Malivia

[Aethan]

Selucians overwhelmingly reject any approach to Malivia

[mrcricketer]

August 4912

Border exercises on hold pending ND talks; GRP members extradited

Prime Minister Ravi Ranganekary has announced Malivia will not be holding any military exercises on its borders at least until the conclusion of its talks with Narikaton-Darnussia. Seven Gau Raksha Paltan (Cow Protection Army) members have also been extradited to neighbouring countries where they are wanted on suspicion of terrorism; three to Narikaton-Darnussia, two to Hobrazia, one to Selucia and one to Keymon. These are being presented as "confidence-building measures" to improve the likelihood of the talks succeeding, and to encourage other nations in the region to participate in them.


Empress Minakshi on her way to "admire" contents of Porthladd Loer Castle


Porthladd Loer Castle


The Malivian collection at Porthladd Loer Castle

Empress Minakshi, wife of Emperor Changragupta II, is making a private visit to Porthladd Loer Castle in Aloria, a state-owned historic residence which houses a substantial collection of Malivian historical artifacts, most of them looted by Colonel Ethan Warren, a prominent figure in the East Artania Company which ruled Malivia for many years.

Empress Minakshi has a notorious reputation for travelling around Terra to "admire" valuable antiques, usually refusing to cease "admiring" them or make her departure until she has been offered what she wants to be given as a gift. Only last year, she had a famous encounter with Lady Emma Cholmondley-Bowes-Spencer at her mansion in Luthori, where her host was determined not to give her a valuable painting, but finally relented after an 11 hour stand-off. Officials at Porthladd Loer Castle are said to be anxious about Empress Mikashki's impending visit, and to have sought government guidance as to what, if anything, should be offered to her.


Emperor Japesh's palanquin, part of the Malivian collection at Porthladd Loer Castle. Sources say Empress Minakshi is determined to take this home with her.


Prince Takshal's opium smoking pipe, also part of the Malivian collection at Porthladd Loer Castle. Sources say Empress Minakshi has her eye on this as well.


Part of Princess Gargi's dining set, again part of the Malivian collection at Porthladd Loer Castle. Sources say Empress Minakshi wants to use this for the upcoming banquet the Emperor is holding for a delegation from Narikaton-Darnussia.


Priceless Malivian ceremonial sword, belonging to the Malivian collection at Porthladd Loer Castle. Sources say Empress Minakshi wants this as a birthday present for her 9 year old son.

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President of Aloria & Empress Minakshi meet over Dinner discuss removal of Aloria. troops from Malvia
f=17&t=250&start=660&sid=62d186c2a9e6b4e4e77ee35634a7901d

[mrcricketer]

President of Aloria & Empress Minakshi meet over Dinner discuss removal of Aloria. troops from Malvia

All Alorian troops wi be withdrawn from Malvia's Coastal Borders by 4913

[Aquinas]

April 4913

RNP Claims Committee given more time, packed off to examine Kalistan

The Raktavani National Party's 12 member Claims Committee has belatedly reported back to annual conference. In February 4911, the committee had been established to explore whether the Greater Malivian Empire's territorial claims should be extended to Pontesi, Beluzia, Luthori, Rutania, Ikradon, Kundrati, Endralon, Likaton and the Telamonese island of Suðureyja.

According to well-placed sources, a majority of the committee wanted to use their report to recommend extending the territorial claim to all of those nations, but they were pressured to refrain from doing so by the party leadership, particularly Prime Minister Ravi Ranganekary and Foreign Minister Vishnu Satavelekar. Instead, they have therefore issued a report concluding that "the committee should be given more time to conduct its research", and also requesting that "the committee should also investigate whether the territorial claim should be extended to include Kalistan".

Conference voted by 277 to 223 votes to accept the report and its recommendations. The Prime Minister is reportedly pleased to have kicked the issue in to the long grass again for the moment, but unhappy that his party is talking about making a territorial claim on yet another nation.

