Whose Budget Is This

Palash Biswas

(Contact: Palash C Biswas, Gosto kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 25659551)

Inflation, infrastructure and inclusiveness. These were the three "I"s we were expecting the finance minister to focus on in Budget 2007, and that's what he's done. All in some measure. For Vote bank politics, of Course, His attempt to make the 9 per cent plus growth story more inclusive has been to announce substantial additional spending on social infrastructure, health and education, and agriculture. But the main target remains the same : Escalate the Global Market, Protect US, Brahminical and Zionist interests and destroy indiginious production sytem. We know well the staunch supporters of Indian Globalisation have been dictating for more reforms. But the dictates from elsewhere are much more relevent for the Government of India to sustain itself as the out and out capitalist, Brahminical and zionist forces wait in the wings to take over. Assemebl y Election results have sent the Red Light Alert.

The government is relying on rising tax revenue as the masses have to bear the burns and previleged classes are spared. Indutrial cover has got the permission of Tax Holiday. Food and Employment are not the priorities at all.

Enslaving the SC, ST, BC, ONBC, Minorities- the majority Indian population is the key they hold on. Thus, Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced an increased allocation of Rs 3,271 crore (Rs 32.71 billion) for the schemes benefiting Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the General Budget presented on Wednesday for 2007-08.Presenting the Budget, the finance minister said in respect of schemes with at least 20 per cent of the benefits earmarked for SCs/STs, the allocation has been increased to Rs 17,691 crore (Rs 176.91 billion).The allocation under Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Programme for SC/ST students studying M Phil and PhD courses has been increased from Rs 35 crore (Rs 350 million) in 2006-07 to Rs 88 crore (Rs 880 million) in 2007-08, he said.Chidambaram also announced that the provision for post-matric scholarship programme for SC/ST students has also been increased from Rs 440 crore (Rs 4.4 billion) in 2006-07 to Rs 611 crore (Rs 6.11 billion) in 2007-08.He said a separate provision of Rs 91 crore (Rs 910 million) for similar scholarships to students belonging to socially and educationally backward classes has also been proposed.The finance minister said a sum of Rs 63 crore (Rs 630 million) to the share capital of the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation has been proposed to expand the reach and intensity of its efforts.Last year, he said, a sum of Rs 16.47 crore (RsThe consumer durables segment can be segregated into consumer electronics (TVs, VCD players and audio systems etc.) and consumer appliances (also known as white goods) like refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners (A/Cs), microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners and dishwashers.

War and Civil Wars have been the best tools of Global Imperialism which has deep roots in Weapon Industry. Thus, Continuing its drive to modernise the armed forces, the government on Wednesday hiked the defence budget for 2007-08 to Rs 96,000 crore (Rs 960 billion), an increase of 7.8 per cent over the current fiscal outlay.The increase was Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) more in actual terms, as the defence ministry spent Rs 86,000 crore (Rs 860 billion) as against its outlay of Rs 89,000 crore (Rs 890 billion) for 2006-07.

Why Budget, It is Cricket

As the Indian Team heads to the West Indies for the World Cup, fans voice their wishes and wants.National media focused the event with much hype and Union Budget telecast remained off the line round the clock.India's World Cup team leaves for the West Indies on Wednesday night carrying with it the hopes and prayers of over a billion cricket-crazy fans, all anxious to see it emulate Kapil's Devils of 1983 by returning home with cricket's biggest prize.

Bring home the cup, boys!
Shah Rukh Khan, actor

We may have said rude and demeaning things about the team when they have lost, but we take it all back. We love you and hope you bring back the World Cup

Is it a delibrate attempt to divert the basic Issues?

Focus on TV was on reactions of political parties and tax payers on expected aline, Expert opinion of committed economists and Metro consumers. Out of focus are the common Masses based in Rural India who have been the scapegoats always.

Development and Infrastructure have been on focus always. What development?
My foot.
What Infrastructure?
Again my foot?

All roads targets Raw Matter for industries and prostitutes for the ruling classes. The so called infrastructure is never meant for the masses. It is for capitalist development.

So called social agenda and welfare progrrammes are well targeted to strengthen the Election machinery.

For whom the bell tolls?

Information technology is best used to enhance globalisation. But recent election results in Punjab and Uttaranchal and coming elections in the power base Uttar Pradesh had been counted well.So so many assurances. So many allocations and plans, good for nothing.

Buoyed by a strong economy, India's finance minister called on Wednesday for billions of dollars in investment in agriculture and education to spread the benefits of growth more evenly.
In an annual budget address, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram proposed billions of dollars in spending to buoy the ailing rural economy and to open access to quality education, a dearth of which has hindered India's thriving outsourcing industry.Answering calls for greater investment by Indian outsourcers and multinationals, like Microsoft, which have vast operations here, Chidambaram proposed to raise federal spending on education by 34 percent, to $7.3 billion, including a doubling of outlays on secondary education. He proposed to raise health care spending by 22 percent, to $3.4 billion, and to inject an extra $1.3 billion into Bharat Nirman, a New Deal- style effort to build rural infrastructure like roads and telephone lines.

Will this budget is going to help the starving underclasses in Tea Gardens in India? In Jute mills?
The evicted Rural India from Indigineous production system?

Would this budget inspire some enthusiasm in the hearts of all those helpless Farmers countrywide who have no choice but to commit suicide?

After all whose budget is this?

Tumbling Sensex exposes the well curtained underground play.

Mirroring the heavy sell-off in the global markets, the Sensex opened with a huge negative gap of 434 points at 13,045, and soon tumbled to a low of 12,801 - a drop of points from the previous close.

The index, thereafter, swung to the Finance Minister's speech between 13,000 and 13,300. Though selling was seen across-the-board, cement and technology stocks were hammered following negative vibes from Budget 2007.

Is it only coincidence that the head of government in all the three South asaian countries India, Pakistan and Bangladesh happen to be the World Bank Officials. All three of them Dr Manmohan singh, Shaukat Aziz and Dr Farouq Ahmed!

Now the Global government is ready to launch a goverment run by West based NGOs in Bangladesh to be headed non other than the Poverty Eradiction fame economist, Nobel Laureate Dr Mohammad Unis!

Is Manmohan Singh a Washington appointee?

A Prattler's Tale

(Memoirs of Ashok Mitra, chief economic adviser to government of India when Mrs. Indira Gandhi and former Finance Minister of West Bengal)

(Book Review by) MJ Akbar

Deep into Dr Ashok Mitra's new book, A Prattler's Tale: Bengal, Marxism and Governance (Samya, Rs 595), I began to feel a growing sense of irritation. Here was this virtually ceaseless, seamless sequence of the most wonderful political anecdotes I had read in years, and so many of them lost the last-mile edge because the author had refused to name names, although the descriptions took you near enough the identity.Dr Mitra's career is packed with "former" designations -- chairman of the Agricultural Prices Commission and chief economic adviser to government of India when Mrs Indira Gandhi was prime minister (she called him Ashok), finance minister to Jyoti Basu after the Left Front triumph in Bengal in 1977 -- and his memoirs are a treasure house of incident, perception, analysis, and sheer good fun, replete with the kind of story that is a highlight of the epicurean adda, or gossip, sessions that were and are a preferred privilege of the Kolkata Bengali elite.This book will be exploited by the intelligent historian and should be enjoyed by anyone remotely interested in public affairs. Dr Mitra has a justified reputation for fearless honesty. So why had he hidden so many names?And then, ouch! I came across a comment about me that was sharp to the point of being merciless. Relief followed: Ashokda, which is how I have called him for well over two decades, did not mention my name.I went down on a metaphorical knee to offer thanks to God, in whom Dr Mitra does not believe, and the author, in whom Dr Mitra does.Was the comment accurate? Yes. It was absolutely correct and I fully deserved the toxic barb. Dr Ashok Mitra is honest, but he is not ruthlessly honest. Phew.Mine was a case of trivia, but the absence of names in one story was of serious import. Dr Mitra has a startling revelation about the surprise appointment of Dr Manmohan Singh as PV Narasimha Rao's finance minister in 1991.....

