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Saturday, August 20, 2011

Amidst High Voltage Gandhian Anti Corruption Anna Drama, the government of India Incs and LPG Rule Clarifies once again that REFORMS are the Topmost Priorities! What does it mean? India Incs, Media and Double Dip Recession Dollar Crunch STRUCK Corpor

Morgan Stanley warns of US, EU recession!

Amidst High Voltage Gandhian Anti Corruption Anna Drama, the government of India Incs and LPG Rule Clarifies once again that REFORMS are the Topmost Priorities! What does it mean? India Incs, Media and Double Dip Recession Dollar Crunch STRUCK Corporate Imperialist AMERICA Depending highly on Indian Market for the sustenance of Global Zionist Brahaminical Order and the War Economy, stand ROCK Solid with Anna Brigade. The so called Mass Movement of Virtual reality is INFLATED like AVTAR Special Effects thanks to NGOs Foreign Funded and FDI Fed Media.America Considers Hindutva Forces as Better Allies and want to Replicate the ARAB Spring to get MONOPOLY on Indian Emerging Market. Anna Drama is NOTHING But Highest Level of Corporate Lobbying for Reforms and no one else than the Super Slave Prime Minister CONFIRMS it. At the same time, the Brahaminical parties are AFRAID of Resurgence of Ambedkarite MULNIVASI movement and Polarisation of EXCLUDED communities selected for ethnic Cleansing. As the Mandate was manipulated with Caste Hindu polarisation, the Old Gandhian Gimmick is meant to Strengthen FREE Market Economy and the Manusmriti rule as well. Thus, it works as Patriot Missile against the BHARAT Mukti Morcha Mulnivasi Rally on Ramlila grownd on 1st September. It is quite a got up Game to Hijack RAMLILA Ground which Anna wants to HOLD on indefinitely. The target is Indian Constitution which stalls the FREE Market and the US sponsored CIVIL Society has put on its highest Stake on the Gandhian led Relaunched Anti RESERVATION Movement and Anti Corruption campaign is just a Marketing Strategy which creates a SITUATION like RAM JANMA BHUMI Hindutva Resurgence Blind Storms to STOP Majority Indigenous Aborigine masses in DEFENCE of Foreigners!

Corruption issue not to affect FDI in India: Sorrell

Team Anna, other activists differ over Lokpal Bill!

Government may miss Rs 40,000 crore disinvestment target!


Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - SEVEN HUNDRED TWELVE

Palash Biswas

http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/


http://basantipurtimes.blogspot.com
Morgan Stanley warns of US, EU recession!

Government may miss Rs 40,000 crore disinvestment target!
20/08/2011

PM says "in favour of strong, effective Lokpal; will strive for broad consensus"

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday that while his government was for a "strong and effective" Lokpal, it may be not possible for the government to pass the bill within the Team Anna deadline of August 30.
He said that the Parliamentary process has it own "dynamics" and it takes time for the legislative process to be completed.
The Prime Minister said that he will "talk to the civil society and strive to build the broadest consensus" so that "everyone" is satisfied with the bill.

Source: India syndicate

Amidst High Voltage Gandhian Anti Corruption Anna Drama, the government of India Incs and LPG Rule Clarifies once again that REFORMS are the Topmost Priorities! Meanwhile,Differences surfaced between Team Anna and other civil society activists over the Lokpal Bill Saturday, with Aruna Roy, member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) saying that no one should be allowed to hijack democratic institutions.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singhon Saturday said the foremost priority of his government would be to push forward the reforms programme even as it keeps open the possibility of raising the growth rate to 9.2 per cent in the 12th Plan (2012-17).

What does it mean?

India Incs, Media and Double Dip Recession Dollar Crunch STRUCK Corporate Imperialist AMERICA Depending highly on Indian Market for the sustenance of Global Zionist Brahaminical Order and the War Economy, stand ROCK Solid with Anna Brigade.

The ongoing anti-corruption stir in India could impact the structure of the government in long-term, yet it would not deter MNCs from investing here as long as the country's economy continues to grow fast, according to WPP Plc chief executive Martin Sorrell.

The so called Mass Movement of Virtual reality is INFLATED like AVTAR Special Effects thanks to NGOs Foreign Funded and FDI Fed Media.

America Considers Hindutva Forces as Better Allies and want to Replicate the ARAB Spring to get MONOPOLY on Indian Emerging Market. Morgan Stanley said Thursday that the United States and Europe are dangerously close to recession, blaming in part policy errors by authorities on both sides of the Atlantic.

The investment bank said a slow European response to the eurozone's mounting sovereign debt problems and the US political battle over raising its debt ceiling had hit financial markets and eroded both business and consumer confidence.


Anna Drama is NOTHING But Highest Level of Corporate Lobbying for Reforms and no one else than the Super Slave Prime Minister CONFIRMS it.

"It is our hope that we should generate a broad climate in which all political parties can unite to push forward an agenda which is in broad national interest. That will be our priority number one, to push the reform process forward," he told reporters after a meeting of the full Planning Commission.

Pointing out that the second generation reforms are difficult, Singh said they require a broad-based national consensus.

"In many cases they involve legislative action and we do not have... the type of majority which is necessary to put in place, for example the Goods and Services Tax. We want financial sector reforms, like insurance sector reforms," he said.

At the same time, the Brahaminical parties are AFRAID of Resurgence of Ambedkarite MULNIVASI movement and Polarisation of EXCLUDED communities selected for ethnic Cleansing.

As the Mandate was manipulated with Caste Hindu polarisation, the Old Gandhian Gimmick is meant to Strengthen FREE Market Economy and the Manusmriti rule as well.

Thus, it works as Patriot Missile against the BHARAT Mukti Morcha Mulnivasi Rally on Ramlila grownd on 1st September.

It is quite a got up Game to Hijack RAMLILA Ground which Anna wants to HOLD on indefinitely.

The target is Indian Constitution which stalls the FREE Market and the US sponsored CIVIL Society has put on its highest Stake on the Gandhian led Relaunched Anti RESERVATION Movement and Anti Corruption campaign is just a Marketing Strategy which creates a SITUATION like RAM JANMA BHUMI Hindutva Resurgence Blind Storms to STOP Majority Indigenous Aborigine masses in DEFENCE of Foreigners!

Poona Pact : SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend


During the first Round Table Conference, when Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar favoured the move of the British Government to provide separate electorate for the oppressed classes (Dalit), Gandhi strongly opposed it on the plea that the move would give power to the oppressed classes (Dalit). He went for an indefinite hunger strike from September 20, 1932 against the decision of the then British Prime Minister J.Ramsay MacDonald granting communal award to the depressed classes in the constitution for governance of British India.


Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar


In view of the mass upsurge generated in the country to save the life of Gandhi, Ambedkar was compelled to soften his stand. A compromise between the leaders of caste Hindu and the depressed classes was reached on September 24,1932, popularly known as Poona Pact. The resolution announced in a public meeting on September 25 in Bombay confirmed -" henceforth, amongst Hindus no one shall be regarded as an untouchable by reason of his birth and they will have the same rights in all the social institutions as the other Hindus have". This landmark resolution in the history of the Dalit movement in India subsequently formed the basis for giving due share to Dalits in the political empowerment of Indian people in a democratic Indian polity.


The following is the text of the agreement arrived at between leaders acting on behalf of the Depressed Classes and of the rest of the community, regarding the representation of the Depressed Classes in the legislatures and certain other matters affecting their welfare.

1.   There shall be seats reserved for the Depressed Classes out of general electorate seats in the provincial legislatures as follows: - Madras 30; Bombay with Sind 25; Punjab 8; Bihar and Orissa 18; Central Provinces 20; Assam 7; Bengal 30; United Provinces 20. Total 148. These figures are based on the Prime Minister's (British) decision.

2.   Election to these seats shall be by joint electorates subject, however, to the following procedure All members of the Depressed Classes registered in the general electoral roll of a constituency will form an electoral college which will elect a panel of tour candidates belonging to the Depressed Classes for each of such reserved seats by the method of the single vote and four persons getting the highest number of votes in such primary elections shall be the candidates for election by the general electorate.

3.   The representation of the Depressed Classes in the Central Legislature shall likewise be on the principle of joint electorates and reserved seats by the method of primary election in the manner provided for in clause above for their representation in the provincial legislatures.


Denunciation of Poona Pact

The untouchables were forced to sign the Poona Pact under the impact of the coercive fast of Mr.Gandhi. Dr. Ambedkar denounced it the very next day expressing his views, "The untouchables were sad. They had every reason to be sad." He kept denouncing it till the end of his life in 1956. He denounced it in private discussions, public meetings, relevant writings, in fact on all the occasions that demanded denunciation.

As an illustration of the denunciation by Babasahab Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, some quotations from his two books 
1] What Congress and Gandhi have done to the untouchables, published in 1945 
2] States and Minorities, published in 1947, are given below:

  1. "There was nothing noble in the fast. It was a foul and filthy act. The fast was not for the benefit of the Untouchables. It was against them and was the worst form of coercion against helpless people to give up the constitutional safeguards of which they had been possessed under the Prime Minister's Award and agree to live on the mercy of the Hindus. It was a vile and wicked act. How can the untouchables regard such a man as honest and sincere?"
  2. "The communal award gave the Untouchables two benefits:
    1. A fixed quota of seats to be elected by separate electorate of untouchables and to be filled by persons belonging to the untouchables.
    2. Double vote, one to be used through separate electorates and the other to be used in the general electorates.
    Now, if the Poona Pact increased the quota of seats for the untouchables it took away the right to the double vote given to them by the communal award. This increase in seats can never be deemed to be a compensation for the loss of the double vote. The second vote given by the Communal award was a priceless privilege. Its value as a political weapon was beyond reckoning."
  3. "Today the untouchables have a few more seats than were given to them by the communal award. But this is all that they have. Every other member is indifferent, if not hostile. If the communal award with its system of double voting had remained, the untouchables would have had a few seats less but every other member would have been a member for the untouchables. The increase in the number of seats for the untouchables is no increase at all and no recompense for the loss of separate electorate and the double vote."
  4. 4. "Clause (5) of the Poona Pact has limited the system of Primary election to ten years which means that any election taking place after 1947 will be by a system of Joint Electorates and reserved seats pure and simple." "Things will be much worse under the system of joint electorates and reserved seats which will hereafter become operative under the terms of the Poona Pact. This is no mere speculation. The last election has conclusively proved that the Scheduled Castes can be completely disfranchised in a joint electorate."
  5. "The Poona Pact has produced different reactions. The untouchables were sad. They had every reason to be."
  6. "In the light of these circumstances, it cannot but appears that the Poona pact was only the first blow inflicted upon the untouchables and the Hindus who disliked it were bent on inflicting on it other blow as and when circumstances gave them an occasion to do so."
  7. "After having accepted the Poona Pact, why did not Mr.Gandhi keep faith with the untouchables by telling the Congress not to despoil the politics of the Untouchables by contesting the seats reserved for the Untouchables by getting such untouchables elected as were prepared to become the tools of the Hindus?"
  8. "After having accepted the Poona Pact why did not Mr.Gandhi keep up the gentleman's agreement and instruct the Congress High Command to include representatives of the Untouchables in the Congress Cabinets?"
  9. "This shows that Mr.Gandhi notwithstanding his being a party to the Poona pact is determined not to allow the Scheduled Castes being given the status of a separate element and that he is prepared to adopt any argument however desperate to justify his attitude of opposition".
  10. In short Mr.Gandhi is still on the war path so far as the untouchables are concerned. He may start the trouble all over again. The time to trust him has not arrived. The untouchables must still hold that the best way to safeguard themselves is to say 'Beware of Mr. Gandhi'.
  11. "The second misdeed of the Congress was to subject the Untouchable Congressmen to the rigours of party discipline. They were completely under the control of the Congress party Executive. They could not ask a question which it did not like. They could not move a resolution which it did not permit. They could not bring in legislation to which it objected. They could not vote as they wished and could not speak what they felt. They were there as dumb driven cattle. One of the objects of obtaining representation in the Legislature for the Untouchables is to enable them to ventilate their grievances and to obtain redress for their wrongs. The Congress successfully and effectively prevented this from happening."
  12. "To end this long and sad story the Congress sucked the juice out of the Poona Pact and threw the rind in the face of the untouchables."
  13. "The Poona Pact has completely disfranchised the Scheduled Castes in as much as candidates whom they rejected in the Primary election-which is a true index of their will-have been returned in the Final election by the votes of the Castes Hindus."
  14. "The Poona Pact is thus fraught with mischief. It was accepted because of the coercive fast of Mr.Gandhi and because of assurance given at the time that the Hindus will not interfere in the election of Scheduled Castes."
  15. "The Joint Electorate is from the point of the Hindus to use a familiar phrase a "Rotten Borough" in which the Hindus get the right to nominate an untouchable to set nominally as a representative of the untouchables but really as a tool of the Hindus"

Dr.B.R.Ambedkar


    


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Saturday India needed to take some difficult decisions to achieve a target of 9 percent growth during the next five-year plan, that runs from 2012-13 to 2116-17.

Chairing a meeting of the full Planning Commission, the prime minister said the plan panel had examined the range of 9 to 9.5 percent growth for the five-year period beginning April 1, 2012.

However, he said the commission has proposed to set the target at 9 percent.

"Given the uncertainties in the global economy, and the challenges in the domestic economy, even a 9 percent target is feasible only if we can take some difficult decisions," the prime minister said in his opening remarks at the full Planning Commission meeting at his official residence here.

He said to achieve 9 percent growth during the next plan period, India would require large investments in infrastructure development.

"The approach paper notes that we have been fairly successful in the eleventh plan in using a combination of public investment and public-private-partnerships for infrastructure development. We need to bring greater momentum to both these components so that present infrastructure shortages can be addressed in the shortest time available," he said.

The full plan panel is likely to finalise the draft of the 12th five-year plan. The paper will be then sent to the federal cabinet and eventually to the National Development Council for their approvals.

