Name the Industrialists Who Supply Fire Arms to the Marxist Gestapo? CPIM Suffers from Nandigram Syndrome and Declares Latest Industrialisation Plan for Singur, Rejecting to Return Farm land to Peasants. Civil Society Stands United with UNWANTED Mahashweta Devi and Katyayani.Marxists Tracking Sensex! Protests Hit Tea, Tourism in Darjeeling. US Presidential Race alone is Expected to Cost USD 2.4 billions.Bleak global outlook rattles Indian markets. West Bengal Government is all set to ask Tata Motors Limited to Return to SINGUR
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 91
Palash Biswas
West Bengal, India, Singur, regimented stalinists, CPIM
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=pxQr1OqGvoM
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Lalu calls for Rly reexamination
(02:15) Report
Oct. 22 - After railway entrance exam takers were beaten up by Raj Thackeray's MNS supporters for taking away jobs from locals, Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav announced fresh exams for aspirants.
Thackeray who is the Chief of regional Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was arrested on charges of rioting till November 5 was granted bail within minutes of being sent to jail.An ANI Report
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CPI(M) seeks sine die adjournment of the House
New Delhi (PTI): Attacking the UPA government for the "shocking" way of treating Parliament, the CPI(M) on Thursday demanded sine die adjournment of the House so that a full- fledged Winter Session could be convened next month.
Noting that this year Parliament has been in session for less than 40 days, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau said that the next session should be a full-fledged Winter Session and "not a farcical continuation" of the July 21-22 session.
"Parliament will have to be adjourned sine die so that the Winter Session can be convened in December. The presiding officers have the duty to see that this travesty of Parliamentary democracy is not perpetuated," the party said.
The CPI(M) noted that the UPA government refused to convene the Monsoon Session and it then announced that a continued session of the July 21-22 special trust vote would be held from October 17 to November 21.
"Now, barely a week after the convening of Parliament, it is being adjourned again on October 24. This exposes the narrow partisan interests which dictated the indefinite postponement of the Monsoon session and the doing away with of the Winter Session," the Politburo said in a statement.
It said this "gross contempt" for Parliament is compounded by the refusal of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to honour his own commitment to seek Parliamentary approval for the nuclear deal.
The party said if the government does not convene a fresh session, it would consult with all other like-minded opposition parties to decide on the next course of action.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200810232053.htm
Ruling marxists in West Bengal, specially the so called mainstream Leftist party in India, CPIM, seems to suffer from NANDIGRAM syndrome! Nandigram is being replicated anywhere anytime and it is quite unbearable for the Fascist Imperialist RED Gestapo! Thus, they plan to relocate Ms Mamata Bannerjee! Stops shaonli Mitra to perfom ANIMAL FARM. Goes all out attack against gandhigiri of the Governor. Latest aggression of the Gestapo is a real shame for the Grand Bangla Nationality worldwide which identifies its existence with its mother tongue. The legend of Bengali literature MAHSHWETA DEVI IS DECLARED unwANTED this time. Hindi poet Ktyayani is also not welcome in West Bengal for her known social activism and political stance against the mass destruction of peasants and indigenous communities!The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government has clarified that the 997-odd acres at Singur, originally meant for the Nano project, will not be handed to farmers who lost their land. It will be used for industrial purpose only.
The West Bengal government is all set to ask Tata Motors Limited to return the 997 acres of land in its possession, after it had pulled out its small car factory project from Singur to Sanand in Gujarat. The state Commerce and Industry secretary Sabyasachi Sen said that the government would like to utilize the land as soon as possible.Talking to reporters at Writers’ Buildings Sen said that the state government would obviously like to know from Tata Motors about their future plans with the land in Singur. “We would obviously ask them what they intend to do, if they keep the land unutilized,” he said. He also made it clear that wooing fresh investment for the Singur land would not be difficult once the Tata Motors hands over the land to the government.
Who finances Genocide culture in a state ruled by the Marxists who until yesterday was pusuing the line of Land Reforms, Decentralisation, Regional and Rural Development, Trade Union Movement, Peasant movement, Anti capitalism, anti Fascism and Anti Imperialism? for last thirty years in Marxist rule, the RED gestapo may boast of the Grassroot level integrity,which would make Adulf Hitler most happy man on this planet!
Who supplies the mass destruction weapons to Marxist cadres?
Why the Bengali brahmin Marxists opted for Marxist Capitalist Highway removing the Patriarch Jyoti basu from power and repcing him with BRAND BUDDHADEB!
Why Salim, most infamous for killing communists in Indonesia was selected for nandigram Chemical Hub?
Why DOWS known for Bhopal tragedy was so welcome in West Bengal?
Why our Comrades want to transform the entire state into SEZ, Chemical Hub, Retail chain, Nuclear Park, Shopping Mall, multiplex, Housing and Health Complexes and resorts?
Could we ever imagined this in sixties and seventies?
Why Ratan Tata is Made an Icon of Industrialisation and development?
Please name those distinguished industrialists who back Laxman Seth, Ashok bhattacharya, Nirupam Sen, Binoy Konar, Biman Bose, Subhash Chakrabarti, gautam Deb, Somanth Chatterjee, the expelled party Vetarn and, of course Buddhadev?
It is quite clear now how Ratan Tata entered the WHITE HOUSE and what had been his role in the Indo US Nuclear deal! Opposing the deal, at least in public, how do the marxist ally with Ratan Tata who enjoys the investment in every part of the Globe just because of the Zionist Hindu White global economy?
along with Mahashweta Devi, Hindi Poet and social activist Katyayani has also been declared UNWANTED by Ruling Marxist in Bengal. katyani has protested the move in a strong worded Press note released yesterday. She objected that the Marxists are branding all writers and artists, social activists and cultural troups with social and Human right concern, NAXALITES AND MAOISTS!
Katyani has warned a nationwide agitation against this.
On the other hand , the Civil society in Bengal consitsing of poets, writers, artists, cinema and drama personalities,scietists, intellectulas, doctors,advocates, intellectuals,cultural wrkers, has decided to stand united rock solid with MAHASHWETA as well as KATAYYANI!
Shankho Ghosh, Joy Goswami, tarun sanyal, Amlan Dutt, tarun naskar, Nabo Dutt, Sujat Bhadra, Abhi Dutt Majumdar, Ratan basu Majumdar, shiladity, Pallab Kirtunia, Shaonli Mitra, Ashok Mitra, Sumit Sarkar, ARUNDHUTI ROY, Sukumari Bhattacharya, Pratul Mukhopaddhaya, Ganesh Halui, SUBHOPRASANNA, RUDRAPRASAD SENGUPTA, Arpita Ghosh, Sumon Mukhopaddhyaya, Bhaskar Gupta, Debesh Chattopaddhyaya and others have warned west Bengal Government and CPIM of intense agitation!
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee took the stage on Wednesday evening to award decorations to 156 state police officers for outstanding service. Among the beaming faces was Superintendent of Police, Malda, Satyajit Bandopadhyay — the man accused of leading his force against protesting farmers at the peak of the Nandigram protests on March 14, 2007. Fourteen had died in the firing.
In Nadigram, the people demonstrated on the Police Station against the Honour bestowed on the Genocide Amasters!
At the gala police honours — the West Bengal Police Investiture Ceremony -2008 — Bandopadhyay was given the Police Prashansha Padak, given to officers with consistent performance over 15 years of service and those who have not faulted much in the eyes of law. There was a medal and Rs 10,000 for Bandopadhyay.
The incident has been a blot on the state’s police records as well as in terms of human rights violations. Successive official reports indicated that the officer — Satyajit Bandopadhyay — then an additional superintendent of Police (Rural), Howrah, had led a police force that had opened fire on a mob of villagers who protested the Government’s proposed land acquisition in Nandigram.
The Calcutta High Court had described the firing of March 14 in Nandigram as “unconstitutional and illegal”. The CBI is investigating the case.
Bandopadhyay was sent by the state Government to Nandigram in East Midnapore along with others. He was posted on that fateful day with a huge force near Tekhali Bazar outpost and had led the charge against the villagers.
West Bengal is the most peaceful state in the country, still the state police need to be more people-friendly. This was Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s advice to the force at the ‘Investiture Ceremony of Bengal Police 2008’ at the Science City Auditorium in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Taking a dig at the recent occurences in Maharashtra, Bhattacharjee said: “Observe other states. In one state, people from other states are considered unwanted and cannot go there for jobs. This is unthinkable in Bengal.”
He also highlighted communal clashes breaking out in different parts of the country. “People are fighting over religion in other states. West Bengal is safe and peaceful,” he said.
Bhattacharjee, however, said there is no cause for complacency because terrorism, especially ultra-Left terrorism, is posing a real threat to the state.
He exhorted policemen to act as a friend of the people. “The police, from the level of superintendent of police to the officers of a police station, must gain confidence of the people. No discrimination should be made between the rich and the poor while addressing their complaints,” he said.
The chief minister also said: “The government is trying to increase the number of police housing estates and police hospitals. We will provide treatment to all injured policemen on duty.”
Bhattacharjee conferred four Sourya Padak, seven Nistha Padak, 42 Prasansha Padak and 57 Sewa Padaks to the policemen.
Three Sourya Padak awards were given posthumously. Police medal for meritorious service and President’s police medal for distinguished services were also awarded.
In lucknow,in a significant move ahead of Assembly elections in five states, CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati at her official residence in Lucknow on Wednesday evening. Karat, who was with Mayawati’s for two hours, discussed the political scenario in view of the upcoming Assembly elections. BSP’s National General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra was also present during the meeting.
The Bengali Brahmin Marxists are wooing the Matuas in bengal and the dalit Bengali refugges resettled out of Bengal despite betraying them with citizenship amensment act and launching a deportation drive.
Mind you, in Kolkata, CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat recently said that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati could be a prime ministerial candidate of a non-Congress and non-BJP alliance at the Centre depending on the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections.
“BSP is an important party and the ruling party in UP. We expect them to do well in Lok Sabha elections and therefore the leader of the BSP is going to be one of the people who I think will be considered,” Karat told reporters in Kolkata.
Though the BSP has not accommodated the CPI(M)’s wish for an electoral understanding in Uttar Pradesh, the
comrades are going out of the way to please Mayawati by deciding to support her “secular” party in the coming round of state elections.
The CPI(M) Central Committee, which met last week in Kolkata, decided that its cadre should vote for “non-Congress secular parties like BSP” in seats where the party and the CPI are not contesting. The party’s view is that in the current political situation, it is imperative to oust BJP from power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh while keeping the Congress at bay.
The meet has gained political significance in the wake of CPM’s decision to support BSP candidates in those constituencies of the five states, where the former has not fielded its own candidates. “This has signaled the formation of an alliance between the BSP and Left parties at the national level ahead of the Lok Sabha elections,” a source in the BSP said.
“Wednesday’s meeting was an important step in the way of formation of the Third Front. CPM has already welcomed the idea by asking its supporters to vote for BSP in those constituencies, where its candidates are not contesting, a source in the state unit of CPM said. He, however, could not confirm whether both the parties would undertake joint campaign in the elections. Though what transpired between the two leaders at the meeting was not made public, a source said BSP may pass a similar resolution to support CPM candidates where its candidates are not contesting
The CPI(M), which showed concern over the crash in the stock market, was on Wednesday cornered in the Rajya Sabha by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who said he was happy that the Marxists were keenly tracking the Sensex.
“I am glad you are looking at the stock market. There is a substantial CPI(M) investment in the stock market,” Chidambaram said replying to the debate on Appropriation Bill. On the other hand, describing India and Japan as "major powers" and "two major pillars of new Asia," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said the two strategic partners are ready to play a "commensurate global role" in world affairs.
Another drama unfolded in THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Criticism against Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and the CPI dominated the discussions at the CPM state committee meeting on the first day on Wednesday. While VS was criticised for `violating’ party discipline, CPI received brickbats for its `inconsistent stand’ on crucial policy matters.
A section of the state committee members accused VS of behaving in a `non-communist way’ by citing his post-Cabinet press conferences in which he had even discussed politburo deliberations with mediapersons. ``Such an instance is unheard of in the history of any Communist party,’’ pointed out a delegate.
The controversial interview of V.S. Achu-thanandan by Communist Campaign Committee leader Babu Bharadwaj, published in Mathrubhumi weekly, also drew flak from the delegates. Commenting on CPI’s dilly dallying over SEZ, some delegates said that the party was following the same process in all critical policy issues faced by the Left Democratic Front Government. The meeting on Thursday will discuss strategies to be adopted for the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal government Wednesday said it will stick to its task of industrialisation and employment generation in Singur, where auto major Tata Motors abandoned its Nano small car project earlier this month.”We will continue with the process of industrialisation in Singur. We haven’t decided on any company yet,” Principal Secretary (Industry) Sabyasachi Sen told reporters here.
Though Sen said the state government had not yet decided the nature of the project that will come up, he talked about the possibility of building an industrial park in Singur, about 50 km from here.Sen confirmed rubbishing claims of state transport minister Subhas Chakrabarty, who said that the state would be finalizing an agreement with an automobile spare parts manufacturing unit by the end of this month. There was also hint that government might use the land for setting up an industrial park or for light engineering units, which might be accommodated within 400 acres.
