GAINING CURRENCY: Raams come in three denominations

While kar sevaks are still to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya, the followers of the Transcendental Meditation (tm) have set up a Ram rajya in their Vedic City in Iowa, US. As a first step, they have introduced "Raam" currency in their town and it is no symbolic gesture either. The Raam commands considerable following. The colourful notes in shades of yellow, blue, red and green comes in three denominations, Raam 1, Raam 5 and Raam 10, a Raam being equivalent to $10.

Named Raam by Transcendental Meditation Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, currency worth $40,000 (Rs 19 lakh) is in circulation within seven months of its launch.

Though county officials have rejected the currency, business houses in Vedic City are more than ready to back the holy currency. Specially as the rich tm authorities ensure that the Raam-sterling exchange rate remains rock steady at a time when most currencies suffer the vagaries of international finances. "Many cities have their own currency. It is a tourist attraction and stimulates economic growth," says Vedic City Mayor Bob Wynne.

Mahesh Yogi's multi-billion dollar global empire-donations alone amount to $15 billion (Rs 72,000 crore)-has redefined the concept of Ram rajya: encashing the name of Ram.

-Anil Padmanabhan

RACIAL UK
Unsafe Indians

MUTUAL DISTRUST: Southhall's Green Road is infamous for muggings; Khabra (below right)

Little India, Southall, has become unsafe for Indians. When Ealing MP Piara Khabra announced this on radio, his words were condemned as irresponsible. Khabra blamed Somali asylum seekers for the increase in muggings. A police spokeswoman contradicts him: "There is no evidence that Somalis are committing all street crimes." But many Indians are openly supporting Khabra. "He has said exactly what we have been experiencing," says Sandu Singh. His 13-year-old daughter was mugged by two Somali girls while returning from school. "They took her bag, her gold chain and even her bus pass," Singh says incredulously.

The 5,000 odd Somalis in Southall are outnumbered by Indians and Pakistanis who form 21 per cent of Ealing's population. But poor Somali youth living off vouchers, often moving in gangs, are viewed as potential muggers by Asians. The Somalis are affronted. "We voted for Piara Khabra and now he is speaking ill of us," exclaims Khader Khapdur angrily. As racial tensions rise, Khabra would lose some of his voters.

-Ishara Bhasi

Sham Summit

DEAD END: The closing session

The true test of what the Johannesburg Summit achieves is the actions that follow," declared UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan at the end of World Summit on Sustainable Development on September 4. Just as well because the 10-day high-profile meet achieved little. Skirting contentious problems of environmental issues and the reneging on treaties by developing countries, the Johannesburg summit agreed to halve the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day, halve the number of people with no access to potable water and sanitation and reduce infant and maternal mortality-all by 2015 when it is time for another jamboree.