The government may not be able to meet the target of raising Rs 40,000 crore from sale of public sector equity in the backdrop of downturn in the stock markets.


Finance Ministry representatives have given an indication in this regard in the meeting of the full Planning Commission today, sources said.


The government would not like to enter the market as it feels that in the current situation PSU equities may not fetch adequate price, they added.


Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said yesterday in Lok Sabha that it was not right time to divest the government equity in the public sector units.


"...I am fully aware of the current volatile situation in the market, and surely not only me, any prudent Finance Minister would not like to dispose of valuable assets," he had said in the Lok Sabha.


He said while taking a decision on disinvestment, the government would keep in mind the market conditions.


Europe's deepening debt problem and worries that the US could slip into recession again have led to a mayhem in global stock markets.


In line with weak global trends, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index Sensex yesterday dipped below the 16,000-level after nearly 15-months on sustained pull-out by foreign funds. It it recovered a little to close at 16,141.67, recording a loss of 328 points.


In the last fiscal too, the government had missed the disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore and was able to mop up only a little over Rs 22,000 crore.


Finance Ministry representatives at the Commission's meet also said that the government should not depend on sale of stakes in the PSUs to fund its Plan expenditure.


They raised the question as to how long the government would keep lowering its equity to fund budget plans, sources said.


The Centre has sold its equity only in Power Finance Corp Ltd this year.


The government has already approved disinvestment of five per cent paid-up equity capital of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited ( ONGC) and Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).


In addition, approval has been granted for disinvestment of 10 per cent paid-up equity capital of Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) and National Building and Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC).


The disinvestment of HCL and SAIL is in conjunction with the issue of fresh equity of 10 per cent and five per cent, respectively.


Proposals for disinvestment of five per cent paid-up equity capital of BHEL and 10 per cent of NACLO are at various stages.




Singh added that the lack of an effective national consensus on certain issues is a problem and "therefore the effort has to be to create a climate of opinion whereby all political parties would unite in national interest to push forward the reforms agenda".

Noting that there was a lot of opposition to the reforms when they were launched in 1991, the Prime Minister said, "Subsequently, we have had the governments of the Right and the Left at the Centre. In the last 20 years, broadly they have all kept to the path which was outlined by us in 1991-95."

Although the Approach Paper, which was approved by the Plan Panel, pegged the growth rate for the 12th Plan at 9 per cent, Singh said it is possible that the Plan panel may raise it to 9.2 per cent.

"... we will be working on a growth rate of 9 per cent per annum, but we will also keep open the possibility of raising the growth rate, if the domestic and international situation improves, to 9.2 per cent," Singh said.

Against the backdrop of global uncertainties and inflationary pressure at home, Singh said it would be "prudent to have a growth target which will ensure the achievement of the objective of sustained inclusive growth..."

According to Singh, the inclusive growth objective would also take into account the capabilities of the economy to achieve higher rates of growth.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister said the nine per cent GDP growth target in the 12th Plan "is feasible only if we can take some difficult decisions".

India was growing by over 9 per cent before the global financial crisis in 2008 pulled down the economic growth to 6.8 per cent in 2008-09.

The economy is likely to grow expand by 8 per cent during 2010-11.

Addressing media persons at the Press Club in New Delhi, Roy said social activist Anna Hazare's indefinite fast to get the civil society's version of the Lokpal bill passed was wrong. She said Hazare was "ill advised and it is wrong to undermine democratic institutions"

However, Hazare associate Prashant Bhushan said that there were "little" differences between Team Anna and the National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information (NCPRI), including Aruna Roy and Shekhar Singh, on the Lokpal Bill.

"These mainly relate to setting up of Lokayuktas in states and a separate grievance redressal mechanism," he said.

Bhushan said while they want Lokpal to deal with central government employees only, the NCPRI wants a Lokayukta for the state government staff. Similarly, while Team Anna thinks an officer under the Lokpal can look into the complaints, the NCPRI wants a separate grievance redressal mechanism.

"There are a few other differences but they are minor ones," said Bhushan.

Earlier, NCPRI member Aruna Roy, who is also in the NAC, said: "The prime minister's office should come under the Lokpal bill. We have suggested some safeguards for this in our version of the bill."

Stating that widespread consultations were required before the anti-graft law takes a final shape, Roy said the NAC had involved Anna supporters Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal in its consultations on the draft Lokpal Bill. The process was dropped when the government formed a joint draft committee to prepare the Lokpal bill.

Roy said they will submit their views before the parliamentary standing committee. "We will present our views before the standing committee. We hope the consultations will result in a good Lokpal bill. We will also agitate if we find any shortcomings in it," said Roy.

"Our revised forecasts show the US and the euro area hovering dangerously close to a recession -- defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction -- over the next 6-12 months," it said in a new report.

For the moment, the combination of cash-rich companies, oil prices falling from their highs earlier this year, and rate-cutting by central banks appear more likely to prevent a plunge into a "double-dip" recession, after the 2008-2009 collapse of growth, the bank said.

But it added that policymakers have been making things worse by tightening spending to pare fiscal deficits.

"A negative feedback loop between weak growth and soggy asset markets now appears to be in the making in Europe and the US. This should be aggravated by the prospect of fiscal tightening in the US and Europe," it said.

Morgan Stanley cut its global economic growth forecast to 3.9 per cent in 2011 from the previous 4.2 per cent, and to 3.8 per cent from 4.2 per cent in 2012, mainly due to the stagnation in advanced economies.

It said the G10 developed economies -- the United States, the eurozone, Britain and Japan -- will only grow at about 1.5 per cent this year and in 2012, more than a full per centage point lower than in 2010, when the countries were rebounding from the "Great Recession".

But it noted a clear divergence between the developed countries and the giant " BRIC" emerging economies -- China, India, Russia and Brazil -- which will expand 6.4 per cent -- slightly lower than its previous forecast of 6.6 per cent -- and 6.1 per cent in 2012.

It pointed to errors by the leadership in Europe and in Washington, and actions by the European Central Bank, for enhancing already-weak economic growth.

"The ECB's past rate hikes and, more so, the sovereign crisis and the additional fiscal policy tightening as well as the banking sector funding stress it produces, will take an additional toll on growth, in our view," Morgan Stanley said.

It also cited the months-long battle between US Democrats and Republicans over passing an increase to the US debt ceiling, which raised fears that the country might default on its debts because of a political deadlock.

And it pointed to efforts in the United States and Europe to cut government spending which could slow growth.

The bank said the six months from October to March would be critical for the US economy, "when we may see some fallout from the heightened volatility of risk markets... and when we get an automatic tightening of fiscal policy if, as our US team currently assumes, this year's fiscal stimulus measures will expire."

The report, together with new data pointing to a stall in the United States, sent stock markets plunging, with the leading European and US markets losing more than four per cent Thursday.

"The general view is that what is happening in relation with the corruption issue (in India) is good in the medium term, in the short-term there might be significant disruptions," Sorrell said at Express Adda responding to a query on his views on corruption issues that have plagued India.

Express Adda is a platform where prominent people from all walks of life come together to discuss and debate in an informal manner issues that impact the country.

Activist Anna Hazare has been leading a mass agitation to bring in stricter laws to check corruption in India.

"There is a plethora of views on the impact of the structure of the government, whether there will be an impact or not in the long-term... I would say the general view is that this is possible," he added.

Sorrell, the chief of one of the world's largest media and communication groups, however, stressed that corruption is not specific to India alone.

"Corruption exists in other countries, it exists in China, Russia, Brazil, it even exists in the UK and the US, France, Spain, even Italy. So people in glass houses should not throw stones," he said.

Expressing confidence that as long as India's economy outgrows others, foreign investments would continue to flow into the country despite issues like corruption.

"I think the fundamental thing is as long as India continues to grow at a greater pace than compared to other economies, multinational companies will continue to invest significantly in the country," he said.

Citing examples of other countries, Sorrell said, "Does corruption stop FDI? No. It does not stop it in Russia, it does not stop it in China... it does not stop it in Brazil, if the growth rate is fast. I would not choose between Russia or Brazil either."

He, however, pointed out that India needed to address many issues that it is up against.

"India faces some issues... corruption is one issue, government regulations and red-tapism, bureaucracy is another issue... infrastructure is another issue," he said.

The Planning Commission is expected to set 9% growth target for the 12th five-year Plan(2012-17) at a time when the world economy is witnessing a slowdown.

The decision is likely to be approved on Saturday when PM Manmohan Singh chairs a meeting of the full Planning Commission to consider the draft approach paper for the 12th Plan."India has a capacity to grow at 9%... By 2025 India will be the third-largest economy after China and the US in terms of gross domestic product," deputy chairman of the commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Friday.The approach paper will seek to raise the annual economic growth rate to 9% from the 8.2% estimated in the current five-year plan (11th Plan).

Ahluwalia said economic growth could be between 8% and 8.3% during the current fiscal and that global slowdown may effect India in the short term but "we are planning for the five-year period".Speaking on the broad contours of the paper, he said the priority areas are energy, water, agriculture and manufacturing.

"In our view, given the state of the world and given the many difficulties we will face if we try to accelerate growth, we are in favour of choosing 9% growth rate," Ahluwalia said on the country's potential.

Speaking on the broad contours of the approach paper, he said the priority areas are energy, water, agriculture and manufacturing.

Stating that energy was very critical to achieve 9% growth, he argued for decontrol of prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene, saying domestic prices should reflect world prices. "Domestic supply is limited. We will have to import energy and domestic rates will need to reflect world prices," Ahluwalia said, arguing that energy growth should be 6% to achieve the overall 9% target and the focus should be on energy efficiency.

He advocated encouraging public-private partnerships to meet the requirement of $1 trillion for the infrastructure sector. He also said that transparent systems would have to be put in place.

At a time when the anti-graft protest has been building up in the country, the Plan panel has included a full chapter on good governance in the approach paper. Tackling 'governance deficit' was important, he said, adding that the Commission could only draw a roadmap, the problem lay in implementation.

Gold prices today climbed to fresh all-time high of Rs 28,230 per 10 grams gaining Rs 80 on sustained buying by stockists and investors amid firm global trend.

Silver spurted by Rs 3,500 to Rs 66,300 per kg on increased offtake by industries such as electroplating and other consuming units.

Trading sentiment remained bullish as gold rose to a record, above 1,880 dollar an ounce in New York, rallying on concern over altering US economy and deepening European sovereign debt crisis.

On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity added Rs 80 to set fresh peak of Rs 28,230 and Rs 28,080 per ten grams respectively.

Sovereign held steady at Rs 22,400 per piece of eight gram.

Silver ready spurted by Rs 3,500 to Rs 66,300 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 3,795 to Rs 66,485 per kg.

Silver coins surged by Rs 4,000 to Rs 73,500 for buying and Rs 74,500 for selling of 100 pieces.

Keep up to date with these results:

    


20/08/2011

Anna rejects govt's "public opinion" move as "diversionary"

New Delhi: As Anna Hazare continued his protest fast, a parliamentary standing committee Saturday invited public suggestions on the Lokpal Bill. Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal dismissed it as an attention diverting tactic.
The parliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice, which is to suggest amendments to the Lokpal Bill, published advertisements in leading newspapers, seeking ideas and suggestions on the bill.
"The committee has decided to invite memoranda containing views/suggestions from individuals, organisations interested in the subject matter of the bill and also hear select oral evidence on the subject matter of the bill," the advertisement said. A time limit of 15 days starting Saturday has been given to send suggestions. Chairman of the committee, Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi, said the suggestions will be looked into by the committee.
"We have sent an advertisement for all interested to give their frank, open, unbiased views (on the Lokpal bill). Within manageable limits, we will go through all the suggestions and everything will be looked into," Singhvi said.
He said the civil society members were also invited to give their suggestions. "We had invited the civil society members as early as 10th of Aug." The step is being seen as an attempt to counter the protesting activists who have claimed that public opinion is against the Lokpal Bill introduced by the government.
Team Anna however rejected the call as an attempt to divert attention. "As far as calling the feedback is concerned it is not a referendum also. If the government does any referendum, the government bill will be totally trashed by the people. This is simply diverting attention," Kejriwal told IANS.
The civil society members have urged the parliamentary standing committee to reject the bill. "We requested the standing committee to completely reject the bill and send it back to the government because there is no time for the standing committee and parliament to waste their precious time in discussing a totally wrong bill," he said.
Earlier, riding on a groundswell of support, social activist Anna Hazare Friday vowed to continue his fast till a strong anti-graft law is enacted and gave an ultimatum of Aug 30 for parliament nod to the Lokpal Bill, even as he began his protest at Ramlila Ground here.
He also announced that his supporters nationwide will begin a 'jail bharo' (courting arrest) protest after Aug 30 if a stronger Lokpal Bill with the prime minister and judiciary under its purview was not passed by parliament.
Faced with this fresh challenge, a beleaguered Congress Party, which is heading the coalition government at the centre, held its core committee meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to assess the political fall-out.
The 74-year-old Hazare, who reached the rain-drenched Ramlila Ground after a nearly three-hour journey from the Tihar Jail where he had been since Tuesday, showed no signs of fatigue and was his usual energetic self.
"We will not leave this place till a (stronger) Lokpal bill is passed," the soldier-turned-reformer said, urging the youth not to abandon the fight against corruption.
"The parliament should pass the Lokpal Bill by Aug 30. If not, activists all over the country will start a jail bharo agitation," he told supporters.
"This is the start of a new revolution, of a new freedom struggle," declared Hazare, whose arrest Tuesday had sparked off popular anger and put the government in a political fix.
"This torch of revolution should always remain lit. It is not just about Lokpal. We have to bring about a transformation in this country," he said in chaste Hindi, comparing the present-day government with the colonial British Raj.
People, he added, would not tolerate any more the loot of national wealth.
The crowds at the Ramlila Ground continued to swell, despite lashing rains, late into the night, and most of them preferred to stay back in the ground rather than go back home.
Elsewhere, in towns and cities across the nation, protests continued for the fourth day in his support.
Hazare's team member and senior advocate Prashant Bhusan dismissed rumours of the social activists surrendering to the government, saying: "No compromise has been agreed to."
Another Hazare associate, Arvind Kejriwal, said all their demands on the Lokpal Bill were non-negotiable, but denied there was division in Team Anna's ranks.
He also said if the government wanted to have a separate anti-graft law for judiciary, then the civil society activists will draft it for parliament to pass.
Slamming the government for saying Parliament was supreme as far as law-making was concerned, Kejriwal thundered: "The people are supreme, parliament is not."
To demands for Team Anna activists to contest elections, Hazare refused to take the bait, saying he will never ever enter an electoral battle.
Before reaching the sprawling Ramlila Ground, Hazare visited Rajghat, where a large crowd gathered to support him. He also paid homage at the India Gate memorial to the Unknown Soldier.
Hazare was arrested Tuesday and sent to Tihar Jail ahead of his scheduled hunger strike. As mass protests erupted nationwide, the government backed off and ordered him released.
But Hazare refused to leave the prison until he was allowed to fast without fetters. Eventually, the authorities agreed to let him use the Ramlila Ground that can accommodate thousands of people.
As he stepped out of Tihar Jail Friday morning, hundreds of people, many of whom had been camping outside the prison for days, cheered.
With a protective ring thrown by police and activists of India Against Corruption (IAC), Hazare started his journey to Ramlila Ground in an open truck decorated with the national flag that negotiated its way through massive crowds.
At one point, the procession was two kilometres long. The crowd, made up of people from all ages and varying socio-economic backgrounds, appeared upbeat and quite unmindful of the rain.
Source: IANS

