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Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams, Chapter 358
Palash Biswas
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Desi ILLUMINITI Campaigns for LPG MAFIA | Palash Speaks
Palash Biswas. India Inc. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ... Culture led by LPG mafia and are dictated by WASHINGTON as well as by DESI ILLUMINITI. .... But very strangely a VETARN like SHARAD Pawar, favourite of the Promoter ... But in Post Independence India, since the BRAHMIN BANIA Raj captured the STATE ...
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Palash Biswas. Indian ADRs lose nearly $8 bn in Feb; Wipro sheds $1.8 bn ... PRIVATISATION and allowed LPG MAFIA take over during NDA and UPA governments followed. ... Indiscriminate Land Acquisition, MNC PROMOTER BUILDER RAJ to enhance ...
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LIPSTICK EFFECT On Mother Tongue ENDANGERED | Palash Speaks ... Desi Illuminiti campaigns HARD CORE for LPG Mafia! ... But very strangely a VETARN like SHARAD Pawar, favourite of the Promoter corporate builder lobby ... But in Post Independence India, since the BRAHMIN BANIA Raj captured the STATE Power thanks to ...
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Palash biswas द्वारा 17 मई, 2009 11:23:00 PM IST पर ...... the MAIN tool of SUBORDINATION, Enslavement and LPG MAFIA, Promoter BUILDER, MNC raj! ...
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Land Acquisition in India | Land Acquisition Act of India – India ...
Get full info on Land Acquisition in India with main focus on Land Acquisition Acts, Process, Procedure, Bill, Definition and so on.
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The Land Acquisition Act of 1894 is a legal Act in India which allows the Government of India to acquire any land in the country. ...
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19 May 2008 ... The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 addresses the process of land acquisition in India and was last amended by the Land Acquisition Amendment Act ...
www.indiatogether.org/2008/may/law-land.htm - Cached - Similar -India and sore points in land acquisition
21 Mar 2007 ... They allege, among other things, discrimination in the selection of land for acquisition and the amount of compensation. ...
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4 May 2007 ... Downloadable! We bring out the fundamental and more important problems with the current framework of land acquisition in India, ...
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11 Aug 2009 ... The public of Deuduar Madanpur and Piyalikhata under Kamalpur revenue circle who had sacrificed their land for the construction of the ...
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Making it clear that she did not want any state role in land acquisition for industry, Banerjee said the clause enjoining the private party to acquire 70% ...
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We need to build 7000 km highways this yrEconomic Times - - 7 hours ago There are two dominant issues that stand in the way of quickening highway construction — land acquisition being one and the need for capacity building at ... For highways ministry, hopes lies ahead Economic Times Panagarh land may be handed over in 6 monthsTimes of India - - 6 hours ago Already WBIDC has got over the first stage of land acquisition Section IV, which is serving acquisition notices without inviting a single objection. ... Land acquisition to start for gas pipelineHindu - Aug 28, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State government is putting in motion the proceedings for providing Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) the land required for laying ... Jayalalithaa opposes land acquisition for airport expansionSamayLive - 16 hours ago The government has handed over some portion of the acquired land to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and a second runway has been constructed on it. ... After a lull, land deals make a comebackSify - 48 minutes ago So are the land deals back in reckoning, after a long dry spell? Industry experts believe that land acquisition will gather pace, but will remain largely ... The week in review for 28 AugustLivemint - Aug 28, 2009 Posco says it expects to complete its land acquisition by the end of the year. Tata Steel reported a consolidated loss of about Rs2,209 crore for the ... Hiccups for Tata Steel in VietnamCalcutta Telegraph - - Aug 26, 2009 However, the Tatas are now facing problems over land acquisition in Vietnam — a problem that has plagued several Tata projects in India as well because of ... Nath ready with land acquisition plans?NDTV.com - Aug 7, 2009 ... of the land acquisition Bill in parliament, dashing any hopes of a smooth process for buying land as India puts its urbanisation plan in top gear. ... FE Editorial : Landing in uncertainty Financial Express Posco chief allays fears on projectTimes of India - Aug 26, 2009 Emerging from the meeting, Lee told journalists that the company has no plans to change its project site or even exclude Dhinikia, the anti-land acquisition ... Business climate of hope & despair Calcutta Telegraph Posco to split mining, steel projects Business Standard Citizens revolt at BBMP land acquisition for road wideningCitizen Matters - - Aug 27, 2009 Recently a number of houses on the 15th Cross (100 feet road) in JP Nagar got fresh red colour markings notifying a land acquisition by the Bruhat Bengaluru ... |
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Vedic Village mob violence rattles realtorsTimes of India - Aug 24, 2009 KOLKATA: City realtors are shocked by the arson at Vedic Village in Rajarhat and fear that unless strong action is taken, investor and buyer confidence ... Vedic Village on fire after football fracas Expressindia.com Govt deal with Vedic Realty Times of India Goons shoot rival as hundreds watchTimes of India - 6 hours ago The incident comes days after a mob set fire to the Vedic Village resort, which stands a few kilometres away, and burnt down property worth crores. ... Left out of dazzle & delights, villagers may have struck backTimes of India - Aug 24, 2009 The arson and mob fury at Vedic Village on Sunday shows that the quiet, green countryside which has gone from sleepy village to global village in a matter ... 'I heard a shot and a scream'Calcutta Telegraph - Aug 25, 2009 The younger brother of the youth felled by a bullet during the football fracas leading to the Vedic Village flare-up is struggling to come to terms with the ... 'I thought it was like the 9/11 attack'Calcutta Telegraph - Aug 26, 2009 Pankaj Gupta, a wedding planner based in Delhi, was at Vedic Village on Sunday. This is the 42-year-old's account: I had organised a high-profile engagement ... CPI(M) suspects TC involved in affairs of burned resortPress Trust of India - Aug 27, 2009 Kolkata, Aug 27 (PTI) The burning down of a premier resort, Vedic Village, in North 24 Parganas on Sunday and the subsequent unearthing of arms there, ... Mamata speaks out on Metro rowTimes of India - Aug 28, 2009 We have seen this in Nandigram, Singur and Vedic Village. The last incident has established the fact that the CPM has illegal arms manufacturing units ... West Bengal plans 1600 acre townshipBusiness Standard - Aug 5, 2009 The West Bengal information technology (IT) department has acquired 1600 acres in Kolkata, close to Vedic Village, to build an IT township. ... Infy, Wipro having second thoughts on Bengal plans Economic Times Infosys in hunt for $500 mn buy The Asian Age More arms seized from resortPress Trust of India - Aug 25, 2009 Barasat (WB), Aug 25 (PTI) More arms were today seized from premier resort, 'Vedic village' in North 24 Parganas, two days after it was torched by a mob ... Arms seized from burnt resort Press Trust of India |
Maoists gun down CPM worker in BinpurTimes of India - 6 hours ago "Das was a resident of Jamda village under Lalgarh police station. We suspect Maoists killed him," a police officer said. Meanwhile, suspected Maoists ... Tit-for-tat murders in Maoist belt Calcutta Telegraph Maoists kill another CPM leader Expressindia.com 2 killed in Binpur clashes Kolkata Newsline Maoists kill CPM leader, ransack Lalgarh housesTimes of India - Aug 26, 2009 CHANDRA (West Midnapore): Armed Maoists yet again went on an offensive against CPM members in Lalgarh on Tuesday night, killing one and ransacking houses of ... CPI(M) leader killed in Lalgarh The Hindu Maoists slay CPM leader Calcutta Telegraph Lalgarh-type operations to be replicatedTimes of India - Aug 20, 2009 NEW DELHI: Calling Lalgarh a "laboratory of (anti-naxal) operation", the Centre -- which along with state police has jointly been taking on Maoists there ... Buddha's Delhi speech in absentia claims order in Lalgarh Expressindia.com Lalgarh replay outside cordon Calcutta Telegraph Govt shores up security infrastructure; Maoist threat looms largeEconomic Times - Aug 28, 2009 The anti-naxal operation being carried out in Lalgarh since June has shown some results as the Centre, in coordination with the state government , has been ... Naxals hold armed rally in LalgarhTimes of India - Aug 7, 2009 LALGARH: A day after the West Midnapore district administration admitted its failure in tackling the Maoists, the Red rebels in a brazen show of strength ... Lalgarh phase II a flop: Govt Calcutta Telegraph CM wants police to vacate Lalgarh schoolsTimes of India - Aug 11, 2009 MIDNAPORE: Realizing that continued occupation of schools in Lalgarh by police and the central paramilitary forces was snowballing into a major issue, ... Operation Lalgarh to enter forest Calcutta Telegraph All is not lost in Lalgarh, operations to go on: Buddha Indian Express Lalgarh jawan hit by bulletCalcutta Telegraph - Aug 17, 2009 17: For the first time since the Lalgarh operation began on June 18, a policeman has taken a direct hit at the fag-end of an encounter with Maoists. ... Maoists, security forces exchange fire in Lalgarh Press Trust of India Maoists return to Lalgarh weeks after clean up Times Now.tv Maoist bandh hits 3 Bengal districts, Lalgarh deserted Indian Express Forces may get longer Lalgarh stintTimes of India - Aug 13, 2009 MIDNAPORE: The central paramilitary forces will stay in Lalgarh till September 4, but the Bengal government will request the Centre to further extend their ... West Bengal prepares blueprint for Lalgarh operation Economic Times Operations to continue in Lalgarh: Bengal Home Secretary Indian Express State plans fresh offensive in Lalgarh Kolkata Newsline Two killed by rebels in Lalgarh regionHindu - - Aug 3, 2009 KOLKATA: The spate of killings by suspected Maoists in the Lalgarh region of West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district continued, as rebels gunned down two ... Maoists hit CPM Calcutta Telegraph Maoists surge, State dithers HardNews Magazine Maoists kill two CPM men in Belpahari Indian Express Another body found in Lalgarh areaHindu - Aug 9, 2009 KOLKATA: Another body was found early on Sunday morning in the Lalgarh area of West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district. The man had been shot dead. ... Maoists exchange fire with security forces in Lalgarh Press Trust of India Maoists claim murder of DYFI leader Times of India |
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Post-Nano, state gets mega project
KOLKATA: This is undoubtedly the biggest industrial development story in Bengal sin-ce an angry Ratan Tata left the state with his Nano project.Kalyani Steel Ltd, part of the Kalyani Group, whose flagship company is Bharat Forge, had inked an MoU for a 1-million-tonne steel plant (a shade smaller than Durgapur Steel Plant) and a 500-MW captive power plant with West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation in February 2008. But the state's industrial climate had turned shudderingly cold — violence had erupted in Nandigram and Singur a year earlier and forces hostile to land acquisition for industry appeared on the ascendant when Trinamool romped home in May 2008 (panchayat polls). The Kalyani Group got cold feet.
