Tax officials claim evidence against Kolkata Knight Riders!
पूर्व विदेश राज्यमंत्री शशि थरूर के बाद अब केंद्रीय उड्डयन मंत्री प्रफुल्ल पटेल व केंद्रीय कृषि मंत्री शरद पवार भी आईपीएल विवाद की चपेट में आ गए हैंWhat if all the Iconic Politicians of the Ruling Manusmriti Hegemony Exposed Naked and Investigation in IPL Casino Unearths the Trans Border Transaction with all the Swiss Bank Accounts asociated with Indian Prostitution League? The Media Hype and Parliamentary Nautankee Create Cover for the Extra Constitutional Super slaves Ruling Sensex India. Montek, Pranab, Kapil Sibal, Chidambaram and NILEKANI Have Every Weapon of the Heaven to Kill Us, the Aboriginal Indigenous Rural black Untouchable Majority Masses and all the Slum dogs! What if the Marxists grant Lease of Life to the Deprived Voters Smelling DEFEAT for the First Time and Untouchabilty Practiced as ever as Dalits BURNT Alive!
E-Mail details show interest of another Union Minister in IPL!
Not trying to destabilise government: Left and allies
Tension prevailed in Mirchpur village of Haryana, where assailants set afire houses of Dalits killing a physically challenged girl and her father!
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Tax officials claim 'evidence' against Kolkata Knight Riders!
Not trying to destabilise government, Left and allies clarified which means Budget Session would acomplish the Financial Agenda as expected with Surgical Precision despite IPL Casino Skin Exposure so SEXY!while, Tension prevailed in Mirchpur village of Haryana, where assailants set afire houses of Dalits killing a physically challenged girl and her father, as BSP today demanded a CBI probe into the incident. "We apprehend a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the incident and demand a CBI probe into it.
E-Mail details show interest of another Union Minister in IPL!
Orissa environment panel clears Vedanta refinery!
Foreign missions warn of terror threat to Delhi
The Orissa state pollution control board has given a clean chit to Vedanta's alumina refinery in the state's Kalahandi district after conducting checks in the areas near the plant, an official said Thursday.
The board had launched a probe after series of allegations made by some individuals and organisations in January this year, claiming at least 100 people died of tuberculosis over the past few years by the pollution caused by the plant at Lanjigarh, some 500 km from Bhuvneshwar.
A delegation led by local tribal leader Sridhar Pesnia in January submitted a memorandum to the state government, alleging the deaths of cattle and birds in the area.
A team of scientists from the board made an on-the-spot enquiry last month and collected data and samples from different sources, including data from local health department, a senior official of the board told IANS.
'As per the report the scientists submitted, only one death has occurred - in 2006 - due to tuberculosis in the periphery area of the refinery between 2002 and 2010,' he said.
The team analysed the water samples from the river, streams and tubewell from various locations around the plant and found that the pollution in surrounding surface and ground water remained within acceptable limits.
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Thu, Apr 22 07:40 PM
New Delhi, April 22 (ANI): Home Minister P Chidambaram inaugurated the newly built Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civic Centre, the tallest building of national capital New Delhi on Thursday.
The new 28-storey state-of-the-art civic centre houses the offices of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Lauding the efforts of the municipal corporation, Chidambaram said that the building will serve as a prime landmark for many years to come.
Patel, Pawar involved in IPL row? PM seeks detailsHindustan Times - 1 hour ago IPL's embattled Chairman Lalit Modi was grilled for the second time in two days on Thursday by Income Tax authorities whose sleuths raided offices of two ... Patel influenced Tharoor to back out on IPL?IBNLive.com - 2 hours ago New Delhi: The murky Indian Premier League saga is seeing a new twist practically every hour with many developments since Thursday morning. ... Pranab briefs PM on IPL investigationOneindia - 2 hours ago New Delhi, Apr 22: In update on the IPL saga, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday, Apr 22, briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the ...
Tharoor beats Modi on online popularity chartsBusiness Standard - 3 hours ago PTI / New Delhi April 22, 2010, 18:05 IST The raging IPL controversy has made both Shashi Tharoor and Lalit Modi famous online. But, only Tharoor commands ... Pranab Mukherjee briefs PM on IPL-Gate probeEconomic Times - 3 hours ago NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday briefed the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, on the ongoing investigation against the ... New twist in IPL saga: Praful Patel connectionIndian Express - 3 hours ago The Indian Premier League (IPL) scam took a new turn on Thursday, as details of mail sent from Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel's ... IPL row gets murkier: Praful's secy sent mail to TharoorHindustan Times - 3 hours ago For the second time in less than 24 hours that Modi was questioned by a joint team of Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate officials, who are probing ... Praful Patel, Tharoor have long chat in Lok SabhaNDTV.com - 4 hours ago PTI, Thursday April 22, 2010, New Delhi Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and former Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor were on ... No rift with Congress over IPLHindustan Times - 5 hours ago A NCP spokesman said on Thursday that there is no proof of involvement of any Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) member in the Indian Premier League (IPL) ... I didn't give Tharoor any IPL insider info: PrafulNDTV.com - 11 hours ago Civil Aviation Minister and NCP leader Praful Patel has denied sharing any insider information on the Indian Premier League (IPL) Kochi bidding. ... | Timeline of articles Number of sources covering this story
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Cops reluctant to serve in Maoist affected areas
Aerial survey in Orissa districts before anti-Maoist operation
Chhattisgarh cops search forests after Maoist attack
...DELHI: Reiterating that Left-wing extremism remained the gravest threat to internal security, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday that the recent events underscored the need for "urgent and considered action to root out this problem." more by Manmohan Singh - 18 hours ago - The Hindu (4 occurrences) |
'Extremism flourishes in under-developed areas'
Aerial survey conducted in Orissa
Will give no quarter to Maoists: PM
Chhattisgarh top cop counters PC's charge
Fight against Maoists not law & order problem: CPM
Maoists open fire near CRPF camps in Chhattisgarh
Development key to anti-Maoist fight: PM
Tax officials who conducted search operations at the offices of the Bengal Cricket Association and Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders till the early hours of Thursday here claimed to have found 'incriminating evidence' of irregularities.
'We have found incriminating evidence. We will investigate further. We needed to have a look at certain transactions and we've found whatever we were looking for,' said Indian Revenue Service Deputy Director Akhilendu Jadhav.
The main angle that the sleuths of the Directorate of Income Tax Investigation were looking for on the probe into the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises was the legality of money transfers from tax havens abroad, primarily Mauritius, officials explained.
This apart, officials of the Directorate of Enforcement were probing the legitimacy of transactions between the franchise and the state's cricket board, the officials added.
Searches at both the board's office at the Eden Gardens stadium and the premises of Kolkata Knight Riders and its parent Red Chillies Entertainment of actor Shah Rukh Khan at ITC Sonar Bangla and Shakespeare Sarani began at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
The federal revenue department had Wednesday broadened the probe into the financial deals of IPL, even conducting search operations on three of its event management and broadcast firms in Mumbai, apart from the franchises.
The 10 franchises under scrutiny are Kochi's Rendezvous Sports, Pune's Sahara group, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Deccan Chargers, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab.
Action nudge in tax raids on KKR and CAB offices at Eden | |
| OUR BUREAU | |
April 21: The investigation into the IPL reached the hallowed portals of the Eden Gardens that houses an office of the Shah Rukh Khan-owned Kolkata Knight Riders, among three franchises raided by taxmen amid indications that the Centre was keen to turn up the heat on the cricket board to act against Lalit Modi. The cross-country raids began in Mumbai with sleuths visiting the offices of World Sports Group (WSG), the marketing arm of the IPL, Multi Screen Media (MSM), formerly Sony Entertainment Television, which has the broadcasting rights, and International Management Group, an organising agency of the IPL. Ad Factors, which handles public relations for the IPL, denied reports of a raid. Modi himself was questioned, for the second time in five days, by investigators at his office in Mumbai. As the IPL chief dug his heels in, daring the cricket board, tax teams "surveyed" the Chennai offices of India Cements, which owns the Chennai Super Kings. The residence of India Cements managing director, N. Srinivasan, who is also the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was "surveyed" as well. Investigators also visited the office of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, owners of the Deccan Chargers, in Secunderabad. Sources said the raid spree was meant to send a signal to the BCCI to take action against Modi. The Calcutta raids began around 3.30pm when four vehicles, carrying 10 income-tax and five revenue intelligence officials, screeched to a halt in front of the BC Roy Club House at the Eden. The investigators visited the accounts department of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and the Knight Riders office, besides trooping down to the Shakespeare Sarani office of Gameplan, a sports management company that has close ties with the IPL team. "We are conducting a 'consequential raid' here…. This means today's raid is a fallout of the raids being carried out in Mumbai," said a senior tax department official. The sleuths — carrying briefcases — got off the beacon-fitted cars and entered the premises without giving any chance to the security guards to stop them. They went to the second-floor office of Bishwaroop Dey, CAB joint secretary, and asked him to stay put. "Within a few minutes, they disconnected all telephone lines at the CAB office," Dey said. The sleuths divided themselves into two groups. The five revenue intelligence officials entered the KKR office on the first floor and conducted search operations. The others raided the CAB accounts office on the same floor. "After entering our office, they revealed their identities and we obviously knew why they were here. They asked us to co-operate with them and started searching for papers and documents," said an employee of the accounts department. The taxmen were surprised to find some of the papers relating to the last matches played at the Eden Gardens and documents relating to KKR dumped in dustbins. "We got several official papers from the three dustbins in the KKR office. Some of the papers were half-torn and we had to rearrange them," said an official. "We will examine whether these papers are important." A source in the tax department said the focus was on payments made by KKR to both Indian and overseas players. "We wanted to check whether tax deductions for the players were done properly or not," he explained. The taxmen, between cups of tea and biscuits, went through every file and document relating to transactions between KKR and the CAB. Over 10 employees at the accounts office, seated on chairs, remained mute spectators. Around 4.30pm, a couple of officials carrying two briefcases left the CAB office. A little later, a CAB office-bearer came out and told reporters that a scheduled news conference called by president Jagmohan Dalmiya in the evening had been cancelled. "We are conducting search and seize operations of all files and documents related to KKR and the IPL matches held in Calcutta and also the financial transactions between the CAB and KKR," said an official. The raids continued till late in the night. The taxmen also took a laptop from the CAB computer department. "We have learnt that copies of several documents are saved in the laptop," an official said. The officials said they had also found a file detailing KKR's plan to open an office at Rajarhat. "We have got a detailed map and other papers. We have also taken a diary of Russell Adams, venue manager of KKR, and letters he had sent to several companies," an official said. Around 6.55pm, four officials went to the office of joint secretary Dey and questioned him behind closed doors for nearly an hour. In Mumbai, a tax team questioned Modi at his office at Four Seasons Hotel regarding the contract with WSG-MSM. Officials said the search at WSG-MSM was in the context of allegations that MSM had paid $80 million as "facilitation fee" to WSG for the broadcasting rights. In a statement, WSG said the tax sleuths had demanded "contractual agreements in relation to the BCCI, IPL and WSG". Videocon, one of the unsuccessful participants in the latest IPL team auction, is understood to have submitted a copy of its bid document to the income-tax department. Sources said the Gujarat-based Adani Group, which also made an unsuccessful bid, had not yet submitted a copy of its bid. |
VIABLE UNIVERSITIES - Set conflicting goals, centres of higher learning cannot prosper | |
| André Béteille | |
The universities cannot continue to be viable if they are set contradictory objectives. In the typical case, the Indian university is expected to produce hundreds of thousands of graduates every year, and these numbers keep rising. But it is also expected to maintain and even advance standards of teaching and research in all significant branches of learning. Those who advise the government know that these two objectives cannot be met simultaneously by the same institution or the same kind of institution, but their desire to be of service to the nation leads them to hope that they will somehow be able to square the circle. In most cases, an institution finds it hard to free itself from its own history. The first universities that came into being in 1857 in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras were set up primarily for conducting examinations and awarding degrees, and not for undertaking research or even teaching. Research was done in institutions outside the universities, such as the Asiatic Society or the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, and teaching was done mainly in the colleges. At their foundation, our universities were not designed to be communities of scientists and scholars and they knew little of the unity of teaching and research, unlike the great universities that were being created or revived in the Western countries throughout the 19th century. It will be folly to believe that the British who set up the first universities in India intended them to be communities of scientists and scholars of the kind that had grown over a long period of time in the West. Few among them believed that universities such as those at Cambridge and Oxford could grow in the Indian environment. They intended the Indian universities to serve the more limited purpose of producing graduates for employment in the new occupations that came up in the wake of colonial rule. Yet it would be wrong to say that the universities and colleges brought nothing new into the life of the nation. They were among the first open and secular institutions, and their graduates were the ones who took the lead in creating and sustaining the institutions of a new kind of civil society. They also played an important part in the transmission, if not the creation, of modern knowledge with its distinctive ideas, beliefs and values. Moreover, by the beginning of the 20th century, some islands of excellence had emerged at Calcutta, Allahabad and a few other universities where scientists and scholars of outstanding ability were making significant contributions to knowledge. But under colonial rule, the universities did mainly what they were set up to do, that is, produce increasing numbers of graduates of indifferent quality. The coming of Independence brought about a change in the horizon of possibilities. The colonial administration was at best half-hearted in its support of the universities. The academic profession in the country expected much more from the leaders of independent India than from their colonial predecessors. At first things seemed to augur well for the universities. The first prime minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, placed a high value on science and scholarship and took a personal interest in the universities. He himself had never studied in an Indian university but had been a student at Cambridge, one of the great universities of the world. The government wasted no time in setting up a University Education Commission in 1948. It was headed by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who had been a professor at both Calcutta and Oxford. A more broad-based Education Commission, designed to cover all levels of education, was set up less than 20 years later under D.S. Kothari, then a professor of physics in Delhi, who had earlier studied under R.G. Fowler at Cambridge. Those who provided the leadership for the development of the universities in the early years of Independence were persons of wide experience and outstanding ability. They were untiring in their efforts to build institutions that would compare with the best in the world. But in the end, their efforts did not bear the fruits that they had hoped for. Despite the best efforts of the leaders of the community of scientists and scholars, the universities have failed to free themselves from their older legacy of having to produce more and more graduates. With increasing financial and other support from the government, the universities began to expand in number as well as size. There are now many more universities than there were at the time of Independence, and they are, on an average, much larger in size. Thirty years after Independence it was becoming increasingly clear that the expansion of higher education was being driven more by social and political pressures than by pressures of the advancement of knowledge. The social and political pressures for the admission of more students and the production of more graduates began to undermine the very ideals of the university that inspired the leaders of the academic profession at the time of Independence. The mass universities that have come to dominate the Indian scene are very different from the universities that Radhakrishnan, Kothari, V.K.R.V. Rao and others had known in the West and had hoped to build in India after Independence. The traditional type of university now accommodates many more faculties and departments than universities anywhere in the world did until World War II. What we must ask today is whether the universities can fruitfully combine teaching and research if they have to accommodate all recognized branches of study from physics to philosophy while including film studies, gender studies, peace studies and an ever-growing array of new subjects that seek accommodation within each one of them. Perhaps the all-purpose university of the 19th and early 20th centuries has outlived its utility in the 21st century. If the university is to be viable as a centre of advanced study and research, it may have to limit the ambition that it earlier had of covering all branches of existing knowledge. At the same time, a university will scarcely deserve to be called one if it confines itself to a single subject. There is really no good reason to swing from the extremes of inclusion to the extremes of exclusion. A university can serve as an effective institution of teaching and research if it limits itself to a cluster of related subjects, and restrains its ambition for indefinite expansion. It appears to me that we can still create universities that will be communities of learning, combining teaching and research, provided they are able to limit their scale and scope. Such universities will of course have to conduct examinations and award degrees, but the conduct of examinations and the awarding of degrees need not become their sole or even their main concern as inevitably happens in the mass universities. | |
| The author is Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, and National Research Professor | |
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Indian cricket board president Shashank Manohar accused IPL commissioner Lalit Modi of violating the 'confidentiality' clause signed by the board and the franchisees by declaring the ownership stakes.On the other hand, Shashi Tharoor received words of appreciation from his former boss, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna. Krishna told Tharoor that he would like to visit his resident for "thanking his colleague of nine months" for all his good work.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) scam took a new turn on Thursday, as details of mail sent from Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel's office to former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor were leaked to the media.