20/08/2011

Nine parties unite against Lokpal Bill

New Delhi: Nine political parties, including the Left, on Friday said the Lokpal Bill tabled in Parliament was unacceptable. They said they may demand withdrawal of the Bill, if necessary.
The nine parties have decided to start a nationwide protest against the government's version of the Lokpal Bill from August 23. The parties are demanding more effective legislation to end corruption in high places.
"We may demand withdrawal of the government's Lokpal Bill, if necessary," said AB Bardhan, the CPI general secretary. Soon after a meeting attended by these parties, it was decided they would express their views before the standing committee on personal and public grievances, law and justice discussing the Bill.
Interestingly, under the original plan, the BJP-led NDA was to take part in the protest as well. The NDA was in favour of calling for a bandh, not a mere protest. "We were discussing it with the Left parties. We wanted to make a call for a bandh but there were differences within the Left parties on the issue, so we decided to stay away. We might come together for protests in future," said a senior NDA leader. The BJP has already started nationwide protests against corruption.
Friday's high-profile meeting was attended by Prakash Karat, CPI(M) general secretary, N Chandrababu Naidu of TDP, H D Deve Gowda of JD(S), Ajit Singh of RLD, Debabrata Biswas of Forward Bloc, Abani Roy of RSP, M Thambidurai of AIADMK and Bhratruhari Mahtab of BJD.
Karat told reporters after the meeting the protest was issue-based and didn't indicate the Third Front was forming an alliance. He said the nine parties would meet after August 23 to decide the next course of action.
The protests will have an impact in Tripura, where the Left Front is in power. There is a BJD government in Orissa and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. None of the other political parties are in power in any state.
Source: Business Standard

20/08/2011

Investors lose Rs 9 lakh cr in 4 weeks

Top 10 firms account for one-third of the losses; Sensex down nearly 15%, 8 out of 13 sectors on BSE at 52-week low
Mumbai: With the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or Sensex, on a 15-month low, market investors have together lost as much as Rs 9 lakh crore in the past four weeks.
Concerns in the US and Europe have hurt Indian markets in recent months. Total investor wealth, measured in terms of cumulative market value of all listed companies, has plummeted in the said period by Rs 911,740 crore, being at Rs 5,929,249 crore at the end of on Friday's trade.
Being invested in blue chips was no relief. The top 10 companies lost a third or Rs 290,000 crore of their market value. These include Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.
On Friday, the BSE Sensex tumbled 328 points or two per cent, to settle at 16,142, its lowest closing level since May 2010. From a recent high of 18,871 on July 25, the Sensex has tanked 2,729 points or 14.5 per cent in 18 trading sessions.
There has been massive net outflow by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), amid concerns that higher interest rates and global economic slowdown would restrict corporate profit growth. FIIs sold shares worth Rs 9,547 crore in the past four weeks, show provisional data from the stock exchanges.
FIIs have been net sellers of stocks worth Rs 13,996 crore so far this year. Domestic institutional investors have, on the other hand, bought shares worth a net Rs 21,032 crore this year so far. "On the macro side, it is extremely negative because of the global uncertainty, as there are concerns of US seeping into recession and debt crisis in Europe," said Alex Mathew, head of research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services. "The banking sector in India may also see some pain, because India is highly correlated to the US and Europe. The US situation is very volatile; the crisis may escalate and it may be more prolonged than the last recession."
As many as 687 of the 3,286 actively traded stocks have seen one-fourth market value erosion since July 25. The price of 971 stocks declined by 15-25 per cent each. And, 654 stocks dropped to two-year lows, of which 12 are from the 30-share Sensex. Reliance Communications, Reliance Power, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam and DB Realty are among 146 companies at all-time low levels on the BSE.
Eight of 13 sectors classified by the BSE are trading at 52-week lows. Realty, metals and information technology were worst hit, having declined more than 20 per cent each. The bankex, capital goods and power indices dropped 15-20 per cent each during the period.
Compared to the 2008 fall, which lasted 10 months (the markets have again been on a downward trajectory for the past 10 months), the fall seems smaller this time. However, in value terms, the pain has been significant. Between January and October 2008, the Sensex fell 64 per cent and investors lost wealth worth Rs 2,139,602 crore.
The total market cap fell from Rs 4,818,097 crore on January 8, 2008, to Rs 2,678,495 crore on October 27, 2008. This time, the Sensex has dropped 24 per cent, but the market cap has plunged from Rs 7,808,067 crore on November 5, 2010, to Rs 5,929,249 crore on Friday, an erosion of Rs 1,878,818 crore.

Source: Business Standard


20/08/2011

The fuel that fires Anna-ism

The new paradigm of the citizen-state relationship is that of a customer-supplier
Rama Bijapurkar
As we watched the irony of the tables turning, with the government telling Anna Hazare that he was free to go and Hazare saying he did not want to leave jail, my husband commented wryly that it was blue ocean strategy - "how to create uncontested market space by reconstructing market boundaries" - being played out. Sections of India that rallied under the Hazare banner are devising their own blue ocean strategy too. Earlier NGOs used to try and force the government to act but recognised the limits of their own role as one of being a pressure group only.
The Maoists, on the other hand, don't recognise the government's role in doing anything at all, and step in to do it all themselves. But the Anna-ists have invented yet another category of social activism that wants to job-share with the government in law making -- we draft the Bill, you pilot it through Parliament; you implement it as a government, but we monitor your implementation.
Even if the Anna-ists calm down soon and this bout of activism fades, it reveals a lot about some of the fundamental changes that have taken place in India recently, which has taken many people by surprise, including the government of the day. And this question is one that has been engaging the more thoughtful print media compared to the frenzied electronic media with its ball-by-ball commentary on television. For a start, a lot of people were wondering why the middle class is not revolting about rising prices. Yet when it comes to corruption, there is an uproar. There has been a general consensus on and disapproval of the fact that when it comes to politics and voting and national issues, the middle class is apathetic. Yet when it comes to justice for Jessica or joining Hazare, there is an unexpected flood of response.
An insightful article on this appeared recently in the Indian Express by a young lawyer Vinay Sitapati. He suggests that Hazare supporters are the "new corporate middle class" that "has little patience with the politics of dignity and identity that are - for better or worse - central to Indian politics. For them, the state is about providing services for which they pay with their tax money. Representation and social justice have little meaning. Consequently, they have contempt for electoral politics and politicians and are deaf to the two biggest criticisms of the Jan Lokpal Bill: that the movement is unrepresentative, and that an all-powerful Lokpal might endanger democratic rights."
As Sitapati points out, the new paradigm of the citizen-state relationship is that of a customer-supplier. We pay you for services via tax money and you have not kept your end of the bargain. This underscores a point made a few years ago by a young European anthropologist who, after doing research in India, asked why Indians, including the poorer sections, think of themselves as consumers first and citizens later. She answered her own question by saying, "I suppose in your country being a citizen gets you far less rights than being a consumer."
Modest-income consumers have already started eschewing government offerings and moving to private schools; when someone is seriously ill in a family and in a government hospital, they borrow money and take him to "private" to save him; pension will come from self-financial planning and using the private sector. The middle- and upper-income consuming classes are already purely private consumers of many public goods. They buy water, create their own electricity options through gen sets and inverters, use private education, private hospitals, private transport, private airlines, private banks, etc.
The differences in quality between the government and private are hard to ignore and even as the quality and cleanliness of our privately-run public spaces are improving, the quality of our government-run public spaces is deteriorating. Even as the rights and services we get as consumers are improving, our rights as citizens are getting worse. "Pay a bribe and let's talk" is the dominant theme in the latter case. Earlier, we did not know that anything better was possible in India. We were resigned to our fate.
Now we do know that it is possible, because we see it and experience it. This, then, increases our rage against the government. High-decibel media exposés of government corruption adds to it -- it seems to say our money could have worked much harder for us had it been used better. Saying I will stand on principle and not pay a bribe and not get my work done, give up earning potential for principle, is not an option. The middle class sees its power not in terms of the ballot box - in fact, as Sitapati suggests, it hates all things political - but in terms of noise and pressure and blackmail power with the media as its ally. It says I pay the piper so I need to call the tune because you aren't in tune with the rest of my world.
The Anna-ists are yet another representation of the "this as well as that" way in which India changes. They quote the ideals of democracy to get the right to speak and demonstrate, but don't believe in leaving the elected representatives to do their jobs. They use the Gandhi symbols of white-cloth topis mixed with the new-age symbols of candles. This isn't about ideology, it's about market exchange. The more we privatise and show ourselves what can be done, the more we expect "paisa vasool" from our government services.
The author is an independent market strategy consultant
Source: BUsiness Standard


20/08/2011

Lokpal: govt seeks ideas

New Delhi: Television channels are reporting that the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, is expected to make a statement in short while from now, reflecting the government's response to civil rights activist Anna Hazare's demand to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill by August 30, failing which, he will continue his fast "till my last breath."
In a new strategy, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice that is looking into the Lokpal Bill today, has invited suggestions from individuals and organisations.
The committee headed by noted lawyer and Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi has decided to invite memoranda containing the views and suggestions from the individuals and organisations interested in the subject matter of the Bill and also to hear select oral evidence on the subject matter of the Bill.
Those desirous of submitting memoranda to the committee have been asked to send a letter within fifteen days of the publication of the announcement. The committee has also asked for those, who are willing to appear before the committee for oral evidence besides submitting the memorandum, to indicate the same.
There is a view that two private member's bills - introduced by Varun Feroze Gandhi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha and independent member Rajiv Chandrashekhar in the Rajya Sabha -- can offer a way out.
Varun Gandhi, according to the Times Now channel, plans to move the Jan Lokpal Bill as his bill, while Chandrashekhar's bill has incorporated features of civil society's version of the legislation.
Since the grouse of the civil society is that Parliament won't get to debate the merits of their bill, the two private members' bills can give the two Houses an opportunity to assess the merits of the two rival pieces of legislation, potentially clearing the way for a resolution.
However, procedures and conventions may come in the way. A private member's bill can be introduced in the House only after a month's notice.
While Varun Gandhi hasn't yet formally sought the Speaker's permission to move the bill, Chandrashekhar submitted his bill in the first week of August. So, neither has a month's time to be taken up for adoption in this session. Still, extraordinary situations often lead to "creative" solutions. Perhaps, with the House''s permission, the process may be fast-tracked.
Meanwhile, the Congress has expressed its readiness to talk to Team Anna if it formally approaches the government over the Lokpal issue.
An indication to this effect was available after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired an hour-long meeting with senior ministers to take stock of the situation arising out of Anna Hazare's fast at Ramlila Ground. Apart from the prime minister, the meeting of the Congress Core Committee was attended by all other members including Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram, A K Antony and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel.
Party sources were quoted, as saying that they have no problem in holding negotiations with Team Anna if they express readiness for the same. Several party leaders, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said the government should re-engage Team Anna in talks.
Source: ANI


Anna horribilis
Indrajit Hazra, Hindustan Times
August 20, 2011
First Published: 22:38 IST(20/8/2011)
Last Updated: 22:42 IST(20/8/2011)