No longer. Things seem to have changed. It appears the investors have been assured not just by the Left but Trinamool, too, and that has bolstered the Kalyani Group's confidence to go ahead with the project. Amit Kalyani, director, Kalyani Steels, told TOI on Saturday: "We are excited about our West Bengal project. It will be a 2-million-tonne speciality steel plant, built in phases." This is double the capacity inked in the 2008 MoU. The investment, too, is expected to be much larger than the initial Rs 6,500 crore.
However, no one is giving out the new figure yet. Neither industry secretary Sabyasachi Sen, who sounded upbeat about the project, nor Amit Kalyani. Said Kalyani: "We are keeping our fingers crossed considering the red-tape prevailing in our country. Yet, we are hopeful that things will move faster in West Bengal, and hope to start functioning 27 months from the time we are handed over the land."
Sen echoed Kalyani: "The project will happen as per schedule. And that's certainly good news for Bengal." His confidence stems from the fact that the progress with land acquisition has been heartening.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Post-Nano-state-gets-mega-project/articleshow/4950068.cms
Air India to get Rs 5,000 cr equity infusion in 3 years
NEW DELHI: Cash-strapped Air India may get a fresh lease of life with the government agreeing to infuse a performance-linked equity of Rs 5,000 A committee of secretaries (CoS) headed by Cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar considered Air India's proposal on Saturday to inject capital and provide soft loan, a person close to the development said. "The government would support the airline in meeting its short- and medium-term capital requirements. The CoS has agreed to increase the equity base of the company and take it above Rs 5,000 crore over the next three years," the official said. He also said the government would help the airline in getting loan from banks if required. "The airline is comfortable with what the committee has proposed. The airline's cost-cutting exercise so far undertaken was not satisfactory. They need to do a lot more," another government official said on condition of anonymity. Hit by the worst financial crisis in its history, Air India had earlier sought over Rs 15,000 crore from the government to tide over the crisis. Air India had an accumulated loss of over Rs 7,200 crore as on March 2009. The high-level committee has, however, made it clear that the financial help would be linked with the money saved by the airline. Air India expects to cut its operational cost by about Rs 2,000 crore per annum besides enhancing its cash flow by 10-15%. The airline aims at saving about Rs 750 crore by rationalising productivity-linked incentives of its 31,000 staff. It has targeted to reduce its cost by Rs 500 crore by rationalising its network. On the revenue enhancement front, Air India has decided to unlock the value of its real estate properties. It will also expand its customer base. The airline is all set to launch its low-cost airline Air India Express on domestic routes. "Accenture has given a cost-cutting plan. It has said that the company would save over Rs 4,000 crore annually by cutting cost and enhancing revenue. The company chief has asked all concerned functional directors to act and produce desired results," a senior Air India official said on the condition of anonymity. He said the cost-cutting measures suggested by Accenture have been presented to the CoS. Air India had submitted a turnaround plan, prepared by merchant banking firm SBI Caps, to the panel last month. Loan liabilities of Air India currently stands at nearly Rs 16,000 crore. The company owes about Rs 600 crore to Airports Authority of India (AAI) over and above the dues of private airport operators such as Delhi International Airport (DIAL) and Mumbai International Airport (MIAL). "The company has to make principal and interest repayment of about Rs 9,000 crore over the next three years, mainly on account of fleet acquisition," an official said. Meanwhile, the CoS has directed the ministry of civil aviation to move a proposal to the Cabinet in consultation with finance ministry for the financial assistance to beleaguered carrier. | |
Prepare for the TDS nightmare
Mukesh Patel, TNN
Manubhai Shah, a senior citizen, is earning interest of Rs 2,40,000 on his bank deposits.
However, since he is not liable to pay any Income-Tax on his total income after eligible deductions, he currently enjoys the relief of exemption from TDS by submitting the prescribed Form 15H to the respective banks making interest payments.
But this luxury of TDS exemption may not live long. The new Direct Tax Code to be effective from April 1, 2011 does not provide for any similar relief and hence Manubhai's interest receipts of Rs 2,40,000 will have to bear the harsh 10% TDS brunt of Rs 24,000.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/4939797.cms
1984 anti-Sikh riots case: Court awards lifer to 3
A Delhi court awarded life imprisonment to three people for attempting to murder members of a Sikh family here in 1984 anti-Sikh riots and came down heavily on 'contrived inaction' of the police and the Government of the day which led to loss of "priceless lives".
Indicting the Delhi Police, the court said that "instead of showing their allegiance to the rule of law, our Constitution and the oath taken by them, a better part of their course was found toeing line of their political rulers".
Convicts Mangal Sen alias Billa, Brij Mohan Verma and Bhagat Singh, all in their 60s now, were also fined Rs 6.20 lakh by Additional Sessions Judge Surinder S Rathi after being held guilty of attempt to murder, rioting, dacoity in Shastri Nagar, north Delhi.
The court slammed the Delhi police and the Government for its inability to tackle the riots that followed the assassination of the then PM Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
"History would never forgive the police officials who were at the helm of affairs and the government of the day for their unprecedented slothful and quiescent role.
"But for the contrived inaction and sluggish response of Delhi police and the Government of the day, scores of priceless lives and valuable property could have been saved," the court noted.
Vedic fire: State Cong brass meets Guv for a CBI probe, Indian Express reorts:
Top Congress leaders on Saturday met Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and demanded a CBI inquiry into the Vedic Village incident, in which one person was killed and several hutments destroyed when miscreants set a portion of the prime resort on fire last Sunday.Though initially the incident was said to have been sparked off following a controversial penalty verdict in a football match between Vedic Village Reddy Enterprise and Kashipur Baghajatin Sangha, it has now snowballed into an issue of land grabbing with the main accused Gaffar Mollah absconding and one Vedic Village official arrested.
On Saturday, state Congress working president Subrata Mukherjee and five other party leaders held a 40-minute meeting with the Governor and demanded a CBI probe to unearth the truth behind the incident.
Mukherjee alleged it was a larger politically-backed nexus that needs a fair investigation
"We have demanded a CBI inquiry into the Vedic Village incident. There are issues like land-grabbing cropping up. What happened to the post-mortem report of the boy who died that day? There is a land mafia working there, which cannot operate without political backing. The matter needs to be probed," Mukherjee said.
Another murder's shadow hangs over Vedic Village
* The Vedic Village controversy took a new turn on Saturday when the father of a murdered chartered accountant filed a fresh complaint to the police saying his son was killed inside the resort.
The vice-president of the resort company had invited his son Manish Agarwal for a discussion, he alleged. Manish's body was found in a decomposed state on an abandoned ground on EM Bypass on February 28, 2008.
Since then, the police have been clueless about the mysterious death of Manish who had gone missing since February 21.On Saturday, Manish's father Shankar and uncle Promode filed a complaint with North 24-Parganas SP Rahul Srivastava.
Mamata wants NIA to probe Vedic affairs
* Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday demanded an inquiry by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the affairs of premier resort Vedic Village on the northern outskirts of the city, where arms were found after a portion of it was burnt down by a mob on August 23.
Alleging that illegal arms were stockpiled at Rajarhat, where the resort is located, and that clandestine land deals had been struck for it, she said, "Let there be an investigation by the National Investigation Agency to ascertain which politicians and ministers have taken land." Banerjee told a news channel from Delhi that she wanted a probe by NIA as illegal arms manufacturing units existed at Rajharhat and attempts to grab land were made.
On CPM's allegation of involvement of her party MLA Arabul Islam and his brother in "forcible" land acquisition for the resort, Banerjee said, "We are transparent. If the charges against my party man are found true, we will take action." "Arabul has been MLA for two years, but Vedic Village was set up 15 years ago," the Trinamool chief said. PTI
Modi has been booked for keeping illegal weapons inside Vedic Village, having links with criminals like Gaffar Mollah and trying to acquire land using pressure tactics and influence. Police are also expected to interrogate an MLA's brother for his alleged links with Gaffar, the prime accused in the case.
North 24-Parganas SP Rahul Srivastav said: "Modi, Robertson, Santanu Bhattacharya and another top Vedic Village official were called on Saturday to district police lines at Madhyamgram. Modi was finally arrested after 11.30 pm."
This late-night development came after a day of startling twists and turns in the case. While the family of a slain accountant, who allegedly had links to resort bosses, demanded a fresh probe into the year-old murder, Mamata Banerjee vowed to refer the case to the Centre for a probe by the National Investigating Agency.
On February 29, 2008, aspiring chartered accountant Manish Agarwal's body was found at Dhapa. The 24-year-old had been missing for eight days. His family had alleged then that he had come into close contact with a number of Vedic Village officials, which led to the murder.
The case had been closed, but after Manish's family read about the Vedic Village arson and subsequent revelations, they felt the mystery surrounding the murder could now be solved. His uncle Pramode told TOI: "We lodged a formal complaint against Madan Mishra and eight others who are linked to Vedic Village so that my nephew's murder case can be opened again."
Lashing out at CPM, Mamata said she wanted an "independent probe" into the arson. "CPM is to be blamed for the violence. Now it is blaming others. I want an independent investigation and punishment for whoever may be involved."
"My party MLA from Bhangar, Arabul Islam, has no link with the case and is being framed. I have told him to stay out of any mess. These incidents at Rajarhat have been going on for 10 years. Arabul became an MLA only in 2006."
Oil exploration major Cairn's success story demonstrates that India is an excellent destination for foreign investment
Speaking after inaugurating the Mangala field, India's largest oil discovery in two decades, he said: "It can be demonstrated through Cairn's contribution that there is a very good climate for investment in India".
Urging foreign investors to come to India to take advantage of the opportunities available here, the prime minister said: "I call on investors from different parts of the globe to come here and assure them that they will get full and honest support from the Indian government for all facilities."
Meanwhile, State-owned Air India (AI) is yet to convince its 31,700 employees to take a wage cut to save the loss-making company. Two employee
"The management wants to halve our productivity-linked incentives (PLI) and we have objected to it. Our share of the total PLI bill annually is just 18%. If that is cut by 50%, it would be difficult for us to meet our financial needs," AIEG secretary VJ Deka said. AI's annual wage bill is about Rs 3,500 crore, of which about Rs 1,400 crore is on account of PLI.
The airline, which incurred a loss of over Rs 5,000 crore in 2008-09, came under fire from several sections of the government including Prime Minister's Office (PMO) for doling out cash incentives in the form of PLI. A committee of secretaries (CoS), which is considering AI's proposal seeking government's financial help
Mr Deka said that there was huge disparity in PLI to various categories of employees.