A day after Patel claimed that he had nothing to do with the IPL, it has emerged that his personal secretary had sent a mail to Tharoor in March, with a document containing projections of new franchisee valuation in the IPL.
It was reported that, Champa Bharadwaj, personal secretary to Patel, forwarded a mail from her official ID to Tharoor's personal ID, hours after IPL Chief Executive officer Sunder Raman sent the same document to Patel's daughter Poorna Patel, who is IPL's hospitality manager.
Bharadwaj, sent a mail to Tharoor on March 19, two days before the bids were opened and Tharoor supported Kochi team sprang a surprise by making the second highest bid.
Meanwhile, Patel claimed that his secretary was only forwarding information requested by Tharoor.
"Shashi andI have been friends and he did ask me whether I could help him with some information in the capacity of a friend, since he was putting together a team from Kochi. I know what information has been passed." he said.
"If I was a bidder, why would I help out a competitor with information," he added.
Poorna Patel admitted that she had forwarded the mail to her father's secretary, but said she was only following Raman's instructions.
" Sunder had given me certain instructions and I was merely following that, Other than that, I have no idea," Poorna said.
The Left parties and their allies, including the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Samajwadi Party, Thursday denied they were trying to destabilise the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government by bringing cut motions on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha.
'It is a foolish argument. Stability of the government depends on the government itself. It is not a gift of the opposition,' said Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta in a joint press conference.
The 13 parties have also called for a nation-wide shutdown on April 27 to protest the price rise.
Leaders of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the AIADMK, the Indian National Lok Dal and the Rashtriya Lok Dal also attended the press conference.
Later, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), in the latest issue of the party mouthpiece, People's Democracy, said the objective of the nationwide strike was not destabilisation of the central government.
'Its objective is very simple: force the government through public pressure mounted both outside and inside parliament to roll back the back-breaking hike in the prices of petrol, diesel and fertilisers. If the UPA-2 government accedes to this very justifiable demand, then, of course, the question of its instability will never arise,' said the editorial.
'However, if it chooses to do otherwise, then it alone shall have to bear the responsibility for any consequences,' it warns.
'The April 27 nationwide hartal and the moving of cut motions in parliament are aimed at making this UPA-2 government hear the agonies of the people and rollback the budgetary hikes in the prices of petrol, diesel and fertilisers,' it added.
The parties said they have worked out a strategy to move cut motion in the Lok Sabha April 27, seeking a roll back in the fuel and fertiliser prize.
Referring to the April 12 meeting decision to move a cut motion and bring an amendment on the Finance Bill, CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the parties have worked out a strategy on the issue.
TODAY - 22 April, 2010
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Meanwhile,Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday briefed the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, on the ongoing investigation against the owners of Indian Premier League (IPL) teams.
During the briefing, Mukherjee explained to Dr. Singh how bids for franchisees were made.
On the other hand,
Manohar said the new IPL Kochi franchise were contemplating legal action against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after Modi tweeted the ownership details.He also charged Modi with 'selectively leaking' the e-mail to media that he wrote April 14 asking for permission to reveal the ownership detail of the franchisees.
'After the names were leaked, I get a communication from (Vivek) Venugopal (partner in Rendezvous) around night saying that there is a Confidentiality Clause in the agreement, which had been signed between the board and them and there is a serious breach of obligation on part of the board. He also said in the communication that they are contemplating legal action.'
'Because of the communication, I told Modi to keep quiet with regard to the new franchise. The media pounced on Modi so wisdom dawned on him on April 14 when he wrote an e-mail to me and members April 14 suggesting that we should disclose the names of all franchise which had not done since January 2008. Then I replied that the issue is complicated and needs detailed deliberations and has legal implications and hence it should be discussed and considered by the Governing Council meeting in Mumbai. The other members of the governing council also agreed with me. Modi agreed with me.'
'We are talking about documents that we have not seen before.'
Manohar also charged Modi that he leaked the e-mail to media.
'Modi selectively leaked the mail. Its fine for him to leak the mail. When he has not (revealed the ownership details) done that for two years, 10 days would not have made a difference.'
Reportedly, Dr. Singh and Mukherjee also discussed the names of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders Praful Patel and Supriya Sule being drawn into the IPL controversy.
Patel was drawn into the controversy when he confirmed media reports that his private secretary had e-mailed former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor documents containing projections of the new franchisee valuations in the IPL.
The confirmation comes just two days after Patel categorically denied any role in the Indian Premier League.
However, it has now emerged that Patel's secretary, Champa Bharadwaj, had forwarded a mail to Tharoor's personal mail account on March 19, two days before the bids were opened.
It happened hours after IPL CEO Sundar Raman sent the document to Patel's daughter and IPL hospitality manager Poorna Patel.
The Kochi consortium surprisingly made the second-highest bid.
Patel now says that it was Tharoor who had sought his help.
BSP demands CBI probe into attacks against Dalits
Chandigarh, Apr 22 (PTI) Tension prevailed in Mirchpur village of Haryana, where assailants set afire houses of Dalits killing a physically challenged girl and her father, as BSP today demanded a CBI probe into the incident. "We apprehend a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the incident and demand a CBI probe into it.
The gruesome incident happened in the presence of police and district administration officials who failed to protect the hapless Dalits from being targeted," BSP general secretary Man Singh Manhera told PTI over phone from Hisar. Members of a particular community raided the village yesterday and set afire some 12 to 15 Dalit houses due to old enmity.
18-year-old Suman was charred to death while her father Tara Chand, 70, who suffered 90 per cent burns, died later, officials said, adding 25 people have been arrested in connection with the arson. The situation was tense in the village, where affected Dalit families constituted a seven-member Committee.
Manhera said the Committee had put forth several demands before the Government that included compensation of Rs 25 lakh to next of those killed, Rs 10 lakh to the ten injured besides rehabilitation of those whose houses had been burnt. Manhera along with state BSP chief Prakash Bharti and other leaders earlier visited the affected village.
Condemning the incident, Opposition INLD called for a high-level independent probe and demanded that Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda own up responsibility for the incident and step down on moral grounds. INLD Secretary General and Dabwali MLA, Ajay Singh Chautala, said the police and civil administration officials "failed" to protect lives and property of the Dalits and demanded strict action against them.
He said affected families should be suitably compensated. Meanwhile, ruling Congress assured the culprits would not be spared at any cost.
"The arrests of the people responsible for this incident have already started.
the administration and police officials who failed to provide protection to the Dalits at the time also need to be punished and cases registered against them," party spokesman Ved Prakash Vidrohi said in a statement here.
He said the Government should set up a committee to investigate the incident. "The committee should also ascertain if this violence was pre-planned or even instigated by the anti-social elements just to increase caste-related friction in the state.
" PTI SUN.
hu, Apr 22 12:15 PM
Enlarge Photo An employee fills a car with petrol at a gas station in Jammu February 26,... India's annual food and fuel inflation quickened in the week to April 10, putting upside pressure on the headline inflation and central bank to take action before its next policy review in July.
The food price index rose 17.65 percent in the 12 months to April 10, marginally higher than an annual rise of 17.22 percent in the previous week.
The fuel price index rose 12.45 percent in the 12 months to April 10, a tad higher than an annual rise of 12.43 percent in the previous week, data showed on Thursday.
Rising food and fuel prices risk fanning wider inflation as the companies look to pass on cost increases and could prompt the central bank to raise its key rates again ahead of its next policy review in July.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday raised key interest rates by 25 basis points and warned price pressures were fast becoming a demand-driven phenomenon.
A Reuters poll conducted after Tuesday's policy review found a narrow majority of economists expect another increase in rates by the end of June, or before the RBI's next quarterly review.
Although the bank said an off-cycle policy action is unlikely, it did not rule that out either.
Government officials, however, keen to keep the economy on track to exceed 8 percent growth this year, said inflationary pressures were waning and played down the need for aggressive tightening.
The Congress-led government is under pressure to stem rising prices. At least 100,000 people backed by the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) marched towards parliament on Wednesday protesting steep price rises, demanding the government quit over food inflation.
(Reporting by Matthias Williams and Manoj Kumar; editing by Malini Menon)
Thu, Apr 22 10:46 AM
The central Board Of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has sent a detailed report to the Finance Ministry listing alleged regulatory violations via a web of companies and commercial contracts involving the top brass of the Indian Premier League, including Commissioner Lalit Modi, and some team owners as well.
The report, prepared by the CBDT's investigation unit, points out how in most IPL commercial bids, the "customary" bank guarantee clause was waived.
Thus, parties could bid "through many fronts" and, as IPL Commissioner, Modi had "insider information" on all bidding processes, the CBDT report says.
Modi didn't respond to calls or text messages.
IT investigators have claimed they are exploring how "entities controlled by Netlink Blue and their associates in UAE," had, between 2007-2008, allegedly routed money into Voyages, Modi's defunct TV channel.
Netlink Blue is owned by Akash Aurora who is considered close to Modi.
The inflows have been found to have been made without approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the report says, since these were routed from companies other than Kuoni Travels and Voyages of USA which were the original party approved by the FIBP.
The CBDT report also lists the following for probe:
TV rights: These were earlier held by MSM (Multi Screen Media) or Sony TV and subsequently given to WSG (Worlds Sports Group). The second IPL contract was re-negotiated apparently in three hours and a facilitation fee of $ 80 million fixed ($26 million already paid) for WSG-Mauritius without payment of taxes.