Frankly, whatever be your opinion on the Jan Lokpal Bill and on the radical tactics used by Anna Hazare, the sheer popular support for the agitation against the government's attempt to introduce a diluted anti-corruption law is astounding. That by itself has left cynical smarty-pants like myself,
never mind arrogant dumby-pants in the ruling party, dumbstruck.
The power of the mob - an abbreviation of the Latin 'mobile vulgus' or 'excitable crowd' - has also made many of us squirm with different levels of disapproval. For those who conflate the idea of a nation with the State, Hazare's mega agit-prop is an act that smacks of anti-nationalism, even if it leaves these fuming folks confused, considering the protests are impeccably patriotic in tone and content.
For many others, the aesthetics is all wrong: a hyperactive fool with narcissistic qualities is leading a hyperbolic cause that may be just but is overwhelmingly ridiculous and pigheaded (and is causing traffic disruptions). And smart folks hate self-righteous fools even if the latter seem to be getting the results that the former never managed to get however much they wanted them.  
Despite some Congressmen like Manish 'Look, he's on NDTV, CNN-IBN, Times Now and Cartoon Network!' Tewari seeing this surge of popular agitation as a cunning conglomeration of "armchair fascists, overground Maoists, closet anarchists" (he missed out 'neighbourhood paedophiles'!), this mob is ideologically blind. To term the agitation as "lurking behind forces of right reaction and funded by invisible donors whose links may go back a long way abroad" is like dubbing vegetarianism a Nazi conspiracy simply because Hitler chose to be an avowed vegetarian.
I've earlier written why the Jan Lokpal Bill, despite the genuine questions that hang over some of its aspects, is the one that should be tabled in Parliament. The government draft - without a sitting prime minister and all of the bureaucracy in the lokpal's ambit - is like serving a raw fish for dinner. (I don't think the lokpal is the right body to scrutinise members of the judiciary accused of corruption.) The Jan Lokpal Bill may not be the finest fish dish set on the table, but it's helluva lot better than the draft now sitting with the Parliamentary Standing Committee. It's certainly not as biased in favour of an accused as the government's version. And if Parliament can debate and finetune the government's bogus draft, why can't it debate and finetune Hazare's 'impractical' one?
Sure, the Lokpal law alone won't wipe out corruption from the face of India. It's not supposed to. When Moses passed the law, 'You will not covet your neighbour's wife', he wasn't expecting it to restrain you from murdering someone or stealing something - or even restrain you from sleeping with other members of your neighbour's family. To tackle the cop pocketing a bribe or corporate corruption or schools accepting 'donations' for admissions, other laws may have to be framed and existing laws  implemented. But the State - stern Freudian ma-baap to so many of us in till-now civil society-less India - is a good place to start.
As a nation, we don't like mobs and mass agitations, associated as they usually are with rightwing nutcases who want to tear down the secular fabric of the nation or with leftwing loonies who want to bring the Indian Success Story to a grinding halt. The mob with Anna falls in neither camp. Even some liberal folks who aren't fond of an arrogant government are worrying about a Jacobin revolution spearheaded by a 74-year-old silly man letting loose a bunch of piggybacking Robespierres and Madame Guillotines. The truth is much less scary (and romantic).
The Anna Gang isn't undertaking a Tahrir Square-type uprising bent on bringing down the government, demolishing Parliament and destroying the nation in that order. It just wants the government to stop treating its citizens like a bunch of retards by forcining them to bring about a stringent law when actually it's just making a show of it. These so-called 'anarchists' don't want to destroy laws or remove lawmakers. They just want Parliament to bring about a strong, specific law. Silly, self-righteous but effective Anna isn't storming the Bastille. He just walked out of Tihar.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Anna-horribilis/Article1-735568.aspx

Railways may hike passenger fares, freight charges to get aligned with market rate

20 AUG, 2011, 05.24AM IST, ET BUREAU
Common man braving the severe impact of price rise may soon face another blow in the form of higher freight and passenger fare if a proposal by the Railway Ministry is accepted.

The proposal to align the freight and passenger fare with market prices was made by the Railway Minister at the full Planning Commission meeting which was presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"The Railway Ministry proposed to have more dynamic freight and passenger fare aligned with market prices during the full Planning Commission meeting," a source privy to the development said.

The proposal will help in generating resources needed for improving safety and quality of services.

This was among the various proposals suggested by various ministers during the meeting which approved the Approach Paper for the 12th Five Year Plan today.

According to sources, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi suggested that freight and passenger fares should be taken out of the Railway Budget so that they can be changed anytime during the course of the year.

The Planning Commission had earlier mooted the idea of setting up of a Railways Freight and Passenger Fare Authority to establish a more dynamic and market link structure. The proposal did not find favour with earlier Railway Ministers.

Trivedi also said that Indian Railways need Rs 1.60 lakh crore for outstanding schemes for development of railways.

Air India-Indian Airlines merger a very bad idea: Karan Singh
The country's first aviation minister Karan Singh today opposed the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines, calling it a "very bad idea".

"To my mind, the merger was a very bad idea. The two airlines -- one based in Delhi and the other in Mumbai -- had different ethos, different philosophy," he said while delivering the first Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture organised by the Civil Aviation Ministry here.

He said a proposal for merging the two erstwhile state- run air carriers was "mooted even when I was a minister. But I firmly rejected it".

When a reaction was sought on Singh's statement, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said "similar views have come to me from other quarters too", while refusing to give his opinion on the issue.

Two major parliamentary panels -- the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture and the Committee on Public Undertakings, have also expressed strong objection to the merger.

Singh, who was the Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation in 1971 when the Ministry came into being, said Air India was then under the leadership of JRD Tata and it was "one of the top five airlines in the world. I will not comment on where it is now".

Delivering the lecture, Singh paid glowing tributes to Rajiv Gandhi for not only envisioning the growth in the aviation sector and creating institutions for airport development, navigation services and pilot training, but also on issues which led to "major social changes" like the panchayati raj law and IT development, as well as on important foreign policy questions.

"Rajiv was not a Prime Minister who would sit back and let things happen. He used to catch the bull by the horn", Singh said.

20 AUG, 2011, 08.41PM IST, TNN

Govt trying to stop Lokpal from becoming a reality: Team Anna

EDITORS PICK

RELATED ARTICLES



NEW DELHI: Anna Hazare's fast demanding a strong Lokpal entered the fifth day on Saturday saying that the government has been trying to delay the Lokpal Bill for decades. It sent a clear message to the government that the protest will not end till a strong Lokpal Bill is passed.


In a media interaction at the historic Ramlila Maidan from where Anna Hazare on Friday launched his protest fast, Team Anna took on the government for delaying the Lokpal Bill and accused the government from making the law a reality.


The 73-year-old Gandhian said, "They (government) have linked us to the US and now they will link our agitation to Pakistan."


Team Anna also dismissed reports that the movement has got any backing from any political parties or has links with any political parties like BJP, RSS. "Our protest is not political, it is against corruption" Team Anna said.


"Those who are saying the BJP and RSS are behind our agitation should be sent to a "mental hospital," Anna Hazare said. Team Anna also added that the government should stop wasting time in making false allegations.


Civil society member Prashant Bhushan questioned the government, "How long will the nation wait for the Lokpal Bill."


Hazare's close associate Arvind Kejriwal said they were ready to talk to the government but no such communication channels have been opened.


Accusing the government of using divisionary tactics, Team Anna said that it is not holding the government to ransom and added that everyone has the right to protest in this country.

More stories from this edition of Lokpal Bill


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/govt-trying-to-stop-lokpal-from-becoming-a-reality-team-anna/articleshow/9675616.cms

20/08/2011

IITs, IIMs log into Anna

Students of India's premier institutions of higher education launch campaign backing Anna and the national mood
Ahmedabad: Faculty as well as students of premier educational institutes like IITs and IIMs have launched an online petition on the web to garner support for anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare as his indefinite fast for the Jan Lokpal Bill entered the fifth day on Saturday.
The 1,322-signatories to the petition and counting includes faculty of IIM-Ahmedabad, IIM-Bangalore, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Gandhinagar and IIT-Guwahati. This petition seeks support to the Gandhian by skipping one meal in the day so long as he (Anna) continues with his fast. It has also been signed by the students of IITs and IIMs, and is gradually getting popular.
"We have been instructed by the institution not to openly come in favour of the movement, but a lot of support is being garnered in favour of Anna at the institutes at individual level, where faculty and students have signied up this online petition," a faculty member of IIM-A who is amongst co-creators of the petition said, preferring anonymity.
Names of four faculty members from IIT-Gandhinagar figures on the portal, who have appealed to people to lend support for Anna, and also thank them for joining the online campaign.
The comment of Dr Sachin D Kore, a faculty of IIT-Guwahati on the portal reads "I support Anna's fast against corruption." Sreejith P, has posted 'Support from IIT-Madras, on the portal. The petition, hosted as www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service on the web, is created by both the faculty and students of IIMs and IITs.
The petition draft reads, "Its an appeal that seeks to express solidarity with Anna Hazare who has decided to undertake a fast unto death unless the government agrees to enact a powerful law to rid India of the scourge of corruption."
Protests were even organised at the IIM-A campus here in support of Anna Hazare on Thursday last. Students had taken out a candlelight rally and skipped one meal that day.
Source: PTI

Also read
The fuel that fires Anna-ism
Anna rejects govt's "public opinion" move
Nine parties unite against Lokpal Bill
Indian Americans rally in Anna's support
Anti-corruption protests in India an internal matter: US

FICCI seeks speedy implementation of GST to curb problem of black money

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NEW DELHI: Industry body FICCI has sought expeditious implementation of the proposed goods and service tax (GST) saying it could also help curb the cash economy in the country, and hence the problem of black money.

"GST is a perfect platform to unearth black money....if somebody has to evade taxes under GST, buyer and seller both have to connive. Therefore, avenues for tax evasion will be much lesser," Sachin Menon, co-chairman, FICCI task force on GST, said.

Efficient sale and purchase tracking under the GST will ensure that no transaction goes unrecorded and this will limit generation of black money, FICCI study said.

The industry body supported a broad-based tax structure with limited exemptions ahead of the meeting of the empowered committee of state finance ministers on GST with union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday.

"The proposed rates of 20%, 16% and 12% are good enough to begin with, but these would need to be gradually brought down to a uniform level of 12%," FICCI President Harsh Mariwala said.

Mariwala also supported the need for a broad-based GST that encompasses all sectors of the economy within its ambit saying that exclusion of certain sectors would be detrimental to the structure and also push up the tax rate.

"The proposed exclusion of sectors, such as petroleum, natural gas, real estate, alcohol and power generation, would result in significant adverse implications for the sectors which consume these goods," Mariwala said.
India Rising: Growth to Continue
India to be $5.6 trillion economy by 2020: Dun & Bradstreet
Rate of investment, consumer expenditure & infrastructure spending to be the driving force behind the India's growth over the next 10 years.
India Rising: Growth to Continue
India to be $5.6 trillion economy by 2020: Dun & Bradstreet
Rate of investment, consumer expenditure & infrastructure spending to be the driving force behind the India's growth over the next 10 years.
Murthy: The Middle Class Hero
Not worried that TCS & Cognizant are doing well: Murthy
On his last day at Infosys, N R Narayana Murthy, was poring over a sheet of paper containing what he loves most-data.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/ficci-seeks-speedy-implementation-of-gst-to-curb-problem-of-black-money/articleshow/9668568.cms

Brand India is in much better shape than Brand US or Brand UK

Sidhartha & Vikas Singh, TNN | Aug 20, 2011, 06.32AM IST
Congratulations on England becoming world No. 1 in Test cricket," we greet Sir Martin Sorrell. His eyes light up. "Yeah, isn't that something? But why is your team playing so badly?" It's only after some animated discussion that we remember we're supposed to be interviewing him, not the other way around.

That's Martin Sorrell for you. At 66, the head of WPP, the world's largest advertising and marketing communication conglomerate , remains insatiably curious. He soaks up information and frequently responds to a question by posing two of his own. When he does speak though, it's with the practised ease of someone used to making long presentations, reeling off facts, figures and forecasts without ever feeling the need to refer to any notes.

He visits India often (" This is my 30-something visit,") but says he is, at best, "a 72-hour expert" on the country. But he's categorical that Brand India is still an attractive story. What about concerns related to corruption and the government's handling of Anna Hazare's campaign? "I believe in the medium term, it will make things better. Actually, I think it is Advantage India. Brand UK does not look very pretty after the riots. Brand America does not look very pretty after the Congressional vote (on the debt ceiling)... India remains the world's fastest growing democracy. That's a pretty good positioning ," he says.

"Besides, would you really like to turn the clock back to 1990-91 ? Sure, you have the challenge of making growth more inclusive , but that's a good problem to have, as opposed to not having any growth. If I had to prepare campaigns to market India, the US and Western Europe, India would be the easiest and Western Europe the hardest to pitch," he adds.

Having held a series of meetings with clients since he arrived in India on Tuesday , he says corruption is a concern in several countries from China to Russia and Brazil but what the investor looks at is growth rate. "If India grows at 7%, WPP's organic growth in India will be almost double , 10-15 %," says Sorrell.

"This will add about $75 million in revenues . That's more than what many of our competitors here earn in a year." For WPP, a dominant player in the Indian advertising market, revenues from India add up to around $450 million (over Rs 2,000 crore), and are projected to cross the $500 million mark this year. China is double of that. So which market is he betting on? "Both," he says promptly. "I am an unashamed India bull, just as I am bullish on China. And on Brazil and Russia too."

How would he have advised the government to counter the Anna campaign? "Well, I don't have enough expertise on India to specifically answer the question. But, in general, the natural instinct of any bureaucracy-government or corporate -is to withdraw instead of engaging. You need very very short chains of command so that you can move 180-degrees in a very short span of time." Listening to him, you begin to understand just how he pushed through a series of audacious acquisitions-from J Walter Thompson in 1986 to Grey Global more recently-to convert WPP from being a little-known wire baskets manufacturer into a $4.5 billion giant.

Sorrell lists six pressure points for the world economy - the European debt problems , the US deficit crisis, rise in commodity prices, the tsunami-induced problems in Japan, the crisis in West Asia

and the stimulus withdrawal in the US - with the last being the main trigger for problems. "You can't just go off
steroids without feeling some pain," he quips. But he says ad budgets have not been cut just yet, while acknowledging that there could be some threat next year.

"Revenues only really started to decline during the first half of 2009 following the Lehman crisis of September 2008," he points out.

Still, Sorrell is optimistic that with the London Olympics, European football championships and the US presidential elections due in 2012, ad spends could rise by 1-2 % from the budgeted level of $500 billion . The US presidential elections could alone result in around $4 billion flowing into the system.

What are his thrust areas? "Emerging markets, new media and consumer insights ," he says promptly. While new markets and new media account for about 30% each of WPP's revenues, consumer insights account for around a quarter of the business . The plan is to scale up the share of the first two to 35-40 % each. He acknowledges that new media contributes a far smaller percentage in India right now but says that could change quickly as smart phones and tablets catch on and improve internet penetration.

