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New Delhi, Aug 27 (PTI) BJP President Rajnath Singh today met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and is understood to have discussed the escalating internal squabbles ...Press Trust of India - 333 related articles » -
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27 Aug 2009 ... BJP President Rajnath Singh on Thursday met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and is understood to have discussed the escalating internal squabbles ...
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Rajnath Singh meets Mohan Bhagwat to discuss BJP crisis
1 post - 1 author - Last post: 11 hours agoNew Delhi, Aug 27 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat here ...
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Rajnath meets RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat over crisis in BJP | News ... - News, Daily News Updates - 15 hours agoRajnath Singh meets Mohan Bhagwat to discuss BJP crisis | Online ... - Online Latest News - 5 hours ago
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BJP has to decide its own future: RSS chiefMangalorean.com - 6 minutes ago RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, in a rare press conference, said: "We are not worried (about the goings-on in the BJP) and it is immaterial whether the Sangh is ... BJP must look for younger successor to Advani: RSSTimes of India - Aug 18, 2009 ( Watch Video ) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat broke his silence in an exclusive and wide-ranging interview to Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami. ... RSS Chief breaks his silence Times Now.tv 'No directive to Advani to resign' Express Buzz BJP should look for a younger leader: RSS chief Daily News & Analysis RSS distances itself from Jaswant sackTimes of India - Aug 21, 2009 JAMMU: RSS sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat on Friday brushed aside all questions relating to the expulsion of senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh from the party ... Balochistan was a strategic retreat: RSS Chief Press Trust of India RSS distances itself from Jaswant controversy Thaindian.com RSS played no role in Jaswant's expulsion: Bhagwat TwoCircles.net A severe identity crisisExpress Buzz - Aug 25, 2009 Mohan Bhagwat was politically correct all through his interview to Times Now, making suggestions to the BJP yet emphasising that it was the party's internal ... Video: Shourie takes on BJP, Rajnath  NDTV.com Age debate puts many names in BJP top job race Times of India Mess in party may delay Modi's national debutDaily News & Analysis - 14 hours ago Despite his good equations with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat the Sangh might find it difficult to bring him into the national arena for a few years," said a BJP ... LK, RSS chief meet ahead of baithakTimes of India - Aug 12, 2009 NEW DELHI: Did RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat suggest to LK Advani that he should give some thought to his successor? Advani has sharply denied media reports to ... RSS pushes with exit sign, Advani resists Calcutta Telegraph RSS chief says he did not instruct Advani on succession Press Trust of India Didn't ask Advani to quit: RSS chief Hindustan Times ePaper Lashkar threat for Azad, BhagwatTimes of India - Aug 12, 2009 PTI 12 August 2009, 10:32pm IST NEW DELHI: With intelligence agencies giving inputs that Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat ... Union Health Min on LeT hit list Times Now.tv `I have not read Jaswant Singh's book,' says BhagwatThaindian.com - 9 minutes ago New Delhi, Aug.28 (ANI): Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Mohan Bhagwat said on Friday that he was yet to read expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh's latest ... BJP's Jinnah contagion Deccan Herald Now, BJP hit by 'Sudarshan chakra' Times of India |
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More timeline results »1951 In 1951, when Shyama Prasad Mukherjee resigned from the Nehru Cabinet, he was seeking to form a political party. The RSS chief then sent pracharaks ...
pd.cpim.org1953 In 1953, Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was arrested in Srinagar while agitating for Hindu rights in Kashmir, and died under "mysterious circumstances ...
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| A tale of two brothers |
| With friends in the right places, monopoly is easy |
| Maybe it was in her upbringing. Joan Robinson's father was, after all, a general in the British army during World War I. She had always a no-nonsense approach to life and things, and could not suffer fools. She could not suffer foolish ideas either. ... | Read.. |
| Battle of two cultures rages in BJP Party looks up to RSS boss for clues | ||
| SANJAY K. JHA | ||
New Delhi, Aug. 27: The BJP leadership's reluctance to act against Arun Shourie is being seen as a manifestation of the turf war raging within the larger Sangh parivar. Many leaders fear this tussle will throw up uglier episodes of internal bickering. The broad assessment of a large number of leaders is that the current crisis will go a long way in shaping the party's future politics. "This may be viewed as a larger battle between two cultures; one that wants to dilute the ideological position and intends to turn the BJP into another Congress, and the other that seeks salvation through strengthening the ideology," a senior leader told The Telegraph. "In other words, between television poster boys and ideologically grounded leaders." In fact, Shourie's case — coming close on the heels of the abrupt expulsion of Jaswant Singh — is a curious example of the leadership's double standard. Shourie has so far not shown any sense of remorse. On the contrary, he has scaled up his attack on L.K. Advani and Arun Jaitley by using derogatory metaphors like dead horses. But the party has not acted against him, exposing the vertical split among top leaders who are busy weighing the damages caused to individuals rather than the party's image. While one section feels BJP chief Rajnath Singh is not worried about the crumbling edifice because he is itching to dance on the political graves of a few rival leaders, another section argues the fight is against those who are bent on destroying the party's unique identity. Those not attached to different factions are praying for normality to return soon as the party, they fear, may not survive if the strife carries on for long. What has been worrying many party members more than these unending controversies is the perception that there is no unity of purpose among senior leaders who are supposed to restore normality. These members now look up to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat to set the house in order and that's why his news conference tomorrow is being awaited with great interest. The RSS had withdrawn its representative Suresh Soni from the Shimla chintan baithak earlier this month but now some BJP leaders expect Bhagwat to make a more definitive intervention. But Sangh sources say Bhagwat's news conference is part of an old schedule in which he spends three days at a place, sparing a day each for swayamsevaks, intellectuals and the media. Similar programmes have already been held in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP leaders, however, point out that Bhagwat's regular interaction with the media is linked to the RSS desire to mount pressure on the party leadership which is resisting change despite total disarray. |
| Vedic churn in Bengal politics Singur critics on thin ice, a chance for CM | |
| OUR BUREAU | |
Calcutta, Aug. 27: The Vedic Village episode has quietly begun to churn Bengal politics, exposing players in the CPM, the Trinamul Congress and the real estate business behind the questionable land acquisition in the area. The arson at the resort and its aftermath, though, has had an unusual political fallout so far. Ever ready to catch the CPM and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on the wrong foot, Mamata Banerjee has been inexplicably silent on the issue. Neither she nor her party has demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident or used it to attack the chief minister. The chief minister, too, has been silent, but political circles point out that his position was stated by the home secretary, Ardhendu Sen, who blamed the land mafia for the eruption of violence at Vedic Village. But the silence in the two rival political camps barely conceals the hectic attempts to pass the buck and cover up the tussles within. Publicly, though, both sides have denied any association with the main accused, Gaffar Mollah. Credible reports are now emerging that he was definitely a Trinamul activist with close links to the party leadership. Trinamul sources said Mamata was upset about the exposure of Gaffar's political loyalties. Trinamul's core committee, which met in Calcutta today, discussed the Vedic Village incident and asked party activists not to be associated with the illegal land deals in the area, said Mukul Roy, Union minister of state for shipping and a close Mamata aide. Party leaders admitted that Gaffar was also close to Trinamul's Bhangar MLA Arabul Islam and his brother, Khude Islam. A party leader suggested that Arabul could be served with a show-cause notice. But the story of Gaffar's politics does not end with Trinamul. Not long ago, he was said to have been close to the CPM, particularly to land and land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah, an MLA from neighbouring Canning. Mollah, who has been very vocal recently in his criticism of the chief minister over the land-for-industry policy, has been curiously silent on the issue. But sources indicated that the incident had added a new dimension to the tussle between the two. Sources close to the chief minister said he might be tempted to use the incident to stage a comeback, adding that the home secretary's statements should be read in that context. The resort attack has also brought another factor into play: the critics of the government's Singur policy within and outside the government have been caught on the wrong foot –- a development that cannot displease the chief minister. Bhattacharjee and his supporters in the party would like to use it to call Mollah's bluff over the land issue and cut him to size. Mollah is one of the aspirants for a slot in the party's powerful state secretariat and some see him as a chief ministerial hopeful. His detractors could use the Vedic land controversy to scuttle his chances for upward mobility in the party. Publicly, however, CPM sources close to Mollah denied any role for him in the land deals in Rajarhat. The