Where did the funds from India go?

And so, I was reading up on the current crisis in Somalia and the entire horn of Africa, as part of an assignment to write an essay on it. There is a huge requirement for funds there and countries and organisations from world over are contributing. So, naturally I was curious to know what India did for the cause. All the figures are available at  United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)'s financial tracking site. Suffice to say, it was a huge disappointment to see India's table. We had pledged an amount of $ 8,000,000 and ended up contributing zero(as on oct 3, 2011). 

2011- Pledge of $ 8,000,000 for Horn of Africa drought and that of $ 1,000,000 for Myanmar earthquake not honoured

The site has an easily searchable archive of contributions that each country has provided during various disasters the world over in the last decade. India had failed to honour their pledges on three previous occasions in this decade-2010,2007,2005. 

2005. Pledge of $ 25,000,000 not fulfilled for earthquake in South Asia

2007-Pledge of $50,000 for Peru earthquake and that of $ 1,000,000 for Bangladesh cyclone, not honoured.

2010-Pledge of $ 5,000,000 for Chile earthquake not honoured.

At the same time, it has to be said that India did contribute to various other causes during the same time period. But pledging help and then failing to honour it is an entirely different matter. The question is, was this money ever released? And if so, where was it re-routed to? Or, whether it is a case of just pledging some money and then forgetting about it? I have no idea where to look for, to answer these questions. Can someone help?

Mudcakes-Will You eat it?

Mudcakes-Will You eat it?Today afternoon, I had a heavy lunch. I've this habit of reading newspaper at our reception after lunch. Today's reading session proved to be a shocking as well as a depressing affair. Am talking about a report that I saw in today's paper about the situation in Haiti. There, due to hunger and poverty, people are actually eating mudcakes. Yes, you read it right. Cakes made out of mud. They even have to pay for this mud. After making the mud into small shapes, they dry it. In the evening, the whole family eats it by adding some salt. Its not tasty, its not healthy. Still they are eating it. Just to fill their stomachs. I found this news totally unbelievable. How could anyone even think of surviving by eating mud? It was also disturbing to read having eaten stomach full of food and also having wasted some food. These kind of news make us realise just how fortunate we are. And still we complain.

PS- This deep crisis happened because of some stupid decisions of the government. In the 80's, the Government of Haiti eased import restrictions and this resulted in cheap foreign food products spreading all over the country. Though the customers were happy, the economy started to crumble since the main driving force was agriculture. With the advent of foreign food, their own indigenous products couldn't find any buyers. And with the rise in oil prices and the crumbling economy, the downfall of Haiti was complete. Infact, its one of the worst affected countries in the world.

your crusader Praveen