"The huge chunk of PLI, over 80%, is claimed by top management officials, engineers and pilots. There are pilots who draw a salary as much as Rs 58 lakh with more than half of that being PLI. As compared to that our PLI is only in the range of Rs 5,000," he said.
As per the annual report of Air India for 2007-08, nearly 1,600 employees drew an annual salary of Rs 24 lakh or above.
According to an official, the company CMD Arvind Jadhav has assured to consider the concerns of low-paid staff while reworking the parameters of fixing the PLI structure. Air India plans to save about Rs 8,00 crore on its annual wage bill.
Following a crucial board meeting last week Air India said it would slash the PLI by 50% across the board. The company, however, clarified the very next day that it was yet to take any decision on PLI cut, coming under pressure of the employee unions.
"Without consulting us the CMD announced a 50% cut in PLI after taking approval from the board. But we have strongly objected and said that decisions can not be taken unilaterally," ACEU chairman (Delhi region) Surander Kumar said.
Air India has approached the government for a financial assistance but the latter has made it clear that any help will be linked with the cost reduction and revenue enhancement exercise by the airline. As the CoS is scheduled to consider airline's bailout proposal on Saturday the company is under pressure to meet the expectations of the government.
Manmohan Singh turned a valve on the dais to symbolically start the Mangala field's production, amidst cheers from the assembled audience of dignitaries, employees and local people, with the Oscar-winning song "Jai Ho" playing in the background.
He was also presented with the first drops of oil from the field in a container.
The prime minister said that the inauguration of the Mangala field was bound to bring enormous prosperity to Rajasthan.
"It is a historical fact that whenever oil has been found in a country, it has developed very fast. I believe after the oil production here, there will be a new Rajasthan where there is no poverty and less unemployment.
"Our country is moving forward at a rapid rate. But to remove poverty, there is a lot left to do," Manmohan Singh said, noting if this rapid rate of growth has to be improved, there will be further need for energy.
"Energy production is taking place, but the demand for oil and gas is also increasing," he added.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot were present at the function, held in a massive air-conditioned tent, which had eight large screens hanging from the roof to enable the audience to watch the event closely. The site is 125 km from the India-Pakistan border.
Mangala's peak production of 125,000 barrels per day (bpd) will be reached in the first half of 2010.
Along with the production at its Bhagyam and Aishwarya fields, the aggregate peak production by Cairn India will be 175,000 bpd or 20 percent of India's domestic production - enough to power 3.4 million cars daily or fill up 4.5 million cooking gas cylinders a month.
The three fields are expected to save the country $1.5 billion annually as import bill over the next 10 years. It would also earn the government $30 billion across the life of the field by way of taxes, royalties and profit petroleum revenue.
Deora has said the central government would get Rs.46,000 crore (Rs.460 billion) as profit petroleum revenue. The Rajasthan government would get another Rs.12,000 crore (Rs.120 billion) as royalty revenue for the first five years, he said.
India imports over 70 per cent of its crude oil needs. At its peak, Cairn's production will lead to cutting down about 8 per cent of India's import bill at current oil prices.
Economic Times reports:
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday directed officials to initiate confidence building measures in trouble-torn North Cachar
Mr Gogoi is slated to visit Delhi and meet home minister P Chidambaram. The situation in North Cachar hills and willingness shown by the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) (DHD-J) to come for peace talks is likely to come up for discussion during the meeting. Already, the government of India has expressed concern over the situation in the hill district.
On Saturday, Mr Gogoi reviewed the present law and order situation at Haflong and instructed the administration to remain in vigil so that no further incident could take place and also to implement confidence building measures.
Chief minister further directed to take proper measures for providing baby food and educational facilities to the children living in relief camps.
The chief minister also reviewed the functioning of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council and directed the administrator of the council Md Alauddin to take necessary steps to clear out the pending salaries of the employees and to start the process of development works in full swing. The matter of setting up of a village council in the district was also discussed in the meeting.
The chief minister assured the apex bodies of tribal communities that under no circumstance will Assam be again divided and there will be no division of North Cachar Hills in the name of nomenclature.
The chief minister also assured taking all possible measures for peace, rehabilitation for violence affected people and a special package of development for the district.
According to the state government, the district has witnessed ethnic violence perpetrated by the militant groups since March 19, 2009 which resulted in loss of lives of 64 innocent persons in addition to burning down of 520 houses.
The review meeting was attended by the chief secretary P C Sharma, director general of police Shankar Barua, additional chief secretary P P Verma and others.
'Global crisis led to breakdown of trust in fin system'
Reserve Bank of India governor D Subbarao on Friday said the ongoing global crisis has resulted in a massive breakdown of trust in
"What the crisis has done is to cause a massive breakdown of trust: trust in the financial system, in bankers, in business, business leaders, investment advisors, credit rating agencies, politicians, media and in globalisation," he said at a conference on 'Ethics and the World of Finance' here.
Saying that current financial crisis has called into question the ethical foundation of the financial world, the governor at Sri Sathya Sai University said the crisis has exposed an issue of moral hazard in the banking system.
"...Something that has come to be called privatisation of profit and socialisation of costs," he said. Governments can hardly afford to have large institutions fail, as they would be bailed out at tax payers expense, he added.
The 'too big to fail' syndrome enables financial institutions to take risks a soap maker cannot take, he said. The crisis, he said, has triggered a soul-searching debate on whether the malaise in the financial sector could be a result of the flaws in the direction that economics, as an academic discipline, has taken over the years.
"I have raised the issue of economics, as an academic discipline, losing its value base, and conjectured if that could be at the root of the malaise in the financial sector," he said.
FM announces lowering of interest for farmers
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced that farmers who have taken loans and repaid them on time will pay one per cent less interest than the market rate.Such farmers will pay interest at the rate of 6 per cent against the existing 7 per cent rate. The remaining one per cent will be borne by the Centre, he said.
The Finance Minister, who was inaugurating a branch of the United Bank of India at Jangipur near Berhampur in Bengal, said within a year 3.25 crore farmers will get Kisan Credit cards and will be eligible for agricultural loans.
He said following the Sacchar Committee report on minorities, at least one bank will be opened in a minority predominant area where there were no banks.
Mukherjee disbursed loans amounting to Rs 2.20 crore to 2,222 farmers and members of self-help groups.
After SRK episode, Salman cancels his US trip
Learning lessons from Shah Rukh Khan episode, Bollywood star Salman Khan has cancelled his upcoming trip to New York to promote his latest movie 'Wanted', besides participating in the auction of his personal paintings to raise funds for his charity.Organisers and promoters associated with the event cited Shah Rukh Khan's episode at Newark Airport early this month, where he was questioned by immigration officials and taken for a second screening, as a major reason for Salman to cancel his New York trip scheduled in early September. The event was scheduled for September 3 in New York.
The promoters were also in talks with local organisers in cities like Chicago, Houston and Dallas for his other events.
"However, after the Shah Rukh Khan event, Salman informed us that he would not like to take the risk of coming to the US at this point," an informed source involved with the planning and organising the September 3 event said.
It is understood that Salman's decision was also propelled by what his aid alleged "the hard time" being given by the US Consulate in Mumbai in approving the visa of his close associates, including one of his family members, whom Salman wanted to bring along with on this promotional trip.
Besides Salman Khan, producer Boney Kapoor, former Bollywood star, Sridevi and Prabhu Deva were also scheduled to attend the New York meeting.
Informed sources said following the Shah Rukh episode, which attracted much media publicity in both India and the US, there is a sense of reluctance among local promoters and organisers of Bollywood events to risk inviting starts from Mumbai.
Shah Rukh had alleged that he was detained and questioned at the airport for nearly two hours as his name popped up on the computer of the immigration counter.
He alleged that he was subject to questioning as his last name was Khan, a charge denied by the US Customs and Border Patrol.
Despite RSS hints, immediate changes in BJP ruled out
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) top brass met senior leader LK Advani at his residence late on Friday night for almost two hours.Among those who met Advani were Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar.
Sources claimed that despite RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat chalking out a succession plan for the BJP, there are no immediate plans to ring in changes in the leadership.
The RSS succession plan is reported to have been discussed during the meeting. BJP leaders were reluctant to reveal to the media what exactly transpired at the meeting claiming that it was a routine meeting.
The other issue that came up for discussion was Jaswant Singh's charge that Advani knew about and was in favour of exposing the cash for vote scam that hit Parliament in July last year, as the UPA Government was seeking a vote of confidence.
Firing a fresh salvo, Singh said Advani was "at the centre" of the cash-for-votes scam drama enacted in the Lok Sabha last year.
"It's a great sense of pity. Here was a man who was consumed by an ambition to be Prime Minister, and that desire made him commit so many mistakes. Do you know this whole wretched thing of money for votes is a classic example of wrong decision-making and it's extremely troubling that he did not stand up and say no? Advaniji was at the centre of this whole drama," he told Outlook magazine.
Singh was referring to the episode when three BJP MPs displayed bundles of currency notes totalling Rs.10 million, claiming they were being offered as bribe to support the government.
Singh said the facts were clear and he stumbled on to the whole thing when Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former aide of Advani, brought a very strange looking fellow to his house.
"I was not consulted but I was appalled that Advaniji was giving the MPs the go ahead to display money in Parliament," he said adding that Advani had two choices -- either to take the money to the Speaker or into the House. But he told the MPs to display the money in Parliament.
The options left for Advani are to break his silence and publicly clarify his stand to take on his detractors or else resign as Leader of Opposition and end his political career, leaving the BJP to battle the crisis.
Advani could also stay on till BJP presidential election in December to chart out a comprehensive succession plan.
It is clear that the fault line in the BJP have widened with a number of senior leaders rebelling against the party high command. With some much infighting there seems to be three distinct camps within the BJP – the Rajnath Camp, the Advani Camp and the Vajpayee Camp.
Girls traumatised in school premises; one raped, another stripped
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Agencies
Posted: Aug 29, 2009 at 1337 hrs ISTJaipur/Faridabad Two girls faced harrowing time at their schools with one being raped by the school owner and another stripped off her shirt by her teacher for not paying tuition fee.
In the Pink City, a 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by the owner of her school. The Class VI student of Maharaja Secondary School was allegedly raped by Ramesh Sain at the school office on Friday, Deputy SP (North) Anil Gothwal said on Saturday.
Following the incident, angry locals indulged in stone pelting and gheraoed the police station. The accused has been arrested.
In Faridabad on the outskirts of the national capital, a Class III student was stripped off her top by her class teacher for not paying her tuition fee despite the fact that the child, a daughter of an autorickshaw driver, was entitled to full fee concession.
"I was forced to take off my T-shirt. When my teacher caught hold of my skirt, I told her not to do that. When I asked why she was doing it, she said it was the principal's order. Then I was asked to stand half naked for a long time and when I tried to cover myself, she asked me to stand straight," the nine-year-old victim said.