party has only highlighted Gaffar's links with Trinamul. The housing minister and a state secretariat member, Gautam Deb, and the party MLA from Rajarhat, Rabin Mondal, denied any knowledge of Gaffar's links with the party. But Deb suggested that inquiries should be made into the "mysterious" land transfers taking place around Vedic Village. "What would they do with around 1,500 acres? Run a resort?" All he would say was that the industries department and subsequently the IT department had asked for land to set up an IT hub and an industrial park. But he had no idea as to how the vested land was given to the promoters or later how land was being purchased by promoters on behalf of the government. "Ask Rezzak-da or Nirupam-da (the industries minister) about it," Deb added. "If the issue comes up to BRDA (Bhangar-Rajarhat Development Authority), we won't give them the NOC (no-objection certificate)." Legal rights of patta land are known to be not very precise and are practically owned by whoever physically occupy them. Deb's attempts to skirt responsibility would surprise CPM activists and the common people in the area.. Not only is he a powerful party leader from North 24-Parganas district, the BRDA is under his ministry. The CPM's uneasiness about the episode is largely because of the involvement of its leaders and workers with land promoters. Kamal Gandhi, associated with the promoters of Vedic Village, has long been close to several party leaders, especially those close to Jyoti Basu. But then, he and other promoters have their patrons in Trinamul as well. CPM state secretary Biman Bose -- who on the face of it appeared perturbed but, like the chief minister, is unlikely to be unhappy with the turn of events -- today asked the government to deal with the wrongdoers "sternly". "The administration has to be stern in handling the situation there and inquire who took what role and also what they had done earlier. It is another matter if somebody purchased land by paying the price," Bose said. He, however, dodged a question on the demand of allies like the RSP and the CPI that the Vedic Village promoters be arrested after weapons were found from a labour hutment. Bose, who had attended a North 24-Parganas meeting yesterday, said he has sought a report from the district leadership and would seek a similar one from the South 24-Parganas leadership also as the promoters' alleged coercive land purchase drive covered both districts. However, he parried a question on whether he would seek a report from land minister Mollah for leasing out vested land to the Vedic Village promoters in an out-of-court settlement or IT minister Debesh Das for entering into a deal with the same promoters to procure land for an IT park. "I can't reply without knowing the details," Bose said. Another party state secretariat member, Shyamal Chakraborty, denied any shady land dealings between the Village promoters and the government. But he came down heavily on police. "What were the police doing before the violence erupted?" Konar said the police should arrest the Village promoters. "The owners can't escape their responsibilities for claiming ignorance of the illegal arms stockpile. If my son hides such weapon at my home without my knowledge, the police won't spare me," Konar said. Konar tried to score a political point over Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. "Such an ugly situation would not have been created if there was no direct purchase of land by private players which inevitably leads to the involvement of touts and toughs. But Mamata resisted government acquisition and advocated the direct purchase for narrow political benefit," Konar said. |
Syama Prasad Mookerjee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Syama Prasad Mookerjee | |
 | |
| | |
| Born | 6 July 1901(1901-07-06) Kolkata in Bengal |
|---|---|
| Died | 23 June 1953 (aged 51) |
| Political party | Bharatiya Jana Sangh |
| Religion | Hindu |
Syama Prasad Mookerjee (or Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Bengali: শ্যামাপ্রসাদ মুখোপাধ্যায়) (July 6, 1901 - June 23, 1953) was a nationalist political leader of India, and is considered the godfather of modern Hindutva and Hindu Nationalism.
Mookerjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the first Hindu nationalist political party of its kind, and was also the leader of the Hindu Mahasabha and closely associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Early life
Mookerjee was born on July 6, 1901 in Calcutta [now Kolkata], the capital of British India. His father was Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, a well respected advocate in Bengal, who became the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta, and his mother was Lady Jogmaya Devi Mookerjee.
Mookerjee obtained his degrees from the University of Calcutta.. He graduated in English securing the first position in first class in 1921 and also did MA in 1923 and BL in 1924. He became a fellow of the Senate in 1923. He enrolled as an advocate in Calcutta High Court in 1924 after his father's death. Subsequently he left for England in 1926 to study in Lincoln's Inn and became a barrister in 1927. At the age of 33, he became the youngest Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta (1934), and held the office till 1938.
[edit] Political career
He was elected as member of the Legislative Council of Bengal, as an Indian National Congress candidate representing Calcutta University but resigned next year when Congress decided to boycott the legislature. Subsequently, he contested the election as an independent candidate and got elected. He was the Finance minister of Bengal Province during 1941-42.
He emerged as a spokesman for Hindus and shortly joined Hindu Mahasabha and in 1944, he became the President. Mookerjee was political leader who felt the need to counteract the communalist and separatist Muslim League of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who were demanding either exaggerated Muslim rights or a Muslim state of Pakistan.
Mookerjee adopted causes to protect Hindus against what he believed to be the communal propaganda and the divisive agenda of the Muslim League. Mookerjee and his future followers would always cite inherent Hindu practices of tolerance and communal respect as the reason for a healthy, prosperous and safe Muslim population in the country in the first place.
Mookerjee was initially a strong opponent of the Partition of India, but following the communal riots of 1946-47, Mookerjee strongly disfavored Hindus continuing to live in a Muslim-dominated state and under a government controlled by the Muslim League.
On 11 February 1941 S P Mookerjee told a Hindu rally that if Muslims wanted to live in Pakistan they should "pack their bag and baggage and leave India... (to) wherever they like".[1]
A no-confidence motion was moved in the Bengal Legislative Assembly after the Calcutta killings of 1946. In the debate that followed he again made a memorable speech, lambasting Suhrawardy and his cohorts for their open incitement to mass murder, at the same time emphasizing the irresponsible self-centeredness exhibited by the resident Whites (then called Europeans) of the city. Excerpts from his speech :
"Mr. Speaker Sir, since yesterday we have been discussing the motion of no-confidence under circumstances which perhaps have no parallel in the deliberations of any Legislature in any part of the civilised world. What happened in Calcutta is perhaps without a parallel in modern history. St. Bartholomew's Day of which history records some grim events of murder and butchery pales into insignificance compared to the brutalities that were committed in the streets, lanes and bye-lanes of this first city of British India. . . . . let me say this that what had happened was not the result of a sudden explosion, but it is the culmination of an administration, corrupt, inefficient and communal which has disfigured the life of this great province. But so far as the immediate cause is concerned . . . . it is said on behalf of the Muslim League that the Cabinet Mission proved faithless to Muslim interests and thereby created a situation which had no parallel in the Anglo-Muslim relationship in the country. What did actually the Cabinet Mission do? The Muslim League, the spoilt and pampered child of the British Imperialists for the last thirty years, was disowned for the first time by the British Labour Government . . . . (Loud noise from the Government benches) . . . . When Mr. Jinnah was confronted at press conference in Bombay on the 31st July and was asked whether direct action meant violence or non-violence, his cryptic reply was 'I am not going to discuss ethics'. (The Hon. Mr. Mohammed Ali : Good.). But Khwaja Nazimuddin was not so good. He came out very bluntly in Bengal and said that Muslims did not believe in non-violence at all. Now Sir, speeches like these were made by responsible League leaders. . . . All this was followed by a series of articles and statements which appeared in the columns of Newspapers -- the Morning News, the Star of India and the Azad. If . . . my friend Mr. Ispahani . . . . reads these documents . . . he will be able to find out that there was nothing but open and direct incitement to violence. Hatred of Hindus and jehad on the Hindus was declared was declared in fire-eating language . . . and the general Moslem public have acted according to the instructions. . . . . Sir, there is one point I would like to say with regard to the Britishers in this house. My friends are remaining neutral. I cannot understand this attitude at all. If the Ministry was right (then) support them, and if the Ministry was wrong you should say so boldly and not remain neutral. Merely sitting on the fence shows signs of abject impotence. (Laughter). My friend Mr. Gladding (a leader of the European group in the house) says luckily none of his people were injured. It is true Sir, but that is a statement that makes me extremely sorry. If a single Britisher, man, or woman, or a child had been struck, they would have thrown the Ministry out of office without hesitation but because no Britisher was touched they can take an impartial and neutral view! . . . . . It is therefore vitally necessary that this false and foolish idea of Pakistan or Islamic rule has to be banished for ever from your head. In Bengal we have got to live together."
Mookerjee supported the partition of Bengal in 1946 to prevent the inclusion of its Hindu-majority areas in a Muslim-dominated East Pakistan; he also opposed a failed bid for a united but independent Bengal made in 1947 by Sarat Bose, the brother of Subhas Chandra Bose and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, a Bengali Muslim politician.
