Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 236
Palash Biswas
IR- Trade Union movement in India
10 posts - 6 authorsHi all, I am attaching a ppt on trade union movements in India. Hope you find it useful. Regards Smita.
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The trade union movement emerged in India basically as a reaction to the state interventionist or state pluralism model. The economic reforms' package ...
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10 Jan 2009 ... In India the Trade Union movement is generally divided on political lines. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, ...
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The trade unionism in India developed quite slowly as compared to the western nations. Indian trade union movement can be divided into three phases. ...
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History Politics and Society question: Explain the evolution of trade union movement in india? I think you are doing MBA with Madras University DDE, ...
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For the first time in India the Bombay Mill Hands Association was formed on 24 April 1890. This gave impetus to the trade union movement in British India. ...
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Trade Union in India is the primary instrument for promoting the union of trade union movement and championing the cause of working class in India.
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Trade Union Movement in India by Sohail Jawaid. No customer reviews yet. ... Trade Union Movement in India, Sohail Jawaid, JUST ARRIVED Books, Vedic Books , ...
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The tradition of the parallel development of the nationalist and the trade union movement, which had originated in British India continued through the ...
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Delhi working class comes alive in Mridula Koshy's bookHindustan Times - 7 hours ago The best stories are those that are born of the lives of the working class people on the streets, says former professional trade union worker-turned short ... Advantage unionThe Hindu - May 20, 2009 ... when the Union government opened the gates to FDI are Caparo, BMW, Ford India, Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), Nokia and Saint Gobain. Trade union ... Indian election an opportunityBoston Herald - 10 hours ago The fall of the Soviet Union removed two pillars. Successive governments led by the Congress Party and the Hindu nationalist BJP opened up India to trade. ... Watch Tower: Coalition government still relevant Central Chronicle Capital goods, realty drive Sensex gainsNDTV.com - May 19, 2009 India's largest tractor maker by sales Mahindra & Mahindra surged 13.50% after the company said the workers union at the Nashik plant have withdrawn strike ... Stock market turnover at a new high Livemint Sensex seen at 14k by Budget Economic Times Pan-Africanism: Towards a Peoples' UnionNew Era - 5 hours ago All it needs is to be reinvigorated in order to allow the masses to interpret and define the course of a peoples' union. The Pan-African Movement as ... From socialism to free-market, Kamal Nath has come a long wayTimes of India - 1 hour ago SEZ, a designated duty free enclave that is treated as foreign territory for trade operations, has been a bone of contention between the finance and ... Indian election assures stable US allyUnited Press International, Asia - 1 hour ago Hence revising the US nuclear trade-related laws was not totally unusual. It is in the best interest of the United States to strengthen ties with India in ... Afghanistan - the myth they attacked us, some consequencesDaily Kos - May 21, 2009 It's not a mainstream, big, mass movement. So our disproportionate reaction to a small group of well-publicized terrorists and militants will enable or ... Video: US to Aid 1.5 Million Pakistan Refugees  The Associated Press Video: US to Aid 1.5 Million Pakistan Refugees The Associated Press Pakistan at a Crossroads Political Affairs Magazine UNITED STATES: Obama's New Weapon 'AfPak' IDN InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters India Votes For Continuity, Not Radical ChangeForbes - May 19, 2009 This produced rural prosperity in a country where 70% of the population is still rural, and where trade controls insulate rural India from the gyrations of ... India opts for continuity, stability Asia Times Online China's accidental empire is a growing dangerTimes Online - 19 hours ago This is part of a broad move by China into the Indian Ocean, which India has traditionally considered its sphere of influence. ... |
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Poll rout leaves India's communists a spent force
AFP - May 18, 2009The coalition's leading member, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) saw its seat share plunge from 35 to just 15 in West Bengal where it was, ...Bastion of communism crumbles BBC NewsIndia Votes For Continuity, Not Radical Change
Forbes - May 19, 2009It no longer needs the Left Front (four Marxist parties) for survival, and so can go ahead with economic reforms earlier vetoed by the left. ...Strengthen Team India The AustralianManmohan Singh behind Congress win BBC NewsIncas to give reception to visiting former Indian MP
Peninsula On-line - 16 hours agoAbdullakutty recently joined the Indian National Congress after representing Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the parliament for two terms. ...Communist Party of India (Marxist): a key prop of Indian bourgeois ...
World Socialist Web Site - May 19, 2009... stage of India's five-phase, month-long general election we interviewed Communist Party of India (Marxist) Central Committee member AK Padmanabhan. ...Indian Stalinist leader defends alliances with Congress and ... World Socialist Web SiteThe challenge of life after Prabhakaran
Express Buzz - May 18, 2009... the Marxist inspired militant group, Padmanabha's EPRLF. Arrested and tortured by the LTTE, he was released when the Indian Peace Keeping Force arrived. ...CPI (ML) Liberation: A crime against humanity, not a `famous ... Links International Journal of Socialist RenewalCPI hesitates to endorse Karat stand
Thaindian.com - May 15, 2009... May 16 (IANS) The Communist Party of India (CPI) Saturday said it would wait for some time to say whether it endorsed Communist Party of India-Marxist ...Indian left asks govt to delay nuclear deal 6 months Bangladesh News 24 hoursPeace is trickier than war
Hindustan Times - 22 hours agoDiscrimination on account of caste, ethnicity and gender is as dismal as in India. In the Terai, the Madhesis, people of Indian origin, still chafe at de ...India's Left Loses in Strongholds
Wall Street Journal - May 16, 2009Activists of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) march during an election campaign rally in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata May 10, 2009. ...Karat under fire as Left parties take a beating Express BuzzCongess wins big in India People's Weekly WorldBengal comes of age: colourless sari takes over spotless dhoti
Sify - May 17, 2009Finally it is the turn of a colourless sari worn humbly by a lady who has only one agenda in life- to defeat the Marxists in Bengal. ...THE FLAG DROOPS Calcutta Telegraph- F]
Public Sector Units: Restructuring and Reforms
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public sector units are also located in the state of. Maharashtra. Availability of infrastructure ...... for restructuring the public sector units have also ...
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Department of Public Enterprises · Fertilizer Association of India (FAI) · Pandey Committee on Improving Vigilance Efficiency in Public Sector Enterprises ...
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The public sector is the part of economic and administrative life that deals with the delivery of goods and services by and for the government, ...
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The Central government too is competing with the private sector to sell off profit-earning public sector units embodying crores of rupees of hard-earned ...
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26 Jul 2005 ... NEW DELHI: In a move towards giving more operational autonomy to public sector companies, the Government on Monday doubled their capacity to ...
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16 Dec 2004 ... In the public sector, they tend to be large, often with huge budgets and staffs. Service-providers and operating units are often located at ...
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Contact Information of Public Sector Units in Punjab. List of Public Sector Units in Punjab .... Jeevan Deep Building, Sector 17, Chandigarh ...
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Profit making public sector units should not be privatized for two main reasons. First, because they are major contributors for taxes, and, second, ...
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Palakkad (Kerala), Jan 18 (IANS) Kerala Sunday got its fourth public sector unit (PSU) under the defence ministry for manufacturing military wagons and ...
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10 Mar 2009 ... Board index » Public Sector Units. All times are UTC ... Burning Glass, KPO, iRunway, Pangea3, Evalueserve, Public Sector Units, BHEL, IOCL ...
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ailway Mail Service Trageted for Disinvestment in Indian Post as ...
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, …. development of the entire scenario of disinvestment since 1999. ...
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Palash Biswas. http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/ ..... LUCKNOW: Disinvestment of the loss-incurring sugar mills in the state seems to be a ...
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opts to tread the middle path-disinvestment without privatisation. ... related tags: chapter palash biswas, destroyed chapter palash, galaxy destroyed ...
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PAY CUTS Imminent as Mass Job LOSS Continues With DISINVESTMENT Ahead. ... Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 167 Palash Biswas . ...
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Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, ... FDI, disinvestment, Privatisation, disinvestment, VRS, ERS, Lpg ...
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6 May 2007 ... Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, ... If disinvestment became a dirty word towards the end of the NDA-BJP ...
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31 Aug 2007 ... Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. ... Disinvestment campaign. South African Police ...
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11 Nov 2007 ... Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, ... May, 2009; Railway Mail Service Trageted for Disinvestment in Indian ...
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It fixed the DISINVESTMENT Strategies and FINALISED an IMMUNE to criminal Investigation, .... Black Flags For Capitalist Marxist Buddha Palash Biswas. ...
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12 Feb 2009 ... Palash Biswas. News results for darwin Darwin at 200: The Ongoing .... in the TUNE of Disinvestment and dance with the DRUMs of ECONOMIC ...
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Wrangling continues over Cabinet berths, portfolios
Congress formula not acceptable to us: DMK. New Delhi, May 21 The Congress on Thursday made it clear to its allies that it was in no mood to be pushed around over portfolio allocation. After a day of hectic parleys, it conveyed to the DMK that ...
Social sector boost to be new Govt's immediate priority
Reforms push may be slow & steady. New Delhi, May 21 Though the markets and the industry are gung-ho over the UPA victory, they may have to wait as the new Government unfolds its immediate priorities. It is likely that the UPA may not go ...
Bajaj Auto net rises 8% despite slump in sales
Focus to be on domestic market for growth: Rajiv Bajaj. Mumbai, May 21 Reduced raw material cost, a shift in focus to higher priced products and tax benefits helped Bajaj Auto post an eight per cent increase in standalone net profit at Rs 130 ...
Inflation rises to 0.61% on higher food prices
New Delhi, May 21 Inflation edged up in early May on account of higher food prices, but held near a three-decade low, giving more freedom to the RBI to take steps to support a slowing ...
Panel favours weekly banking bazaars in remote villages
Mumbai, May 21 Once-a-week banking facility on the lines of the ubiquitous 'weekly bazaar/mandi' in remote areas could turn into a reality in a couple of years if the recommendations of the High Level Committee ...
As ever, PSUs carry the load during poll time
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Corporate tax collections fall short of revised estimate
Personal I-T mop-up exceeds estimate. The Centre's corporate tax collections for financial year 2008-09 have fallen short of the revised estimate by about 3.68 per cent. On the other hand, personal income-tax collections are a tad better ...
