Distribute free food to poor: Supreme Court!Lok Sabha passes bill to amend CrPC on provision of arrest!IAF gets permission to fire at Naxals in self-defence!

It may be the Climax of Judicial Pro activism, but it sounds quite RIDICULOUS in the Sovereign Free Market Regime which allows the Killing Money Machine to make Profit with every kind of Calamities!This is something like Corporate Social Concern!

Action against officials responsible for rotting grains: Pawar

Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams, chapter 542

Palash Biswas

http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/

It may be the Climax of Judicial Proactivism, but it sounds quite RIDICULOUS in the Sovereign Free Market Regime which alows the Killing Money Machine to make Profit with every kind of Calamities!This is somthing like Corporate Social Concern!

India: The Right to Food

        Thursday, 12 August 2010, 4:38 pm
        Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission    
India: Daily discussion of the Fourth National Convention on Right to Food

"Let not the grain rot in the godowns, let us break the locks and take the Grain out and distribute it"- P Sainath
4th National Convnetion kicks of in Rourkela. More than 2000 participants join on Day -1, August 6, 2010
"Supreme Court has ordered on the 27th of July, 2010, that not a single grain should be wasted and its should be distributed to the hungry, so I would like to give a call to all the people, dalit, adivasis that since the Government will never distribute the grains, let us take the grain away and distribute it to the people, and implement the SC orders so that nobody ever sleeps hungry", this was journalist P. Sainath giving the key note address at the Fourth National Convention of the Right to Food Campaign in Rourkela today.

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More than 2000 participants from 25 States from across India were present at the convention today. The three day-Fourth Convention has marked a turning point in the Right to Food Campaign with much greater focus on the broader issues of food security including the production of food which itself was in danger due to the agrarian crisis, development-induced displacement, alienation of tribal land and other natural resources, issues of dry land agriculture, privatization of water, health and nutrition linkages, forest rights, accountability and transparency, employment and decent living wages and distress migration.
Propounding the cause of the Adivasis, tribal leader and INSAF President, Dayamani Barla, spoke out vociferously and asked the people that the Tribals who were sovereign of land, water, forests were being constantly evicted from these resources by the Government policies and after having plundered the wealth, displaced millions the Government's claim that it would enact a law on the Right to Food seemed dishonest. If it was serious, they should give back the forest, land, water and sky to the people and the people's food security needs would be automatically met.
Showing the seriousness of the situation of malnutrition in the country, Dr. Binayak Sen, Vice President of the PUCL, said that the data of the National Bureau of Nutrition showed that more than 33 percent of all adult people are malnourished, as such they lived in a situation of forever famine. It was this situation that needed to be addressed today by the Government, its failure to do so showed that the welfare project of the Indian State was over.
Similarly, Ulka Mahajan, leader of the anti SEZ struggles in Maharastra, stated that the whole struggle against Reliance SEZ showed that the People were sovereign and if the people fought these battles with determination then the Government would have to bend itself. Thus, people should not waste their time in making demands to the Government, the time had come to just affirm our right and take what is rightfully ours.
The convention today began with sh. Prafulla Samnatara, convenor of the national organising committee welcoming everybody. He stated that this convention was dedicated to the work of Sh Kishan Patnaik who was the first parliamentarian who raised the issue of hunger and went to the Supreme Court three times on this. Abdul Kalam Azad of the organizing committee from Rourkela, showed the irony of development in rourkela a so called temple of modern India, where literacy rates were not more than 7 % for the women, where hunger and malnutrition were very high.
The other speakers included sh. Saroj Mohanty, Lingaraj bhai, Nikhil Dey and Gautam Mody and Kavita Srivastava. Padmini Bhoi of bolangir presented her story of struggle to get justice after the death of her husband who died of hunger.
The Participants also held a candle light vigil in memory of the survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima that happened 65 years ago. They shouted slogans that "we want bread not bombs", No more Hiroshimas, anywhere ever again.
The Day II of the Convention on 7th August, will see discussions on the national food security act and the learnings from the implementation of the Governemnt Schemes. Sh, Harsh Mander, Prof. Jean Dreze,and others will be the key speakers tomorrow.
Day -2, August 7, 2010
Campaign's Demands
•    Nothing Short Of A Universal PDS –Food For All At Cheap Prices
•    Special provisions of food, health, education for children under six including maternal entitlements and nutritional counseling of women for combating malnutrition
•    The Act Must Have Provisions Of Affirmative Action For SC & ST, Socially Vulnerable Groups And Urban Poor
•    Food Security Cannot Be In A Vaccum- Link Production, Procurement And Storage To Distribution
•    Ensure dignity to all end all discrimination in food schemes.
The 2nd day of the Rourkela Conference was focused on the forthcoming National Food Security Act. With the UPA Government having announced that they would bring a National Food Security Act, the campaign debated what ought to come into the act today at the conference.
The Campaign has been working on this act concertedly for the last one year. Anuradha Talwar presented the position of the campaign. She stated that the Right to Food campaign demands an Act that deals with the causes of hunger and provides each and every resident of this country with universal food entitlements of all schemes including the Universal PDS. She also said that Food security cannot be talked in a vacuum. It was imperative to link production of food including encouraging millets and pulses, with local procurement and storage to distribution. She stated that it was in this model that agriculture could be revitalized as well as Government's arguments that enough grain was not available could also be demolished. She showed present production figures and said that even at today's production level there was enough grain for universal PDS, all the government had to do was increase the MSP and procure more. Similarly, the Government's arguments that the re was not enough money was also flawed as the government waived loans worth 5 lac crores to industrialists and to business. But when it came to the poor it was always stated that it never had money.
She also stated that according to the campaign the Government must put in place policy interventions to ensure that no man, woman or child sleeps hungry or is malnourished. She also emphaised that the policies must ensure that the invasion of corporate interests in agricultural production and in food and nutrition policy is stopped immediately.
Since presently the Sonia Gandhi led National Advisory Council is discussing the provisions that ought to go into the draft bill of the national food security act. Prof Jean Dreze member of the National Advisory Council presented the formulations that had been discussed in the NAC. He said that the NAC had established the principle of Universality of entitlements particularly in its proposals on the RTF and that the Universal PDS would be rolled out in phases, where in the first phase 35 kgs of grain for Rs 3 per kg and which could begin with the 150 poorest districts as identified by the Planning Commission while in the rest of the districts SC, ST, and designated socially vulnerable would get grain for Rs. 3 per kg with 35 kgs entitlements while the others would get 25 kgs of grain for higher price. Along with cooked food entitlements for children, socially vulnerable and others. He also said that issues relating to production, procurement and storage were still being disc ussed. He however, also added that the campaign must do an aggressive campaign to get ensure that its demands are met as the present Government was all set to dilute the bill.
Sachin Jain speaking on behalf of the working group on children was upfront in telling the campaign, that the children's issues could not be marginalized and that with severe malnutrition in the country the act must have maternal entitlements, along with comprehensive interventions of ICDS and the MDMS.
Speaking to the assembly, PUCL national secretary and senior counsel V. Suresh stated that the socially vulnerable and the marginalized people needed a special focus. He said that food security for these people was connected with granting them recognition and dignity. He said that there were a large number of vulnerable groups, who were the old, single women, destitute homeless, street children, sexual minorities, physically challenged, primitive tribal groups, they should be kept in the Antyodaya category and given food for half the price. He also said that this section of the population was almost 20 percent of the population and was most food insecure. Praveen from the Disabilities manch said that they this group of people were most discriminated in by the food schemes.
Vidhya Das reinforced that only a universal PDS would help the poor. Similarly, Asha from the National Campaign for Dalit human rights stated that the key guarantee that the dalits needed in the act was that there be no untouchability practiced with them. Even today the MDMS, ICDS was ridden with practices of exclusion. Suresh Samant speaking for the urban poor stated that the issue of lack of identity was the biggest obstacle for their food security.
The session also heard Prof Ram Kumar of Tata Institute of Social Sciences who shared how the Government was trying to push the Unique Identification (UID) as the main solution to the problems in the PDS and that it would help people access their PDS rations anywhere. He said that the Right to food campaign must clearly tell the Government that it must not connect the PDS with the UID.
The RIGHT to food Campaign also resolved that there should be aggressive pubic action on the Streets to ensure that the Right to food campaigns draft was passed by the Government.
Similarly, James Hering spoke on the NREGS, Charles of the NACDOR, Zaki from Hazards Centre spoke on urban issues and their food security, Laxmi of Ekal Nari Shakti Sangathan and Ganga Bhai on Tribal issues also presented their views.
Tomorrow the Campaign will hold its concluding sessions a morning plenary on the right to food in conflict areas, where speakers from all over the country would be speaking. It would conclude with resolutions followed by a rally.
On day one 6th of August, the right to food campaign members carried out a candle light vigil and a two minute silence at Birsa Muda Chowk against the bombing of Hiroshima, 65 years ago. They shouted slogans "Yudh Nahi Shanti Chahiye", "Bomb Nahi Roti Chahiye", Hiroshima Kabhi Nahi, Kahin Nahi"
Prafulla Samantra, Convenor, Odisha Organising Committee
Kavita Srivastava, Convenor, Right to Food Campaign
For further information, please contact:

