Seventh Deadly Sin!

Seventh Deadly Sin!

Indian Holocaust My father`s Life and Time Thirty FIVE

Palash Biswas


"Sin creates [an inclination] to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus sin tends to reproduce itself and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root."

Para. 1865, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994

Have you ever enjoyed the Hollywood Film, ` The SEVEN DEADLY SINS’! MNC raj well reflects the spirit. Just Feel Good!

No Matter. Just visit:
See:http://nandigramlalsalam.blogspot.com/index.html

Mahashweta devi has appealed HELP for NANDIGRAM!
Please send your contribution to the following address:

Bhoomi Ucched committee, Nandigram
A/C Number: 6244, Contai Co-Operative Bank Ltd.
P.O. + P. S Nandigram. Pin 721631.

The CPI-M has been under immense political pressure sometimes even from its own allies following the police firing at Nandigram.So after debating and discussing the issue threadbare the party is now ready with a comprehensive plan to counter what it calls a misinformation campaign.The party is likely to announce a month long nation-wide awareness campaign from the first week of April.This will coincide with their celebration of the 50 years of the first communist government in Kerala formed by EMS Namboodiripad in 1957.

Apart from highlighting their achievements the campaign would also highlight the need for industrialization.

The party argues that in Left ruled states agriculture has developed well enough to ensure food sufficiency. But too many people depending on small land holdings are increasingly making agriculture unproductive. That is why the state governments must focus on industrialisation.It further argues that state governments cannot work as isolated islands but rather work within the overall framework of Central policies.

The party will counter the Left intellectuals like historian Sumit Sarkar who have criticised CPIM's role in Nandigram by giving out its version of the truth with facts and figures. The party has already enlisted the enemies of people!

Filmmaker Gautam Ghosh hereto was with the intelligentsia Kolkata opposing Nandigram Genocide. He has crossed the fence! He joins now the Sunil Gango Mrinal sen Gang with Academi winner Atin Bandopadhyaya, Little Mag Don samarendra Sengupta, entertaining novelist Abul Bashar, ex naxal leader Azijul Haq, Cricketeer Sambaran bannerjee and Hindi writers affliated with Janwadi Lekhak sangh! Nirupam sen taught them Industrialisation and Marxism. Paschim banga Gantantrik Laekhak Shilpi sangathan, IPTA and Janawadi Lekhak Sangh are the damage control forums for CPIM!

Don`t you see that the Welfare State in India stealing livelihood and land from the people an killing the Underclasses?
What role is played by all political parties?At last there is some movement on the contentious special economic zones (SEZs). But, all outstanding issues have been swept beneath the carpet while de-freezing the 83 zones. Promoters of these zones where land acquisition has been completed may go ahead with setting up the SEZs. These zones are billed as the major economic expansion show pieces of UPA Government to feed the international markets with both goods and services from India.Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has made a meek attempt towards fine-tuning the SEZ policy especially after bloody pitched battles that were fought in the hinterlands of West Bengal and Orissa.

CBI was puzzled to see Bullet injuries and Bullet marks all over against official claims and Police log book entries. The Bullets used in Nandigram Genocide were stolen from Icchapur Rifle Factory. Noapara Police is investigating the case!

As news reached Mamata Banerjee on Thursday afternoon in Kolkata on the decision of the empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM) of the UPA Government at the Centre on the Special Economic Zone, she immediately faxed a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding the repeal and abolition of the “draconian” 1894 Land Acquisition Act.In the letter to the Prime Minister, Mamata wrote that the “colonial land grabbing law” was being misused by some State governments in the country (read Left Front) to acquire lands for setting up the Special Economic Zones.

Mamata says in the letter that this Bill was indirectly helping the State governments to ruthlessly displace the innocent people from their farmlands and homesteads.

CHENNAI: A Special Economic Zone for manufacture of renewable energy devices would be set up on 675 acres of land in Tamil Nadu, State Electricity Minister N Veerasamy on Monday said.Submitting the policy note of his department in the assembly, the Minister said private promoters from Europe and America and renowned Universities of the UK and US had shown interest in setting up manufacturing facilities related to renewable energy and a world class technology park within the proposed SEZ.


Kolkata:West Bengal government is contemplating whether to allow developers of infrastructure projects to buy land directly from individuals.If it gives the nod to such an arrangement, the deal with the Salim group for a string of projects might have to be reworked. What a way to accomodate Salim by passing the popular uprising ahgainst land aquisition!The government had recently asked the Jindal Group to directly purchase 500 acres in West Midnapore’s Salboni for its steel plant.

