Disastrous Weather of Marketing Socialism

Disastrous Weather of Marketing Socialism

Indian Holocaust My father`s Life and Time- Two Hundred twenty eight

Palash Biswas


Pl read my review on Ashok Mitra`s Prattler`s tale published in Samayantar, Book Issue, June o7 titeled, ` EK ATI VISHISHT SHARNAARTHEE KAA VISHWA DARSHAN’. Sorry, it is not available on Net. You have to ask for your copy. Just write to the Editor. Mail to : samayantar@yahoo.com

The Election Commission on Wednesday announced that the election to choose a new President for India will be held on July 19.

The votes will be counted on July 21, it said.

Flash strike affects Indian operations in Kolkata
Hindu, India - 4 hours ago
Kolkata, June. 13 (PTI): National carrier Indian today operated only three of its 21 flights from here today after the flash strike by the Air Corporation ...
Hundreds of passengers stranded at Kolkata airport Hindustan Times

The External Affairs Minister has dismissed as 'speculative and tendentious' media reports which suggested that he was one of the candidates for Presidential elections.Emerging economies led by India and Brazil have informed developed member countries of WTO that they would not accept any dilution of issues concerning food and livelihood security.As different groupings of the developing countries met in Geneva on Monday as part of their renewed attempts to push the Doha trade talks, a consensus emerged that no compromise could be made by the majority of 150 WTO members “to satisfy their (rich nations) demand of additional market access.”

In fact, India and Brazil challenged the United States to offer “real” cuts in the amount of subsidies paid out to American farmers or risk another setback in the World Trade Organization’s long-suffering round of global commerce talks.On the other hand, The World Bank is giving priority to the food processing sector in India and is ready to extend support for building a supply chain, Food Processing Minister Subodh Kant Sahay said on Wednesday.

Kolkata and Bengal along with Jharkhand encountered with a fierce rainy day expectin and waiting for rain for so long! Same is the story of peace intiative in Nandigram! Jyoti Basu Called on Ms Mamata Bannerjee. But the historical handshake could not breka the Zinx as CPIM dumped its patriarch once again! The weather is disastrous for marketing Socialism in India on Chinese line as evident fro yesterday`s Anti Reliance demonstration in Kolkata. Hundreds of traders from Park Circus market on Wednesday marched in protest against the handover of the market’s redevelopment right to Reliance Retail Limited. Though traders of Park Circus made up the bulk of the protesters, members from other Kolkata Municipal Corporation-run markets also joined them. The participation of these traders from other markets prove that they are upset by KMC’s plan to redevelop its markets. Agitators primarily consisted of traders and workers. They fear that “redevelopment” is the route for these retail giants to enter into state retail markets to sell agricultural products. They vowed to thwart entry of the retailers in KMC markets.

And enters the Shahi Imam from Delhi with a NO Agitation fatwa! now it is clear friends that Communists when back to the wall take recourse to communal politics. They have one commonality, that is both CPIM and BJP are fascists. In fact they can resort to any shenanigans to subserve their end. Just before Basu Mamta summit in Indira Bahavan, Sidikullah Chowdhari warned that the Ruling leftists may try for Communal riots to break Nandi garm resistance. He declared fro the dias of No SEZ Rally on Metro Channel Kolkata on 3rd June that Muslims and Dalits won`t allow riots in Bengal. Thus, The Shahi Imam returns empty handed fro Nandigram! The religous hindu brahmin leader of CPM who went to Tarakeswar what he is doing now ! Well, CPM should organize religious functions to save themselves with the help of that religious minded hindu communists and the Muslim Maulavis and Imams!Quote Prof Sanjib Bhattacharya: "They may now send message to Pravin Togadia to save themselves by creating communal conflicts!"

After Singur, the Tatas are set to face fresh opposition for acquiring land for industrial use in northern Karnataka. The Tatas set up an earth-moving equipment manufacturing unit in 1980 on 600 acres that the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) allocated to it after acquiring it from farmers in Mummigatti village in Dharwad district.Last week, the state government cleared another proposal to allot 300 acres of land more to the Tatas for setting up a Rs 2,734-crore project to set up a luxury bus-manufacturing unit in Neralagatti close to the first village.