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
ENDS
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1008/S00208/india-the-right-to-food.htm

IAF gets permission to fire at Naxals in self-defence

The IAF has got the government''s permission to fire back at Naxals in extremist-hit areas in self-defence, highly-placed Air Force sources said today. The government''s nod to the IAF''s request made in September last year comes at a time when a debate is raging on whether India should use its armed forces against left-wing extremists, whom Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the gravest internal security threat.
The IAF currently deploys two of its Mi-17s and two Dhruv helicopters in anti-Naxal operations. It had lost one of its personnel when a helicopter ferrying election officials and material during the Chattisgarh assembly polls was fired at by suspected Naxals a couple of years ago.
The government had given permission to the IAF to defend itself from the extremists'' fire and had laid out conditions on the use of small arms in self-defence sometime in October-November last year. Consequently, the IAF has fitted sideward-mounted machine guns on its helicopters flying in Naxal-affected areas basically for logistics, personnel transport and casualty evacuation of paramilitary forces engaged in fighting the Maoists, the sources said.
These guns would be operated by IAF commandos belonging to Garud units, who would be on board the helicopters every time they go out on sorties, the sources said. Defence Minister A K Antony had told Parliament in November last year that though no offensive military action had been envisaged while using the IAF helicopters in anti-Naxal operations, there was no specific approval required for action in self-defence.
However, the IAF has proposed a draft ''Rules of Engagement'' to regulate such action, in order to avoid any ambiguity and damage to the helicopters or injury to their occupants, he had said replying to members'' questions. Among the conditions laid out were that no indiscriminate firing should be carried out and that the Garuds should be sure of the source of the attack on the helicopters before retaliatory fire was unleashed.
These guidelines were issued to ensure there were no civilian causalities in case the IAF used its guns in self-defence, the Defence Ministry had explained then. "The IAF helicopter crew will not use the conventional heavy fire power weapons such as rockets and other guns on board, but only the sideward-mounted machine guns.
They will use the weapons only if fired upon," the sources said. "Fortunately, in these months that we have been allowed to defend our assets, there has been no occasion when we had to use the sideward-mounted guns," they said.

Action against officials responsible for rotting grains: Pawar

Punitive action has been taken against officials responsible for instances of rotting of foodgrains at various FCI godowns, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar informed the Rajya Sabha today.

Replying to a Calling Attention notice on rotting of foodgrains at various FCI godowns, Pawar said foodgrains stock in the Central Pool has increased three-folds since 2006, which has ensured better and remunerative prices to farmers.

"However it has caused a strain on storage capacities with FCI and state government agencies involved in procurement," he said, adding that higher MSP over the last few years coupled with better outreach has led to higher procurement in the last three years.

He said recently there have been reports of damaged foodgrains in godowns of FCI and state agencies in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand due to rain and floods.

"However the quantity damaged must be seen in the perspective of total quantities handled and larger quantities kept in Covered and Plinth (CAP) storage because of heavier procurement," Pawar said.

He said FCI officials found damaged wheat stocks at various storage facilities in UP, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand after inspecting them.

"FCI has initiated disciplinary action against a number of officers in UP and has also suspended eight officers. Some senior officers have been instructed to monitor movement and handling of foodgrain stocks," the minister said.

He added that teams have been deputed from headquarters and zonal offices of FCI for inspection of storage conditions in the depots.

US considering legal tools to force India to open up farm market

6 Aug 2010, 0009 hrs IST,PTI
WASHINGTON: The US has said it is exploring all options, including legal tools, to force India to open up its agriculture market, especially the dairy sector.

"We are exceptionally frustrated. I will tell you it's generally not our practice to comment publicly as to whether we are going to take legal action, but I would tell you we are exploring every alternative and every enforcement tool available to us to get India to open up their markets on a number of agriculture issues," the US Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, told the US lawmakers yesterday.

Kirk, who has been to India twice and soon would be travelling to New Delhi, said that he has raised this issue of opening up of the agricultural market, in particular those of dairy products, at the highest level.

"We have raised ... I was in India twice. Last year I met with them directly about it. Ambassador (Demetrois) Marantis (Deputy US Trade Representative) just came back. Ambassador Islam Siddiqui, who is our chief agriculture negotiator ... we have used every tool of diplomacy we have, but we are going to be examining everything else in our toolbox to see if we can't get them to behave differently," Kirk said.

Kirk was responding to a question from Senator Debbie Stabenow in this regard.

"For far too long, India has not been playing by the rules with dairy. There are many ongoing issues where they are, frankly, ignoring science. One of the most troubling is a situation with dairy and an issue that a number of us wrote you about earlier this year," Stabenow said.

"For over six years now, India has issued dairy certificates to block legitimate US dairy exports and refused to negotiate in good faith to find a resolution. This certification requirement is not based on sound science."

India has exported an average of USD 77 million worth of dairy products to the US over the last three years, while the US dairy exports are being blocked, the Senator said.

"So my question is, given the lack of progress with India over many years, what is the USTR doing to examine legal alternatives?" he asked.

Kirk said he completely agrees with the Senators assessment on India.

This Time for Africa: Africa calling Indian farmers

"Tsamina eh eh Waka waka eh eh Tsamina mina... This time for Africa" — and so it is going by the huge opportunities in the farming sector that are being thrown open to Indian farmers by the governments in Africa.

ASSOCHAM, India's apex industry body, has sent a proposal to the External Affairs Ministry to consider tapping the emerging agricultural opportunities in Africa and offering to act as a facilitator to help Indian farmers reap the benefits of the huge potential that lie in Africa.

"Hoping to address the huge issue of food shortage, these countries have begun inviting overseas farmers to come and cultivate their lands. These governments are willing to lease land free of cost for 99 years", ASSOCHAM Secretary General D S Rawat said.

Farmers were free to cultivate the land and raise any crop and sell it to the domestic market and also export.

"It is a win-win situation for the farmers and for the African governments", said Assocham Director Om S Tyagi.

"Since the lease is for 99 years, it means that a farmer is in control of the land for his life time. It means land for roughly around three generations," he said.

The countries that were in the forefront trying to attract agriculturists were Sudan and Ethopia, he said.

Several Chinese farmers have already accepted the offer and begun cultivation of land, said Tyagi.

A number of farmers from Punjab have also on their own initiative migrated to these countries and begun cultivation. However, the chambers was not able to provide statistics on the number of Indians farming in these African countries.

Lok Sabha passes bill to amend CrPC on provision of arrest!

A bill, seeking to amend a section of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) with regard to arrest of a person, was passed by the Lok Sabha with the government asserting that it would reduce "arbitrariness" in apprehension of people and bring about transparency.

The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2010, passed by voice vote after a debate, provides for mandatory recording of reasons in the case of arrest or non-arrest of a person suspected in a cognizable offence for which the jail term is less than seven years.

Prior to the amendment to Section 41 of the CrPC Act, the law said a police officer "may" record reasons of arrest or non-arrest of a person, Home Minister P Chidambaram said while replying to the debate.

According to the amended bill, if a person is not arrested in a non-cognizable offence, police will have to issue notice to him to join investigations.

The prevailing law says a police officer "may" issue a notice to a person, who is not arrested, for joining investigation.

The amendment, making it mandatory to issue notice for joining the investigation, is to ensure that the person does not delay the probe by not cooperating, Chidambaram said.

If anybody, on whom a notice is served, refuses to identify himself, he will be arrested forthwith, he said.

Justifying the amendments, Chidambaram said, "This is to ensure that "arbitrariness" is reduced or "at least the scope of arbitrariness is reduced."

Rejecting suggestions that the amendments could enable police to misuse powers, he said it would bring about transparency in the system of arrests.

"Give it a fair trial of six months or so," the Home Minister said while seeking endorsement of the House to the Amendment Bill.

On the recording of reasons in case of arrest, he said the arrested person would have a right to approach a court to challenge the action if he is not convinced.

Similarly, in case of non-arrest, the complainant can approach a court to question the police action, he said.

Talking about overall police system in the country, he said the Centre had framed a Model Police Act in 2006 but states were "not forthcoming" to bring their police laws in tune with it despite being repeatedly asked to.