Whole article is on this link.....

http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dgnwt3dd_2fmtwxd&revision=_published

But the big disappointment for the ruling classes seems to be is Chidambaram's absolute silence on reforms. This is the first budget since the reforms began in 1991 that a finance minister has been so completely silent on reforms in a Budget speech. All others have contained references to at least broad policy thrusts.This was Chidambaram's last chance to embark on any kind of reform, next year will most likely be the last one before the 2009 general elections. Realists will say that with the pressures of inflation, recent electoral defeats and the Quatrocchi affair, Chidambaram was following instructions to remain firmly on the right side of the Left.

Optimists will say that this is what budgets should be, just a statement of accounts, with all policy changes made outside the Budget.

Unfortunately, though we see very little reforms happening outside the Budget. Just going by history, there has been very little progress on reforms since the UPA came to power in 2004. As Shankar Acharya, Manmohan Singh's former chief Economic Advisor, points out in a recent paper, privatisation has been halted, reform-inclined legislation like the bill to reduce government ownership in public sector banks to 33 per cent for instance has been allowed to lapse.

The reformist Electricity Act of 2003, which was passed by the NDA has not seen much follow up action. The pricing of petroleum products has become more politically administered than ever before. His worry is that if the growth dividends of economic reforms occur with a lag, that is, if you admit that we are in part today reaping the benefits of reforms initiated in the 90s, then the paucity of reforms in the last three years may take their toll in the years ahead.

That is something to worry about. Really, the ruling classes would have loved to have seen a Great Reformer celebrating the 10th anniversary of his dream budget of 1997 with a little more reformist panache.

Surojit Gupta and V. Ramakrishnan report for Reuters and published in Washington Post:

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India said on Wednesday it would use tax revenue generated by a booming economy to raise spending on health, education and its flagging farm sector to improve living conditions for hundreds of millions of the poor.International rating agency Moody's said the budget was "overly accommodative" leaving too much for the central bank to do in fighting inflation, although other analysts said the package would encourage investment and growth.
"It seems the government is feeling very rich as it is an expansionary budget," said Han-Sia Yeo, a strategist at Bank of America in Singapore.

"The priority seems to be inflation fighting to garner political support, support infrastructure spending and fiscal consolidation in that order."

Fresh from defeat in two state elections on Tuesday that reflected voter anger about rising prices, the ruling Congress party slashed duties on a host of items in its annual budget to control inflation, now just below its highest in two years.

With one eye on more state elections later this year and the other on national polls due in 2009, the government said total spending would rise 21 percent to 6.81 trillion rupees ($154 billion), including higher spending on education, health and a rural jobs guarantee scheme.

"Our human and development indices are low, not because of high growth but because growth is not high enough," Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told parliament.

"Faster economic growth has given us once again the opportunity to unfurl the sails and catch the wind."

The Indian economy, Asia's fourth largest, is expanding at its fastest pace in 18 years and is forecast to grow 9.2 percent in the fiscal year ending on March 31.

The government has made high growth the centerpiece of its agenda to lift a quarter of the billion-plus population out of extreme poverty, although its communist allies said the budget did not go far enough to help farmers and the poor.

The government is relying on rising tax revenue, which Chidambaram said would reach 4.04 trillion rupees in 2007/08, up 16.7 percent, and market borrowing, estimated at a net 1.09 trillion, up from 1.07 trillion in 2006/07.

The rupee fell slightly while the main stock market index ended down 4 percent, weighed down by global concerns. Cement stocks suffered after duty was raised on producers selling above a certain price.

INFLATION FIGHTING

Chidambaram said the economy was in a stronger position than ever to promote "inclusive" growth, equity and social justice.

"It therefore behoves us to set higher goals," he said.

But the consequence of expansion has been higher inflation as supplies fail to keep pace with demand and infrastructure such as ports and power has struggled to cope.

The central bank has tightened policy and Deputy Governor Rakesh Mohan said it would keep taking action as necessary, sending the yield on the 10-year government bond to 7.98 percent, up 9 basis points on the day.

Wholesale price inflation touched 6.73 percent in early February, fueled partly by food prices, and Chidambaram said such a huge country must be self-sufficient in basic food items, otherwise supply constraints could upset macroeconomic stability.

"Hence agriculture must top the agenda of the policymakers," he said.

The 2007/08 fiscal deficit target was 3.3 percent of gross domestic product, down from 3.7 percent this fiscal year, which

global rating agency Standard & Poor's said was encouraging.

Chidambaram kept corporate tax rates broadly unchanged, raised the personal income tax exemption threshold and added 1 percent on all taxes to fund education.

He said the tax-to-GDP ratio had increased to 11.4 percent this year from 10.5 percent due to better compliance, gave tax holidays to research and infrastructure projects and said a national goods and service tax would be introduced in 2010.

Welfare State Pose

"Education and health care are the prime imperatives as far as this budget is concerned," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said after the speech.

By focusing on the nation's grinding poverty, the budget proposal suggested that the government, led by the Congress party, was already turning its eye toward the 2009 general election, said Kuldip Nayar, a veteran political commentator in Delhi. That emphasis appeared to come at the expense of some of the business-friendly measures that industry had hoped for.

What is a budget at all?

Budget is a plan expressed in quantitative, usually monetary term, covering a specific period of time, usually one year. In other words a budget is a systematic plan for the utilization of manpower and material resources.

In a business organization, a budget represents an estimate of future costs and revenues. Budgets may be divided into two basic classes: Capital Budgets and Operating Budgets.

Capital budgets are directed towards proposed expenditures for new projects and often require special financing. The operating budgets are directed towards achieving short-term operational goals of the organization, for instance, production or profit goals in a business firm. Operating budgets may be sub-divided into various departmental of functional budgets.

India's Budget - India's public finance system follows the British pattern. The Indian constitution establishes the supremacy of the bicameral Parliament--specifically the Lok Sabha (House of the People)--in financial matters. No central government taxes are levied and no government expenditure from public funds disbursed without an act of Parliament, which also scrutinizes and audits all government accounts to ensure that expenditures are legally authorized and properly spent. Proposals for taxation or expenditures, however, may be initiated only within the Council of Ministers--specifically by the minister of finance. The minister of finance is required to submit to Parliament, usually on the last day of February, a financial statement detailing the estimated receipts and expenditures of the central government for the forthcoming fiscal year and a financial review of the current fiscal year.

The Lok Sabha has one month to review and modify the government's budget proposals. If by April 1, the beginning of the fiscal year, the parliamentary discussion of the budget has not been completed, the budget as proposed by the minister of finance goes into effect, subject to retroactive modifications after the parliamentary review. On completion of its budget discussions, the Lok Sabha passes the annual appropriations act, authorizing the executive to spend money, and the finance act, authorizing the executive to impose and collect taxes. Supplemental requests for funds are presented during the course of the fiscal year to cover emergencies, such as war or other catastrophes. The bills are forwarded to the Rajya Sabha (Council of States--the upper house of Parliament) for comment. The Lok Sabha, however, is not bound by the comments, and the Rajya Sabha cannot delay passage of money bills. When signed by the president, the bills become law. The Lok Sabha cannot increase the request for funds submitted by the executive, nor can it authorize new expenditures. Taxes passed by Parliament may be retroactive.