"The rise of social networks will catalyse changes in consumer behaviour and attitudes in ways that are still not fully understood ," he warns. "And for many established players, it will be like trying to change a plane engine in mid-air while keeping the aircraft flying."

He's often been derisive about small boutique firms, but they still seem to be going strong? "Well, people love David vs Goliath stories," he responds. "My concern about small outfits is that many of them tend to be here today, gone tomorrow. Being small has its own disadvantages. And I think there's a tendency to dismiss knowledge, experience and resilience, which the established players have. The ideal situation, though, is to have the resources of a big entity and the nimbleness of a small player. It may seem confusing, but the 21st century ain't for tidy minds."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Brand-India-is-in-much-better-shape-than-Brand-US-or-Brand-UK/articleshow/9668951.cms
National Issues And Speeches
 
Subject: "The second stage of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation which includes privatisation of higher and professional education, Conversion of retail marketing into global marketing, Centralisation of retail market into private hands is a conspiracy to nullify and thereby sabotage the constitutional rights of the indigenous people ( Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj) of India so as to force slavery on them."  

From last year on 16th April at ShivajiPark, Mumbai, we started organising the joint celebrations of our great leaders. We are organizing these joint celebrations of the birthdays of our great leaders at Ahmedabad on a national level this year. 

On this day we are discussing this issue, "The second stage of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation which includes privatisation of higher and professional education, Conversion of retail marketing into global marketing, Centralisation of retail market into private hands is a conspiracy to nullify and thereby sabotage the constitutional rights of the indigenous people ( Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj) of India so as to force slavery on them."   
Rashtriya Mulnivasi Sangh will organize 15000 meetings till the end of this December to highlight this issue. There will be a nation wide awakening through such programmes. 
We must seriously understand and comprehend this issue. LPG stands for Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation. This programme of LPG was started by the Congress Party in 1990 and the Congress Party takes the credit of this programe. We too give credit of the implementation of the programme of LPG to the Congress . The Bharatiya Janata Party is an accomplice of the Congress Party and they together started implementing this programme of LPG. At that time i.e. in 1990 Narsimha Rao was the Prime Minisiter and Manmohan Singh was the Finance Minister. Today Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister. The Central Government has implemented aggressively this programme of LPG for the last 17 years. 

Even all the state governments have become excited and enthusisastic and are looking forward to implement this programme of LPG. Thus both the BJP and the Congress are aggressively implementing this programme of LPG. Even the Communists are taking the initiative in the implementation of LPG.

What have been the consequences of LPG on Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj? The policy of LPG has been implemented for the last 17 years but the
 Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj is ignorant of the adverse effects of LPG.
The Government does not want to provide information about the adverse effects of the policy of LPG. In fact they want to hide this information from the Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj. There is a conspiracy behind all this. We want to awaken the people regarding all this and make them aware of this conspiracy and then organize them.
The Central Government started implementing the policy of LPG in Government Sectors and Public Undertaking Sectors. The BJP, the Communists and the Congress together have started privatization in the Government and the Public Undertaking Sectors. The Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, the Other Backward Classes and the indigenous Converted Minorities have reserved seats in the Government sectors and the Public Undertaking Sectors. There are about 2 Crore government posts and atleast 1 crore of these posts would have been occupied by the persons amongst the SCs, the STs, the OBCs and the indigenous converted Minorities. If we were to consider that an average family consists of 5 members then atleast 5 crore people were directly dependent and could have made their living on these government posts.

But as the programme of LPG is being aggressively implemented Reservation for the SCs, the STs, the OBCs and the indigenous converted Minorities in the Government Bureaucracy and Public Undertaking Sectors has become practically null and void. There may be the provision for reservation in our Indian Constitution but it exists now only on paper. Practically the reservation policy has become completely null.

There has been a complete ban on Recruitment for the last 12-13 years. If there is recruitment there will be reservation. If there is no recruitment there will be no Reservation.

Educated people amongst the Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj who read news and watch television do not have any information. Those who need to know and be informed are completely ignorant. If the educated people from amongst the indigenous people are ignorant who will educate the illiterate people.

Kumbhkaran was maligned in Ramayana because he used to sleep for 6 months at a stretch. Our people are Grand grandfathers of Kumbhkaran as they have been sleeping for 17 long years.

Thus the first adverse effect of LPG was that Reservation was nullified.
The policy of Reservation guaranteed reserved posts and the availability of these jobs provided inspiration and motivation to the people in the villages who starved themselves but educated their children so that their children could aspire to occupy those Government posts. But now as the policy of Reservation has become null, this inspiration and motivation no longer exists. Even the motivation for learning and getting educated has died down.
Lack of education will lead to lack of development of the brains of our people. Our people wouldn't be able to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. They will not be able to reason, analyze and make decisions.

You know that an animal does not have the ability to reason, analyze and make decisions. The ruling castes want to push our people down to the level of animals. LPG is the program to make animals of our people. Even our educated people do not have this information. Who will educate the illiterate?

The implementation of the policy of LPG has forced 60 crore people in India below the Poverty Line. One new class has emerged amongst these 60 crore people. This is the class of 25 crore people who have been forced below the Starvation Line.
The Ruling Castes use the Hindi word 'Kuposhan' for the English word 'Starvation'. Our people do not understand the Hindi word Kuposhan.
They think that Kuposhan is some sort of a disease. But in ordinary Hindi 
 kuposhan means Bhookmari. The Godowns of the Food Corporation of India are full of every kind of grain. But this food is not sent to the starving population of India. They Government say they do not have money to send food to the starving people of India. But the Government allocated 400 crores to the Indian Space Research Organisation to plan a mission to the Moon. The Government says it has no money for the poor.
This is mass slaughter by forcing starvation on the Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj. There is not a single line about this catastrophe in the National Newspaper. Thus our people do not have any information regarding all this.

The wedding ceremony of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachhan was highlighted daily in these news channel and newspapers. But the same media does not print a single line about the starvation deaths in our country. We see that the head of a family commits suicide by consuming poison. He even poisons his own family members. They report that investigation is in progress. But I say is there any need for investigation. Just go and look into the utensils kept in the kitchen. Our people blame it on their fate. Our people say it is the writ of the Brahma. But it is the writ of the Brahmins.

 Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India. The first Five Year Plan planned a budget of 3700 crores. In Sonia Gandhi's time i.e today the total expenditure of just one year is about 5 lac 1000 crores rupees. If Sonia Gandhi wishes she could remove the starvation and poverty of our people in just 5 years. If A.B.Vajpayee wishes he could do the same. If the Brahmins who plan the budget of India wish then they could end this starvation and poverty of our people. But they simply do not want to allocate any budget for eradication of poverty and starvation of our people. It simply means that our poverty and starvation is the writ of the Brahmins.

We need to seriously think of this and act accordingly. Sooner or later those who are not below the poverty line will be forced below the poverty line or even the starvation line. This is a Mass-Slaughter programme being implemented by the Government. These were the catastrophic consequences of the first stage of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation.

The adverse consequences of the policy of LPG should have made the government to terminate this policy immediately. But they knowingly started implementing the 2nd stage this programme of LPG.
The 2nd stage of LPG includes:
1) Creation of SEZ i.e. Special Economic Zones.
2) Absolute Privatization of Higher and Professional Education
3) Conversion of Retail market into Global market to centralize and monopolize retail market into private hands.

These are dangerous programmes which spell impending doom for the future of the Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj. These three programmes are being implemented on a large scale.

Do you know how a bill is passed?  First it is put up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha, then in the Lok Sabha and then the President gives his approval. After all this procedure it is finally published in the gazette.
But without any discussion this bill (SEZ) was passed in the RajyaSabha
and the LokSabha. If the bill would have been discussed, the people of India would have known about the adverse consequences of SEZ. This bill was passed without discussion. Any bill which is passed without discussion is absolutely Unconstitutional. The President shouldn't have given his approval to this undiscussed bill and unconstitutional bill. But the President gave his approval. Even the Supreme Court has not opposed this unconstitutional bill. All of them are in this Conspiracy. We need to understand this.
They call Mr.Kalam, the President, a true Rashtrawadi (Nationalist). Is he a fool or a donkey that he does not understand simple things? He has signed on a bill which was not discussed in the Parliament. He could have asked them to discuss the Bill. The Constitution of India has bestowed such powers on the President. But the President didn't exercise any of his power. He should have but he didn't. Thus they are all in this conspiracy.

It is written in the bill that for a Special Economic Zone minimum 2000 hectares i.e. 4500 acres of land and maximum 35000 hectares i.e. 80000 acres to 1,00,000 acres of land must be allocated.

There was widespread unrest in West Bengal over this land acquisition. Due to this growing unrest the Government says that the land allotment to SEZ will be 1000 acre minimum to 10,000 acres maximum. But this latest statement has been issued to befool the people. It has been done to deflate the growing opposition of the people. Factually such an order has not been passed. It is a huge conspiracy.
They are betraying this country. Therefore they cannot be trusted at all.

It is mentioned in the bill that only 10% of land allotted to SEZ will be used for development of industries. The rest i.e. 90% of the land will be used for developing Real Estate. Real Estate means Handling of the land to Big Builders so that they could build multi-storey buildings.

 If only 10% of land will be used for industry then only 10% of the total land allocated for SEZ must be actually allotted. But in reality 1 lac acres land is being allotted.

Thus through a simple bill the government along with the state governments wants to buy agricultural land from farmers at a cheap rate and sell it even more cheaply to capitalists.

Before develop of Real Estate on the SEZ land, one acre of agricultural land will normally cost 1, 00,000 rupees.
After development into Real Estate the same land will cost 10 crore rupees.
1 lakh acres of Real Estate land will cost 1, 00,000 * 1, 00,000,000 rupees. Thus the land of the Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj is being forcibly bought by the government to sell it cheaply to the Capitalists. This is nothing but a huge Land Scam.

The Government says that the Capitalist will use his own money to develop the land. But in reality the capitalist will earn 1, 00,000*1, 00,000,000 rupees and will only invest 1%-2% of what he earns. Thus this is land scam.
Just imagine of what huge proportion this land scam really is?

The Government has proposed a tax exemption of 2, 00,000*1, 000* 10,000,000 (2 lakh1000 crores) rupees annually for SEZs.
There will not be Custom Tax, production tax, sales tax, etc
There will not be any duty on raw material imported. There will be no duty on finished goods exported. There will be complete tax exemption for 15 years. Thus the total tax exemption will be 15*2, 00,000*1, 000*10, 000,000=30 lacs 1000 crore rupees. This is nothing but Tax evasion with the help of a simple bill and by making a law. By simply passing such a bill they want to put all this money into the pockets of the industrialists. Industrialists like Tata, Birla have become great by looting India's wealth. They say that we do not have merit. But are they becoming millionaires, billionaires by their merit or by looting the country's wealth? Plundering the country's wealth is not a sign of being meritorious. Those who loot and plunder the country's wealth are called Dacoits. Everywhere in the world such people are called as Dacoits. This is carried in a joint way (check)

If this amount (30 lac 1000 crore rupees) goes into the government treasury instead of going into the Industrialists' pockets then it could be spent on our peoples' health, education etc. But this money will now go into the Industrialists' pockets. The government wants to put all this money into the Industrialists' pockets. This is nothing but TAX SCAM.
Harshad Mehta who laundered 1000 crores died of blood pressure and heart attack. But these people have sound hearts and even their blood pressure is normal. 
This is a planned conspiracy.

The bill of SEZ says that the SEZ's will be foreign territories. It says that the SEZ will be deemed to be a foreign territory. Why do they say that the SEZ's will be foreign territories? Does our constitution apply to Nepal, Bangladesh or Pakistan? The answer is no simply because Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan are foreign territories. The bill simply says that the constitution will not be applicable in SEZ's.  No Indian law can be enforced in SEZ's. No person will be allowed to even enter these SEZ's without permission and a pass. I had to apply for a visa before going to England. I enquired what exactly does visa mean. They said it is an entry pass. If you want to enter into Ambani's SEZ you will have to procure an entry pass. Thus an Indian citizen will have to procure an entry pass to enter a SEZ as it will be a foreign territory. 

If the constitution is not applicable to SEZ, then it is nothing but betrayal of the constitution. Thus land is being brought at throwaway prices and is being converted into foreign territories. This is betrayal of the nation. If the constitution is not applicable then all the fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution become null. Those who do not have fundamental rights are called as slaves. Slaves do not have fundamental rights. Those people who will live in SEZ's will be nothing but slaves. They will be made slaves. They won't have any rights. They can't go to the High Court and the Supreme Court because SEZ's will not be in the jurisdiction of these courts. These SEZ's will be called as Ambani Region, Tata Region, Mahindra Region etc and the Industrialists who own these regions will say that SEZ's is a foreign territory and the constitution of India is not applicable to any foreign territory. The Supreme Court and the High Court will not have any power to adjudicate on a case from a SEZ because SEZ will not be under their jurisdiction. Lawyers know that a case of Vadodara can be adjudicated upon in Vadodara but not in Ahmedabad. The Brahmin who wrote the draft of SEZ explicitly mentioned that SEZ will be a foreign territory so that it cannot be challenged in any Indian Court. Just imagine if all the territory of India is converted into SEZ, will the Indian Nation exist? Every region will be a foreign territory where the Indian constitution will not be applicable. Does the Parliament have a right to make such a law? The answer is definitely no.

The Constitution of India says that India is a sovereign country. There cannot be a nation without a nation. Thus SEZ is nothing but a dangerous conspiracy of unimaginable proportion.