Tata Motors Oct 3 announced it was relocating the Nano project from Singur to Gujarat and blamed the state’s main opposition party Trinamool Congress for the “painful” decision.
Meanwhile, the state government had also issued a circular announcing that the Singur land, acquired for industrial project, has to be used for industrialization for generating employment and economic development of the area. It cannot be returned to land owners. The message was sent for the state’s main Opposition party — Trinamool Congress, which has lined up a series of agitation after Diwali in demand of return of 400 acres of land.
The Trinamool Congress-led anti farmland acquisition forum — Krishi Jami Raksha Committee (KJRC) — has been demanding return of 400 acres of land from within the project site, which they claimed had been forcibly acquired. Though the government agreed to return 70 acres from within the project site and supplement it with additional compensation package, the Opposition refused and stuck to its demand. The project moved out of Bengal, but the Opposition has refused to budge from its demand.
The government circular is a warning to the Opposition party that the land in Singur has undergone change of character from agricultural land to industrial land and infrastructure like roads, power sub station, electricity and drainage facilities have come up, befitting for industrial project. Now the land would have to be used for industrial purpose and nothing else, the circular said.
As Recession setsin the Globe andthe people of United States of America have to bear the most of the burn, the battle for the White House between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, which has witnessed one of the most acrimonious campaigns, is also expected to be the most expensive ever with over USD five billion estimated to be spent on the election cycle. As much USD 5.3 billions is expected to be spent, an amount that is over the Gross Domestic Product of several small countries but something that neither Senator Barack Obama nor Senator John McCain and all of their colleagues in the House of Representatives and Senate even wince about for a nanosecond. According to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), the Presidential Race alone is expected to cost USD 2.4 billions.
Here you are!
This happens to be the most dangerous Killing Instinct of the global ruling class engaged in power game and quite detached with the destiny of Black Untouchable Indigenous communities worldwide.
We all know how India replicates the CORE nation as a worthy Periphery!
Fresh protests for a separate state in India's famous Darjeeling hills are threatening its tea and tourism industries, traders said, as the Gorkha community continues to press its demand for autonomy.Why?
Just because CPIM tried to CAPTURE darjeeling Hills taming gurkhas and ejecting out Subas ghishing, the original leader of Gurkha Insurrection. The Marxists never chose to address the social and economic problems in the Hils. Tea gardens starve. Turism sick. But the Bengali brahmins treated the gurkha community as SLAVE. they refused to acknowledge the Gurkha Identity! Rejuvinate with Singur VICTORY and Nandigram capture, they want to deal with the issue with the smae Gestapo culture.
Meanwhile they projected BIMAL GURUNG and made him OSAMa BIN Laden!
Gorkhas, who are ethnic Nepalis, are demanding a separate state of "Gorkhaland" be carved out of West Bengal state's Darjeeling region to protect their Himalayan culture and heritage, and protests have picked up again this month.
The communist state government in West Bengal opposes the idea, as do Bengali groups in the foothills to the south of Darjeeling. There have been sporadic outbreaks of unrest between ethnic Nepalis and Bengalis as a result.
Caught in this battle are tea traders, who say exports of premium Darjeeling tea may fall 20-25 percent this year due to political unrest in the hills.
The region's vast tea gardens ship highly prized and fragrant brews around the world, churning out about 10 million kg a year.
"This third protest in the past few months has left the garden managers and workers jittery and we estimate 20 percent loss in production in tea gardens," Rajiv Lochan, secretary of the Siliguri Tea Traders' Association, told Reuters.
Tea gardens in some areas were deserted and officials said regular protests had hampered plucking, a Reuters photographer said.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, the government said that regardless of the circumstances, “the land would be used for setting up of industries only. The state government is mulling all options and planning to take definite steps in order to set up industries.”
It reiterated that it had acquired land in Singur in step with the norms of the Land Acquisition Act. “The land was given to Tata Motors and several vendor companies, for setting up of the Nano factory and various auto component units. All the necessary infrastructural work was done in the mean time. The land was also converted to suit the industrial purpose. However, the project could not be completed due to disruption caused by a section of people.”
Following this, ET specifically asked Tata Motors whether it would cancel its Singur land lease agreement with the West Bengal government or retain it for more time. In response, the Tata Motors spokesperson said: “We will discuss the lease issue with the West Bengal government.” The state government had offered Singur land to Tata Motors on a 90-year lease.
Reacting to the development, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee reiterated her old demand of returning land to unwilling Singur farmers. “The state government can go ahead with its plans of setting up of new industries in Singur land. But the 400 acres which a section of displaced farmers were “unwilling” to part with, should be returned at any cost.” She said that members of the Save Farmland Committee will resume their agitation in Singur after Diwali.
When contacted, commerce & industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen said: “The government wishes to send the message across that even if the Tatas decide to stay away from Singur, some sort of industry will definitely come up in the 997 acres.
The state government already has some alternate plans — some light engineering or manufacturing units can set up their plants. If a number of small units are interested, there could also be some industrial park set up in the area. With land being so scarce in the state, any industrial group would lap up the proposal.”
“We are no longer hopeful that the Tatas will return to Singur to set up any other project. Therefore, we would ideally want the land to be vacated at the earliest,” added a senior WBIDC official.
How the gestapo works at grass root level?
A CPI-M councilor and some party activists allegedly heckled three women whom they had detaining in their party office in Gayeshpur near Kalyani.
The party activists claimed that the women were connected with the trafficking of a 17-year-old girl from Jalangi in Murshidabad district.
Police said that the three women ~ Sobha Balmiki, Mumtaj Balmiki and Sunita Balmiki ~ are residents of Gayeshpur. About six months ago, Sobha worked in a Primary Health Centre of Jalangi as a temporary staff where she met a girl named Pinki Khatun. In April, Sobha left the job with the health centre and joined Kalyani TB Hospital as a temporary staff.
After Pinki went missing and her mother Mrs Jahanara Bibi lodged a missing diary in the Jalangi Police Station and informed the local CPI-M party office including Mr Madan Mohan Dhara, a councillor with Gayeshpur municipality about her daughter.
Mr Dhara along with some other party members allegedly went to Mrs Balmiki’s house and brought her, her elder daughter, Mumtaj and daughter-in-law, Sunita to the the Chandmari CPI-M party office yesterday.
Mr Dhara said: “These are all false allegations. They were not at all beaten up in the party office. We have only called them in the party office to know the truth. Had police been informed, the process would have taken much more time.”
TC-CPI(M) activists clash during Tufanganj bandh
Trinamool Congress activists and CPI(M) cadre clashed at a number of places in Tufanganj sub-division of West Bengal's Cooch Behar district on Tuesday during the 24-hour Tufanganj bandh called by the Trinamool Congress.
The TC activists, who were enforcing the bandh and the CPI(M) cadre opposing it clashed in front of the SDO office, Beuchari bazaar and a few other places in the sub-division, police sources said.
The police had to lathicharge the warring activists of the two rival political parties to disperse them, sources said.
Trinamool Congress sources claimed that a number of party leaders including Ratan Das were injured when CPI(M) cadre attacked them.
The CPI(M) sources refuted the TC claim and instead claimed that some of their leaders including Joba Pal and Shamsher Ali were injured when TC activists attacked them.
The TC had called the 24-hour bandh alleging that a large number of policemen and police uniform clad CPI(M) men raided some residences at Bhairaber-tari village yesterday and opened fire in which two TC supporters were shot at and injured.
Meanwhile, the CPI(M) has called for a 12-hour Tufanganj bandh tomorrow to protest today's violence.
Left to leave it to TRS
As far as poll alliances for the next elections are concerned, the two Left parties - CPI and CPM - are likely to follow the path taken by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).
According to Left sources, the two parties would join hands with either TDP or PRP, with whom the TRS is likely to sail with.
Amid efforts to forge a grand alliance to fight the ruling Congress in the next elections, the State leaders of CPI and CPM met here today to discuss the political situation and a common strategy on public issues.
The State CPM secretary B V Raghavulu and his CPI counterpart K Narayana had a two-hour long meeting at the CPM headquarters here. While broad contours of tie-ups with other Opposition parties were discussed at the meeting, a final decision on alliances will be taken after the Central committee meetings of the two parties in November, the Left leaders said The CPM will discuss the issue of poll alliances during its meeting, scheduled to be held here from October 30 to November 5 before taking a final view, Raghavulu said.
The CPI State executive committee meeting which was scheduled for October 29, 30 will also discuss the issue. After this, CPI national executive meeting will be held on November 1 and 2 in New Delhi. CPM State committee has been proposing a third front in the State on the lines of national level.
Differing with the CPM proposal of replicating national level alliances in the State, CPI is trying to float a third alternative with Praja Rajyam Party along with TRS. CPI State leaders were in touch with their national leadership and were trying to convince them with this idea.
CPI State committee will discuss the issue in its two-day meetings which would be attended by the party national leaders including party general secretary AB Bardhan. As the Left parties have considerable strength in Telangana region, they are likely to honour whatever decision TRS takes on alliances.
however, the TRS is maintaining suspense on its poll strategy saying that it did not take any decision on alliances so far.
Financial crisis
The Marxists have always been posing ideologically sound and having latest national Interantional updates. The marxists are known to oppose nationalisnm as they believe in Internationalism. Thus, they could declare Laenin or mao as their leaders! Marxists always had a stance on every issue. but they have lost the vion as they suffer form NANDIGRAM SYNDROME!
The Indian rupee plunged to a record low against the dollar and shares wilted on Wednesday on fears that foreign investors would keep pulling funds out of the country as they batten down for a severe global slowdown.
Wipro Ltd (WIPR.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), India' third-largest outsourcer, reported flat earnings and joined its rivals in citing worsening economic conditions for a cautious outlook, and the government said it may overshoot its budget deficit target.
"The global economic environment has deteriorated significantly over the past couple of months and our outlook is cautious in the near term, given the strain on the global economy," Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said.
In order to counter the spillover of the global turmoil, the central bank has aggressively cut it key lending rate and banks' reserve requirements this month, and more steps could come at a policy review on Friday, but sentiment remains fragile.
The rupee <INR=IN> plummeted to a record low of 49.50 per dollar as foreign funds pulled out investments, taking its losses in 2008 to more than 20 percent despite the central bank's efforts to keep it above the previous low of 49.30.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Thursday it was closely monitoring financial market developments and would respond swiftly and pre-emptively to adverse external developments that could affect financial and price stability.
"The Reserve Bank is committed to maintaining financial stability and active and flexible liquidity management by using all policy instruments," the RBI said in its review of macroeconomic and monetary developments.
"The Reserve Bank is closely monitoring developments in the global as well as domestic financial markets and stands ready to take such pre-emptive action as may be necessary to contain excess volatility in the domestic financial markets," it said.
The RBI will review its monetary policy on Friday, against the backdrop of a looming recession in developed economies which has rattled domestic financial markets.
Chidambaram had a dig at the Left party members when one of them asked him why the stock market was melting if the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
In a lighter vein, the Finance Minister said he knew the kind of money that the CPI(M) had made from the share market.
“You made Rs 1.9 crore,” Chidambaram said adding, he was happy for that.
When Sitaram Yechury asked Chidambaram to give the “devil (Left) its due” for saving the country from the global financial turmoil, the Finance Minister said the Congress-led UPA government had neither embraced capitalism nor communism.
“We have never embraced capitalism nor communism.
Congress party and the UPA have a particular philosophy which would be in tune with changing times,” he said.
The BSE Sensex dropped 4.8 per cent at the open on Thursday to its lowest in more than 2 years after another sell-off in US and Asian markets on fears of a severe global downturn.
Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank were leading the losses.
At 9:58 a.m., the 30-share BSE index had pared some losses to be down 3.81 per cent at 9,782.36, but all its components were in red.
The index was trading at its lowest level since June 2006.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday advised investors in equity markets to take informed decisions and not to act in panic.
"There is no reason for Indian market to go down just because the eastern markets are down...nobody should sell in panic," he said in New Delhi.
On the fall in rupee value, he said, capital is going out of the country because there are redemption pressure on FIIs back home.
Once these pressure eases, money will flow into the country in the form of ECB, FCNR, NRE.
"I am sure once pressure on FIIs ease, FIIs will also bring in money to invest in corporate and government debt market," the minister said.
Amid possibility of the current session being adjourned on Friday, Left parties on Thursday charged the Congress-led coalition with “running away” from Parliament.
CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta made the charge during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, accusing the Congress of “misusing” power by holding only 34 days of sittings in the current year so far.
He was supported by the CPI-M leader Basudeb Acharia who faulted the Government for “dispensing with” the Monsoon session of Parliament.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi, however, dismissed the allegations insisting that as per rules, there could be a gap of six months between two sessions.
The Minister also charged the opposition with “wasting” 35 to 39 per cent of the time when sittings had taken place during the last four years.
Noting that a conference of presiding officers had spoken of the need to have sittings of at least 100 days in a year, Dasgupta said this government appears to be “running away” from Parliament.
Wondering why no session of Parliament was convened when the Indo-US nuclear deal was being finalised, he sought to know whether it was also part of the “deal” to ensure that no dissension was seen in Indian Parliament.
He said there was a “hearsay” that the session will be adjourned onf Friday and would meet again in December. Even if that happens, the sittings this year would not be more than 50, he regretted.