The shahi imam’s shot at playing peacemaker in Nandigram lasted barely an hour , with a series of rebuffs persuading him to cut his trip short. The Imam was confronted by angry demonstrators and had to cut short his stay there without visiting some of the troubled areas in Nandigram as earlier planned, reports said. He was escorted by policemen during this visit. The demonstrators claimed that the Imam was trying to impose the State Government's views on the people of the area.
The Imam had met Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee here on Monday when he was assured that the State was taking all steps for restoration of normality in the area. He said there was no need for further agitations in the area as the State Government had decided against acquisition of farmland for industry there.

The demonstrators shouted that he was an agent of the government. "Why have you come here nearly three months after the March 14 firing? Where were you all this time? You are an agent of the government," they shouted.

Bukhari also said that firing and bomb throwing was continuing in the area even after the state government had declared that there would be no acquisition of land in Nandigram. "Schools, colleges and medical facilities are still closed. This is not good," he said.

Tension continues in Nandigram even as the local authorities are trying to expedite the return of those who had fled their homes due to violence in the past few months.


Really it is tragic that Buddhadeb and the Marxist Gestapo Gang seem to be so desperate on Marketing socilism which is playing havoc in South asia including the Great China! Bangladesh is already taken over and polity has become irrelevant under global order. Thus, accrose the borders, only post modern Manusmriti works. We see how General Musharraf grows a monster and playing all the tactics of Yahya and Aub Khan! In fact, we may not be able to distinguish any south asian leadership as all of them includin our Manmohan, Chidambaram, Pranab, Modi and Buddha have been Cloned so well for the interests of Zionist Hindu Imperialism!


Could we consider Fascist BJP ruled state asking a Sankaracharya to come and preach peace? Muslims must see that this IMAM BUKHARI is a powerful man but he is no friend of the POOR MUSLIMS.The Shahi Imam of New Delhi's Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari today had to leave this block after protests by members of the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee that is spearheading the movement to oppose the acquisition of land for industry.Bukhari held a press conference after being denied permission by police to enter Nandigram but had to wind it up when BUPC supporters began their protest.His claim at the press conference that vested interests were trying to divide Hindus and Muslims in Nandigram drew an angry response from the BUPC.
Maoists have vehemently criticised a landmark meeting between Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and Marxist elder statesman Jyoti Basu to sort out nagging differences between the opposition and the government over the state's controversial industrialisation programme.

SEZ: UPA promoting land grab, alien territory

SEZ developers and units established in SEZs have been granted various exemptions including exemptions from state and local taxes, tax on electricity, exemption from income tax for ten years, exemption from import duty, service tax, etc. They have also been ensured sufficient availability of water and electricity. Though there is a provision to assess the impact of SEZs on environment, SEZs have been exempted from the provision of public hearing and the land-use declaration. In case of offence of non-compliance with environ-mental laws, units in SEZs cannot be directly booked and there is a condition to get prior permission from the SEZs authority.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=188&page=26


“The Basu-Mamata jugalbandi left key issues in Singur and Nandigram untouched”, the CPM (Liberation) state secretary Kartick Pal said.

“The people of Nandigram and Singur are not bothered about who is holding meetings with whom. They want to know when those responsible for the March 14 genocide (in Nandigram) will be punished”, he added.

Stating that violence again erupted in Nandigram since Sunday night, he said people there would not accept "any decision taken at any peace meeting” unless Chief Minister, Buddhadev Bhattacharya, and local CPI(M) MP Lakshman Seth resigned.


Meanwhile,The CPM has agreed to discuss with allies the package for Singur land-losers, shifting from the stand that the issue would be tackled by the government.The CPM yesterday told its partners that a note being prepared by industries minister Nirupam Sen would be discussed at a Left Front meeting after the party examined it. Party sources said the note would be forwarded to Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, too, once it was finalised at Friday’s state secretariat meeting. Last Saturday, Bose had said the front was not competent to decide the Singur package and had entrusted the job with the government. Some of the allies had taken exception to the “denial of the front’s authority to decide on policy matters”. Bose’s new gesture is being seen by allies as an effort to close ranks “before hard bargaining begins with Mamata”.

On the other hand,Congress President Sonia Gandhi met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati to discuss UPA's candidate for the post of president.Earlier, she met senior party leaders AK Antony and Ahmed Patel to discuss the issue.Sonia will meet the Left parties in the next couple of days. Left parties are also likely to hold an informal meet on Tuesday in the Capital in which the presidential elections would also figure.

The Left has openly backed Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee but Congress sources say Sonia Gandhi is reluctant to back him and favours Home Minister Shivraj Patil instead.

However, BSP leader Mayawati has made it clear that her party will go with the UPA candidate.