Each state government in India maintains its own budget, prepared by the state's minister of finance in consultation with appropriate officials of the central government. Primary control over state finances rests with the state legislature in the same manner as at the central government level. State finances are supervised by the central government, however, through the comptroller and the auditor general; the latter reviews state government accounts annually and reports the findings to the appropriate state governor for submission to the state's legislature. The central and state budgets consist of a budget for current expenditures, known as the budget on revenue account, and a capital budget for economic and social development expenditures.

The national railroad (Indian Railways), the largest public-sector enterprise, and the Department of Posts and Telegraph have their own budgets, funds, and accounts (see Railroads; Telecommunications, this ch.). The appropriations and disbursements under their budgets are subject to the same form of parliamentary and audit control as other government revenues and expenditures. Dividends accrue to the central government, and deficits are subsidized by it, a pattern that holds true also, directly or indirectly, for other government enterprises.

India's GDP grows 8.6% in Q3

Indian economy continued to grow at a rapid pace of 8.6 per cent in the third quarter of the current financial year, led by the manufacturing and services sector while farm growth plunged to a low of 1.5 per cent.The 8.6 per cent expansion during October-December 2006-07 followed the growth of 8.9 per cent and 9.2 per cent in the first and second quarters of this fiscal, taking the average growth so far this year to just below nine per cent.

Manufacturing rose 10.7 per cent in the third quarter compared to 8.2 per cent a year ago, while farm sector growth declined to a mere 1.5 per cent as against 8.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2005-06, according to latest government estimates released on Wednesday.

In services, construction growth slowed down to 9.8 per cent from 16.6 per cent, financial services rose by 11.6 per cent compared to 9.8 per cent a year ago. Trade, hotels, transport and communication sector witnessed a growth of 13 per cent from 10 per cent a year ago.

Growth in the mining sector stood at 5.7 per cent as against 2.7 per cent, while electricity, gas and water supply sectors registered a growth of 9.3 per cent compared to 5 per cent in the year-ago quarter.

Taxpayers upset

Presenting his fourth consecutive budget, Finance Minister P Chidambaram greatly disappointed personal income tax payers.Chidambaram's Budget for 2007-08 on Wednesday proposed a marginal Rs 10,000 increase in threshold tax exemption limit, while foisting an additional one per cent education cess on them.

In the backdrop of rising prices and high inflation, tax payers were expecting increase in exemption limit by Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000. But the threshold limit now stands at Rs 110,000 against Rs 100,000 earlier. The increase in exemption limit, which will provide a relief of Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000, will be partly neutralised by increase in education cess from 2 per cent to 3 per cent.

This has to be paid not only on income tax but also on all products and services covered under excise, customs and service tax.

The finance minister has also put additional burden on tax payers investing in stock markets by raising dividend distribution tax from 12.5 per cent to 15 per cent. The Budget proposes to increase the income tax exemption limit from Rs 100,000 to Rs 110,000. For women, the exemption limit has been raised from Rs 135,000 to Rs 145,000, and for senior citizens from Rs 185,000 to Rs 195,000.

Inflation
Could he have done more on inflation? Well apart from cuts in peak duties and reduction in some excise duties, there is not much a finance minister can do to directly target inflation in the Budget. P Chidambaram has done what he could by reducing peak customs duties to 10 per cent, he did have space to bring it down further to the promised ASEAN levels of of between 7 and 8 per cent but not many of us were expecting that. Importantly he's maintained fiscal discipline, bringing down fiscal deficit to 3.3 per cent of GDP.

Applaud an over performance here, the budgetary estimate was 3.8 per cent. Remember better control over the fisc helps dampen the demand pressure on inflation.

Three cheers for that. Chidambaram has tried to take some of the spending out of the hands of the bureaucrats and into agencies like the LIC. Hopefully this will ensure better targetting of these programmes. The accent on Education is welcome and nobody will grudge the 1 per cent cess on corporate and income tax for this. A talent shortage has after all been a huge worry for corporate India.

Infrastructure: a bit of a disappointment, unless I am missing something in the fine print two hours after his speech. He's promised to consider the Deepak Parekh Committee report, which has a lot of good suggestions in it and has also spoken about using our forex reserves to fund infrastructure development.

Now this was a measure first proposed by the Planning Commission a couple of years ago. Then the finance ministry, which was then also headed by Chidambaram, had pooh poohed the suggestion. It will be interesting to see what form this will now take.

India hikes defence budget

Presenting the Budget in Parliament, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the allocation of Rs 96,000 crore would include a whopping Rs 41,922 crore (Rs 419.22 billion) for capital expenditure or acquisition of new hardware, signalling that the armed forces would go ahead with some big-ticket weapons deals.He also promised to provide more funds to the defence ministry if the need arose."Needless to say, any additional requirement for the security of the nation will be provided," he said.

Defence Minister A K Antony said the continued hike in defence expenditure signalled the UPA government's "resolve to go full steam ahead with the modernisation" of the military."I am satisfied with the commitment of providing extra funds made by the finance minister," he said.

Antony, however, said there had been some laxity in certain fields during the modernisation drive, and efforts would now focus on ensuring the upgradation of the arsenal of all three services.

Though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that efforts would be made to meet the demands of defence planners for taking defence spending to around three per cent of the GDP to push the modernisation process, the proposed outlay was only 2.1 per cent of the GDP.

For the past few years, defence spending has been hovering around 2.5 per cent of GDP, much below China's whopping 7.2 per cent and Pakistan's about four to 4.5 per cent of GDP.

It was only in 2004-05 that India made an unprecedented hike of 28 per cent in the capital outlay to become the world largest arms purchaser, pushing China to the second spot.

In a break with tradition, the government made a bold move to hike the outlay on capital expenditure to almost 45 per cent of the total defence Budget.

This is part of a new effort launched by the defence ministry to balance defence budgeting equally between recurring expenditure on items like salaries and the outlay for hardware and arms purchases -- a growing concept in the Western military powers.

The idea to strike a 50-50 per cent ratio between expenditure and outlay was the brainchild of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who held the defence portfolio till last year.

"This indicates we are moving in the right direction," Mukherjee told PTI on Wednesday.

Budget to trigger demand for consumer durables

Budget Measures
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Hike in allocation towards rural development and increased spread of employment guarantee scheme

Dividend distribution tax to be hiked from 12.5% to 15%

Additional education cess of 1% to fund secondary and higher education

Budget Impact
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Increase in spending towards upliftment of rural populace to lead to increased demand for durables in the long term

Higher education cess and dividend distribution tax to impact net profits and retained earnings

Sector Outlook
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As we see it, India's per capita penetration of white goods continues to remain dismal. Availability of easy financing options, increased competition resulting in falling prices and reduction in customs duty has been boosting retail sales. We expect these factors to continue to assist white goods demand going forward. However, as a matter of conservatism, keeping in mind the paltry margins and the highly commoditised nature of the sector, we would classify this sector as a high-risk one for retail investors.