Rupee, shares punished; mkts look to RBI
The rupee fell to a record low and shares dipped to their weakest levels in more than two years on Thursday as a global rout of equities washed through India's markets.
All eyes were on a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rate review on Friday, although few market watchers expected another rate cut so soon after it slashed the key lending rate by 100 basis points to 8.0 per cent this week as policy makers joined central banks and governments across the world in fretting about slowing growth at home and abroad.
India's annual inflation rate is still in the double digits but data on Thursday showed it is at least declining, allowing authorities to focus on maintaining expansion and liquidity to weather the global turmoil instead of price stability.
And the oil minister offered the prospect soon of a possible cut in government-set fuel prices to ease the burden on consumers ahead of key state elections in the next two months.
"Relaxation in the monetary policy as was witnessed in the recent past are in line with the softening trend in inflation," said Indranil Pan, chief economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank.
The wholesale price index, the country's most widely watched inflation measure, rose 11.07 per cent in the 12 months to Oct. 11, below the previous week's annual rise of 11.44 per cent.
Inflation peaked at 12.9 per cent in August and Economic Affairs Secretary Ashok Chawla said the government expected inflation at 9.5-10 per cent by the end of 2008.
US crude oil has fallen to about $67 a barrel from a record above $147 in July, putting pressure on India to cut the price of fuels still controlled by the government, after it raised them by about 10 per cent in June.
Some politicians urged the government for a cut to help the common man, just as it helped ailing airlines by giving them six months to pay jet fuel dues in instalments. Oil Minister Murli Deora said it was watching the price of crude and would decide in a week if administered prices should fall.
SHARES, RUPEE PUMMELLED
In the share market, the benchmark index dropped 4 per cent to its lowest since June 2006 as Asian stocks hit a four-year low for a second day on growing fears that a global downturn would depress corporate earnings further.
"Valuations are attractive, but still people are not committing enough funds," said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Securities.
"There are views that our growth will slow down in the short term, though medium term would be ok, but people are more concerned about the short term."
Shares of banks, companies involved in metal and software exporters were hardest hit. The key index has fallen by more than half this year, with foreigners selling a net $12.2 billion, compared with 2007's record net inflow of $17.4 billion.
The finance minister said the stock market regulator had asked foreign institutional investors not to lend Indian shares to offshore entities in a bid to ease selling pressure.
The partially convertible rupee , which suffers when foreigners pull funds from shares, fell to a record low of 49.85 per dollar before heavy central bank intervention pulled it back to 49.79/80, although it was still down 1 per cent on the day.
But government bond yields, which move inversely to prices, eased towards eight-month lows.
The benchmark 10-year yield dropped to 7.57 per cent as market expectations grew that the central bank would take more liquidity boosting measures on Friday to prod banks into lending to firms after Monday's unexpected cut in the repo rate, the first in more than four years.
It has also boosted funds in the banking system by relaxing cash reserve requirements for banks and, late on Wednesday, raised the cap on overseas debt of domestic firms to $500 million from $100 million to encourage inflows to support the rupee.
A Reuters poll showed few expect another rate cut on Friday or another drop in the cash reserve ratio from 6.5 per cent just yet, although more measures were expected further down the line.
But Chawla at the finance ministry said there was a need to increase capital inflows and the government was monitoring liquidity, capital inflows and the rupee closely.
Fuel prices to be reduced within a week: Deora
In what could be a Diwali gift for the common man, government on Thursday said in the Lok Sabha that an announcement on reduction of fuel prices will be made within a week, keeping in view the falling global crude prices.
"The matter is being examined and an announcement would be made within a week," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said during Question Hour in reply to a spate of supplementaries on the issue as Opposition members insisted that the fuel prices be brought down forthwith.
Global crude prices have come down below 67 dollars a barrel from a high of 147 dollars and now the government should live upto its promise and reduce prices of petroleum products, the members said.
Deora also faced wrath of members over the "bailout" package to airlines at the cost of the common man. The Petroleum Minister as also Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel denied that any bailout has been given and said only deferment of outstandings has been allowed.
To a question from BSP's Brajesh Pathak whether the government will give free diesel to farmers, Deora pointed out that even now, huge subsidy was being given on various petroleum products. He said the question was "wrong".
But members of the BSP, Left and the NDA were in no mood to listen and they staged a noisy walkout.
Earlier this week, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said in the Lok Sabha that India's administered prices of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene were based on Indian basket at 67 dollar a barrel.
When price comes down to 67 dollars a barrel, then oil companies are breaking even, Chidambaram had said.
BJD member Braj Kishore Tripathy asked "what is the policy of the Government when global crude prices have declined."
Deora said the government was waiting for further reduction in global crude prices and would consider the matter later. But as members got agitated and wanted an immediate response, he said a decision would be announced within a week.
Govt likely to impose 25% cess on big diesel cars
Government may impose a 25 per cent cess on big diesel cars and charge bulk users other than railways and state transport corporations Rs 22 a litre more for diesel as part of a dual fuel pricing policy.
"Big car owners do not deserve subsidised diesel. We want them to pay market price but it will be difficult to ask petrol pumps to charge them higher than other vehicles. So it is being debated if a 25 per cent cess on the car price may be imposed on big cars," a top Petroleum Ministry official said.
This is part of a dual diesel pricing proposal the ministry is preparing for the Cabinet, he said. "Diesel to industrial users other than railways and state transport departments will be sold at market price of Rs 57 a litre."
At present, diesel in Delhi costs Rs 34.86 a litre.
Industrial units like power generators in IT industry find subsidised diesel cheaper than freely priced fuel oil and naphtha, pushing demand that has forced refiners import the fuel to meet the requirement.
"The idea is to limit sale of subsidised diesel to transport and agriculture sectors only," he said, adding the Petroleum Ministry was holding consultations with various stakeholders and will move a Cabinet note this month.
While the cess on big diesel cars would give about Rs 150 crore additional revenues annually, charging bulk users higher price would reduce loss of state retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum by Rs 14,000-15,000 crore.
"More than half of the projected Rs 1,65,300 crore revenue loss on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene this fiscal is on account of diesel sales," the official said.
Diesel demand in April-July had grown by 18 per cent, with bulk of the growth coming from industrial users like power plants.
Fin min: Banks should lend aggressively
Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said on Thursday there was adequate liquidity in the banking system and he has advised banks to l
end agressively.
Chidambaram also asked investors not to sell stocks in panic.
The minister's comments came after the main stock index plunged to its lowest since June 2006 amid a gloomy global economic outlook.
RBI eases ECB access for companies
The government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have eased the norms on overseas borrowing for Indian companies to boost inflows and help corporates raise funds for projects.
The revised rules provide for companies to pay a higher interest of upto 500 bps over the six-month libor on external commercial borrowings (ECBs). Companies can bring in the proceeds immediately and can also use dollar borrowings for rupee expenditure.
The easing of norms comes at a time when a number of Indian companies, who are already in the international loan markets, are finding it difficult to raise funds. The turbulence in global financial markets has impacted this market significantly and with banks reluctant to lend to each other, raising foreign currency funds is going to be tough.
Bankers say that liquidity is limited to the shorter end of the borrowing spectrum with global banks loath to lend for the medium and long term. According to the new rules notified by the RBI late on Wednesday, from now on, ECBs up to $500 million per borrower per financial year would be permitted for rupee expenditure or foreign currency expenditure for permissible end-uses under the automatic route.
The norm of a minimum average maturity period of seven years for ECBs of more than $100 million for rupee capital expenditure by borrowers in the infrastructure sector has been dispensed with.
The relaxation may not result in an immediate inflow of funds, given that overseas credit markets are frozen and spreads over libor have been widening. Roiled by the financial turmoil, banks abroad are reluctant to lend to corporates in emerging markets. They are looking at cutting down or are only maintaining their Indian exposure.
However, the new norms could benefit many AAA and AA rated Indian corporates to access the markets as and when the market eases up.
Telecom companies, who had earlier pitched for allowing the proceeds of ECBs for payment of licence/permit for 3G spectrum have been given that facility. At present, ECB proceeds are required to be parked overseas until actual expenditure takes place.
Now, companies can either keep these funds offshore or keep it with the overseas branches or subsidiaries of Indian banks abroad or to remit these funds to India for credit to their rupee accounts with banks in India until it is used.
Given the tight liquidity conditions in the market, RBI has said that banks have been allowed to pay upto 300 bps over six-month libor on ECBS between three and five years as against 200 bps earlier. For longer-term borrowings, corporates have been allowed to pay as much as 500 bps over six-month libor. Given that six-month libor is ruling at 3.7%, lenders will be allowed to pay out up to 8.7% interest on dollar borrowings.
The central bank also said that it will be keeping a close watch on the unhedged foreign exchange exposures of SMEs. A system of monitoring such unhedged exposures by the banks on a regular basis is being put in place.
Other earlier restrictions including the $500-million limit per company per financial year under the automatic route as well as conditions relating to eligible borrower, recognised lender, end-use, average maturity period, prepayment, refinancing of existing ECB and reporting arrangements remain unchanged.
Seshagiri Rao, finance director, JSW said: "This will benefit corporates as one layer of approval, from RBI, has now been removed. Top-rated companies should be able to roll-over existing liabilities within the enhanced spreads now allowed by RBI." He added that JSW group companies would definitely look at the option of raising foreign loans in the wake of this relaxation.
According to Hemant Mishra, MD and head global markets (India), StanChart, "this is in line with the ministry and the RBI's proactive approach of managing the dollar liquidity shortage in the local market. This step will make it easier for India Inc to tap into the overseas capital market and also helps domestic liquidity in the process. There would be incremental appetite for quality India paper at the right price, once the international liquidity situation gets better."
Usually, the credit markets slow down towards the end of the calendar year. This might be accentuated this time because of the ongoing credit crunch. For the fiscal ended March 31,2008 Indian corporates had made overseas borrowings of $30.95 billion. This is as against borrowings of $25.35 billion in the previous fiscal. In the current fiscal, between April and August, corporates had borrowed $8.12 billion.
Said Robin Banerjee, director (finance) Essar Steel: "This will encourage flow of foreign exchange debt into India since they are cheaper than Indian debt if you don't consider rupee depreciation, which can be appropriately hedged. This is a positive step to build confidence and ensure flow of funds in tight market conditions.
"We are yet to study the details, but at first brush, they appear to be very positive for the industry," said a top Vodafone-Essar official. Said Idea Cellular MD Sanjeev Aga, "While Idea is not affected, this may be a useful step for the sector. However, there are several loose ends in the preparation for the 3G auctions and it would be desirable that these are meticulously addressed instead of rushing through."
Highlights
" All in cost ceilings (libor plus spread plus issue expenses) have been relaxed by the RBI. More corporates can use the ECB window
" $500 Mn for rupee expenditure
" Telecom companies can use the ECB for raising money for license/permit for 3G Spectrum
" Corporates can remit these funds to India for credit to their rupee accounts in India, pending utilisation for permissible end-use.
" Monitoring of unhedged exposures of SMEs being put in places
* Corporates unlikely to benefit in the short term as global banks are still not comfortable in lending.
Investors' loss in market mayhem crosses $1 trillion mark
The investors' loss in the ongoing stock market meltdown has crossed the one-trillion dollar mark-- a figure associated with the size of entire Indian economy and the equity market till a few months ago.
At the end of today's trading when the benchmark Sensex dropped by over 500 points, the investor wealth measured in terms of cumulative market capitalisation of all listed firms dropped to Rs 32,20,682 crore (about 650 billion dollars).
This represents a fall of over 1.1 trillion dollars from a life-time high of close to 1.8 trillion dollars (Rs 72 trillion) on January 10 -- the day when Sensex scaled its life time high before embarking on a downslide.
The figure is even bigger than the estimated size of Indian economy of just about one trillion dollars. India's GDP is estimated at Rs 46,93,602 crore for the latest fiscal 2007-08, which translates into about 950 billion dollars at the current foreign exchange rate.
Indian stock markets had moved out of the trillion-dollar club this July, nearly a year after joining this league.
The Sensex has more than halved from its record high of 21,206.77 points to 10,169.90 points. It even slipped below the 10,000-point mark late last week when it dropped to 9,911.32 points on October 17, its lowest in over two years.
At the end of previous year, the total market cap of all the listed companies in India stood at Rs 71,69,985 crore.
In rupee terms, the loss in the ongoing about 10-month meltdown stands at about Rs 40 trillion.
Besides, the fall in market valuation, the sharp plunge in rupee against the US currency has also contributed to the sharper fall in the Indian market's dollar valuation.
Early this year, when the market was at its peak, the rupee value stood at about 39.25 to a dollar, but it has now fallen to near 49.32 level.
India does not want refugees from Sri Lanka, says Pranab
India on Thursday said it does not want influx of Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka into its territory, saying it is the responsibility of the island nation to provide food and shelter to civilians displaced because of hostilities there.
"We will not like influx of refugees to Tamil Nadu because of a situation over which we have no control. We are prevailing upon them (Sri Lanka), it is your responsibility to provide food, shelter and medicine to your displaced people," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in the Rajya Sabha.
He was replying to clarifications sought on his suo motu statement made in the House yesterday on the situation in Sri Lanka.
When senior Indian officials visited Sri Lanka recently, they told their counterparts that New Delhi would like to have an overall assessment before meeting their requirements. This was because "we would not like international players in our backyard", Mukherjee said.