Overseas TV rights: These were given to WSG/IMG (International Management Group) described by the IT Department as an "illiquid company" without any bidding/tendering.
Mobile/ live streaming/Internet rights: These were awarded originally to Live Current Media (LCM) which later floated Global Cricket Ventures-Mauritius - with Netlink Blue - and finally found their way to Elephant Capital controlled by Modi's step son-in-law Gaurav Burman. Elephant Capital is listed on London's AIM - Alternate Investment Market.
The IT department has found that while the original tender envisaged rights for five years, they were actually for a 10-year period and to be extended further.
Theatrical Rights: These were given first to Ever Lasting Sports-Dubai and then to Dar Capital/ Valuable Media and comprising around 12% of IPL revenue. The IT Department has described these entities as "unknown, without source of income, could be means of round tripping/laundering."
Production Rights: The main IPL vendor is IMG/TWI and last year they won the contract for $9.5 million again without tendering. For the current year, a "limited tender" was issued and forensic examination conducted in the BCCI office revealed the tender was authored by a top IMG/TWI official himself. This led to re-tendering of the contract which was eventually awarded for $3.8 million.
आईपीएल विवाद : अब निशाने पर पटेल और पवार
आईपीएल कांड- अब पवार और पटेल के नाम भी
हां थरूर की मदद के लिए बात की थी: प्रफुल्ल पटेल
शरद पवार और प्रफुल्ल पटेल नहीं देंगे इस्तीफा: राकांपा
ई-मेल का खेल
आइपीएल में हमारी कोई भूमिका नहीं: राकांपा
मेरे पति को बदनाम किया जा रहा है
आईपीएल के खेल में पवार-पटेल का भी नाम
प्रफुल्ल पटेल ने पद का दुरुपयोग नहीं कियाः सुप्रिया सुले
आईपीएल घपले में पवार-पटेल का राज उजागर
सुले-पटेल-भुजबल ने दी सफाई
आईपीएल: पवार, प्रफुल्ल पटेल की बेटियों का संबंध
मेरे परिवार का आईपीएल से कुछ लेना देना नहीं: सुले
शरद पवार की बेटी सुप्रिया सुले ने कहा- मेरा आईपीएल से कोई संबंध नहीं
IPL विवाद के लपेटे में प्रफुल्ल पटेल और उनकी बेटी भी
पटेल ने की थी थरूर की मदद
पवार खेमे में आईपीएल से पल्ला झाड़ने की होड़
पवार परिवार व प्रफुल्ल पटेल ने आईपीएल विवाद से पल्ला झाड़ा
प्रफुल्ल पटेल और सुप्रिया सुले ने भी पल्ला झाड़ा
आईपीएल विवाद में फंसा पवार परिवार
Shiv Sena demands CBI probe into 'IPL-Gate'
The Shiv Sena on Thursday demanded a Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) probe into the Indian Premier League (IPL) controversy.Interacting with scribes outside parliament, senior Shiv Sena leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi said the central agency could investigate the matter in a better way.
"I demand a CBI inquiry into this. I think that CBI can investigate the issue in a much better way," Joshi said.
Commenting on IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, Joshi said the IPL has soiled the game of cricket and controversies within the league would remain.
"The row will not get over as our leader Balasaheb Thackeray has said that the IPL should be stopped, as it is less of a game and more of other things," he said.
Joshi said the BCCI did not fall under the tax net as per the rules for a charitable trust, but, "if the rules are fully changed to do so, then it is a different matter."
"It (BCCI) was not doing any charitable work as a trust. BCCI is earning a lot of money but the government will have to take a decision on whether they should be in the tax net or not," he said.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has said that the IPL should be banned to save the game of cricket.
"The ongoing controversy involving IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi and former Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has damaged the image of the game," Thackeray said on Wednesday.
IPL? Let's get real
So, Shashi Tharoor has gone. Lalit Modi may follow. Or not.
Cricket's great jamboree may be cleaned up. Or not.
Does it matter so much?
The Indian Premier League (IPL) brouhaha could not have come at a worse time. India was, finally, if reluctantly, starting to focus on long-festering-but-urgent issues that prevent this country from being a just, equitable democracy.
As Tharoor and Modi self-destructed, the circus around them diverted all attention from the perfect storm gathering over India. The tempest is a mélange of enduring destitution, growing violence and environmental disaster. The ominous acceleration in these issues, interlinked more than ever, requires urgent national discussions, broad consensus and a grand vision.
If you were not following the poverty debate unfolding between the top echelons of government and a small band of powerful civil-society activists last week, you might wonder how India agreed, almost overnight, to add 100 million to the 300 million people who live below the official poverty line (the ability of a person to spend Rs 17 per day in urban areas and Rs 12 in rural areas).
With pressure growing from UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to recognise hunger and poverty as national issues, the government and its Planning Commission — the body that sets the poverty line — set about reviewing the absurd figure of less than 300 million poor Indians, eligible for benefits from a slew of social-security programmes, which, theoretically, run from cradle to grave.
The new figure of 400 million poor may sound like a lot in a country of 1.1 billion, but every expert will tell you this is a gross underestimation. If you were to raise the poverty line to $2 a day — or Rs 90, inadequate for a coffee at a five-star hotel — the number of poor would cross 800 million.
That's how poor India really is.
These figures are contentious because they determine what the government will spend on social-security programmes.
So, there's a split in the Planning Commission.
Those opposed to increasing the number of poor say the money needed for them will ruin the government's effort to rein in India's already huge fiscal deficit, which soared by 24 per cent to Rs 414,000 crore in 2009-10. (Largely because of the Rs 248,000 crore fiscal stimulus). Their argument: the poor will benefit eventually when the benefits of progress trickle down.
Those in favour of recognising more poor people say India's hunger and poverty are a national shame, and it is imperative to spend more money on social-security programmes, including food subsidies. Their argument: if you give sops to industry and other pressure groups why can't you do the same for the millions who can influence nothing? Consider what the IPL gets: entertainment-tax concessions (in Maharashtra); public security forces at a discount; and its income-tax dues haven't even been assessed in three years.
With Supreme Court commissioners Harsh Mander and N.C. Saxena — both former bureaucrats in the action-now camp advising the highest court on hunger issues — tipped to be on Gandhi's newly-revived National Advisory Council, the government is, for once, listening.
That's how Kavita Srivastava of the dogged Right-to-Food campaign got a call from the Prime Minister's Office on Monday asking what she opposed about the new poverty line. In another age, people like Srivastava would be ignored and reviled, much like Medha Patkar, the big-dam objector, once was.
As this newspaper's 'Tracking Hunger' campaign shows, deprivation is endemic, exacerbated by a looming collapse of India's social-security network. Since March 24, when the series began, my colleagues found: children eating mud to quell hunger in Jawaharlal Nehru's old constituency in Uttar Pradesh, mass migrations and slow-malnutrition deaths of men and women in their 30s and 40s in Bolangir, Orissa, children eating wild berries and red ants in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district, children with distended bellies caused by disease and malnutrition lanced through their stomachs with red-hot rods — a tribal superstition meant to make them well. You can read these horror stories and the complex issues facing India at www.hindustantimes.com/trackinghunger.
Linked to this widening collapse of governance is the inexorable rise of the Maoists, who will again exploit our short attention span as they spur the rebellion with greater confidence and cunning.
On Tuesday, emboldened by the slaughter of 76 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers in an April 6 ambush in central India, the rebels launched heavy frontal attacks on CRPF camps in Chhattisgarh. In Bengal, the Maoists have successfully taken over the administration of a State school, ensuring it does not fall into decay.
The government considered drones and new approaches to confronting the Maoists only after the April 6 ambush. If the IPL or the next empty scandal grabs our eyeballs, the public pressure needed to keep India focussed will rapidly evaporate.
Hunger and Maoist violence are not unique to — but are largely centred on — India's tribal lands, once home to the nation's densest forests, systematically exploited by local governments, officials and private interests.
With the State in retreat, it's no surprise that the national animal is fading from sight. The tiger's decimation — 1,000 or less may be left — is so acute that the prime minister this week appealed to states for an extraordinary effort to save the predator that serves as a barometer for not just the health of the nation's natural wealth but also of grassroots governance.
When was the last time you discussed how saving the tiger can save India?
Let's talk — when we tear ourselves away from the IPL.
- India
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New Delhi, April 21 -- Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday received words of appreciation from his former boss, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna. When they met in Parliament on Wednesday morning, Krishna told Tharoor that he would like to visit his Delhi resident in the evening - for "thanking his colleague of nine months" for all his good work.
While on his way to Tharoor's house, Krishna gave a few suggestions to Tharoor. "Work hard as Member of Parliament (MP)," he told Tharoor, advising him to take his work as an MP seriously. According to sources, he told Tharoor to work hard for his constituency and earn the people's goodwill.
"The party will look into the rest, everything," Krishna assured Tharoor, sources said. The minister also appreciated Tharoor's work in office. As a minister of state, Tharoor looked after the affairs of the Gulf, Haj, Africa and Latin America, besides a section pertaining to the ministry's policy, planning and research. Tharoor, meanwhile, got support from former United Nations Secretary-General and his one-time boss, Kofi Annan.
"Hi, 1.2 billion-plus people of India. If you think you live in a democratic country, then you are 100 per cent wrong," Annan, wrote in a message posted at http://supporttharoor.org, a portal that was launched to garner support for the beleaguered minister a day before he resigned.
The portal on which Annan recorded his support for Tharoor has now garnered 12,000 pledges for the former minister and first-time MP from Kerala.
Thu, Apr 22 11:33 AM
On a day when income tax officials raided the offices of IPL team owners across the country, the embattled IPL commissioner Lalit Modi hit back at the BCCI, specifically targeting its president, Shashank Manohar, and the IPL governing council member and leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley.
On a dramatic Wednesday, Modi first sparred with the BCCI leadership on the date of the IPL governing council meeting, insisting that he alone had the authority to convene it. As the day progressed, Modi's supporters leaked an April 14 email he had sent to the owners of the eight franchisees with the suggestion that the holding patterns of all teams be made public.
Manohar rejected the idea, the leaked emails indicate, on legal grounds and he was supported by Jaitley. But the spin the Modi camp gave to the emails was that Manohar and Jaitley were scotching his efforts towards transparency.
Modi had said in the email: ''Propriety and fair play demand we should as public body disclose ownership details along with names of directors of all franchisees once again. Earlier, we at the time of bidding only disclosed the names and share holding.'' Modi followed up this suggestion with a note of urgency. ''If everyone is okay with this we will issue the same right away, that way all doubts and aspirations sic] being cast on IPL franchises and members of GC governing council] appropriately rebutted,'' he said.
The BCCI chief did not hold back his punches. In his response to the leaked email saga, he said, ''Why did Modi not disclose the [team ownership details] when documents were available with him since 2007. We cannot take any decision in haste, so a meeting has been convened in Mumbai on April 26. Modi has waited for three years; another 10 days only means that there's a delay for three years and ten days.'' Manohar also pointed out that all those who had been copied in his reply to Modi's April 14 email â€" including IPL governing council members Farooq Abdullah and Rajiv Shukla â€" had agreed with his cautionary note, so it was not just Jaitley who had backed him.
The leaked emails, however, were only a sideshow in a day crowded with dramatic developments, including renewed questioning of Modi by I-T officials and reports officials in Kolkata looking for evidence of match-fixing in the Kolkata Knight Riders camp. Sources said the department was certain a match between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab Dharamsala on Sunday had also been ''fixed''. The mood within the IPL governing council, meanwhile, was clearly anti- Modi. ''If Modi goes, 50 per cent of the opposition to the IPL will go,'' a top BCCI official told Mail Today . ''If he doesn't, the government can go to any length to have him removed.'' Sources close to Modi said the commissioner was not prepared to be made the proverbial sacrificial lamb to protect the interests of two influential ministers belonging a Congress ally. He had even threatened to dig out the dirt on these influential politicians if he was pushed to the wall.
As the BCCI and the Modi camp braced for a battle, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spent much the day being briefed on the IPL imbroglio and the progress of the investigations by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid, and the Congress Rajya Sabha MP and BCCI vice-president, Rajiv Shukla. Senior Congress sources said the government's short-term objective was to use the services BCCI and IPL functionaries to ease out Modi. If that did not work, investigations by the I-T department and the enforcement directorate could come handy.
BCCI sources said that in the light of Modi's controversial tweets over the ownership structure of Rendezvous Sports World RSW) that led the Kochi franchise owners to threaten to sue Modi for breaking the confidentiality clause of their agreement, the matter needed to be considered at length by the entire governing council.
Modi had disclosed the names of the ''free equity'' holders in RSW, which had coughed up $33 million (Rs 1,533 crore) to bag the Kochi franchise, a move that put the then minister of state for external affairs, Shashi Tharoor, in a spot. Reacting to the disclosure, allegedly a violation of the confidentiality clause of the agreement, RSW threatened legal action against Modi. It had also complained to Manohar.