He wanted the Hindu Mahasabha not to be restricted to Hindus alone or work as apolitical body for the service of masses. Following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by a Hindu fanatic, the Mahasabha was blamed chiefly for the heinous act and became deeply unpopular. Mookerjee himself condemned the murder and left the party.
[edit] Post-independence
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru inducted him in the Interim Central Government as a Minister for Industry and Supply. Mookerjee was widely respected by many Indians and also by members of the Indian National Congress, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of its chief leaders.
But on issue of the 1949 Delhi Pact with Pakistani Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan, Mookerjee resigned from the Cabinet on April 6, 1950. Mookerjee was firmly against Nehru's invitation to the Pakistani PM, and their joint pact to establish minority commissions and guarantee minority rights in both countries. He wanted to hold Pakistan directly responsible for the terrible influx of millions of Hindu refugees from East Pakistan, who had left the state fearing religious suppression and violence aided by the state. Mookerjee considered Nehru's actions as appeasement, and was hailed as a hero by the people of West Bengal.[citation needed]
After consultation with Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Mookerjee founded the Jan Sangh (Indian People's Union) on October 21, 1951 at Delhi and became its first President.
The BJS criticized favoritism to India's Muslims by the Nehru administration, and promoted free-market economics as opposed to the socialism in Nehru's economic and social policies. The BJS also favored a uniform civil code for both Hindus and Muslims, want to ban cow slaughter and end the special status of Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir. The BJS founded the Hindutva agenda which became the wider political expression of India's Hindu majority. He was instrumental in establishing Hindu Line within the Congress.
In the 1952 general elections to the Parliament of India, Mookerjee and the BJS won three seats.
Sri Mookerjee opposed the Indian National Congress's decision to allow Kashmir to be a special state and have its own flag and prime minister. According to Congress's decision, no one, including the President of India can enter into Kashmir without Kashmir's prime minister permission.
In order to oppose this decision, he once said "Ek desh mein do Vidhan, do Pradhan and Do Nishan nahi challenge" (A single country can't have two constitutions, two prime ministers, and two National Emblems).
Mookerjee went to visit Kashmir in 1953, and went on hunger strike to protest the law prohibiting Indian citizens from settling in a state in their own country and the need to carry ID cards, and was arrested on 11 May while crossing border. Although the ID card rule was revoked owing to his efforts, he died as detenu on June 23, 1953 under mysterious circumstances. Shyama Prasad was jailed in a dilapidated house, where his health deteriorated. He was administered penicillin though he informed the doctor-in-charge that he was allergic to penicillin. During illness, it was his death in custody raised wide suspicion across the country and demands for independent enquiry, including earnest requests from his mother, Jogmaya Devi to the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. Unfortunately the then Government of India declared that his death was a natural one, and there was no need to set up any enquiry commission. Consequently, his death remains a mystery.[2]
[edit] Legacy
Along with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Mookerjee is considered the godfather of Hindu nationalism in India, especially the Hindutva movement. He is widely revered by members and supporters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
Mookerjee was a major role model to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who made the BJS the chief Hindu conservative political party in the 1960s and 1970s, and founded its successor, the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP has become one of the two largest national political parties, the other being the Indian National Congress Party, and had formed the Government from 1998 to 2004, with Vajpayee serving as the Prime Minister of India.
On August 27, 1998, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (governed by the BJP) named a bridge after Mookerjee. [1]
A junction near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum ( formerly the Prince of Wales Museum ) and Regal Cinema in Mumbai is named after him.
In 2001, the main research funding institute of the Government of India , CSIR [2] instituted a new fellowship named after him. The Shyama Prasad Mukhejee Fellowship is the most prestigious fellowship given in India for doing PhD. Only the top 20% students who clear the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF CSIR/UGC) are eligible to sit for this examination.
[edit] References
- ^ [Legislative Council Proceedings [BLCP], 1941, Vol. LIX, No. 6, p 216].Legislative Council Proceedings [BLCP], 1941, Vol. LIX, No. 6, p 216
- ^ "http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/mar/27guest-column-tarun-vijay-on-dynasty-and-the-varun-effect.htm"
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
1. Legislative Council Proceedings [BLCP], 1941, Vol. LIX, No. 6, p 216
2. Suranjam Das Communal Riots in Bengal 1905 - 1947; Oxford University Press, 1991
Govt clears 3G; auctions by Nov!
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Thanks Hindutva! Thanks RSS! Thanks Congress!Pranab slams attempts to vilify Nehru on Partition! India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said attempts were being made to vilify Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the wake of Jaswant Singh's book on Mohammad Ali Jinnah and said it was a malicious campaign to distort history for narrow partisan interests.He also attacked attempts to make out that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, the progenitor of the latter day Jana Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Jinnah had no role in Partition.
Mukherjee made sarcastic references to senior BJP leader L K Advani's controversial visit to Pakistan in 2005 and Jaswant Singh's book on Jinnah and said they should explain the psychology behind glorifying Jinnah.
"BJP leaders should explain. When Advani will go to Pakistan, he will discover that Jinnah is secular. Jaswant Singh suddenly discovered that he was not responsible (for Partition). He wanted a united India.
The RSS, the ideological parent of the BJP said, "We are not worried (about the goings-on in the BJP) and it is immaterial whether the Sangh is happy or not happy about it."
Referring to his recent suggestion to TV channel Times Now that a younger leadership take over the reins of the BJP, Bhagwat said: "Fifty to sixty years is the average age for the Sangh leadership and it's for the political party to decide what should be the right age for it."
He also said the RSS will not comment on the Kandahar episode.
Two crucial functionaries of the NDA government, Brajesh Mishra, close aide to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and national security advisor, and Yashwant Sinha had joined expelled leader Jaswant Singh and George Fernandes on Thursday in insisting that L K Advani was party to the decision to swap three terrorists for hostages on board IA flight IC-814.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday said the organisation would make all out efforts for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
"The Sangh was, is and will remain committed to the construction of the Ram mandir (temple) in Ayodhya and will do its best possible for it," Bhagwat told reporters here.
Bhagwat maintained that Muslims were not against the temple. "It may be your belief that they are against (construction of the temple)... but not ours...."
He also said the acceptability of the Sangh, the ideological parent of the BJP, had improved over the years.
"Sangh's popularity has increased and even those considered against us, welcome us wherever we go. They may not agree with our ideology, but otherwise they have cordial relations with us," the RSS chief said in a rare press conference.
On Dec 6, 1992 the 16th century monument, Babri Masjid, was razed by Hindu zealots allegedly associated to the Sangh Pariwar-which the RSS heads-which claims that the mosque was constructed at the birth place of Hindu god Ram where there used to be a temple.
The Centre has sanctioned Rs 20 crore for the renovation of two memorials to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in his home state Gujarat at a time a debate is raging on his legacy.
Sardar Patel Memorial Trust in Ahmedabad will get Rs 17 crore and the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial in Anand Rs 3 crore. The grants have been made even as requests for similar funding by other trusts are pending.
"It may be true the decision coincides with a controversy but our grant is a normal procedural one," a culture ministry official said. The Ahmedabad trust had sought Sonia Gandhi's help last year.
I have been writing on the Proactive Role of Bengali Brahmin leaders in Partition of India as they did never wan to share power with the CONVERTED Untouchables Black!
The AXIS of PoSt Modern Manusmriti Zionist Apartheid Triiblis SATANIC Order COLONY, the Elite KEERNAHAR Brahmin PRANAB Mukherjee, at last, EMERGED in OPEN to defend NEHRU PATEL Gandhi BRAHAMINCAL Nexus killing ABORIGINAL,INDIGENOUS Minorty Communities in the Sub Continent for Ever!
Pranab admits, CONFESSES before the ALTER that it was SHYAMA PRASAD Mukherjee, the Bengali RSS Man, who had been RESPONSIBLE for the partition of PUNJAB as well as BENGAL!
With the fires in BJP still raging over the debate on the roles of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel during Partition, senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today sought to turn the tables by reminding the BJP of Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee's support to the Partition plan.
Speaking at the Idea Exchange programme of The Indian Express, Mukherjee said Mookerjee had not only welcomed the Partition plan prepared in June 1947 but was also instrumental in the division of Bengal and Punjab by demanding that the principle of religious majority to decide an area's inclusion in India or Pakistan be extended from provinces to the districts as well.
"That is how Bengal and Punjab got divided. This is how the Sylhet district in undivided Assam went to Pakistan, now Bangladesh," Mukherjee said. "Now if they (BJP) want to forget their own legacy, only God can help them," he said.