Banks gearing up to lend more this fiscal
Eye growth opportunities in infrastructure with a stable govt. Mumbai, May 21 Banks may revise upwards their lending targets for FY2009-2010 once the new government outlines its economic priorities through a Budget/Vote-on-Account, according to ...
IT vendors see more revenues from maintenance services
Cautious clients holding back on deploying new systems. Bangalore, May 21 Indian IT vendors are seeing more revenues from application maintenance services as cautious customers continue to hold back investments on deploying new ...
Auto sales momentum in early 2009 not a sign of revival
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Rice exports: It is more of commercial transactions
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Rs 400-cr cover is SET Max defence against ad revenue loss
In the event of rain and other unforeseen risks. Kolkata, May 21 Every time an IPL match gets washed out by rain, the broadcasting channel SET Max may raise an insurance claim of up to Rs 7 crore for loss of ...
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Fiscal consolidation should be budget priority: RBI
Mumbai, May 22 (PTI) Reserve Bank today said the new UPA government, which is slated present the Budget some time in July, should resist pressure for another stimulus as sustained economic recovery would require fiscal consolidation in medium term.
"Given the still soft economy, the pressure to provide more stimulus will persist. While this may help in the near term, the sustainability of recovery requires returning to responsible fiscal consolidation," Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao said.
The fiscal stimulus packages and other measures initiated by the government to mitigate the impact of global financial crisis on the country have led to a sharp rise in expenditure and fiscal deficit, he said.
"The challenge for fiscal policy is to balance immediate support for the economy with a need to get back on track on the medium-term fiscal consolidation process," Subbarao told a seminar here.
With every percentage point increase in the fiscal deficit, maintaining adequate liquidity in the system becomes that much more difficult, Subbarao said.
"Managing this trade off between our short term compulsions and long term sustainability will be one of the big challenges," he said. PTI
PM's 100-day timeline is our mantra, say new ministers! Dr Singh is the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to be returned to office after completing a full term!
About 18 public sector undertakings (PSUs) are expected to hit the market this year once the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which is set to form the government at the centre for a second time in a row, revives the divestment programme.
The new government is expected to pursue the divestment programme with renewed vigour after the decisive win of the Congress-led UPA in the 15th Lok Sabha elections, experts feel.
According to the data compiled by SMC Capitals, 18 PSUs, with a total issue size of Rs7,405 crore, are planning to hit the capital market thif fiscal. This includes big ticket IPOs of Oil India (Rs1,400 crore) and NHPC (Rs2,060 crore), which are expected to tap the market by September.
With the stock market already showing signs of recovery, the IPOs of the public sector units are expected to give a big boost to the capital markets.
With the burden of fiscal deficit looming and the deficit set to widen further, the government would concentrate on divesting its stake in these companies, experts feel.
PSU stocks rallied on Monday, contributing nearly half of the total gain in investor wealth of Rs360,000 crore - its second biggest single-day gain ever.
About 46 PSUs reported strong gains (around 10 per cent), adding Rs180,000 crore to investor wealth. Market players are now looking to make gains from divestments and changes in capital structure of banks and insurance companies.
The top five PSUs - ONGC, NTPC, NMDC, BHEL and MMTC - together have made the government richer by nearly Rs100,000 crore.
US and ISRAELI Disturbance Agencies Have GOT FREEHAND as Ruling Hegemonies in SOUTH ASIA are in FULL CONTROL and MONOPOLISTIC AGGRESSION Shows NO MERCY!India and Pakistan have begun trading intelligence on Islamic extremists, as a result of the prodding by the US, paving the way for an unprecedented cooperation between the two nuclear-armed South Asian nations.
Dr Manmohan Singh was sworn in for a second term as prime minister on Friday by President Pratibha Patil. The UPA won a clear victory in the general election and has raised hopes of greater Economic Reforms!
From just one seat in Lok Sabha poll five years ago, when many had written her political obituary, to the portals of power in Delhi, the wheel has turned full circle for Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the stormy petrel of West Bengal politics!
It is quite an IRONY, that two IPS Officers known as GESTAPO Heads in Marxist Brahaminical hegemony, SULTAN SINGH and RACHHPAL Singh monitored MAMATA`s Polling Operation! These Officers Never spared even Mamata and hit her physically! Basu`s Land Revenue Officer Debbrata Bandopadhyaya and the MASSACRE head in Marichjhanpi Genocide, AMIYO Samanto is also a CELEBRATE in Paribartan Brigade headed by Mahashweta Debi who Refrains to discuss SC and OBC issues, though plays CHAMPION for the tribals!
We have to understand the writing between the LINES and the DIVIDE created by Manusmriti Rule and its ICONS!
Mamata Bannerjee ROMPED HOME with Land slide CHANGE! She led the SINGUR and Nandigram Insurrections! Reaching New Delhi, she presented her SOCIALIST Agenda: Food for All, Job for All! She insists on her Anti land Acquisition and Anti SEZ, anti PCPIR Stance and demands PRIORITY to Agriculture! Let us see How she COPES with the Washington Slaves while she as the RAILWAY Minister of India would it find very Hard to lead from FRONT any RESISTANCE whatsoever!
It would be quite AMUSING how our Marxist Friends would React as TRADE UNION, Peasant and Student Movements are in DEEP Freeze for almost Four Decades!
Meanwhile, With slowdown in economic activities, scores of leading SEZ promoters, including Infosys, Hindalco and NIIT, have been given extension
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However, the Board of Approval headed by Commerce Secretary G K Pillai during its meet on June 2 will consider proposals for setting up 17 new special economic zones (SEZs), including those of Larsen and Toubro, Emaar MGF and Gulf Oil Corporation.
The BoA, which will meet soon after taking over of the UPA government for the second time, also takes up request from realty major DLF for de-notification of its IT-ITeS SEZs in Gujarat, Haryana, West Bengal and Orissa.
"The developer (DLF) has requested for de-notification ... due to slowdown in the economy and liquidity crunch in the overall industry," the agenda document of the meeting said.
The BoA would consider the proposal of Larsen and Toubro for setting IT SEZ in Mumbai, while Gulf Oil Corporation has moved application for a tax free zone in Banglore.
Other proposals for new SEZs include Emaar MGF's IT related SEZ in Kerala.
The CIA arranged for New Delhi and Islamabad to share information on Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for last November's terrorist attack on Mumbai, the Wall Street Journal reported citing US officials.
The two countries are also trading information on Taliban commanders who are leading the insurgency against Pakistan's government.
"America hopes that when India and Pakistan see that they face a common threat in Pakistan based militant groups," the paper said and quoted US officials to say this could make Islamabad put more focus on the battle at home.
"We have to satisfy the Mumbai question, and show India that the threat is abating," the official involved in developing Washington's South Asia strategy said.
India and Pakistan traded military threats across their border in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, in which terrorists left more than 170 people dead.
Intelligence sharing on Mumbai has led to a somewhat more frequent exchange of information, US and Pakistani officials said. India and Pakistan have shared "a lot" of information with each other about the Mumbai attack, said an official at Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency.
He said the CIA was initially used as a conduit but the two countries now work directly with each other, while keeping the CIA in the loop.
The official cautioned," We're not going to tell them everything we know and they are not going to tell us everything they know. Nobody expects that to happen. But we are talking about (the attack). We were not doing that in December," the official said.
The paper said Washington hopes the cooperation will get a lift from the last weeks victory of the incumbent Congress party, which is seen as more moderate than BJP, which is traditionally more hostile to Pakistan.
A US official said Washington isn't "under any illusions" about the difficulty of erasing decades-old suspicions between India and Pakistan, but sees some progress.
US officials hope that a calming of tensions can allow India's Congress Party government, strengthened by its election victory, to resume peace talks with Pakistan. Some US officials believe Lashkar-e-Taiba orchestrated the assault specifically to undermine the peace process.
The US has been concerned that Lashkar could carry out a second strike on India in a bid to stoke a war.
The US also sometimes bring intelligence on Pakistan's effort to combat militants to India's attention, with Pakistan's consent. Examples include showing Indian officials evidence of progress against militants in the Pakistani regions of Bajaur, Swat and Buner.
Brimming with confidence, the ministers in the new Union Cabinet, some of whom are Congress heavyweights serving a second straight term, on Friday spoke of getting down to business quickly to work on the 100-day timeline set by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The ministers said they were not aware of the portfolios they would get but voiced their commitment to provide a "honest, transparent and well meaning leadership" and work on setting targets and goals for various programmes in 100 days.
"The momentum of the government starts from day one and the action plan to be framed by each ministry sets the tone of the government," stressed Kamal Nath, who said he would be "happy" in any portfolio. "I am looking forward to serve again with honesty and purpose," said the former commerce minister.
Kapil Sibal and Ambika Soni, who had looked after Science and Technology and Culture Departments respectively in the outgoing Cabinet, said the strong mandate given to the Congress and the UPA was an opportunity to bear the responsibility of providing good governance.
Possibly sensing that Environment may come under his wing, Sibal spoke of how India is ready to meet challenges posed by global warming and how it was framing sound policies at the national and global level.
Soni said the Manmohan Singh government in its first five-year term fulfilled all "promises" and the roadmap in the first 100 days in its second term will be a sound platform to vigorously push new policies.
More than 270000 Sri Lankan civilians living in makeshift camps after being displaced during the conflict with the Tamil Tigers are facing "critical" conditions, according to UN humanitarian officials! Sri Lanka's government ignored mounting calls Friday by international relief organizations for greater access to the country's swelling refugee camps, as the military continued to weed out suspected former Tamil Tiger rebels hiding among civilians.Even as the end of the war has brought a new flood of refugees in the north in recent days, the United Nations, the International Red Cross and other groups have said that the military's new restrictions have curtailed their activities and are endangering the lives of a refugee population now estimated at 280,000. In a joint statement Friday, 14 international relief organizations operating in the camps said that the government had restricted the movement of their vehicles in and out of the camps, making it impossible to provide adequate services.
On the other hand,Troops are encircling Taliban militants in their mountain base as well as the main town in the Swat Valley, a Pakistani general said Friday, as the U.N. appealed for $543 million to ease the suffering of some 2 million refugees from the fighting.With skepticism growing about the progress of the month-old army offensive in the northwestern region, the army flew a handful of reporters from foreign news organizations into Swat on Friday.An Associated Press reporter aboard the helicopter saw no cars and few people in the town of Mingora or on roads further up the valley, a former tourist haven just 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the capital, Islamabad.