Company Impact
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Hike in allocation towards rural development and increased spread of employment guarantee should increase demand for consumer durables, thus leading to higher growth for companies like Videocon.
Industry Wish List
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Cut in excise duty from 16% to 8%

Removal of inverted duty structure, particularly so due to the free trade agreement (FTA) with Thailand

Recognition of convergence in usage of technology products from a taxation perspective

Budget over the years
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Budget 2005-06 Budget 2006-07

Excise duty on clocks, watches of retail sales prices upto Rs 500 per piece is being raised from 8% and 16%. Parts of clocks, watches of retail price upto Rs 500 per piece will now be liable to tariff with an effective tax rate of 16%.

Excise duty on monochrome television has been raised from 8% to 16%. CTV will attract a uniform excise duty of 16%.

Excise duty on imitation jewellery has been raised from 8% to 16%.

Increased spending on infrastructure and maintaining economic growth momentum from a long-term perspective.
Excise duty has been imposed @ 2% on articles of jewellery on which a brand name or trade name is indelibly affixed or embossed on the articles of jewellery itself. Unbranded articles of jewellery and other articles of precious metals will continue to be exempt from duty. Imitation jewellery to attract lower excise duty of 8% as compared to 16% earlier.

Excise duty on air conditioners is being reduced from 24% to 16%. Consequently, abatement from retail sale price is also being reduced from 35% to 30%.

Peak customs duty reduced from 20% to 15%.

The new income tax brackets, the change in exemption and deductions available to individuals and the increase in exemption for women.

Key Positives

Yet to catch up: Penetration of durables continues to remain sluggish when compared to other developing economies.

The India story: Rising income levels, consumption patterns and urbanisation are some of the key factors that would result in higher growth in volumes in the long run.

Better affordability: Easy availability of finance has stimulated consumers to buy durables.

Rural unexploited: With the government focusing on rural electrification programme, the consumer electronic manufacturers stand to benefit over a period of time. But this has been slow to come by.

Key Negatives

Mismatch in duties: Higher import duty on key raw materials (ex: colour picture tubes) has been a cause of concern.

Fiercely competitive: Exchange schemes and pricing-play by some manufacturers have had a negative impact on top players. Prices of durables and electronics have been on the decline over the last three years

Growth is slow: Volatile performance of the agricultural sector has had a negative impact on demand. The sector's performance is highly dependent on monsoon and reforms, which has failed often.

Imports Vs Indian: Threats of cheaper imports from China and other South East Asian countries, both for electronics and watches.

Budget Speech

February 28, 2007

Mr. Speaker, Sir

It is my privilege to present the Budget for 2007-08.

I. A MID-TERM REPORT CARD ON THE ECONOMY

2. In November 2006, the UPA Government crossed the midpoint of its term of office. A midterm report card can now be presented. There are many pluses and a few minuses, and I shall deal with both candidly. The biggest plus is that the growth rate of GDP has improved from 7.5 per cent in 2004-05 to 9 per cent (Quick Estimate) in 2005-06 and, according to Advance Estimate, to 9.2 per cent in 2006-07. The average growth rate in the three years of the UPA Government is, therefore, 8.6 per cent. Thanks to this impressive performance, despite the poor start in 2002-03, the growth target set for the Tenth Plan of 8 per cent will be nearly achieved.

3. Manufacturing is the main driver of growth, and this augurs well for the future. In the three years of the UPA Government, the growth rate in manufacturing has accelerated from 8.7 per cent to 9.1 per cent and further to 11.3 per cent. The services sector continues to maintain impressive growth and has recorded, in the three years, a growth rate of 9.6 per cent, 9.8 per cent and 11.2 per cent respectively.

4. On the other hand, the agriculture sector has witnessed sharp ups and downs. Average growth during the Tenth Plan period is estimated at 2.3 per cent, which is below the desired level of 4 per cent a year. About 115 million families are classified as farming fami

May We Bush At Home?

Palash Biswas

(Contact: Palash Biswas, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata, India. Phone: 91-25659551).

"Criticism - the most keen, ruthless and uncompromising criticism - should be directed, not against parliamentarianism or parliamentary activities, but against those leaders who are unable - and still more against those who are unwilling - to utilise parliamentary elections and the parliamentary rostrum in a revolutionary and communist manner. Only such criticism-combined, of course, with the dismissal of incapable leaders and their replacement by capable ones-will constitute useful and fruitful revolutionary work that will simultaneously train the "leaders" to be worthy of the working class and of all working people, and train the masses to be able properly to understand the political situation and the often very complicated and intricate tasks that spring from that situation." (Lenin, "Left-Wing Communism: an Infantile Disorder", Chapter 7)

Ideology is dead. Globalistion is live.

Down with George Bush.
Down with US Corporate, Brahminical, Zionist Unipolar Imperialism.
Bush is at Home.
How do you resist, friends?

SEZ must be abandoned and land returned to farmers. Our people must fight until then.
Are we in a mood of fighting. Why the Dalit movement is ditached about Tribals? Bengali Dalit Refugees? OBC? BC? Minorities other than Muslim?

Have we any strategy to fight at all?

That the Indian ruling class is not interested in India and the Indians can be best proved from Manmohan Singh’s dangerous SEZ policy. Nandigram involves the sensitive and captive Vote Bank, hence it may be spared this time. Singur won`t be. Not the other parts of Rural India targeted as a hunting ground.

The new urban housing policy envisaging Public Private Partnership (PPP), promotion of FDI in real estate and providing fiscal incentives to the housing sector finds itself caught in the Special Economic Zone imbroglio.The government has decided to put the policy on hold till the SEZ issue is sorted out by the empowered Group of Ministers appointed by the Prime Minister’s Office. The GoM is yet to submit its recommendations to the government.According to government officials, the decision was taken as the new Urban Housing and Habitat policy recommends acquiring agriculture land around major cities to meet the growing demand of housing sector in the country. The land, will then, be developed under the PPP model as sub-townships with certain number of flats to be reserved for economically deprived section.The new policy, which was recently cleared by the Urban Development, speaks of acquiring land for building homes on the lines prescribed under the SEZ policy. The UD ministry went by the SEZ policy, as acquiring land was easy and at affordable prices, a senior government official explained. The ministry’s policy also suggests repealing of the Urban Land Ceiling Act, a though similar to what the GoM is now considering - revamping the Land Acquisition Act.

The UD ministry has proposed fiscal and regulatory framework for banks and other participants to ‘actively’ engage in Residential Mortgage Securitisation (RMBS) transactions with relaxation on stamp duty on instruments of RMBS. The ministry wants the government to consider allowing NRIs invest in RMBS.

In order to bridge the gap between demand and supply, the policy recommends fiscal concessions for firms involved in providing loans for taking home on rentals. Also, channelisation of funds from provident fund and insurance funds for home loans is a way suggested to fill in the gap. Special stamp duty relaxation for Group Housing societies and cooperatives is another suggestion for providing homes to poor.

Even if the IMF thinks SEZs are a bad idea, Even if the Brahmin journal Frontline says that huge tracts of acquired land are being handed over to corporations in “sweetheart” deals and scams centered on SEZs, Even if the Left is divided, Urbanisation and Industrilisation have to continue. Nonogenerian Communist leader and master mind behind land reforms Jyoti Basu and his supporters in the party, ministers and Left allies may be silenced so easily. Misinformation campaign and Media management shows the ways to crush any resistance whatsoever violently or nonviolently.

So Medha and her comrades face lathicharge in Singur and it doesn`t involve any newsbreak.
Addressing farmers from Goplanagar and Bajemelia villages who had set up camps in the area since yesterday, Patkar came down heavily on the state government for going ahead with the Tata Motors project at Singur and the the Salim project in Nandigram in east Midnapur. She said the government was using the police in favour of the enterprise and added that it should stop the project as the farmers were unwilling to hand over their land.