The Bill of SEZ says that if any industrialist who invests in SEZ by taking loans from any foreign institutions goes bankrupt then all his loans will be cleared by the Indian government. The responsibility of clearing the loan will be the responsibility of the Indian Government. Now any scheming foreign or Indian Industrialist will invest in SEZ and then declare to have become a bankrupt. He will run away with all his money. But the Indian Government will have to clear his loans from the money that it collects as tax from us. The Indian Government is an accomplice in this conspiracy. Our MLA's and MP's are part of this conspiracy. They have sold themselves. These MLA's, MP's, Chief Ministers are all slaves who have sold themselves. Everything is being done against the law of the land and against the constitution of India. If this programme of Creation of SEZ's was in the interest of the nation why was not it discussed in the Parliament? If SEZ's were for the welfare of the nation why was not it discussed in the Parliament? They say that this programme is being implemented to transform India into a great nation. If this is true why was not it discussed in Parliament? If it would have been discussed in the parliament people would have come to know about it. But they wanted to hide the real motive. This clearly suggests that it is a huge conspiracy. There will be no Labour law in SEZ's. A worker will have to work for 16 hours and will receive the salary of 8 hours. Our people do not know the difference between service and slavery. If you work for 8 hours and receive a salary for 8 hours' work then it is service. But if you work for 16 hours and receive a salary for 8 hours' work then it is slavery. Our Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj is basically a labour class. 

Thus SEZ is a programme to enslave the Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj. It is a programme to make slaves of us and that too of the worst kind. 

The next programme of the ruling castes is to absolutely privatize higher education and professional education. Sukhdeo Thorat, a scheduled caste person, from Amravati near Nagpur was made the chairman of the University Grants Commission. He was formerly a lecturer in the Jawaharlal Nehru University. The main work of UGC is to give grants to 250 Universities across India. The grants facilitate admissions of the students belonging to SC's, ST's and the OBC's.

Now Arjun Singh has introduced a bill which seeks to amend some functions of the UGC and to make all universities completely autonomous. This bill is under discussion in the parliament, in the parliamentary committee. Autonomous universities will be completely free from Government regulations. No grants will be issued to universities from now on. Whatever kind of education these universities aim to provide, be it professional or higher education, they will be permitted to provide, by giving them the right to exact exorbitant fees. Thus the poor will be systematically debarred from getting professional education and higher education.
The poor will be unable to seek admission to professional courses like Engineering, Medical, MBA etc as he will not have the capacity to pay 10-15 lakh rupees annually for such courses.

They have started a campaign named, "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan"
This campaign says that all children shall be educated till the 8th standard. Students shall be promoted from one standard to the following higher standard without conducting any sort of examination. In such way a student will be gradually promoted to standard eight. These students will not be able to write even their own names. Such will be the kind of education without examinations. Even a 8th standard pass student shall not be able to write his father's name.

Exams are conducted for the development of Merit. A student has to necessarily study for the examinations which leads to development of merit in him. With this merit our people can compete with them. But this is not being allowed to happen.

In Maharashtra, in Marathi, we call this method of promoting students without subjecting them to examinations as, "Dhakkal Pass". 
This will retard the development of the minds of our people. Our people will not be able to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. They will not be able to think logically. They will not be able to compare and study. They will lack ability to analyse and assess things. They will not be able to form their own opinions. They will be incompetent to draw inferences and conclusions. Thus they will be totally incapacitated to make any decision. A leader is essentially a person who can make decisions.
A leader is able to make his progress and his community's as well.

They want to convert us into a herd of animals. Not many people are required to drive a herd of animals.
I want to mention an incident regarding the 'Rabbari-Bharwar' community in Gujarat. Once a jeep driver who was carrying extra passengers was caught by a constable and brought before the Inspector. The driver explained that he was only carrying 9 passengers. The Inspector asked the constable how many passengers did the driver actually carried in his jeep. The constable replied that the jeep carried 15 passengers. The driver then explained that he was carrying only 9 passengers because the rest of the persons belonged to the 'Rabbari-Bharwar' community.

They do not even consider these people as passengers. Such is their plight!
Can we expect the ruling castes even to consider these people as human beings? A 'Rabbari-Bharwar' drives a herd/flock of sheep and cattle. But now our people will be dumb driven cattle for the ruling castes.

By debarring us from getting Higher and Professional education they are planning absolute devastation of our people.

Most of the people employed in the retail sector in India belong the the OBC's and the Muslims. 4 Crore people have got self-employment in the Retail Sector. The Government does not want to provide employment in the Government Sector and the Public Undertaking Sector. Even Self-Employment in the Retail Sector is being systematically ended. Big Malls and Outlets will slowly destroy whatever self employment our people had in the Retail sector. Now Ambani will sell 'spinach' in his Malls. He will send his trucks directly to the farms and purchase vegetables from the farmers. The trucks will carry those vegetables to the respective malls. Ordinary vegetable-sellers will not get any vegetables to sell in the market. They will lose their employment. Thus the Industrialists will takeover completely the Retail market of India. 4 crore people, mostly belonging to the Other Backward Classes and the Minorities will be directly affected and they will lose their work. 
Our future and our physical world will be controlled by the Industrialists. This is nothing but slavery.

Our Mulnivasi India will be plunged into the mire of slavery. It means that the first stage as well as the second stage of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalization is a conspiracy to enslave the Mulnivasi Indians and Our Mulnivasi Bharat. These programmes are not being implemented to make India great but to enslave India. Our highly educated people such as IASs, IPSs, IRSs, Doctors, Engineers, and Lawyers etc say that it is not possible to oppose LPG. 

In the Lok Sabha elections of 2004 ordinary people brought down the Government of Bharatiya Janata Party and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was brought down on the road. Just by the ordinary people of India!

Congress was brought to power but the ordinary people wanted a complete halt to Privatisation. But the Congress Party continued with Privatisation. In the recent elections to the 5 states Congress was completely defeated. After that elections took place in another three states in which Congress lost again. Now there are impending elections in Uttar Pradesh. Newspapers are already saying that Congress will be number 4 party in UP. Such is the miserable state of Congress before the UP elections! And such will be its plight even after the UP elections.

Ordinary people have brought them down on the roads. Ordinary people have shown that they have the capacity to oppose. But our educated people who have the required intellectual capacity say that it is not possible to oppose LPG! They are nothing but offspring of Eunuchs! Normally Eunuchs are not capable to produce children. Eunuchs are not capable of producing children but still these educated people (who say that it is not possible to oppose Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation) are the offspring of Eunuchs. It means that they are bastards. A bastard is a person who has two fathers. 

Ordinary people opposed these programmes in Nandigram in West Bengal. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, CM of W. Bengal was forced to take back his decision to create SEZ in Nandigram. The Central Government was forced to change its programme of SEZ. 
If people are awakened and prepared it is possible. This is a dangerous situation for the Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj. 
It is possible to oppose all this. It is possible to fightback and repel this attack on the Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj.
Our forefathers and our leaders had created a Nation-wide Movement for our independence. But this movement was destroyed by Congress, Gandhi and the stooges of the Congress.

On this occasion we pledge to resurrect the movement of our leaders. To resurrect the movement of our leaders we need five types of means and resources- time, talent, money, labour and brains. All these have to be given to resurrect the movement. If you contribute these above mentioned resources you can resurrect the Nation-wide movement of our great leaders. That movement had given us constitutional rights and had removed us from the mire of slavery. That movement needs to be resurrected. We will organize such programmes in various regions and capitals of various states of this country. This will be nation-wide programme. We pledge to spread this movement in all the regions of India. A similar programme of state level will be held in Rajkot in Gujarat. We will utilize our full strength in Gujarat to organize this programme.

Subject: "The burning problem of the Mulnivasi Bahujan and the need to create nationwide Movement". We are going to transform the slogan, 'Freedom in a Rupee' into a mass movement. This shall be a People's Campaign. 
-Mr. Waman Meshram

'Addressing the people gathered in the convention in the inauguration session, Mr. Waman Meshram said in his presidential speech, "It was decided to generate about one corer and one lakh rupees for the creation of nationwide movement. But you have generated only 35 lakh rupees. On one hand I want to thank you for this. But on the other hand I want to warn you that there are those people who have cores of unaccounted black money. If you want to fight with such people who have corers of rupees, then this war cannot be won by only contributing a few lakh rupees. Though I thank you for contributing this much but I want to warn you that with these resources we cannot run our movement. Therefore from 16th April to the end of September we shall organize programmes in about 100 centers covering 500 districts in which you will have to contribute a minimum of 1 lakh to a maximum of 5 lakhes rupees to compensate for this backlog. Accord­ingly we have made a plan and we shall try to implement it. 

I wish to give you information on a very important subject. The subject is, "The burning problem of the Mulnivasi Bahujan and the need to create nationwide Movement". To under­stand the burning problem of the Mulnivasi Bahujan we have to delve into history. 

Jotirao Phule started the freedom struggle of the Mulnivasi Bahujan in modern In­dia in 1848. Gandhi was not even born then. Jotirao Phule was 21 years of age at that time. Gandhi was born in 1869; 21 years after Jotirao Phule started his movement. Jotirao's move­ment was a movement for our independence and liberation. But Gandhi was running his movement for the Brahmins and the higher castes; to free them. The mutiny of 1857 is said to be started by Mangal Pandey. Mangal Pandey was a Brahmin by caste and he revolted only because the Brahmins were the slaves of the British. That is why the Brahmins started their freedom struggle. Jotirao Phule had started a movement for our liberation because the Brah­mins had made us their slaves. We were not directly the slaves of the British but we were the slaves of the Brahmins. Even when the Brahmins were free we still were the slaves of these Brahmins. The Brahmins were the slaves of the British but we were slaves of the Brah­mins. That means we were slaves of the slaves. Jotirao Phule started his movement to liberate the slaves of the slaves. We want to write his­tory in a new way using a new approach. We shall organize a seminar on history very soon. All definitions and analyses will have to be re­written. 

Jotirao Phule had started a movement to free the Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj from their slavery to the Brahmins. It was a freedom struggle of the Mulnivasi Bahujan Samaj. The history written by the Brahmins tells us that Jotirao Phule never fought against the British. The fight against the Britishers was a freedom movement for the Brahmins alone. Definitely Jotirao Phule was not fighting against the Brit­ish for the freedom of the Brahmins. In fact he was fighting for our independence. 
The historical documents prove that Jotirao Phule used to say that the Shudras and the AtiShudras have a chance of obtaining their freedom from the Brahmins only till the time the British remain in India. And they should use this chance as early as possible. 
The movement run by Jotirao Phule till 1890 was a regional movement. Even when Savitrimai Phule carried this movement forward; it was a regional movement. Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj carried this movement forward through Bhaskarrao Jadhav. Why did Chhatrapati Shahu feel the need to run this movement even when he was a king himself? It was because even for Shahu. Maharaj the Brahmins recited the Mantras meant for the Shudras. The mantras to be recited during the pooja are different for the Shudras and the Brahmins. Shahu Maharaj protested against this. But the Brahmins in­sisted that only the mantras meant for the Shudras will be recited. But Shahu Maharaj opposed this by saying that his forefather was Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who was given the status of a Kshattriya and as he was the de­scendant of Shivaji Maharaj he too was a Kshattriya. Brahmins retorted by saying that they had given a temporary concession to Shivaji Maharaj and his descendants will not benefit from that past concession given to a forefather. The descendants therefore will not be considered as Kshattriyas. Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj therefore had to run this move­ment because the Brahmins considered him as a Shudra. This movement was a regional movement. When Babasaheb assumed lead­ership of this movement he swore that he shall transform this movement into a nationwide movement. It took Babasaheb 26 years to do this. He called a convention of the Scheduled Castes Federation on 1819 July 1942 in Nagpur. In this convention 50000 men and 25000 women participated from all over the country. In that convention Babasaheb gave the message that our struggle was not for power or pelf but for independence. However this does not mean that our people do not want power or pelf. Our people should want it. But some people want power and pelf at the cost of indepen­dence. They want to compromise with their freedom to gain power and pelf. They want to compromise with their self respect. After Babasaheb's demise the leaders compromised freedom and self respect to get power and pelf. They got power but with power they also got despair and slavery. We do not know how many people actually understood the significance of the convention of the Scheduled Castes Fed­eration held in Nagpur in 1942. But this con­vention left a deep impact on one person. This person was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Immediately on the 9th of August after Babasaheb had transformed his movement into a national movement, Gandhi launched "Quit India Movement" from Bombay, only three weeks after the SCF convention. He asked the British to Quit India. One more event which is important is that on 9th August 1942 on Singapore Radio, Subhash Chandra Bose gave a slogan," Give me blood and I will give you Free­dom". Subhash Chandra Bose knew that the British are not going to listen to Gandhi's so called Ahimsa and that is why he exhorted "Azad Hind Sena", the army that he had formed to march to Delhi. To obtain Freedom it was necessary to fight and to shed blood, thought Subhash Chandra Bose. We have to under­stand a historical event the convention of the Congress party held in Tripura. Gandhi's can­didate was Pattabhi Sittaramaiya whom he had nominated to stand in the election for the seat of the president of the Congress party. People thought who would dare to put up a candidate against the candidate that Gandhi had put up. But Subhash Chandra Bose himself stood up to fight against the candidate put up by Gandhi and won the election. When Subhash Chandra Bose assumed the President ship of the Con­gress Party and began work he was so dis­turbed from doing his work properly that he had to resign from the President ship. Not only did he resign from the Presidentship he also re­signed the primary membership of the Congress party. Afterwards he formed a new orga­nization called as the " Forward Bloc". This im­plied that the Congress party was a backward bloc. It also implied that Congress was a casteist party, a sanatani party. The question is why did Gandhi disturb and trouble Subhash Chandra Bose in his work as president of the Congress party? Because Subhash Chandra Bose was a Kayastha and Kayastha's are Shudras in the VarnaVyavastha. For e.g. Balasaheb Thackeray, a Kayastha. Balasaheb Thackeray's father was Keshav Sitaram Thackeray who was involved in the movement of the Shudras and the atiShudras. The Maharashtrian Shudras and the atiShudras gave him the title of 'Prabodhankar'. Prabodhankar means the one who awakens and instructs. K.S. Thackeray knew that the Brahmins consider the Kayasthas as Shudras. In Shivaji's time the Brahmins used to oppose Shivaji but Kayasthas used to support him. The person sent by Shivaji to Benares to meet Gagabhatt was not a Brahmin but a Kayastha. Gandhi meted out such treatment to Subhash Chandra Bose because Subhash Chandra Bose was a Kayastha. Babasaheb Ambedkar was an atiShudra in this Varna Vyavastha. Thus an AtiShudra launched a nationwide movement and a Shudra gave a call to march to Delhi. Gandhi thought that if his freedom struggle were to slip towards these two different movements then the whole movement will go into the hands of the Shudras. In such a situ­ation what will become of us in free India thought Gandhi. 