From the air, there was little evidence of the fierce fighting and airstrikes that the military claims have already killed more than 1,000 militants as well as some 60 soldiers.
Mahashweta Debi, SHUBHOPRASANNO and a group of Civil Society and Brahaminical Intelligentsia leads the GIRAFFE BRIGADE calling CHANGE which means ANNIHILATE MARXISM in Bengal! We are NEVER against the IDEOLOGY but we always CRITICISED Ideological DEVIATION of the BRAHAMINICAL Capitalist Marxists!Since Marxism is REDUCED in Power sharing as AMBEDKARITE Ideology has been, our Comrade FRIENDS take our CRITICISM otherwise and BRANDED all those who dare to criticise the IDEOLOGICAL FLIRTING have BEEN BRANDED as GIRAFFE.
India INCs dictate the TERMS and runs the GOVERNMENT for Global Zionist Manusmriti Apartheid TRI IBLIS satanic ORDER!
The AXIS of Indian ORDER of PHOENIX, the POLIT BUREAU of Indian Manusmriti RULE, PRANAB, ADWANI and BUDDHADEB combined has taken over once again and the SHUDRAYAN, ARYAN INVASION against the ABORIGINAL, INDIGENOUS, MINORITY Communities gets NEW MOMENTUM! LPG Mafia is in POWER once again and we may not have BREATHING Space!
WILL the Trade UNIONS and Social Movements Be ACTIVATED to RESIST Mass DESTRUCTION?
Let Our Comrades Take the LEAD on the STREETS as They have Been DETHRONED!
Coal India is OPEN for AUCTION and Hundred Days` ACTION Plan is Launched to FINISH BHARAT and its STARVING Masses!
I am getting PHONE Calls from our Marxist Friends even before the Poll.
Marxist Minister ANIL SARKAR who launched Mother Language Mission, MATRIBHASHA MISSION organised a Function in SHISHIR manch on 19th may to mobilise the SC, ST and OBC Vote Bank and insisted that I should join the campaign. Understandably I could not JOIN!
He is calling our friends! He is trying his best to get a BREAK THROUGH in the HOSTILE MATUA BASTION in Thakur Nagar with his latest Slogan : MARX, AMBEDKAR, Harichand Thakur and Tagore! He does not quote Chaitanya mahaprabhu and his Love Philosophy in West Bengal nor he worships ANUKUL Thakur in Brahaminical Red Fort of Bengal!
Dalit Smannaya Leader BASUDEV Burman is DEFEATED in RANAGHAT, Nadia and he is ACTIVE for Dalit Cause and REFUGEE Problems once again! Dalit Samannaya Samiti is REVIVED and Dr NITISH Biswas is CALLING Every one to join ably SUPPORTED by KAPIL Krishna Thakur. Kanti Biswas, Upen Kisku, Bilasi bala Sahees and subhash Chakrabarti are trying Hard to get the LOST BASE along with BIMAN Bose and BRINDA KARAT!
Let us wait how much time, the LEFT takes to take the streets as INDISCRIMINATE Land acquisition drive and even the Naya Char PCPIR Project have been postponed to deal with Mamata and PARIBARTAN Brigade!
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday took oath along with 19 cabinet colleagues to begin his second five-year term at the head of a multi-party government in which his Congress party is the overwhelmingly dominant partner after a sweeping win in general elections.
There were four new faces in the first edition of the union cabinet that is expected to be followed up by another expansion of the council of ministers in the next few days. All the others were in the outgoing cabinet. All but two were from the Congress party.
Overseen by President Pratibha Patil, Manmohan Singh, 76, was the first to take oath at a simple and brief function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. This is the first time she has administered the oath of office.
Among the new entrants in the cabinet were Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress leader who trounced the Communists in West Bengal, Rajasthan Congress unit president C P Joshi, Congress general secretary M Veerappa Moily, and former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna.
Indian big business has applauded the election results and is demanding that the Congress-led UPA use it new political strength to dramatically accelerate the pace of pro-investor "reforms." This includes gutting restrictions on the closing of factories and contracting out, the whole or partial sell-off of Public Sector Units (government-owned companies), greater latitude for foreign investment in the retail sector, the opening up of India's booming arms industry to private investment, and the deregulation of banking and financial services (pensions and insurance).
"Industry," said Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) President Harsh Pati Singhania, "is happy that we have a verdict which is clear and not fractured ... This will help the government take quick and decisive action.
"We already have a 100-day agenda for the new government and we will hand it over to the prime minister as soon as he takes charge. Reform will happen with a much faster pace."
Citing a massive drop in Indian exports, including a 33 percent drop in March, the President of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, A. Sakthivel, urged the government to declare a tax holiday for his members. "Since the export sector is an employment-oriented industry," said Sakthivel, "we should be exempted from paying income tax for five years."
The corporate media was equally emphatic in demanding that the government use its strengthened mandate to press forward with big business' agenda. Typical was a Hindustan Times editorial entitled "Use this historic victory." It hailed the reduction in the strength of the regional and caste-based parties, whose factional struggles and populist promises have at times cut across the agenda of big business, and especially the Congress' "liberation" from having to secure the parliamentary support of the Stalinist-led Left Front, as it did for the first four years of UPA rule. Declared the Hindustan Times, "The choices provided by the flotsam of the Third and Fourth Fronts have been exposed for what they were; at best, professional nay-sayers; at worst, fly-by-night operators. But with the UPA now without albatrosses like the Left around its neck, we expect the Congress-led government to press its foot more firmly on the gas of reforms."
And there is no question that the Congress leadership will do just that, beginning with a budget in late June or July. The chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, Suresh Tendulkar, responded to the election results by saying, "Economic reforms would certainly be on top of the agenda of the government."
The Obama administration also welcomed the re-election of the Congress-led UPA. At a US Senate hearing last week concerning his appointment as the Under Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake said Washington will soon be making proposals to "strengthen the strategic partnership that exists between the United States and India."
The Indian elite very much views the Indo-US civilian nuclear treaty, which broke the international nuclear embargo against India and which was negotiated by Washington and New Delhi with a view to cementing a "global" partnership, as the signal achievement of the UPA government's first term.
Manmohan opts for old hands with clean image
The portfolios were not announced but speculation centred around two names as the next foreign minister -- Kamal Nath, who has been a successful commerce and industry minister and who led the developing nations' charge in the WTO negotiations; and Krishna, who was in many ways responsible for making Bangalore the country's IT capital.
Pranab Mukherjee, who was external affairs minister in the last cabinet, is widely tipped to become finance minister, a portfolio he held 25 years ago, while Chidambaram and Antony are likely to retain their respective portfolios of home and defence.
The prime minister's A-team comprises Pranab Mukherjee, Chidambaram, Antony, Krishna, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Veerappa Moily, S Jaipal Reddy, Kamal Nath, Vayalar Ravi, Meira Kumar, Murli Deora, Kapil Sibal, Ambika Soni, B.K. Handique, Anand Sharma and Joshi.
Besides Mamata Banerjee, the other non-Congress leader who found cabinet berth was Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.
Performance, experience and continuity have been the important criteria that have gone into the making of Manmohan Singh's new cabinet, say party insiders. The prime minister has already chalked out a 100-day action plan for his government.
"In the case of Moily and Ghulam Nabi Azad, they served the party well and were also instrumental in notching up impressive victories in key states," said a senior Congress functionary.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the second round of oath taking will cover include cabinet ministers, ministers of state with independent charge and ministers of state with representation given to allies.
Anand Sharma, who earlier was a minister of state for external affairs and also held independent charge of the information and broadcasting ministry after Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi was hospitalised with a stroke, was promoted to cabinet rank.
So was Bijoy Krishna Handique, who is from Assam and was the minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers and parliamentary affairs.
Heavyweight Arjun Singh has been dropped from the cabinet, and not just because of his poor health. Some of his decisions as human resource development minister have been questioned and he has been accused of sitting over important decisions in the field of higher education, a subject close to the prime minister's heart. Arjun Singh is likely to be made a state governor.
Mamata Banerjee is likely to get railways, a portfolio she has held earlier in the cabinet of prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while Pawar is set to retain his food and agriculture portfolio.
"I am happy that both the prime minister and the Congress president have recognised my work and that I discharged my work creditably," said Vayalar Ravi, who held both parliamentary affairs and the overseas Indian affairs ministries.
Joshi, who turned the fortunes around for the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan by leading the praty to victory in 19 of its 25 seats, admitted he was surprised to get a cabinet berth. "I am humbled and thank the party leadership for reposing faith in me."
After the failure of talks with the DMK on the distribution of ministerial portfolios, crisis managers in the Congress thought it would be best to go ahead with the first round of oath taking where sure-shot cabinet ministers would be included.
With the DMK insisting on seven ministerial berths - three cabinet, two ministers of state (MoS) with independent charge and two other MoS - Congress managers decided they would engage in another round of discussions to arrive at a compromise formula.
The DMK is making a bid for key ministries including surface transport, railways, IT and communications and tourism.
"By this weekend we will sort out matters on berth allocation with DMK. And in the next round we also have to include the youth brigade," said a senior official in the Prime Minister's Office.
Those expected to be inducted in the second round include Salman Khurshid, Jairam Ramesh, Girija Vyas, Vilas Muttemwar and National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah.
Manmohan Singh will retain the portfolios he was planning to allocate to DMK nominees till differences with the key ally are sorted out.
Satyam has 10,000 excess staff: Tech Mahindra
Satyam Computer has 10,000 excess employees in its 40,000-strong headcount, its new owner Tech Mahindra said on Friday.
"Satyam has 10,000 excess manpower. It has close to 40,000 employees. We are looking at least painful ways to take care of this issue," Tech Mahindra CEO Vineet Nayyar told reporters after a meeting all board members.
On other hand, Satyam Board Chairman Kiran Karnik said, "We are not looking at layoffs. But we are looking at the ways on how to mange the cost, handle people and meet the challenges to the bottom line."