Slogan-shouting farmers from Beraberi Purbapara marched upto the fenced area of the Tata Motors small car project where they had an altercation with the police who stood guard. Police then resorted to lathicharge to disperse them.

Chenny visits Pakistan and Rice advices India to be involved with US interests in Iraq to Iran, Palestine to China. Mission Iran may begin any moment.

"The President is going to, as commander in chief, need to do what the country needs done," Rice said, when asked in a broadcast interview whether Bush would feel bound by proposals that would call for combat troops to begin withdrawing within 120 days. She noted that gen. David Petraeus, the new US Commander in Iraq, has supported the President's troop increase. "I can't imagine a circumstance in which it's a good thing that their flexibility is constrained by people sitting here in Washington, sitting in the Congress," the Secretary of State said.

"Then you're going to have the worst of micromanagement of military affairs. And it's always served us badly in the past," she said.

Many Democrats, now the majority party on Capitol Hill, are unhappy with Bush's plan to send 21,500 more US troops to try to quell the violence in Baghdad. They are considering several options, including revoking Congress' 2002 vote authorising the invasion of Iraq.

One proposal being drafted by Senate Democrats and expected to be presented this week would pull out some combat forces and limit US troops to fighting al-Qaida terrorists, training the Iraqi security forces and maintaining Iraq's borders.

Hasn`t been it begun in south Asia?
An all India US aggression mission?

Bush is at home .
And we have surrendered sovereignity and freedom.
We are Global. We are Superpower.
We have not to resist.
Well!

Dalit Voice correspondent from Bangalore reports: Shocking news is coming from Middle East. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and some Gulf states, all stooges of America, have supported its plan to attack Iran. All these are Arab states and Sunni. Iran is Shia. If the reports are true it marks the beginning of World War-III in which the invaders and their Arab collaborators would end up being the biggest losers. President Musharraf of Pakistan is visiting the offending Arab states this week. Hope he is able to get public denial of the news of their collaboration with the US. A tour of the Middle East by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice culminated on Jan.16 in a meeting in Kuwait and the signing of a joint communique by the foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plus Egypt and Jordan.

Today every news break relates to Railway Budget. The nation is altogether happy that Lalu Prasad in his pro-poor Railway Budget for 2007-08 presented in the Lok Sabha on Monday announced major relief for passengers by cutting fares across the board.

The minister cut passenger fares cut by 4 per cent for sleeper class rail travel.

Lalu Prasad also kept the freight rates unchanged.

AC Ist class fares reduced by 6 per cent in lean season and by 3 per cent in peak season.

Re 1 cut in daily non-suburban train fares.

For AC two-tier, the busy season reduction is 2 per cent and lean season 4 per cent.

He also lowered fares for all classes of high capacity new design reserved coaches which would be 4 per cent for AC three-tier and AC chair car in busy season and 8 per cent in lean season.

In sleeper class, the fare-reduction would be 4 per cent in all seasons.

The railway minister announced that discounts for the busy season shall be applicable in popular trains throughout the year.

Superfast charge on second class tickets has been reduced by 20 per cent from Rs 10 to Rs 8, he said.

Prasad announced introduction of tourist ticket in Mumbai suburban services with facility for unlimited travel.

He brought down charges for e-tickets booked on the Internet.

The railway minister also cus petrol diesel freight rates by 5 per cent.

In fact,Indian Railway Minister has laid increased emphasis on introduction of technology by way of high speed, high capacity wagons in the Railways Budget, 2007.He has opened the doors of further foreign investment pleasing the ruling classes. Hence, welcoming the host of initiatives introduced by the Railway Minister, R Seshasayee, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said, "The budget truly heralds a modern approach to managing the largest public service through use of technology and innovation. The announcement of the policy allowing wagon manufacturers to roll out wagons with their own designs within the parameters of the RSDO will encourage R&D in the field of railways."

An article published in dalit voice opines: There was a time when — under the influence of the Sarkari Sant (Vinobha Bhave) — the rich donated their land to the poor, a scheme known as Bhoodan. In today’s India, there is a “reverse Bhoodan”, with the land of the poor being compulsorily acquired for the rich at a pittance. There was a time when the rich paid the taxes; and the poor and the middle classes were either exempt or paid low rates of taxes. In today’s India, the rich get tax holidays while the poor bear the brunt of taxation. This ‘perversion’ has a name: SEZ.
One can understand the govt.’s power of eminent domain being exercised to compulsorily acquire land for a public purpose such as a port or roads or a govt. building complex. But resorting to compulsory land acquisition for the benefit of private companies — in the name of promoting industrialisation— can never be tolerate.

It is a mystery why the ‘arch votaries of the market’ and ‘ferocious opponents of public subsidy’ like Ratan Tata, Narayanamurthy, Azim Premji, the Ambanis and others can’t pay market prices and buy land directly from farmers instead of looking upto the govt. to acquire land for them at subsidised prices. The Tamil Nadu Govt. allotted 346 acres of land to the Ford car project, which itself was on the higher side. Why do the Tatas need 997 acres for their car project? Why does Narayanamurthy need 350 acres in Bangalore, Mysore and Mangalore for Infosys, when everyone knows that IT is not a land-intensive industry and a mere 10 acres may have sufficed? It is clear that these so-called ‘captains of the industry’-turned-realtors have one set of standards for themselves and another for farmers and lesser mortals.

The Manuwadi Marxist Govt. of W.Benal proposes to acquire 10,000 acres of farm lands for the Salim Group of Indonesia. What is the reputation of this Salim Group? The simple fact is it is a Suharto crony company says it all. It cheated the Indonesian Govt. and robbed the consumers when Jakarta’s water supply system was privatised. Any decent Leftist wouldn’t want to touch such a degenerate capitalist as the Salim Group with a hundred foot pole. Like politics, business too seems to make for strange bedfellows.

WB cops lathicharge Patkar, protestors
ibnlive.com
Posted Monday , February 26, 2007 at 16:02 Email Print

DETAINED AGAIN: This is the third time that Medha Patkar has been held the West Bengal authorities.

New Delhi: Social activist Medha Patkar has got herself into another scrape in West Bengal.Patkar was in the thick of things when she tried to enter the fenced area of the Tata Motors small car project at Singur for the third time.

The police has to resort to a lathicharge to disperse the protestors led by her. Patkar said two of her associates, Amita Bag and Dhananjay Das, were injured in the lathicharge.Additional Superintendent of Police, Hooghly, Asit Pal was quoted by news agency PTI as saying that the police had to resort to lathicharge when Patkar with her associates tried to enter the fenced area.After the altercation with the police, the protestors began a sit-in demonstration a few metres away from the fence.

This is the third time that Medha Patkar has been detained by the West Bengal Police. She was held once in December when she tried to take a march for Singur farmers and once in January when she tried to enter Singur.

This is Patkar's first visit here after prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC were lifted following the Calcutta High Court's stricture on February 23 against the government's process for acquiring 997 acres for the project.

(With inputs from PTI)

Talks on Smart City project concludes
By Roy Mathew

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 26: The final round of talks between the Kerala Government and the Dubai Internet and Media Free Zone Authority for establishment of Smart City Project concluded here this afternoon.

Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan told media persons that the project was coming through. The lease terms had been among the issues that remained to be sorted out.

Mr. Achuthanandan said that the Authority had sought some clarifications and these had been discussed. The understanding reached during talks would now have to be approved by the Director Board of the Authority.

He had told the Authority to take their decisions early enough so that the agreement could be signed before the commencement of the Assembly session on March 2.