Accordingly, Manohar replied from his BlackBerry on April 15, copying the message to BCCI office-bearers N R Srinivasan, I. S. Bindra and Chirayu Amin, former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and Ravi Shastri, and Sanjay Jagdale, besides Jaitley and Shukla.
''The issue is complex and needs detailed deliberations and legal implications need to be gone into and hence can be considered at the GC meeting where all documents and papers relating to the bids are available,'' the BCCI chief said. Jaitley also endorsed caution on the issue. ''I endorse Shashank proposal. Regards,'' he replied.
BCCI sources pointed out that there was no reluctance or refusal to disclose ownership details â€" they merely suggested that the legal implications of doing so be deliberated upon.
Reproduced From Mail Today. Copyright 2010. MTNPL. All rights reserved.
Foreign missions warn of terror threat to Delhi
IANSA day after the United States embassy warned of possible terror attacks in Delhi, more western foreign missions advised their citizens to keep away from crowded and popular markets in the Indian capital.
Reliance Life Insurance registers record high market share
Mumbai, April 22 (IANS) Reliance Life Insurance, a part of Reliance Capital of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), registered a record high market share of 14.51 percent in March 2010 and a 10.5 percent growth for the 2009-10 financial year.
The company sold the highest number of policies in fiscal 2010 among the private sector players and stood second in terms of selling individual premium WRP (weighted received premium).
'Retail focus, innovative products and strong distribution network were key growth drivers during the year that helped us improve our market share and retain number one slot in terms of number of policies sold in the private sector,' said Malay Ghosh, president of Reliance Life Insurance.
He said the company this year would focus on smaller cities.
'We would continue to reach out to more customers, especially across tier-2 and tier-3 cities, in this fiscal,' Ghosh said.
The company achieved 9.8 percent growth last year.
Thu, Apr 22 07:46 PM
Enlarge Photo The logo of Swiss bank UBS in Zurich, August 12, 2008. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/Files UBS and Credit Suisse should change their structure so they could be broken up in the event of an insolvency, thereby limiting the risk to the Swiss economy, a government commission said on Thursday.
The commission said such a structure should make it possible to keep bank units that are crucial for the economy afloat, while letting the rest of a bank go bankrupt.
In an interim report addressing the problem of banks that are "too big to fail", the commission said regulators should have powers to force banks to make the necessary changes if the banks fail to do so themselves.
Switzerland has led the global push for stricter bank rules after it had to bail out UBS, whose risky bets led to more than $50 billion in write-downs and huge losses.
"The case of UBS has shown for Switzerland that the government cannot let a financial institution fail which is deemed systemically relevant," said Peter Siegenthaler, head of the Swiss Federal Finance Administration, who heads the government commission.
Swiss National Bank (SNB) vice-chairman Thomas Jordan, another member of commission, said UBS and Credit Suisse were clearly too-big-to-fail for Switzerland as they cornered more than a third of the domestic credit and deposit markets.
In addition, their combined balance sheet volume was some five times gross domestic product, which stood at around 540 billion Swiss francs ($509 billion) in 2009.
Siegenthaler said the 14 members of the commission, which was set up last year and includes UBS Chief Operating Officer Ulrich Koerner and Credit Suisse vice-chairman Urs Rohner, had agreed on the interim report unanimously. But talks on details for the final proposals were set to be tough, he said.
The commission suggested that the government should draw up the laws in one go based on the final report due in the autumn.
A spokesman for Credit Suisse said the measures needed to be coordinated internationally.
"We welcome the findings of the panel of experts, who have determined that measures such as the break-up of the big banks or the introduction of direct limits on their size and restrictions on their business models would be unsuitable," the spokesman said.
UBS declined to comment on the details of the report.
BANKRUPTCY THREAT
The commission backed a series of pre-emptive measures to make the banks more crisis resilient.
On Wednesday, Swiss regulators added new liquidity rules for the banks, which came on top of tougher capital requirements, a leverage ratio and new rules on bankers' pay.
The commission's suggestions went much further, though it rejected the idea -- voiced by some Swiss politicians -- of a break-up of UBS and Credit Suisse now.
SNB vice-chairman Jordan stressed the commission's suggestions would allow UBS and Credit Suisse to maintain their traditional integrated banking model, offering private banking and investment banking services.
But the commission said the banks' complex structure would lead to major legal and operational problems in the event of an insolvency.
"The systemically relevant banks should ensure through organisational measures that their systemically relevant businesses can continue in case of insolvency," the head of banking regulator FINMA, Patrick Raaflaub said.
"We want to give credibility to the threat that a bank can go bankrupt," he said.
Raaflaub said the banks would certainly need years to make the necessary adjustments. "But it's important to define the goal," he said.
Possible changes included separating systemically relevant parts into special legal entities and imposing restrictions on interconnecting these businesses.
The commission also suggested allowing banks to use certain types of convertible capital to meet tougher capital requirements. They include contingent convertible bonds being converted into equity in certain cases, such as a regulator calling for re-capitalisation.
(Editing by Toby Chopra and Susan Fenton)
Denied use of dam water, farmers approach court
Gandhinagar, April 22 (IANS) Denied use of water from the Und dam for irrigation, farmers of 10 villages in Rajkot district have approached the Gujarat High Court against a government engineer who they alleged was not allowing them to draw water despite their having paid the charges.
The court Thursday directed proceedings against the irrigation department engineer for malafide action against the farmers and ordered a probe into the wastage of water.
Dayalji Bhimani and others in their petition stated that the deputy executive engineer of the Rajkot irrigation circle, who was also the Canal Officer, had failed to discharge his duties in accordance with the law as per the provisions of the Bombay Irrigation Act, 1879. They alleged that the engineer was supporting the illegal acts of those who obstructed the flow of water and was thus indirectly encouraging corrupt practices.
The petitioners said though they had paid the stipulated water charges, they were still being denied water by the DEE. This had severely affected agriculture over an area of 750 acres of farmland.
They told the court that farmers of more than ten villages of the area had been using the waters of the Und river from the times of their forefathers for their livelihood through agriculture. Following the construction of two dams on the river, they were denied use of the water.
Reprieve for the villagers came when a magisterial court directed the state government to release water from the dam for irrigation purposes after taking necessary water charges.
In December 2009, the petitioners had collectively paid Rs.1.42 lakh as water charges but the DEE of Rajkot irrigation circle denied releasing the water on the ground that plantations in the river bed were obstructing its flow.
After hearing the case, Justice K.A. Puj ordered an enquiry against the engineer and directed that penal action be taken if he is found guilty.
The court also ordered immediate removal of plantations in the river bed and a probe into the wastage of water that has been brought to the notice of the court by the petitioners.
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Thu, Apr 22 10:46 AM
Market regulator Sebi's proposal to regulate the distribution business of the mutual fund (MF) industry is not without reason. Distributors are the final link to retail investors and they are making more profits than asset management companies.
In India, ballpark estimates put the revenue market share of distributors in the MF industry at 36%, while it is 64% for asset management companies. But in terms of profits, the distributors' market share improves drastically to a dominant 61%. This, in other words, means that it might be more profitable to be a distributor than a fund manager. A recent Boston Consulting Group report mentions that during the period 1996-2004, market share of distributors in the overall US MF industry revenues increased from 61% to 76%. In FY10, back of the envelope calculations show that the asset management revenues could have been in the range of Rs 3,100 crore. During the same period, distributor revenues are expected to have been around Rs 1,800 crore. While post-entry load ban from August 2009 has hit distributors' pockets, their profits are still estimated to be more than those of mutual fund companies.
Anecdotally, a CEO of a large mutual fund mentions that the industry collectively made a net profit of Rs 900 crore in FY09. Assuming a 30% net profit margin-some of the top companies earn that-it is likely that the figure for FY10 will be around Rs 1,000 crore. In contrast, distributors are known to earn net profit margins in excess of 80%-since after the one time sale, the trailing fees they earn comes literally at zero cost. That puts their collective net profit at Rs 1,400-1,500 crore, which is much more than that of MFs. So, in terms of the industry value chain, it is better to be a distributor than an asset manager. That is perhaps the reason why there are more players in the distribution business than in mutual funds.
The distribution business is being increasingly conducted by banks. In terms of the channel mix, 43% comprise independent financial advisors, 30% banks, 22% national distributors and 6% direct. As the industry evolves, the third party distribution model calls for greater regulation.
Thu, Apr 22 05:42 AM
Are Goldman Sachs' current troubles — the bank has been charged with fraud by the US financial regulator — relevant for India? Yes. And for two reasons. Let's first take the reason that's more entertaining, but no less important for it.
Post the fraud charge against Goldman, America's investment banks (technically, after the financial crisis I-banks that survived became commercial banks; but the distinction very much survives de facto) are roughly in the same intersection of public policy momentum and public anger build-up as India's IPL. Those of us who rightly believe that entrepreneurial chutzpah, risk-taking and profit-making are socially valuable, those of us who again rightly don't believe in Economics 101's fantasy that politics and business can remain absolutely separate, and therefore those of us who are usually deeply discomfited by reflexive populist rants against wealth find much to admire in both investment banking and IPL.
But we must also recognise that right now investment banking, like IPL, deserves to be subjected to some populist demands for bloodletting. Populist anger against Wall Street's establishment, like against our cricket establishment, is in part being informed by the fact that key information has been withheld and key stakeholders have been seemingly duped. These violations should be deemed unacceptable by those of us who value an aggressively entrepreneurial culture. The populist and the so-called elitist are on the same page here.
The other binding factor: the rules, regulations and laws governing both I-banks and IPL are important in the current developments. But as important is one simple fact: no half-decent person can find a moral case for certain goings-on in Indian cricket and American finance. Whether or not America's SEC wins the case against Goldman or India's Enforcement Directorate tracks down dodgy money trails in Dubai or Virgin Islands, the correct judgment has been passed in the court of public opinion.
Shashi Tharoor said, and continues to say, there's nothing more important than personal integrity to him. Yet, as a minister, he was comfortable with not disclosing that a close friend was getting a sweetheart deal in an IPL venture he "mentored". Simple moral case, no? If there are other people in public office and their close associates in positions similar to Tharoor, then the case is equally simple. If private individuals like Lalit Modi perpetrated the fiction that IPL ownerships and deals were only about blue chip companies and Bollywood stars turned entrepreneurs, it's an equally simple case. Key information was and in some case may prove to have been withheld and key stakeholders — sponsors, paying public, contracted players — taken for a ride for profits that otherwise would not have existed.
Goldman Sachs' business principles state that nothing is more important to it than its reputation. Strange then, like in the case of Tharoor, it didn't tell some of its clients that some of the investment products it was asking them to bet on were products that the bank knew (a) were cherry-picked to be vulnerable against an opposite bet and (b) were going to be betted against by another client of the bank who paid a fee to get this deal.
This is the simple summary of US Securities and Exchange Commission's complex case against Goldman and no matter which way you cut it, there's a simple moral case against the bank. Clients were deliberately taken to the cleaners. Key information was withheld from them. Banks that produce crazy financial engineering and pose systemic threats — the financial crisis, in other words — are a big problem. But banks that set out to act against the interests of their own clients for making money it shouldn't have are a big blot. The first calls for policy response. The second justifies calls that some heads are seen to roll.
Yes, there are less than simple political motivations in the current targeting of I-banks and IPL in, respectively, America and India. Barack Obama's administration needs a smoking gun as it prepares for financial sector reform. The Congress needs a counter-balancing bad guy after its government was forced to sack Tharoor. But the fact that I-banks and IPL have provided smoking guns for ruling political establishments does not make those smoking guns any less real and it does not mitigate the simple moral case against them.
This, the intersection of political incentives and public anger, brings up the second reason why the Goldman fraud case is relevant for India — it may set the course for future reform in Indian finance.
A very short summary of Indian finance now is this. Look at American finance, and be thankful you (Indians) have Indian finance. This, of course, is dead wrong. The solution to a big financial sector running amok is not a small financial sector that hobbles. But what has been called the Indian financial orthodoxy gets political traction in part because bailed-out American finance seems to have been arguing against changes in how it fundamentally functions. The stench of a discredited ancien régime has been strong.
The Goldman investigation should severely weaken banks' status quoist argument because the simple moral case leads to fundamental questions about investment banks. One, should a set-up where banks can so easily sell junk to its own clients be allowed? Two, isn't that set-up directly linked to the bigger set-up that allows banks to prioritise trading over raising money and lending and giving advice? Three, isn't that in turn linked to huge trading profits promised by financial instruments that seem to be nothing more than pure play speculative bets? Four, does not all of this boil down to the argument that American financial reform that does not fundamentally change the way Wall Street works will not be much of a reform?
