Figuring Out

Indonesia’s politicised Army owns 219 business companies and cooperatives. Of this, only six are operational. Most of these were formed under the Suharto regime. By new law, the military must cede control by 2009.

Kazakhstan’s President, Nursultan Nazarbayev has been named ’91 per cent’ for having won the last election with 91 per cent votes in December 2005. Several opposition leaders have been killed mysteriously during his regime.

The Israeli aggression against Lebanon led to 1,300 deaths in Lebanon. Of these, 48 per cent were children while 28 per cent were women. This is revealed by a fact-finding team of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) which returned to Delhi on August 18. The team led by Mohammad Saleem MP, said the Israeli bombardment destroyed 15,000 houses, all power stations, hospitals, petrol bunks, and major highways. The delegation said nearly 153 Israelis, majority of them soldiers, were killed by the rocket attacks by Hizbollah. It urged the Government of India to stop purchase of Markiba tanks from Israel as Hizbollah rockets had destroyed 34 such tanks. It said the deal should be scrapped in view of the doubtful quality of the tanks.