The victim's mother said that she has a document to prove that her daughter is exempted from paying fees. Taking note of the incident, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPR) has said stern action will be taken against the teacher if she is found guilty.
"If found guilty, we will take very strict action (against the teacher). Not only the teacher, school management and authorities are equally responsible," Sandhya Bajaj, NCPR member said.
Crisis spells boom time for CAs, CWAs
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Neha Pal
Posted: Aug 30, 2009 at 0116 hrs ISTNew Delhi As companies are focusing on cost cutting in times of economic slowdown, chartered accountants (CAs) and cost and work accountants (CWAs) are laughing their way to the bank.
According to Institute of Cost and Work Accountants of India (ICWAI), with companies looking for professional expertise in areas such as valuation management, strategic management, risk management and capital market analysis, salaries being offered for these services to CAs and CWAs have soared.
While the average salary for CWAs in the previous year was Rs 4.5 lakh per annum, this year the average salary has gone up to Rs 7.2 lakh per annum. The highest offer for cost accountant has been Rs 8.5 lakh per annum. In case of chartered accountants too, the average salary this year has been Rs 6.5 lakh per annum compared to Rs 5.55 lakh last year.
According to Uttam Prakash Agarwal, president, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), "Chartered accountancy students have got better placements this year as compared to last year. Even though the job market is tight this year, there has been no slowdown for CAs in India ."
Some top companies which have hired CAs this year include Wipro, HDFC, Jaypee Capital Services, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Sony, L&T, HPCL, State Bank of India, Indian Oil Ltd, Bank of India, ONGC, Sebi and Power Grid Corporation.
Major companies and PSUs which participated in the direct recruitment process for cost and work accountants this year include, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), Ircon, Food Corporation of India (FCI), Hindustan Zinc Ltd (Vedanata Group) and Nestle.
According to ICWAI, "With all companies becoming more cost conscious and cost effective today, students are being trained in process management in different industries and valuation management, besides financial accounting."
ICWAI has also revised the syllabus, effective from June 2008, for intermediate and final examinations. The new syllabus has been designed to address demands in areas such as valuation and strategic management, risk management and capital market analysis.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Crisis-spells-boom-time-for-CAs-CWAs/508808/Govt agrees to infuse Rs 5000 cr into Air India over next 3 years
NEW DELHI: The government has agreed to infuse an equity of Rs 5,000 crore into cash-strapped Air India over the next three years subject to the
"The government would support the airline in meeting its short and medium term capital requirements. The CoS has agreed to increase the equity base of the company and take it upto Rs 5,000 crore over the next three years," the official said.
He also said that government would help the airline in getting loan from banks if required.
"The airline is comfortable with what the committee has proposed. The airline's cost-cutting exercise so far undertaken was not satisfactory. They need to do a lot more," another government official said.
Air India had earlier sought over Rs 15,000 crore from the government to tide over the crisis.
Air India has an accumulated loss of over Rs 7,200 crore as on March 2009. Hit by the worst financial crisis in its history the company has approached the government for financial assistance.
The high-level committee has, however, made it clear that the financial help would be linked with money saved by the airline. Air India expects to cut its operational cost by about Rs 2,000 crore per annum besides enhancing its cash flow by 10-15%. The airline aims at saving about Rs 750 crore by rationalising productivity-linked incentives (PLI) of its 31,000 staff. It has targeted to reduce its cost by Rs 500 crore by rationalising its network.
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On the revenue enhancement front, Air India has decided to unlock the value of its real estate properties and expand its customer base. The airline is all set to launch its low-cost airline Air India Express on domestic routes.
"Accenture has given a cost-cutting plan. It has said that company would save over Rs 4,000 crore annually by cutting cost and enhancing revenue. The company chief has asked all concerned functional directors to act and produce desired results," a senior Air India official said on the condition of anonymity.
He said that the cost-cutting measures suggested by Accenture has been presented to the CoS. Air India had submitted a turnaround plan, prepared by merchant banking firm SBI Caps, to the panel last month.
Loan liabilities of Air India currently stands at nearly Rs 16,000 crore. The company owes about Rs 600 crore to Airport Authority of India (AAI) over and above the dues of private airport operators such as Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) and Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL).
"The company has to make principal and interest repayment of about Rs 9,000 crore over the next three years mainly on account of fleet acquisition," an official said.
Meanwhile, the CoS has directed the ministry of civil aviation to move a proposal to the Cabinet in consultation with finance ministry for the financial assistance to beleaguered carrier.
For WPI read old price index, outdated goods
NEW DELHI: If you've been wondering why prices burn a bigger hole in your pocket each time you go grocery shopping even as the inflation rate
Time was when middle-class families across India cooked with Dalda or Rath brands of vanaspati oil. When toasts were raised with Double Horse whisky or Old Port Dix Rum. When scooters outsold motorcycles and teenaged girls ritualistically used Keo Karpin hair oil before stepping out. Consumer preferences have changed but the WPI remains stuck in the early 1990s.
The base year for the current WPI series is 1993-94. It has 435 commodities in its basket, which includes 98 primary articles, 318 manufactured products and 19 fuel and energy sources as well as lubricants. But the basket is completely out of sync with current consumption trends. For instance, the list of Indian Made Foreign Liquor has just five archaic brands. The same holds true for many other commodities, including manufactured goods and food items.
The WPI is illogical and outdated on other counts too, listing no other detergents but Sansar powder, manufactured in Bangalore and Surf made in Mumbai. This, even though HLL, which manufactures Surf, has factories in many parts of the country and does not base its price on products manufactured in Mumbai.
Similarly, the confectionery market has expanded but the WPI lists just 10 varieties of toffees manufactured by two brands, Parrys and Nutrine. Saridon is still the WPI's brand of choice, as is Kolkata-based Deys Medical for personal grooming products such as hair oil.
The WPI basket no longer reflects market categories either. In 1993-94, pagers sold more than mobile phones as did scooters compared to motorcycles and cars. That's not true in 2009.
The government says it's hard to draw up a more representative list of products because of problems sourcing data from as many as 5,000 units. Therefore, it's contemplating making it binding for companies to report monthly data.
''Getting the data from private companies is a problem,'' said Pranab Sen, secretary, ministry of statistics and programme implementation. He says the new, updated WPI series will soon be ready. Once the new system kicks in, inflation data will be released on a monthly basis rather than weekly, as happens now, sources said.
Cash transfers better than drought relief works
I became a journalist in 1965, when two successive droughts killed thousands and forced India to beg for US food aid. India's share of global How distant those dark days seem ! This year another drought has struck, but we have no panic or talk of food aid. India withstood a terrible drought in 2002, so Indians are confident that the government knows how to tackle droughts. That's a revolutionary change from the 1960s. Most people think that the Green Revolution ended mass starvation. Not so. The Green Revolution improved yields, and made India self-sufficient . Yet, it did not raise yields sufficiently to increase foodgrain availability per head. Remarkably, grain consumption per head in later years rarely reached the 1964 level. Why, then, did droughts cease to cause mass starvation? Because of better food distribution, not production . In subsequent droughts, enough food got through to the worst hit. Rural employment was the key to success. Maharashtra first experimented with an Employment Guarantee Scheme when hit by successive droughts in the early 1970s. Simultaneously, countries of the Sahel region in Africa suffered repeated drought. Food aid was rushed to Sahel, while very little came to India or Maharashtra . Yet, there was mass starvation in the Sahel, and none in Maharashtra. Economists Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze explained the paradox. In Maharashtra, grain availability per head was just half that of the Sahel. But employment schemes enabled hungry Maharashtrians to earn just enough to stave off death. Maharashtra suffered mass hunger, but not mass starvation. The opposite was true in Sahel. Food aid piled up in ports and godowns , but there was no mechanism to get it to those starving. NGOs, government agencies and free kitchens did not have the necessary reach. In Maharashtra, the market provided the reach. Once the needy obtained purchasing power through employment schemes, the market drove grain to where the money was. This reached the needy more efficiently and completely than free government kitchens. Other states did not follow Maharashtra's lead in enacting employment guarantee legislation. But when a drought occurred, they would rush to create emergency employment schemes. Gujarat, for instance , created millions of man-days of work to successfully combat the 1987 drought. This approach aimed to relieve distress, not improve economic efficiency . Yet, economic efficiency improved too. Research across the world shows that, other things equal, small farmers are more efficient than large ones, mainly because they maximize the use of family labour. Markets usually drive assets to those who use them most efficiently . When industries suffer a recession , inefficient industries fail and are acquired by efficient ones. But this does not happen in rural India in a drought: efficient small farmers do not acquire the land of inefficient absentee landlords. On the contrary, many small farmers make distress sales of their land and cattle to large farmers. Why such perverse results? Because rural credit and insurance markets are missing or incomplete. Big farmers dominate access to credit , and enjoy the lion's share of huge rural subsidies for electricity, water , fertilizers and credit. In these conditions, small-farm efficiency does not translate into superior yields or income. Rural employment schemes plug the financial gaps of small farmers and thwart distress sales. This not only relieves suffering but improves economic efficiency: small landholders are efficient. How should rural employment be tailored to meet needs in the current drought? First, the financial allocation must be raised: the budget has already done this. Second, the spending share of the states should be reduced in the worst-hit areas, enabling them to tap more central money. In 2008, Bihar provided just 23 days work per applicant, Chhattisgarh 30 days, Jharkhand 44 days and Uttar Pradesh 26 days. These states are badly hit by drought this year, and must expand person-days of work massively. Third, payments to workers must be prompt. Many states routinely delay payments, hitting the neediest. Dreze rightly calls this deplorable. A radical solution would be for states to stop rural works and simply pay the legal compensation to job-card holders. This will cost less than rural works, since money will not be spent on materials or supervision : it will go entirely to the needy. In effect, cash transfers will replace rural works. Activists like Dreze will demur: they think rural works create durable assets, despite evidence to the contrary. I believe that in a major drought, we should focus on getting cash to the needy, not on building mud roads that vanish in the next monsoon. | |
Five ways you and I help the black economy grow
Meenakshi Kumar and Insiya Amir, TNN
Black money thrives. It's not just stashed away in Swiss banks by crorepatis and billionaires, but in ordinary middle-class homes, away from the eyes of the income tax inspector and banking authorities.
The black economy is currently estimated to be 50% of India's gross domestic produce (GDP). Professor Arun Kumar of Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, says it could be more. Much more. Kumar should know. He wrote the book, The Black Economy in India. He says, "In 1995-96, it was 40% of India's GDP. Considering that the economy has grown by 8% and more in the last decade, it can be assumed that the black economy too has grown roughly by the same amount." That's a conservative estimate, he adds. It could be much more, somewhere close to 70%.