At least eight people were killed, including six in lightning, as heavy pre-monsoon showers flooded southern areas of West Bengal, with most parts of Kolkata reeling under knee to waist deep water, disrupting bus and train services.More lightning deaths were reported from the southern districts. While two died at Haringhata in Nadia district, one died at Kustia in Burdwan district.Heavy rains affected normal life in Kolkata with railway tracks submerged and roads under knee-deep waters in most areas.Most schools and colleges remained closed for the day.Railway sources said several trains on both Sealdah and Howrah sections were disrupted. Trains were delayed owing to signalling problems and waterlogging on the tracks.
As the South-East monsoon entered Gangetic West Bengal, heavy rains affected normal life in Kolkata and adjoining districts hitting road, rail and air traffic during a two-hour downpour.

Separately reports from Ranchi in Jharkhand state say at least six children died when they were struck by lightning at their Green Garden school. Several other children were injured in the incident on the highway between Ranchi and Jameshedpur. In Kolkata, rain flooded Lake market, Southern Avenue and Sarath Bose Road. Parts of central Kolkata was also under water affecting movement on Park Street, Esplanade, Theatre Road and Ultaa Tangraa Road.

Salt Lake Sector 5 which houses a number of IT offices is also under water.

Basu comments confusing, says Ghosh

Express News Service

Kolkata, June 12: Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghosh, whose efforts to steer the peace process for Nandigram had been sidelined by the CPI(M), resurfaced Tuesday to state that former chief minister Jyoti Basu’s unexpected comments on Singur had created confusion within the Left Front.
The octogenarian Bloc leader spoke to CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose on Tuesday morning and said the CPI(M) would have to take the initiative to settle the confusion created by Basu’s comment that the government should consider Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s demand for the return of some land at Singur to farmers who do not wish to move out.

“Jyoti Basu has made different comments on two occasions,” said Ghosh. “The confusion created by this must be cleared.” Last Sunday, Basu had done a volte face and told a party gathering that it would not be possible to return any land at Singur.


Reliance says refinery working normally
Reuters India, India - 1 hour ago
By Nidhi Verma NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd.'s Jamnagar refinery is working normally and output is as planned, the company said on ...
Reliance shuts 160000bpd coker unit Economic Times
Reliance May Join BP, Chevron, Exxon in India Oil Drilling Bids Bloomberg
Reliance shuts 160000 bpd coker unit - sources Reuters India

Maoist menace spreads to North Bengal now
Daily News & Analysis, India - 12 hours ago
KOLKATA: After having successfully established their strongholds in West Midnapore, Bankura and Puruliya districts of West Bengal, the Maoist forces for the ...
Tea Board may reopen four gardens in July Hindu
Share-for-land model catching on in the east
Business Standard, India - 23 hours ago
The Videocon group is considering a variation of the Jindal compensation package for its West Bengal projects and South Korean steel major Posco is ...
Sonia's desperate gamble for President
Rediff - 5 hours ago
If you were here to see what all is going on in New Delhi over the election of the next President of India, it will make you feel more sick than even the sickening summer can make you feel.
BSP backs UPA on Prez election Shekhawat in race Herald Publications
Shekhawat to contest as an Independent Hindustan Times
Ramchandra Gandhi wanted a debate on MSU painting row
Times of India - 1 hour ago
AHMEDABAD: Ramchandra Gandhi celebrated his 70th birthday on June 9. It took close friends like Mumbai-based poet and writer Prof Prabodh Parikh by surprise to hear news about the demise of "Ramubhai", a spirited and healthy intellectual who never ...
Gandhiji's grandson found dead Chennai Online
Noted philosopher Dr Ramchandra Gandhi found dead at IIC NewKerala.com

HC probe order on landfill
OUR LEGAL REPORTER
Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the filling up of a waterbody in Rajarhat in violation of an order by Justice Pranab Chattopadhyaya of the court.A division bench of Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar and Justice D.P. Sengupta passed the order, following a public interest litigation (PIL) moved by Ratan Lal Ghosh and other residents of Kajial Para, in the Rajarhat police station area. In the petition, they alleged that Mahadeb Sadhukhan, a lawyer, and a few promoters of the area were filling up a waterbody by violating Justice Chattopadhyaya’s order.