What Babasaheb said in the Scheduled Castes Convention made a deep impact on Gandhi and immediately on the 9th of August he launched "Quit India Movement". For this movement he coined a new Slogan i.e. 'Do or Die'. Gandhi had sacrificed his Ahimsa. Gandhi thought if he didn't take an initiative everything would be lost and the matter would become topsy-turvy. Gandhi thus abandoned the road of Ahimsa and instead gave the slogan of "Do or Die". Babasaheb wrote an article in Janata which said," It is good that the person in the Mahatma remained whilst the Mahatma died". When Gandhi used to chant "Ahimsa Ahimsa", people used to say he is such a Mahatma. This was Babasaheb's reaction after Gandhi gave the slogan of "Do or Die". We should analyze history in this context. 

When Babasaheb ran his movement he analyzed that his movement comprised of the Scheduled Castes only. The freedom struggle would not succeed only on the strength of this section of people. When he got an opportunity he devised a strategy to broaden the social base of his movement. He also tried to awaken the backward classes and join them to his movement. Not only did he try to transform the movement into a nationwide movement, he even tried to make it more broad base. 

Afterwards he went to Bengal to get him­self elected to the Constituent Assembly. The Congressmen defeated Babasaheb twice in Maharashtra. Those who hail Congress do not know history. Congress put up a 'seventh stan­dard pass' candidate against Babasaheb and this candidate defeated Babasaheb. Also in Bhandara the Congress put up a nonmatric candidate named Borkar against Babasaheb and defeated him. The people of Bengal from the districts of Jassur, Barishal, Khulna and Faridpur elected Babasaheb to the Constituent Assembly. Gandhi had made an announcement through the Congress party that for Babasaheb not only the doors but also the windows of the Constituent Assembly would be closed. In spite of this the people of Bengal elected Babasaheb to the Constituent Assembly. That is why Gandhi and Congress gave away these districts to Pa­kistan to inflict punishment on these people. In­deed how great was Gandhi! Congress had to compromise with Babasaheb because of the nationwide movement that he had created. They had to make him the chairman of the Draft­ing Committee. This was not any favor be­stowed on him. The question is where is the nationwide movement that Babasaheb built and with the help of which Babasaheb was able to give us constitutional rights. Those who as­sumed the leadership of the movement after Babasaheb were bought by the Congress with the help of money and party ticket. These lead­ers dissolved this movement into the Congress Party. In this way the Congress was able to destroy this movement. There is one more rea­son for the destruction and demolition of this movement. Congress and Gandhi used the Poona Pact to destroy and demolish this self-respecting, self reliant and independent move­ment. Babasaheb had launched a "JailBharo" movement to protest against the Poona Pact in 1946. Master Mansingh who went to jail in that movement is present here on this occasion. R. R. Bhole under whose leadership this move­ment was run later joined the Congress party. He too was great ! 

In 1954 the working committee of the Scheduled Castes Federation passed a reso­lution. Babasaheb himself has written that the political reservation should be terminated. Those Buddhists who went to the Bombay High Court to beg for Political Reservation should read the resolution passed by the SCF in Nashik in 1954. Babasaheb said that our leaders open their mouths in Parliament only to yawn and for noth­ing else. If yawning was not a natural activity then these so called leaders wouldn't have yawned even! Haribhau Narke has published some volumes in Marathi in which Babasaheb calls those who get elected through Political reservation as "Gadhe( Donkeys or asses)". This means that Babasaheb wanted to end this Political Reservation. Gandhi and Congress used this political reservation to destroy our self-respecting, self reliant and independent nation wide movement. Our people considered those who get elected through the reserved seats as their leaders and representatives. Babasaheb called those who got elected through the re­served seats as agents but our people ac­cepted these people as leaders. Our people thought there was no need of running a sepa­rate movement as they had their leaders elected through political reservation. Thus people with­drew their support from the movement and went after the so called leaders. Consequently the Nationwide movement was destroyed. After the destruction of our nationwide movement the enemy started to encroach upon our rights by implementing the policy of liberalization, privatization and globalization. We got our rights because of our forefathers who fought a long struggle of 108 years. Have we given a thought to this struggle of 108 years? Will this struggle just vanish into thin air? BJP and Congress both started this programme of Privatization. This programme is intended to end all our constitu­tional rights. In ancient times Manusmriti was used to deprive us of our rights. LPG is the Manusmriti of the present times. Our rights are being terminated in front of our eyes as we have no movement to resist it. The so called leaders who had been given this responsibility are them­selves involved in this programme of implemen­tation of LPG. This proves that they are not our real representatives. In this way neither there is any movement to oppose LPG nor are these so called leaders willing to stand in your support. Thus we have no alternative other than watching this Tamasha. But if we wish to resist in the future, then there is only one alternative through which we can do so, that alternative is to create a Nationwide Movement. Our forefa­thers created a Nationwide movement but Gandhi and Congress destroyed it. If we wish to retain and get constitutional rights, if we wish to start a freedom struggle then we must make preparations. 
To create a nationwide movement BAMCEF has drafted a 10 point programme. I shall tell you about the programme in brief. First of all we wish to do Geographical Networking. Our people live in 35 states. We planned to spread our organizational network in 26 states. Out of the 602 districts we shall create a net­work in 502 districts. Out of the 5500 tehsils we plan to network 5000 tehsils. Also we shall make a network in 50000 blocks out of 55000 blocks. We shall build a vast geographical net­work in 600000 villages. This is a time bound programme and shall end in 2009. The other programme is social networking. To enforce slavery on us the Brahmins divided us into 6000 castes. Thus we have no resistance power. If we wish to destroy these 6000 castes then we have to join them together. The third programme is to create a media of propaga­tion in all the regional languages. The print media, vocal media, traditional media and the electronic media are in the hands of the Brah­mins. We need to have a media of our own. The fourth programme is to create a Human Resources and Development Institute. If we need to seriously run this movement then we need trained human resources. 

For this we intend to buy 60 acres of land in Central India in Nagpur where the sylla­bus of the movement shall be taught. Those trained in this institute shall work for the move­ment on the field. 

For the movement to succeed women who comprise 50% of our population cannot be left out. We have designed a 4 point programme to prepare the women for our movement. First we will awaken them and then train them to make them cadres. Then we shall give them representation. Leadership will emerge from those who will represent. We con­ducted this four point programme implement­ing it first from Bombay and we tested this programme in Gandhinagar. The results were there to see in Agra and the Convention was very successful. We are applying the same methods all over India. The sixth programme is to work towards creating an international opin­ion in favour of us. For this we started to establish an international network. The English had imprisoned Nelson Mandela for 28 long years. South Africa became free; it was only because of the international opinion which was in their favour. The international opinion should favour us if we want to achieve freedom. By the end of 2009 this network should reach atleast 100 countries. The seventh programme is to orga­nize smallbig programmes all over India. The eighth programme is to create a nationwide or­ganization capable of launching a nationwide mass agitation after 2009. Neither freedom can be won by begging nor can it be won by forming political coalitions. Freedom cannot be got even by contesting elections. Most people are resort­ing to these three methods. But we are planning a fourth method because we know resort­ing to these three methods will not achieve Free­dom. The fourth way is to build a mass move­ment. Freedom can be achieved only through mass movement. We have planned to mobi­lize 315 corers people. If the organizational network is spread to 5000 tehsils and if we mobilize 6000 people from each tehsil then we shall be able to mobilize 5000x6000=30000000 people. If one family consists of five members then 30000000x5=150000000 people will agi­tate on the streets. Gandhi was able to mobi­lize only 1 corer people but still the English quit India. As our enemies are more treacherous and rogues we have planned to mobilize 15000000 people. We shall need more strength and there­fore a huge mass movement will have to be built. But to build such a huge movement we shall need enormous funds. We have devised a con­cept of Nation-Wide Movement Creation Fund". We collect funds on the occasion of every Na­tional and State convention. Also we receive funds from every small or big programme that we organize. Mr. S. K. Biswas told us that M. N. Roy received 2 corer rupees. 2 corer ru­pees in those times are equivalent to 2000 corer rupees today. But we have developed a tech­nique of doing maximum work in minimum re­sources i.e. work of 10 rupees in 1 rupee. The fund that we collect is the fund of the Central unit. But our activists themselves spend a lot on the field from their own pockets. They use scoot­ers and four wheelers in the field for organiza­tional work. We never give them a single rupee from the Central fund. Thus our activists and our sympathizers actually spend corers of ru­pees on organizational work from their own pockets. We will also generate "1 rupee per day" fund, i.e. 365 rupees in 365 days. Subhash Chandra Bose had said," Give me blood and I shall give you freedom". If I say the same you shall all run away. So I say, "Freedom in a Rupee ". We are going to transform this movement into a mass movement. This will be a people's campaign. The people will drive it by contribut­ing a rupee each day to this movement. If we succeed to do this there will not be any dearth of resources. I appeal to all the activists who have come from different states, tehsils and blocks to drive this people's campaign in their respective regions to transform this movement into a mass movement." 


20 AUG, 2011, 03.49PM IST, REUTERS

Barack Obama accuses Congress of holding back US recovery

VINEYARD HAVEN: A vacationing US President Barack Obama accused Congress on Saturday of holding back the US economic recovery by blocking "common sense" measures he said would create jobs and help growth.

In remarks recorded on Wednesday on his campaign-style bus tour in Illinois and aired during his holiday in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, Obama said the stalled construction, trade and payroll tax bills could give a boost to the economy.

"The only thing preventing us from passing these bills is the refusal by some in Congress to put country ahead of party. That's the problem right now. That's what's holding this country back," the president said in his weekly radio address, which is also transmitted on the Internet.

Wall Street stocks have suffered four weeks of losses because of investor jitters, partly over concerns that the United States may be headed for another recession after barely growing in the first half of 2011.

With the national unemployment rate stuck above 9 per cent, Obama's re-election hopes may hinge on his ability to convince voters he is steering the US economy the right way.

He has been criticized for taking off to Martha's Vineyard, a wealthy island retreat near Boston, at at time when some 14 million Americans are out of work. Such breaks are typical for US presidents, and the Obamas also took vacations in Martha's Vineyard in August of 2010 and 2009.

The White House has said the president would spend much of his nine-day absence from Washington working on the job and growth package he will unveil in an early September speech.

In his Saturday remarks, Obama acknowledged the country remained far from full health.

"We're going through a tough time right now. We're coming through a terrible recession," he said. "So we need folks in Washington -- the people whose job it is to deal with the country's problems, the people who you elected to serve -- we need them to put aside their differences to get things done."

Republicans control the US House of Representatives and Democrats control the Senate. A bitter fight between the two parties over deficit-cutting brought the country to the edge of a debt default and sparked a credit ratings downgrade this month.

18 AUG, 2011, 12.58AM IST, REUTERS

Rise of China state-owned firms rattles US companies


WASHINGTON: When the leaders of the world's two biggest economies meet in Hawaii three months from now, U.S. President Barack Obama will still be able to brag to Chinese President Hu Jintao that the United States has more big companies than any other nation on the planet.

In Fortune magazine's 2011 list of the 500 largest companies, the United States leads with 133, four more than Japan's 68 and China's 61 combined.

But a glance back at the 2005 list would give Hu more of a reason to smile. That year China had just 16 companies in the top 500 and the United States had 176, including at least one, Lehman Brothers, no longer around.

Given China's rapid economic growth and its push for Chinese enterprises to "go global," former Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt said it is certain the number of big Chinese companies will continue to rise.

But what American business finds disturbing is that most of the Chinese companies are state-owned, including the three in Fortune's Top Ten -- China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (also known as Sinopec), China National Petroleum and State Grid, which says it supplies energy to over 1 billion Chinese consumers.

"A new dynamic in the world economy threatens the competitiveness of American companies and workers in world markets and undermines our country's core belief in market-based economy," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Coalition of Services Industries said in a joint report.

"No adequate and effective international disciplines now exist to deal with this problem," the groups added, complaining that China and other countries lavish regulatory favors and generous subsidies on their state-owned firms.

For now, that most strongly affects American companies that compete with state-owned enterprises or state-supported enterprises in their home market.

"But as SOEs and SSEs grow, they are increasingly competing in third markets abroad and they are beginning to compete in the U.S. market," the U.S. business groups said.

A "MULTITUDE OF ADVANTAGES"

Vice President Joe Biden is expected to raise U.S. concerns about China's state-owned enterprises during talks this week in Beijing with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, China's presumed future leader, and with Hu.

The United States believes China should "dismantle a set of financial controls that tend to channel cheaper credit to state-owned enterprises," putting their own private companies and foreign competitors at a disadvantage, U.S. Treasury Under Secretary Lael Brainard told reporters on Monday.

The Obama administration also is pushing in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 34 rich nations and emerging economies, for a "competitive neutrality" framework to ensure government-supported companies do not enjoy an unfair advantage over private sector firms.

"It is not up to the U.S. to question the wisdom of other nations in establishing state enterprises. But it is very much a U.S. concern if the playing field is not level between them and their American competitors," U.S. Under Secretary of State Robert Hormats said in a recent speech.