Local business results for Vedic Village near Kolkata, West Bengal
- Change location - Back to results |  | Vedic Village The- maps.google.co.inShikhapur, Kolkata, Kolkata "The property was pretty good. The food was good."
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 | Vedic Village Kolkata- maps.google.co.in1/1B Upper Wood Street, Kolkata - 033 22802071 More information » | ||||||
 | Rajarhat Land - Landwala- www.landwala.inPO Barish, 15B, N.S Road, Kolkata - 09804569543 More information » | ||||||
 | More results near Kolkata, West Bengal » |
 L K Advani should have done a Sonia From being the BJP's tallest leader and one of the most respected figures in politics , Advani has suffered a steep fall.  New BJP roadmap soon; Advani, Rajnath may go Sources say that BJP, currently dealing with the leadership crisis, is likely to announce soon a new roadmap for the party, which will outline the individual responsibilities for the party leaders.  BJP to announce new roadmap soon: Sources Sources say that BJP, currently dealing with the leadership crisis, is likely to announce soon a new roadmap for the party.  Jaitley frontrunner for BJP chief's job Sangh intervened strongly to end infighting in the party and force leaders to reach consensus on a new party chief.  Advani meets RSS chief Senior BJP leader L K Advani met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, a day after the Sangh head appeared to have stepped in to resolve the crisis in the party.  BJP says it will come out stronger from crisis It's a temporary phase and party will come out stronger from the present crisis, said BJP VP Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.  Immediate change in BJP leadership ruled out Despite Mohan Bhagwat chalking out a succession plan for BJP, there are no immediate plans to ring in changes in the leadership.  Khanduri takes complaint to RSS chief B C Khanduri today met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and is understood to have aired his grievanaces.  BJP has to decide its own future: RSS Chief The BJP has to "think and decide" its own future, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said.  Party colleagues put Advani on the mat on Kandahar Advani was aware of the decision to swap terrorists for hostages during Kandhar hijack, Mishra & Sinha asserted.  So, did Advani lie on Kandahar hostage swap? After spending most of Thursday in stunned silence even when Congress pounced upon the claims of Mishra and Sinha to accuse Advani of lying, BJP hit back in the evening.  Atal would have handled things well: Yashwant Factional faultlines within BJP sharpened on Thursday with another former Union minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, attacking the party leadership for the way Mr Jaswant Singh was shown the door.  Sinha, Brajesh too nail Advani's Kandahar lies Yashwant & Brajesh too question Advani's Kandahar claims.  BJP 2009 looks more like Cong 1996 Rajnath faces rebellion from Raje & Khanduri, after Shourie's outburst.  Anti-Sardar Patel book sold from RSS HQ in Gujarat Narendra Modi displayed great alacrity in banning Jaswant Singh's Jinnah book in Gujarat. | ||
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickieslist/4909035.cms
Mamta demands investigation by NIA in Vedic village episode
KOLKATA: A day after the Congress demanded a CBI investigation into the Vedic Village episode, railway minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata told reporters in Delhi on Saturday that CPIM had been involved in illegal land grabbing in many parts of West Bengal and the recent incident at the Vedic Village was a glaring example of that. "We want an investigation into the resort issue by the NIA," Mamata said. Interestingly, the Union cabinet on December 15, 2008 had cleared a proposal to set up the NIA exclusively to combat terrorism more effectively. The Union cabinet also gave a green signal to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 during its meeting on December 15, 2008. The NIA is supposed to be a more powerful investigation agency than the CBI and Mamata's demand for the Vedic Village probe by the newly formed agency is significant because she does not have any faith in the state run investigation agencies. Meanwhile, the state government has assigned inspector general of police (South Bengal), Sanjoy Mukherjee to probe the Vedic Village incident. Already two persons including one Village official have been arrested in connection with the incident which claimed one life last Sunday when miscreants led by Gaffar Mollah opened fire at a crowd near Rajarhat. Interestingly, preliminary reports received by the CPIM state leadership suggested that no party heavyweight was involved in the alleged land grabbing by the muscleman Goffar Mollah and his associates. But, local leaders complained to the party secretary Biman Bose who held a meeting with them recently that a number of party activists had been maintaining links with Gaffar Molla, prime accused in the resort violence which claimed one life. A local CPIM leader from Sikharpur, which is very close to the resort, Bablu Naskar had lodged a complaint with the Rajarhat police station saying that his land was forcibly captured by Mollah and his men. But, the police did not respond to Naskar's allegation. In a related development, CPIM state leadership on Saturday asked its leader and land and land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah to submit a report on the Vedic Village land distribution. It is learnt that Mollah will submit his report to the state party chief Biman Bose on Monday. | |
Maoists shoot dead CPM duo | ||||||||||||||
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| Aug. 29: Two CPM supporters were shot dead today by suspected Maoists in West Midnapore and Purulia, both rebel strongholds. Police said that Lakshmi Kanta Kumar, a 50-year- old CPM local committee secretary was waylaid by a group of Maoists when he was returning home in Arsa, Purulia, about 360km from Calcutta. Lakshmi was going home after completing party work around 7pm. The spot where he was murdered is near a CRPF camp in Mudali, which is near Arsa. "Five assailants on motorbikes fired at Lakshmi from a close range. He died on the spot. The assailants fled under the cover of darkness," said a police officer. Mohammed Ibrahim, a CPM district secretariat member in Purulia, who rushed to the Sindhurpur village, condemned the incident and said the Maoists were involved. In another incident, an armed gang of Maoists killed Bidyut Baran Das in Binpur, West Midnapore. Forty-eight-year-old Bidyut, too, was fired at from a close range. The assailants stopped Bidyut, a poultry seller, when he was returning home on his bicycle around 9am. He was shot in the forehead. The villagers found him lying in a pool of blood and took him to Jhargram subdivisional hospital where he died of his injuries. "Bidyut was our party supporter. The Maoists suspected that he used to work as a police informer," said Narottam Maity, local committee member of Belatikri, also in West Midnapore "There is no witness to the incident. But preliminary investigations show that the killing is the handiwork of the Maoists," said an official of Binpur police station. | ||||||||||||||
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POETS AND LOVERS - Women in medieval Spain enjoyed a freedom rare even today | |
| -Githa Hariharan | |
Consider a common image, the story of a woman's life. The woman is stuck at home, condemned to a life of servitude, or at least to a life in which she has few choices. She is either illiterate, or she is not given the opportunity to make use of whatever education she has. And as for those other glorious freedoms that make life a worthwhile adventure — such as the freedom to think for herself and say and write what she pleases; to live alone or to remain unmarried; to choose a husband, a lover, or several lovers — these possibilities are not even specks on the woman's horizon. Sadly, this story is not about some antiquated figure from the unenlightened past. The women this story is about belong to our times; they people contemporary scenarios in different communities in different parts of the world. Then consider a radically different image, of a woman who writes poetry, who chooses not to marry, who loves as she pleases. Poets, lovers and trailblazers — we need them to show us what life can be when lived to the fullest, when lived with a certain amount of risk. Two such women, Wallada bint al-Mustakfi and Hafsa bint al-Hayy, lived in medieval Spain, in the midst of a period when Europe experienced one of its greatest moments of cultural enlightenment. Needless to say, the times fostered a complex and sophisticated multicultural society; and the social status of women in Al-Andalus has also been a source of interest to scholars. The status of women has often been the reason scholars have described Al-Andalus as "a place apart" from medieval Europe and the eastern Muslim lands. A number of women of Islamic Spain — like their counterparts in many pre-modern Muslim societies — appear to have been active participants in political and cultural affairs. Some, especially those from the affluent class, seem to have enjoyed personal freedoms that would evoke envy in their modern counterparts. As a result, they helped shape the cosmopolitan civilization associated with the Muslims in this particular time and place in history. Wallada bint al-Mustakfi, also known as Wallada the Umayyad, or simply Wallada, lived in Córdoba between say 1001 and 1080. She was the daughter of the caliph, but it needed a certain kind of society to ensure that she would inherit her father's wealth, and style herself as the reigning debutante of Córdoba. She hosted salons for poets, musicians and artists, both men and women, many centuries before France's legendary Madame de Rambouillet held sway over her literary salon. Wallada gathered around her the finest poets and musicians of Al-Andalus, who would sit around her on cushions and rugs, improvising ballads and epic sagas to the sound of the lute and zither. She was herself a poet, writing in Arabic. Most of all, she was a free spirit, choosing to remain unmarried though she had several lovers. She conducted a very public love affair with the poet Ibn Zaydun. (Although Ibn Zaydun was a leading figure in the courts of Córdoba and Seville, he was most famous among the people of his day because of his scandalous love affair with Princess Wallada.) Wallada also challenged certain upper class social conventions, such as veiling. In fact, she was known for the embroidered words she flaunted on the sleeves of her robes. One such sleeve proclaimed, "I am fit for high positions, by God, and go on my way with pride." On another robe, the embroidery said, "I allow my lover to touch my cheek, and bestow my kiss on him who craves it." Only nine of Wallada's poems have survived; five of these are satirical, even caustic. The best lines were written for the love of her life, Ibn Zaydun, but they were not all loving. Their affair was a stormy and controversial one, and some of her harshest satire was addressed to him. But even today, this unconventional couple is remembered as "los enamorados" —for instance, through a sculpture in a Córdoba plaza near its old medieval walls. The sculpture is of a pair of hands; each hand seems to be reaching yearningly towards the other. Hafsa bint al-Hayy, more commonly known as Al-Rakuniyya, was born in Granada around 1135 and died in Marrakech around 1191. Like her Córdoban predecessor, Wallada, Hafsa belonged to the upper class —she was the daughter of a Berber nobleman in Granada and she received a superior education. Again, like Wallada, she was a poet and the lover of a poet; and many of her poems take the form of a dialogue with him. For example, she writes to her lover, Abu Jafar Ibn Said: "Will you come to me or I to you?/ My heart will go where you wish./ You will not thirst if you ask me to come, nor will the sun burn you./ My lips are a clear, sweet spring; the branches of my hair cast deep shadow...." There was no coyness or fear of convention in her expression of love. In reply, her lover says, "If I can find a way, I will go to you./ You are too important to come to me./ The garden does not move, but receives the soft puff of the breeze." Jafar's implication that the garden delighted in the lovers' rendezvous through its scents and sounds evokes a sceptical response in Hafsa. Maybe the garden acts out of envy, she says, not admiration. Though a few of the 19 known poems by Hafsa are satirical or are panegyrics, most of her work consisted of love poems. But like Wallada's love story, Hafsa's too did not run a smooth course. Her lover, Jafar, was secretary to the governor and patron of poets, Abu Said Uthman, who too was enamoured of Hafsa. Uthman had Jafar killed. Though it was dangerous, Hafsa expressed her grief openly: "They threaten me for mourning a lover they killed by sword./ May God be merciful to one generous with her tears/ or to her who cries for one killed by his rivals,/ and may the afternoon clouds so generously drench the land wherever she may go." Most striking was what she did with her life after her lover's death. She retired from the glittering life of the court she was familiar with, and made a career change from poetry to teaching. In later life, she moved to Marrakech because she was hired by the caliph, Yaqub al-Mansur, to educate his daughters. Wallada and Hafsa, along with Hafsa's contemporary in Granada, Nazhun bint al-Qilai, were among the most celebrated Andalusian women poets of their times. Their poetry celebrates for us the rich, if tumultuous, lives they could choose to lead because of the personal freedoms they enjoyed. Moreover, their lives celebrate the possibilities of the tolerance and sophistication that should be the hallmark of a truly multi-cultural society. And in the face of the numerous old prejudices that are being reinforced in the present day, the lives and works of these women remind us that such possibilities are not confined to a gender, or a community, or a part of the world. | |
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Cairn turns tap on Indian oil well
| By Douglas Fraser BBC Scotland Business Editor |
"When we started, we were a $10m dollar company, and now in India we're a $10bn company," says Sir Bill Gammell.