Kamala Ghoshal, one of the committee members, commented:

During the course of the committee's research we came across mountains and mountains of evidence for Raktavani (OOC: Indian) culture, and particularly Ananti (OOC: Punjabi) culture in Kalistan. We also found loads of evidence for the practice of Geraja (OOC: Hinduism). Kalistan must have been a part of our Empire in my personal opinion, and I think it's terrible how foreign invaders have taken over Kalistan and driven our people out. So yes, we should put a claim on Kalistan. I don't think the rest of the world will mind too much. Kalistan is not even in the World Congress.

Foreign Minister Vishnu Satavelekar has written to his Kalistan counterpart to assure Kalistan that Malivia "has no territorial claim on Kalistan and has no plans to make one". Nevertheless, at the time of writing, four of the committee members, including Kamala Ghoshal, are on their way to Kalistan to conduct their "research".



New marriage law infuriates Hosians and Ahmadis



Civil liberties campaigners are up in arms about the Amended Freedom of Religion Act, which would make it a specific criminal offence to attempt to convert a person to another religious faith through marriage.

The Freedom of Religion Act, which makes it illegal to attempt to "convert a person from their religion through the use of force, inducement or dishonest means", is in practice heavily directed against Hosians (OOC: Christians) and Ahmadis (OOC: Muslims), and has never or rarely been used against Gerajans (OOC: Hindus). Hosians and Ahmadis feel the new marriage law is targeted against them and that they will be discriminated against if it is introduced.

The accusation of "love crusade" or "love jihad" - the idea Hosians and Ahmadis are targeting Gerajans for marriage in order to convert them - is a mainstay of the right wing Raktavani (OOC: Indian) media and is regularly discussed by Raktavani National Party politicians. This theory was particularly popular around the time Prince Ramesh converted to Ahmadism after marrying an Ahmadi bride from Kafuristan. However, sociologists researching this issue have repeatedly found the evidence for the claim is very slim.



Endralonian investment heads to Malivia

In what Trade & Industry Minister Shanti Divakar describes as "the surest sign that Malivia is developing an economy fit for the 50th century", a series of Endralonian investments have been announced, encouraged by cheap loans from the Republic Central Bank (owned by the Endralonian state), Malivian tax holiday and regulatory concessions, and what one insider described as "a nod and a wink from the Endralonian establishment".

The Boros Oil Primary Association will provide oil refining technologies to Malivian oil companies, in exchange for the exclusive right to sell their oil on the world market.

Hugamest Tech Group will provide internet connections to many parts of the country so far still lacking access, and will employ many, many Malivians in the process.

Egzotikus Utazasok and Sarkozy Hotels will enter the tourism market, respectively organising tours and providing hotel accomodation.

Futua Solutions will set up a range of brothels across the country, catering to all social classes and sexual preferences. The Devadasi (OOC: temple prostitute) sub-caste are looking forward to this, as it is likely to offer them better opportunities and working conditions.

Boros Creative Group, manufacturer of the famous Borocube (OOC: Lego) will be setting up factories, as will other corporations, including Incorporated Security Units, The Fashion Company, Lehel Vehicular Group, Dudva Private Transportation Vehicles and others.

Republican Central Bank, the Financial Bank of Liberty and the Open Bank Sectors will provide loans to Malivian businesses at competitive rates.

The cheapness of Malivian labour is likely one of the factors making Malivia an attractive investment location, as also is a growing supply of educated and well-trained workers who are desperate for better-paid jobs which utilise their skills. The political situation and the recent sanctions against Malivia have up to now been making investors nervous, but signs are now emerging that the economy may be able to turn the corner.



BumBlasters "not selling very well"

The Bumblaster bidet hose was launched last year amidst much fanfare. A leaked internal report from BumBlasters Inc. admits their product is "so far not selling very well to the overseas market" and laments that "these foreigners are very stubborn when it comes to their filthy anal hygiene habits". The report goes on to recommend seeking "more investment", and suggests requesting more subsidies from the government.

[Doc]

Malivian "investigators" declared "Persona non grata" in Republic, Kalistan withdraws diplomatic staff and prepares sanctions on Malivia.

[Aquinas]

October 3913

Claims Committee to use agents within Kalistan for research exercise

Following the stern Kalistani reaction to to the planned visit of four members of the Claims Committee to Kalistan, the Committee has announced it will rely on "discreet agents working for us in Kalistan" in order to carry out its investigations in to whether Kalistan should rightfully be considered part of the Greater Malivian Empire.