He was specifically responding to the concerns of Leader of the Opposition Jaswant Singh over China, Sri Lanka and Pakistan forging strategic relations in the region.
Mukherjee said Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was sending his Senior Political Adviser Basil Rajapaksa to India "by the weekend" and there will be some discussion.
"We will provide whatever assistance they require for rehabilitation, relief and succour to the displaced persons," he said.
He maintained that the ultimate solution could be achieved through implementation of the recommendations of the high-powered committee, devolution of power and giving autonomy in certain areas.
On the killing of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, over which several members from Tamil Nadu expressed serious concern, he said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already taken up the issue with the Sri Lankan leaders.
"There is no justification for Sri Lanka Navy shooting Indian fishermen. You can arrest them as it often happens in Pakistan. But there is no reason why the Sri Lankan Navy will fire upon our fishermen," Mukherjee said.
He said they have agreed to work out a mechanism for a practical solution to resolve the issue and added that some arrangements were being worked out to ensure that the fishermen are adequately warned.
CPI(M) protest against Malabar Exercises tomorrow
The CPI(M) will organise protests along the west coast on Friday against the Indo-US naval exercises.
The party is holding protest rallies in 15 centres along the coast in four states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala against 'Malabar Exercises' which involve US naval ships led by Reagan.
In Kerala, there will ten rallies in nine coastal districts, including Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.
The rally in Karnataka is scheduled at Mangalore while in Goa, it will be held in Vasco da Gama.
In Maharasthra, there will be protest rallies at Thalasseri (Thane district), Uran (Raigad) and Mumbai.
Senior CPI(M) leaders V S Achutanandan, S Ramachandran Pillai, Brinda Karat, K Varadarajan and Pinarayi Vijayan will be addressing some of these rallies, a party release said.
Centre practising double standards: CPI(M)
In wake of reports that some Hindu groups were allegedly involved in the Malegaon and Modasa blasts, the CPI(M) pn Thursday charged the central government with practising double standards in taking action against different extremist groups.
"I believe that there are double standards. After all this if you do not take action against Bajrang Dal and other Hindu outfits against whom similar charges have surfaced in other places like Nanded as well, the message you send is that of practising double standards," CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat told reporters outside the parliament.
The Central government should take uniform action on all and the message should go that nobody will be spared irrespective of his community affiliations. The campaign that terrorists belong to only one community is atrocious and the attempt to targe Muslims only is strongly condemnable, she added.
Karat made a forceful demand for banning Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagran Manch. "These organizations should be banned the their names have figured in the report of the Anti Terror Squad (ATS) for the attacks," she said.
Congress MP and Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal, however, chose to be guarded in his comments despite the fact that Congress MP Rashid Alvi earlier demanded banning ABVP.
"Violence should not be equated with any community. Those who carried out violence at Malegaon or Modasa are criminals and action should be taken against them under Indian Penal Code (IPC)," Sibal said.
Congress member Rashid Alvi earlier said, "The report says that ABVP, the student wing of BJP is behind the attacks. A student wing of any political party was never before found involved in such attacks. This is a very serious issue."
"What will happen to the country if student wing of a national political party, which ruled the country for six years does this," Rashid argued.
US economy to remain in downturn till 1st half of 09: IMF
Presenting a grim outlook of US, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said it expects the world's largest economy to remain in downturn till the first half of 2009.
"... notwithstanding accommodative monetary, financial and fiscal policy - the IMF staff expects the US economy to enter a downturn in the second half of 2008 and first half of 2009," the IMF said.
In its report on the Regional Economic Outlook 'Western Hemisphere, Grappling with the Global Financial Crisis', the multi-lateral lending agency asserted that prospects for the American economy are weak.
According to the report which makes use of data as recent as October, the economic recovery would begin in the H2 of 2009 and would be more gradual than previous recoveries, due to the exceptional nature of the asset price adjustments taking place.
Moreover, the IMF pointed out that overall growth in the advanced economies as a whole would be close to "zero at least until the middle of 2009."
IMF noted that although the emerging markets are slowing, Asia's leading economies - India and China - are still expected to be the largest contributor to global growth.
"Levels of uncertainty and volatility are very high, presenting policymakers with a challenging environment to navigate," it said.
Even though inflation should ease in many emerging countries, the IMF said it expects elevated price pressures to remain in number of these nations.
RBI survey projects 7.7 pc GDP growth; policy to focus on prices
The Reserve Bank on Thursday pegged the country's economic growth at 7.7 per cent for this fiscal and said the monetary policy would continue to focus on price control and stability in financial markets.
The policy stance would also be conducive to continuation of growth momentum, RBI said in its mid-term review of Macro-economic and Monetary Developments released here.
The medium forecast (according to a survey conducted in September by professionals authorised by RBI) of GDP growth for 2008-09 was 7.7 per cent against 7.9 per cent in the earlier survey done in June, the report said.
Global commodity and crude oil prices along with food have eased somewhat during second quarter of the fiscal but they still remain at elevated levels, it said.
Metal prices too have eased during this period, reflecting weak construction demand in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and some improvement in supply, especially in China, RBI said.
On food prices, the report said that they too have declined during the period under review on the back of improved supply prospects, particularly for oilseeds and grains in major producing countries.
However on a year-on-year basis, prices of several food items are still high, the apex bank said.
International sugar prices, which had declined somewhat during the first of this fiscal, have increased thereafter by about 12 per cent during the June-September 2008 period.
Cotton production too was expected to fall by about 11 per cent and its prices are expected to rise by about 8 per cent in FY 09, the report said.
Cops probing Hindu group's role in Malegaon, Modasa blasts
In a new twist to the blast at Malegaon in Maharashtra and Modasa in Gujarat during Ramzan on September 29, Maharashtra police on Thursday sa
id it was investigating the alleged involvement of a Hindu right wing group in the blasts.
"All aspects of the matter are being investigated and we cannot say presently if a particular organisation is behind it," a senior Maharashtra police official said to a question if an Indore-based Hindu group was involved in the blasts.
Media reports on Thursday said suspects from a Indore-based Hindu extremist group known to have links to the BJP student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad had been taken in for questioning by the Maharashtra police.
"We are investigating the matter currently and will share the details of investigations at the appropriate time," an ATS official said, without giving further details.
Home minister R R Patil and DGP A N Roy declined to comment on the issue.
Five persons were killed in the Malegaon blast while one was killed in Modasa. In both the cases, bombs were placed on motorcycles parked in crowded area to cause maximum human casualty.
Reports said investigators had tracked down the right wing group while investigating origins of the motorcycle used in the Malegaon blast. However, officials refused to confirm this.
Aries Agro to start two units by December
Nutrition solutions major Aries Agro will start production at its upcoming manufacturing units in Lucknow and Panvel within two months, a top official said in Kolkata on Thursday.
"Operations at our Lucknow plant would start next month while Panvel unit would be commissioned in December," Aries Agro executive director Rahul Mirchandani said on the sidelines of a conference.
Once the Panvel plant in Maharashtra is commissioned, Aries Agro's annual capacity will touch 100,800 million tonnes from the present 73,800 million tonnes, he said.
Aries Agro inaugurated its sixth manufacturing unit at Ahmedabad in August, which produces bio-fertilisers.
Talking about the company's global ventures, he said: "Following the acquisition of Mapco, we are now planning to enter geographies like Eqypt, Syria and the Middle East, markets which use advanced agricultural technologies that fit perfectly with our product profile."
Aries Agro has recently acquired 75 percent stake in Golden Harvest Middle East, creating Aries' first manufacturing base abroad for micronutrients.
Through Golden Harvest, Aries Agro owned 25 percent stake in the UAE-based Mapco Fertilisers that makes water-soluble NPK (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) fertilisers.
Bihar simmers as anti-MNS students take to streets
Violence continued unabated in Bihar on Thursday with agitated students indulging in arson and vandalism at several places as Biharsharif obse
rved a complete bandh against the killing of an examinee in the brutal attack allegedly by MNS activists. ( Watch )
Scores of violent protestors ransacked the railway station at Motihari, headquarter of East Champaran district, smashing glass doors and panes of reservation and ticket counters before setting a police jeep ablaze, Superintendent of Police N H Khan said.
Khan said the protestors, who resorted to violence two days ago, also damaged kiosks and eateries on the platform and badly damaged a fire tender, following which the police baton charged and chased them away.
"The situation is completely under control with the arrival of CRPF reinforcements to assist the district police in controlling the situation," he said.
Biharsharif, headquarter of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's home district Nalanda, observed a complete shutdown to protest the killing of Pavan Kumar, who was brutally assaulted by MNS activists.
The government has already announced a compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh to the family of Pavan, a resident of Bara-khurd under Noorsarai police station.
Protestors clashed with the police at several places in the town leading to "mild" baton charge in which a few agitators received minor bruises, Superintendent of Police Vineet Vinayak said.
Vaiko held for making 'highly inflammatory speeches'
MDMK Chief Vaiko was on Thursday arrested on the charge of making "highly inflammatory speeches supporting the LTTE", police said.
This is the second time that Vaiko was arrested for supporting the banned outfit. He was arrested under POTA by the previous AIADMK government for speaking in support of LTTE.
Vaiko had at a public meeting here on Tuesday said a separate Tamil Eelam under the leadership of LTTE chief Prabhakaran would come into existence soon in Sri Lanka. "LTTE and Sri Lankan Tamils could not be separated. Though we are against any violence, we should differentiate between violence and right", he said.
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had assured me no military aid would be supplied to Sri Lanka, had gone back on his word," he alleged.
Vaiko said "if the need arises, I will be the first man to take up arms in support of Sri Lankan Tamils. I will gather youths all over the country for this purpose".
The MDMK presidium chairman, M Kannappan, had told the meeting that time would come to demand for a separate Tamil Nadu. In that meeting, a two-hour film on Sri Lankan army's alleged atrocities against Tamils was screened.
In a statement on wednesday, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa had demanded that all LTTE supporters be booked.
The Tamil Nadu government's decision to arrest Vaiko was to make it clear that the ruling DMK's support was only for the suffering Sri Lankan Tamils and not for LTTE.
Vaiko, now an ally of Jayalalithaa, was detained under POTA by her government in 2004 on his arrival from the United States after he had made a pro-LTTE speech at a public meeting in Tirumangalam in Madurai.
PM to play key role as Asia Europe meet seek to counter US influence in world
23 Oct 2008, 1210 hrs IST, Saibal Dasgupta, TNN
BEIJING: The Seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM 7) beginning here on Friday is expected to call for stiff regulatory measures to save the world from t
he ill-effects of happenings in the Wall Street. The world financial crisis has become the main focus of discussing eclipsing the other topics in the agenda of the meeting.
The meeting presents a major opportunity for India, which recently became a member of the ASEM, to play a key role in the formulation of policies aimed at alleviating the world economy from the financial crisis. European Union nations are particularly keen to obtain the join hands with Asian giants, India and China, in setting up policy barriers to protect the two continents from happenings in the US financial markets.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is attending the meeting, will also use the opportunity to hold separate meetings with leaders from eight nations in Europe and Asia including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. He is also expected to meet Chinese premier Wen Jiabao to address the political bottlenecks affecting growth of trade and investment between the two countries.
"There is need for more effective supervision of financial flows across the world," Liu Jieyl, China's assistant minister for foreign affairs said in an interview with the official television this evening. "ASEM can make a great contribution for joint and concentrated efforts to overcome the financial crisis," he said.
The meeting will discuss and possibly adopt a resolution on how countries of Europe and Asia can work together to counter the financial crisis. Though it is not expected to specifically criticize the United States, the resolution will signal a determination by Asia and Europe to lessen its influence on their respective markets, sources said.
ASEM will also come out with a "Beijing declaration" detailing specific measures on sustainable development and environment. This will be a significant move because there are sharp differences on issues like emission standards between western nations and Asian nations like China and India.
Liu said Asian and European nations are in favour of giving primacy to multilateralism in world affairs and enhancing the role of the United Nations. China has been using the idea of multilateralism to spread its idea that the world should reduce its dependence on the US in both political and economic affairs.
Lessening the dependence on the US is also of crucial importance to India, which is in the process of discussing a possible free trade agreement with the European Union. The ASEM secretariat is also working on theme papers for FTA between EU and Asian nations like India, South Korea and ASEAN.
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, who will chair most of the ASEM sessions, is also expected to separately meet world leaders including the Indian prime minister separately. Singh is expected to discuss ways to further boost the growing trade relationship between India and China without letting political and border issues coming in the way.
PM to hold talks with Hu Jiantao, Gilani at ASEM summit
23 Oct 2008, 1950 hrs IST, Saibal Dasgupta, TNN
BEIJING: For India, the importance of the seventh Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM7) beginning on Friday goes beyond participating in global issues like the
financial crisis. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to separately meet Chinese President Hu Jiantao and efforts are afoot for a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Chinese foreign minister spokesman Liu Jianchao on Thursday indicated that China expects to work closely with India to get ASEM7 to approve policies aimed at protecting Asia and Europe from the financial crisis. China wants to ensure that developed countries "shoulder more responsibility" in the worldwide efforts to overcome the financial crisis, Liu said.