Suicide of a nation ?
Dalit Voice CORRESPONDENT
Bangalore: Zionist controllers of America are tightening the noose round the neck of the world’s sole super power. Step by step they are squeezing Americans but President Bush and his Govt. are unperturbed about the approaching suicide of a nation.

In DV, we have predicted all this. Much against the wish of the Baker Committee report, which was outright rejected by Bush, more troops are being rushed to Iraq where the American soldiers are made to die. George Bush has hit the bottom of his career having become so unpopular.

Meanwhile, the anti-Muslim war is being expanded to Iran and all preparations are being made to attack it before April (DV Feb.1, 2007 p.7).

Even as the political and military downfall of US is increasing day by day, so also its economic collapse. This also was predicted in DV.

London’s Financial Times (Jan.14, 2007) confirms our prediction.

The euro has displaced the US dollar as the world’s pre-eminent currency in international bond markets, having outstripped the dollar-denominated market for the second year in a row. The data consolidate news last month that the value of euro notes in circulation had overtaken the dollar for the first time.

Outstanding debt issued in the euro was worth the equivalent of $4,836bn at the end of 2006 compared with $3,892 billion for the dollar, according to International Capital Market Association (ICMA) data. Outstanding euro-denominated debt accounts for 45% of the global market, compared with 37% for the dollar. New issuance last year accounted for 49% of the global total.

That represents a startling turnabout from the pattern seen in recent decades, when the US bond market dwarfed its European rival: as recently as 2002, outstanding euro-denominated issuance represented just 27% of the global pie, compared with 51% for the dollar.

DV carried the story of Iran giving the first kick to USA (DV Feb.1, 2007 p.20). But the US rulers are unperturbed about their own country. But why the citizens of America are sleeping?

Secret of 3% Brahmins ruling India
Dalit Voice CORRESPONDENT
Bangalore: Brahmins are foreigners along with other Aryan varna groups like the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas (Banias).

This is the finding of the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCM.

This adds credence to the theory that “lower castes” emerged from tribal populations.

CCMB scientists analysed the Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA of three tribal populations of South India and compared the results with the available data from across the Indian subcontinent.

“The paternal lineage of Indian lower castes shows closer affinity to the tribal populations than to upper castes”, said Dr. Kumaraswamy Thangaraj. A significant aspect of the study is that its Y-SNP data provides compelling genetic evidence for the tribal origin of the lower caste populations. (Asian Age, Jan.15, 2007).

SHUDRA HATE
The non-Aryan sections are called SC/ST/BCs though in the Constitution of India they are included under the “Hindu”. An overwhelming majority of Muslim/Christian/Sikh also belong to the non-Aryan section.

The above mentioned six non-Aryan (and hence non-Hindu) sections put together comprise over 85% of the Indian population (1,100 millions) leaving a micro-minority Hindus (15%).

But even in this four-fold (chaturvarna) caste system of Hindus there is one prominent group called the shudras who form the single largest.

The Brahmins may be less than 3% and the other two — Kshatriya and Vaishya — may be less than 2%. That leaves the shudras (10%) who also are hostile to the three dwija (twice-born) caste groups — Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishya.

Why the shudras hate the dwijas? Because the Brahmins have demoted and condemned them declaring them adwijas.

BIGGEST PROBLEM
The shudras are the county’s most problem group. The Brahmins are kicking them. That is why they hate them. Yet they are not willing to join the over 85% non-Hindu group of SC/ST/BCs who are the children of this soil being its original inhabitants.

Who are the shudras? For details read Babasaheb Ambedkar book Who Were the Shudras (Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar W&S Vol.7, 1990).

These stupid shudras are neither here nor there. They are not only a problem to the country but more than that they are a problem unto themselves.

Who then are these shudras?

They are the Jats in the cowbelt, Kayasths of Bengal, Bihar, UP Etc, Patels of Gujarat, Marathas and Kunbis (Maharashtra), Reddys and Khammas (AP), Vokkaligas and Lingayats (Karnataka), Nairs (Kerala), Mudaliars, Vellalas (TN), Baidyas (Bengal).

SLIPPERS OF BRAHMINS
The moment these unthinking shudras realise that they are used by the Brahmins as their slippers (chappals) and these slippers are also used by Brahmins to beat the non-Aryan children of this soil, the country’s caste dilemma will get automatically resolved.

The shudras are the land-owning castes all over India. The SC/ST/BCs work as farm labour on their lands. The shudra castes are the country’s politically most powerful because they can manipulate the SC/ST/BCs working under them and hence dominate them.

The sharp caste and class contradictions between the shudras and SC/ST/BCs are exploited by the Brahmins to divide the two and rule.

No doubt the shudras intensely hate the Brahmins but the Brahmins use the caste contradictions between them and the SC/BCs to divide the two and rule both.

This is the secret of the Brahmins ruling India despite being a micro-minority and also of foreign origin.

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Muslims hated but Kalam loved ?
Dalit Voice CORRESPONDENT
Bangalore: Upper castes (Hindus) hate Muslims. It is this hatred of Muslims that caused the partition of India, Kashmir problem, Babri Masjid demolition, Gujarat Genocide and many more ghastly tragedies. The Sachar Committee Report 2006 (DV Jan.16, 2007 p.9) reveals how much the Hindus hate the Muslim.

If this is true why the same hate-mongering Hindus love President Abdul Kalam, a Muslim? (DV Dec.16, 2006 p.6: “Why upper castes are all praise for Kalam as a good man?”).

All over India the upper cases have launched a massive signature drive and email campaign to secure a second term for Kalam. Already lakhs of signatures have been collected in support of India’s “missile man”.

Know the “Hindu mind”: Kalam’s term ends on July 25. The Brahmana Jati Party (BJP), which represents the quintessence of Hindu hypocrisy, is all-out for Kalam. But the “secular” Congress Party has said no. Why this Brahminical love for Kalam when Muslims are so intensely hated? It is this diehard dichotomy that is devastating India.

The Hindu says one thing and does the very opposite of it. The “Hindu mind” is a scourge of not merely every Hindu but of the entire “Hindustan”. If anybody is interested in saving “Hindustan”, she/he has to first study this “Hindu mind”. Our book on this subject is getting ready.

`Industry should not be at cost of agriculture'
Kolkata, Feb. 26 (PTI): Amid controversy over farmland acquisition for industry, West Bengal's State Agriculture Commission today said industrialisation should not be done at the cost of agriculture.

"Without industrialisation, employment cannot be generated. But we are a land-criticial state owing to density of population. If industrialisation has to be done, it should not be at the cost of agriculture," Commission chairman R N Basu told reporters after a meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

To a question, Basu said that 'one to two' per cent of agricultural land could be given over to industry if farm productivity could be increased.

He said that the chief minister was keen to make hi-yield seeds available to farmers and give them access to improved technology to increase agricultural productivity.

While West Bengal was self-sufficient in food, there was shortage of cereals, pulses and sugar and rice bran, Basu said adding he had discussed with the Chief Minister the steps that should be taken to overcome it.

Asked to comment on the entry of big capital in agriculture, Basu did not give a direct reply, saying the Commission would study its impact.

Israeli army operation in Nablus continues
www.chinaview.cn 2007-02-26 19:07:25

Special report: Crisis between Israel and Palestine

RAMALLAH, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israeli troops on Monday continued operation in the West Bank city of Nablus, boosting military presence for the second day, Palestinian sources said.

The operation, which intensified around the old city of Nablus, is the largest in years and Israeli sources expected it will last for several days, adding the aim was to strike Palestinian militants who were reinforcing military capabilities.