"It is my intention to continue pressing the states," he said. Market
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In an order of far reaching consequences, the Supreme Court Thursday asked the central government to distribute free foodgrains to families below the poverty line.It also asked the state governments to tell whether they were distributing 35 kg of foodgrains to each of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families that was allocated to them by the central government.

The apex court bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Deepak Verma gave the direction after the central government told the court that it was allocating 35 kg of foodgrains per BPL family to the states.

Financial Express reports:
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre to consider increasing allotment of foodgrain to people below poverty line (BPL), opening of fair price shops on all 30 days and ensure free distribution to poor as an immediate measure to prevent rotting of food grain lying in the open.
"Give it to the hungry poor instead of it (grains) going down the drain," a bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma observed while requesting the Centre "to expedite the whole process and submit a comprehensive report to this court as early as possible and in any event within six weeks from today."
The government told the court that the PDS facilities can't be discontinued for people above poverty line (APL) as allocations for BPL/AAY categories under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) were not likely to be impacted by allocations of foodgrain to APL.
Additional solicitor general Mohan Parasaran argued that "while entitlements and allocations for BPL and AAY families are protected, those for APL families are contingent on availability. They have been reduced when the availability was less, and increased in times of surpluses."
The court also said the Centre must ensure food security of the country. "In view of record procurement, which the government is not able to properly store and preserve it, would be appropriate that the government may take some long term and short term measures to solve the problem," it added.
The bench further asked the Centre to ensure construction of a big godown in each of the states besides separate godowns in different districts and divisions within the states.
The government might consider taking some short term measures to deal with this problem of foodgrain which is rotting: increase in the quantum of food supply to the BPL population; opening the fair price shops for all the 30 days in a month and distribute foodgrain to the deserving population at a very low cost or no cost, the order stated.
"The PDS needs to be strengthened particularly, in tribal and drought prone areas of the country," the bench said. The court also asked the states to file affidavits as to why they are not distributing wheat and rice as per centre's allocation of 35 kilograms per BPL family.
Keeping in view the food security requirements of APL category, it said the present system of allocations for APL category may be continued till the finalisation...
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http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Give-grain-to-poor-instead-of-allowing-it-to-go-down-the-drain--SC-tells-govt/659493/

Ensure distribution of food grains rather than let it rot: SC

Hindustan Times - ‎10 hours ago‎
PTI A porter carries a sack of rice at a local market in Kolkata. Prices of pulses, vegetables and... The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre to ensure free distribution of food grains to the hungry poor of the country instead of allowing it ...

Distribute free foodgrains to hungry: SC to Govt

IBNLive.com - ‎10 hours ago‎
New Delhi; The Supreme Court has intervened on the rotting food grain issue. The apex court has asked the government to distribute grain that's getting damaged among the poor free of cost. The pictures of rotting food grains first exposed by CNN-IBN ...

Distribute free food to poor: Supreme Court

Sify - ‎10 hours ago‎
In an order of far reaching consequences, the Supreme Court Thursday asked the central government to distribute free foodgrains to families below the poverty line. It also asked the state governments to tell whether they were distributing 35 kg of ...

Give free food grains to poor: SC

indiablooms - ‎9 hours ago‎
New Delhi, Aug 12 (IBNS): The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to distribute free food grains to the hungry poor people of the country instead of allowing them to rot in godowns or storehouse. "Give it to the hungry poor instead of it ...

SC orders distribution of foodgrains

samaylive - ‎9 hours ago‎
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the government to distribute the food grains, which is being rotten in the FCI godowns, to the people below poverty line in India. "Give it to the hungry poor instead of it (grains) going down the drain," a bench ...
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1. News for caste census in india

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18. The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Nation | Pressure mounts for ...

19. 7 May 2010 ... Pressure mounts for caste census. SANJAY K. JHA ... should be taken in the 21st century to show that India had a caste-driven society. ... We cannot give vague arguments to say that caste census will break the society… ...

20. www.telegraphindia.com/1100507/jsp/nation/story_12421988.jsp - Cached

21. Caste and the Census in India - South Asia Citizens Web

22. 25 May 2010 ... See no caste, hear no caste, speak no caste." The policy of the Indian elite towards the issue of caste has been that of the three monkeys: ...

23. www.sacw.net/article1438.html - Cached

24. Is caste-based census justified? - Central Chronicle - Madhya ...

25. 22 May 2010 ... The 2011 Indian census is a caste-based one and first time after independence. Caste is the distinct feature of our society and it has great ...

26. www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=36260 - Cached

27. Ajaats lament caste-based census - Mumbai - DNA

28. 7 Jun 2010 ... Their numbers shrunk to a few hundred today — scattered over central India, particularly Vidarbha. They call themselves Ajaat — or ...

29. www.dnaindia.com/.../report_ajaats-lament-caste-based-census_1392813 - Cached

30. Caste based census in India

31. 17 May 2010 ... The 2011 Indian census will include question about caste. The Hindus and Sikhs belongs to castes while Muslims have no caste.

32. www.defence.pk/forums/.../58042-caste-based-census-india.html - Cached

33. Blog posts about caste census in india

34. Twenty22-India on the move: Caste and the Census - Twenty22-India on the move - 8 hours ago

35. India News :: Caste census to be undertaken from biometric stage: GOM - India News - 10 hours ago

36. Modalities of caste census to be decided by Cabinet: Pranab ... - CASSANO LAW FIRM - 11 hours ago

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to visit Japan, nuclear deal on way

Buoyed by an upswing in economic ties and the launch of civil nuclear negotiations, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada comes here next week, a preparatory visit aimed at firming up the agenda for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's trip to Tokyo later in the year.

Okada is expected to be here August 21 on a daylong visit for the India-Japan strategic dialogue, well-placed sources said.

Okada will hold talks with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna that will focus on finalising key deliverables during Manmohan Singh's visit for his first summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan. The two prime ministers last met on the sidelines of the G20 summit of major and emerging economies in Toronto in June.

Manmohan Singh's Tokyo visit was earlier planned for December, but efforts are on to advance it by a couple of months. It could also happen in October, and may be combined with his visit to Vietnam to attend the 16-nation East Asia summit, said the sources.

The finalisation of a bilateral civil nuclear pact could be announced during Manmohan Singh's visit to Tokyo, said the sources, adding that a formal signing may take place later.

With the Japanese prime minister giving the nod, the two sides have held two rounds of nuclear negotiations and are confident of an early closure of a bilateral nuclear accord that will allow top Japanese nuclear companies to sell atomic equipment to India.

The two sides have exchanged drafts of a bilateral nuclear pact and are closely studying each other's version with a view to ironing out differences, added the sources.

The nuclear issue will figure prominently in discussions between the foreign ministers of the two countries next week.

Nudged by the US and France to fast-track the nuclear pact with India so that General Electric Co and France's Areva can use Japanese suppliers for nuclear projects for India, Japan has decided to accelerate the negotiations.

Besides, Japanese companies like Hitachi and Toshiba don't want to miss out on India's growing nuclear pie, estimated to be $150 billion.

While the nuclear deal with Japan could be the big trophy for New Delhi, India is hoping that a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Japan could be concluded by the time Manmohan Singh touches down in Tokyo.

The pact is expected to slash tariff duties on around 9,000 products, ranging from steel and apparel to drugs and machinery, and give a big boost to bilateral trade which was estimated to be around $11 billion in 2008-09.

India is also hoping for a further easing of high-tech trade. Japan's removal of 11 Indian companies from the end user list and addition of four new ones recently has generated a positive momentum in bilateral ties which was seen at two back-to-back dialogues last month that discussed issues ranging from counter-terrorism to the UN reforms.

India's burgeoning trade ties with South Korea, a competitor of Japan, has spurred Tokyo to look at the proposed CEPA with a new sense of urgency. Seoul also upstaged Tokyo by launching nuclear negotiations with New Delhi much before Tokyo got into the act. The competition for a share of the Indian market is working in India's favour, officials said.

Japanese companies are now planning big investments in India in areas ranging from telecom and auto to pharmaceuticals and power.

Over 3,000 Indian prisoners in Gulf countries

A total of 3,095 Indians are serving jail sentences in the six Gulf countries, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi informed Parliament on Thursday.

The maximum (1,361) are in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), followed by Saudi Arabia with 1,226, he told the Rajya Sabha.

There are 263 in Kuwait, 126 in Oman, 91 in Bahrain and 28 in Qatar, he said, adding personnel of the Indian missions periodically visit the prisons to ensure their welfare.

Replying to a query, Ravi said that the Indian missions in the Gulf countries are not aware of any reports about Indian nationals imprisoned as victims of job rackets.

As per the ministry records, there are 36,85,058 Indians working and living in the Gulf countries.