Three of the four committee members who were meant to go to Kalistan cancelled their flights just in time to avoid being detained by the Kalistan authorities. However, the fourth, Kamala Ghoshal, who was the most keen to go, left earlier than the others, and found out the news of Kalistan's intentions too late. As a result, she was arrested and detained upon landing down at Kaliburg Airport.

Foreign Minister Vishnu Satavelekar has written to his Kalistani counterpart, asking for Ghoshal to be released. He also attempted to clarify Malivia's position in relation to Kalistan:

I need to emphasise again that the government of the Greater Malivian Empire has not made any territorial claim on Kalistan, and does not have any plans to do so.

The Raktavani National Party is a broad-based political party which represents a diversity of viewpoints. It has internal democratic mechanisms. The party's annual conference has voted to set up a committee to investigate, amongst other things, whether Kalistan should be considered a part of the Greater Malivian Empire. However, this investigation, this research is still underway. Nothing has happened. It has not been decided at either a party level or a government level to make such a territorial claim. I can only plead with Kalistan and our other international partners to please be patient and not jump to unjustified and over-hasty conclusions. I add also that centuries of history demonstrate that the existence of a Malivian territorial claim does not mean we go to war to seek to impose it. That is not how we do things.

Cow terrorists clash with smugglers at sea

A ship crewed by Gau Raksha Paltan (OOC: Cow Protection Army) has been involved in an altercation at sea, off the coast of Idhaghra, with a small boat crewed by Keymonite smugglers, trying to bring beef and Rocc Cola in to the country illegally. The struggle ended with the three smugglers having their mouths doused with cow urine and stuffed with cow manure, after which they were tossed in to the sea, where they are believed to have drowned.

Rumours are rife that the Malivian authorities tacitly allowed this incident to happen, and indeed may even have tipped Gau Raksha Paltan off as to the location of the smugglers.



Adivasis released

With the Adivasi revolt fizzling out, the authorities have released 492 Adivasis (OOC: Indian tribals) who were detained without trial under the terms of the controversial Criminal Tribes Act. However, Dhuleep Haradas, the most prominent of the Adivasi leaders, remains in detention, as do a number of others. Complaints are being made that the international community has turned its back on the Adivasi community, and that Dhuleep Haradas is being left forgotten and rotting in jail. According to his wife, Anja, the conditions of his imprisonment are hard, with his cell infested with bandicoots, his bed swarming with bedbugs, being given poor quality - sometimes rotten - food, and not receiving any professional medical treatment for his heart condition.



Empress Minakshi's painting stolen


Empress Minakshi's summerhouse

Empress Minakshi is said to be "distraught" after learning her antique painting, gifted to her by Lady Emma Cholmondley-Bowes-Spencer of Luthori, has been stolen from her luxury summerhouse in western Idhaghra.


The Lakshmana Portrait

The painting, known as the Lakshmana Portrait, features the Malivian Emperor Lakshmana receiving several visitors, including the then Luthori King Egbert (left hand side, second from bottom). The painting is striking to modern eyes because the Luthori King is represented as a somewhat peripheral and unimportant figure in relation to the Emperor and his other guests. An Ahmadi (OOC: Muslim) scholar with a special empathy for Geraja (OOC: Hinduism), Tawheed el-Attar, is depicted in a far more prominent position, appearing to be in conversation with the Emperor.

The painting had been looted from Malivia during the reign of the Luthori-based East Artania Company, and had only come back to Malivia very recently.

Interestingly, leading museums and art galleries in Malivia reportedly rejected the Empress's offer of donating the artwork to them. This is likely because the Gerajatva (OOC: Hindutva) ideology permeates Malivian officialdom, and the idea of a painting showing a Malivian Emperor honouring an Ahmadi scholar makes them uncomfortable. However, the Empress apparently had no such reservations, and loved showing the painting off to all of her guests. She may be notorious for her acquisitiveness when it comes to collecting antiques, but those close to her say she is more open-minded in many ways than her husband, Emperor Chandragupta II. Indeed, the royal couple are said to have argued over the Empress's collection of antiques produced by Hosians and Ahmadis, which the Emperor does not not like to be shown off too much.