Mukherjee also took a dig at the BJP for the party's obsession with Jinnah. He said he was also completely clueless as to why the BJP was so "deeply engaged" with Jinnah's legacy as the issue had no relevance in contemporary Indian politics — not at least for political parties to evaluate his place in history.
He did not, however, shy away from giving his own take on Pakistan's founder. "I cannot ignore this fact that he was a great protagonist of the two-nation theory. But I have great faith in his commitment which he made as Governor General of Pakistan that in Pakistan, all religious minorities will be protected," Mukherjee said.
Pranab has to Defend the UNTRUTH for which Gandhi Experimented so much!
Pranab Has to Defend the UNHOLY ENSLAVEMENT Infinite dueto Power Transfer UNLAWFUL!
He has not to say anything on the PLIGHT of the Bengali dalits suffering Permanent EXODUS, HOLOCAUST and Persecution! He has not to defend the CITIZENSHIP Amendment Act followed by Countrywide DEPORTATION Drive to Benefit REALTY Sector and India Inc, the LPG mafia.
Vedic Vilage EPISODE has EXPOSED very well the ANTI RURAL reole of the RULING Hegemony ofVarious Political COLOR in Bengal.
But Generation Next knows nothing about the MISCHIEF of NC Chatterjee, SHYAMAPRASAD Mukherjee and HINDU Mahasabha as well as CONGRESS ledby Sharat Basu and BC Roy.
PRANAB SURFACED with a part of HIDDEN ICE Berg to defend the ZIONIST Dynasty Ruling Colonised India as his ANCESTORS were INDULGED to do all the manipulations to support Gandhi and Eject out Netaji Subhash Chandra Basu out of India to INJECT blood in alienated Muslim League.
It was Gandhi who betrayed Dalits with Harijan Tour and Poona Pact.
It was Gandhi who called for Ram Rajya.
And once again, it was Gandhi who dragged tourkey and KHILAFAT in India to appease Muslims in India.
JINNAH was opposed to all these NONSENSE!
Thanks, the WarringFactions open the FLOOD Gates of Forgotten past!
BJP has to decide its own future: RSS chief
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has to "think and decide" its own future, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said in New Delhi on Friday while stressing that the ideal age for the leadership of the Sangh Parivar it heads was "50 to 60 years".
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, in a rare press conference, said: "We are not worried (about the goings-on in the BJP) and it is immaterial whether the Sangh is happy or not happy about it; the BJP has to think and decide its future."
The RSS, the ideological parent of the BJP, said the ongoing crisis in the party did not worry it and it was the BJP's internal matter.
Referring to his recent suggestion that a younger leadership take over the reins of the BJP, Bhagwat said: "Fifty to sixty years is the average age for the Sangh leadership and it's for the political party to decide what should be the right age for it."
The government is considering divesting some of its stake in the country's largest steel producer SAIL and the same may be discussed in the PSU's board meeting scheduled on Friday.
The equity sale could go along with the proposed public issue of the PSU and it is likely to be discussed at its upcoming board meeting, a top steel ministry official said, requesting anonymity.
When contacted, Steel Secretary P K Rastogi said: "It is too premature to talk about that (disinvestment). But, right now we are in talks (with SAIL) assessing their funding requirement. Let everything regarding public issue and fund requirement get crystallised."
SAIL is awaiting the steel ministry's approval for its proposed public issue to raise funds to part finance its Rs 70,000-crore expansion project.
A senior SAIL official, too, said the equity-sale could possibly accompany the proposed public issue. SAIL's board has already approved the public offer.
However, the quantum of the proposed disinvestment could not be verified. But, the SAIL official said the measures would be taken in a way that the government's holding in the firm does not fall below 75 per cent.
The government currently owns 85.82 per cent stake in SAIL. Besides, about 4.59 per cent is with the Life Insurance Corp and the rest is with the public.
Thus, Works the MANUSMRITI Nation Colonised by ZIONIST Imperialism CORPORATE!
SAFFRON Parivar at war looks at Sangh.
Private sector telecom companies can finally bid to launch high-speed data and mobile offerings—better known as 3G, or third generation, services—with the government finally clearing the auction reserve price for pan-India spectrum at Rs 3,500 crore.
An empowered group of ministers (eGoM) on Thursday approved a plan to allow what is known in industry circles as '4+1' slots. That is, four private operators in each circle, besides state-owned BSNL or MTNL, who have already been allotted spectrum and are only required to later match the highest bids.
Since the matter has been approved by an eGoM headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, it does not need Cabinet ratification. The auctions will be held within 90 days. From the date of spectrum allocation, operators will take around six months to commence operations.
Kalam and Principal Scientific Advisor to Prime Minister R Chidambaram rejected the claims of K Santhanam, formerly with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who used his argument to make the point that India should not sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as it will have to carry out more tests to verify its thermonuclear technology. Incidentally, a review meeting of the CTBT is slated in the next few weeks.
Chidambaram, who was chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy when the nuclear tests were conducted in 1998, described Santhanam's claims as "absurd and "illogical" and "lacking any scientific backing".
Kalam, who was heading DRDO at that time, and Chidambaram were the leading men behind the five nuclear tests conducted in May of that year, one of which was based on nuclear fusion reaction, the science behind the hydrogen-bomb. It is the yield of this fusion-based test that has been contested by Santhanam.
After the 1998 tests, many scientists have been making the argument that India can now do without further tests — simulated tests can be done on computer — and the country's interests would not be jeopardized even if New Delhi has to sign the CTBT.
Without going into the merits of India signing CTBT, both Kalam and Chidambaram today reiterated that there was no doubt over the success of the thermonuclear test of 1998.
"After the test, there was a detailed review, based on the two experimental results: (i) seismic measurement close to the site and around, and (ii) radioactive measurement of the material after post shot drill in the test site. From these data, it has been established by the project team that design yield of the thermonuclear test has been obtained," Kalam said in a statement.
Echoing the views of Kalam, Chidambaram said Santhanam had not produced any fresh scientific data that could cast any doubts over the yield of the fusion explosion. "He is a scientist. He knows arguments have to be backed by scientific facts. If he has any new scientific data that backs his claim and we are not aware of it, we will be very happy to consider his argument," he said.
Chidambaram said extensive measurements done by scientists after the test had proved the success of the test. "Clear signatures of neutron induced radioactivity had been found which can happen only if 14 MeV neutrons have been generated. It clearly established that the thermonuclear explosion had worked," he said, adding that he himself had published all the scientific data from the test in an international journal 'Atoms of Peace' and it was well accepted all over the world that India's thermonuclear test was a complete success.
Jaswant will not visit Pak for book launch, claims son!
RNRL in its communication sent on Thursday to the petroleum secretary RS Pandey also sought the ministry's intervention, asking RIL to end artificial scarcity of gas. RNRL alleged that the perception of scarcity ---a totally artificially created phenomenon— is being exploited by RIL to extract a higher price of gas and make super normal profits.
RNRL argued that despite fall in the international price of gas, RIL's KG-D6 gas price during July 2008 and August 24 has actually gone up by over 20% in rupee terms. The gas price has been denominated in a foreign currency (US Dollars). This has led to an entirely unjustified annual increase, at peak production, of over Rs 3,700 crore for gas consumers.
"Most of this unwarranted increase in gas prices will be borne by power and fertiliser consumers and will lead to a substantial increase in government subsidies. This aberration once again demonstrates the need for the entire gas pricing policy in India to be reviewed, not just on account of the denomination in a foreign currency, but also because of its lack of elasticity in response to sharp movements in global prices," the company said.
RNRL's letter comes at a time when the Supreme Court has convened hearing on cross petitions from RIL, RNRL and the petroleum ministry on the KG-D6 gas issue on September 1.
However, she has put forth three demands before she acceded to the party's decision. She wants her successor as Leader of Opposition to be of her choice, revocation of the suspension order against two of her supporters and a post for herself in Delhi.
However, Singh maintained that the step amounted to "banning thinking" and likened it to the one taken against noted author Salman Rushdie for his controversial work 'Satanic Verses'.
"....once those demands were whittled down to three terrorists and no money and no interred remains (of some terrorist), then there was a unanimous decision of the CCS that in order to save the lives of 160 plus hostages and the aircraft crew, it made sense to release these three terrorists and get the hostages back," Mishra told Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate programme.
Q: Was Advani part and parcel of it?
A: Yes, of course.
Mishra, who is considered close to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said Advani was also aware of the decision to send External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to Kandahar to secure the release of hostages.