Neighbouring Haldia could be the new chemical hub site. Meanwhile Dipak sarkarof Keshpur kurukshetra Fame has taken over CPIM command in West Midnapur and MP Laxman Seth is cut to size as a well thougt measure of Damage Control Now with Napalm Fame Dows entering Bengal, the government and party are trying its storgest base KHEJURI, the launching pad for Operation Nandigram! Consent Signature Campaign is on in Khejuri for land aquisition for the Chemical Hub! Villages under Khejuri Number One block are being targeted. The Panchayats are Birbandar, Heria, Kamardu, Kalagacchia and Tikashi Gram Panchayats! A close associate of Laxman Seth, Himanshu Das is the In Charge of this campaign. Ten thousand acres have to be aquired. and the amusement seems to be that The Centre is mulling suggestions from various quarters, including the CPM, on the size of SEZs. Bengal wants it to be capped at 5,000 acres. It also wants Delhi to bring down the minimum size of a multi-product SEZ to 1,000 acres from 2,500!

In Midnapur,Haripur villagers have been protesting since last September against a 10,000-mw nuclear power plant on their land. In November, they and people from neighbouring villages turned up in thousands on two consecutive days to block a 12-member site-selection panel from the department of atomic energy.If the project comes through it will displace at least 25,000 farmers, fishermen and their families.To reach Hairpur, a remote fishing village along the West Bengal coast, one has to get off the main road and walk 2.5 km over a broad mud dyke. Access to this path is blocked by a log barrier. Outsiders are not welcome.

At the other end, the state government has roped in Jadavpur University to conduct seminars on the benefits of nuclear power; and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, which will run the plant, will take 30 Haripur residents on a tour to a nuclear plant site.


Coastal east Midnapur earns about Rs 360 crore in revenue from fish exports: that’s 60 per cent of the state’s export earnings from fishing.It also boasts a rich agricultural economy. The fertile, multicropped land yields paddy, pulses, vegetables, paan (betel) leaves, chillies and several fruits. Income from this land is high. Even, small farmers like the Manna brothers—Biren, Bidhan and Bikas—earn around Rs 2.5 lakh a year growing tomatoes and brinjals on their half-acre (0.2 hectare) plot of land.

A nuclear plant, requiring millions of tonnes of fresh water to cool its reactors, will deplete the water table and destroy this agrarian economy, say anti-nuclear activists.And hot water from the reactors released into the sea will affect marine life in the Bay of Bengal.Also, the location of Haripur—along a cyclone-prone coast—makes setting up a nuclear plant here dangerous, activists say. If tidal waters enter a reactor, which nearly happened in Kalpakam during the 2004 tsunami, it could poison large tracts of land.

Indian Companies have made FDI worth USD 23 billion in January and February, 2007 which far exceeds the investments of USD 21 billion made during the 12 months of 2006. This was revealed by Dr. Ajay Dua, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India while speaking at the National Conclave on Expansions and Consolidations “Towards Creating Globally Competitive Enterprises” organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi.

Mr. Sunil Kant Munjal, Past President, CII said that there is an increasing war in business for talent acquisition, funds, market share, technology and innovation. M&As are one route to win this war. “M&As are a phenomenon that are here to stay and we can only take advantage of it if we are smart”, added Mr. Munjal.


Theft and Murder become MNC business in India, thus!

Is not this Seventh Sin?

The irony is: Once bitten, the CPM wants to be doubly careful about land acquisition anywhere in the state!

The chief minister has said the chemical hub would come up around Haldia and not in Nandigram, but party leaders are still advising caution.
The party brass met the East Midnapore leadership in the morning. The tone was the same there: “No acquisition if the people don’t want it.”

“Direct purchase is a quicker option for all projects, including those by the Salim Group. We want to implement them, creating the minimum ripple,” commerce and industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen said today.

Victims of persecution in India have gathered for an event to address the issue human rights offences from an India-wide perspective.Read:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/persecution.victims.gather.in.india.to.share.horrific.injustices/10255.htm

Maqbool Fida Husain is back where he finds himself often - in the middle of a controversy over his nudes. This time, he is in the firing line of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and Vishwa Hindu Parishad over a painting, Bharath Mata, which has a nude woman's outline resembling the map of India.The artist had earlier faced the ire of hardline Hindutva groups for portraying goddesses Laxmi, Saraswati and Durga, as well as the revered mythical characters Sita and Draupadi, in the nude.The latest controversial painting, which featured in an ad for the February 6-8 auction by the Chennai based Apparao art Auctions, has already been taken off the sale. However, the controversy refuses to die down as the Samiti has filed a police complaint against Husain.