20 AUG, 2011, 07.45AM IST, ET BUREAU

High inflation forced Reserve Bank of India governor Duvvuri Subbarao to hiked rates against team's advice of 25 bps hike

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MUMBAI: Reserve Bank of India governor Duvvuri Subbarao chose to be guided by his own judgement in going for an aggressive increase in interest rates in July rather than going by the advice of a committee on monetary policy, according to minutes of its meeting released by the central bank on Thursday. In the monetary policy review in July, RBI raised rates by 50 basis points - higher than expected - surprising the market, which was betting on rates going up by 25 basis points.

However,the minutes of the meeting of the technical advisory committee on monetary policy show that none of the members were as hawkish as Subbarao in their suggestions on a rate increase to curb inflation. Other members of the committee, which include deputy governors Subir Gokarn, KC Chakrabarty and HR Khan, former chief economic advisor Shankar Acharya, members of the RBI board YH Malegam and Sanjay Labroo, besides former RBI executive director A Vasudevan and professor Sudipto Mundle, either suggested a raise of 25 basis points or a pause on policy action.

Until this aggressive rate action in July, Subbarao had been criticised by some economists and treasury heads of banks for his babystep approach or a policy of softand-measured rate increases. The minutes of the meeting appear to confirm that Subbarao had shed that approach, adopting a bolder stance to curb headline inflation , which is over 9%. Unlike in the UK, this committee is only advisory in nature.

In the UK, the Bank of England has a monetary policy committee which sets interest rates after voting by members. The Bank of England's monetary policy committee has representatives from the central bank and four external members appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/high-inflation-forced-reserve-bank-of-india-governor-duvvuri-subbarao-to-hiked-rates-against-teams-advice-of-25-bps-hike/articleshow/9669411.cms

19 AUG, 2011, 01.26PM IST, PTI

Manufacturing policy in next few weeks: Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma

NEW DELHI: Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma today said India will soon have a national manufacturing policy, as his ministry has cleared the Cabinet note on the proposed policy.

"Yesterday only I signed the Cabinet note. We hope that in a few weeks from now, India will have a national manufacturing policy," Sharma said at a CII function here.

After the committee's approval, the ministry had held extensive discussions with different stakeholders, including industry chambers.

With the objective of creating 100 million additional jobs and taking the share of manufacturing to 25 per cent of the country's GDP by 2025, the proposed 'National Manufacturing Policy' envisages the creation of National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) with world-class facilities for promotion of these activities.

At present, the manufacturing sector contributes 15-16 per cent to the economy.

On June 9, 2011, a high-level committee chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave in-principle approval to the manufacturing policy.

The meeting chaired by Singh also took on board concerns over environment and labour issues.

Following the meeting, Singh had directed the Commerce and Industry Ministry to complete the consultation process with other ministries so that the final policy could be brought before Cabinet soon.

"This will send a positive message to the investing community," a PMO release said.

19 AUG, 2011, 12.53PM IST, IANS

India amending Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement says, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee

NEW DELHI: The government is amending the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement it has with four countries and is also negotiating with 16 entities to improve information sharing on black money as part of the Tax Information Exchange Agreement.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said in response to a query during question hour in the Lok Sabha that many domestic companies would make investments abroad as the Indian economy becomes more integrated with the global economy. This, he said, would require avoidance of double taxation by both the countries involved in the trade.

The finance minister added that in order to improve sharing of information on black money, the government is negotiating with 16 entities and the agreements would be completed by October this year. He said after the accords, information on black money would be available from April 1, 2011.

Other Backward Class

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Central Government of India classifies some of its citizens based on their social and economic condition as Scheduled Caste (SC),Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Class (OBC). The OBC list presented by the commission is dynamic (castes and communities can be added or removed) and will change from time to time depending on Social, Educational and Economic factors. For example, the OBCs are entitled to 27% reservations in public sector employment and higher education. In the constitution, OBCs are described as "socially and educationally backward classes", and government is enjoined to ensure their social and educational development.

Until 1985, the affairs of Backward Classes were looked after by the Backward Classes Cell (BCC) in the Ministry of Home Affairs. With the creation of a separate Ministry of Welfare in 1985 (renamed as Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 25 May 1998) the matters relating to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Minorities were transferred to the new Ministry.

The Backward Classes Division in the Ministry looks after the policy, planning and implementation of programmes relating to social and economic empowerment of OBCs. It also looks after matters relating to two institutions set up for the welfare of OBCs: National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation (NBCFDC) and the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).

Contents

 [hide]

[edit]Overview

Rural landholding pattern of various social groups calculated by National Sample Survey 99-00 indicate that OBC and forward Castes are comparable in wealthiness.)

Backward class people is a collective term, used by theGovernment of India, for castes which are economically and socially disadvantaged. They typically include the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). According to "The Times of India" on 31 August 2010, even after 17 years, at most 7% of seats have been filled by OBCs, regardless of their 27% reservation.[1] This difference between proportion of different communities in Higher educational institutions is mainly because of difference in primary school enrollment. Political parties in India have attempted to use these communities as votebanks.[citation needed]

[edit]Obligation of the government

Under Article 340 of the Indian Constitution, it is obligatory for the government to promote the welfare of the Other Backward Classes (OBC). Article 340(1) states, " The president may by order appoint a commission, consisting of such persons as he thinks, fit to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of India and the difficulties under which they labour and to make recommendations as to the steps that should be taken by the union or any state to remove such difficulties and as to improve 'their condition and as to the grants that should be made, and the order appointing such commission shall define the procedure to be followed by the commission."

Article 340(2) states, "A commission so appointed shall investigate the matters referred to them and present to the president a report setting out the facts as found by them and making such recommendations as they think proper."

[edit]Demographics

[edit]First Backward Classes commission

Main article: Kalelkar Commission

The First Backward Classes Commission was set up by a presidential order on January 29, 1953 under the chairmanship of Kaka Kalelkar. The commission submitted its report on March 30, 1955. It had prepared a list of 2,399 backward castes or communities for the entire country and of which 837 had been classified as the "most backward". Some of the most notable recommendations of the commission were:

  1. Undertaking caste-wise enumeration of population in the census of 1961;
  2. Relating social backwardness of a class to its low position in the traditional caste hierarchy of Indian society;
  3. Treating all women as a class as "backward";
  4. Reservation of 70 per cent seats in all technical and professional institutions for qualified students of backward classes.
  5. Reservation of vacancies in all government services and local bodies for other backward classes.

The commission in its final report recommended "caste as the criteria" to determine backwardness. But this report was not accepted by the government as it feared that the backward classes excluded from the caste and communities selected by the commission may not be considered and the really needy would be swamped by the multitude and would hardly receive special attention.

[edit]Mandal commission

Main article: Mandal Commission
**NFHS Survey estimated only Hindu OBC population. Total OBC population derived by assuming Muslim OBC population in same proportion as Hindu OBC population)

The decision to set up a second backward classes commission was made official by the president on January 1, 1979. The commission popularly known as the Mandal Commission, its chairman being B. P. Mandal, submitted a report in December 1980 that stated that thepopulation of OBCs, which includes both Hindus and non-Hindus, was around 52 per cent of the totalpopulation according to the Mandal Commission.

However, this finding was criticized as based on "fictitious data". The National Sample Survey puts the figure at 32%.[2] There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBCs in India, with census data compromised by partisan politics. It is generally estimated to be sizable, but lower than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or and National Sample Survey.[3]

27 percent of reservation was recommended owing to the legal constraint that the total quantum of reservation should not exceed 50 percent. States which have already introduced reservation for OBC exceeding 27 per cent will not be affected by this recommendation. With this general recommendation the commission proposed the following overall scheme of reservation for OBC:

  1. Candidates belonging to OBC recruited on the basis of merit in an open competition should not be adjusted against their reservation quota of 27 per cent.
  2. The above reservation should also be made applicable to promotion quota at all levels.
  3. Reserved quota remaining unfilled should be carried forward for a period of three years and de-reserved thereafter.
  4. Relaxation in the upper age limit for direct recruitment should be extended to the candidates of OBC in the same manner as done in the case of SCs and STs.
  5. A roster system for each category of posts should be adopted by the concerned authorities in the same manner as presently done in respect of SC and ST candidates.

These recommendations in total are applicable to all recruitment to public sector undertakings, both under the central and state governments as well as to nationalised banks. All private sector undertakings which have received financial assistance from the government in one form or other should also be obliged to recruit personnel on the aforesaid basis. All universities and affiliated colleges should also be covered by the above scheme of reservation. Although education is considered an important factor to bring a desired social change, "educational reform" was not within the terms of reference of this commission. To promote literacy the following measures were suggested:

  1. An intensive time-bound programme for adult education should be launched in selected pockets with high concentration of OBC population.
  2. Residential schools should be set up in these areas for backward class students to provide a climate specially conducive to serious studies. All facilities in these schools including board and lodging should be provided free of cost to attract students from poor andbackward class homes.
  3. Separate hostels for OBC students with above facilities will have to be provided.
  4. Vocational training was considered imperative.
  5. It was recommended that seats should be reserved for OBC students in all scientific, technical and professional institutions run by the central as well as state governments. The quantum of reservation should be the same as in the government services, i.e. 27 per cent.[citation needed]

[edit]Legal Dispute

[edit]Supreme Court interim stay

On 29 March 2007, the Supreme Court of India, as an interim measure, stayed the law providing for 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes in educational institutions like IITs and IIMs. This was done in response to a public interest litigation — Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India. The Court held that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs for the purpose of providing reservation. The court also observed, "Reservation cannot be permanent and appear to perpetuate backwardness".[4]

[edit]Supreme Court verdict

On 10 April 2008 the Supreme Court of India upheld the government's initiative of 27% OBC quotas in government-funded institutions. The Court has categorically reiterated its prior stand that those considered part of the "Creamy layer" should be excluded from the scope of the reservation policy as well as from private institutions. The verdict produced mixed reactions from supporting and opposing quarters. Several criteria to identify the portion of the population comprising the "creamy layer" have been recommended, including the following:[5]

Those with family income above Rs 250,000 a year (now Rs 450,000 a year,As of October 2008) should be in creamy layer, and excluded from the reservation quota. Also, children of doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, actors, consultants, media professionals, writers, bureaucrats, defence officers of colonel and equivalent rank or higher, high court and Supreme Court judges, all central and state government Class A and B officials should be excluded. The Court has requested Parliament to exclude MPs' and MLAs' children as well.

[edit]Supreme Court conclusions from Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India

  1. The Constitution (Ninety-Third Amendment) Act, 2005 does not violate the "basic structure" of the Constitution so far as it relates to the state maintained institutions and aided educational institutions. Question whether the Constitution (Ninety-Third Amendment) Act, 2005 would be constitutionally valid or not so far as "private unaided" educational institutions are concerned, is left open to be decided in an appropriate case.
  2. The "Creamy layer" principle is one of the parameters to identify backward classes. Therefore, principally, the "Creamy layer" principle cannot be applied to STs and SCs, as SCs and STs are separate classes by themselves.
  3. Preferably there should be a review after ten years to take note of the change of circumstances.
  4. A graduation (not technical graduation) or professional course deemed to be educationally forward.
  5. Principle of exclusion of Creamy layer applicable to OBC's.
  6. The Central Government shall examine as to the desirability of fixing a cut off marks in respect of the candidates belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs)to balance reservation with other societal interests and to maintain standards of excellence. This would ensure quality and merit would not suffer. If any seats remain vacant after adopting such norms they shall be filled up by candidates from general categories.
  7. So far as determination of backward classes is concerned, a Notification should be issued by the Union of India. This can be done only after exclusion of the creamy layer for which necessary data must be obtained by the Central Government from the State Governments and Union Territories. Such Notification is open to challenge on the ground of wrongful exclusion or inclusion. Norms must be fixed keeping in view the peculiar features in different States and Union Territories. There has to be proper identification of Other Backward Classes (OBCs). For identifying backward classes, the Commission set up pursuant to the directions of this Court in Indra Sawhney 1 has to work more effectively and not merely decide applications for inclusion or exclusion of castes.
  8. The Parliament should fix a deadline by which time free and compulsory education will have reached every child. This must be done within six months, as the right to free and compulsory education is perhaps the most important of all the fundamental rights (Art.21 A). For without education, it becomes extremely difficult to exercise other fundamental rights.
  9. If material is shown to the Central Government that the Institution deserves to be included in the Schedule (institutes which are excluded from reservations) of The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 (No. 5 of 2007), the Central Government must take an appropriate decision on the basis of materials placed and on examining the concerned issues as to whether Institution deserves to be included in the Schedule of the said act as provided in Sec 4 of the said act.
  10. Held that the determination of SEBCs is done not solely based on caste and hence, the identification of SEBCs does not violate Article 15(1) of the Constitution.

[edit]See also

[edit]Notes

  1. ^ Kumar, D Suresh (25 September 2010). [17 yrs after Mandal, 7% OBCs in govt jobs|http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/17-yrs-after-Mandal-7-OBCs-in-govt-jobs/articleshow/6465115.cms]. Times News Network. [Archived by WebCite®|http://www.webcitation.org/5tnYAVRTu] on 27 October 2010. Accessed 27 October 2010.
  2. ^ [1]. Accessed October 2010.
  3. ^ [2][dead link]
  4. ^ "Supreme Court stays OBC quota in IITs, IIMs". rediff.com (Rediff.com India Limited). March 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
  5. ^ "New Cutoff for OBCs". The Telegraph. April 11, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-11.

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Mandal Commission

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Mandal Commission was established in India in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward."[1] It was headed by Indian parliamentarian Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal to consider the question of seat reservations and quotas for people to redress caste discrimination, and used eleven social, economic, and educational indicators to determine backwardness. In 1980, the commission's report affirmed the affirmative action practice under Indian law whereby members of lower castes (known as Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Scheduled Castes and Tribes) were given exclusive access to a certain portion of government jobs and slots in public universities, and recommended changes to these quotas, increasing them by 27% to 49.5%.

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