Last month, Tech Mahindra had acquired 51 per cent stake in the Hyderabad-based company for Rs 2,990 crore through a transparent auction.
SEZ body says denotification fine if duty benefits refunded
The Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs on Friday said cash-starved realty major DLF should be allowed to denotify its special
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"In my opinion in such cases (DLF), we should not have any issue in de-notification...If the SEZ developer is willing to refund the entire duty-free benefits to the Government... because whatever duty was foregone by the Government would be recovered from the developer," the council's Director-General L B Singhal said on the sidelines of a PHDCCI seminar here.
DLF has sought the denotification of four of its IT/ITeS SEZs that were to come up in Haryana, Gujarat, Orissa and Kolkata, due to slowdown in the economy and liquidity crunch in the overall industry.
The decision on the denotification would be taken on the June 2 meeting of the Board of Approval (BoA) in the Commerce Ministry.
Singhal further said, "If no activity has taken place from the developer's side and no duty-free benefits have been claimed by the SEZ developer, in that case too, we should not have any issue in denotification."
He, however, added that the final decision lies with the BoA.
SEZ developers get service tax relief
Special Economic Zone developers now will no longer have to go through the process of claiming refunds on service tax paid on
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However, the services provided by entities outside the zone to units in SEZ will continue to attract 10 per cent service tax even as they will be entitled to claim refund later.
"The exemption
Further, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said the developer or unit of an SEZ will maintain proper account of receipt and utilisation of the taxable services for which exemption is claimed.
On March 3, the government had directed payment of service tax on all services allowing exemption by way of refund, the Export Promotion Council on EoUs and SEZs Director General L B Singhal said.
"However, now the services consumed within the SEZ will not attract service tax," he said.
Maoists end House blockade, Nepal set to form govt
KATHMANDU: As Dr Manmohan Singh was being sworn in as India's new prime minister in New Delhi, in Kathmandu, it was finally curtains for Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, who left with all guns blazing as he took on in a final fight in parliament on Friday all enemies and detractors, including Singh's United Progressive Alliance government.
After remaining paralysed for 21 days due to continuous Maoist disruption, Nepal's interim parliament was finally allowed to sit on Friday, setting in motion the process to elect a new prime minister on Saturday.
An emotional Prachanda, who had announced his resignation in the same house on May 4, sang his swan song, defending his nine-month-old government and former guerrilla party against charges of authoritarianism and describing its collapse as a "naked conspiracy by reactionaries".
The former revolutionary, who had remained underground in Assam, Punjab, Bihar and New Delhi during much of his 10-year "People's War", accused India of behaving like a bullying big brother and refusing to change its perspective of Nepal, that had been drawn on the foundations of the humiliating Sugauli Treaty signed in 1816 between Nepal and the British East India Company.
He also defended his first foreign trip to China after assuming office as a bid to try a different tack in international relations as the elected prime minister of a federal democratic republic but said it had failed.
The outgoing premier's other two predictable targets were the chief of the army, Gen Rookmangud Katawal, whom his party had tried to sack, and the President, Dr Ram Baran Yadav, who foiled the attempt by reinstating the sacked general. Also in the line of fire were the four parties in his coalition cabinet, including the communists, who will form the new government after Saturday's election.
Calling the presidential step "unconstitutional, undemocratic and unethical", Prachanda flayed the army chief, raising questions about his closeness to the palace and controversial role during the deposed king's rule.
The parties were dismissed as "betrayers" who, he informed the house, had agreed to remove Katawal but later turned "180 degrees" after "hearing voices from heaven, or being remote-controlled or due to magic".
Prachanda alleged that there was a conspiracy against his government with an anti-Maoist propaganda feeding fears that his guerrilla army was collecting arms and would soon stage another war. The intention behind it was to impose president's rule and deploy the army, he said.
Despite the provocations, the former revolutionary said his party would not leave the peace process or the task of writing a new constitution.
Whether the Maoists mean to fight the war till the bitter end by propping up a prime ministerial candidate would be clear Saturday when the house begins accepting nominations. Unless there is a major upheaval, veteran communist leader and former deputy prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal would be elected Nepal's new PM with 23 of the 25 parliamentary parties having agreed to support his nomination.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Nepal-PM-quits-guns-blazing/articleshow/4566093.cms
Last phase of Sri Lanka war killed 6,200 troops - govt
* Military casualties: over 6,000 dead, nearly 30,000 injured
* 22,000 Tigers killed in same period-military
* U.N. secretary-general en route to Colombo
By C. Bryson Hull and Ranga Sirilal
COLOMBO, May 22 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka has for the first time made public its heavy casualties from the last phase of the 25-year war, as the U.N. chief flew to the island on Friday to push for a rapid end to a lingering humanitarian crisis.
Officials said over 6,000 soldiers were killed and nearly 30,000 injured since a battle in July 2006 that the military marks as the start of "Eelam War IV", the final stage of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Sri Lanka declared total victory over the LTTE on Monday after killing off its leadership and remaining fighters in a climactic final battle in the northeast of the island.
Nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians who followed or were taken by the Tigers as the military relentlessly cornered them, are now in crowded displacement camps after fleeing in the final months of what was Asia's longest modern war.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on his way to Sri Lanka, will call on the government to allow aid agencies to have full access to the camps and push for a political solution, U.N. officials said.
"Since (the July 2006 battle at) Mavil Aru, 6,261 soldiers have laid down their lives for the unitary status of the motherland and 29,551 were wounded," Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the state-run Independent Television Network.
Troops killed 22,000 LTTE fighters during Eelam War IV, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
The LTTE had fought to create the separate nation that it called Eelam -- the Tamil word for homeland -- in northern and eastern Sri Lanka
The government had previously given casualty figures only erratically, and stopped reporting them entirely last year, mindful of a public that might not stomach heavy losses.
TENS OF THOUSANDS DEAD
The United Nations this week said the conflict had killed between 80,000-100,000 people since it erupted into full-scale civil war in 1983 -- including unofficial and unverified tallies showing 7,000 civilian deaths since January.
Pro-LTTE groups say thousands of civilians died in the last few weeks as a result of indiscriminate shelling and firing by Sri Lankan troops.
The government does not give a civilian casualty figure, but says it did not use heavy weapons in the final months and blamed the Tigers for civilian deaths. It says the United Nations numbers were inflated by the LTTE to secure pressure for a truce.
Western governments and the United Nations human rights chief have called for probes into potential war crimes and humanitarian rights violations by both sides.
Ban's chief of staff, in Sri Lanka since last week, said the world body's first priority was the welfare of refugees.
"I don't think we need to be straight away rushing into all kinds of allegations," Ban's chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, told reporters in Colombo. "The idea is to say that in the conduct of all these things, we have to tell them there are norms."
U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes has said the camps are up to international standards with the exception of restrictions on freedom of movement. The military says it needs time to weed out Tiger infiltrators before it can allow that.
On Thursday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa told visiting Indian envoys that he planned to have most people returned to their homes within six months. [ID:nCOL432964]
He also called for all Sri Lankans to be magnanimous, to ensure the victory over the LTTE was not viewed as a defeat of the Tamil minority.
"The government's efforts should necessarily be anchored on its discussions with diverse Tamil groups and their representatives regarding the future political solution through a credible devolution of power," Nambiar said.
Sri Lanka has committed to begin implementing devolution of political power to Tamils as laid out in the 22-year-old Indo-Sri Lanka Accord brokered by India in its first attempt to stop a war watched keenly by its own 60 million Tamils.
Sri Lankan Tamils lost the favoured status they enjoyed under the British colonial government when it handed power over to the Sinhalese majority at independence in 1948. Tamils suffered discrimination and abuse under several subsequent governments. (Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau in Frankfurt; Editing by David Fox)
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSP463682
Reliance Energy joins hands with the World Bank
MUMBAI: Reliance Energy, a power distribution arm of Reliance Infrastructure, joined hands with the World Bank to develop the world class power infrastructure in the unorganized developments in its licensed distribution area in the suburban Mumbai.
As a part of this joint initiative, the company would undertake its first project in the unorganized developments of Shivajinagar area of Govandi in Eastern Mumbai suburb.
The World Bank as an administrator to the scheme christened as Global Partnership on Output – Based Aid (GPOBA), has entrusted Reliance Energy, being a licensed power distributor in the area, to execute the project in Shivajinagar, Govandi.
As a part of execution of the programme, the company will start developing power distribution infrastructure in a planned and systematic ways. This would include several initiatives like laying down new distribution network; installing electricity meters to ensure authorized and metered power supply, etc. The work is expected to start after the monsoon.
The Company, though getting aid from the World Bank under the programme, would be substantially investing in creating the world class infrastructure for the project. The initiative, when completed, is expected to be beneficial to around 26000 households in the concerned areas.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Infrastructure/Reliance-Energy-joins-hands-with-the-World-Bank/articleshow/4556915.cms
Tata Group cos to invest Rs 2,000 cr to set up logistics parks
NEW DELHI: Tata Group firms Drive India Enterprise Solutions and Tata Realty and Infrastructure plan to set up logistics parks across the
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The two companies would set up 7-8 logistics parks with a total warehousing space of 38.5 million sq ft in the next four to five years, Drive India Enterprise Solutions CEO Ajay Chopra told reporters here today.
"Tatas intend to enter this space (logistics and warehousing) to effectively exploit the emerging landscape and become a market leader in this space.
"While Tata Realty and Infrastructure (TRIL) will make an investment of Rs 2,000 crore and set up infrastructure at the parks, Drive India will be the service provider in these parks," he said.
However, he declined to give details on how TRIL would raise the proposed investment.
The companies would set up parks in Gurgaon, Kolkata and Nagpur initially. Another one would be built in the vicinity of either Hyderabad or Chennai, he said.
Liquidity roll back needed when growth picks up: RBI
MUMBAI: India will need to roll back excess liquidity from the banking system when economic growth picks up, Duvvuri Subbarao, the head of the Reserve Bank of India, said at The Financial Management Summit '09 hosted by The Economic Times in Mumbai on Friday.
Sensex up 14.1% on week; best in 17 yrs
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Reuters
Posted: May 22, 2009 at 1721 hrs ISTMumbai The BSE Sensex rose 1.1 per cent on Friday and took gains for the week to 14.1 per cent, its most in 17 years, buoyed by hopes for pro-market reforms after the ruling coalition won general election last weekend.