Hu's decision to meet Singh instead of leaving the task to premier Wen Jiabao at a time when heads of 45 nations will be in Beijing is a special gesture indicating the importance China attaches to India. The two leaders will exchange views on regional and international issues, Chinese foreign minister spokesman Liu Jianchao said on Thursday.
Singh will also meet Italian Prime Minister Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar tomorrow before his meeting with Hu at the Great Hall of the People on Saturday. The time and venue of the proposed meeting with Gilani was still being worked out, sources said.
A meeting between Singh and Gilani in Beijing has a significance of its own as China is a factor in the bilateral relationship between New Delhi and Islamabad. China's approach to India is usually influenced by worries that Pakistan might be unhappy at any significant gestures towards New Delhi.
"We welcome the Indian prime minister to Beijing. Chinese leaders will use this opportunity to discuss a wide range of regional and international issues with him and also enhance the mutual understanding between the two countries," Liu said soon after Singh landed in Beijing late evening on Thursday.
Also on the sidelines of the ASEM meeting are efforts by ASEAN+3 nations to create a foreign reserves fund that will help member countries tide over any future financial crisis. The proposal made under the Chanmai Initiative after the 1997 Asian financial crisis is being discussed among ASEAN leaders arriving in Beijing.
The ASEM will also discuss issues relating to climate change and energy, disaster relief measures, Millennium Goals of the United Nations and need for dialogue among civilisations besides the current financial crisis.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/PM_to_hold_talks_with_Hu_Gilani_/articleshow/3633880.cms
India secularism and genocide of Muslims
A. Z. Hilali
Secularism is a social ideology in which religion and supernatural beliefs are not essential features or the key to understanding about the world. The term 'secular' denotes the threefold relationship among man, state and religion. It can be involved in the promotion of science, reason, and naturalistic thinking, and segregated the matters of governance and reasoning. In this regard, secularism emphasizes that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from religious beliefs. Moreover, it can also assert the right to be free from religious rule and freedom from the imposition of religion upon the people and there will be no state privileges or subsidies to religions. It is believed that human activities and decisions, especially political ones, should be based on evidence and fact rather than religious influence. In the contemporary time, secularism is a movement toward modernization and has no emotional relations with traditional religious values. In the Western countries, state secularism has served to a greater extent to protect religion from governmental interference, while secularism on a social level is less prevalent. Moreover, religious considerations will be ignored or excluded from social and political matters. Secularism is also asserting that moral judgments will be made without reference to religious doctrine, as reward or punishment in an afterlife. In general, secular state is committed to protect all religions equally and does not uphold any religion as the state religion. In this regard, the state observes an attitude of neutrality and impartiality towards all religions. It is assumed that the secular state will respond to each of the demands of equality, liberty and neutrality on the basis of morality and education and state guarantees individual as a citizen irrespective of his religion to promote delicate balance between 'essential interference and impartial interference' on the part of the state. In India the word "secular" was inducted in the constitution after the controversial 42nd amendment and it was initiated by Indira Gandhi in 1976 and recommended by the committee under the chairmanship of Sardar Swaran Singh (former Foreign Minister) to come closer to the Western world. It has been declared that India does not have an official state religion. Every person has the right to preach, practice and propagate any religion they choose. According to Article 25 all those who reside in India are free to confess, practise and propagate religion of one's choice subject of course to social health and law and order. Thus even conversion to any religion of ones choice is a fundamental right. However, secularism in India has very different meaning and implications as it is used in Western countries as a belief of morality, equality and respect to all. While, India is a country where religion is very central to the life of people and majority of people are practising Hindus and caste rigidity and concept of untouchability evolved and still plays a major role in religious, social and cultural matters. However, the tradition of tolerance has been introduced by Sufi traditions in Islam which are based on respect for all religions. So, the poorer and lower caste Hindus were greatly influenced by these traditions and conversions to Islam took place through Sufis with a spirit of devotion and truth. The differences between Hindus and Muslims began to emerge due to socio-cultural, economic and political reasons and this situation has changed the entire scenario of the subcontinent. In the circumstance, India head towards Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation) because it is merely a Hindu majority country and the existence of Muslim, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains declared unacceptable by the RSS (Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Shiv Sena (the fascist front), the Hindu Mahasabha and the Jan Sangh, which are communal in nature and denounce secularism as western concept alien to the Indian ethos. In this regard, the dalits (low caste people) refused to call themselves as Hindus and subsequently its leader B. R. Ambedkar adopted Buddhism in protest. It is also true that the Hindu elites exploited secularism in India as a political instrument than philosophical phenomenon. Even the Indian National Congress adopted secularism, not as worldly philosophy but more as a political arrangement between different religious communities. In the pre-partition period the British India's power-sharing arrangement was not acceptable to the Hindus and ultimately the country was divided into two independent states of India and Pakistan. After the partition (1947) the founding fathers of India has shown commitment with secularism against the wishes of majority of Hindu population who are deeply religious. Although the Congress leaders declared that there will be no discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, colour and religion. However, RSS and other extremist parties opposed constitutional arrangement and according to them there should be Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation) in India and Muslims, Christians and Sikhs should be secondary citizens without any political right. So, the right wing parties have anti-minority stance and accuses the Congress, supposedly a secular party, of 'appeasement' of minorities. It also describes that Congress and other secular parties as indulging in 'pseudo-secularism'. Moreover, RSS and Jan Singh also known as the Sangh Parivar, not only reject secularism but provoke violence against minorities. It is also a reality that since independence more than 2,000 communal riots have taken pace in India in which unaccountable Muslims have been brutally killed. In the recent beastly and barbaric incident on October 12, 2008, Hindu extremists' burnt Muslim family in Southern India by setting fire to their home and killed six members of the family, including three children alongwith two-year-old kids and left four others dead and 15 injured in Vatoli village of Andhra Pradesh. Moreover, in the recent past one of the major riots took place in Gujarat in Western India in 2002 in which more than 3,000 Muslims were killed and several women raped which exposed the brutal face of Indian secularism. According to the Milli Gazette (Muslim newspaper), Chief Minister of BJP party Mr. Narendra Modi was involved along with the entire governmental machinery in the Gujarat carnage and on this basis the US Government denied him visa in early 2005. Moreover, Hindu extremist parties and the BJP was directly involved in high pitch propaganda against the historic mosque of "Babri Mosque" and ultimately extremists destroyed the historic 430-year-old Babri mosque in Ayodhya in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh promptly to build a shrine dedicated to be a birth -place of Lord Ram (Hindu God). There is no doubt India has witnessed hundreds communal clashes with direct or indirect involvement of RSS and the Congress in most of occasions. It is also a reality that since independence (1947), the Muslims have been completely sidelined from the national mainstream through a planned conspiracy and most of the time they were exploited by the Congress as compared to other parties. Congress successfully exploited the Muslim vote bank, blackmailed under the banner of secularism and demoralized Muslim community in its stranglehold. The prime objective was to ensure that Muslims could not demand 'rights or reservations' which helped the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Castes (OBCs) to get their share in education and employment. Moreover, anti-Muslim violence erupted in north Assam in early October 2008 between militant Bodo tribals and Muslims in which an estimated 150 Muslims have been killed so far, hundreds have been injured, mostly women and children, and around 150,000 Muslims made homeless and living in about 44 Relief Camps in most deplorable and subhuman condition having no adequate ration, medicine and drinking water. The violence is almost totally one sided and almost official as the Bodo militants are attacking innocent Muslims. Worst areas are the districts of Darang, Udalgiri and Gwalpara which are considered communally sensitive areas. About 60 villages have been emptied of their Muslim population as a result of these attacks and several hundred houses and other immovable properties set on fire. Moreover, the hollowness of India's secularists stands also exposed in many events including the Nandigram massacres in Communist ruled West Bengal where majority of the people killed and wounded were Muslims as reported in the Indian media and thousands had to flee from the area under attack from Communist Parties cadres with the official machinery paralysed from intervening as the ruling party cadres were involved. The Congress and the other political parties professing 'political secularism' and who do not waste a moment to vent their spleen on the Godhra incidents in Gujarat were noticeably silent on the Nandigram massacres. In general, there is no difference of the Nandigram Muslims and the Gujarat Muslims but the only difference is that who was ruling West Bengal and who was ruling Gujarat. Thus, it is a fundamental fact that India is a so-called diversity where approximately 140 million Muslims comprise the country's largest minority, representing 18 percent of the country's total population of 1 billion. The majority of Muslims are concentrated in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Kerala. The only Muslim majority state is Jammu and Kashmir where innocent people are the victim of state terrorism. The Hindu nationalists argued that they are not sectarian but wants Muslims to put India before Islam and physically adjust with the Hindu majority. Moreover, despite a constitutional guarantee for equality for all citizens, discrimination is widespread against Muslims, partly because the government has traditionally been dominated by upper caste Hindus and Muslims have not been given their constitutional rights and occupy only about 3 percent of government and public sector. According to Ashish Nandy (the Center for the Study of Developing Societies), had written in The Toronto Star, on June 11, 1990 and argued that Hindu nationalism itself, a phenomenon found chiefly within the urban middle class, not among rural masses, who make up more than 70 percent of India's voters. Nandy says Hindu nationalists fear not only Muslims but all minorities in their midst, and consequently feel they must achieve a control similar to that once exercised by India's colonial master, the British, in order to feel secure in their own country. He states that Hindu extremists are a part of the majority and they have developed a minority complex. Washington Post (October 21, 2004), has also written about the misery of Indian Muslims and explains that Muslims are reported as receiving only 2 percent of industrial licences and 3.7 percent of available financial assistance. In the police and paramilitary forces, Muslims represent less than 3 percent of the total force; they head none of the 146 top business houses; and comprise only 28 of the 541 Lok Sabha representatives. Moreover, Muslims difficulties in the field of economic and social sector have been exacerbated by the rise of Hindu fundamentalism during the past few decades. Thus, the rise of Hindu fundamentalism is also viewed by some analysts as a reaction to the growth of Muslims and the spread of the Islamic faith in India have combined with the perceived pandering of Indian politicians to Muslim voters which added fuel to Hindu nationalist fires. In fact, the Muslim identity in India has become sharper and more distinct as anti-Muslim riots have become more deadly with genocide as the objective. The heightened tension with Muslims cannot be sustained without in fact creating more dispersion in their own caste order. In this regard, the Hindu masses and other fanatic parties under the influence of RSS ideology always involved along with anti-Muslim elements. It is also true that on certain major issues such as birth place of Ram and "Babri Mosque" the mainstream parties and extremist organizations have the same view and actively working to spreading communal poison in the domestic politics to gain the sympathies of majority Hindu population. It is an axiomatic truth that India is a "Hindu State" and majority masses are extremely orthodox who exhibit rigidity and intolerance towards Muslims and other faiths including Christians on the grounds of religious orthodoxy. India never ever a pluralist country for centuries and no one can convert the country into secular pattern and only it can be sustained as a Hindu country not by with religiously neutral polity. So, radical Hindu extremism is a dominant factor in the mainstream Indian politics and all extremist or nationalist parties has dream to convert India into a Hindu state. The Hindus are profoundly religious and religiosity has become more active and aggressive with the injection of extremism. In this context, tolerance in Hindu masses is very occasional and widely prevalent. It is perhaps due to influence of ancient Indian doctrine that truth is one but is manifested in different forms and have no concept of peaceful coexistence with communities. Nevertheless, since the last 60 years the Muslims of India are under the state of shock and thousands have migrated to other parts of the country by abandoning their ancestral homes. Hindu extremists remains unchecked and have become much more aggressive. In the same way, it is the normal fashion by the extremists to create reasons and start looting, raping women, killing men, women and children and destroying their homes and property on the pretext of revenge. So, the real spirit of secularism in India is non-existence and it is a political rhetoric. It has proved that India's political life is dominated by identities like religion, caste and ethnicity and merciless massacre of minorities, including Muslims are common in India under the pre-planned game. Finally, the communal violence and discrimination is continuing in India and dominant minorities (Muslims, Christians and Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs) are against highhandedness of the dominant Hindu government and they have exposed the real face of Indian government that no one can be cowed down by brutalities and repressive actions. azahilali@yahoo.co.uk
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ar&nid=489
Pranab throws rulebook at CPM
Saroj Nagi, Hindustan Times
Email Author
New Delhi, October 20, 2008
First Published: 23:18 IST(20/10/2008)
Last Updated: 23:20 IST(20/10/2008)
The CPM’s breach of privilege notice against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appears to have run into trouble in Lok Sabha.
Although Speaker Somnath Chatterjee is yet to give his ruling on an issue which is still under his consideration he told the House, the matter came up at the meeting of party leaders in the presiding officer’s chambers when Lok Sabha was adjourned on Monday morning amid din.
At the meeting, Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee is believed to have ticked off CPM’s Basudeb Acharia saying that a breach of privilege notice against a member has to be given in the House of which he belongs.
Singh, who has been accused by the Left of not abiding by his promise to revert to Parliament before the government signs the nuclear deal, is a member of the Rajya Sabha.
At the CPM’s regular briefing, Sitaram Yechury alleged that the ruling party was taking recourse to technicalities.
He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had given his assurance in Lok Sabha.
The CPM had given breach of privileges notices in both Houses. “We want the Rajya Sabha chairman to give his ruling,” Yechury said, ruling out any discussion on External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s statement on the nuclear deal until this issue is settled.