A Bridge Too Far

By Satya Sagar

12 June,2007
Combat Law

The afternoon wind whistles through the cluster of young Casurina trees that dot the banks of the Talpati Khal, a canal that runs between the Nandigram and Khejuri blocks of East Medinipur district of West Bengal. Approaching from the village of Sonachura, on the Nandigram side, you come upon the Bangabhera bridge, a narrow cement and mortar structure that spans the muddy waters of the canal. The locals call this the ‘border’. Taking a closer look it is not difficult to see the rationale behind this somewhat strange sobriquet.

Ever since a virtual civil war began in January this year, between the people of Nandigram and state authorities over the latter’s attempts to take over farming land for a chemical hub project, this bridge has become like an international boundary dividing two hostile nations.

http://www.countercurrents.org/sagar120604.htm

Purification row: Managing committee expresses regret
Hindustan Times - 7 hours ago
PTI Seeking to put a lid on the purification row, the Managing Committee of the Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple on Wednesday expressed deep regret for conducting a purification rite after Union Minister Vayalar Ravi's son Ravikrishna visited the temple ...

Zee News
Nath unveils relief package for exporters
Business Standard - 3 hours ago
In an attempt to help exporters’ ride out the impact of a rising rupee, the commerce ministry has announced a relief package that would see duty entitlement pass book (DEPB) and duty drawback rates being enhanced by 5%.


Congress leaders met Mr. Bhattacharjee here in response to a letter from him to various political parties in the State eliciting their views on an alternative site for the chemical hub. They said they were not opposed to the setting up of the project elsewhere in the State but sought clarifications regarding certain technicalities regarding the project.
CM blames Opp for Singur mess

Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, June 12: Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today blamed the Opposition’s “attitude” for the logjam in the Singur small car project. Asked if the state government would convene an all-party meeting for a solution to the problem arising out of the demand voiced by Trinamul chief Miss Mamata Banerjee for returning land acquired from “unwilling” farmers for the Tata car project, the chief minister said: “Let’s see what can be done, given the Opposition’s attitude.”

SEZs For The Rich,
Poor To Bear The Brunt

By Arun Kumar

13 June, 2007
Combat Law


Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policy has taken one more turn with the announcement from the Empowered Group of Ministers (eGOM). The freeze on them is being lifted but several parameters will be changed to accommodate the farmers, tribals and the civil society groups who have been agitating against the SEZs.

From the earlier no limit on the maximum size of the multi-product SEZs now the limit has been set at 5,000 hectares. The state governments are prohibited from acquiring land for the private players and they cannot form a joint venture with a private player unless the latter has the land to offer the project. States can acquire land for their own SEZ provided they take care of the relief and rehabilitation as per the new policy to be announced soon.

Now the SEZs will be required to at least use 50 percent of the land for processing unit as compared to the earlier 35 percent so that the real estate component would be lower. Finally, the export requirement has been made more stringent compared to earlier.

Clearly, the eGOM has steered a middle path between the proponents of the SEZs, the corporate sector and their political supporters and the opponents who wanted SEZs to be scrapped because of their adverse impact on the poor people in the rural areas. This was on the cards since the prime minister had stated that SEZs are an accomplished fact. He implied that there is no going back on the policy and the government would only do some tinkering to accommodate the opponents. Where does this leave the policy and the poor?
http://www.countercurrents.org/kumar130607.htm


Nandigram repeat in Dehradun’

Statesman News Service
DEHRADUN, June 12: The government has barely completed 100 days, and one of its own senior leaders and former chief minister Mr Nityanand Swami has stood against it on the issue of land acquisition. He has warned the government to be ready to face a Nandigram-like situation in case the issue was not resolved. Mr Swami is backing the stir against the land acquisition which is continuing for almost two years. After creating history in Uttarakhand by becoming the first chief minister of the interim government of the BJP at the time of the formation of the state, he has now taken a stand against his own government in the interest of the people. “If the issue is not resolved soon, then the government should be ready to face a Nandigram-like situation in Dehradun,” he claimed.
Thirty villages came under the acquisition as the the villagers protested against the government’s decision. Supporting their stir Mr Swami went on an indefinite fast in October, 2006. But then Mr ND Tiwari (who was CM) immediately took cognizance and withdrew the decision on the 24 villages. The fate of the remaining six villages still hangs in balance. “Due to their vested interests the bureaucracy is not interested in getting it resolved and is consequently misleading the chief minister,” Mr Swami quipped demanding a probe into the role of the bureaucracy in this case.