Manmohan Singh is set to be sworn in later in the day as the prime minister for a second term, along with his new cabinet and the outlook for the market would depend on how quickly they are able to push asset sales in state firms, ease rules for foreign investment and boost sagging growth.
Some analysts believe the market is overbought after it leapt more than 17 per cent at the start of the week following the unexpectedly easy election win. The BSE index has risen 73 per cent from a 2009 low in early March and has climbed for 11 weeks in a row in the longest winning streak in four years.
"Valuations have become high, but people are buying because they may be left out otherwise," D.D. Sharma, vice president at Anand Rathi Securities, said.
The BSE index ended up 150.61 points at 13,887.15, with gainers and losers evenly matched. Trading was choppy with the index falling 0.9 per cent at one stage.
Brokerages and investment houses polled by Reuters expected the benchmark to reach 15,750 by the end of December, gaining another 13 per cent.
"There are so many desperate buyers because nobody is betting on the market going down. You will see people buying at every dip from now," Sharma said.
Energy giant Reliance Industries, private-sector lender ICICI Bank and infrastructure firm Larsen & Toubro led the market higher after a lower start.
Reliance, which has the biggest weight in the main index, rose 3.1 per cent to 2,183.10 rupees, while private-sector lender ICICI gained 4.5 per cent to 702.80 rupees.
Larsen & Toubro climbed 4.7 per cent to 1,301.40 rupees.
The market has largely been powered by foreign funds, which have pumped about $5 billion into the market in the past two months, including more than $1 billion in this week.
Outsourcers Tata Consultancy and Wipro, which get most of their revenue from overseas, fell about 2 per cent as the rupee climbed past 47 to a dollar to its highest since December.
The rupee is set to extend its gains in the remainder of 2009 after rising sharply this week following the ruling Congress-led coalition's decisive victory in the elections, a Reuters poll showed.
Asian shares eased after a drop on Wall Street overnight on fears the United States, with its increasing budget deficit and weakened economy, could lose its AAA rating.
Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.4 per cent, while MSCI's measure of other Asian markets edged down 0.02 per cent.
European shares were higher after falling more than 2 per cent in the previous session. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4 per cent at 1117 GMT.
Indian IT firms see glimmer of hope
Agencies
Posted: May 22, 2009 at 1403 hrs ISTangalore Financials on the mend and signs the world economy is not falling off the cliff are good news for India's high profile IT outsourcing industry but that's still not enough for the sector to regain its past glory.
Many customers of India's software services exporters, who had so far chalked up impressive rates of growth, are struggling to stay afloat, have gone bankrupt, or are tackling severe cost cuts, leaving them little room to boost technology spending.
Add the risk to earnings from the rupee trading at five-month highs, the end of a decade-old tax holiday next year on major technology facilities and pressure on bailed-out clients not to outsource jobs and the outlook becomes more messy.
"The economic downturn is so severe that people are not making decision on investments and they are cancelling new project works. It's very tough time for these guys," said John McCarthy, principal analyst for Forrester Research.
"The golden age of massive profits for offshore companies is over."
Powered by an army of low-cost, English-speaking workers, India's $60 billion IT outsourcing sector provide services ranging from managing complex computer networks and call centres to software coding to maintaining technology operations.
Indian software services firms came out of the 2000-2002 technology spending bust with sales growing up to 50 percent a year as they won over companies to contract out inefficient operations instead of managing them in-house.
But as global companies scramble to chalk out new business strategies in the post-Lehman world, cautious is the buzz word, especially for longer-term contracts worth millions of dollars.
COMMUNICATION : IF YOU HAVE TEARS SHED THEM NOW
Brahminical bid to kill 2 crore Bengali Dalit refugees
SIDDARTH BARVE, QCC DEPT., BPCL, "A" INSTALLATION, SEWRE-FORT ROAD, SEWREE, BOMBAY - 400 015
This refers to the complaint (DV, April 16, 2009) by one of our very angry brothers Ashutosh Thakur from Hooghly ("DV ignoring plight of Bengali Dalits") and he writes in his concluding statement that "……. I don't want to a be subscriber of Dalit Voice. Please stop sending it."
I wish to bring to your notice that four years ago my article was very promptly published in DV, "Genocide of 2 Crore Bengali Refugees". I remember this very well because you had written me in very strong words why I had delayed in sending such a sensitive information. I was extremely happy with your strong words because I could feel the sensation, anger and concern in you with regards to the 2 crore Bengali refugees who are denied citizenship by the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2003. But despite of your concern for our Bengali brethren, Ashutosh Thakur has vented his anger on DV and the only reason he must not have read my article published in DV.
BRAHMINICAL COMMUNISTS
On May 9, 2003, L.K. Advani introduced the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2003 in Parliament when the BJP Govt. was in power and the Congress and the Leftist parties were in the opposition. When this Bill was passed in Parliament on Jan. 9, 2004, a very surprising observation came to light. The Congress, especially Pranab Mukherjee, and the Leftist parties, were more happy to back the BJP govt. in passing the Bill and after the Bill was passed all these Brahminical parties were celebrating the event. It was very shocking and suspicious for us and we were sure that this Bill had something to do with the life of aboriginal Indians. Hence we wanted to get some more details of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2003.
DALIT-MUSLIM UNITY IN BENGAL
I need not tell you that due to the movement started by Harichand- Guruchand Thakur, our aboriginal (Mulnivasi) Bengali people got educated and slowly and gradually upliftment of the downtrodden masses took place in Bengal when a similar movement was undergoing in Maharastra under the leadership of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. As a result of this movement great people from the Namashudras, Pandokhatriayas and Rajbansi castes become leaders and Bengal was governed in British India by our people along with the Muslim League. People like Jogendranath Mandal, Mukand Bihari Mallik, Panchanan Burman, Rasiklal Biswas, Darikanath Baruri, Nagendra Narayan Roy, Bir Birsa, Gayanath Biswas, Raibahadur Sriniwas and many more emerged in Bengal which made history.
And the biggest history that was created by these people was electing Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar to the Constituent Assembly.
In the first election in March 1946, Dr. Ambekar's Schedule Caste Federation contested many seats in India but except Jogendranath Mandal no one could get elected. In the same year (June, 1946) election to the Constituent Assembly was declared and only those candidates who had won in the March 1946 general election were eligible to vote for the member of the Constituent Assembly. As only one member of the Schedule Caste Federation, Jogendranath Mondal, had won from Bengal it was very difficult for Dr. Ambedkar to contest the election for the Constituent Assembly from Maharashtra. Dr. Ambedkar become very depressed since he thought that his dream of getting elected to the Constituent Assembly was shattered and he could not do anything for the downtrodden of this country. His last chance of serving his people was over.
SARDAR PATEL ATTACKS DR. AMBEDKAR
The Congress and Vallabhbhai Patel made a very sarcastic statement:–
"We have now permanently shut not only the doors but also the windows of the Parliament for Ambedkar".
Salt was rubbed on the wounds of Babasaheb, he was hurt to the core. At such a difficult time Jogendranath Mandal along with the great Bengali leaders got Dr. Ambedkar elected to the Constituent Assembly in a by-election from Kholna, Jassor, Barisal, Dhaka, Faridpur and Maimansing (all these places are now part of East Pakistan i.e. Bangladesh).
The Congress and the Hindu Maha Sabha members were hurt by the act of our "great leaders" from Bengal and therefore to destroy the power of our people which they enjoyed with the Muslim League, the Congress and the Hindu Mahasabha started a conspiracy. On March 15, 1947, the leader of Hindu Mahasabha, Shyam Prasad Mukherjee, called for a big meeting of the upper castes of Bengal and said:
"We cannot live under the power of the Backward Castes and the Muslims and it is an insult and hence Bengal shall be divided".
HINDU CONSPIRACY TO DIVIDE BENGAL
From March 15, 1947 to July 2, 1947, 75 meetings to divide Bengal were organised and you will be surprised to know that 56 meetings out of the 75 were organised by the power-hungry Manuvadi Congress to divide Bengal into East and West Bengal. When the division of India took place the "two- nation theory" was developed:where a majority of the Hindus resided that part of the country should be with India and where the majority of the Muslims stayed should go to Pakistan, It is shocking that when the partition took place Kholna, Jassor, Barisal, Dhaka, Faridpur and Maimansing, where over 78 % of Hindus (mostly Namosudaras, Pandokhatriayas and Rajbansi) lived and from where Dr. Ambedkar was elected to the Constituent Assembly, was separated from India and given to Pakistan. A historical blunder against the two-nation theory took place. Jogendranth Mandal tried his best to save this split but it was foiled by the brahmanvadi Congress.
After the division of Bengal our people who became a minority in East Pakistan faced lots of hardship at the hands of Muslims. Thinking we are Hindu and to avenge what was going on in West Pakistan and North India, the Muslims of East Pakistan burnt our houses, killed innocent children and our mothers and sisters had to face mass raping and killing.
The award was given to our people for no fault of theirs by the manuvadi Congress. When things were not good, to hide their sins and with crocodile tears the Congress, Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and Dr. Rajendra Prasad made a statement that if the Hindus of East Pakistan are not safe there, they can migrate to India and citizenship shall be granted to them with ease. Later, our Bengali brethren started coming to India as refuges. An unwanted guest in his own motherland.
HINDU HATE THEORY
The refugees who had come from Pakistan — the Punjabis and Sindhis — who belonged to the upper castes were given huge amount of money, property at low rate, land and settled in comfort in big cities and one place. But our brethren were settled in places like Kalahandi, Chandrapur, Andaman forest and dirty locations where they had to face the miseries and poverty, they were always on move and did not have any documentary evidence to prove.
The Brahmanvadi Congress, BJP and all Hindu terrorist parties know fully well that the Bengali refugees are "low castes" but deliberately they spread through the print and electronic media that the Bangledeshi refugees were Muslim and, therefore, the people — even the SC/ST of this country — have started hating them thinking them to be outsiders and nothing to do with them.
The Hindus were thus successful in creating a hate theory against the refugees.