“Till the matter of privilege notice is settled, we don’t think any discussion is warranted on the nuclear deal which has been signed…We do not want to provide any legitimacy to a government which has not stuck to its own assurance and also gone against the majority view of the House on the deal,” he said.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=&id=194f97de-92b5-4bd9-8118-498b63093835&&Headline=Pranab+throws+rulebook+at+CPM
After moon, it’s mission Mars for Indian scientists
BR Srikanth, Hindustan Times
Email Author
Sriharikota, October 23, 2008
First Published: 00:35 IST(23/10/2008)
Last Updated: 10:17 IST(23/10/2008)
There was no uncorking of champagne, no historic poses for the cameras, no after-launch parties, no grand statements.
Seconds after India’s moon rocket rode a blaze of flame into the dawn sky from Sriharikota spaceport, a gaggle of reserved, mostly south Indian scientists at Mission Control on this Bay of Bengal island pumped fists, briefly hugged each other, flashed a thumbs-up sign to the media, shared a meal and travelled back to their facilities across south India.
Wednesday’s flight of the 316-tonne polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C11) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre was a dream come true for about 1,000 space scientists and technologists.“We met for a mission review and later shared a meal. That’s all,” said Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director K Radhakrishnan. "The Chairman has left for Bangalore, and we are heading back to our places (of work).”
“I am back at work in Bangalore at nine tomorrow morning,” Chandrayaan-I project director Mylaswamy Annadurai told HT.
By dusk, the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft and its mother ship — the workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle — were orbiting the earth, gathering pace to free themselves from earth’s gravity and slingshot themselves to the moon.
Chandrayaan-I is scheduled to reach its orbit 100 km from the Moon (about 3, 86,000 km from earth) on November 8, and drop the Moon Impact Probe, with the Indian tricolour painted, on it a week later.
The launch marked the beginning of new initiatives to study other celestial bodies of the solar system — Mars, asteroids and comets. These efforts would coincide with plans to send an Indian into space by 2015.
Addressing his colleagues, Indian Space Research Organisation chairman Gopalan Madhavan Nair called the launch a “historic moment”.
“We have started our journey to the Moon and the first step has gone off perfectly well," he said. "It’s a remarkable performance by the launch vehicle and every parameter was on the dot.”
India's next target: Mars, the 4th planet from the sun and more than 146 times further from the earth than the moon.
“Mars is the next natural destination," Nair told reporters. "We’ve just started planning for it and are looking for proposals from our scientific community to design instruments for an orbiter to the red planet.”
Nair also spoke about Chandrayaan-II, a Rs 425 crore joint Indo-Russian mission, planned for 2012. “The lander (a clutch of instruments that will land on the Moon) will be designed and made by Russia, while we will design other experiments," he said. "If we have some more space, then we will invite international teams.”
Wednesday’s flight of the 316-tonne polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C11) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre was a dream come true for about 1,000 space scientists and technologists.
The flawless flight was preceded by some anxious moments: Overcast skies, a nagging problem with the rocket fuel as it was loaded on to the rocket during the countdown.
“We lost almost all hope of making a launch on Wednesday morning due to inclement weather," said Nair. "To our luck, the rain gods and the clouds kept away."
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=India&id=09f450bc-6d34-4818-9f47-a22a87e727f5&&Headline=After+moon%2c+it%e2%80%99s+mission+Mars
Deceased Naxalite’s family awaits fulfilment of LF vows
Tarun Goswami
KOLKATA, Oct. 21: The Left Front government started its rule over West Bengal in 1977. Among many other promises that it had made to the public after assuming power, it had also assured that jobs would be given to a member of every family which had any one member killed by police between 1970 and 1977.
But eighty-year-old widow Mrs Bela Dey (photograph right), who lost her elder son ~ Sadhan Chandra Dey ~ in 1971 when police open fired on Naxals, is hopelessly pursuing the state government for a job for her younger son.
A police team raided the house of Sadhan Chandra Dey alias Gupi on Beliaghata Main Road on 15 February 1971 and picked him up. Gupi, an employee of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, was also a close associate of Hena Ganguly, well-known Naxal leader of Beliaghata. Police allegedly took Gupi to a nearby lane, asked the residents to shut doors and windows and then fired at him from a point blank range. He was taken to a hospital in a police jeep where he was pronounced brought dead.
Later, after the Left Front came to power, Mrs Dey, Sadhan’s mother appealed to the then chief minister Mr Jyoti Basu in 1978 for a job for her second son Mr Swapan Dey, as per the Left Front government’s policy. However, for the next 12 years she went to the chief minister’s office in Writers’ Buildings regularly and was told that “the chief minister was considering her appeal with sympathy.”
CPI(M) leaders from Beliaghata, the late KG Bose and Krishnapada Ghosh, along with other leaders held series of meetings in Beliaghata and assured the members of the ill-fated families that the government is committed to keep its promise of giving jobs to one member of their families.
As years passed by the economic conditions of these families deteriorated but nothing was done by the state government.
Mrs Dey wrote letters to the then mayor Mr Prasanta Chaterjee who hails from Beliaghata to look into the matter. Meanwhile, Mr Basu was replaced by Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on 6 November, 2000. Mrs Dey made a fresh appeal to Mr Bhattacharjee seeking his intervention. The chief minter’s office replied to her appeal very promptly and said “necessary action would be taken soon.” Sadhan was declared a martyr by the state government, but Mrs Dey’s second son’s right to a government job, was yet to be awarded . Meanwhile, two police officers came to her house on 16 January 2003 and 6 August 2003 to inquire about her son Mr Swapan Dey. Police visited Mrs Dey's house again on 2 September 2004.
Since then nothing has been done. She came to the KMC office countless times and was told that the authorities were looking into the matter sympathetically.
A senior civic official said the KMC law does not permit her second son to get the job. Meanwhile, the family is facing acute financial crisis. Mrs Dey said two of her sons are unemployed and she is unable to marry off her daughters. The family is virtually having to beg for survival.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=23&theme=&usrsess=1&id=228139
Haldia dock closure poses threat for corporates
Biswabrata Goswami
HALDIA, Oct. 21: A threat of imminent closure of the Haldia dock due to excessive silting in the river, particularly near Auckland for the past one year or so may endanger operations of several large corporations’ and the proposed chemical hub at Nayachar.
Units of large companies like Haldia Petrochemicals, Mitsubishi, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation, various refineries of different companies, Tata Chemicals, TISCO, four plants of SAIL, different power plants situated in different parts of eastern India, industries in Durgapur, the projected steel plant by Jindal at Salboni and different mines in eastern India will face severe consequences if the riverine port becomes unfit for navigation.
The industrial town of Haldia which has so far attracted an investment of Rs 1.5 lakh crore and the port's hinterland covering eastern, north-eastern India and Nepal will also be affected.
The proposed chemical hub on Nayachar Island, a place selected after protests in Nandigram, and a pet project of West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will also fail to take off if ships and tankers can't enter Haldia port due to silt deposition in the river.
Mr R K Burman, secretary of the Haldia Dock Officers’ Forum, said: “Ships are already being diverted to Paradip and other ports on the eastern coast. Tata Steel which has leased the berth number 12 at Haldia Dock Complex does not use it for export, instead the cargo is sent through the Mumbai port.”
He said that big companies which fully depend on Haldia port for import and export include IOC for Haldia and Baruni refineries, HPL, Mitsubishi PTA, Tata Chemicals, Hoogly Met Coke, Adani Wilmar and South Asia Petrochem. Tata Steel, SAIL and iron ore exporters from Orissa reportedly save nearly Rs 650 crore for using Haldia port.
Mr Laxman Seth, a CPI-M MP and Haldia strongman who recently convened a meeting with the authorities of the Kolkata Port expressed his anxiety and said: “A large number of Haldia-based industrial units, both in private and public sectors, with a cumulative investment of nearly Rs 1,50,000 crore are dependent on the dock and the present crisis would push them into an uncertain future; worse, it would inhibit the prospects of future investments.
The entire eastern region being the hinterland of the Haldia dock, any disruption at the dock, it is feared, would cripple the economy of the region and entail loss of earnings for a large number of people dependent, directly and indirectly, on the dock for their livelihood”.
Concerned about the gravity of the situation, the Deputy Chairman of Kolkata Port Trust in-charge of the Haldia Dock, Mr Rajeev Dube, had called a meeting of the users of the dock, mostly Haldia-based industries, and explained to them that if the Union minister of shipping Mr T R Baalu wakes up to divert the required dredgers from Sethu Samudram ship canal project to Haldia immediately, the problem would be resolved.
“Things are becoming worse since dredging has been stalled. Massive silt deposition is a major problem and if this trend continues for two more months, Haldia port would not be able to operate. The Centre needs to take drastic action and speed up the dredging work. Otherwise, the port can’t be saved,” a Haldia dock official said.
“We will file Public Interest Litigations against the authorities of the Kolkata port and the ministry of shipping asking to prevent the imminent closure of the docks, after waiting seven more days to see what steps the shipping authorities are taking for it”, Mr Burman said.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=23&theme=&usrsess=1&id=228133
Investors urged to unite with govt
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA Oct 21: The state housing minister, Mr Goutam Deb, today urged private investors to join hands with the government under the public private partnership model (PPP) to set up housing complexes. He was speaking at a curtain raiser programme organised by the International Association for Housing Science this evening.
Emphasising on the need to construct more low cost and eco friendly houses in the city Mr Deb said: "There is a need for the private partners to construct more low cost houses within the city to accommodate middle class people".
More than 20,000 low cost flats have been constructed at Rajarhat and the state housing department along with their private partner had already begun the construction work.
The West Bengal housing department has already established a land procurement committee comprising of members from all the political parties at Rajarhat to fix the price, which should be given to the farmers who are willing to sell their lands.
Stressing on the need to construct more such low cost flats in rural areas, Mr Deb said: "We are urging more private partners to construct low cost houses in rural areas too so that people do not have to come to the city in search of low cost housing."
A technical expertise team from the department of architecture and regional planning of IIT Kharagpur has been constituted to look after the planning and construction of such flats.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=22&theme=&usrsess=1&id=228129
Modi shines, Buddha lackluster as Nano moves away
From the land of the Left to the land of the Right, Tatas have shown the world the difference BJP could make in India's march to modernity. That Ratan Tata chose Gujarat for Nano plant speaks volumes for the chief minister Narendra Modi..
CJ: B D Narayankar , 8 hours ago Views:142 Comments:0
WHEN TATAS decided to set up Nano car manufacturing plant in West Bengal’s Singur - that itself was an adventurous foray into a state that had been dominated by the Marxists, who are not known for entrepreneurship.
From being the number one industrial state in the country to becoming an abyss of poverty, illiteracy, backwardness and industrial graveyard, the contribution of Marxists in this direction is immense. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the West Bengal chief minister, tried everything to change this image. Manna fell from the heavens - Ratan Tata decided to go to Singur to set up Nano plant there. This raised Buddha’s stocks and in fact played a stellar role in making him win the last assembly election.
However, his aura of being a dream merchant was shattered no sooner than later in the political struggle between Mamata Banerjee and the Marxists. In this battle, Ratan Tata lost a whooping Rs 1,500 crore since setting up the Nano plant at Singur.
This fiasco over Nano once again proved that the Marxists and Mamata Banerjee are least bothered about their state’s development. When all sensible state governments in the country have welcomed the project in their states for its cheap economics, both party leaderships indulged in mudslinging politics with an eye to grab seats in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.
In normal circumstances, the setting up and shifting of a car plant does not evoke nationwide attention. But it did.
It was because of the wasted and frustrating experience of the Tatas in West Bengal.
The fact that Ratan Tata had chosen Gujarat to shift Nano plant from West Bengal speaks volumes of chief minister Narendra Modi. There is a lesson to be learnt from Modi. The saffron leader started wooing investors only after he was sure he had done his homework on infrastructure development thoroughly. There are Congress leaders who have been attempting to woo investors without bothering to improve infrastructure in their states.
Modi is a doer. He has the courage, character and commitment to walk his talk. That Ratan Tata told the media that he could have moved in a day if only he could transport the machinery that fast speaks volumes about the excellent administrative capability of Modi.
From the land of the Left to the land of the Right, Tatas have shown the world the difference BJP could make in India’s march to modernity.
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=145396
Tata does ethical u-turn
By Praful Bidwai
NEW DELHI - Tata Motors' decision to shift the production site of its low-cost, iconic Nano car from communist-ruled West Bengal state to Gujarat - scene of the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom - has caused consternation and dismay among liberals and secular-minded people all over India.
The decision was taken personally by Ratan Tata, the company's chairman and one of India's best-known and most well regarded industrialists. Tata Motors hit world headlines in June when it acquired the British luxury automobile manufacturer Jaguar Cars and Land Rover from Ford.
Six years ago, Gujarat was the scene of the worst massacre of a religious minority in India since its independence in 1947, which was allegedly conducted with state complicity and collusion.
Over 2,000 Muslims were burned, stabbed or hacked to death and many more raped in an orgy of violence which spread across several cities in Gujarat. The violence was purportedly carried out in revenge for the deaths of 59 Hindu activists in a fire on a railway coach at Godhra in central Gujarat at the end of February, 2002.