These questions are being asked with a lot more force in America now than before the Goldman morality tale came to be known. The chances for fundamental reform are brighter. And if fundamental reform in American finance happens, the Indian financial orthodoxy will lose much of its sheen. Chances of fundamental reform in Indian finance will brighten.
Here's hoping we can say the same thing about Indian cricket.
saubhik.chakrabarti@expressindia.com
Thu, Apr 22 03:33 PM
Enlarge Photo A file photo of a security personnel standing guard in front of India Gate in... Indian police said on Thursday they were taking seriously a specific U.S. warning of possible attacks on New Delhi shopping centres, an alert that underlines challenges for a city hosting the Commonwealth Games in October.
Threats to sporting events were underscored last week when bombs exploded outside a packed cricket stadium in south India, stirring fears the country may not be able to secure multi-city events involving tens of thousands of players and spectators.
India is also holding next year's cricket World Cup across eight cities.
The U.S. advisory issued on Wednesday spoke of "increased indication that terrorists" are planning to attack some of New Delhi's markets frequented by foreigners. Some of these markets have been bombed in the past.
"Every bit of input is important. We are in a permanent state of alertness, but when we have a specific input we sensitise our staff to any special security needs," said Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police.
Police say the alert underscored their suspicion that security at Games venues may prompt militants to turn to softer targets.
Officials said the basis of the U.S. travel alert was intercepted telephonic messages of Pakistan-based militant groups.
"We are aware of the nature of the inputs the U.S. State Department has," U.K. Bansal, a senior Interior Ministry official, told Reuters.
New Delhi and other Indian cities are already on high alert, but the specific nature of the U.S. advisory prompted the authorities to hold several security review meetings on Thursday.
Australia and Britain have also issued travel advisories for India.
Security agencies routinely intercept messages exchanged between militant networks, but officials said the highly detailed alert had prompted immediate action, including tighter security.
"We had part of this alert already, and now with the U.S. alert we have activated our forces further, especially in markets," special police commissioner Neeraj Kumar said.
India raised security in the aftermath of a bombing that killed 17 people in western India in February, the first major attack in the country since the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.
(Reporting by Bappa Majumdar; Writing by Krittivas Mukherjee; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Thu, Apr 22 07:45 PM
Rayagada (Orissa), Apr 22 (ANI): The Paramilitary Forces and Orissa Police in a joint combing operation nabbed a Maoist leader in the Muniguda-Telengapada forest in Orissa's Rayagada District and seized a huge cache of arms from him.
Thirty-five-year-old Laba Kimbaka, a resident of Kanahari village was arrested on Wednesday. He is suspected to be involved in various attacks.
"Two crude bombs, two detonators and some landmines, documents, literature, hand-written posters and letters were seized from him," said Anup Krishna, Superintendent of Police.
The police claimed that Kimbaka had planned to use the seized explosives against the paramilitary forces deployed in large numbers in the state.
The arrested Maoist allegedly runs camps inside the forested in Maoist-infested districts and imparts training to new cadres and local tribals.
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has described the Maoists as anti-poor and anti-development.
He said the Maoists have targeted all instruments of development.
"The Naxalites are anti-development and have targeted the very instruments of development - school buildings, roads, telephone towers etc. They know that development will mean the masses, especially poor tribals, wean them away from the grip of Naxalites," Chidambaram said. In 2009 alone, they have demolished 71 school buildings, 23 Panchayat Bhawans, two power plants, attacked 67 telephone exchanges or mobile towers were attacked, and demolished, 46 attacks on railway properties, 17 attacks on specific industrial establishments," he added.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday said the South Asian region is emerging as the 'focal point' for all terrorist organisations.
Antony said the Central Government would take a final call on the use of armed forces against the Maoists after considering all aspects.
"Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has decided that the Home Ministry would be the nodal point on the Naxal problem," said Antony.
The Maoist rebels have ignored calls from the Government to renounce violence and negotiate. Instead, they have stepped up their attacks in recent months, prompting the government to go after them in a concerted way. (ANI)
Thu, Apr 22 10:10 AM
Dharamshala, April 21 -- It is not politics in cricket but cricket in politics in the hill state. Indian Premier League matches hosted for the first time in Dharamsala is turning into political battle between Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and Congress.
Congress party has barged allegations against - Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) headed by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal's MP, son Anurag Thakur, as denial of entry to hundreds of ticket holders has left the match organisers in a tight spot. There are allegations that match organisers had sold tickets more than capacity of HPCA's scenic stadium, which resulted in heavy rush for the matches. Day after Congress demanded white paper on three crore grant for sprucing up of town ahead of IPL matches, HPCA on Wednesday turned heat on PCC, President Kaul Singh Thakur threatening to launch a legal proceedings against him. HPCA asked Thakur to make public the names of cricket body members whom he accused of purchasing land. Sanjay Sharma, HPCA spokesman, accussed the Congress of giving political colors to IPL matches which have gone down in the sports history of the state.
"Instead of accolading the efforts of HPCA, Congress is trying to use matches as ploy to settle political scores". Threatening to pursue legal battle against the Congress leaders, HPCA alleged that Congress leaders were unable to absorb the growing popularity of HPCA's President and Lok Sabha Member Anurag Thakur.
"It has become an agenda of the Congress to condemn whatever happens in the cricket stadium" said Sharma, adding that in the recent past too Congress leaders had made concerted efforts to get hold of the Cricket body and Dharamsala's stadium. "Congress has made habit of criticizing HPCA's efforts, we cannot help it," said Sharma who remained non committal on queries pertaining to over sale of tickets. "Will the Congress criticize the Delhi government for spending Rs 300 by Delhi government for making preparations for commonwealth games," said Sharma castigating the Congress for seeking queries on Rs 3 crore issued by the state government.
Meanwhile the Congress spokesman Kewal Singh Pathania said IPL matches raise many questions since many BJP leaders including the cabinet ministers were conspicuous by their absence from two matches hosted here. "It appears that HPCA had adopted pick and choose policy while distributing invites to the political leaders for matches" said he. Pathania alleged that HPCA had foot the bills for the most of the tourism hotels it had booked. Congress leaders also raised several questions on state governments allowing Lalit Modi to use state helicopter for his return to Delhi."
It is ridiculous that government was more concern about Lalit Modi, while Indian skipper Mohinder Singh Dhoni and other members of the team had to travel by road" said Pathania. He alleged HPCA had distributed complimentary passes to selected BJP office bearers and bureacrats.
Rajya Sabha Member and BJP's national Vice President on Wednesday issued a press statement to clarify that he could not attend the IPL matches due to his political engagements in Jammu and Kashmir.' If I was unable to come for the matches my son Vikram Sharma was there."
General
- Pak minister urges India to resume talks to fight militancyANI - 07:40 PM
Prior to returning home, at the conclusion of her five-day visit to India, Firdous Ashiq Awan, Pakistan's Minister for Population Welfare at New Delhi on Wednesday said that India and Pakistan should sit together and talk, to tackle the challenge of militancy.
- Islamic group sues Shoaib, SaniaANI - 07:40 PM
After their much hyped and controversial marriage, trouble again seems to knock the door for Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, his newly wedded wife and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza. A Hyderabad-based Muslim organisation in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, filed a case Shoaib and Sania Mirza, and her family members for hurting Islamic sentiments.
- BSP demands CBI probe into attacks against DalitsPTI - 07:00 PM
Chandigarh, Apr 22 (PTI) Tension prevailed in Mirchpur village of Haryana, where assailants set afire houses of Dalits killing a physically challenged girl and her father, as BSP today demanded a CBI probe into the incident.
- No bilateral meeting between Singh and Gilani in BhutanPTI - 06:55 PM
New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) No bilateral meeting has been fixed so far between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani in Bhutan during the SAARC Summit, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said today.
- Orissa environment panel clears Vedanta refineryIANS - 06:55 PM
Bhubaneswar, April 22 (IANS) The Orissa state pollution control board has given a clean chit to Vedanta's alumina refinery in the state's Kalahandi district after conducting checks in the areas near the plant, an official said Thursday.
Politics
- Not trying to destabilise government: Left and alliesIANS - 07:13 PM
New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) The Left parties and their allies, including the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Samajwadi Party, Thursday denied they were trying to destabilise the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government by bringing cut motions on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha.
- Court seeks environment report on statues in Noida parkIANS - 07:06 PM
New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) The Supreme Court Thursday asked the Union government to examine the environmental viability of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati-backed project for converting a Noida park into a memorial for her political mentor late Kanshi Ram.
- Congress, Trinamool say seat-sharing talks positiveIE - 04:50 PM
Hopes brightened on Thursday for a seat-sharing agreement between Congress and Trinamool Congress for the crucial civic election to Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) after they held talks here with both sides playing down their differences.
- Tamil Nadu government should consider opposition views: JayaIANS - 04:50 PM
Chennai, April 22 (IANS) Describing the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government's actions on river water disputes as detrimental to the state's interests, AIADMK General Secretary J. Jayalalithaa has urged the government to consider the opposition parties' views.
- BJP, Congress seek transparency in IPL functioningIANS - 04:44 PM
New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) Expressing concern over the controversy surrounding the cricket Indian Premier League (IPL), the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday demanded transparency and accountability in its functioning.
Features
- FEATURE - Privacy chiefs keep watch over Facebook, social mediaReuters - 12:51 PM
Over the past six years, social networking has been the Internet's stand-out phenomenon, linking up more than one billion people eager to exchange videos, pictures or last-minute birthday wishes.
- Book Talk: Trapped in a quake, they share storiesReuters - Wed, Apr 21
Award-winning author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's latest novel about people trapped during an earthquake gets new meaning in a year that has seen devastating quakes hit Haiti, Chile and China.
- Britain's Indian curry comes home in KolkataReuters - Tue, Apr 20
Britain's version of the curry has come full circle in Kolkata, the city that claims to be where it all began, and which is now celebrating the origins of the dish that has become a staple in many households.
- One-stop shop to manage aidHT - Tue, Apr 20
In times of natural disasters, it is natural to want to help. If you don?t know where to go, there is help on hand.
- Friction in friendshipHT - Mon, Apr 19
When Richard Holbrooke, US special envoy for Afghanistan-Pakistan, came to New Delhi in January he was astonished at the scepticism he saw about American President Barack Obama.
Crime
- Goldman CEO attacks SEC fraud charges - FTReuters - 08:57 AM
Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein attacked U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fraud charges against the bank in phone calls to clients, the Financial Times said on Wednesday.
- CBI probe in DA case illegal: MayawatiHT - Wed, Apr 21
Chief Minister Mayawati on Wedenesday challenged the authority of the CBI to probe disproportionate assets (DA) case against her. Mayawati said the entire exercise of the CBI in DA case was illegal.
- 7 held in fake currency racketHT - Tue, Apr 20
The Kala Chowkie unit of the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested seven people on Sunday from Santacruz following a tip off that a gang was trying to push fake currency notes into the market, the police said. They were found in possession of fake currency worth Rs 5,10,000.
- Man tries to plant drugs, guns in carHT - Tue, Apr 20
The Anti-Narcotic Cell (ANC) of the police on Monday arrested a 25-year-old man red-handed while he was allegedly trying to plant a packet of contraband and two country-made revolvers in the car of a Chembur-based businessman.
- Snatchers stab 18-yr-old to death in East DelhiHT - Mon, Apr 19
An 18-year-old student was allegedly stabbed to death in broad daylight when he reportedly resisted a robbery attempt at an east Delhi park on Sunday.
Business News
AI March salary delayed by a month; 2 Pak offices shut
State-owned Air India delayed payment of March's salary to its employee by a month as it had to meet year-end expenses for various purposes, Parliament was informed today.
- Swiss mull laws to allow break-up of UBS, CS in crisis Reuters - 07:46 PM
- Reliance defers VGO unit shutdown - sources Reuters - 07:39 PM
- Mahindra cuts Logan sedan price to boost sales Reuters - 07:30 PM
- Denied use of dam water, farmers approach court IANS - 07:18 PM
- Reliance Life Insurance registers record high market share IANS - 07:18 PM
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General
- U.S. oil falls to below $83 after inventories jumpReuters - 06:58 PM
Oil fell below $83 per barrel on Thursday after higher U.S. inventories signalled demand in the world's top oil consumer was sluggish despite the global economic recovery.
- Nabard WB office tops in performancePTI - 06:52 PM
Kolkata, Apr 22 (PTI) The West Bengal regional office of Nabard has topped the list in terms of performance in rural intervention programmes in the country during the financial year 2009-10.
- Smartphone competition hits Nokia, shares diveReuters - 06:50 PM
The world's top cellphone maker Nokia cut its profit outlook and delayed the launch of phones it needs to compete with the iPhone and Blackberry, in the fast-growing high end of the market.
- IMF 8.8pc growth projection optimistic: MontekPTI - 06:49 PM
New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) The Planning Commission today described the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) growth projection of 8.8 per cent for India as optimistic and said the panel would stick to its outlook.