The Israeli army imposed curfew on the city and forced residents to stay at home.

No people were reportedly killed but two Israeli soldiers were wounded on Sunday along with some Palestinians in clashes. The Israeli sources said up to 30 people were arrested including militants wanted for their involvement in attacks against the Jewish state.

However, Palestinian security sources said the given Israeli number was inaccurate.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian leadership and the Hamas-led caretaker government have condemned the Israeli Operation Hot Winter against Nablus and considered it a bid to obstruct power-sharing pact between Hamas and Fatah.

In the Gaza Strip, militants launched home-made rockets into southern Israel in response to the Israeli operation in Nablus, which were claimed responsibility by the military wings of the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) and Fatah movement.

Iran says West should yield on nuclear standoff

Tehran, Feb 26: Iran today said it was up to the West to give ground and end the standoff over its nuclear programme as world powers met in London to discuss further punitive measures against Tehran.

"The great powers have to put an end to our worries and respect the right of Iran," said Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Jalili, according to the Fars news agency.

"We have done what was necessary to put an end to their worries. It is their job now to end our worries and win our confidence," he added.

Jalili's reaffirmation of Iran's position that it has done all it can and that the ball is now in the court of western powers came a day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Tehran would not retreat over its nuclear drive.

Ahmadinejad compared the Iranian nuclear programme to a "train without brakes or reverse gear," in a graphic metaphor of his government's refusal to bend to western pressure.

In December the UN Security Council imposed limited sanctions against Tehran over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that the West fears could be used to make nuclear weapons.

Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States were to meet in London later today in a bid to thrash out a consensus on how to bring Tehran into compliance.

Washington has never ruled out the prospect of military action to halt Iran's nuclear programme, and US Vice President Dick Cheney said in Australia at the weekend that "all options are still on the table."

The United States and Israel accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charges, insisting that its atomic programme is peaceful in nature.

Devil's Advocate: Buddhadeb

CNN-IBN
Posted Sunday , February 25, 2007 at 20:38
Updated Sunday , February 25, 2007 at 23:19 Email Print

NO ROLLBACK: West Bengal Chief Minister says it's not possible to roll back the Singur decision.
After Nandigram and Singur, is the image of the Left Front Government and the CPI-M in West Bengal badly damaged? That is the key question Karan Thapar put to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in an exclusive interview on CNN-IBN’s show Devil’s Advocate.

Karan Thapar: Chief Minister, let me start with a simple question. Is the image of your government and the image of your party damaged?

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee: Well, I don’t think so.

Karan Thapar: You don’t think so. You mean it may be damaged?

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee: No. It will take some time to clear the confusion that has been created after these incidents in Singur and Nandigram.

Karan Thapar: You are saying that confusion has been created, not that your government has mishandled the situation?

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee: No, I don’t think so. Singur is something different, and in Nandigram, we did commit some mistakes there.

Karan Thapar: How serious were the mistakes in Nandigram?

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee: In Nandigram, the mistake was that we had to take people in confidence…

Karan Thapar: And you failed to do that?

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee: Yes. The local administration unnecessarily started some administrative measures which were not correct.

Karan Thapar: You are talking of the Haldia Development Authority issuing land acquisition notices. Do you accept the responsibility, as Chief Minister, at the end of the day?

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee: Not at the end of the day — on the first day when I came to know that they have started this thing without discussing it with the villagers, with the panchayat functionaries, with all sections of the people in Nandigram, I told them "stop work". And I have stopped it.

Karan Thapar: How serious a blunder was Nandigram? You have said it was a blunder, but how serious was it?

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee: I think it should not have taken place, particularly in our state, and particularly when you compare with Haldia, which is just on the other side of the river.

Karan Thapar: Has Nandigram damaged your government?

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee:I don’t think so.

Karan Thapar: Not at all?

US boosts secret missions in Iran
Correspondents in Washington
February 27, 2007

THE US is reportedly stepping up covert operations in Iran in a new strategy that risks sparking an "open confrontation" with the Islamic republic.
Video: Nuclear program 'unstoppable'
US military and special-operations teams had increased their activities inside Iran, entering from Iraq to gather intelligence and to pursue Iranian operatives, reports said yesterday.
Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh claimed in an article in The New Yorker that US clandestine operations in Iran, Syria and the wider region had been "guided by Vice-President Dick Cheney", relying heavily onSaudi Arabia and on the Saudi national security adviser, Prince Bandar.

Citing unnamed sources, the report said the US Defence Department had recently formed a special planning group to prepare for possible attacks on Iran "that canbe implemented, upon orders from the President, within 24hours".

The planning group had in the past month turned its focus from targeting Iran's nuclear sites and attempting to oust the Tehran leadership to hitting targets "involved in supplying or aiding militants in Iraq".

"A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to al-Qa'ida," the article said.

"The 'redirection', as some inside the White House have called the new strategy, has brought the United States closer to an open confrontation with Iran and, in parts of the region, propelled it into a widening sectarian conflict between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims."

The claims come as Britain's senior naval officer in the Gulf said the West's standoff with Iran over Tehran's contested nuclear program was like "the height of the Cold War".

Commodore Keith Winstanley told The Daily Telegraph in London: "There have been a series of Iranian exercises in the northern Gulf to the point that it's a bit like with the Russians at the height of the Cold War. We just have to hope that's not a recipe for miscalculation."

Commodore Winstanley said Britain had nearly doubled its naval deployments in the Persian Gulf since October. "Most of these ships are here on training missions but there is no doubt that we could use the war-fighting capabilities they possess," Commodore Winstanley said.

Hersh said in his article that US clandestine operations in Iran aimed at strengthening Saudi-supported Sunni groups and weakening Iran-backed Shi'ites.

He said that since last August, US-led forces in Iraq had been rounding up Iranians there to be interrogated, and were at one point holding 500 people.

However, officials told Hersh the approach was dangerous, enhancing radical groups that considered the US an enemy.

"We're spreading the money around as much as we can," aformer senior intelligence official said.

"In this process, we're financing a lot of bad guys, with some serious potential unintended consequences," the official said. "It's a very high-risk venture."

In some cases, the clandestine operations rely on Saudi Arabia and Prince Bandar, who was the ambassador to Washington for two decades, to provide the funding so that the operations remain secret.

Hersh wrote that, according to one source, Prince Bandar and the Saudi Government had assured Washington they would keep any dangerous Sunni groups potentially strengthened by the new policy under control.

Quattrocchi freed on bail in Argentina

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NDTV Correspondent

Monday, February 26, 2007 (New Delhi):

Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi has been freed on bail in Argentina.

But Quattrocchi, wanted in India in the Bofors case, has been banned from leaving the country.

The controversial businessman was detained on February 6.

In India, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to the CBI on the Quattrocchi extradition case.

The notice came in response to a PIL asking the court to ensure that the government and the CBI speed up the extradition of the controversial Italian businessman, caught up in the Bofors case.

A bench headed by Justice C K Thakker issued notices to the Centre and CBI and sought their replies within a week.

Opposition uproar

The controversy meanwhile dominated proceedings in the Parliament.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned for an hour as Opposition BJP and Samajwadi Party members created pandemonium over the issue.

BJP and SP members were on their feet as soon as the House met for the second day of the budget session, shouting slogans and asking the government to explain why Quattrocchi's detention was not announced when it happened.

BJP leader Jaswant Singh said the government was trying to cover up facts.