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), justified the butchery as a natural "reaction" to the original action, which he claimed was a planned act of "terrorism" and a Muslim conspiracy. An expert commission appointed by the railways later found the fire was accidental.
Modi's police refused to save the lives of Muslims who begged for help. Some of his ministers and BJP legislators also allegedly participated in the campaign of looting, arson and physical violence against Muslims or directed the killing and incited militant Hindu-chauvinist activists to take part in it.
Modi, who came to be characterized as India's own Slobodan Milosevic - the former Yugoslav president - has been roundly condemned by secular and democratically minded governments, and people all over the world. He has repeatedly been denied a visa by the United States, most recently this year.
Many are dismayed at the Tata Group's move to Gujarat because it is reputed to be an enlightened, liberal-minded, secular and ethical firm, not driven by profit alone.
The main reason cited by the Tata Group for its decision to relocate the Nano factory was a land dispute over 1,000 acres (404 hectare) needed for its plant, which was led by opposition leader Mamata Banerjee. The decision followed a month of violent demonstrations by activists and evicted farmers who complained they were forced to give up their land for a pittance to make room for the factory. (See India's little car on crash course, Asia Times Online, August 30, 2008.)
"But that alone cannot explain the move," said Zakia Jowher, from the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, an organization for Muslim women campaigning against religious-chauvinist politics, which has long been active amongst the victims of the 2002 violence.
"The West Bengal government was extremely keen on the Nano project,''Johwer said. ''Some alternative land acquisition formulas were proposed, which would have marginally raised project costs, but increased the compensation to farmers/sharecroppers. Tata Motors summarily rejected these."
Ratan Tata said Gujarat offered him incentives and concessions that were even better than those given by West Bengal, said Jowher.
The favorable treatment given to the Tata Group by West Bengal's communist-led government attracted criticism from its own supporters and sympathizers, like former finance minister and eminent economist Ashok Mitra.
The car project was offered full exemption from excise duty for 10 years and from income tax for five years, and land at virtually throwaway prices. Mitra estimates that these concessions totaled the equivalent of US$171 million, or roughly half the cost of the project.
Yet, while moving the factory, Ratan Tata eloquently made a distinction between the "Bad M" (Mamata) and the "Good M" (Modi).
The Tata Group has effectively endorsed Narendra Modi's purported image as a dynamic, no-nonsense leader, and validated what the BJP calls the "Gujarat Model" of development. Critics regard the model as growth based on haphazard industrial expansion, at the expense of human rights violations and environmental destruction.
"The Tatas were probably confident that Modi's ruthlessness, repressive labor policies, and despotically imposed 'stability' would ensure the project's smooth implementation,'' Jowher said.
Secular activists like Jowher are upset that Tata has lent legitimacy to Modi's brand of politics. Last year, Ratan Tata had famously told businessmen: "You're stupid if you're not in Gujarat." Now, he has given Modi's "leadership" the stamp of approval.
Social scientist Dilip Simeon, a senior fellow at the prestigious Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, said: "Tata has behaved like any other businessman - looking for low-risk investments and high profits. Within the logic of profit maximization, it is hard to fault him. But the Tatas are meant to be ethical and socially responsible. That's why people are shocked."
The Tata Group's admirers attach a mystical value to the Nano as a great managerial/technological achievement, priced at just 100,000 rupees (about US$2,000) it is destined to become a middle class "dream machine". They believe Tata "can do no wrong".
But this premise involves three propositions: Tata pioneered Indian industrialization by building a textile mill and India's first indigenous steel plant; it has an unblemished labor relations and environmental record; and it offers a model of corporate social responsibility.
Tata has established textile and steel as nationalist enterprises, and it set up other industries. While the group's in-house innovation has stagnated, it has expanded through aggressive acquisitions, like the $13 billion takeover of the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus in 2006.
Ever since he became the Tata chairman, Ratan Tata has tightened his family trust's hold on group companies. Under JRD Tata, holding company Tata Sons owned just 3% of their equity. Now, it holds a controlling share.
But the Tata Group's labor record is far from glorious, according to Simeon, who has documented it in his book, The Politics of Labor under Late Colonialism.
In the 1920s and 1930s, "The Tata Steel management consciously used violence and intimidation to break up trade unions. It also promoted religious-identity based anti-union groups. This eventually disgusted nationalist leaders like Subhash Chandra Bose who had earlier supported the Tatas," said Simeon.
In recent years, many Tata projects have been involved in environmental conflicts in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Orissa.
Ratan Tata has recently lobbied for Dow Chemical being allowed to escape its responsibility for the aftermath of the Bhopal disaster, an industrial incident which claimed as many as 8,000 lives, as the heir of Union Carbide. He wants Dow to be freed of its legal liability to clean up the contaminated plant site, which has poisoned water and affected 25,000 people.
Implicit in the Nano factory's move to Gujarat is an endorsement of Modi's style of governance, and above all, sanctification of his vicious communal politics. The decision will be interpreted as an excuse to forget the reality of the massacre in 2002.
The victims of the carnage continue to be denied justice, live in insecurity, and face all manner of harassment, including trumped-up charges, arbitrary arrest and detention. Tata's endorsement of Modi is in line with a long process of the Indian industrialist class "normalizing" Hindu communalism, and helping erase the memory of the pogrom.
This is happening at a dangerous moment in India's evolution. Hindu-supremacist attacks on religious minorities are rising in the states of Orissa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Muslims are also, according to widespread news reports, being victimized in the name of fighting terrorism.
The Indian state has been criticized for showing little political will to stop this and bring the culprits to book despite India's survival as a pluralist, secular democracy hinging on this.
(Inter Press Service)
MPs demand ban on Hindu groups over blasts
Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:56pm IST Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-] Text [+]
1 of 1Full SizeNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Parliament witnessed noisy scenes on Thursday after a group of lawmakers demanded a ban on a Hindu group suspected of involvement in two bomb blasts last month, officials said.
Members of the left parties demanded an immediate ban on Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagran Manch, following a report in a newspaper that Jagran Manch was involved in two blasts in western India.
Confirmation of Hindu groups being involved in attacks would undermine a widespread perception in India that Muslim militants have always been behind a wave of bombings in India in recent years in which hundreds have died.
The Indian Express newspaper, quoting sources in the police, said two bombings, one in the town of Malegaon and the other in Gujarat, were carried out by Jagaran Manch.
Five people were killed in the blasts that hit the two Muslim-dominated towns within minutes of each other on Sept. 29.
"Terrorists, regardless of their caste, should get equal punishment, but unfortunately in India the effort is to identify terrorists with the Muslim community," Brinda Karat, who demanded a ban on the group in parliament, told Reuters.
She said Bajrang Dal, another hardline Hindu group, should also be banned.
"Criminalising the entire community and targeting Muslim youths gravely weakens the nation's unity."
Muslim leaders accused authorities of conducting a witch hunt and reinforcing stereotypes about their community after dozens of Muslims were detained following a string of bomb attacks across the country this year.
Migrant violence unabated in Bihar
Thu Oct 23, 2008 3:45pm IST Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-] Text [+] PATNA (Reuters) - Protesters in Bihar torched trains and ransacked stations for a fourth day on Thursday in retaliation for attacks on migrants in western India, ignoring an appeal for calm by the chief minister.
Police arrested more than 20 men across the state and authorities cancelled about 25 trains from state capital Patna.
"The situation is very tense ... we are virtually coming to a standstill," senior railway officer Kundan Chaudhary said.
"Thousands of passengers are stranded at various railway stations," he said, adding that the situation was made worse by the large number of people returning to the state to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali next week with their families.
The migration of thousands of workers from impoverished northern and eastern states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar into India's booming financial capital Mumbai has sparked a violent backlash, with local resentment fuelled by ambitious politicians.
That in turn has provoked tit-for-tat violence in northern and eastern India, a sign of the strains that inequality is placing on society as the economy booms.
On Wednesday in Mumbai, Raj Thackeray, head of the small but vocal Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), whose arrest had sparked protests in Maharashtra and a backlash on migrants across the country, was given bail after spending a night in jail.
Thackeray was arrested on Tuesday for rioting and provoking attacks on migrants.
About 50 people have been injured in clashes with the police in Bihar so far, and a 10-year old boy was killed on Wednesday by a stray bullet after police opened fire in Rohtas district.
CPM savagery in Kannur
RSS worker killed again
After a brief recess, continuing its murderous orgy against RSS in Thalassery, Kannur, CPM hit-squads bombed to death RSS brave heart Anoop (21) on the night of October 10.
Thirty-forty CPM goons, led by CPM/DYFI leaders Biju and Manoj, started attacking houses of swayamsevaks and sympathisers at Komathpara near Thalassery, Kannur on the night of October 10. Four houses of RSS cadres were attacked and destroyed. Household articles including TV etc. were looted. Even women in the houses were not spared. Two women are in hospital in serious condition. The house of Karyavah Babu was attacked with bombs. Anoop and Rijesh (29), both carpenters, who were there, tried to run away. The CPM goons threw bombs on them. The left eye and right hand of Anoop got severed away and his whole body was in tatters with blood gushing out. He died on the spot. Rijesh is in Kozhikode Medical College hospital in serious condition. As police rushed to the spot, the CPM butchers ran away.
Thousands of Sangh swayamsevaks and sympathisers including RSS Sah-Prant Pracharak J. Nandakumar and P.K. Krishnadas, the BJP state president, received the body of Anoop after postmortem. After keeping it for public homage at BJP office, Thalassery, it was taken in a big motorcade of vehicles to his house in Komathpara for cremation.
J. Nanda-kumar charged the CPM of blatantly violating the decision of the all-party meet chaired by Chief Minister Atchudanandan and held in Kannur two months back in the wake of CPM-RSS clashes in which eight people lost their lives. He said the CPM was attacking RSS to divert attention from the out of control group war going on in the CPM between the factions of V.S. Atchudanandan, Pinarayi Vijayan and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. Nandakumar said the RSS was observing maximum restraint but will hit back, if CPM continues with its attacks.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=260&page=11
Goons terrorize Tiljala locality
23 Oct 2008, 0208 hrs IST, Prithvijit Mitra & Krishnendu Bandopadhyay, TNN
KOLKATA: An uneasy calm prevails at the C N Roy Road Government Housing Estate at Tiljala. Things seem to be deceptively in order even as tension si
mmers inside. More than 1500 residents have been living in terror ever since a group of ruffians started terrorizing them. The goons have forcibly taken over parking space within the campus and chopped trees to clear space for cars.
Residents say they are not even allowed to interact freely within the campus, let alone protest the illegal parking or tree chopping. They are even scared to seek the police's help. The goons have threatened residents with dire consequences if they dared to lodge a complaint at the local Tiljala police station.
The result: a locality within the city is under siege.
There was no hint of trouble in the area until about two months back when a group of local youths barged into the campus and started parking several cars. Before the residents knew what was happening, the campus had turned into an illegal parking zone, with the goons collecting money from drivers.
Residents were furious but they before they could organize a protest, the goons started flexing their muscles, allegedly with the help of a local, who runs a car rental service. Within a fortnight, they started trimming trees so that cars were not dirtied by bird droppings.
"When we pointed out that it was illegal to park outsiders' cars within the campus, they threatened us. Soon, they were chopping trees and even selling off the wood right under our nose. It is clear that they are well-connected and do not fear the police," said Tamal De, a resident. A group of locals tried to lodge a complaint with the forest department but were turned away. They were told that the department will not be able to help them for it was "essentially a law and order problem". "The forest department was our last hope. Now, we have none to help us," said De.
More than a dozen cars have taken over the parking space at the housing estate. It was alleged that the owners paid money to the local youth for parking. "We have come to know that they pay between Rs 200-400 for the parking space. The trees were chopped to clear space for more cars and to ensure that leaves and bird dropping did not dirty them," said a resident.
A mahogany tree was hacked last month while more than a dozen others have been chopped. Local resident Ajay Choudhuri, who owns a restaurant near the housing estate, has been accused of triggering the chopping spree. Some residents have also alleged that he let out parking space near his flat within the complex. Choudhuri, however, denied the charge. "Some trees have been trimmed as the branches were obstructing the building entrances. But I have not let out parking space. In fact, not a single outsider's car is parked in our campus," Choudhuri said.
A senior resident, who has been living on the campus for 40 years, differed. A small park near his flat has been converted into a car park, he said, and several trees along the park were brutally hacked. "We have been forced to remain mute spectators. If we go to the police, we could be roughed up. We are scared," said the 70-year-old.
Trinamool Congress MLA Javed Khan blames the CPM. "These youth have the backing of the CPM. They are using the complex to earn some easy money. I will take up the matter," said Khan.
Police say they cannot act unless the residents lodge a complaint. "If they do, we will definitely probe the matter. They cannot hack trees without permission from Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the forest department," said a senior police officer of South 24-Parganas.
But residents are not willing to take the risk. Two weeks back, the goons threatened a youth when he protested against trees being cut. "They were smuggling out a huge tree trunk in the cover of the night. When I challenged them, they warned me to stay away," he said.
"None of us can take the risk of fighting them. We must wait for the authorities to save us. Till then, we are at their mercy," said a resident.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata_/Goons_terrorize_Tiljala_locality/articleshow/3630506.cms
Kolkata GenX votes for Obama, no takers for McCain
23 Oct 2008, 0210 hrs IST, Subhro Niyogi, TNN
KOLKATA: There's a fortnight to go for the US Presidential elections but the verdict is already out in Kolkata. Democrat candidate Barack Obama, who
is believed to have taken an unassailable lead in the US opinion polls, has also swept a mock Presidential debate in Kolkata even before it is held.