We in Maharashtra are not even aware of the plight of our Bengali brethren leave aside fighting for them. In 1955, the Citizenship Bill was passed by the Indian Parliament which stated that the citizens of undivided India who had to leave this country due to the partition, if such people want to come back to India or migrate to India, they are entitled to become citizen of India and their children who will be born on the Indian soil will be natural citizens of this country. The second part of the Bill also stated that the former citizens of India who have surrendered their citizenship and settled abroad will continue to be citizen of this country and shall not be liable for the citizenship of India unless they surrender their foreign citizenship and apply for Indian citizenship (in short dual citizenship will not be allowed).
HINDU CONSPIRACY
To make the life of our Bengali brethren still worse, Home Minister Advani, the CM of Assam and ASSU got together in Delhi on March 19, 1999 and a meeting was held at the Home Ministry where the framework for declaring the Bengali refugees illegal was decided. It was decided that the children of the Bengali refugees who were born between 1971 and 1986 will be treated as illegal migrants to this country and very harsh and strong action will be taken against them including extraditing them outside India and under no circumstance they will be given citizenship of this country even if they wish to register as citizens of this country. From this day the conspiracy started in the Home Ministry and they started working on the Amendment to the Citizenship Bill, 1955.
BLACK BILL PASSED
The Amendment Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on May 9, 2003 by Home Minister Advani and it was sent to Pranab Mukherjee for his response so that the same can be passed.
On Jan.9, 2004, BJP got the Bill passed with the help and full support of the Congress and the Left parties.
This Bill is a Black Bill for our Bengali Mulnivasi brethren because it stated that under no circumstance the refugees from Bangladesh can get citizenship of this country and strict legal action will be initiated against them by the govt. With this, over 2- crore Bengali refugee brethren will be affected and will face difficulties which they must not have thought about.
The BJP, Congress and the Left parties did not stop here. They wanted to rub salt on our wounds and hence in the same Bill they gave dual citizenship (double citizenship) to the people of the higher caste who are staying in 16 different countries so that they never face any problem, send money to India so that the Hindu terrorist organizations use them and kill us and vote in the election for the Brahmanwadi BJP or Congress and get elected easily on their votes.
REPORT TO WAMAN MESHRAM
This is the biggest conspiracy that has taken place against our people but still not even the educated Bengali brothers of the SC/ST and OBC are aware of this fact, leave aside the uneducated and poor Bengali who are going to be thrown out of the country.
To project the plight of our Bengali Mulnivasi brethren we brought this along with documentary evidence to the notice of Waman Meshram, President of BAMCEF. Having come to know the plight of the people due to whom Dr. Ambedkar was elected to the Constituent Assembly and due to which we are a liberated lot, Waman Meshram gave top priority to this subject and a national conference on this subject was organised to educate the people, mostly non-Bengalis living in 6 lakhs villages in India, that the Mulnivasi Bangladesh refuges are our blood and we shall fight to the last to resolve the crises of their citizenship.
We in the BAMCEF are trying to make people aware of this Hindu conspiracy so that concrete steps are taken to stop this mass genocide and we have succeeded in doing it throughout the country.
Last year (2008), BAMCEF held conferences in Cuttack, Orissa. BAMCEF has put the subject – "Citizenship Amendment Act, 2003 and the plight of Mulnivasi Bengali" on the very first day of the conference along with international networking subjects so that the delegates from international level understand the plight of our Bengali brethren and internationalize the subject.
BAMCEF did not stop here. After the first day a documentary CD was shown to all the delegates who had come from various parts of the country – Marinchzappi.
This very powerful documentary showed the genocide and plight of the Mulnivasi Bengali in Marinchzappi where thousands of peaceful Bengali brethren were killed along with their children and family by the Jyoti Basu's Govt. in 1978.
Today we have succeeded in projecting this cause not only in front of the SC/ST / OBC and convinced minorities in 6 lakh villages in India but also in 33 countries across the world.
NEED TO I NTERNATIONALISE REFUGEE PROBLEM
But the problem cannot be solved on a national level and the manuvadi people in power, who have created this problem for our Bengali brethren, will never come forward to solve it as it is beneficial to them. This is a gross violation of human rights and hence the problem need to be projected at the international platform - the UN. We think that this can be possible only with the support and backing of people like you. We in BAMCEF are hopeful that leaving aside all the differences among the SC/ST/OBCs of Bengal if we come together on this social platform then only we can stop the fast-approaching genocide of our dear brethren.
As a Maharastrian and Ambedkarite it is my duty to inform the people. I have been firmly supported by my colleagues — Palash Biswas, Shivani Biswas, K.L. Biswas, Bala and Meena Bala who inspired me to flight.
STOP READING BRAHMIN PAPERS
I request my brother Ashutosh Thakur to vent his anger in a more positive manner, not to stop reading Dalit Voice but immediately stop subscribing to Anand Bazar Patrika, Aaj Kal, Jugantar, Pratidin, Statesman, Basumati, etc. and all the Brahmanwadi vulture media which are the biggest source of false information on the subject, maligning our great leaders.
Due to statements made by these toilet papers thousands of my Bengali brethren are arrested for extradition from the country and taken away and the most shocking news they have so far not reached Bangladesh.
You should not be surprised if a mass graveyard is discovered in the years to come.
I request everybody including DV and Ashutosh Thakur to join hands on a social platform, internationalize the subject, expose the Brahmanvadi Congress, BJP and Communists and destroy the dreams of our enemy who are bent on killing our 2 crore Bengali brethren. I thank Ashutosh Thakur for giving me an opportunity to pen down this article without which I could not have written a single line.
So far I am not a subscriber of Dalit Voice but now please except me as subscriber of Dalit Voice and let me know my contribution towards the same.http://www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/may_a2009/articles.htm
India's key new ministers
 A total of 19 ministers have been sworn in in the first round |
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been sworn in at the head of a new Indian government in the capital, Delhi.
A 19-member cabinet has taken the oath of office at a ceremony at the presidential palace in Delhi.
The first list includes some Congress veterans and two important allies. No portfolios have yet been announced. More ministers will be added in the next few days.
Here are some of the key figures:
The Indian PM, often derided by the opposition BJP as weak, stunned his critics when he led Congress party to a decisive victory in the elections.
Widely regarded as the architect of the country's economic reforms programme in the early 1990s, many say he is the best man to lead India in these times of global economic recession. A studious former academic and bureaucrat, he keeps a low profile and is viewed as perhaps the cleanest politician in India.
The first Sikh to hold the top post, Mr Singh became prime minister after Congress leader Sonia Gandhi turned down the post in 2004. The biggest triumph during his first five-year-rule was to bring India out of nuclear isolation by signing a landmark deal with the US.
Lacking in charisma, Mr Singh has never won a popular election - he has always been a member of the upper house - but he enjoys popular support from the masses who respect him for his integrity and intelligence.
The foreign minister in the outgoing government, Pranab Mukherjee, is the Congress party's man for all seasons. He is an accomplished politician whose popularity cuts across party lines. And that makes him invaluable when it comes to negotiating with tricky and temperamental political allies.
 Mr Mukherjee's popularity cuts across party lines |
Although he has been an MP in the Rajya Sabha - the upper house of parliament - for the past four decades, he won a popular election to the Lok Sabha - the lower house of parliament - for the first time in 2004.
Besides the foreign ministry, Mr Mukherjee has also served as the finance minister, the defence minister and the industry minister at various times in the past.
The diminutive politician enjoys great stature - his loyalty and competence have endeared him to Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.
The suave, articulate politician from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has had successful stints as the finance minister as well as the interior minister.
The Harvard-educated lawyer spent the first four years of the last government as the finance minister and the Indian economy grew rapidly under him.
 Mr Chidambaram is known for his efficiency |
Mr Chidambaram is a firm believer in free trade and is known for his daring scheme to halt tax evasion. He is well known for his pro-market reforms and for his bold steps to abolish red tape.
His reputation for efficiency resulted in him being appointed the home minister after the deadly Mumbai attacks in November last year.
His critics accuse him of being arrogant and say he is not known to have the ability to reach out to party cadres, perhaps a reason why he came close to losing the recent election. In the end, he won with a small margin of about 3,500 votes.
Senior Congress party leader AK Antony was India's defence minister and has been a three-time chief minister of the southern state of Kerala.
The 68-year-old politician is known for his clean image. According to reports, he would cancel defence contracts at the whiff of controversy. Analysts say during his tenure, violence in Kashmir touched new lows and his policies have made him popular with the army.
As defence minister, he toured most forward areas including the Siachen glacier - often described as the highest battlefield in the world - and came up with measures to improve the living conditions of soldiers.
But critics say he delayed purchase of gear and equipment for the armed forces, affecting their battlefield capability.
Sharad Pawar is the head of the ally, the Nationalist Congress Party. He is one of the few politicians to enjoy support from parties across regions and ideologies. He was brought into Congress by former PM Rajiv Gandhi. And in 1991, he became defence minister under PM Narasimha Rao.
In 1999, he protested against Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin and broke away from Congress. But five years later he was back with his old ally, entering the governing coalition United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the eve of the 2004 polls.
Not trusted by many in India's political class, Mr Pawar is known to be ruthless and ambitious. As political parties negotiated ahead of the recent elections, Mr Pawar's supporters floated his name as a prime ministerial candidate. But with Congress getting a decisive mandate in the elections, Mr Pawar will have to contend with a ministry for the moment.
Will Mamata Banerjee give sleepless nights to PM Manmohan Singh? That's a question many in India are asking as the mercurial chief of the regional Trinamul Party drives a hard bargain for ministerial posts.
 Ms Banerjee is known for being temperamental |
Ms Banerjee with her 19 MPs is an indication of the waning popularity of the Communists in the state of West Bengal. Exactly three years ago, her party seemed to be a spent political force and she was considered something of a "political oddball".
But in the past couple of years, she has steadily made inroads into the leftists' territory. She has led successful campaigns against the state government's initiative to acquire vast tracts of agricultural land in Singur and Nandigram in south Bengal for the car and chemicals industries respectively. Both projects were withdrawn in the face of resistance.
Taking up the issues of small farmers, Ms Banerjee became a cheerleader for Bengal's rural poor. However, her relationship with the Congress is expected to be stormy. Soon after the elections, she said she wanted early assembly elections in West Bengal, a demand Congress may not be able, or willing, to grant.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8063285.stm
India's PM faces tough agenda
| By Paranjoy Guha Thakurta Indian economic analyst |
 The Congress party's pro-poor policies paid off in the election |
As the new Indian government is sworn in, it is clear it will have to confront major challenges to revive its sagging economy.