Six years after Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee invited the wrath of Muslim religious leaders by stating that a large number of madrasas in West Bengal were being used for anti-national activities, the state unit of the Jamait Ulema-e-Hind today alleged that CPI-M cadres have threatening to shut down some madrasas in five districts if the teachers and administrators don’t deliver religious speeches prepared by the party.
Significantly, the state Jamait, already at loggerheads with the CPI-M over the Nandigram killings, made the allegation two days after the chief minister met its national general secretary Mr Mehmud Madani in Delhi, reportedly to request him to tone down the organisation’s activities in Bengal.
“In East Midnapore, Hooghly, South 24-Parganas, Bankura and Murshidabad, teachers and administrators of several madrasas were asked to and report to local CPI-M offices. They were threatened with dire consequences if they did not follow the dictats of the party. Our people were also asked to declare the source of income of these madrasas. This has been happening quite frequently over the past two months. We will not tolerate any facist rule in a democratic state. We will launch a strong agitation”, state Jamait general secretary Mr Siddiqullah Chowdhury alleged today.

Sensex Super Power Hindu Rashtyra Bharat is over occupied with Cricket Inferno these days after losing the Betting and ousted from the Carnival. While floating global tenders, CIL asked its coal-producing subsidiaries to identify mines that could be brought under the new profit-sharing contract. It sought help from both global and domestic consultants on details of the new commercial contract with prospective suppliers.

India is putting in place a new commercial structure of profit sharing with equipment suppliers to raise coal production with new technologies!Coal India (CIL) will invest Rs 18000 crore to raise production by 160 million tonne (MT) to 521.5 MT within the 11th plan period ending 2011-12. ...

World Trade Organization negotiators must reach a breakthrough at a meeting next week, or risk losing all prospects for a global accord this year, European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said. The U.S., EU, India and Brazil, scheduled to meet April 11- 12 in New Delhi, must have a consensus among themselves in the five-year talks known as the Doha Round before all 150 WTO nations can complete an accord. Mandelson is due to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, Indian Commerce Minster Kamal Nath and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim. Negotiators have said they're racing to complete at least an outline for a WTO accord before the Bush administration's trade negotiating mandate from Congress expires at the end of June. An accord would cut tariffs applied at borders, lower restrictions on foreign companies and accelerate checks on imported goods, adding at least $96 billion a year to the global economy, the World Bank estimates.

US Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab will lead a high-level delegation to India on April 12-15 for strategic trade talks and bilateral discussions. Schwab will co-chair the fourth ministerial-level meeting of the US-India Trade Policy Forum with India's Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath.The United States and India maintain one of the world's fastest growing major bilateral trade relationships and are committed to a goal of doubling bilateral trade to approximately US$ 60 billion by 2008.


Subhas Chandra’s Zee has said it would like the cooperation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for its cricket league, but left little doubt the plan would go ahead even if the board didn’t play along.On the other hand,Last evening Greg Chappell telephoned Pawar to say he wasn’t available for an extension owing to “family and personal reasons”.An email followed.Among other things, Chappell expressed gratitude to the players “with whom I have worked in this time, for the challenges that they presented me with…”He also thanked the janata. “The people of India deserve a special mention as they are the ones whose attention, enthusiasm and love and support drive the game, and business, of cricket in this country and around the world.Technically, Chappell’s contract was till April 29 (reserve day for the World Cup final), but effectively till the end of India’s campaign in the showpiece event.It’s not clear why Chappell didn’t wait till Friday, when he’s to submit his World Cup report to Pawar.

“We expect the BCCI to be cooperative. If not, it doesn’t affect us much. Unlike what some BCCI officials have been claiming, we don’t need their permission to use local sports facilities and infrastructure,” said a top Zee official.

The Sports Authority of India and other government bodies own most cricket grounds, while state associations provide infrastructure, he said. “The BCCI has no direct role.”

Players, he said, are contracted by local boards. “Scouting for fresh talent and enlisting them shouldn’t be a problem. We were surprised to receive calls from many senior players yesterday (offering help for the plan).”