Gerajan-Hosian love scene censored under blasphemy law

A film which is about to be released, Love in Malivia, has been required to remove a scene which featured a young Hosian man and a young Gerajan girl kissing outside a Gerajan temple. The authorities ruled this was illegal under the Blasphemy Act, which gives special protection to Geraja.

[jellybean]

Artillery shell was fired at Malivia "by mistake," says Hobrazia

[Doc]

Kalistan continues to detain Foreign Spy, confirms that there are no "discreet agents" operating in Kalistan, prepares to begin capturing and quarantining Malivian shipping in and around Kalistani National Waters.

[Aquinas]

April 4914

Deltaria not to be trusted, Satavelekar tells Terra

Foreign Minister Vishnu Satavelekar has used his keynote speech at a gathering in Modalin of the International Institute for World Peace and Diplomacy to warn his listeners that "Deltaria was once a country we did business with, but is no longer to be trusted," describing the Majatran nation as "the epicentre of a new Red Terror that is seeking to take over the world".

He made particular reference in his speech to reports of Deltarian machinations in Cobura, Hobrazia, south Artania and elsewhere.

He also, however, spoke of the "cultural and historical connections between Deltaria and Malivia" and expressed his hopes that "the situation will change".



Malivia calls for talks with Hobrazia after artillery shell blunder

The incident in which a Hobrazian artillery shell was fired across the border with Malivia appears to have passed off peacefully enough. It may have helped the situation that Malivia's border force have been scaled down and placed on low alert since the commencement of talks with Narikaton-Darnussia. Prime Minister Ravi Ranganekary has warned, though, that "misunderstandings at the border need to be avoided, and neither Malivia not Hobrazia should be complacent about this". He called on the Hobrazian government to enter talks with Malivia, along the same lines as those currently taking place between Malivia and Narikaton-Darnussia.



Ministry of Cows inquires in to welfare of Saridan's shipped cows, warns about dangers of "Bovine Pain Waves"

Minister for Cows Chatur Upadhyay has written to the government of Saridan, asking for the details of the conditions under which cows were transported en masse from Lourenne to Saridan.

"I am very aware of the appalling, cramped conditions in which cows are so often brutally and heartlessly transported from place to place around the world," Upadhyay said. "Malivia has been against the transportation of cows across long distances for a long time now, but if this kind of thing is to go on, we would like assurances the process has been managed in as humane a way as possible".

He also raised a few eyebrows amongst the scientific and veterinary communities by suggesting "Bovine Pain Waves" emitted in to the atmosphere by the suffering of cows are responsible for "many physical and psychological problems affecting the human population today, including cancer, heart conditions, diabetes, depression, stress, psychosis and bi-polar disorder".



Malivia to join Gene and Seed Vault Project

Science & Technology Minister Parvati Shrivastava says she is "tremendously excited" about the invitation Malivia received from Selucia to take part in the Gene and Seed Vault Project."Malivia will join this at once, and we will do everything we can to play a full part in this project".

She also added she was "fascinated" by "how so many of the plants which are sacred to Gerajans, such as the Tulsi plant, the Peepal Tree, the Banyan Tree, the Ashoka Tree, and the sandalwood plant, can be found in so many interesting, odd little places all over the former territory of the Greater Malivian Empire", suggesting "this is the clearest possible evidence that our Raktavani (OOC: Indian) culture is spread much further afield than many outside Malivia would like to believe".



Thermocol water conservation project ends in embarrassment





An attempt by Infrastructure Minister Gunadhya Thakore to conserve water at the Rakaya Reservoir by covering it with sheets of thermocol to prevent evaporation ended in disaster after the thermocol ended up blown about randomly, broken in to pieces and washed back to the shore. Environmentalists are blasting the project as completely inept, and also warning that the thermocol is putting birds and fish at risk.

[jellybean]

Hobrazia: Talks with Malivia are off the table, but anti-communism may provide new opportunities for easing tensions