WTO expects "more substantive" talks in Doha Round soon

KOLKATA: The World Trade Organisation is expecting "more substantive" talks next month to conclude the Doha Round of multilateral negotiations to free up world trade, its Deputy Director General Harsha V Singh said in Kolkata on Thursday.

"The talks have continued for quite some time. Now the ambassadors are discussing things in close sessions. Almost 80 per cent of the issues are resolved," Singh said, addressing a seminar organised here by Indian Chamber of Commerce.

He said the areas that are needed to be discussed now are the special safeguard mechanisms in agriculture and the issue of additional market access, non-tariff measures and anti-dumping in non-agricultural market access (NAMA), environmental goods and services and fisheries.

About additional market access, he said: "India wants more market access in rice and this issue is being negotiated."

The WTO's Doha Round trade talks, launched in 2001, have been moving in fits and starts. The last high-level push for a breakthrough came in July 2008, when ministers gathered in Geneva.

That meeting collapsed over a few issues such as the US's refusal to cut its agricultural subsidies further and India's insistence on special safeguards to prevent exposing its millions of subsistence farmers to unfairly subsidised US competition.

The G20 leaders, who met in Toronto in June, called for trade talks to be brought to a close, citing the Doha round's importance in ensuring a sustainable economic recovery. They, however, did not set a deadline.

India allows upto 200,000 tonne sugar for exports

India has allowed export of 150,000 tonnes to 200,000 tonnes of sugar that was imported by millers but could not be shifted out of the port due to a shortage of railway wagons, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said. "We had requested the railways to give priority to fertilisers to help farmers in planting. But mills started complaining that sugar at the port was getting spoilt," Pawar told reporters. He said India's ban on export of sugar and wheat would continue, at least for the time being. Earlier this week, sources said the world's top consumer and second-largest sugar producer might export 320,000 tonnes of the sweetener to Pakistan, its first shipment to the neighbouring country in two years, as local output was set to rise after higher cane planting and good monsoon rains. Indian millers had asked the government to allow exports of about 750,000 tonnes of imported sugar, which has piled up at a key port due to a shortage of railway wagons. India had imported large quantities of sugar last year and the beginning of 2010 as local output had fallen sharply after last year's drought. This year, monsoon rainfall has improved significantly and India's sugar output in 2010/11 is likely to rise to about 25 million tonnes from 18.8 million tonnes in the year to September 2010.

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UPA govt ensured food security for rats: Karat

8 Aug 2010, 0136 hrs IST,ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: The CPM lashed out at the UPA II government for its poor food management policies saying that it ensured "food security for rats", this even as the country presented the "shameful spectacle" of having the world's largest number of hungry people.

Not just its food management policies, the Left charged that the main tenor of the Congress-led government was "anti-people".

In this context references were made to plans of opening up the retail, banking and insurance sectors to foreign investment. As part of its a brain storming meeting in Vijaywada, the CPM is working out ways to regain the lost faith of the people in West Bengal and Kerala.

Stressing that the Left has been consistently demanding food security for poor, Mr Karat said that the government was dragging its feet and turning a blind eye to the suffering of the poor. "The Food Corporation of India godowns have 60 million tonnes of food grains.

The stocks are overflowing and allowed to rot as the government weakened and curtailed the public distribution system through a targeted system which excludes most of the poor. Yet, the government callously and arrogantly refuses to take responsibility for this," Mr Karat said in his inaugural address to the party's extended central committee meeting.

The CPM boss charged that the UPA government was adopting policies that were "injurious to the people's interests." He said that the government policies are directly responsible for the ever-rising prices of food and other essential commodities. Referring to the recent rise in petrol prices and the linkage to the international market, Mr Karat said, "repeated increase in prices of petroleum products in one major reason while forward trading in food grains and other essential commodities is another major factor."

The solution according to the Left lies in ensuring a universal public distribution system with adequate procurement to ensure that hunger and malnutrition were eliminated. "The first and foremost task is to tackle the agrarian crisis by making agriculture sustainable.The goal of ensuring food security requires that farmers be given sufficient incentives to produce more, rather than moving towards corporatisation of agriculture," Mr Karat said.

Noting that India has the dubious distinction of having some of the richest people in the world along with a substantial number of poorest people, the CPM boss spoke about the need to recover black money and higher taxes for the rich and businesses.

"Steps should be taken to recover the illegal money stashed in tax havens and secret bank accounts. The corporates and the affluent should pay more taxes resulting in enhanced tax revenues that could be spent on education, health care and social welfare," the CPM general secretary said.

Critical of the "neo-liberal policies" of the UPA government and the move to disinvest government shares in all profitable public sector units, Mr Karat reminded that it was the Left that had prevented such a move in the UPA I government. "Earlier, the Left parties had ensured that shares of navratna companies would not be sold. Now, everything is up for sale," he said.

With legislations for the opening up of the insurance and banking sector pensing in Parliament, Mr Karat warned party leaders of the Centre's proposal to allow multinational companies into retail trade in the country and also the efforts to push through a legislation permitting foreign direct investment in banking and insurance sectors.

Mr Karat said that the agenda for all these anti-people policies was being propelled by the Indo-US CEO forum. "What the chieftains of big businesses in US and India propose, the Manmohan Singh government accepts and implements," he said.

The CPM boss said that in the present dismal scene in the country only the CPM and the Left present a "real alternative - an alternative in terms of the path of development and in terms of policies."

Asking the party-led governments in West Bengal and Kerala to do their 'utmost' to regain the lost faith of the people, Mr Karat said that the party has carefully looked into the causes of the poll reversals it suffered in West Bengal and Kerala and 'identified the steps to be taken to remedy the situation'.

'We should do our utmost so that people of West Bengal and Kerala renew their faith in the party and the Left-led alliances there," he said. The CPM convened its extended central committee meeting to take stock of the political situation in the country and chalk out a political line which can help the party to tackle the current situation and meet the various challenges that the party is facing.

"It is these three governments which have implemented land reform to the maximum in the country. It is these three governments which have sought to expand the areas of relief and welfare for the unemployed and the poor. All three governments have introduced urban employment guarantee schemes within the constraints of resources. It is these three governments which have adhered firmly to the secular principle and given no quarter to the communal forces. The defence of the Left-led governments is an important task for all the Left and democratic forces in the country," Mr Karat said.

Food inflation back to double digits at 11.4%

Times of India - ‎11 hours ago‎
NEW DELHI: After dipping for two straight weeks, India's food inflation rose again to double digits at 11.4 per cent for the week ended July 31, ...

Food inflation shoots back to double digit at 11.4 per cent

The Hindu - ‎12 hours ago‎
PTI After being in single-digit for two weeks, food inflation shot up again to double digit at 11.40 per cent for the week ended July 31 as prices of ...

Food inflation rises to 11.40%

Livemint - ‎12 hours ago‎
New Delhi: India's food price index rose 11.40% in the year to 31 July, while the fuel price index climbed 12.66%, government data released on Thursday ...

Food inflation at 11.40 pc y/y as at July 31

Hindustan Times - ‎12 hours ago‎
India's food price index rose 11.40 per cent in the year to July 31, while the fuel price index climbed 12.66 per cent, government data released on Thursday ...

Food inflation crosses again into double digits

NDTV.com - ‎12 hours ago‎
Food inflation for week ended July 31 rose to 11.40 per cent from a year earlier, accelerating from a 9.53 per cent in the previous week. ...

Food inflation gallops to 11.4 %

mydigitalfc.com - ‎7 minutes ago‎
By Falaknaaz Syed Aug 12 2010 , New Delhi to high prices of cereals, milk and fruits after being in single digit during two previous weeks. ...

Food prices rise, industry growth dips

Asian Age - ‎1 hour ago‎
Aug. 12: India had two bad economic indicators on Thursday. First the food inflation once again jumped to double digits and second the industrial production ...

Food price inflation rate climbs back to 11.40 per cent

domain-B - ‎7 hours ago‎
The annual rate of inflation based on the wholesale price index of food articles in the country ended a declining trend and bounced back to a double-digit ...
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India This Evening: Government Sets August 31 Deadline for Blackberry

Wall Street Journal (blog) - ‎3 hours ago‎
(Source: Hindustan Times) Distribute Food Grains Rather Than let it rot: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre to ensure free distribution of ...

Grains without shelter

Hindustan Times - ‎42 minutes ago‎
The severe shortage of quality storage space is destroying large quantities of India's food grain stock, as recent reports in Hindustan Times have ...
Govt to let mills export sugar to prevent rotting at ports Myiris.com
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Killed by the food bill?