The chief executive of Cairn Energy is in the Indian state of than to mark the start of oil flowing from a giant oil field in the desert state near the Pakistani border.
Production at the Mangala field is expected to rise to at least 175,000 barrels per day - a fifth of the country's production.
With smaller fields being developed, the event signifies a huge shift in energy security for India, which has had to import about 70% of its oil.
Twenty-one years since it was listed on the London stock exchange, it also puts Sir Bill's Edinburgh-based company into a much higher corporate league.
"It has placed us on the map," he said. "We are now an international company of some stature, that has been able to develop what is now probably in the top 100 fields in the world as a national asset for the Indian government.
"That gives us credibility that we can go into partnership anywhere in the world. We're now just opening up a new exploration position in Greenland. We couldn't do that if we didn't have the calling card of what we've achieved over the last 20 years."
 |  We thought it would be good for 60,000 to 100,000 barrels per day, but now we're saying publicly it is at least 175,000  Sir Bill Gammell Cairn Energy |
With a London stock market valuation of £3.6bn, the company has a 65% stake in Cairn India, and that calling card has also put it into the second stage of bidding for huge possibilities in Iraq, where the Indian skills base could prove useful.
Sir Bill said no decision had been made about whether to take that forward.
It will require further assessment of political risk as well as technical and commercial risk, and the question of whether Cairn could have an edge there with its operations.
The big Indian find was a big gamble. Cairn Energy paid £7m for a Rajasthani drilling block from Shell, which had given up on it.
It was 2005, and the company was burning its way through $100m of drilling investment, and was close to having to give up too - until drill number 16.
A call came at 4am one morning: "My exploration director said 'you won't believe what I'm seeing here. It looks too good to be true', which is usually because it is. But it turned out to be better than we thought at the time," Sir Bill recalled.
"We thought it would be good for 60,000 to 100,000 barrels per day, but now we're saying publicly it is at least 175,000.
"If you're committed to a strategy, you must play that strategy out," said Sir Bill.
Family friend
He links his team-based business philosophy closely to his passion for sport, having played on the wing for the Scotland national rugby team in the 1970s.
He is also noted as a friend of Tony Blair from schooldays in Edinburgh, and a long-standing family friend of President George W Bush.
Of the risks in the oil business, Sir Bill said: "You learn from your failures. We're always de-briefing and thinking about we could do differently. Failure is something I embrace, and it's something I encourage in my people to embrace, because we learn from it.
"In oil and gas, one in ten works out to be commercial. If you are successful, you have to have the ability to replicate and follow up. For us the exciting thing is that we've got a very large acreage in Greenland, and if there's a sniff of oil, we're going to be right at the forefront of the potential there.
"The Arctic is one of the last great unexported areas of the world. When the oil price was below $40, people went for easier picks. Greenland's only had half a dozen wells ever drilled. We're picking up acreage in basins where nobody's every drilled before.
"The US Geological Society says the top ten countries in the world include Iran, Iraq, Saudi, and in among them at number five is Greenland - and it's the only area where there's no production.
"The challenge is, as opposed to drilling a well in Rajasthan, where it might cost us $1m, in Greenland it might cost us $100m."
"If Greenland happened to come in, it would completely transform us. It has the ability because of the scale and the size to be something that could make us into a major - no doubt about it".
The full interview with Sir Bill Gammell can be heard on BBC Radio Scotland's The Business programme at 1000 BST on Sunday 30 August, and on BBC iPlayer.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8228348.stmFarmers at Maya door for Anil land | ||
| OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT | ||
Lucknow, Aug. 29: Two hundred farmers walked 400km from Dadri and agitated in Lucknow today to demand return of their land taken over for Anil Ambani's stalled power project, and found sympathy from chief minister Mayavati and the Opposition Congress. The proposed Dadri plant has remained a non-starter because of a gas-supply dispute between the Ambani brothers five years after the government of Mulayam Singh Yadav — Mayavati's arch-rival — acquired 2,500 acres for the project. The Congress-led Centre has rejected Anil Ambani's demand for gas at $2.34 from brother Mukesh on the basis of a 2005 agreement. The farmers, who began their march on August 26 and reached Lucknow last night, said they were happy with the response from Mayavati, who sent principal secretary Shailesh Krishnan to the agitation site 200 metres from the secretariat. "We don't want additional compensation but our land back. We want the state government to withdraw the criminal cases against us," farmer leader Rajiv Tyagi said. The Mulayam government had jailed hundreds of Dadri villagers (who are now out on bail) in criminal cases after they had demanded higher compensation and tried to take back their land in July 2006, leading to police firing that injured at least 20. Sources said the Mayavati government had today agreed to withdraw the criminal cases but were tight-lipped on the subject of returning land, which involves legal hassles. They said Mayavati, who alleges the farmers were paid less compensation in 2004 than stipulated by the state's then power policy, plans to seek legal opinion whether more compensation can be paid. After that, the state government may initiate a process to ask Anil Ambani's Reliance Energy Generation Limited (REGL) to pay higher compensation. Under the project agreement of June 2004, REGL must complete the project in seven years, failing which it must pay further compensation to the land-losers. If the project misses the 2011 deadline, however, the Mayavati government might argue in court that the land be returned to the farmers, the sources said. The land's character has changed, though, with a boundary wall built, the field demarcations removed, and a lot of earth dug up. Congress legislative party chief Pramod Tiwari, too, met the farmers to express support. "Five years have passed but there is no sign of any power plant," he said. "The legal battle on gas price involving the Centre and the Ambani brothers looks set to be protracted." | ||
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9/11 brain now CIA asset - Torture debate as Mohammed reveals Qaida secrets | ||
| PETER FINN, JOBY WARRICK AND JULIE TATE | ||
Washington, Aug. 29: After enduring the CIA's harshest interrogation methods and spending more than a year in the agency's secret prisons, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed stood before US intelligence officers in a makeshift lecture hall, leading what they called "terrorist tutorials". In 2005 and 2006, the bearded, pudgy man who calls himself the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks discussed a wide variety of subjects, including Greek philosophy and al Qaida dogma. In one instance, he scolded a listener for poor note-taking and his inability to recall details of an earlier lecture. Speaking in English, Mohammed "seemed to relish the opportunity, sometimes for hours on end, to discuss the inner workings of al Qaida and the group's plans, ideology and operatives," said one of two sources who described the sessions, speaking on the condition of anonymity because much information about detainee confinement remains classified. "He'd even use a chalkboard at times." These scenes provide previously unpublicised details about the transformation of the man known to US officials as KSM from an avowed and truculent enemy of the US into what the CIA called its "pre-eminent source" on al Qaida. This reversal occurred after Mohammed was subjected to simulated drowning and prolonged sleep deprivation, among other harsh interrogation techniques. "KSM, an accomplished resistor, provided only a few intelligence reports prior to the use of the waterboard, and analysis of that information revealed that much of it was outdated, inaccurate or incomplete," according to newly unclassified portions of a 2004 report by the CIA's then-inspector general released on Monday by the justice department. The debate over the effectiveness of subjecting detainees to psychological and physical pressure is in some ways irresolvable, because it is impossible to know whether less coercive methods would have achieved the same result. But for defenders of waterboarding, the evidence is clear: Mohammed cooperated, and to an extraordinary extent, only when his spirit was broken in the month after his capture on March 1, 2003, as the inspector general's report and other documents released this week indicate. Over a few weeks, he was subjected to an escalating series of coercive methods, culminating in seven and a half days of sleep deprivation, while diapered and shackled, and 183 instances of waterboarding. After the month-long torment, he was never waterboarded again. "What do you think changed KSM's mind?" one former senior intelligence official said this week after being asked about the effect of waterboarding. "Of course it began with that." Mohammed, in statements to the Red Cross, said some of the information he provided was untrue. "During the harshest period of my interrogation I gave a lot of false information in order to satisfy what I believed the interrogators wished to hear in order to make the ill-treatment stop. I later told interrogators that their methods were stupid and counterproductive. I'm sure that the false information I was forced to invent in order to make the ill-treatment stop wasted a lot of their time," he said. Critics say waterboarding and other harsh methods are unacceptable regardless of their results, and those with detailed knowledge of the CIA's programme say the existing assessments offer no scientific basis to draw conclusions about effectiveness. "Democratic societies don't use torture under any circumstances. It is illegal and immoral," said Tom Parker, policy director for counterterrorism and human rights at Amnesty International.