The fact that Prime Minister-elect Manmohan Singh is a renowned economist will certainly help the world's largest democracy counter an economic slowdown.
What will benefit the leadership of the Congress party (to which Mr Singh belongs) even more is that the country's centre-left "grand old party" is leading a coalition government with a comfortable majority.
Congress alone has 206 MPs out of the 543 in the Lok Sabha or lower house of parliament.
Whereas political analysts had anticipated a fractured mandate, Indian voters delivered an unexpectedly decisive one in the country's 15th general election, the outcome of which became known last Saturday.
Slowing economy
Aged 76 and having undergone a recent heart bypass surgery, Mr Singh was formally elected by his party's lawmakers as their leader on Tuesday after elections that were spread out over five phases in a blistering hot April-May, the biggest exercise of its kind on the planet.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Singh said that among his main tasks was the challenge to revive the economy, create jobs and ensure that the benefits of growth reached the underprivileged in the world's second-most-populous nation state.
 Congress has the benefit of a large electoral mandate |
"There is some slowing down of investment and employment generation. We have to revive growth and make it even more inclusive," he said as party MPs thumped their desks in the central hall of parliament in Delhi.
The Indian economy, after having grown by a record 9% four years in succession for the first time since the country became politically independent in 1947, has slowed down to 6%-7% over the past year or so.
Industrial production has declined and exports have fallen by one third.
Millions of jobs, especially in export-oriented industries such as textiles, garments, gems, jewellery, leather and handicrafts, have been lost in recent months as recession-hit Western markets for such products have disappeared.
Whereas India is the second-fastest growing economy in the world among large countries after China, a substantial section of the country's 1.1 billion people is extremely poor - at least one out of four survives on less than $1 a day and more than two out of three Indians live on $2 a day.
"The five years in front of us could well be a decisive half-decade," Mr Singh said on Tuesday.
He added: "If we can sustain the growth rates of the last five years, we can reduce poverty, create new employment, accelerate rural development and industrialisation and transform the lives of our people... We must grasp the nettle firmly and forge ahead."
Agricultural successes
The rate of growth of India's economy picked up from the early-1990s after a phase of "liberalisation" and reduction of controls that had been presided over by Mr Singh who became finance minister in an earlier Congress government after a long stint as a technocrat and academic.
Despite the market friendly policies pursued by Mr Singh and some of his colleagues, there is a substantial section in the Congress party that remains wedded to the party's socialist past.
 Mr Singh has made economic recovery one of his key concerns |
After Mr Singh became prime minister for the first time five years ago, his administration was attacked by his political opponents on the right (that is, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party) as well as the Left (namely, the Communist parties that withdrew support to the government last July over the nuclear deal with the United States).
However, the just-concluded elections have made both right and left considerably weaker after a mandate that is widely perceived to have been in favour of centrist policies and political stability.
The challenge for Mr Singh's government will be to meet the aspirations of India's youthful and upwardly mobile middle classes while widening social safety nets for the poor, specially those living in rural areas.
The pre-election manifesto of Congress has promised subsidised cereals for the poor.
The first Singh administration had written off agricultural loans worth 700bn rupees ($15bn) and also initiated a legally guaranteed employment programme for 100 days in a year for families in rural areas, both of which have apparently paid the Congress rich electoral dividends.
Troubled neighbourhood
In many respects, the tasks that lie ahead for the newly-elected regime are evident and these are to revamp the country's inadequate social infrastructure (notably basic health-care, sanitation and primary education) as well as its rickety physical infrastructure (electricity, drinking water facilities and roads).
 Burma is one of many less-than-stable neighbours |
On the foreign policy front, Mr Singh will have to deal cautiously with neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan, where Islamic fundamentalists are threatening to overrun both countries.
In Sri Lanka, the quarter-century militant movement to create a new nation for ethnic Tamils living in the northern part of the island may have been finally crushed by the military, but problems of providing humanitarian assistance for thousands displaced by the conflict continue.
Governance in another country neighbouring India, Nepal, is yet to stabilise after the Maoists withdrew from government following differences with army bosses.
In Burma, the military junta remains firmly entrenched despite periodic outbursts of protest from pro-democracy forces that have rallied around Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for more than a decade.
Among India's neighbours, Bangladesh is arguably the most politically stable after the pro-India Awami League was elected to power with a sweeping majority in December.
In order to ensure political stability in a restive subcontinent while protecting India from the worst ravages of the ongoing worldwide economic crisis, Manmohan Singh has more than enough on his plate as he commences his second term as prime minister.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8062882.stm
As it happened: How events unfolded on the day Congress swept to victory 
Results in full How many seats did the parties and coalitions win?
Singh thanks voters for victory 
Congress party start celebrations 
How votes are counted in India 
India election train's last stop | Elec. Commission Congress party BJP Shiv Sena Party Samajwadi party AIADMK DMK Telugu Desam CPI(M) CPI BSP (unofficial site) Trinamool Cong. Nationalist Cong. |
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ISI's approach to India has to change: Mullen
| Font Size |
Agencies
Posted: May 22, 2009 at 1028 hrs IST
Washington Observing that the ISI and its strategic approach has been to foment towards India and Afghanistan, a top US military official on Friday said the Pakistani intelligence agency has to change its outlook.
"Pakistan created the ISI and its strategic approach as been to foment towards India, foment towards Afghanistan and in their insecurity in that regard, the ISI has a mission," Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said.
"A lot of that will change, I believe, long-term if they have more confidence in their own security," Mullen said in response to a question in his appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Mullen said he has expressed his concern to the Pak leaders about the links between ISI and the Taliban.
"I have had lengthy discussions with Pak civilian and military leadership, the military leadership is critical here and what I've watched and certainly expressed this concern and my belief has been for some time that I believe the ISI has to change its strategic approach in order for progress to be made over the long term," he said in response to a question from Senator Feingold.
Mullen said, "What General Kiyani has done and the civilian leadership has done has changed out the leadership of that organisation, almost the entire leadership, not just Pasha, but the principle directorates are all people that General Kiyani trusts. We've had this discussion. This has happened over the last six months."
"So I think this is going to take some time. The ISI is very supportive in ways and constructive in ways that we concur in. There are still challenges about connections with militants and their support of those militants as well, and I have constantly address those concerns, will continue to do that," Mullen said.
The top US military leader, who has been visiting Pakistan almost every other month in the past one year, said: "The ISI is an organisation that as long as last summer I have talked publicly about needing to change its strategic direction."
At a very high level it gets to the question of how Pakistan ensures its security. "It has historically done that by agitating both in Afghanistan and in India. To the degree that they are secure, they feel good about their security in the future, I think that argues for and presents potential for a strategic shift," he argued.
"That said, there is a grey area in the ISI that many of us don't understand. Clearly those kinds of connections that you talked about have been there. And they need to cease at some point," Mullen said.
During the testimony, several Senators questioned the commitment of the ISI and its continued links with the Taliban.
"In April we saw reports coming out that the ISI in Pakistan was actually assisting the Taliban. That was April, just last month. Now I understand that the Pakistanis are on an offensive, but I'm wondering what is ISI's role here at this point in time?
"How engaged are they, because when I look at those reports, when I look at the release of the video of our CIA director which should have been a private meeting, and obviously was meant to undercut whatever that conversation was, and when I look at the set of circumstances of acquiring nuclear weapons, when we are giving money, money is fungible at the end of the day, it makes for a concern for me," said Senator Robert Menendez.
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Burma's Suu Kyi claims innocence
 Diplomats were allowed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday |
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, on trial for breaking the terms of her house arrest, has told a court she committed no crime, her lawyer says.
She spoke as prosecutors ended their case days earlier than expected, lawyer Nyan Win said.
Ms Suu Kyi had been due for release on 27 May, but the charges she faces carry a maximum of five years in jail.
Observers say Burma's military rulers are using the charges to keep her in jail during an election due next year.
She faces an accusation that she allowed US national John Yettaw to stay in her home, breaching the conditions of her latest period of house arrest.
Mr Win said the presiding judge officially accepted the charges at the end of the prosecution case - which came much more rapidly than people had expected.
Prosecutors had been expected to call 22 witnesses, but the lawyer told the BBC's Burmese service that in the event far fewer had actually taken the stand.
He said the judge asked Ms Suu Kyi whether she was guilty, and she replied: "I have no guilt as I didn't commit any crime."
The trial, which is being held behind closed doors at Rangoon's Insein jail, is expected resume on Monday when her defence will present its case.
'Assassination dream'
Mr Yettaw, who swam across a lake to reach her house, is also on trial in Insein jail.
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He is reported to have testified that he made the visit because he had dreamt that she was going to be assassinated.
Ms Suu Kyi's lawyers say she tried to send the man away but he refused to go.
He was then allowed to stay only because he said he was exhausted.
The ruling generals say the incident was a stunt designed to embarrass the government.
Foreign Minister Nyan Win was quoted as saying the incident had been fabricated by "internal and external anti-government elements" to "intensify international pressure" on the regime.
International condemnation
Ms Suu Kyi's trial opened on Monday behind closed doors.
Burma's ruling junta allowed some diplomats and journalists into the proceedings on Wednesday, only to bar them again the following day.
Governments and rights groups have condemned the trial - and diplomats have said they expect Ms Suu Kyi to be found guilty.
The Nobel laureate has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years.
The party she leads, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won the country's last general election in 1990 - but she was never allowed to take power.
The ruling generals have scheduled an election for next year - but have written a new constitution which carves out a major role for the military in any new government.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8063817.stm
India remains a great long-term profit play. But global investors should beware of the near-term exuberance that followed that nation's weekend elections.
The Indian market zoomed 17% on Monday on the news that the Congress Party had been re-elected with an increased majority. It's certainly true that some of the other alternatives - for example a weak leftist Third Force coalition including the spectacularly corrupt Mayawati Kumari (India's richest politician, a keenly fought title) - would have been worse.