The official claimed Chandra’s Essel group, which is promoting the Indian Cricket League, is in talks with Brian Lara, Justin Langer and Michael Slater, besides Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, who have been sounded out.

Woolmer's murder may have influenced Greg's decision: Ian
Hindu - 50 minutes ago
New Delhi, April. 5 (PTI): In a twist to Greg Chappell's resignation as India's coach, his brother Ian Chappell today suggested that Bob Woolmer's murder may have influenced the decision.
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NEW DELHI, April 5 Bangladesh cricket coach Dav Whatmore, whose team beat India in the World Cup, reportedly is interested in succeeding Greg Chappell as ...

India’s big-bang shopping gun booms
SUJAN DUTTA

The Atmos 2000 offered by Israel
New Delhi, April 4: India has reopened an artillery competition for global armament manufacturers for an order that could be worth more than Rs 15,000 crore.

The defence ministry has re-floated two global tenders — called Requests for Proposals (RFP) — inviting bids from 12 makers of 155mm/52 calibre self-propelled guns, a source told The Telegraph here today.

This signals the beginning of a fresh round of big-ticket defence procurements for Indian military orders running into billions of dollars. An RFP for 126 multi-role combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force (for an order that may run upwards of $9 billion) was expected by March 31. It is now said to be likely in June.

The self-propelled guns — to be mounted on truck or tank chassis — are part of an artillery modernisation programme that also includes towed guns.
Read:http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070405/asp/nation/story_7607631.asp

Roots Corporation (RCL), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), has stepped up expansion plans of its 'Smart Basics' Ginger Hotels for eastern India with four more hotels in West Bengal. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, chief minister of West Bengal, had recently inaugurated a 101-room Ginger hotel in the industrial town of Durgapur. This is the second hotel to be opened in the east after Bhubaneswar, which will be followed by Bangalore, Haridwar, Mysore, Thiruvananthapuram and Pune in no particular order. Work on the upcoming Ginger hotels in Goa, Pondicherry and Agartala has commenced and will soon begin in Pantnagar, Baroda, Tirupur, Guwahati, Nasik, Ludhiana, Jamshedpur, Delhi, Mangalore, Paradeep and Ahmedabad within the next couple of months.

'India services exports to touch $311 bn'

NEW DELHI, APRIL 5: India's export of services is expected to touch $310.9 billion by 2011/12, powered by the booming software, consultancy, engineering and tourism sectors, a survey showed on Thursday. Services exports could even surpass merchandise exports, which are expected to more than double to $305.5 billion in the next five years, said the survey conducted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).


Widely known in the Middle Ages as sins that lead to damnation. They are: pride, covetousness (greed), lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth. (See mortal sin/venial sin.) MNC interests and Hindu Corporate Interests reflect all the seven deadly sins!

`The Seven Deadly Sins’ is a black and white film.The dialogue was French, with terse subtitles in English; there was no plot in the ordinary sense, but the "theme" was to illustrate each mortal sin by a robust example drawn from everyday life. ("Mortal", in this context, means "endangering the life of the soul".)The "tone" of the film was worldly - a sort of tolerant cynicism which suggested Guy de Maupassant himself.A young traveller loses his way in the French countryside, and stumbles in the dusk into a rough farmhouse. The surly peasant has just stabled his draughthorse, and his wife is about to serve the evening meal. It is she who answers the traveller's agitated knock. In the gruffest and most grudging way, the peasant says (in effect, and in French): "Oh, all right! Let the poor dope in. Give him a feed!"
After soupe, the wife slices off for her husband a portion of stupendous camembert cheese, and is about to carve another off for the traveller.
Before even beginning a discussion of these Seven Deadly Sins, also known as "capital sins," it may be useful to discuss a few differences among Christians on this subject. Some people feel it is better to take a more positive approach to faith and not dwell on sin. Others believe all sin is equally repugnant to God, and so any classification of sins is wrong. Still others just want to forget the whole thing since they are saved and God loves them and really doesn't care about all this "stuff."

Inscribed in ancient times at the Oracle at Delphi: "Know thyself." Self-knowledge follows closely behind the knowledge of God, and self-knowledge for anyone means knowledge of sin. "My own heart shows me the way of the ungodly." Scripture says we are all sinners, and we don't mind as long as the sins are nameless and faceless. When we name a sin found in ourselves (by Grace) it is as though we are confronted in the back alleys of our souls with furtive saboteurs and muggers who seek to prevent our union with God. The sudden self-revelation of a serious fault is one thing: the discovery of a deadly sin which we hate very much in others is worse. It is like finding out a spouse is unfaithful, or worse, that we have been blindly unfaithful to the Spouse of our soul.


