jaipur, April 2010
Colloquium on the “Indian Liberal Tradition",Centre for Civil
Society, Bangalore, June 2010
Workshop on “Freedom of Information’,
Centre for Peace and Development Initiative, Karachi, June 2010
Book Launch on “Privatization”, Economic
Freedom Network Pakistan, May 2010
Book Launch on “Gender and Taxation”,
Economic Freedom Network Pakistan, May 2010
Seminar on “Federalism”, Centre for
Peach and Development Initiative, Pakistan, End of April 2010
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