- PepsiCo revenue misses Street view despite growth in India, ChinaReuters - 06:42 PM
PepsiCo Inc posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, but its revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations, hurt by weakness in its Americas beverage business.
India
- ANALYSIS - China adds REITs as way to cool property marketReuters - 07:00 PM
In a latest salvo aimed at its property market, China is getting ready to launch a real estate investment tool that will give investors an alternative to bricks and mortar, and move to cool a market
- Chinese dam not to impact Brahmaputra: KrishnaIANS - 06:55 PM
New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) China has assured India that a hydroelectric project it is constructing on Tsangpo river in Tibet will not impact the downstream flow to the Brahmaputra and the two countries will discuss the issue later this month, parliament was informed Thursday.
- Piramal Health to buy Bharat Serums anaesthetic bizReuters - 06:54 PM
Piramal Healthcare Ltd said on Thursday it will acquire Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd's injectible anaesthetic products business.
- Australia seeks trade linkages with northern IndiaIANS - 06:44 PM
Chandigarh, April 22 (IANS) The Australian Trade Commission, Austrade, Thursday announced its new office in Chandigarh to forge trade and investment linkages with the three north Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
- New civic centre lacks fire department clearanceIANS - 06:38 PM
New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) The Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) new civic centre with state-of-the-art facilities was inaugurated Thursday without the 28-storey building having the fire department's clearance. MCD officials said the building was safe and the clearance would be received soon.
International
- ANALYSIS - Banks push G20 to reform trade finance regulationReuters - 06:40 PM
Trade finance banks are stepping up pressure on the G20 to ease regulation of the credits that keep global commerce flowing, after a new survey showed credit tightness is still hampering the flow of trade.
- Airlines lost over $1.7 bln by Tuesday - IATAReuters - 05:34 PM
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that the crisis caused by a volcanic ash cloud above Europe cost airlines revenues of more than $1.7 billion by Tuesday.
- Eurozone economic sentiment hits 32-month highIANS - 04:55 PM
Berlin, April 22 (DPA) The 16-member eurozone's economic recovery gained further traction in April with a key business sentiment survey released Thursday hitting a 32-month high.
- Credit Suisse posts 2 pct rise in Q1 profitIE - 04:50 PM
Swiss banking major Credit Suisse reported a 2 per cent rise in profit to 2.05 billion Swiss francs in the first quarter of 2010, supported by lower costs and the strong performance of its fixed income trading business.
- Obama: Financial reform key to avoiding crisisReuters - 04:39 PM
President Barack Obama will urge the U.S. Congress on Thursday not to let the chance for an overhaul of Wall Street regulations slip away and will warn of the risk of another financial crisis if reforms are not enacted.
Personal-Finance
- Sensex ends 101 points up; SBI, RIL main gainersIANS - 05:45 PM
Mumbai, April 22 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities Thursday closed 101 points higher than its previous close, after paring intra-day gains, as State Bank of India and Reliance Industries made strong gains.
- Sensex ends flat, broader markets gainIANS - Wed, Apr 21
Mumbai, April 21 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities Wednesday gave up its intra-day gains to end trade on a flat note, though buying took place in midcap and small scrips.
- Stock markets positive to lower hike in interest ratesIANS - Tue, Apr 20
Mumbai, April 20 (IANS) Benchmark indices of the Indian equities markets rose almost a percent after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a lower than expected hike in key interest rates.
- Sensex closes 1 percent lowerIANS - Mon, Apr 19
Mumbai, April 19 (IANS) A key Indian equities index Monday joined its poorly performing Asian peers and closed 1.08 percent lower than the previous close.
- Finance minister says thorough probe into IPLIANS - Mon, Apr 19
New Delhi, April 19 (IANS) Finance Ministry Pranab Mukherjhee Monday said a thorough probe had been ordered on the source and uses of funds by the franchises of Indian Premier League (IPL) and that no one guilty of wrong-doing will be spared.
Markets
- ANALYSIS - U.S. state banks facing financial reform side effectReuters - 07:14 PM
A U.S. Senate proposal to strip the Federal Reserve of some of its regulatory powers could have an unwanted side effect: drastically higher fees on smaller state-regulated banks.
- Wall St to drop at open on new Greek worriesReuters - 07:06 PM
Wall Street was set to drop at the open on Thursday as Greece once again soured risk appetite with more news on its deteriorating financial position.
- Dubai's Emaar Q1 profit flies past forecastsReuters - 06:23 PM
Emaar Properties, builder of the world's tallest skyscraper, said on Thursday it would focus on expanding in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia in 2010, after its first-quarter profit more than tripled.
- Geithner says parts of U.S. economy "very strong"Reuters - 05:54 PM
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says some parts of the U.S. economy are "very strong" and that the United States was rebounding from recession more quickly than most other major economies.
- CenturyTel to buy Qwest in all-stock dealReuters - 05:53 PM
Rural phone company CenturyTel Inc said it will buy Qwest Communications International Inc for about $10.6 billion in stock.
Modi mails, board deletes - Monday meet stands, says Manohar | |||
| LOKENDRA PRATAP SAHI | |||
April 21: Lalit Modi's counter-attack has failed: the governing council of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will meet, as scheduled, in Mumbai on April 26. "That stands.… If some member doesn't wish to attend, what can I do? Except for two subcommittees (finance, Vizzy Trophy), the secretary convenes all meetings. That constitutional position has been followed," Shashank Manohar, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, told The Telegraph.
Speaking from Nagpur this evening, shortly before boarding a flight to Mumbai, Manohar added: "Nothing is being done improperly and all issues will be settled in the governing council meeting.…" A top lawyer, Manohar was reacting to the beleaguered IPL chairman and commissioner's charge that the meeting was "unauthorised" and he'd stay away if it wasn't, instead, called on May 1. Modi wants time to prepare a "point-by-point rebuttal" of the allegations flung at him left, right and centre. "Till April 25 night, Modi will be busy with IPL III. Then is the presentation of the semi-finalists on a TV network, for the Champions League. He has to prepare for the governing council meeting," said a Modi camp source. In the BCCI's view, the cornered Modi wants to buy time. As things stand, everything points to a massive show of no-confidence against Modi, on April 26. He has started a war, but has no chance of winning it. Asked why he'd directed Modi not to reveal the shareholding pattern of all the franchises, after the infamous tweets, Manohar replied: "I'm glad you've raised this.… My explanation is simple — when Modi had kept quiet for 27 months, what was the harm in waiting for another 10-12 days? How did he get this sudden wisdom? "Also, don't forget that within hours of Modi's tweets on the Kochi franchise (on April 11), I'd got an email from co-owner Vivek Venugopal, saying that the confidentiality clause had been breached and that they would consider taking legal action. "Having already said that the governing council meeting should be called in 10-12 days, I had to wait.… I couldn't risk inviting legal action from any of the other franchises. "In my opinion, the issue was complex and clearly had legal implications.… It had to be studied and, then, discussed internally. Seven of the 13 remaining members — Arun Jaitley, Rajeev Shukla, Niranjan Shah, Narayanswamy Srinivasan, Sanjay Jagdale, Chirayu Amin and Ravi Shastri agreed promptly.… They got the point I was making."
Manohar, whose integrity has never been questioned, accused Modi of "leaking confidential matters" of the BCCI. "In my reply to Modi's email (on shareholdings), I'd unambiguously written 'for your eyes only'... I mentioned that while marking a CC to the other governing council members. "If I may add, Modi replied to my email with 'Okay, noted'. Why has that not been made public? Why has that not been leaked? Surely, the BCCI and I have nothing to hide…. However, I definitely want procedures to be followed.…" Without commenting on Modi's future, Manohar actually left little unsaid. That's typical of him. The Modi leak, to a TV channel this afternoon, appears to be having much the opposite effect. Manohar, after all, isn't alone in being incensed at the suggestion that transparency is being scuttled. Modi stands to lose his position as vice-president of the BCCI and the Champions League post, too. All, mind you, because of indiscreet tweeting. | |||
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Pataudi: If Modi skips Monday meeting, he's outNDTV.com - 1 hour ago In an exclusive interview to NDTV's Barkha Dutt, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, who is on the Governing Council of the Indian Premier League (IPL), indicates that if Lalit Modi skips Monday's critical meeting, as Modi has indicated, he's out. ... Pataudi says clean up IPL, blames GCIBNLive.com - 1 hour ago New Delhi: IPL Governing Council member Tiger Pataudi admits the panel failed in checking IPL mess, calls for an investigation and a clean-up of the Twenty20 body in a CNN-IBN exclusive in Karan Thapar's Devil's Advocate. Pataudi also spoke at length ... Patel, Pawar involved in IPL row? PM seeks detailsHindustan Times - 1 hour ago IPL's embattled Chairman Lalit Modi was grilled for the second time in two days on Thursday by Income Tax authorities whose sleuths raided offices of two more team owners in the nation-wide probe into its alleged murky finances. ...
We should have been more aware on IPL council - PataudiCricInfo.com - 1 hour ago In the first instance of introspection over the IPL mess, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, the former India captain and a member of the league's governing council, has said the body failed in its role to monitor the IPL's administration and be more questioning ... IPL meeting to go aheadThe Press Association - 31 minutes ago The Board of Control for Cricket in India will go ahead with Monday's meeting to discuss allegations of financial irregularities in the Indian Premier League, despite opposition from the tournament's chief commissioner Lalit Modi. ... BCCI: GCM will go on without ModiTimes Now.tv - 10 minutes ago It is open war between the BCCI and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi over the Governing Council meet. BCCI President Shashank Manohar has declared all out war against IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi openly defying him not to attend the scheduled BCCI meeting on ... Modi to challenge IPL governing council meet in HCZee News - 46 minutes ago Mumbai: Lalit Modi came out in full defiance of the allegations against him and continued with his war of words with top BCCI officials saying he would take them to the High Court if the April 26 meeting goes as schedule in spite of his deeming it as ... A new blueprint for the IPLLivemint - - 23 minutes ago Watching the sleaze drip off the Indian Premier League (IPL) I was reminded of a man I'd encountered in my early days in cricket journalism. He was a suave, laid-back Englishman, had dabbled in the global sports-rights industry for some years as a ... Lalit Modi questioned by joint ED-IT teamHindustan Times - 3 hours ago PTI For the second time in less than 24 hours that Modi was questioned by a joint team of Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate officials, who are probing alleged financial irregularities by the cricket organisation and its franchises. ... 'IPL governing council must accept responsibility for the mess'Rediff - 26 minutes ago Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi feels the Indian Premier League's [ Images ] governing council must accept responsibility for the ongoing controversy surrounding the Twenty20 [ Images ] league. He is also of the view that if Lalit Modi [ Images ] stays away ... | Timeline of articles Number of sources covering this story
ImagesZee News  Economist  Press Trust of ... AFP  The Hindu  CricInfo.com  CricInfo.com  CricInfo.com Times Online Videos Income Tax officials visit broadcasters' offices NDTV.com - 8 hours ago Watch video  Who is next after Lalit Modi? NewsX - 21 hours ago Watch video  Can IPL survive without Lalit Modi? NDTV.com - Apr 21, 2010 Watch video  Farooq Abdullah speaks in support of Lalit Modi NDTV.com - Apr 21, 2010 Watch video |
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Cong-NCP stand toe-to-toe again Times of India Tharoor exit, Modi defiance fuel NCP-Congress cold war Indian Express Cong turns Pawar around Calcutta Telegraph IPL row: MSM, WSG offices raidedsamay live - Apr 20, 2010 Mumbai: In a bit to tighten noose against IPL chief commissioner Lalit Modi, the income tax department on Wednesday morning raided the offices of Multi ... Email this storyPranab, Pawar, Chidambaram meet over IPL rowEconomic Times - Apr 20, 2010 The 15 minute-meeting between the three ministers was held amid reports that IPL commissioner Lalit Modi may quit or may be asked to step down. ... Video: Was Shashi Tharoor a victim of his own vanity? NDTV.comGovt gearing up for all-out attack, signals Pranab Times of India Such tweet sorrow Hindustan Times Afridi backs ModiIndian Express - 17 hours ago Karachi: Lalit Modi has found support from an unlikely quarter in Pakistan's Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi, who feels the event would be at loss if the man ... 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It was winning the British reality show Big Brother that catapulted her into international ... 'Lalit Modi acted in haste on Kochi'ESPN STAR Sports - - 8 hours ago "Modi in his twitter posted the details of Kochi franchisee. On the basis of that media pounced on him seeking to know as to why he did ... Telecaster denies any wrong doing in IPL dealNDTV.com - Apr 21, 2010 ... owed 2.5 million dollar to Modi Entertainment Network, and it was given rights at favourable terms by IPL commissioner Lalit Modi for settling old dues. ... Email this storyMy money is riding on Modi staying, never mind the oddsEconomic Times - Apr 20, 2010 AHMEDABAD: Bookies in Mumbai and Gujarat are betting on the ouster of Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi, who faces allegations of corruption and ... Modi in a fix over friends Calcutta Telegraph Email this storybrand valuations to take a hitEconomic Times - Apr 19, 2010 ... has lost some of its appeal after investigations by government agencies point to major irregularities led by IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. ... Don't Witch Hunt Times of India IPL sponsors also in tax probe ambit India Today Tharoor logs out Deccan Herald Rajasthan's land deals at the centre of IT probe on ModiEconomic Times - Apr 19, 2010 NEW DELHI: IPL commissioner Lalit Modi is embroiled in numerous land deals in Rajasthan involving many prominent developers and business houses during the ... IT probe to find if Lalit Modi holds benaami stake in Rajasthan Royals Daily News & Analysis Modi's BJP ties now an embarrassment Express Buzz Email this storyMallya admits step daughter works for Lalit ModiEconomic Times - Apr 17, 2010 Mallya said in a statement, "My step daughter Laila Mahmood works for Lalit Modi. 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Land for free for 'urban poor' in West Bengal
Romita Datta
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New Delhi: The West Bengal government said on Thursday that it would lease out land for free to squatters, whom it described as "the urban poor". The move is widely seen as an attempt to shore up support for the Left Front months ahead of 83 civic body elections in the state.