Mahindra plan for SEZ
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070613/asp/bengal/story_7916144.asp
Calcutta, June 12: Mahindra and Mahindra is planning to set up an automobile ancillaries special economic zone (SEZ) in Bengal.A six-member team from the company’s infrastructure venture, Mahindra World City, today went scouting for land for the proposed 500-acre SEZ in Burdwan district.The visitors were first shown around 700 acres of land at Rajbandh, 10 km from Durgapur. Some of the land there belongs to the Asansol Durgapur Development Authority, while the rest is farmland but is not agriculturally significant, said district administration officials.

Mumbai court to deliver verdict on malls


A special court in Mumbai is expected to deliver its judgement in a case relating to unauthorised construction of twin shopping malls at Crawford market in South Mumbai. Iqbal Kaskar, brother of Dawood Ibrahim, is one of the nine accused. The malls, named Sara and Sahara, were constructed on PWD land meant for a municipal school, in connivance with officials of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.



Govt blacklists 600 NGOs

New Delhi, June 13: Cracking its whip on fake and ghost non-government organisations (NGOs), the Rural Development Ministry has ordered blacklisting of 600 NGOs, lodging FIRs against 21 others and handing over 10 cases to the CBI.The tough action against the NGOs came in the wake of reports that around 4,000 files pertaining to unaccounted funds had gone missing. The government is reportedly planning a major restructuring of CAPART.



The transition between the old and new traditional economies in India.
By Rosser, Marina V.
Publication: Comparative Economic Studies
Date: Sept 2005
Subject: Economic conditions (Forecasts and trends)
Location: India

INTRODUCTION

Rosser and Rosser (1996, 1998, 1999) introduce the concept of the New Traditional Economy to the discussion and analysis of economic systems. This idea derives from the trichotomisation between tradition, market, and command made by Karl Polanyi (1944). For Polanyi and

his followers the traditional economy is embedded within a broader socio-cultural framework. (1) They see the traditional economy associated with backward technology and pre-modern societies, with the rise of the market economy leading to a 'disembedding' of the economy from its socio-cultural framework to come to dominate that framework rather than the other way around. This was the Old Traditional Economy.

In the New Traditional Economy there is an effort to re-embed a modern or modernising economy within a traditional socio-cultural framework, usually associated with a religion, but to do so while maintaining or adopting modern technology. The most well-known example is that of the Islamic economies such as Iran where a reconstructed view of Islamic economics has been pursued that was developed initially in Pakistan (Maududi, 1975 [1947]) as part of the anti-colonialist struggle. Eventually this became part of the search for an independent identity separate from the competing ideologies of capitalism and socialism during the Cold War. (2) But it is also seen as emerging in other socio-cultural frameworks as well.

India presents a special case with respect to this discussion. With the possible exception of much of rural, sub-Saharan Africa, it remains arguably the site of the most entrenched and extensive example of an actually existing Old Traditional Economy in the jajmani system associated with the Hindu caste system in rural India. This system persists despite markets being established in rural India for a long time and a period of emphasis on socialist ownership of industry and indicative central planning since India's independence in 1947 that is still largely in place and with the caste system being formally outlawed. Although rejecting elements of the system, Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi ('Father of Indian independence') defended the ideal of the rural Indian village economy with a pre-industrial technology, arguably an Old Traditionalist ideology. However, the reality is that increasingly the forces of modernisation are gradually breaking down the isolation of India's rural villages and integrating them into the broader market economy of India with its continuing elements of socialist central planning.



Why Invest in India: Resurgent Economic Growth in 2007
http://arunkottolli.blogspot.com/2006/12/why-invest-in-india-resurgent-economic.html
In this continuing series of "Why Invest in India", I found a very interesting article in an Indian Magazine "The Week".

The text of this article is given below. Readers can read the orginal article at: http://week.manoramaonline.com/

India expects to forge ahead in 2007

Barring sudden disasters, India will welcome the New Year in a satisfactory frame of mind. Considering the alarming conditions in several parts of the world - the Middle East for instance - India can claim to have earned the blessings of providence to be reasonably well placed at the moment.

The economy is chugging along at a brisk pace. The deficiencies, mainly in agriculture, have been recognized, even if belatedly, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has promised redress. If tackled imaginatively, this sad chapter in the nation's life, highlighted by farmers' suicides, should come to a close.

In politics, the scene is much better. The earlier fears about the durability of coalition regimes have been largely dispelled. The multi-party alliances run by Manmohan Singh, and by Atal Bihari Vajpayee before him, have proved to be relatively stable, notwithstanding the presence in them of small regional parties with their narrow caste-based provincial attitudes.