"Again the CCS met and Mr Jaswant Singh proposed that he would go to Kandahar to bring back the hostages and he explained that the Indian representatives who were negotiating in Kandahar - diplomats, IB, RAW - they had suggested that somebody should be there to take care of any last minute complications. This he informed the CCS and they agreed to send (him)," Mishra said.
When asked again if this was an unanimous decision, Mishra replied in the affirmative.
On whether Advani was a party to the decision, he said yes.
"Three members of CCS, George Fernandes (then defence minister), Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha (Finance Minister) have already said this," Mishra added.
Pak examining fresh evidence against Saeed: Malik
"We will examine it (the Red Corner Notice)," Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik said in response to a question on the Interpol notice issued for Saeed at a news conference in London on Thursday.
Malik said "certain procedures were required to pursue" the (Interpol) notice.
Interpol circulated the notice for Saeed on Tuesday after a special court in Mumbai issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for the JuD chief for his involvement in planning and executing the Mumbai terror attacks.
Malik said Pakistan will never allow anyone to use its territory "against India or anyone else".
India recently handed over to Pakistan the latest dossier on the Mumbai attack that provides extensive information on Saeed's contacts with the 10 terrorists who carried out the strikes and his role in training and motivating them.
Malik said Pakistan has received this latest dossier from India but needs to examine whether "it meets the procedural requirements". He added: "We need tangible evidence which can stand the test of the court."
The action taken by the Pakistan government to investigate the Mumbai attacks has been "very transparent", Malik claimed.
Five persons were arrested earlier while two more persons were apprehended later, he said, adding that he would provide more information about these two persons soon.
He also referred to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent remarks that there is credible information that Pakistan-based terror groups might carry out fresh attacks in India and said New Delhi should share this information with Islamabad.
"Please give us some information. We want that information because we want to go to the depth (of the matter)," he said..
Noting that India had arrested several suspects well before the Mumbai attacks, Malik claimed the incident "would not have happened" if Islamabad had received information in this regard in time.
Five Lashker-e-Taiba operatives - including operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and communications expert Zarar Shah - arrested by Pakistani authorities in connection with the Mumbai incident are currently facing trial in an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi.
Saeed, who is also the founder of the LeT, was placed under house arrest in December last year after the UN Security Council declared the JuD a terror group but was freed on the orders of the Lahore High Court in June.
Govt eyes $200 bn export; doles out sops!
India extended tax holiday and duty refund for exporters, while allowing duty free capital goods import under its Foreign Trade Policy to insulate them from protectionism induced by recession abroad. Unveiling the five-year policy, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma set a target of USD 200 billion worth exports for next fiscal, a feat that India failed to achieve in 2008-09 due to a slump in global demand in the face of financial crisis.
"India has not been affected to the same extent as other economies of the world, yet our exports have suffered a decline in the last 10 months due to a contraction in demand in the traditional markets. The protectionist measures being adopted by some of these countries have aggravated the problem," he said, presenting his first trade policy.
While exports for the April-June quarter contracted by 31 per cent, Sharma set a growth target of 15 per cent for FY'10.
"I would be hesitant to hazard a guess on the nature and extent of this recovery and the time the major economies will take to return to there pre-recession growth levels," he said, encouraging exporters to look beyond traditional markets like the US and western Europe.
Extension of income tax holiday for export units for one more year and continuance of duty refund scheme till December 2010 and enhanced assistance for the scheme for development of markets are among the measures in the FTP.
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ANI
Posted: Aug 27, 2009 at 1432 hrs IST
New Delhi Expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh will not be visiting Pakistan for the launch of his controversial book – ''Jinnah- India, Partition, Independence'', his son Manvendra Singh revealed to a new agency.
Manvendra Singh said that his father has not applied for a visa, and as far as he knew, there was no Pakistan edition of the book.
| Peace nudge from Jaswant | ||
| VIVEK CHHETRI | ||
Darjeeling, Aug. 27: Jaswant Singh has advised the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leadership to "move beyond agitation" and concentrate on development while maintaining "peaceful activism". The Darjeeling MP's appeal came in response to a questionnaire from The Telegraph. In his reply, Jaswant said he remained dedicated to the Gorkhaland demand, fielding a question on the impact of his expulsion from the BJP (excerpts below). The Morcha on its part has partially endorsed Singh's advice but maintained that it might have to go back to the masses if the state and the Centre do not sincerely look into the statehood issue. Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the Morcha's publicity secretary, said: "Of late, we have taken the path of peaceful activism. We made this point even during the tripartite meeting but if the state and the Centre start coming up with counter strategies to derail our movement we will have to fall back on the masses. We are trying our best to solve the problem through negotiations across the table." As matters stand now, the Morcha has withdrawn its agitation programme after the August 11 talks with representatives of the Centre and the state government where it was agreed that the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council would be disbanded and the Sixth Schedule bill scrapped. However, it has still not told hill residents to start paying telephone and power bills and taxes to the state government. The next round of talks will be in Darjeeling on December 21. The Telegraph: Do you think your disassociation with the BJP is a setback for the Gorkhaland demand as the Morcha has hinted that it would need both you and the BJP to achieve its demand? Jaswant Singh: No, I don't. I made a commitment to the issue, I was elected on the issue and I remain dedicated to the issue. As for the BJP, they included the issue in their election manifesto and I see no reason for them to backtrack. TT: If at any time the BJP pressures the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to sever ties with you, would you think of resigning as the Member of Parliament from Darjeeling? JS: My position is clear. I remain a representative of Darjeeling because the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha showed faith in me and asked me to continue. TT: How do you plan to mobilise support for the demand in the wake of the recent developments? JS: I will actively continue to engage members across party lines to generate support and awareness among my colleagues on the Gorkhaland issue, as I have done over the past months. TT: What would be your advice to sthe Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, vis-Ã -vis the agitation and the recent political developments? JS: We have to move beyond agitation and concentrate on the development of the region while maintaining peaceful activism. |
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090828/jsp/bengal/story_11419730.jsp
A strong BJP needed for healthy democracy
BJP is needed for the smooth functioning of our democracy. As Tarun Vijay said, "Suppose if there was no Jan Sangh or the BJP, there would have been no Kashmir movement, no demands to scrap two flags and two constitutional provisions for an Indian state and abolishing two Constitutional heads system for it. Who would have taken up the cause of an invincible Indian security and carried out the Pokaran II nuclear tests while preparing for Pokaran III?"
BJP is party of nationalists and it needs to remain one. However, it has to rebrand itself and become the saviour of the middle class which it once represented. It is equally important to refrain from any sort of communalism. It is a national alternative to the Congress, more so after this election which has pushed regional parties and their identity politics to the margins. There are, after all, no full stops in politics.
BJP stands to lose its hate artillery to Jinnah's phoenix
| The phoenix of Jinnah dug out by Jaswant Singh may not hit the BJP too hard now as he does not enjoy much clout in the party. Nevertheless, his The Urdu press, as a whole, does not seem to be interested in Jinnah's perception as a benefactor of Muslims, but is happy over the acknowledgement that the community is not being seen as a sole agent of partition. Sahafat (17/8) minces no words in declaring that the Indian Muslims have no soft spot in their hearts for Jinnah as he has created problems for them rather than solving them. While branding the Jaswant's arguments as also the Advani's certificate of secularism to Jinnah as a bid to win over the Muslims, the daily did not envisage Jaswant's ouster which annuls the ploy theory. On the other hand, Aag (20/8) is sore about the expulsion as the number of people who could delve on hot issues with a cool mind is diminishing in the party. It is also all praise for Jaswant for refusing to get worked up on his exit. But a middle by Hasan Kamal in Sahafat (19/8) quotes Ayesha Jalal to say that Jinnah had in his August 11, 1947, speech said that with the passage of time, the Hindus and Muslims of Pakistan will become its citizens, politically, not religiously and later as the first Governor-General he had said now the western borders of India will be defended by Pakistan and the Southern one by the Indian government. But Qaumi Khabren (20/8) blames the BJP for doubt talk on every issue and recounts Jaswant's stand that Jinnah was forced to carve a new land for Muslims who were afraid of the majority in the new set-up. Gandhi, it refers to Jaswant's book, had a visible Hindu identity while Jinnah was non-communal and nationalist and also mentions Jaswant's claim that the term Hindutva was never used during the days of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and was introduced later to mislead the people. Gujarat entanglement: The retired additional director-general of Gujarat police RK Shrikumar, has handed over to the IST probing the Gulbarg Society carnage on the order of the Supreme Court, a CD allegedly recording the home secretary's order to him to keep away from the Nanawati and Shah Commissions or else his promotion will be in jeopardy.. Besides, he has told the IST that the director-general of police had told him that the chief minister wants Hindus to be allowed to ventilate their anger on the burning down of the kar sewaks in Godhra. Mohammad Musanna: The death of Mohammad Musanna Rizvi (81), a well-known progressive writer, has deprived the Urdu world of literature of a critic, poet and scholar. Rizvi, former head of the philosophy department of a post-graduate college in Gaya, had done his PhD on `Scientific humanism and Nehru's concept of life.' | ||
| More Stories from this section | ||
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4926098.cmsCoalition politics needed to end Congress hegemony: Advani
August 21st, 2009 - 7:27 pm ICT by IANShimla, Aug 21 (IANS) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Friday said coalition politics was a necessity to end the "hegemony of the Congress" in the country's political system.