Widening the discussion, they proved also to be far from up to speed on the Ten Commandments. Most recalled promptly the prohibitions on killing and stealing, having first made coy references to the Seventh Commandment - "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery". Freud never sleeps! All seemed entirely to have forgotten the Second Commandment, which afforded comfort to Mark Twain in his wry review of his own life: "Well, at least I never made a graven image."



The "Seven Deadly Sins"', also known as the "Capital Vices" or "Cardinal Sins", are a classification of vices that were originally used in early Christian teachings to educate and instruct followers concerning (immoral) fallen man's tendency to sin. The Roman Catholic Church divided sin into two principal categories: "venial", which are relatively minor, and could be forgiven through any sacrament of the Church, and the more severe "capital" or "mortal" sins, which, when committed, destroyed the life of grace, and created the threat of eternal damnation unless either absolved through the sacrament of confession, or otherwise forgiven through perfect contrition on the part of the penitent. Beginning in the early 14th century, the popularity of the Seven deadly sins as a theme among European artists of the time eventually helped to ingrain them in many areas of Christian culture and Christian consciousness in general throughout the world.

Listed in the same order used by both Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th Century AD, and later by Dante Alighieri in his epic poem The Divine Comedy, the Seven deadly sins are as follows: Luxuria (extravagance, later lust), Gula (gluttony), Avaritia (greed), Acedia (sloth), Ira (wrath), Invidia (envy), and Superbia (pride).

Each of The Seven Deadly Sins has an opposite among the corresponding Seven holy virtues (sometimes also referred to as the Contrary Virtues).

The identification and definition of the Seven deadly sins over their history has been a fluid process and the idea of what each of the seven actually encompass has evolved over time. This process has been aided by the fact that they are not referred to in either a cohesive or codified manner in the Bible itself, and as a result other literary and ecclesiastical works referring to the Seven deadly sins were instead consulted as sources from which definitions might be drawn. Part II of Dante's Divine Comedy, Purgatorio, has almost certainly been the best known source since the Renaissance, though many later interpretations and versions, especially those of the more conservative and Pentecostal Protestant denominations, have instead tended to portray the consequence for those guilty of committing one or more of these sins as being eternal torment in Hell, rather than possible purification through penance in Purgatory.
See Details:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins

India’s economic growth will slow after the central bank raised its benchmark lending rate to a five-year high to curb inflation, Goldman Sachs Group, HSBC Holdings and the Asian Development Bank said. Asia’s fourth-largest economy will grow 8% in the year ending March 31, ADB chief economist Ifzal Ali and Goldman economists Tushar Poddar and Mark Tan said. HSBC economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde expects 7.8%. India’s economy grew 9.2% in the previous year, the government estimates.

PM Manmohan Singh wants to tame inflation at the earliest to win voter support in a key state poll this week, after losing two provincial elections in February. The Reserve Bank of India have been raising banks’ reserve requirements and interest rates to slow record loan growth and curb inflation from a two-year high.
Indian Benchmark BSE Sensex Loses 5 Pct. Stoking Concern Over ...
All Headline News - 2 Apr 2007
Last week a report by the Asian Development Bank said that the Indian economy would grow at a slower pace of 8 percent for the fiscal year ending March 31 ...
Indian Stock Markets Plunge After Central Bank Hikes Lending Rate Men's News Daily
Indian Shares Decline 4.7 Percent International Business Times

Money has never been so expensive in the Indian economy and that ...
NDTV.com, India - 2 Apr 2007
... now is whether RBI waited way too long before acting tough and will this aggressive stand again raise fears of a hard landing in the Indian economy.

Ajay Shah: What RBI wants
Business Standard, India - 3 Apr 2007
Parliament desires a monetary policy which delivers low and stable inflation, while being mindful of the health of the Indian economy. ...
RBI has to cede regulatory turf to make city IFC Economic Times
Inflation tolerance level low: Reddy Business Standard
Poorly timed shock therapy Economic Times

US expects India to keep talking 123 despite missile technology case
Malaysia Sun
Washington, April 4(IANS) The United States expects India to continue to negotiate in good faith the bilateral 123 agreement for their civil nuclear deal despite the arrest of two Indians on charges of supplying missile technology to India.

'Certainly, the United States will,' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday adding, ' I don't see any connection between these two things.'