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| LOS ANGELES TIMES- WASHINGTON POST NEWS SERVICE | ||
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| Vedic chief arrested |
| A STAFF REPORTER |
| Calcutta, Aug. 29: Raj K. Modi, the managing director of Vedic Realty, was arrested close to midnight on Saturday, the highest-profile action so far in the episode bristling with political implications. Police said Modi, in his late forties, had been taken into custody for "harbouring criminals" and "being part of the illegal activities" of Gaffar Mollah, an alleged land shark wanted in the murder of a teenager that triggered last Sunday's arson attack on Vedic Village. Gaffar, who is absconding, is considered the key figure in the controversy that involves allegations of forcible land acquisition and political patronage, the trail of which could lead to prominent figures in the Trinamul Congress as well as the CPM. If those arrested start singing, the reputation of several politicians could be affected, sources said. Modi was formally taken into police custody after being questioned twice during the day. The arrest was executed at the district police lines at Doltala in Madhyamgram, around 5km from Dum Dum airport, after the second round of questioning that went on for two hours. "Modi has been arrested for harbouring criminals and being part of the illegal activities of Gaffar, except the murder that took place on Sunday in the playing field," said Siddinath Gupta, the deputy inspector-general of police (Presidency range). The police had arrested eight alleged Gaffar aides and found a cache of arms in Vedic Realty property on Monday, a day after the arson attack. Gaffar and his henchmen have been accused of terrorising landowners reluctant to sell their property. Modi will be produced in Barasat court tomorrow. On Thursday, the police had arrested Biplab Biswas, an assistant project manager of Vedic Realty which has built the resort and is implementing an IT park project with government participation. The police said Modi did not contest a statement by Biplab that the managing director was aware of all decisions taken by the assistant project manager. Till well past midnight, the police quizzed the resort's security officer, R. Bhuinya, to find out how Gaffar and his aides could take shelter in the heavily guarded facility without his knowledge. The police are probing the involvement of politicians in land deals in the area. "Interrogation of those arrested earlier has revealed that at least 20 syndicates were involved in procuring land by force in the area," said an officer. |
Moon sends a bolt from blue | |
| G.S. MUDUR | |
New Delhi, Aug. 29: India's first moon mission ended prematurely today with engineers losing radio contact with Chandrayaan-1 after months of struggle to cling on to a troubled spacecraft threatening to slip beyond control. The Indian Space Research Organisation lost contact with the Rs 380-crore spacecraft 10 months into its intended two-year mission that helped India gain experience in a deep space venture yet humbled Isro by its challenges. The space agency said the Isro Deep Space Network station near Bangalore lost radio contact with Chandrayaan-1 abruptly at 1.30am on Saturday after receiving routine housekeeping telemetry signals from the spacecraft until 12.25am. During that hour, the spacecraft would have moved to the moon's far side, and radio silence was expected, a senior official said. "We expected to pick up telemetry at 1.30am which never came," the official said. Engineers at the Deep Space Network today analysed the last sets of telemetry data from the spacecraft in an attempt to understand better what might have happened, but sources indicated that the spacecraft mission was over. The trouble on the spacecraft began months ago with the high temperature and electromagnetic radiation levels at its 100km lunar orbit appearing to cause problems with components involved in power distribution, the sources said. Isro has not specified when exactly the problems began, but in May this year the agency raised the orbit of Chandrayaan-1 to 200km above the lunar surface where the environment would be less severe than at 100km. The agency revealed in July that a star sensor — an electronic eye that helps point the antenna and cameras in the right directions — had malfunctioned and a set of backup electromechanical sensors called gyroscopes had been activated. "The last three months have been attempts at salvaging the mission," a senior Isro engineer told The Telegraph over the phone. "We now have no contact — and thus no control over the spacecraft." Chandrayaan-1 had 10 scientific payloads designed to capture images of the lunar terrain at unprecedented detail, search for minerals and ice and assess the lunar environment for future missions. Isro chairman Madhavan Nair had said last month that 90 per cent of the mission objectives had been completed. But two senior scientists who have been involved in analysing the data received from the spacecraft declined to comment after The Telegraph requested them to quantify how much of the task had been completed over the past 11 months. "Ask Isro," a senior scientist in a European country said. Even in its 200km orbit, the spacecraft is locked in lunar gravity and required thruster firings to stay in orbit. Without such firings, Chandrayaan-1's orbit will decay over time and the spacecraft will crash on the moon, an engineer said. (See graphic) "This mission has been a success," said the engineer. "We put a spacecraft in lunar orbit in our very first attempt — spacecraft from other countries have missed the moon altogether. But we've also learnt lessons — we'll need to use them for future missions." | |
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Talks switch to Advani successor |
| SANJAY K. JHA |
| New Delhi, Aug. 29: Sangh parivar parleys have shifted decisively to the succession plan in the BJP, discounting the possibility of L.K. Advani's continuance as leader of the Opposition beyond a few weeks. Top RSS and BJP leaders are now discussing only the process and the successor. Sources said the leader-of-the-Opposition issue was likely to be de-linked from the organisational elections that would elect the new party president but might stretch to next February. If a consensus is evolved on Advani's successor within the next few days, the BJP will go into the next session of Parliament in November with a new leader of the Opposition. The RSS may put its seal on the successor at its September 1-3 meeting in Haridwar. But some BJP leaders anticipate delay since Advani is insisting on selecting his successor while some contenders, whom he is unlikely to favour, are unwilling to surrender their chances. Advani favours Sushma Swaraj but the far more senior and experienced Murli Manohar Joshi is said to be the Sangh's first choice. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's decision to drive down to Joshi's home for lunch this afternoon was seen by some as a boost to Joshi's chances of becoming Advani's successor. That Advani had to visit the Sangh office at Keshavkunj hours later was interpreted as a sign of things to come. RSS sources, however, said Bhagwat went to Joshi's home to merely send out the message that he wanted to take everybody along and that no faction's dominance was desirable. Bhagwat apparently feels that addressing the disunity among senior BJP leaders is more important than drawing up succession plans, and that the battle of attrition must end first. These sources added that last night's grand show by Advani supporters Sushma, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Anath Kumar had created misgivings in the party and Bhagwat wanted to dispel that. These four leaders had met Bhagwat yesterday for a glimpse into his mind. Rajnath Singh can hope to stay on a little longer than Advani, because the new BJP president may be elected at the end of the organisational polls. Originally scheduled for the year-end, these polls, held from the block to the national level, may last till February because of procedural delays. The RSS, however, will decide on Rajnath's successor at its Haridwar meeting. Sources said the Sangh did not want one camp to capture all important posts, so the party president's job would not go to a known Advani follower if Sushma became leader of the Opposition. So, speculation about the two posts being handed to Sushma and Jaitley may be unfounded, and someone from outside the central coterie may become party president. The sources said both Rajnath and Joshi, along with other senior leaders, would be taken into confidence over this decision. The BJP officially denied that any leader would resign or that a succession plan was being discussed. Spokesman Prakash Javadekar, however, agreed that the party was under pressure from its millions of workers and voters to end the bickering. He hoped the differences would be sorted out after Bhagwat's intervention — an unintended rebuttal of the theory that the RSS never interferes in BJP affairs. Javadekar said unambiguously that the discussion with Sangh leaders would pave the way for unity among senior BJP leaders. Asked if Advani might continue for five years, he said: "Sushmaji and Advaniji have themselves spoken on this issue. I have nothing to add to that." Sushma had said Advani would stay leader of the Opposition for five years, and Advani had endorsed her, saying he was continuing not under pressure but of his own will. |
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Rebel defector was target |
| OUR CORRESPONDENT |
| Ranchi, Aug. 29: When rebels struck yesterday at Digambar Mahto's house in Bundu and killed his daughter and three others, they were actually looking for Dhananjay Singh Munda, a Maoist who they believed had turned police informer. Munda's wife, Budhni Devi, was among those killed when at least 25 armed rebels opened fire on the house in the dead of night before daybreak on Friday, barely 500 metres away from the Bundu police station. Munda, who neighbours say was missing since the last two days from the village, deserted the Maoists two years ago. "After leaving the fold, he had continued to collect levy from various people in the area in the name of Maoists. This infuriated rebels and they came looking for him in the house where he was living with his family as tenants," said a terrified Bundu villager among the many who were yet to recover from the shock and trauma of the attack. Sources in the police also confirmed that Munda had become a "most wanted" for the Maoists who suspected he had also turned police informer, just as they believed that all those living in Mahto's house were friends of the police. Mahto's statement, on the basis of which the police lodged an FIR, also said he and his family were targeted as the Maoists believed he was close to police informers. Apart from Munda's wife Budhni Devi, the rebels also killed Mahto's 12-year-old daughter Reeta Kumari — his younger daughter, nine-year-old beauty Kumari has been admitted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi with serious injuries — and two 20-year-old students of Panch Pargania Kisan College, Vijay Pramanik and Pradeep Kumar Mahto also living there as tenants. The police, who were finding it difficult to field criticism of their ineffectiveness even though jawans were only 500 metres away at the local police station at the time of the attack, have so far drawn a blank in their investigations. While a fear psychosis seemed to have gripped the entire Bundu-Tamar region, the police suspect rebels may repeat such attacks in the region in the coming days as they have become aggressive after the arrests of several Maoists. "Recent arrests of rebels including some top leaders have made them very aggressive. Through these killings, they are showing their prowess and in all likelihood, they would repeat such attacks," said Anup T. Mathew, the rural SP of Ranchi. |
It's not just the leadership, stupid | |||
| Radhika Ramaseshan argues that the leadership tussle and indiscipline are not the main problems the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces — the real issues are the polemics on ideology versus pragmatism | |||
"Ah, then, what help are honour and good name Oedipus in Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles (The Theban Plays) It may be a bit presumptuous to liken L.K. Advani to King Oedipus and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the greatest Greek tragedy in literature. When on August 19, the party's brains trust collected in Shimla to introspect and find out why it failed in the 2009 elections, few expected the three-day meeting to throw up questions, much less answers and solutions. Most believed that the session, like the two other recent chintan baithaks, would repeat itself not as tragedy but as farce. Farce it was not. When Oedipus uncovered the hideous secret of his unwitting "sins" — the man whom he had slain in a fit of anger was his father, Laius, and the wife who had borne him two sons and two daughters was his mother, Jocasta — he destroyed his own eyes so that he would not see his self-inflicted "evil".