"Coalition politics is necessary to end Congress hegemony. It is the necessity in India's political system," senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj cited Advani as saying in his address to the party's three-day introspection meet that ended here.
"Even in the chintan baithak (introspection session), the pros and cons of coalition politics were discussed in detail," she told reporters during a press briefing.
In his address, Advani said coalition politics was not a recent phenomenon and even the founder of Jana Sangh, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, had formed a coalition in the first Lok Sabha.
Advani admitted that the image of the party had taken a beating. It is due to "infighting, frustration and lack of self-confidence" among the party workers.
Swaraj said quoting Advani: "Our graph from 1989 to 1999 was at its best and we formed the government at the centre. Between 1999 and 2009, we lost two parliamentary elections consecutively. So introspection is a must."
"In 1984, even when we had two MPs, the people had faith in us," said Advani. And added: "Today we have 116 seats in the Lok Sabha, so there is no need for frustration."
"This 'chintan baithak' is the first step towards improvement and to resolve issues through dialogue and interaction," Swaraj quoted Advani as saying.
Related Stories
- Jaswant's expulsion "painful" : Advani - Aug 21, 2009
- Swaraj alludes to Raje's possible expulsion from the BJP - Aug 21, 2009
- Vasundhara Raje to meet Rajnath Singh, Advani - Aug 22, 2009
- Raje's meeting with Advani, Rajnath delayed - Aug 22, 2009
- Raje's meeting with Advani, Rajnath delayed - Aug 22, 2009
- Advani to be Leader of Opposition for full term: Swaraj - Aug 07, 2009
- Rajnath Singh concluding remarks at Shimla - Aug 22, 2009
- Jaswant Singh episode painful, but inevitable: Advani - Aug 21, 2009
- BJP mum on Jaswant, but there's unease within (Lead) - Aug 20, 2009
- BJP's 'Chintan Baithak' to begin in Shimla today - Aug 19, 2009
Parivar at war looks at Sangh
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Suman K Jha
Posted: Aug 28, 2009 at 0941 hrs IST
New Delhi All eyes and ears in the deeply divided BJP are tuned to RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat as he addresses his first press conference in the capital on Friday. If the party — marred by expulsions, desertions and factional feud — is expecting a roadmap from Bhagwat, there was some indication of that today with beleaguered president Rajnath Singh and senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi holding long, separate meetings with Bhagwat at the RSS headquarters.
Just days ago, before the chintan baithak in Shimla set off Jaswant Singh's expulsion and Arun Shourie's diatribe, Bhagwat had talked of the need for discipline in the BJP and a "younger leadership." When and how (to work on this) is the BJP's job, he had said.
While Singh's expulsion — over his Jinnah book and his remarks on Sardar Patel — overshadowed the chintan baithak, the BJP resolved that L K Advani would continue as the parliamentary party leader for the next five years.
What Bhagwat says assumes an extra dimension now given that Shourie — in an interview to Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, on NDTV's Walk the Talk early this week — openly called for "the RSS to take over the party" after easing out the top brass.
In sharp contrast to Jaswant who was promptly expelled, Shourie has not yet been issued any "clarification notice" even after his virulent attack against the party leadership, including against Rajnath Singh (Shourie called him "Alice in Blunderland").
"A clarification notice would be issued to him after BJP Legislative Party leader in Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje relinquishes her position," said a senior BJP leader, in what suggested a deep-rooted divide in the party.
Rajnath has been keen to secure Raje's resignation while going slow on action against Shourie.. The Rajnath camp has maintained that the local RSS unit in Rajasthan is against Raje.
Advani, meanwhile, came under renewed attack from some former colleagues of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra reiterated today that Advani was, indeed, aware of "Jaswant Singh going to Kandahar to secure the release of hostages in the event of the hijack of the IC 814 aircraft".
He had first made these revelations on Walk The Talk in June this year. "When that decision was taken in the Cabinet Committee on Security, Mr Jaswant Singh said that he wanted to go and make sure that everything was all right because he had received a message from the negotiators in Kandahar that it would be good for somebody at a high level to come here, because there could be some last-minute problems. None of us visualised that he was going there with the three terrorists".
Asked about Advani's claim "that he was not aware that Jaswant was going there," Mishra had said: "I think it was Mr George Fernandes who said that perhaps Mr Advani has forgotten that he was there... I have already quoted Mr George Fernandes. I think we should take a more detached view of this. It wasn't good that Mr Jaswant Singh was travelling in the same plane, but he wanted to get these hostages back and we should concentrate on that".
On Thursday, he repeated much the same, while speaking to The Indian Express. He was supported by Yashwant Sinha, also close to Vajpayee and now to Rajnath Singh. Both Mishra and Sinha criticised Jaswant Singh's expulsion.
The BJP reacted sharply to their comments. Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said: "The allegations of Mishra, who is not a BJP member, are unfounded, unfortunate, and also appear to be motivated". Chairman of BJP Disciplinary Committee Ram Naik said: "The expulsion of Jaswant Singh from the party is a closed chapter. The utterances of MPs (here that of Yashwant Sinha), however, need to be evaluated by the BJP Parliamentary Party and Parliamentary Board". Bhagwat is likely to delve into the discipline issue again during his press conference tomorrow.
Maya says curtains down on money-minting birthday bash
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Sanjay Singh
Posted: Aug 28, 2009 at 0427 hrs IST
Lucknow After her last birthday celebrations ran into controversy over allegations of forcible collection of money, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday told her party leaders that no such exercise should be carried out in future to mark the occasion.
Till this year, the BSP used to celebrate her birthday on January 15 as "Arthik Sahyog Diwas" (ASD).
The announcement was made by her at the BSP national convention in Lucknow where she was elected as the party's national president for the third consecutive term.
"Mayawati has directed the party representatives that the monetary help given on her birthday is being abolished from next year," a press release issued by the party stated.
Following the death of a PWD engineer M K Gupta in December 2008, after he was allegedly asked to give money for the CM's birthday, Mayawati had to face bitter criticism from the Opposition..
BSP leaders have welcomed the latest decision saying the party would now instead focus on increasing the number of memberships.
"This is a good decision. Instead of celebrating Mayawati's birthday as ASD, we will now undertake efforts to increase the number of party members," said a leader.
The party has, however, increased its membership fee. "For the last six years, the party had not increased its membership fee. Now, the party would charge Rs 40 as membership fee," a BSP leader said. The membership drive will be launched from January 1 to March 31.
At the convention, Mayawati discussed political strategies for the forthcoming Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections.
She directed the party leaders to undertake agitations across the country against the Congress-led UPA government over the issue of rising prices.
SC assets resolution for High Courts
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Maneesh Chhibber
Posted: Aug 28, 2009 at 1025 hrs ISTNew Delhi A day after judges of the Supreme Court passed a resolution deciding to declare their assets and make them public, it was learnt that copies of the resolution would be sent to Chief Justices of all High Courts.
Sources told The Indian Express that Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan could personally write to all Chief Justices, urging them to place the matter before their respective full courts so that similar resolutions are passed.
"Under the present system, the CJI has no administrative control of the HCs and the resolution of the judges of the SC is not binding on the judges of the HCs. The CJI can only suggest to them to follow suit," sources said.
As for the case filed by the SC Registry in the Delhi HC, challenging an order of the Central Information Commission on the issue of assets of judges, sources said a final decision was still to be taken. "We need to understand that the larger issue before Delhi HC is whether details of assets of judges of the SC and HCs are within the purview of the RTI Act or not. The resolution passed yesterday doesn't say anything on this issue. It is for the CJI to decide the future course of action," the sources pointed out. On May 4, the HC had reserved its order on the apex court's plea.