US Undersecretary of State Nick Burns, Washington's key negotiator for the nuclear deal, he said had got 'a little bit of feedback' from the American team that has come back after a round of talks in New Delhi on the 123 agreement.
http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/d805653303cbbba8/id/239041/cs/1/

This is how India shines!
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Hammer, sickle & fork-tonguedAds By Google
FThe cacophony over Nandigram is gradually dying. Now it’s time to look beyond the mayhem and consider the broader picture — what impact will Nandigram have on the future prospects of the CPI(M); how will it preserve its credentials as an opponent of ‘neo-liberal policies’? Will it be able to grow beyond the boundaries of the three states it rules now? Will it have a larger control over the Centre in future or even manage to be in the driver’s seat?

Though the CPI(M) is a force in West Bengal and Kerala and also to a certain extent in Tripura, its presence outside these three states is abysmal. The party has only one MLA each in Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan. In Assam, UP and Jammu & Kashmir it has two MLAs each. In as many as 16 states, the CPI(M)’s presence in the assemblies is zero.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=475f79d1-a6d2-485b-ba5c-b149c5e21bd5&

From Socialism To Barbarism?

By Akhila Raman

04 April, 2007
Countercurrents.org


Be it Right or Left, it is becoming increasingly clear that Governments across the world are eager to get in bed with the corporations. The message is clear in West Bengal: Economic development will be pursued at any human cost. Protesters will be brutally dealt with and killed if required. Critics will be vilified. Facts will be fudged to justify brutal actions. The Ugly Might of the State has descended in an unholy manner on the farmers in Singur and Nandigram. How can CPIM reconcile its conflicting history of admirable land reforms in West Bengal with the recent brutal repression of farmers in its desperate bid of industrialization?

"The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is the revolutionary vanguard of the working class of India. Its aim is socialism and communism through the establishment of the state of dictatorship of the proletariat. In all its activities the Party is guided by the philosophy and principles of Marxism-Leninism which shows to the toiling masses the correct way to the ending of exploitation of man by man, their complete emancipation. " ? CPIM website[1]
http://www.countercurrents.org/raman040407.htm

Why Iran freed captured British sailors, marines
Matthew B. Stannard, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Iran's unexpected decision to release 15 captive British sailors and marines suggests the leaders of the Islamic Republic decided they had gained as much as they could from the crisis -- and that further confrontation could prove counterproductive, experts said Wednesday.

"The bottom line that they've underscored is: If you mess with us, we can mess back," said Kamran Bokhari, a senior analyst at the private intelligence consulting firm Stratfor. "The Iranians come out looking really good, because they've demonstrated they can checkmate."

Iran's leaders insisted the release of the Britons on the 13th day of their detention was a matter of pure goodwill, saying they had made no compromise or concession. The official news agency IRNA quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying the release was a gift in celebration of the birthday March 30 of the prophet Muhammad.

"When we do something due to Islamic goodwill, we do not expect to receive any rewards," said Ahmadinejad, who met with the 15 captives Wednesday and awarded a medal of courage to the Iranian coast guard captain who had captured them on March 23.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/05/MNG78P35H31.DTL

Is CPM losing ground in Bengal?
[ 5 Apr, 2007 0036hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

KOLKATA: As they grapple with the Nandigram killings, Marxists have lost two crucial local polls in West Bengal which is being seen as a development fraught with some repercussions for the "red" hegemony in the state. The party's student wing, Students' Federation of India, suffered a complete rout in Jadavpur University polls ending their seemingly perpetual hold over the prestigious campus. If this was not enough, the party also lost the workers’ cooperative elections in Haldia which had so unwaveringly been red flag-bearers.
Read Full Story:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Is_CPM_losing_ground_in_Bengal/articleshow/1858692.cms

Calcutta's Industrial Ambitions Clash with Tradition
by Philip Reeves


Enlarge Once known for its slums, red tape and militancy, Calcutta is now home to IT companies and five-star hotels. Heathcliff O'Malley/Telegraph Media Group © 2007

Enlarge Villagers near Nandigram, where 14 civilians were killed in March during protests against the government's plan to forcibly acquire land for a special economic zone. Read Morning Edition, April 5, 2007 · As the Ganges River's journey nears an end, it flows through a giant delta toward the Bay of Bengal. One of its branches carves a path through the heart of Calcutta, one of India's great cities.

Calcutta is renowned for its slums, its militancy, its red tape — and its love!