Nevertheless, you have to remember that the Congress Party (also known as the India National Congress, and referred to by its initials, INC) is responsible for most of India's woes, both recently and in the 60 years since independence, and that putting it back into power is unlikely to bring much of a step forward - economically speaking.
Condemned to Slow Growth
For more than 40 years after independence - albeit with one short exception - India was ruled by the Congress party and condemned to slow economic growth. Then, after 1991, then finance minister Manmohan Singh began opening up the economy. However, growth had already slowed again in the mid 1990s and it was only under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998-2004 that India removed many of its longstanding statist obstacles to growth, and began to enjoy economic growth rates comparable to those of China.
The Vajpayee government was rejected by the Indian electorate in 2004, in a stunning act of electoral ingratitude second only to Britain's shocking 1945 rejection of Winston Churchill, who had helped engineer the Allied victory in World War II.
Since 2004, India's Congress Party has been back in power under Singh - this time as prime minister - in a coalition with the left. The nation's leadership has made endless promises of reform, but has really accomplished very little. Economic growth has continued to be rapid, largely because of the Vajpayee government's reforms, which were particularly extensive during that administration's last two years in power in 2002-2004. The Congress Party's main achievements were run-ups in both public spending and the fiscal deficit, the latter of which seems likely to run at a rate of about 12% of gross domestic product (GDP) for the 2009-2010 period - if state deficits are included.
By the 2009 election, Vajpayee had retired, and his successor as BJP leader - L.K. Advani - was both old and associated with the party's Hindu nationalist wing, so it's not surprising that the BJP failed to make progress. The collapse of support in the election for the mostly leftist third parties is itself a good sign, making a swing back to the BJP under new leadership more likely whenever the next election occurs, probably in 2014.
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In the five intervening years until that happens, India will have to endure a Congress Party government, either under current Prime Minister Singh, or possibly under newcomer Rahul Gandhi - grandson of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which would make him the latest member of the Nehru/Gandhi dynasty to hold that office.
Don't Expect Reforms
Congress' claim to reformism becomes especially thin when you look at the party's allies. For example, West Bengal's Trinamool Congress led the violent opposition to Tata Motors Ltd.'s (NYSE ADR: TTM) "Nano" automobile plant in that state. Tata had managed to do a deal with Bengal's Communist state government to produce the revolutionary $2,000 car, but the Trinamool Congress was able to force Tata to relocate the plant to Gujarat at a cost of more than $500 million, delaying the full production of the Nano by more than a year. In the recent elections, Trinamool, in alliance with the national Congress Party, was rewarded with 26 of West Bengal's 42 parliamentary seats, and its leadership will doubtless be part of the new government.
The new government's policy is thus unlikely to be very reformist, especially as it rejoices in the support of the egregious Mayawati. In welcoming the election win, Prime Minister Singh indicated further areas where India's public spending and transfer payments needed to be increased, with no suggestion that privatization or reining back the immense public-sector deficit were a priority. It's thus likely that the Indian government will continue as an ever-increasing drag on the economy, with a funding crisis possible if public spending increases too much.
In such an environment, it is unlikely that India's 8% average growth rate of the last five years can continue; the average of the next five years is much more likely to be in the 4% to 5% range, possibly with an acute foreign exchange crisis at some point. There's no question that India's stock market - trading at a Price/Earnings (P/E) ratio of roughly 20 - is expecting much better than this. That means it's time to step back.
When - and How - to Make Your Play
Once the euphoria has dissipated, and the Indian market has dropped at least 30% from its current level, to below 10,000 on the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex Index, Indian shares will once again be worth looking at, if only because of the country's immense long-term-growth potential - an upside great enough to overcome even the immense drag of most of its governmental shortcomings.
At that point, the heavy capital investors such as Tata Motors should be avoided, because of the unpredictability of capital availability in a capital market whose savings can be sucked into the government's immense maw. Look instead at such non-capital-intensive exporters (the exchange rate is likely to remain relatively weak) as the software company Infosys Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq ADR: INFY), or global pharmaceuticals producer Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. (NYSE ADR: RDY).
Both stocks are currently somewhat expensive, with Infosys trading at about 18 times the consensus analyst estimate for forward earnings, and Dr. Reddy's roughly 14 times. But both stocks should be purchased for long-term growth during periods when investor enthusiasm for the Indian market has had a chance to cool down.
[Editor's Note: When Slate magazine recently set out to identify the stock-market guru who most correctly predicted the stock-market decline that accompanied the current financial crisis, the respected online publication concluded it was Martin Hutchinson, a veteran international investment banker who is one of Money Morning's top forecasters.
It was no surprise to our readers: After all, Hutchinson warned investors about the evils of credit default swaps six months before the complex derivatives did in insurer American International Group Inc. Then, last fall, Hutchinson "called" the market bottom.
Now Hutchinson has developed a strategy for investors to invest their way to "Permanent Wealth" using high-yielding dividend stocks. This strategy is tailor-made for an unpredictable stock market that's backdropped by an uncertain economy. Just click here to find out about this strategy - or Hutchinson's new service, The Permanent Wealth Investor.]
News and Related Story Links:
- Money Morning News Analysis:
India's Election Lifts Markets, May Boost Global Trade Talks. - Wikipedia:
Atal Bihari Vajpayee. - Wikipedia:
Mayawati Kumari. - Tata Motors Nano:
Official Web Site. - Wikipedia:
Manmohan Singh. - Money Morning News Analysis:
Auto Industry moves to India and China. - Wikipedia:
Bharatiya Janata Party. - Money Morning Special Investment Report (Part II of II):
Special Report: Hit the BRICs for a Global-Investing Double Play. - Wikipedia:
India National Congress. - Wikipedia:
United Kingdom General Election (and defeat of Winston Churchill) of 1945. - Money Morning News Analysis:
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L.K. Advani. - Money Morning News Analysis:
India's Reliability Provides a Razor Thin Edge Over China. - Wikipedia:
Rahul Gandhi. - Wikipedia:
Indira Gandhi. - Bombay Stock Exchange:
Official Web Site. - Money Morning News Analysis:
With its Surprise Interest-Rate Cut, India Puts Itself "Ahead of the Curve," India Expert Rahemtulla Says.
http://www.moneymorning.com/2009/05/20/india-elections/
Singh May Set Record in India Asset Sales After Election Victory
By M.C. Govardhana Rangan
May 22 (Bloomberg) -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who began his second term this week, may set a record for selling state assets as he revives efforts that were foiled by his former communist allies, bankers and analysts said.
The new administration could start by resuming share sale plans for NHPC Ltd., India's largest producer of electricity from water, explorer Oil India Ltd. and fuel retailer Hindustan Petroleum Corp., according to Mumbai-based brokerage Religare Capital Markets Ltd.
Singh may sell $20 billion of state assets in the next five years as he tries to plug a budget shortfall, said Rashesh Shah, chief executive officer of Edelweiss Capital Ltd. After a privatization wave that netted a record $6 billion between 1999 and 2004 to a government led by Singh's main opponents, sales slumped during his first term as communist allies thwarted plans.
"Sales by this government will be significantly higher than the previous record," S. Subramanian, head of investment banking at Enam Financial Consultants Ltd. in Mumbai, said in an interview. Mumbai-based Enam has managed share offerings for state-owned companies including Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd., CMC Ltd. and Power Finance Corp.
Singh's Congress party-led coalition faces a fiscal deficit that's more than double the government target and an economy growing at the slowest pace since 2003.
The nation will sell stakes in companies as promised by the Congress party's election manifesto, P. Chidambaram, who was in charge of the finance and home ministries in Singh's previous administration, said on May 18. Singh, the first premier to win re-election after serving a full term since 1971, doesn't need the Communists' support for his new administration after winning the backing of 322 lawmakers in the 545-seat lower house.
'Right to Own'
"The Indian people have every right to own part of the shares of public sector companies while the government retains majority shareholding," the election manifesto said. Still, Congress "rejects the policy of blind privatization" followed by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies, it said.
Singh, 76, raised 67 billion rupees ($1.41 billion) from selling stakes in NTPC Ltd. and Rural Electrification Corp. of India Ltd. during his first term, according to India's Department of Disinvestment. Then-finance minister Chidambaram's plans to sell shares in companies including Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., India's biggest maker of power equipment, and National Aluminium Co. were blocked by the communists in 2006.
The previous Singh administration waived farm loans, raised government employees' salaries for the first time in 12 years, cut taxes and increased spending on roads, ports and other infrastructure as it sought to revive economic growth and shore up support before the election. That strained state finances as the economic slowdown hurt tax collections.
Strained Finances
India's fiscal deficit reached 6 percent of gross domestic product in the year ended March 31, surpassing the 2.5 percent government target.
The prospect of a wider budget shortfall prompted Standard & Poor's to say in February that India's spending plans were "not sustainable" and the nation's credit rating may be cut to junk if finances worsen.
"The government will now have the ability to look at disinvestment seriously in the context of the fiscal deficit," S. Ramesh, chief operating officer of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.'s investment banking unit, said in an interview. "The numbers can be significant."
Raising 100 billion rupees from share sales and initial public offerings in the financial year that began April 1 would help cut the fiscal deficit by a quarter-point, according to Religare estimates.
NHPC, Oil India
Companies in which the government had planned to reduce its holding through an IPO, only to scrap the proposals, may be first in line for sales, Religare said in a May 12 research note. Such firms include NHPC, which had expected to raise 55 billion rupees, RITES Ltd., and Oil India, the brokerage said.
The nation's Disinvestment Committee had also previously recommended cutting stakes in Shipping Corp. of India Ltd., National Buildings Construction Corp., Projects & Equipment Corp., Hindustan Shipyard and Electronics Corp. of India, making them likely candidates during Singh's second term, Religare said.
Delivering on asset sales pledges may reassure foreign investors that Singh is also serious about economic reforms aimed at making India more competitive. Overseas funds bought $3.1 billion of Indian equities so far in May, the most in a month since October 2007, according to Bloomberg data.
"There's a huge backlog of offers that will get cleared now," said Ravi Sardana, senior vice president of ICICI Securities Ltd. "It is also a good message for global investors."
To contact the reporters on this story: M.C. Govardhana Rangan in Mumbai at grangan@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: May 21, 2009 14:31 EDThttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=a6wV9a3RE4i4&refer=india
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