Meanwhile, sources in the Law Ministry on Thursday asserted that despite the resolution of SC judges, the government was committed to push the proposed law to make it mandatory for judges and their kin to declare their assets. "A meeting will be held next week to decide whether the law should be a stand-alone legislation like the Judges (Assets and Liabilities) Bill, 2009 or if there should be clause to this effect as was contained in the now-defunct Judges (Inquiry) Bill, 2008. Since the resolution has no legal standing like an earlier one passed in 1997, the Government is keen to bring in the legislation," said a senior Ministry officer.
Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily has welcomed the decision of SC judges saying, "It is for the judges to decide how it should be done because they know best what is best for the judiciary."
IPL first season made Rs 661 cr, BCCI got only Rs 15 cr
Archna Shukla
A draft note on the IPL's income and expenditure in the year ended March 2009, part of the BCCI's detailed financial accounts being circulated among board members for their perusal, shows that while the high-profile tournament generated Rs 661 crore in total income, its surplus, which is the amount left after accounting for expenses, was only Rs 14.86 crore.
The expenses included share of franchisees in IPL's income from media rights and sponsorships, prize money, opening ceremony expenses, advertisements, and Rs 26 crore as compensation to Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for the cancelled Champions League 2008.
Two senior members of BCCI confirmed that the board was reviewing its accounts for the 2008-09 year and a draft copy of the financial statements had been sent to the members for vetting. The accounts are expected to be approved by the board in its meeting scheduled for September 2.
According to the draft note, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, one of the biggest contributors to IPL's income were the media rights sold to broadcast company Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd and sports marketing company World Sports Group.
The league got Rs 242 crore in the first year from the deal, which was negotiated at $1.02 billion for 10 years. This included a $108 million commitment for promoting the event. The media rights were renegotiated with the same partners at $1.6 billion, for nine years, from the second season onwards.
In the first year, franchisee consideration brought in around Rs 290 crore and sponsorships Rs 111 crore. Among the other sources of income were pouring rights (Rs 10 crore) signed with beverage company PepsiCo.
As promised by the IPL management, a large part of the revenue generated was shared with franchisees and also on initiatives to build the excitement around the event. Around Rs 220 crore, for instance, was awarded to franchisees as part of their share in IPL's central revenue pool. The league also shared the Rs 10 crore from the income from pouring rights with the franchisees. The IPL management spent around Rs 33 crore on advertising, whereas league and administrative expenses accounted for an additional Rs 65 crore.
Lalit Modi, the chairman of IPL, declined to comment saying he had not seen the accounts. He, however, said: "...profits may have been less, but you should look at the total money (generated by IPL)."
M P Pandove, honorary treasurer of the BCCI, said he could not comment on the issue because the financial accounts of BCCI for 2008-09 were still with the auditors.
I don't know Shah Rukh: Salman Khan
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Posted: Aug 28, 2009 at 1058 hrs IST
Mumbai "You work with people you don't know. I don't know Shah Rukh so I don't mind working with anybody," says Salman Khan on the prospect of working in a film with friend-turned-foe Shah Rukh Khan. "If there's something good, I wouldn't have a problem that's if he doesn't have a problem. As long as those 100 days go off peacefully and don't have any problems," Salman adds. He rates Karan Arjun as one of his favourite films (where he created magic with Shah Rukh Khan).
Salman is known for his big heart and helping nature. In a cut throat industry, he is quite a rarity. "I don't have any insecurity or jealousies that ye bada star banega and he is going to take over and we are going to be thrown out. I don't care about that stuff at all. Woh apni mehnat par hai, apne fans ke upar depend karta hai, how long you're going to be there. Fans are saying jab tak you want us to see you, we will see you," Salman says with a smile.
With the buzz around his next release 'Wanted' gaining a huge momentum and the promos of 'Main Aur Mrs Khanna' and 'London Dreams' attracting attention, it is a unanimous perception that Salman Khan is all set to make a lethal comeback this year. In a no holds barred interview, Salman bared his heart out on his forthcoming films, prospects of a sequel of Andaz Apna Apna, the arduous task of maintaining his chiseled frame and lots more.
PM faces benefit plan rebellion
Frank Field: 'There will be a natural revolt on the Labour benches'
The government faces a backbench rebellion over plans that could reduce housing benefit by up to £15 a week.
Ministers are considering ending a policy which allows people who rent homes for less than their maximum benefit to keep the difference.
About 300,000 people gained from the measure introduced last year. Ministers say scrapping it will save £150m.
Labour MP Frank Field said that was "crazy" and said he would table a Commons motion to block it.
And fellow Labour MP Karen Buck told the Times Labour should not "under any circumstances" be forcing the poorest to choose between affordable housing bills and other living costs.
Key reform
Since last year, housing benefit claimants have been entitled to a cash payback of up to £15 a week if they find accommodation at a lower rent than the level of housing allowance set by their local authority.
The change, a key part of the government's reform of housing benefit, was meant to encourage people on low incomes to shop around for the best deal when looking for rented accommodation.
Of the 600,000 people who claim the housing allowance, about half are thought to have retained the surplus money - amounting to up to £780 a year in some cases.
A proposal to end the measure, included in the Budget, is now under consultation. If approved it would come into force next April, just ahead of an expected general election.
 |  This small change will not affect our customers' ability to pay their rent and further support is available  Department for Work and Pensions spokesman |
Mr Field, a former welfare minister who led the Labour rebellion against the abolition of the 10p tax rate, said the timing "could have been decided in Conservative headquarters".
The measure was both "unfair" and "short-sighted", he told the BBC.
He said the savings achieved would be "miniscule" in terms of what the government needed to achieve to address its budget deficit as landlords would simply put up the rent or claimants would stop looking for cheaper deals.
Mr Field plans to put down a motion when Parliament returns in October opposing the measure and expected to get support from other Labour MPs and opposition parties.
"I think there will be a natural revolt on Labour benches if the government tries to push this reform through," he told the BBC.
"We are not going to get through this mega-debt crisis which has engulfed the country by these sort of very small cuts in public expenditure which are clearly immensely important for people at the bottom who have least.
"We need to keep our eye on the big game. I don't think any Labour backbenchers are going to be in the mood to allow the first of these cuts to fall on people who are at the bottom of the pile."
'Cynical'
The Liberal Democrats, who first drew attention to the proposal, said it could reduce some families' weekly income by 20%, money they had come to rely upon.
"I feel very angry about this," said housing spokesman Sarah Teather.
"When I think about the impact on my constituents, £15 will be a huge amount of their income. It seems to be a very cynical move."
Housing charity Crisis also said the proposal was "ill-considered and potentially counterproductive".
The government said the proposed change would not prevent people most in need from being able to find decent accommodation.
"This small change will not affect our customers' ability to pay their rent and further support is available to those on a low income to help with other expenses," a spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions said.