Times of India - Nitin Sethi - ‎19 minutes ago‎
At a time when some of the poorest belts of India are suffering from a monsoon failure the government, has decided to let lakhs of tonnes of food grain turn ...
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Sensex does U-turn on SBI Q1 numbers to end up by 4 pts

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India Industrial Output Up 7.1%

Wall Street Journal - Anant Vijay Kala, Prasanta Sahu - ‎13 hours ago‎
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Rise in food inflation on predicted lines: Basu

Economic Times - ‎7 hours ago‎
... told reporters after the Reserve Bank of India's Board meeting held in Mumbai today. After a fortnight of being in single digits, food inflation for the ...
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New portal to link India's farm sector with industry

Sify - ‎Aug 11, 2010‎
Joost Van Odjik, managing director of eFresh.com BV, said India has one of the largest food baskets in the world. 'India has to play a pivotal role in world ...

Arriving from Africa, students make a home in India (Feature)

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He initially had trouble adjusting to Indian food and only ate at international fast food joints, McDonald's and KFC. 'The food here is so spicy and so much ...

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1. India: Politics of Starvation - Global Policy Forum

   globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/211/44312.html

2. Asia Sentinel - India's Starvation Coal Diet

   27 May 2010 ... India arrow India's Starvation Coal Diet ... India's federal minister for environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh, said recently that India ...
   www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content... - Cached

3. Famine in India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

   There were 14 famines in India between 11th and 17th century. For example, during the 1022-1033 Great famines made all the provinces in India depopulated. ...
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4. INDIA: Extreme starvation claims five lives of a tribal family in ...

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5. INDIA: Seven children suffer from starvation and child labour in ...

   10 Mar 2010 ... The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) regrets to inform you that Ms. Bhuje died on New Year's Eve after struggling against sickness and ...
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8. 'There is a lot of sex starvation in Kerala' : Rediff.com India News

   21 Jan 2010 ... Noted Malayalam writer Paul Zacharia, who was attacked for criticising moral policing in Kerala, speaks out.
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10. [Hunger Alert] INDIA: Seven children suffer from starvation and ...

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Business forum launched to engage with Africa

To mark the increased engagement of India and Africa, a new forum has been launched to encourage more intense economic and business collaboration, powered by a shared interest in forging mutually advantageous ties.

The first meeting of Indo-Africa Business Forum was held Tuesday night, with visiting Ugandan Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Minister Hope Mwesigye in attendance. Mwesigye, who is on a short visit to India, said that there was vast scope for Indian businesses to harness the opportunities in Africa, especially in her country, Uganda.

"If you do business in Uganda, then you have the entire continent of Africa as your market," she said.

Ugandan High Commissioner Nimisha Madhavani suggested that a larger launch for the business forum could be done in her country in the presence of high-level officials.

She also lobbied for Indian business groups to looking at the possibility of investing in the civil aviation sector. "I hope that top Indian airline majors visit Uganda, so that they can look at the opportunity for (setting up) intra-African airline networks — with Uganda as the hub," she said.

According to Kedar Nath Gupta, the convenor of the forum, the idea for the body was inspired by former Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. "He told us, Africa is the future," he said.

Kalam had been the driving force behind India's biggest IT initiative, the Pan-Africa e-network, which links educational and medical institutes in Africa with premier Indian institutions.

India-Africa trade has reached $35 billion, mostly steered by its interest in energy, initially by state companies. But it has since diversified to cover a wide number of sectors from pharmaceuticals, automotives to agriculture, mostly by the private sector.

Govt to levy 10 pct import tax on power gear

Govt will impose a 10 percent import tax on power equipment for big projects within weeks to help level the playing field between domestic and foreign firms jostling in what may soon be the world's biggest market. The tax would reverse a policy of zero import duty on equipment for mega projects introduced to meet India's urgent capacity shortages, said Arun Maira, a member of the government's Planning Commission who led a committee on equipment imports.

Without enough local suppliers, India turned to China to help bridge a peak power shortage of 12 percent seen as an obstacle to matching its Asian neighbour's double digit economic growth. The zero duty on imports for equipment to build so-called Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs), which are larger and use more fuel efficient technologies, created a "perverse situation" that helped foreign firms at the expense of Indian ones, Maira told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday. "It will happen very shortly, in the next few weeks," he said, when asked when the duty would be imposed, adding he had received confirmation of the decision on Wednesday.

"It should be normalised as quickly as possible because we want a level playing field. The playing field got distorted ... We had done a disfavour to our domestic producers." Chinese power companies such as Dongfang Electric and Shanghai Electric could account for 50 percent of India's capacity addition between 2012-17, said Shubhranshu Patnaik, executive director, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The sector's scope for growth is huge. India will soon become the world's largest buyer of power equipment, Maira said.

It will spend around $140 bn on power infrastructure in the five years to 2012, close to half from the private sector, according to the latest Planning Commission estimates. COSTLY AFFAIR' Where India gets its power equipment from reflects a significant policy challenge for the government as it overhauls the economically vital sector. It needs to balance the need to import cheap Chinese equipment with fostering domestic manufacturers key to long-term growth.

Govt explores ways to lift veil on political funding

12 Aug 2010, 0436 hrs IST,ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Corporate donations to political parties, a long-standing lightning rod for criticism for the implicit conflicts of interest in a controlled economy, will come under greater scrutiny when a new Companies Bill, expected to be passed in the winter session of Parliament, gains the force of law. Provisions enforcing greater transparency and disclosure norms on such donations will be part of the upcoming bill, which is currently being studied by a Parliamentary Standing Committee, corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid told reporters today. "There should be more transparency in the way corporates fund political parties," Khurshid said. "Who you (a company) are giving money to, what purposes you are giving money for, how much is permissible under the law, how much is to be disclosed, these are very important issues which I hope will be addressed in the new Companies Bill," he added. Under the existing law, companies can donate up to 5% of their profit in a year to political parties, and are required to disclose the amount in their profit and loss account. This exercise should be done with the approval of its board of directors through a resolution. Under the provisions of the draft law, a company will be required to keep its investors and shareholders updated about the details of such donations. Funding political parties out of a company's funds has long been a sticky subject. However, there has been little initiative on the part of successive governments to tackle the issue. Most of India's prominent political parties receive large donations from companies. The issue comes to sharper focus during elections, when parties routinely flout spending limits imposed by the election commission. While the spending limits have been criticised for being impractical, the covert and overt sources of party funds have long been a concern as the first in a chain of quid pro quos that result in unwelcome influence in government affairs. Speaking on the sidelines of a conference on public governance hosted by All India Management Association (AIMA), the minister said that with the government looking to better corporate governance framework in companies as well promote greater shareholder's democracy, the framework on political funding by corporates needs improvement. The Companies Bill, which is currently under consideration of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, is likely to be made a law by end of this year. As per procedure, the Standing Committee will pass on its recommendation to the ministry of corporate affairs, which will then study and suitably weave into existing Bill before being made into a law. Mr Khurshid further said that in case the issue could not be addressed in the new Companies Act, the government would work out voluntary guidelines for corporate donations to political parties. The provision in the present Companies Act that allows companies to make contributions up to 5% of their net profits was first passed in 1960 and further amended in 1985 to allow board of directors of companies to authorise such donations. This was irrespective of the recommendations of a high-powered expert committee that in 1978 called for continuing with a ban on such donations by companies.

RBI may pick & choose cos for licence

12 Aug 2010, 0404 hrs IST,ET Bureau

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India may use the wide range of eligibility criteria that it has set for corporates to pick and choose business houses that it is comfortable with. The central bank has highlighted instance in the pre-nationalisation days when banks promoted by corporates largely lent to the promoter group and friends. The discussion paper also highlights how Korea has banned banks being promoted by business houses after Chaebols misused banks within the groups. Besides the concerns over misusing the bank licence to further the interests of the group companies, RBI worries that business houses may not be committed to attaining broader objectives of financial development particularly ensuring financial inclusion and providing services to all sections of society. "If the industrial houses/business groups come under stress especially in a prolonged downturn, it may undermine confidence in the banks promoted by industrial and business houses which could be a threat to financial stability," the central bank said in its discussion paper. At the same time, it would difficult to reject proposals from financial service companies promoted by large corporates such as L&T, Tatas or Aditya Birla Financial Services. RBI has, therefore, said that corporates and financial services companies promoted by business houses would have to adhere to a set of safeguards. The safeguards include obtaining a no-objection certificate from regulators, banks and enforcement authorities. Besides, corporates will not be allowed to have any of their people on the board of banks nor will they be allowed to use the group's brand for the bank. RBI will have the power to supersede the boards and will ensure that there is no captive lending. "Clearly the central bank is concerned that past experience with corporate houses-promoted banks will repeat. It is not sure whether this will repeat if corporates are granted licences which is why it has decided to put all these restriction in place" said a senior banker. "Industrial houses have now been allowed for banking licences but the capital requirements have been raised to Rs 500 crore going up to Rs 1,000 crore. RBI has not restricted any business (except real estate) from applying for a banking licence. This will raise the bar in terms of capital and financial inclusion commitments for limited licences that may be issued," said Abizer Diwanji, head of financial services at KPMG in India.