As if to cap the good news from the economic and political fronts, the India-US nuclear deal has emphasized India's unique status in the world. India is now the only country that has been accepted as a legitimate nuclear power although it not only refused to sign the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) but tested nuclear weapons in 1974 and 1998 in defiance.

This new shining image of a "nuclear" India is in striking contrast to countries like Pakistan, which is suspected of having had a hand in the black marketing of nuclear technology, or North Korea that is regarded as a rogue state, or Israel that is believed to have a secret nuclear arsenal, or Iran whose nuclear programme is a cause for worldwide concern.

There are several reasons why the US and the world have chosen to overlook India's transgressions of the nuclear protocol. One is its responsible behaviour even after going nuclear to register its principled opposition to the NPT, which arbitrarily divided the world into nuclear "haves" and "have-nots".

The second is its robust economy that has removed all doubts about India's emergence as a regional superpower.

And the third - and perhaps most important - reason is its remarkably successful democratic experiment in a country with 4,635 communities speaking 23 major languages, including 17 "official" ones, 22,000 distinct dialects, 85 locally or nationally important political parties and, last but not the least, with 300 ways of cooking the potato.

Considering that Charles de Gaulle had wondered how a country like France could be kept together when it produced 265 varieties of cheese, it is not difficult to appreciate the extraordinary nature of India's achievement.

What is also noteworthy is the growing belief that just as Indian democracy has smoothened the rough edges of a diverse society, it has also taken out the sting from the rapid economic progress via the route of market economy.

While Reuters has noted a dramatic rise in the number of riots in autocratic China from 10,000 in 1994 to 74,000 in 2004, India has been relatively free of the social tension caused by the growing disparity between the rich and the poor, which is an inevitable early fallout of "neo-liberal" economic policies.

It is not that there haven't been protests in India. The latest such resistance to the official encouragement of capitalist strategies is in Singur in West Bengal, where the main opposition party is up in arms against the acquisition of fertile agricultural land by the Tatas for a small cars factory.

Earlier, similar industrial ventures involving farmlands in the neighbouring state of Orissa by the Tatas and the South Korean steel giant Posco led to police firing and deaths of tribal demonstrators.

The setting up of Special Economic Zones in nearly all the states providing tax relief and other incentives to domestic and foreign investors has also attracted protests from the opposition parties. But while news of the unrest in China trickles out after a considerable lapse of time, the protests in India are played out in full view of the television cameras and media personnel.

The pros and cons of these contentious developments are also discussed threadbare in parliament, state legislatures, public forums and television and radio studios. The result is that the lid is taken off a volatile situation. Therefore, it rarely boils over into widespread violence.
This is not India's only saving grace. What has also ensured social harmony is the fact that the governments of all hues, ranging from West Bengal run by the Communist Party of India-Marxist to Gujarat under the Bharatiya Janata Party, are all eager to make the most of the economic upsurge. As a result, they all value the market economy, which is normally the bugbear of the dogmatic Left and also evoke the ire of the protectionist Right.

Given these factors, it may be safe to predict that 2007 will give a more definitive direction to
India's policies in several fields - economic, political and foreign affairs. While pro-capitalist policies will lead to the burial of "socialism", a two-coalition system is likely to evolve with the Congress-Left alliance on one side and the BJP-Janata Dal-United on the other.

At the same time, the presence of a large number of smaller parties acting as allies will prevent the two major coalitions from adopting extremist postures, thereby ensuring the pursuit of moderate policies.

In foreign affairs, India's growing proximity to the US will be the final nail in the coffin of the cold warriors in both New Delhi and Washington. But America will also realize that India is too large and too boisterous a democracy to endorse whatever the US may say. In this respect, the tradition of non-alignment will survive.

And the icing on the cake may well be an understanding with Pakistan on the basis of the suggestions made by both Manmohan Singh and Pervez Musharraf about making the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir irrelevant.


Developing countries stand by key demands in WTO talks
http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidDate=2007-06-13&hidType=TOP&hidRecord=0000000000000000162930

'Real possibility' of global trade deal by end of June: Blair


Wednesday June 13 2007 00:55:17 AM BDT


GENEVA, June 12 (AFP): Developing countries vowed yesterday to stand their ground on key principles in deadlocked global trade talks, a week before four World Trade Organisation (WTO) powers are to make yet another bid to unlock the negotiations.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said after meeting counterparts and officials from other developing nations here that they were maintaining a united front.

"We all know that we are in a negotiating phase but we don't want to sacrifice basic positions just for a speedy result," he said.