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World Service bulletin | People to Ulfa: Spare our road | ||
| RIPUNJOY DAS | ||
Dibrugarh, Aug. 27: Some parts of the country may be furiously debating Jinnah's role in Partition but a suffering populace in Assam knows what it needs and has summoned the courage to speak its mind. Thousands of villagers have told the dreaded Ulfa to keep off central funds meant to build a road, possibly the first such appeal in militancy-wracked Assam. The villagers of Puroni Sapekhati in Sivasagar district today asked the banned outfit, notorious for its extortion demands, to spare the money. The collective appeal came after Ulfa asked a contractor engaged in constructing the road to pay up Rs 50 lakh, stalling the project in the Upper Assam area. The villagers, who have no direct line of communication with the outfit, formed a committee to voice their appeal, hoping that the invisible eyes and ears of Ulfa would pick up the message. "If you desire that we the people of this economically backward area should live in peace, please spare the development funds," one villager said. In the past, too, there have been instances of villagers protesting murders carried out by the group, but this is possibly the first time that they have organised themselves against a threat to stall development. Puroni Sapekhati, which covers around 200 villages, was once a prosperous region but fell behind because of poor communication and transport links. After repeated appeals, the government recently sanctioned Rs 14.14 crore under the Tenth Plan for a road linking the area to Pithaguti in Dibrugarh district. The North Eastern Council was asked to implement the 22km project, but hit a bump when the firm hired to construct a 6km stretch of the road at a cost of Rs 4.23 crore stopped work after the extortion demand. "After decades of neglect, when something positive was finally happening, the work had to stop," said Bijoy Gogoi, a member of the villagers' committee. "We have come to know that the project was stalled because Ulfa demanded money. We appeal to Ulfa to withdraw its demand in the greater interest of the poor people and society." Although Ulfa has weakened in Upper Assam, it still has influence in isolated pockets such as Sapekhati. "We will soon start a signature, poster and banner campaign in the area, appealing to the outfit to withdraw its demand," committee assistant general secretary Keshob Gogoi said. | ||
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| A TALE OF TWO BROTHERS - With friends in the right places, monopoly is easy | ||
| Cutting corners - Ashok Mitra | ||
Maybe it was in her upbringing. Joan Robinson's father was, after all, a general in the British army during World War I. She had always a no-nonsense approach to life and things, and could not suffer fools. She could not suffer foolish ideas either. As a young lecturer in Cambridge's economics faculty in the early 1930s, she was bothered by the assumption of the free market, which was the starting point of the economics she had to impart to her students. The free market postulated the existence of an infinite number of sellers and an infinite number of buyers. But, Joan Robinson snorted, in real life one never came across an infinite number of sellers or producers. The number of producers in any line of manufacture might be sizeable, but by no means countless. Very often they were only a handful. Since the empirical foundation of existing economic theory was so weak, the prescriptions based on it could hardly be relied upon to either cure the ills of society or nurture it to growth and prosperity. Joan Robinson made up her mind; she had to do something about it. She sat down to work, and developed an alternative concept of the market structure more truthfully reflecting the realities of life. The result was the Economics of Imperfect Competition, which immediately set the river of economic theory on fire. She showed that even if there were initially a moderately large number of sellers or producers in any branch of production, there was a tendency for this number to reduce. The more efficient and resourceful among the producers gradually weed out the less efficient and less resourceful ones, until a stage arrives when supplies to that particular market come under the grip of a single seller or producer. This single producer, Joan Robinson demonstrated, had a single goal: the maximizing of profit, which is made possible through restricting the output and hiking the price of the product. Her tour de force dealt a lethal blow to the belief fostered by traditional economic analysis that the free market ensures ideal output and a just price for all. The free market, she snorted, ends up in restrictive output and monopolistic price-setting. The market is not free, the market is not perfect; it is dominated by a few, the monopolists. Even so, one fact is incontrovertible: a monopoly does not spring overnight, there is a market process, a certain number of entrepreneurs engage against one another, confrontation takes place between competing bunches of resources, strategies and skills, temporary successes alternating with temporary setbacks. In the final round, though, one of the entrepreneurs leaves the others behind, lagging rivals drop out, the one left in the field establishes a monopoly. It may be a long process, or a short one, but the emergence of a monopoly in a capitalist system entails a course of toil and application. Not so, apparently, in post-1991, economically liberalized India, if the recent goings-on in the nation's energy sector are to be taken as criterion. Not that the nation has been privileged to know much of these proceedings; the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, the formal custodian of the sector, jealously guards its secrets. But some facts have now become public knowledge by courtesy of the spat between two brothers belonging to an entrepreneur family. The revealed knowledge poses a challenge to Joan Robinson on one significant point. Natural gas is a crucial source of energy; the Indian peninsula is supposed to have reserves of oil and natural gas amounting to billions and billions of dollars. During the long reign of Jawaharlal Nehru, one of his ministers, Keshav Dev Malviya, bubbling over with enthusiasm, took the pledge to develop this precious source of energy in the public sector. He set up the Oil and Natural Gas Commission and the Indian Oil Corporation: the former was to be solely in charge of 'upstream' activities such as exploration and development; downstream activities, including distribution, would be in the care of the IOC, although private parties too would not be quite left out. Malviya had spun out his logic. Explorations of oil and natural gas call for huge investment of funds. In case State agencies had a major share of the market for their distribution, the net earnings from there could be ploughed back and deployed upstream to hasten the pace of exploration and development. Malviya ceased to be a minister in the mid-Sixties, but the ONGC sprouted roots, so much so that within a couple of decades one-third of the country's total energy needs came to be met from the fields it had developed. The IOC too enlarged its operations. With the withdrawal of some private, mostly foreign, distributing agents, the public sector in the distribution of oil got further enlarged. Another public undertaking, the Gas Authority of India, soon joined them. Nineteen ninety-one changed all that. The 'animal spirit' of our entrepreneurs, it was officially felt, needed to be given free rein in the energy sector too. A new exploration and licensing policy was announced. Licences for the exploration of development blocks were to be auctioned. Private entities which won the auctions would have exclusive rights to develop the blocks and sell the output. A National Hydro Power Corporation was established to monitor these upstream activities, including such things as determination of production cost and selling price. Similarly, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board was constituted to oversee arrangements downstream, including issue of franchise to selling agents. But, under the neo-liberal sky, the regulatory arrangements went haywire. Everything was assumed to be fine and excellent with private operators, the animal spirit tucked within their souls must not be interfered with. And if some private parties were particular pets of ruling politicians, all rules were apparently rendered irrelevant. Transparency has been rubbed out. Few details are available on the nature of the auctions of the development blocks, the conditions under which licences were granted to particular parties, the selling price that was settled, or royalty agreed to. In a parallel manner, details regarding the price at which oil or natural gas was to be disposed of downstream and the modalities for choosing agents have been kept under the cloak. It has been a vast area of darkness. It is only on account of the happenstance of a domestic feud that some grisly facts are suddenly out in the open. A family conglomerate was allowed to establish a monopoly in both the production of natural gas in a lush Deccan basin as well as in its distribution and further processing downstream. It was a cosy fraternal arrangement between two brothers, one sibling would handle affairs at the development end, the other one would be sold the bulk of the output at a ludicrously low price; whatever was left would be sold to public entities such as the GAI and the National Thermal Power Corporation at inordinately high prices. The prices the public sector units would be called upon to pay would be determined on the basis of the claim of capital outlay posted by the first brother amounting to as much as Rs 45,000 crore. The comptroller and auditor general of India, ombudsman of the nation's public accounts, has not till now been allowed to audit this claim. Both the NHPC and the PNGRB have gone into hibernation. The family, however, broke up. The two brothers turned into sworn enemies; the brother at the production end reneged on the earlier understanding to sell the bulk of the output to his sibling at an absurdly low price, the aggrieved brother has now gone to court. The nation has thereby learned how, in a neo-liberal regime, the country's assets can be deployed to serve exclusively the interests of a single family. This tale of two brothers illustrates how monopoly can be made easy. Joan Robinson's depiction of a process through which monopoly gets established is not that essential. An entrepreneur need not prove himself superior to his competitors in the battlefield of the market before gaining the monopoly. A different route is possible. If you have friends in the right political quarters, a monopoly will be gifted to you on a platter. |
| Resort 'link' arrested |
| OUR BUREAU |
| Calcutta, Aug. 27: A mid-level official of Vedic Village was arrested today for alleged links with Gaffar Mollah, the wanted local tough whose capture could blow the lid off a can of worms. Biplab Biswas, an assistant project manager in his mid-thirties, was taken into custody after police called him over for questioning this afternoon. Rahul Srivastava, the North 24-Parganas SP, said: "We arrested him (Biswas) this afternoon." A source in Vedic Realty, the promoters of Vedic Village, said Biswas had joined the company around five years ago. As an assistant project manager, he was in charge of land purchase and construction at the resort site. "We have learnt about Biswas's arrest today for his links with Gaffar. We don't have any further details," said Raj K. Modi, the Vedic Realty chairman and managing director. Over the past three days, the police have also questioned Modi, M.J. Robertson, the CEO of Vedic Village, and Rajiv Bhuiyan, the estate manager of the project. "We had questioned Biswas on Tuesday, too. Today, we summoned him again as we had got information about his links with Gaffar," said an officer. Police sources said Abdul Hai alias Kalobabu, a Gaffar aide arrested during the day, "spilled the beans" on his leader's alleged association with Biswas. "During interrogation, Biswas broke down and admitted his links with Gaffar and we arrested him. He also admitted his involvement with Gaffar in forcefully acquiring land," the officer said. "Gaffar is still at large but we think that with the arrest of Biswas, we have moved closer towards catching him," said a senior officer. The police hope to make Gaffar sing on his connections once he is arrested. Several Rajarhat residents who had sold land for the Vedic Village project had said Gaffar used to swing into action on the basis of information provided by Biswas. As Biswas was dependent on Gaffar's "Mastan Bahini" (army of toughs), he had told other employees of Vedic Village not to bother Gaffar, police sources said. "Whenever land purchase hit a stumbling block, Gaffar's services were sought… A couple of months ago, Biswas had given 150 helmets and rods to Gaffar and his henchmen. Those were stored inside Vedic Village," said a 28-year-old youth who works in the resort. On Monday, the police had found some helmets along with guns that the management said had been left by goons who took shelter there from a mob on Sunday. |
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