RRB takeover: Not an easy pick

12 Aug 2010, 0401 hrs IST,ET Bureau
MUMBAI: Corporates interested in acquiring bank licence may find it very difficult to acquire Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) as suggested by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its discussion paper on entry of new banks in the private sector.

A host of bank chiefs that ET spoke to said that the ownership structure of RRBs could pose a problem in concluding a deal. As of now, 50% of the shareholding is with central government, 35% with sponsor bank and the remaining 15% is with the respective state governments.

RBI has suggested that as an intermediate step, industrial houses could acquire an RRB before allowing them to set up a bank. However, such a move would require amendment in the RRB Act, which in turn would take time. As of now, there are 86 RRBs sponsored by 27 government-owned banks.

Bankers feel that corporates and NBFCs interested in new banking licence would rather prefer to have their own network of branches with rural India focus rather than looking at acquiring RRBs.

"We run extremely profitable RRBs. Industrial houses are more keen on having a banking licence. In fact, we are keen to allow our RRBs to compete more with commercial banks. But if this has to happen, we need amendments to the RRB Act, 1976 thus perhaps allowing RRBs to even access capital markets," a senior official with a south-based PSU bank told ET.

An official with Canara Bank said: "This (allowing business houses to take over RRBs) is still at the ideation/discussion stage, even if there are buyers who are likely to sell. We have steered RRBs to this position and they have turned profitable. Yes there is scope for further improvement and we are working on it." Canara Bank has three RRBs — Pragathi Gramin Bank, South Malabar Gramin Bank and Shreyas Gramin Bank.

Chairman of one of the south-based RRBs, however, termed the move impractical. "It may not be a practical idea to implement since there are issues like human resources. RRBs are also not allowed to go in for large lending and this maybe a dampener for new investors." Of the 86 RRBs in operation as of March 31, 2010, there were only loss-making entities. Collectively, top five RRBs have a business (deposits and advances) volume of about `35,000 crore.

The Reserve Bank in its discussion paper has highlighted both the prospects and consequences of asking business houses to acquire RRBs before giving them banking licences. On the positive side it has said that asking corporates to acquire will give them an opportunity to prove their suitability for promoting banks. This has the potential to provide an immediate impetus to financial inclusion and revitalise RRBs especially those in underbanked regions. However, it has also warned that business houses to promote banks, this option would also require legislative changes which would need to be expedited.

India Inc welcomes RBI discussion paper on entry of pvt banks

Welcoming the RBI's discussion paper on the entry of new banks in the private sector, leading business chambers on Wednesday said the entry of new players will help achieve financial inclusion in the country. "The RBI clearly expresses its intent to expand the banking reach in the country while focusing on maintaining financial stability," CII director-general Chandrajit Banerjee said. The clear articulation of capital requirements and intent for discussion on business models reinforces the fact that the banking sector is now open for greater competition, he added. Ficci said it is in favour of setting up more banks in the country to enable financial inclusion. "All those entities who have the strength or capacity to manage banks should be allowed (to open banks) and RBI is capable enough to determine that capacity," the chamber said.

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Give free grains to hungry, don't let them rot: Supreme Court to Govt

Press Trust of India, Updated: August 12, 2010 21:27 IST
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New Delhi:  The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to consider free distribution of food grains to the hungry poor of the country instead of allowing it to rot in Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns.

"Give it to the hungry poor instead of it (grains) going down the drain," a bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma told Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran appearing for the Centre.

The bench asked the Centre to ensure construction of a big godown in each state besides separate godowns in different districts and divisions within the states and expedite the computerisation procees of PDS system to check pilferage and corruption.

The bench passed the direction while dealing with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the civil rights group PUCL on rampant corruption in Public Distribution System (PDS) besides rotting of food grains in FCI godowns.Share on SocialGmail BuzzPrint

The measures suggested by the apex court court in an order include:
(a) increase in the quantum of food supply to the population Below Poverty Line
(b) opening fair price shops on all 30 days a month
(c) distribute foodgrains to the deserving population at a very low cost or no cost.

The PDS needs to be strengthened, particularly in tribal and drought-prone areas of the country, the bench said.

At the last hearing, the apex court had asked the government to consider the suggestions for disbanding PDS supply to Above Poverty Line (APL) families and restrict the benefit only to BPL families and Antodya Anna Yojana (AAY) Scheme beneficiaries.

However, the Centre in an affidavit has said it was extending the PDS supply to APL families only after meeting the requirements of the BPL/AAY beneficiaries.

Story first published:
August 12, 2010 21:25 IST

Tags: food, food rot, foodgrain, grain, hungry, Supreme Court

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Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/give-free-grains-to-hungry-dont-let-them-rot-supreme-court-to-govt-44046?cp


Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/give-free-grains-to-hungry-dont-let-them-rot-supreme-court-to-govt-44046?cp

Judicial Accountability Bill back to the drawing board

NDTV Correspondent, Updated: August 09, 2010 00:53 IST
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New Delhi:  It's a bill that has been hanging fire for a long time. And once again, the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill - that promises to clean up the higher judiciary of the country - is back to the drawing board.

NDTV has learnt that the Oversight Committee to be set up under the proposed law will no longer be headed by the Vice President of India as had been decided earlier.

The government has now decided that a former Chief Justice of India (CJI) will head the panel.

According to sources, several eminent jurists have pointed out that there would be a conflict of interest if the Vice President were to head the Oversight Committee because as ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha he would also preside over any impeachment motion against a judge.Share on SocialGmail BuzzPrint

The same person, they say, can't be judge and prosecutor.

But though the bill is now being redrafted to have a retired Chief Justice of India as its head, many still have reservations.

"Ideally, the Oversight Committee should not have retired judges because retired judges, particularly retired Chief Justices, may have played a role in appointing those very judges whose conduct has come into question. There are a large number of completely independent people who're neither in the government nor in the judiciary. They could be academics and public figures. The problem is the government does not hold public consultations on such bills," said Prashant Bhushan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court.

The current system allows only sitting judges to probe complaints against fellow judges, and is often accused of being shrouded in secrecy. And while the new law could change that, it remains to be seen how soon the government will introduce the bill in Parliament.

Story first published:
August 08, 2010 22:13 IST

Tags: India, judges, judiciary, Supreme Court

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/judicial-accountability-bill-back-to-the-drawing-board-42975?cp

LDF govt charged with adopting ''soft Hindutva'' approach

Kozhikode, Aug 12 (PTI) Popular Front of India, whose activists allegedly chopped off the right hand of a lecturer for preparing a ''defamatory'' question paper, today charged CPI(M)-led LDF government of adopting a ''soft Hindutva'' approach after losing support of Muslims and Christians. Nazaruddin Elamaram, PFI state president said this change in approach followed the "failure" in administration and loss of support from Christians and Muslims.
"CPI(M) has begun appeasing Hindutva fascism after LDF constituents Kerala Congress (Joseph) and Indian National League walked out of the front and minority communities distanced themselves away from CPI(M)", he alleged. Elamaram said CPI(M) General secretary Prakash Karat''s reported statement that there was nothing communal in the action of BJP-ruled Karnataka government against PDP leader Abdul Nasar Madhani was an indication of setting up a CPI(M)-BJP alliance.

WB govt submits report to Guv, TC writes to PM, Chidambaram

Kolkata, Aug 12 (PTI) The West Bengal government today submitted a report to the Governor on the accident at Kolaghat in which a truck hit a car of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee''s convoy even as the Trinamool Congress sought Prime Minister and Union Home Minister''s intervention. "We gave him a report about the incident as sought by him," Home Secretary Samar Ghosh told reporters after holding an hour-long meeting with Governor M K Narayanan.
"Our report was based on inputs received from the DIG and East Midnapore superintendent of police. As soon as we got information that the minister would halt near a hotel while returning from Lalgarh, we immediately made police arrangements," Ghosh said.
Trinamool Congress Secretary-General Partha Chatterjee alleged that there was ''a conspiracy by the CPI(M)'' to kill Banerjee and the administration had failed to provide security to her. "I have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram requesting them to rescue the state from lawlessness and the state administration''s failure to provide proper security to Mamata," he said.
"There was an attempt to kill her. There has been conspiracy by the CPI(M) again.
There should be an inquiry," he said. He alleged that the West Midnapore police withdrew security for Banerjee while she was passing through the Jhitka jungle in West Midnapore district on her return journey.
"How is it that a truck entered her convoy? This is a serious security lapse." The Trinamool Congress also sought the intervention of Governor M K Narayanan about Banerjee''s security.
He said the Trinamool Congress would hold a demonstration tomorrow at Esplanade to protest the ''conspiracy to kill its chief''. Meanwhile, the Tamluk sub-divisional judicial magistrate in East Midnapore district sent the driver, Gujjar Singh, whose car had hit a car in the convoy of Banerjee to judicial custody for 12 days.
The driver was charged with attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy. The driver had been arrested by security personnel for rash and dangerous driving and handed over to the Kolaghat police on Monday night.
The truck was seized and the driver was later released on bail. He was rearrested after Trinamool MP Subhendu Adhikari lodged a complaint that there was an attempt on the life of the Trinamool Congress chief.
A truck hit a car of Banerjee''s convoy on Monday night at Kolaghat bridge in East Midnapore district when she was returning to the city after her meeting in Maoist-affected Lalgarh.