The BJP's wise men and women wilfully blinded themselves to their flaws and shortcomings and cracked the whip on the softest target in their clasp. Prodded by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, former minister Jaswant Singh — who had just written a book that praised Jinnah and questioned Sardar Patel — was expelled. "We had to make an example of someone to send a message that indiscipline will not be brooked," a general secretary says. It made no impact — for the BJP has been wracked by indiscipline ever since. From Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje has been continuing to cock a snook at the party leadership. In Gujarat, Modi is seen as an autonomous entity. In Delhi, factions against and for party president Rajnath Singh have been working overtime. Former finance and external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha and others are calling Advani a liar. And Arun Shourie is ridiculing everybody but the putative paterfamilias, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In this ruckus, the debate on whether the BJP needs the RSS or vice versa refuses to die. What's clear is that the RSS, pushed into a corner as long as the BJP was strong and leading the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, has started flexing its muscles again. "The RSS is typically unobtrusive," says a close aide of RSS chief Mohanrao Bhagwat. "But we have identified the root cause of the turmoil. It is the existence of two power centres: Advani and Rajnath. As the president, Rajnath has the authority but he is not able to carry the party. Vasundhara's defiance is an example. Rajnath has to go and we will ensure his successor is somebody who will take everyone along. When the party is in opposition, it is most important to have an effective president." The RSS was peeved with Rajnath because, when he was appointed to head the BJP, he was asked to undercut Advani's clout in the post-Jinnah phase (in 2005 Advani had visited Pakistan and praised Jinnah, causing a loud uproar in the BJP and the RSS) and "cleanse" the party apparatus of his loyalists. "Not only did Rajnath fail, he brought the factional style of politics from Uttar Pradesh," an insider says. So while Advani's protégés such as Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar and M. Venkaiah Naidu either moved from strength to strength or remained where they were, Rajnath tried to constitute his own power centres. The RSS now has a plan of removing both Singh as president and Advani as the leader of the opposition — and replacing them with Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, respectively. Bhagwat's aide — a senior RSS functionary — refuses to comment on Advani, but the group's views on the former deputy Prime Minister become clear when he doubles up with laughter while reading aloud passages from Arun Shourie's articles that imply that Advani is a "dead horse." Clearly, the RSS — and many in the BJP — now believe that the party is incapable of resolving the troublesome issues, and that the RSS has to step in. "Many opinion makers and industrialists have been calling us up to say that they are happy the RSS is in charge," says the aide. But, clearly, the RSS is still a little diffident about acting against Advani, who is arguably the tallest leader in the BJP. "He is the only one still with the ability to think through problems and dilemmas with some political clarity," says K.N. Govindacharya, who was Advani's spin-doctor-cum-ideologue before they fell out. There were others who felt Advani and his faithfuls leveraged his "after me, the deluge" perception to stay put. "If Rajnath has fostered one kind of factionalism, Advani and his people are no less.They know if he goes, they sink with him," a former Advani protégé stresses. But there is a growing belief in the party that the leadership tussle and the ensuing indiscipline are not the main problems facing the party today. Changing the leaders, this section believes, will make a difference but not stop the rot. "A change of regime is useful to the extent that it fixes culpability for the election defeats on specific leaders. But dumping individuals is just a part of the solution. It's like using Band Aid to arrest a haemorrhage. Will it? No," stresses a BJP general secretary. The "real" issues, he says, are the polemics on ideology versus pragmatism and the RSS-BJP equation. "Ideology and idealism have been destroyed," holds Govindacharya. "We saw signs of it in the 2004 elections when our workers in Allahabad raised a slogan, 'Ram Lalla, we have arrived, not to build your temple but to feast on pooris and halwa.' What does the BJP stand for? Pro-US? Pro-rich? The Congress is all this, so why should people opt for the BJP?" In the same breath, he admits that Advani and Vajpayee had a point when they recognised the limitations of hardcore ideology for a political party pursuing power. "In 1999, Advaniji told me don't tom-tom about being a party with a difference. Ideology is irrelevant in the task of governance. An ideological party can at best be a pressure group," says Govindacharya. Fine tuning the RSS-BJP relationship is more problematic. A former Sangh pracharak (propagandist) with the BJP explains, "The RSS is trying to increase its hold over the party, but there are elements that are remarkably naive and ignorant of the larger political dimensions. If it wants the BJP to embrace its exclusivist version of Hindutva, how will the party retain its allies, leave alone attracting new ones?" Though Gujarat chief minister Modi partially circumvented the problem of satisfying cadre demands by reaching directly to his voters over the heads of the activists, the supporters and detractors of the RSS within the BJP conceded that it is a tough call to conclude if the party can do without the Sangh. "Figures speak for themselves," says the ex-pracharak. "Of the 116 party MPs, only 30 come from the RSS. But of the 150 national executive members, 100 come from the RSS and 85 per cent of our support base and party structure is with the RSS. Out of the 10 crore votes we polled, four crore came from the Sangh," he says. For these reasons, many in the BJP thought it will not split. "For argument's case, if Advani walks out, not more than four or five members will follow him. If the MPs and MLAs wish to be re-elected, they will need the services of the tireless swayamsevaks who seek votes from door to door," says a general secretary. If the BJP doesn't mend its ways, what are the options for the RSS? "Work for the Congress, if it doesn't overdo the minority plank or sit at home as we did in Rajasthan (in 2009 when the BJP was down to four out of 25 seats)," says Bhagwat's aide. Will that be the end of the BJP? After all, the BJP's predecessor, the Jan Sangh, rose just like the BJP did — and collapsed in less than 30 years. Behind the Jana Sangh were the RSS and Shyama Prasad Mookerjee. Both had withdrawn from the Hindu Mahasabha independently, at different times and under different circumstances. Together they created the Jana Sangh which, in a few months, became the fourth largest party in India. Mookerjee showed it was possible to make use of RSS support while retaining freedom of manoeuvre and that adherence to Hindu traditions did not exclude parallel appeals to liberal principles. But the limitations that obstructed Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani's attempts to strike a balance between the "hard" and "soft" lines caught up with Mookerjee, who died in 1953. After the ban on the RSS during the Emergency, the Jana Sangh merged with the Janata Party. In the post-1977 experience, when the Jana Sangh was in power at the Centre for the first time, the RSS affiliates expanded rapidly. The RSS refused to consider the Jana Sangh's merger with the Janata Party when there were suspicions that the Sangh would use its organisational resources to strengthen the Jana Sangh within the umbrella coalition. The Janata Party unravelled when the Jana Sangh members refused to sunder their links with the RSS. Following the collapse of Janata rule in 1979, the BJP was formed in April 1980. Is the BJP now waiting for history to repeat itself? | |||
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How green is my village | |||
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Barely two years ago, Anegundi was a place that could well have been Timbuktu. A tiny hamlet nestled amid lush banana plantations and gigantic boulders, it stood within spitting distance of Hampi, one of Karnataka's chief tourist attractions. Despite the proximity, however, few tourists visiting Hampi ever cared to hop across to this village and give in to its rustic charms. Anegundi, it seemed then, would remain in the shadows of its more celebrated sister village. Walk into Anegundi today, however, and it's hard to tell if this wasn't always the thriving, happening melting pot of global travellers that it now appears to be. Cosy guesthouses tucked into its alleyways offer the best of local hospitality. Its main lanes are lined with tea shops and eateries teeming with backpackers, and craft outlets selling top quality handiwork as souvenirs. Local guides escort groups of adventurers into its magical wilds for a session of rock climbing or river rafting. Anegundi, of course, isn't the only village to be basking in this sort of success. All across India, from Lachen in hilly Sikkim to Hodka in the barren Kutch desert to laid-back Aranmula in Kerala's backwaters, several hamlets are reaping the benefits of a pioneering development project that is set to enter its next phase, having completed two eventful years. Christened 'Explore Rural India', and incepted by the ministry of tourism, the project is perhaps the first step ever taken to chalk out an alternative tourist industry in India's backyards, by tapping into local cultural and human resources. It showcases a new face of India, and generates resources for villagers. "Given the success of the first phase that focused on 36 villages, we have now identified 103 more villages across India where we intend to replicate the development model," says Dhiraj Bhalla, assistant director general, tourism ministry, who's in charge of the project. Needless to say, the government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that word about the scheme goes around the world. A coffee table book —called Explore Rural India and brought out by Roli Books — has just hit the bookshelves, while the government has handpicked 15 of the best sites to serve as showcase destinations, with special emphasis on promoting them to foreign travellers. But how, exactly, did it all begin? Amitabh Kant, former tourism secretary and more recently author of Branding India, a book which explored the nuances of new-age Indian tourism, has the answer. "The primary objective of the project was to spin a story around it, which in this case happened to be the rural charms that each site had to offer," says the bureaucrat who started the initiative. "Once a story was in place, we had to back it up with infrastructure and trained manpower, and then go heavy on the promotion." Intended to divert a part of the profits made from mainstream Indian tourism — roughly more than $5 billion today — to the country's rural sector, the project initially relied on technical expertise, along with a part of the financial assistance, provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). "The ministry put in Rs 50 lakh per site, primarily towards infrastructure development, while the UNDP was to invest Rs 20 lakh to sensitise villagers and train them to work as guesthouse managers, cooks or guides," says Bhalla. At the grassroots level, local non governmental organisations (NGOs) were partnered with for the execution of the project. There was a lot to do, since most villages chosen for the project had never seen anything beyond basic PWD work. "On the soft side, emphasis was laid on parameters such as a site's connectivity with the existing circuit, the art and craft skills of villagers, the natural, cultural and oral heritage, and aspects such as environmental care," says Sudhir Sahi, UNDP national consultant for the project. "The hardware scheme, on the other hand, included waste management, landscaping, roads, illumination, recreational equipment, signage and refurbishment of monuments, all of which had to be taken care of during the preparatory stages." Overall, care was taken to spread the sites across all Indian states. Besides, each had its own identity to attract visitors. So if Naggar was a quaint getaway high up in the ranges of Himachal Pradesh, Pipli in Orissa was the place to go shopping for crafts. Samode near Jaipur boasted of Rajasthani regalia, while Mukutmanipur in West Bengal had its rivers, hills, tribal culture and the famed Bankura handicrafts nearby. Most sites were ready for launch last autumn. Some, such as Hodka and Anegundi, opened their doors with the beginning of the tourist season. The response was surprisingly positive. "Through the three winter months, we had a footfall of about 1000-odd visitors in Anegundi, which is very positive considering the little promotion that had preceded the launch," says Shama Pawar, coordinator of The Kishkinda Trust, the NGO that manages operations in the Karnataka village. "And while our capacity is still growing, it's clear that our popularity is on the rise." In an attempt to maximise publicity, people like Pawar have already started hatching their own marketing strategies over and above the respective state governments. "We are planning to hand out special packages to schools, colleges and NGOs, while organising local festivals and art residencies with an eye on global travellers," says Pawar. "Now that the ball has been set rolling, it's simply a matter of tapping into the right market." Yet despite all the optimism, some experts are wary about the downsides of the project. This time around the government is going it alone, with UNDP having pulled out after the initial two-year intervention. "It may have been wiser for the government to wait a little longer before sanctioning the second phase," says a tourism expert who requested anonymity. "After all, the first 36 are yet to be properly absorbed in the tourist circuit, and there's suddenly 100 more vying for attention. How does one know if the sudden crowding won't prove counterproductive in the long run?" Others are worried about lapses in maintenance and asset management, issues that have not yet come up within the existing framework. "Quality should ideally have been given priority over quantity," says Kant. "We are talking about lakhs of rupees worth of government assets here, apart from the maturity of a rural population to handle such sudden change. There's a lot of hand-holding needed before a site can be expected to function on its own, so trying to add to the number of sites in such a short time can tell on the quality," he muses. In any case, exploring rural India is now an experience that's certainly not to be missed. Perhaps that's some food for thought for the upcoming holiday season. Some things, after all, are best savoured brand new. |
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