The all-students mock debate organized by the American Center has no candidate yet to step into Republican senator John McCain's shoes. Just about every student's council that American Center authorities have approached is keen to do an Obama act. The debate is scheduled for October 31, barely three days ahead of the November 4 polls in the US.
"A student from Presidency College will be Obama in the debate. But we don't have a McCain yet and are banking on Obama to field a rival," an American Center functionary told TOI. Jadavpur University, St Xavier's College, Loreto College, Bhowanipore Education Society and Calcutta International School have also been invited.
That Obama has emerged popular among college students is not so much owing to what he promises to do if elected, but due to the dislike for President Bush's policies that McCain vows to carry forward. "It's difficult to defend McCain's arguments on the Iraq war," reasoned Abhijit Sarkar, general secretary of the students' council at Presidency College.
Had the mock debate included the running mates, senator Joe Biden of Delaware and Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, the going would have got interesting, given Palin's glamour quotient. But at American Centre, it'll just be Obama vs McCain.
This is the first such mock debate in nearly three decades. In 1980, the USIS held a debate ahead of the Presidential elections in which Republican Ronald Reagan had a landslide win against Democrat Jimmy Carter. This time, the US election has assumed more significance, given the increasing bonhomie between two nations, especially in the backdrop of the nuclear deal.
"There's a lot of interest in the election, not only in Kolkata but throughout eastern India. Indo-US relations are at an all-time high and Indians want to know if this will remain or there will be a significant policy shift," said Moulik D Berkana, deputy director at the American Centre.
Berkana is in charge of the mock voting to be held at Park Hotel at 5.30 am on November 5. "We will follow the elections at an open party. It begins around the time polls draw to a close on the East Coast and television networks and elections observers start calling the elections based on exit polls. It should be great fun. Everyone's invited," Berkana said.
The party hall will be draped in red, white and blue, the colours of the US flag. Life-size cutouts of the two candidates as well as symbols - donkey and elephant - will create the election ambience. Large TV screens will beam the results from networks like CNN, MSNBC and BBC. Efforts are also on to get Fox News. While American diplomats insist this year's election is as wide open as eight years ago, they don't expect the kind of protracted legal battle in Florida that kept Bush waiting for days before he was declared the winner over Al Gore.
"The US learned a lesson and voting procedures were streamlined. We don't anticipate a repeat of 2000. The results are expected mid-day or early afternoon. Those keen to follow the polls can drop in anytime."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Kolkata_/Kolkata_GenX_votes_for_Obama_no_takers_for_McCain/articleshow/3630518.cms
Prakash Karat dubbed it as a bad deal
3 Oct, 2008, 0434 hrs IST, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: Within Lutyen’s Delhi where the ruling regime celebrated the Indo-US nuclear deal clearing its last hurdle, one resigned voice made the p
redictable noises. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat dubbed it as a bad deal, unequal treaty and a complete surrender to the US’ interests. Describing the agreement approved by the US Congress as a ‘Hyde Act plus’ version, he said the ‘restrictions’ have now been made more explicit.
In an attempt to further corroborate his allegations, Mr Karat cited a letter written by the foreign secretary to US under secretary William Burns last month in which India has committed to entering agreements with American nuclear energy firms for construction of nuclear power units capable of generating at least 10,000 MW.
“This means India has already committed on importing Rs 280,000 crore worth of equipment from the dying US nuclear industry which has not received any new order for the last 30 years. It is going to indemnify suppliers from all consequences of a nuclear accident,” Mr Karat told reporters within hours of the US Senate giving its nod to the deal. Though he did not call it a ‘financial scandal’, he said it was an unviable proposition as it would cost seven to eight times more than a thermal power plant.
Mr Karat said the Act passed by the US Congress did not address India’s concerns on five crucial aspects — India does not have fuel supply assurance, no assurance regarding building a strategic fuel reserve for the life term of the reactor, whatever corrective measures are taken regarding fuel supply failure do not permit taking reactors out of safeguards, consent to reprocess is only notional and the US will also work to prevent other countries from providing nuclear supplies to India if the US terminates the 123 agreement.
“The device of getting a Presidential signing statement to waive the objectionable provisions of the Act will not hold water as this is a law passed by Congress and Bush will not be President after four months,” Mr Karat said.
He said US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice has assured the Congress that India will be barred from enrichment and reprocessing technology in the next NSG meeting in November formalising an ‘unofficial consensus’ reached during the waiver meeting in September.
Recalling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assurance in June to approach Parliament before inking the deal, the CPM leader said “he has given that promise a go-by.”
Mr Karat, who pledged to take the battle against the deal into the Lok Sabha elections, had earlier said that his party will back a government which promises to undo the deal. However, he was evasive when asked if the CPM would support a Congress-led government if the Prime Ministerial candidate was not Manmohan Singh.
If Mr Singh had made the nuclear deal a matter of personal prestige, Mr Karat had decided to use the Left’s most potent weapon — withdrawal of support to the UPA — to kill the 123 agreement. The Left, which is now left with protests and campaigns in his fight against the deal, will be observing ‘black day’ on October 4 when Condoleeza Rice is expected to be here for the signing of the deal.
That the Left’s eternal antipathy for the US had made the deal completely unacceptable to it was clear when Mr Karat refused to comment on the agreement with France saying “that’s a separate issue. I am not aware of the details. But, I am aware of the restrictions in the 123 agreement.”
People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vol. XXXII
No. 41
October 19, 2008
CPI(M)’s Intervention At The NIC Meeting
Take Action Against Bajrang Dal
Below we reproduce the full text of the intervention made by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury in the National Integration Council meeting held in New Delhi on October 13, 2008. Yechury left the Central Committee meetings being held in Kolkata from October 12 to 14, 2008 for a day and came back to Delhi to participate in the NIC meeting. (Sub-headings added - Ed)
THIS meeting of the National Integration Council (NIC) has been convened at a very critical moment in the life of our country. The orgy of violence against the minority Christian community has continued for weeks in Orissa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and many other parts of the country. Reports of communal clashes are pouring in from various other parts of the country. At the same time, the series of terrorist attacks in Delhi as well as various state capitals poses a severe challenge to our country’s unity and integrity.
The NIC is meeting when such attacks against the minorities have continued for several weeks. In fact, the meeting should have been convened much earlier. The union government has a responsibility towards maintaining the unity and integrity of the country which has not been discharged in the manner warranted by the deteriorating situation. The union government’s responsibility is particularly so on the issue of protecting the right to life and the security of the tribals and the dalits in the country. The union government has failed to intervene in this situation even after six weeks of continuous attacks against the Christian minority in Orissa.
However, the agenda circulated for this meeting is a vast canvas covering all aspects of potential conflict and tensions adversely affecting national integration. In this short meeting, it is virtually impossible to discuss all these issues, however important and relevant they may be. On many of these issues like the question of social justice and the struggles against the connected caste-based social oppression; regional economic imbalances providing grist to the mill of regional chauvinism; providing adequate facilities for improving the welfare of the religious minorities as enunciated by the Sachhar Committee Report etc, the CPI(M) has a definite point of view which has been articulated before the NIC as well as publicly in the past.
The situation on all these counts has deteriorated particularly since the pursuance of the trajectory of economic liberalisation in the country. With the practice of a planned economic development where major public sector undertakings were located in economically backward regions being abandoned, regional economic imbalances have widened feeding the centrifugal forces of separatism in many parts of the country. State’s rights are being adversely affected over the sharing of financial resources under the liberalisation regime undermining centre-state relations envisaged in our federal constitutional set up. With the economic divide between the rich and poor widening and the consequent sharp rise in the cost of education and the shrinkage of the employment pie, the scramble between various social groups in our society has intensified adversely affecting both social justice and national integration. The earlier slogans of `sons of the soil’ are finding newer expressions in the current chauvinistic campaign in Maharashtra. The union government has failed to translate many of the recommendations and suggestions for improving the educational and social status of the minorities. While all these issues must be discussed in right earnest urgently, given the present critical situation, we would wish to confine ourselves to the two issues that we have raised at the outset.
ORGY OF VIOLENCE
As the orgy of violence against the Christian minority continues unabated in Orissa, Karnataka etc, come the gruesome reports of communal violence in Assam. So far, over 50 lives have been lost and close to a lakh of people have been forced to flee their homes. The clashes between the ethnic Bodo tribals, the local people and the Muslims is a grave development in a state which has repeatedly seen such ethnic and communal clashes weakening the unity of our social fabric.
Horrific is the latest report of a six member Muslim family being burnt alive in the Bhainsa town in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh. So far ten lives have been consumed in the communal violence here. In the Dhule district of Maharashtra, communal violence has taken a toll of many innocent lives and large-scale destruction of houses and property. This is the third case of communal violence in the state of Maharashtra within a week. Rajasthan continues to be tense with communal clashes being reported from Udaipur. Similar reports of growing communal polarisation come from various other parts of the country. The situation in J&K where communal polarisation was sharply roused continues to remain a source of concern for the unity and integrity of India.
The National Commission for Minorities (NCM), in a severe indictment of the Karnataka government, has said that the BJP-led state government was “soft” on the Bajrang Dal ignoring ample warnings of impending violence against the Christian minorities. It also notes that after widespread outrage, the Karnataka police had arrested the Bajrang Dal state convenor. He was, however, released soon on bail. On the contrary, many Christians who are the victims, were arrested, refused bail and continue to languish in jails.
Similar observations have been made by the NCM regarding Orissa. The RSS and the Bajrang Dal have now threatened that only those dalit Christians who covert to Hinduism can return to rebuild their destroyed homes in Kandhmal, Orissa.
CURB TERRORIST ATTACKS
The sudden spurt of terrorist attacks in various parts of the country is a cause of utmost serious concern. It poses a serious danger to our internal security and the integrity of India. Such terrorist attacks need to be curbed by strengthening our security and intelligence gathering apparatus. All measures required to this end must be taken urgently. The question of modernisation of the police and other security forces must no longer be allowed to wait. It is the responsibility of the union government to initiate the process of consultation with the state governments and address this issue urgently. There is also an urgent need to take stringent measures to ensure that terrorist and militant outfits do not use facilities beyond our borders for the purposes of conducting their anti-national activities.
However, at the same time, it is also being widely believed that one of the contributors to the recent spate of terrorist attacks is the real and perceived injustice felt by the religious minorities in the country. Such sharpening of communal polarisation for political gains only feeds, unfortunately, the impermissible terroristic response. While terrorism is simply unacceptable and must be combated, this needs to be done on the basis of impeccable impartiality by the organs of the State. Terrorism knows no religion. It is simply anti-national. The recent spate of terrorist attacks in Muslim-dominated areas have raised genuine suspicions of a Hindu hardline response to some Muslim terrorist actions. The recent bomb attack in Malegaon where four Muslims were killed in a locality crowded with people who had broken their ramzan fast buttress such suspicions. When the media questioned the police whether Hindu hard liners were suspected, Maharashtra’s Additional Director General of Police (law and order) said, “At this stage, we cannot rule out the possibility”.
INVOLVEMENT OF BAJRANG DAL/RSS
Police investigations in the past few years have noted the involvement of Bajrang Dal or other RSS organisations in various bomb blasts across the country – in 2003, in Parbani, Jalna and Jalgaon districts of Maharashtra; in 2005, in Mau district of Uttar Pradesh; in 2006, in Nanded; in January 2008, at the RSS office in Tenkasi, Tirunelveli; in August 2008, in Kanpur etc etc. Internal security of our country can be strengthened only when all such cases are also probed impartially and with the same degree of intensity. Given this, action against the Bajrang Dal under the Unlawful Activities Act must be initiated.
As stated earlier, all efforts to combat terrorism and internal security must be strengthened. Most importantly, however, these activities must be conducted in a spirit of utmost impartiality. Organisations and individuals found to indulge in such terror activities, irrespective of their religious denomination must be dealt with the same yardstick. No persecution of any community, as widely perceived by the Muslim minority, in the name of combating terrorism, should be permitted.
The CPI(M) reiterates that the unity and integrity of the vast plurality and rich diversity of India can be maintained only by strengthening the bonds of commonality that run through this diversity. Any effort at seeking to impose a uniformity – religious or linguistic or cultural etc – upon this diversity is the surest recipe to promote disintegration. It is the task of all political parties, social groups and civil society who cherish the republican foundations of our secular, democratic modern India to strengthen the collective social consciousness of our country, to celebrate, not bemoan, India’s diversity.
The CPI(M) has always opposed the gross misuse of Article 356 of our Constitution. The CPI(M) has been seeking appropriate amendments to Article 356 of the Constitution in order to incorporate safeguard to prevent its misuse. However, in this connection, the NIC must be apprised if Article 355 has been invoked by the central government for Orissa, Karnataka etc. If so, what has been the response of the state governments? If not, why has it not been invoked?
May I conclude by offering the CPI(M)’s unstinted support to the all important task, on the lines suggested above, to contain both communalism and terrorism which promote the forces of disintegration of India.
http://www.bangaindigenous.blogspot.com/
http://www.troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/
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