Housing concerns: West Bengal finance minister Asim Dasgupta. Indranil Bhoumik / Mint
West Bengal would lease out two-three 'cottahs' of land for 99 years to people occupying state government-owned land for more than 20 years and earning less than Rs6,000 a month, finance minister Asim Dasgupta said after a meeting of the state cabinet on Thursday. One 'cottah' is one-sixtieth of an acre.
The decision would benefit at least 400,000 people, Dasgupta said. Land under 25 municipal bodies could be leased out by the state government. It isn't, however, immediately known how much land the state government would lease out under the scheme.
Even financial assistance would be given to squatters to build homes under existing funding schemes such as Basic Service for Urban Poor, Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme, Housing for Urban Poor and Rajiv Awas Yojana.
It was also decided that those building homes on land leased out by the state government cannot sell them for 10 years.
The state's urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya said this is the first scheme of its kind in the country. Though under land reforms West Bengal has been distributing land among the rural poor ever since the Left Front came to power in 1977, it is the first time the state government has offered such largesse to the urban poor.
By leasing out land the state government would enable people to borrow from banks to build homes, Bhattacharya added.
http://www.livemint.com/2010/02/18214031/Land-for-free-for-8216urban.htmlImplementation in West Bengal
STATUS REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TWELFTH SCHEDULE OF THE CONSTITUTION AS PER THE CONSTITUTION (74TH AMENDMENT) ACT, 1992 IN THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL.
Provision of urban amenities and facilities such as parks,
Promotion of cultural, educational and aesthetic aspects.
Burial and burial grounds; cremations, cremation grounds and electric crematoriums.
Cattle pounds; prevention of cruelty to animals.
Vital statistics including registration of births and deaths.
Public amenities including street lighting, parking lots, bus stops and public conveniences.
Regulation of slaughter houses and tanneries.
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Hawker raj gets govt identity | |
| OUR BUREAU | |
The winds of political change blowing across Bengal have brought to hawkers in Calcutta the right to do business from the pavements. State urban development and municipal affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya announced on Tuesday that the government would issue identity cards to over two lakh hawkers with a cabinet meeting clearing a "proposal" to "formally recognise" them. The move to legalise the presence of those who have robbed the pedestrian of his pavement is seen by many as a desperate attempt to shore up the Left Front's dwindling voter base ahead of the civic body elections in May and Assembly polls next year. "The Left Front is trying to earn votes in lieu of identity cards that will legalise the presence of hawkers on the streets and pavements," said former mayor Subrata Mukherjee, whose efforts to rid the streets of hawkers drew a blank for want of political support. Bhattacharya attributed the policy shift — the Left Front had once launched Operation Sunshine to clear the city roads of encroachment by hawkers — to the Centre's National Policy on Urban Street Vendors, 2009. "We have taken this decision in keeping with the provisions and spirit of the central policy. We are trying to adopt a balanced approach rather than blindly driving hawkers away from the roads and pavements," claimed Bhattacharya. So what will be the eligibility for an identity card? "We will give identity cards to hawkers who have been in the profession for a long period," the minister said. A senior official of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation said that the national policy was to offer benefits to hawkers as part of poverty alleviation programmes, but there was no mention of identity cards to legalise their presence. The state government's argument is that hawkers are an integral part of the city's trade and commerce, helping "poor people" buy products of their choice at low rates. Hawkers in Calcutta are estimated to sell goods worth over Rs 8,722 crore annually. The flip side to their presence on the pavements and streets is that they eat up Calcutta's meagre road space, which is only around 8.2 per cent of the total area. Vehicle movement in several busy areas of the city — Burrabazar-Posta, NS Road-Brabourne Road, Canning Street, Esplanade-Metro Cinema, Hatibagan–Shyambazar and parts of Sealdah and Gariahat — is slow mainly because hawkers have occupied pavements as well as parts of the thoroughfares. Bhattacharya said identity cards didn't mean the government would let loose an army of legalised hawkers on the city. "The city will be divided into three zones — one where hawkers would be allowed, one where they would be controlled and another where they would be banned," said the minister. The proposal to restrict hawkers to specified zones is not a new one, though. Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya's percentage formula to "balance" the right to pavement between pedestrians and hawkers has long been reduced to a farce. The civic body had announced in May 2007 that hawkers must leave two-third of the width of a pavement for pedestrians and steer clear of areas within a radius of 50 feet from a busy crossing. But there have since been instances of hawkers even assaulting pedestrians at the slightest hint of protest. |
Land for free for 'urban poor' in West Bengal - Economy and ...
- 7:25am18 Feb 2010 ... Land for free for ?urban poor? in West Bengal, Land under 25 ... West Bengal would lease out two-three 'cottahs' of land for 99 years to ...
www.livemint.com/2010/02/.../Land-for-free-for-8216urban.html - CachedSanhati
- 3 visits - 03/09/09Recent Unrest in Andal, West Bengal: Site of Aerotropolis ... Stories of Kolkata's Urban Poor - How are the "Rehabilitated" Residents Coping .... A new trend: Industrialized nations lease fertile land in Africa to meet food demands ...
sanhati.com/ - Cached - SimilarA new trend: Industrialized nations lease fertile land in Africa ...
The urban poor were angry at the price of food, which had been high since the massive rise ..... Recent Unrest in Andal, West Bengal: Site of Aerotropolis ...
sanhati.com/articles/1734/ - Cached - Similar- [PDF]
Land Reform Law and Implementation in West Bengal - Final West ...
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
by T Hanstad - 2001 - Cited by 7 - Related articles
In fact, in many if not most countries, the land lease market has taken on different ...... In comparison, annual per capita income in West Bengal (rural and urban ..... supply and the apparent land hunger among the land-poor (and ...
www.rdiland.org/PDF/PDF_Reports/RDI_112.pdf - Similar West Bengal Land Reforms and the Agrarian Scene
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gal. From within West Bengal itself aii urban mniddle class of Calcutta .... less and land-poor was fu!ther strengthened by the refugee influx and .... harga lease. There are also owners of marginal holdings having to lease out land for ...
www.jstor.org/stable/4369971Down the line, the fair sex gets a fair deal in local bodies
The ruling Left Front government in West Bengal, which was quite keen to implement ... The government said last month that it would lease out land for free to ... where state authorities have announced this largesse for the urban poor. ...
www.deccanherald.com/content/58023/down-line-fair-sex-gets.html - CachedSustainability issues in urban housing in a low-income country ...
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Policy Statement - Urban West Bengal at a Glance
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
Operate-Transfer (BOOT), Build-Own-Lease-Transfer (BOLT) are being explored as promising ... Provision of Land for Urban Poor - It is being ensured in all ...
www.wburbandev.gov.in/pdf/Policy_Statement.pdf WB Govt okays massive recruitment, land pattas to settlers
19 Feb 2010 ... Ahead of elections in the state`s civic bodies, the West Bengal Govt ... and provide lease-hold pattas to settlers on vested land over 20 years in ... help of central projects like Basic services for Urban Poor (BSUP), ...
www.zeenews.com/news605281.html - CachedVantage point: Shallowness of the West Bengal Land Reforms
10 Dec 2006 ... Because the land reforms in West Bengal, while doing a lot of minor ... has hurt the rural and urban poor people of this country the most. ...
gauravsabnis.blogspot.com/.../shallowness-of-west-bengal-land.html - Cached
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Agrarian Transition in West Bengal
Arrested by the Half-Measure
(This is the second part of the article reviewing the above-mentioned book. The first part appeared in our September '96 issue)
Seasonal Character of Tenancy -
Boro Crop Tenancy
In his book, Mr.Sankar Kumar Bhaumik has some interesting observations to make on the newly emerging phenomenon of seasonal character of tenancy in Bengal, especially the changes in the tenancy pattern during the Boro crop. It is widely acknowledged that much of the growth in agricultural output in recent years in West Bengal is accounted for by the increasing output of the Boro crop. Contrary to the claims of the CPI(M) which attributes this to its land reform measures including Operation Barga, the underlying secret, as revealed by Bhaumik's study, behind this increased Boro season output in the state is a strange combination of capitalist farming by big farmers resorting to capitalist renting in of land and semi-feudal metayage or labour service by poor peasantry. The author refers to a study by Nripen Bandyopadhyaya of a region at the Hoogly-Burdwan border in West Bengal "where large `enterprising' farmers leased in huge land during Boro season to do cultivation on commercial basis". He contrasts this with an opposite scenario in the region of his own field study where, "a section of the unrecorded tenants of lower size groups, particularly those belonging to less than 1.00 acre and 1.00-2.49 acres categories, leased in more land during the Boro season..." "This apart, there is also a general tendency among landowners to enter the lease market preferably during the Boro season in order to evade the provision of the tenancy act which allows the tenant to record in his name the tenanted portion of the land". "There has been a general tendency among landowners to prefer, even for seasonal arrangements, those tenants who earlier proved their trustworthiness by not recording their names against the land leased in during the past from other landowners", says the author who also offers an additional explanation in a footnote: "During our field survey, we discovered that there was complete unanimity among the sample tenants that none of them would go in for recording if the land was leased in for Boro season only. This means that these contracts are purely seasonal and the tenants voluntarily give back their leased-in plots to the landlords at the end of the season".
In the absence of a consistent policy of land to the tiller and supply-side assistance in favour of small peasants on the part of the state, the poor peasants' hunger for land, the skewed land relations and backward relations of production constantly reproduce semi-feudal forms of tenancy, even if just for a single agricultural season. The bankruptcy of the Operation Barga is best brought out by this indifference of the poor peasant to go in for recording. Under prevailing circumstances, if the need for optimal utilisation of their family labour warrants renting in of land even on such seasonal basis, and if the registration of their names, even by a few, despite earning them security of tenure, is going to deprive such opportunities for their collective lot, then in their collective consciousness they see through the ineffectivity of such half-baked reforms to fully serve their interests, hence reject them, and reconcile to the existing realities.
A thoroughgoing land reform measure should ideally put an end to tenant farming once and for all, or at least prevent any new emergence of sharecropping as a significant category. But under the half-measure of OB, almost a decade after this so-called reform, most of the newly emerging sharecroppers remain unrecorded tenants. According to the author's survey, nearly 42% of the unrecorded tenants in the surveyed area entered the land-lease market only during the past two to five years. In sharp contrast, in the case of recorded tenants, nearly 96% of them have been in the land-lease market for as many as fifteen years.
Labour Service
There is yet another obnoxious semi-feudal feature associated with such Boro season leases. According to the author, "In some cases, such leases are obtained as part of interlocked contracts, particularly between land-lease and labour. From the viewpoint of the landowner, by leasing out a part of his cultivable land during the Boro season, not only does he earn an assured rent but, more importantly, it assures him a degree of labour supply through his tenant(s) for crucial field crop operations (such as, sowing and harvesting) in the cultivation of his self-operated land". He finds 30 out of 121 unrecorded tenants have rendered labour service to their landowners. The author denies that this has got anything to do with semi-feudal exploitation on the grounds that they have received wages at prevailing market rates for the services rendered. But looked at from another angle this metayage system itself may be one of the important reasons why real wages of agricultural labourers are not going up adequately in Bengal as in some other states.