Maha minister directs institutes to fulfil minority quota

Mumbai, Aug 12 (PTI) Minority educational institutes in Maharashtra may lose their status for not reserving minimum 50 per cent seats for students belonging to the community from next academic year. Minority Development Minister Naseem Khan today directed to fulfil 50 per cent quota for aided and 51 per cent to non-aided institutes for the minority students.
"The status of the institutes would be cancelled for not complying the norms laid for the minority students," Khan told reporters here. He also instructed the education department to give 10 days as grace period for admission process in order to complete the quota.
The department would also check records of the colleges for the last five years, he added. There are 1,217 minority institutes in the state and the decision would be applicable from the next academic year, the minister said.

10-days CBI remand for two Jnaneswari express mishap accused

Jhargram (WB), Aug 12 (PTI) Two accused in the Jnaneswari Express derailment case were today remanded in 10-days CBI custody by a local court. The court of Acting Chief Judicial Magistrate remanded Tapan Mahato and Altaf Hussain to 10-days CBI custody.
The CBI had prayed for 14-days remand of Mahato and Hussain but the court gave them 10-days remand.

Monsoon session of Parliament likely to be extended

New Delhi, Aug 12 (PTI) The current monsoon session of Parliament is likely to be extended by a week beyond August 27, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said today. As per earlier schedule, the session, which started on July 26, was to be concluded on August 27.
Bansal said the extension is being planned in view of almost a week lost due to adjournments in the first week of the session. He said that next week, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will have sittings on Saturday, August 21 and would have a three-day recess from August 22 to August 24 due to Onam and Rakshabandhan festivals.
The bill seeking to raise the salary and allowances of MPs is expected to be taken up next week. Reports had it that the salary under the bill has been proposed to be raised from Rs 16,000 per month to Rs 50,000.
The bill is likely to come up before the Union Cabinet next week.

VHP to launch programme in support of Ram temple

Shimla, Aug 12 (PTI) The VHP in association with Himachal Pradesh-based Hanumant Shakti Jagaran Samiti will organise programmes over a period of three months across the state starting this month in support of constructing a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. Announcing this on Wednesday, International Joint Secretry of VHP Vinayak Rao Deshpande said the programme will be conducted in two phases, from Aug 16 to November 15 and from November 17 to December 17.
In the first phase the Samiti would organise collective chanting of ''Hauman Chalisa'' and carry out signature campaign in support of Ram temple, Rao said. "VHP appeals that the Ram Janam Bhoomi issue should not be politicised and not used as a tool to garner votes and calls for paving way for construction of Ram temple through legislation", he added.

Why sense of doom in Left Front posers at book release

New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS) Why does the ruling Left Front in West Bengal appear so vulnerable ahead of next year's assembly polls and why is there a sense of doom? These were among the posers during a discussion at the release here Thursday of senior journalist Monobina Gupta's book 'Left Politics in Bengal: Time Travels among Bhadralok Marxists'.
The discussion, moderated by senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, saw the panelists raising issues concerning ideological moorings, organisational structure, policy framework, and factors behind the Left Front government's uninterrupted 33 years in power in West Bengal.
Initiating the discussion, Yogendra Yadav, senior fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) spoke of the vulnerability of the Left Front ahead of the next year's assembly polls. He said that governments come and go but prospect of losing elections in West Bengal appears to be beginning of a huge collapse for the Left Front. Throwing up questions, he wondered why Left leaders appeared vulnerable and why was there a sense of doom.
Describing the over three decade rule of the government led by Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in West Bengal as something unparalleled in the history of the world, Aditya Nigam, joint director of the programme in social and political theory at CSDS, disagreed with the political parties who credit the Left's victories to scientific rigging.
'I do not think it is possible to win polls after polls through scientific rigging,' he said.
Nigam said the rapidity of decline of the Left Front government, which won a handsome victory in the 2006 assembly polls, was unimaginable and added that a popular movement had been handed over to the Maoists by the ruling dispensation in Lalgarh.
Senior journalist Diptosh Majumdar said that that CPI-M in West Bengal became 'bigger that the state and the government' and its role was visible everywhere.
Neerja Chowdhury, political editor, The New Indian Express, and a columnist, wondered why the Communist parties, despite always pleading the cause of the underprivileged and relatively spartan life styles of their leaders, had failed to click in the Hindi heartland, which has some of the country's most backward districts.
Monobina Gupta, who has worked with The Patriot, The Telegraph, Mail Today and IANS and has extensively covered the Left parties, said that she had not imagined the 'scale of disaster awaiting the party and the government' when she began writing the book,
The 272-page book, published by Orient BlackSwan, traces the Left Front government's rise to power in the wake of the 1975 emergency. It tells the story of how a Communist leader almost became India's prime minister, and how the CPI-M, powering its way to electoral victory through promises of empowerment to the most wretched, began to gradually lose support.
The book also looks at the structure of Communist organisations.

Caste census should ensure scientific count of OBCs: CPI-M

New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Thursday said that the proposed caste census should ensure a 'scientific count' of Other Backward Classes (OBC).
Party leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters outside parliament that an OBC count would provide information about numbers of the community which had been given reservation benefits by the government.
He said that methodology of the OBC headcount had to be decided by the government.
'The count should be done scientifically. It is for the government to decide how to do it,' Yechury said.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Thursday that the Group of Ministers on caste-based census tasked to look into the demand had given the green signal to go ahead, but the final decision on 'how and when this should be done' would be taken by the cabinet.
Mukherjee headed the ministerial panel.

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Famine in India

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A child suffering Marasmus, extreme starvation, in 1972.

There were 14 famines in India between 11th and 17th century. For example, during the 1022-1033 Great famines made all the provinces in India depopulated. Famine in the Deccan and Gujarat killed at least 2 million people in 1630-32. Drought in India has resulted in tens of millions of deaths over the course of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.^[1] Indian agriculture is heavily dependent on the climate of India: a favorable southwest summer monsoon is critical in securing water for irrigating Indian crops. In the past, droughts have periodically led to major Indian famines, including the Bengal famine of 1770, the Chalisa famine, the Doji bara famine, the Great Famine of 1876–78; and the Bengal famine of 1943.^[2][3] "The prospect of a devastating famine every few years was inherent in India's ecology"^[4]
The last famines were the Bihar starvation in December 1966 and a drought in Maharashtra in 1970-1973. Green Revolution has since improved yields significantly.

Contents [hide] 1 Famines under British rule 1.1 British response 2 Chronology 3 See also 4 References 5 Notes 6 Further reading

[edit] Famines under British rule

From the earliest endeavours of the British East India Company on the Subcontinent but especially since 1857—the year of the first major Indian rebellion against British rule—the British Raj, as the British governing body was known after 1857, had instituted a widespread series of mercantilist economic rules intended to foster a favourable balance of trade for Britain relative to the Subcontinent as well as other colonies, which had a dramatic impact on the economic milieu within India. Because of these effects and the Raj's role as the supreme governing body within India, contemporary scholars such as Romesh Dutt in 1900—who had himself witnessed the famines first-hand—and present-day scholars such as Amartya Sen agree, that the famines were a product both of uneven rainfall and British economic and administrative policies. These policies had, since 1857, led to the seizure and conversion of local farmland to foreign-owned plantations, restrictions on internal trade, heavy taxation of Indians to support British expeditions in Afghanistan like the Second Anglo-Afghan War, inflationary measures that increased the price of food, and substantial exports of staple crops from India to Britain. (Dutt, 1900 and 1902; Srivastava, 1968; Sen, 1982; Bhatia, 1985.) In the century preceding, the first Bengal famine of 1770 is estimated to have taken nearly one-third of the population. In 1865-66, severe drought struck Orissa and was met by British official inaction. Secretary of State for India Lord Salisbury later regretted,

"

I did nothing for two months. Before that time the monsoon had closed the ports of Orissa—help was impossible—and—it is said—a million people died. The Governments of India and Bengal had taken in effect no precautions whatever.… I never could feel that I was free from all blame for the result. (quoted in Davis 2001:32)

"

Some British citizens such as William Digby agitated for policy reforms and famine relief, but Lord Lytton, the governing British viceroy in India, opposed such changes in the belief that they would stimulate shirking by Indian workers. Reacting against calls for relief during the 1877-79 famine, Lytton replied, "Let the British public foot the bill for its 'cheap sentiment,' if it wished to save life at a cost that would bankrupt India," substantively ordering "there is to be no interference of any kind on the part of Government with the object of reducing the price of food," and instructing district officers to "discourage relief works in every possible way.... Mere distress is not a sufficient reason for opening a relief work." (quoted in Davis 2001:31, 52) The Famine Commission of 1880 observed that each province in British India, including Burma, had a surplus of food grains, and the annual surplus amounted to 5.16 million tons (Bhatia, 1970). At that time, annual export of rice and other grains from India was approximately one million tons. At about the same time the British devised the first ever famine scales and engaged themselves in a series of canal building and irrigation improvements. The results were that the mortality rate decreased rapidly. There was the threat of famine but after 1902 there was no major famine in India until 1943. In 1907 and in 1874 the response from the British was better: in both cases rice was imported abroad and famine was averted.
The famines continued until Independence in 1948, with the Bengal famine of 1943-44 being among the most devastating, killing 6-7 million during World War II [1].

[edit] British response

The first major famine that took place under British rule was the Bengal Famine of 1770. About a quarter to a third of the population of Bengal starved to death in about a ten month period. East India Company's raising of taxes disastrously coincided with this famine ^[5] and exacerbated it even if the famine was not caused by the British regime ^[6].
Following this famine ''Successive British governments were anxious not to add to the burden of taxation" ^[7].
In 1866 the rains failed again in Bengal and Orissa. Food was rushed into the famine stricken zones. The result of which was that the famine was alleviated in Bengal although a Monsoon in Orissa forced the closure of the harbour. As a result food could not be imported into Orissa as easily as Bengal ^[8]
In 1874 the response from the British authorities was better. Famine was completely averted. Then in 1876 a huge famine broke out in Madras. Lord Lytton's administration believed that 'market forces alone would suffice to feed the starving Indians' ^[9]. Beatty Balfour wrote in her book, Lord Lytton's Indian Administration that:
In the despatch addressed to the Duke of Buckingham, in which the Viceroy announced his intention of visiting the famine districts of Madras and Mysores, the general principles for the management of famine affairs were once more laid down. After stating that the Government of India, with approval of Her Majesty's Government, were resolved to avert death by starvation by the employment of all means available, the Viceroy first expressed his conviction that 'absolute non-interference with the operations of private commercial enterprise must be the foundation of their present famine policy.' This on the ground that 'free and abundant trade cannot co-exist with Government importation' and that more food will reach the famine stricken districts if private enterprise is left to itself (beyond receiving every possible facility and information from the government) than if it were paralysed by Government competition.^[10]
The results of such thinking proved fatal (some 5.5 million starved ^[11]) and so such a policy was abandoned. Lord Lytton established the Famine Insurance Grant, a system in which, in times of financial surplus, Rs. 1,500,000 would be applied to famine relief works. The results of this were that the British prematurely assumed that the problem of famine had been solved forever which made future British viceroys complacent (which proved disastrous in 1896) ^[12]. Lord Curzon tried to alleviate the famine, he spent Rs. 68,000,000 (about £10,000,000) to try and reduce the effects of the famine ^[13] and, at its peak, 4.5 million people were on famine relief. However, Curzon did state that:
Any government which imperiled the financial position of India in the interests of prodigal philanthropy would be open to serious criticism; but any government which by indiscriminate alms-giving weakened the fiber and demoralized the self-reliance of the population, would be guilty of a public crime.^[14]
He also cut back rations that he characterized as "dangerously high" and stiffened relief eligibility by reinstating the Temple tests.^[14] In total, between 1.25 to 10 million people were killed in the famine.^[14][15].
The Famine during WW2 lead to the development of the Bengal Famine Mix this would later save tens of thousands of lives at the liberated concentration camps such as Belsen ^[16]

[edit] Chronology

• 650: Famine throughout India^{[citation needed]}
• 1022,1033: Great famines, entire provinces were depopulated
• 1344-1345: Great famine
• 1396-1407: The Durga Devi famine
• 1630-1631: there was a famine in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
• 1630-1632: Deccan famine in India kills 2 million (Note: There was a corresponding famine in northwestern China, eventually causing the Ming dynasty to collapse in 1641.)
• 1661: famine, when not a drop of rain fell for two years
• 1702-1704: 2 million died of famine in Deccan
• 1770: territory ruled by the British East India Company experienced the first Bengal famine of 1770. An estimated 10 million people died.
• 1783-84 Up to 11 million died in the Chalisa famine in the regions of present-day Uttar Pradesh, Delhi region, Rajputana, eastern Punjab region and Kashmir.
• 1788-92: Another 11 million may have died in the Doji bara famine or Skull famine in Hyderabad State, Southern Maratha country, Gujarat and Marwar.
• 1800-1825: 1 million Indians died of famine
• 1850-1875: 2.5 millions died in Orissa famine of 1866, Rajputana famine of 1869; due to a generous relief effort, however, there was no mortality in the Bihar famine of 1873–74.
• 1875-1902: 7–8 million Indians died of famine (Great Famine of 1876–78 5.25 millions)
• In 1943, India experienced the second Bengal famine of 1943. Over 3 million people died.
• In 1966, there was a 'near miss' in Bihar. The USA allocated 900,000 tons of grain to fight the famine that caused 1.5 million deaths^[17] . A further 'near miss' food crisis occurred due to drought in Maharashtra in 1970-1973.

[edit] See also

• List of famines
• Drought in India
• Timeline of major famines in India during British rule (1765 to 1947)
• Famines, Epidemics, and Public Health in the British Raj
• 1865-1866

[edit] References

• Bhatia, B.M. (1985) Famines in India: A study in Some Aspects of the Economic History of India with Special Reference to Food Problem, Delhi: Konark Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
• Bhattaharyya B. 1973. A History of Bangla Desh. Dacca.
• Davis, Mike. Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famine and the Making of the Third World. London: Verso, 2001.
• Dutt, Romesh C. Open Letters to Lord Curzon on Famines and Land Assessments in India, first published 1900, 2005 edition by Adamant Media Corporation, Elibron Classics Series, ISBN 1-4021-5115-2.
• Dutt, Romesh C. The Economic History of India under early British Rule, first published 1902, 2001 edition by Routledge, ISBN 0-415-24493-5
• Dyson, Tim, "On the Demography of South Asian Famines: Part I," Population Studies, Vol. 45, No. 1. (Mar., 1991), pp. 5–25.
• Sen, Amartya, Poverty and Famines : An Essay on Entitlements and Deprivation, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1982
• Srivastava, H.C., The History of Indian Famines from 1858–1918, Sri Ram Mehra and Co., Agra, 1968.
• Roy, Tirthankar The Economic History of India, 1857-1947

[edit] Notes

1. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drought_in_India
2. ^ Nash 2002, pp. 22-23.
3. ^ Collier & Webb 2002, p. 67.
4. ^ Niall Ferguson, British Imperialism Revised: The Costs and Benefits of 'Anglobalization' ,
5. ^ Empire by Niall Ferguson
6. ^ A History of Britain volume two by Simon Schama
7. ^ Robert Johnson, British Imperialism page 30
8. ^ The Unseen World, and other essays, by John Fiske (chapter9)
9. ^ Niall Ferguson, Empire
10. ^ Lady Beatty Balfour, Lord Lytton's Indian Administration, p. 204
11. ^ John Keay, India: A Concise History
12. ^ "The Ruling Caste: Imperial Lives in the Victorian Raj" by David Gilmour page 116
13. ^ Lawrence James, Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India
14. ^ ^{a b c} Davis, Mike. Late Victorian Holocausts. 1. Verso, 2000. ISBN 1859847390 pg 162
15. '^ JM Nash, El Niño: Unlocking the Secrets of the Master Weather Maker
16. ^ The Relief of Belsen, Channel 4 Television
17. ^ The world's worst natural disastersCBC News, 27th February 2010

[edit] Further reading

• Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World (2001), ISBN 1-85984-739-0
• Romesh C Dutt, Economic History of India (1900), is available on www.economics.mcmaster.ca
• Sanjay Sharma, "Famine,Philanthropy and the Colonial State: North India in the early Nineteenth Century"(2001), Delhi: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195653866.

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Categories: British rule in India | Famines in India