Absentee Landlordism
The aim of any bourgeois-democratic land reform is to abolish the ownership right of non-cultivating landowners over the land. This is what a bourgeois politician like Devraj Urs did in Karnataka. The land was transferred to the tenants by paying compensation to the non-cultivating landowners which was recovered from the tenants over a period of 18 years. But Operation Barga was far inferior to even Urs' land reforms since it had no provision to transfer the land from the absentee landowners to the tenants and provided them no option to purchase the land even with similar state assistance. As is evident from the field study, absentee landlordism appears to be quite strong in Bengal. Among the lessors, those whose primary occupation is also cultivation accounted for 43.92% and those in primarily non-agricultural occupations like service or trade accounted for 54.12% in the advanced region and the figures for backward region is 38.22% and 58.60%. Transfer of land from these categories to the tenants, even by giving compensation where necessary, should have been the logical next step after OB. Even after nearly two decades after its introduction such a step is nowhere is in sight.
Underemployment and Underdeveloped Tenancy
Underemployment in agriculture and sluggish employment growth in non-agricultural occupations are important factors in reproducing semi-feudal tenancy relations, especially sharecropping. Studying the relation between the acreage under tenancy and different variables concerning a farming household like owned area, number of farm family workers, value of draught animals and value of implements and machinery etc., the author comes to the conclusion that there exist a strong association between acreage under tenancy and the number of farm family workers available. The availability of underemployed farm family workers provides the greatest motivational force for them to enter into tenancy arrangements. "This only reveals the compulsion exerted on a section of land-constrained tenants to enter the land-lease market in the event of a lack of alternative employment opportunities for their family resources (mostly labour)", concludes the author.
Class Character of OB
Marxists would be unhappy if only size-class categorisation is employed in the analysis to loosely characterise poor, middle and rich peasants. Any Marxist analysis would be based on the more rigorous criteria of selling or employment of labour power for categorisation of different agrarian classes. Departing from his general size-class categorisation, the author gives a classification of tenant households in his field study area based on the criteria of hiring in and selling of labour power according to which there are 14% poor tenants who also sell a part of their labour power, 63% who neither sell nor employ labour power and 23% of rich tenants who employ hired labour. Though this is predominantly a middle peasant region these figures give us a glimpse of the extent of rich peasant farming and supports our contention regarding the class character of Operation Barga.
Sluggish Land Market
Studying the land market in this area, Sankar Kumar Bhaumik says that the quantum of land transfer has not been very sizable over the past decade, and could not, therefore bring about drastic changes in ownership status even for households so affected. However, even if the land concentration is not so marked, his study does point to a slow process of change in the landownership pattern. 33% of the households have reported net purchase of land in the previous decade, 54% have reported no change in their landholdings and 13% have reported net loss of land. Lack of land concentration and absence of dynamism in the land market need not be taken as a sign of stabilisation of egalitarianism in land relations in West Bengal. Seen in the context of unsatiated land hunger of the peasantry and a vibrant land-lease market they rather point to the stagnation in agrarian transformation in Bengal.
Crop Sharing
Examining the crop sharing pattern between different categories of tenants and landowners for different crops, the author finds it striking that in one fourth of the cases, the recorded tenants, in his area of study, maintain their traditional arrangement of equal sharing in the case of Aman paddy even though the recording of their tenanted plots entitle them to three-fourths of the gross produce if the landlords have not participated in the cost of cultivation. In the case of Boro crop too, which is cultivated mostly by unrecorded tenants, 24% of them obtain only 50% of the share without cost sharing by the landowners though this crop involves higher input cost. This means the benefit of OB is not reaching a good one fourth of the recorded tenants when it comes to regulation of crop sharing.
Usury
The author's field study shows that institutional credit is available only for 22.32% of the unrecorded tenants while the figure is 43.69% for the recorded tenants. A substantial proportion of tenant households, both recorded and unrecorded, still depend upon the non-institutional sources for their credit requirement. It would have been interesting if the author had contrasted the crop-sharing pattern between those tenant households dependent on their landowners for credit and those who are not. While the interest rate for institutional credit works out to around 11%, it ranges between 75-80% for the loans taken from the Gramin Mahajan (village moneylender). Nearly two decades after LF's coming into power and introducing Operation Barga, the usury has not been tackled - in the surveyed area - even to the extent of half of recorded tenants and four fifths in the case of unrecorded ones. Even those who have access to institutional credit have mostly taken consumption loans, especially for some social purposes and exigencies, and very little money has gone into increasing productivity. But then why should the poor and middle peasants do it taking risk when the fruits are to be shared with the landowners.
Lower Productivity in the Sharecropped Plots
The most important finding of the author relates to a comparative analysis of inputs use and productivity in the owned plot and rented-in plot of the same tenant, in plot under sharecropping and in plot under fixed-rent tenancy, and in purely owned and purely rented in plots. All categories of tenants use higher doses of inputs and have the benefit of higher productivity levels from their owned plots compared to their sharecropped plots in the case of not only the traditional Aman paddy but for the summer crop of Boro paddy as well. This is true for both recorded and unrecorded tenants. Contrary to the case with crop-sharing contracts, the performance of the households under fixed rent plots does not differ significantly from that on the owned plots. There is no difference between purely rented plots under fixed rent tenancy and purely owned plots either.
Such productivity differentials between owner cultivation and sharecropping give the lie to the CPI(M)'s claim that Operation Barga has, through rent regulation, eliminated feudal features in the renting of land and at the same time also curbed emergence of normal capitalist ground rent. Productivity growth, through the unfettering of productive forces, more than any egalitarianism, is the objective behind any radical land reforms. If Operation Barga had been purely a registration exercise aimed at preventing eviction to be subsequently followed by the transfer of the land to the tenant it would have been a different thing. Even originally it was not conceived like that. The rent regulation has given stagnation in sharecropping a long-term and permanent character. While the small peasant farming in the rented plots suffers stagnation in productivity growth, the rich peasant, renting in land from the poor peasants, benefits significantly due to the regulation. The poor peasants renting out their lands will be not able to get capitalist ground rent as determined by average farm profitability. That is why OB has led to a vast sea of small-scale farming suffering decay and putrefaction coexisting with vibrant islands of rich peasant farming.
Liberal Prescriptions
Summarising his conclusions, the author writes, "...a stage has perhaps come when, apart from pursuing the policies of institutional reform which help the perpetuation of small farming sector, it would now require a far greater degree of government intervention to make available a suitably devised package of technology along with adequate institutional finance to raise the performance of the small farming regime typical of West Bengal. This is not to say that the course of institutional reform is complete in a state like West Bengal. With a section of the tenants yet to be mobilised to record their names, the distribution of land-holdings still being far from equal and with the percentage of the landless households showing an increasing trend, not only does the case for pursuing the ongoing scheme for institutional reform remain important, but there is also the need for a fresh review of the provisions and implementation of the existing reform legislations, particularly relating to the ceiling on land. However, we wish to emphasise that these should now follow concomitantly with more active government intervention for technological diffusion. The two most important areas where the government could assign priorities are the expansion of the irrigation network and the supply of institutional finance. Nearly three-fourths of the households operate less than 2.50 acres of land in West Bengal. The majority of them are unable to make adequate irrigation arrangements of their own and the lack of irrigation alone could, sooner or later, whittle down further the growth of its petty/small peasant dominated agriculture. There is also a lot to be achieved in the sphere of expansion of institutional finance even for the group of recorded sharecroppers who were to receive priority in this regard in recent years. We cannot lose sight of the fact that even now a fairly big percentage of tenants, recorded as well as unrecorded, do fall back upon non-institutional lenders and, consequently, suffer usurious extortions". Thus while he considers further structural reforms in West Bengal merely residual measures he harbours a fresh hope: "Perhaps the steady expansion of the irrigation base, coupled with the provision of institutional finance, could bring about a dramatic transformation of small peasant dominated agrarian Bengal". Perhaps true. But only it would no longer remain small-peasant-dominated agrarian Bengal. Rather, it would be a rich peasant or kulak-dominated Bengal. And this transition would, of course, not be lacking in drama.
West Bengal Agrarian Scene Now
Nearly two decades of implementation of Operation Barga has proved that there is no getting away with any half-measure. The unresolved question will come back to stare at CPI(M) in the form of stagnation of small peasant farming. CPI(M) appears to have been caught in the complacency of relatively impressive growth figures in agricultural output in West Bengal in recent years. Different states under different bourgeois-landlord governments have witnessed during different periods such temporary spurts of growth due to different reasons. The present high output growth in WB would prove to be unsustainable sooner rather than later. Even as per the official vision of agrarian transition, the spread of green revolution in the state is rather poor. A comparison with other states shows WB falling behind, in many respects, than even some other naturally less-endowed states. Be it extension of irrigation and pumpsets, fertiliser use or marketing facilities. The share of marketable surplus in WB is quite low though the state leads in rice production and productivity. Despite the LF enjoying a strong rural base no exceptional priority is to be seen in the case of West Bengal in plan allocations to the agricultural sector. Except for a relatively better performance in cooperatives and agricultural financing the Left-ruled state cannot boast of any qualitatively different experimentation in these areas. Moreover, the rise in real wages of agricultural labourers is much less compared to many other states like Punjab and Kerala. No wonder, two decades of high-profile propaganda on Operation Barga already sounds less and less convincing.
Conclusion
How is it that there have been relatively more thoroughgoing land reforms in Kerala even when there is no political stability for CPI(M) but despite a stable government for nineteen years why it has stopped with an half-measure in Bengal? Why this juxtaposed divorce between land and 'power'? If one deeply probes these questions one can understand that it is precisely because the land reforms in West Bengal have been very shallow that the LF government there is more 'stable'. The CPI(M)'s slogan of 'broad peasant unity' gives expression to the cross-class balancing of CPI(M).
Through Operation Barga, the CPI(M) is holding the eviction-fearing small peasants politically hostage while keeping the rich peasants in good humour. Otherwise, why should the party give exemption to West Bengal from separately organising agricultural labourers and keep its All-India Agricultural Labourers Union away from agricultural workers in the state who comprise one fifth of the rural population. CPI(M)'s brand of social democracy on the peasant question is evident from the very premise of their land reforms as set forth in a West Bengal government report: "...within the bounds of the constitution of a bourgeois-landlord state, a constituent State Government cannot abolish the system of Zamindari, nor is it a feasible proposition. The State Government can only ameliorate the sufferings of the people to some extent, can rouse the village poor to mobilise and can enthuse them to strengthen their organising capacity. Through this process only, class enemy in the rural areas can be identified and cornered, thereby opening up new horizons for rural poor". (Land Reforms in West Bengal, 1980, Statistical Report IV, Statistical Cell, Board of Revenue). As far back as in 1983, the Third Congress of CPI(ML)-Liberation, in its agrarian programme, came up with an incisive analysis of the Operation Barga which has been fully corroborated by the more systematic academic findings of Bhaumik's study.
Earlier, CPI(M) used to come up with the lame pretext of difficulty in obtaining Presidential assent or blame the courts for holding up its two amendment acts which sought to reduce ceiling. Presently, when CPI(M) itself is part of the UF which is running the government at the centre there has been no fresh initiative from CPI(M) on this score. The only thing it has done is to come up with the West Bengal Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill, 1996, introduced in the state assembly on June 27, according to which 'a person, firm, company, institution or an association or body of individuals intending to establish a tea garden, mill, factory, workshop, livestock or poultry farms, dairy or township may be permitted on certain conditions to acquire and hold land in excess of the ceiling area'. Now the courts in Bengal are threatening to reverse even individual cases of land redistribution and snatch away the land from the allottee and restore it to the former owners and the CPI(M) is quite powerless. The CPI(M) had long been vocal on the question of including the land reform legislations under the purview of the relevant schedule of the constitution so as to keep them away from meddling by the gentry-dominated courts. Now this doesn't find mention in the Common Minimum Programme. On its own the LF government has set up neither special courts nor tribunals to rescue the peasantry from the tangle of litigations.
Just as Operation Barga did not eliminate the superfluous stratum but institutionalised it, it made the party apparatchik the middleman. The changing class character of CPI(M) local leadership in rural areas and rich peasant domination in the panchayats only bears testimony to the emergence of a bureaucratized stratum of rich peasants and kulaks who exercise their stranglehold over the rural life in Bengal. The total betrayal of all the struggles of the past combined with class collaborationist 'land reform' programmes has step by step paved way for this. Now ditching the agricultural sector itself - probably much to the disappointment of Sankar Kumar Bhaumiks - in the face of stagnation, it has developed this craze for MNC-led industrial revival. The characterisation 'white Calcutta in the midst of red rural Bengal' misses the crux of this process of change. Like its slogan of 'broad peasant unity', the CPI(M)'s equally dubious electoral victory in the rural areas only represents opportunistic class collaboration and marks the height of its parliamentary cretinism. But by the very logic of the slow changes under way, this 'broad peasant unity' is bound to crack up. The growing alienation of agricultural labourers and poor peasants in some parts of rural Bengal, and the Karandas and Kalnas, only point to the new opportunities to the revolutionary left. What is needed are fresh studies at the grassroots and new articulation of their interests.
http://www.cpiml.org/liberation/year_1996/october/article.htm-
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