The BJP says there is an extradition treaty with Argentina and it is incorrect to state that t

US, Hindutva and Zionism Equation

Palash Biswas

(Contact: Palash Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 25659551)

Salim project is cleared by centre run by Cong led UPA aligned with Left. Now RIL gets 9,000 acres at Rs 2,200 cr for Haryana SEZ. US meeting with Muslim leader invites Left ire while US Iran stand off has intensified once again the direct battle to protect US interests in Asia. In 1999 then consul general Christopher Sandrolini ignited a similar diplomatic minefield when he sent two US consulate officials to Birbhum district following the massacre of 13 farmers allegedly by CPI-M men. On the other hand in Paris France told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday it would be "disposed to co-operate" with a planned government involving Abbas's Fatah and Hamas and seek support for it from other Western powers.But Abbas, ending a European tour in Paris, received no clear indications the EU would end a blockade that has caused economic hardship in the Palestinian territories. The sanctions were imposed to induce the militant Hamas group to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept interim peace deals.

Despite Cheney warns of Iran's nuclear ambition, Iran seems not to oblige and it is well set for a repeat of Vietnam, Korea, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Iraq and afganistan. Iran said Sunday it successfully tested a rocket that went into space, apparently part of its drive to launch five satellites into orbit by 2010.Iran’s Science and Technology and Defense ministries built the craft, state-run television quoted Mohsen Bahrami, the head of Iran’s Space Research Center, as saying.Bahrami provided no other details beyond saying that Iran had successfully launched what he called a space rocket or space missile.Psychological warfare has been a feature of Iranian-US relations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Both sides have made extensive use of it, not only to damage the morale of the other, but also as a way of managing the conflict and preventing it from escalating into a shooting war. But never has this psychological war been so intense and potentially dangerous as it is now.

US consul general Henry V. Jardine’s meeting with Jamait Ulema-i-Hind general secretary Siddiqullah Chowdhury has prompted political parties to take a fresh look at the organisation’s impact on the state’s Muslim population.While some argue the meeting may alienate Muslims who are hostile to Americans because of the war on Iraq, others believe it would boost Chowdhury’s image in the community.

“Siddiqullah is not just a Muslim leader but a force to reckon with. He has taken a fair amount of the anti-Left space that could have gone to the Trinamul Congress. But our vote-bank is increasing steadily because of the land movement,” said Trinamul MLA Partha Chatterjee. Chowdhury’s anti-acquisition protests had got “immense support” in Nandigram and Bhangar, where a large chunk of the population is Muslim.

According to political observers, the Jamait might see Chowdhury’s meeting with Jardine as a sign that the organisation is gaining “prominence”.

On the other hand, some parties feel the meeting might shrink Chowdhury’s political base in minority-dominated areas. “That may help the Left regain the support of Muslims who have drifted away from the CPM because of the land acquisition controversy,” said an RSP leader.

The Trinamul, however, feels otherwise. “If Siddiqullah’s base shrinks because of today’s meeting, Mamatadi will certainly be the sole gainer as she is also fighting on the same issue’’, party general secretary Madan Mitra said.

CPM central committee member Benoy Konar criticised the consul’s visit. “How can the US interfere in our state’s activities? This is an attack on our sovereignty, and they had earlier done the same in Nanoor. The matter will be discussed at our state secretariat meeting,” he said.
RIL gets 9,000 acres at Rs 2,200 cr for Haryana SEZ

Chandigarh, Feb 25: Reliance Industries has acquired 9,000 acres of land in Haryana at Rs 2,200 crore for setting up the country's largest multi-product special economic zone (SEZ), which when completed would spread over 25,000 acres.

The company, which floated a joint venture with Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation for the project in June last year, paid Rs 400 crore to Haryana Government toward the portion of land acquired from it, official sources said. They said the Mukesh Ambani-led company has also identified the site for a 2,000 MW power plant that is proposed to be set up as part of the SEZ.

The power plant is expected to come up near Rohtak, the sources said, adding that a round of intense discussions was held last week between officials of the company and the state government on the power project, which could involve an investment of Rs 7,500 crore. While the money would be infused in phases, the company is understood to have initiated talks with power equipment and machinery manufacturers, including GE, Alstom, BHEL and ABB.

Former NTPC Chairman DV Kapoor is overseeing the power project.

Reliance Industries (RIL) would be investing Rs 25,000 crore, besides attract third party investments to the tune of Rs 1,00,000 crore for the SEZ project that would also house a cargo airport. The zone would be spread between Garhi Harsaru and Jhajjar. RIL hopes to develop the SEZ as a world-class hub for manufacturing, services and agro-based industries and also focus on new economy sectors like Nano-technology and biotechnology.

Reliance holds 90 per cent stake in the joint venture company, while HSIIDC the remaining stake.

The company has already developed a master plan, which envisages development of a fully integrated city having an airport, rail linkages including from Delhi Metro, an international container depot and adequate supply of power, water and communication facilities, officials said.

Singur: Farmers protest, demand return of land

February 25, 2007 14:18 IST

Buoyed by the Kolkata High Court's criticism of the West Bengal government over the acquisition of land for the Tata Motors' car plant in Singur, members of a group led by the Trinamool Congress staged a protest on Sunday outside the facility and demanded the return of the land. At least 500 members of the Save Farm Land Committee from Gopalnagar and Bajemelia villages protested outside the project site at Beraberi Purbapara and shouted slogans as a large contingent of police stood guard. The protestors said their sit-in was proof that they had not given up their land or taken the compensation given by the state government.

The demonstration came in the wake of the High Court's observation on February 23 that the state government's process for acquiring land at Singur for the project prima facie appeared to be illegal.

The court also directed it to furnish all details of the controversial acquisition of 997 acres.

The protest was planned by the Committee on Saturday.

Social activist Medha Patkar, who has criticised the 'forcible' acquisition of farmland for the small car project and was prevented from entering Singur on several occasions, is scheduled to address a rally of farmers on Monday.

This will be her first visit to Singur since prohibitory orders barring rallies and protests were withdrawn earlier this month.

The officer-in-charge of Dadpur police station, who was among the large number of policemen deployed for the past few months, was rushed to Burdwan after he complained of acute chest pain.

Iran US Stand Off
The Iranian foreign minister said Saturday the United States was in no position for another war, and maintained that negotiations - not threats - were the only way to resolve the standoff over its nuclear activities.Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was responding to Vice President Dick Cheney, who renewed Washington's warning to Iran earlier Saturday that "all options" were on the table if Tehran continues to defy U.N. demands to halt uranium enrichment.Mottaki said the U.S. could not afford to settle its differences with Iran by launching a third war after Afghanistan and Iraq.

Vice President Dick Cheney, in a series of blunt and sometimes biting statements during a visit to Asia, defended the Iraq war, attacked administration critics at home and warned that the U.S. would confront potential adversaries abroad.His visit was meant to thank Australia and Japan for their support in Iraq. But a series of public appearances and media interviews, Cheney's tone was typically feisty.Answering growing criticism in the U.S. and Australia, he defended the Iraq war as a "remarkable achievement" in one speech, and dismissed suggestions his influence in Washington is waning.At a news conference Saturday, Cheney warned that "all options" are on the table if Iran continues to defy U.N.-led efforts to end Tehran's nuclear ambitions, leaving the door open to military action.Cheney's support for the Iraq war - he is considered one of the key proponents of the 2003 invasion - drew protesters into Sydney's streets for two days.

In Hariyana, India, the UPA head Sonia woos SEZ policy-affected farmers, promises loan waivers and US intervenes in West Bengal with Left Ire. In wake of growing opposition to the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policy of the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today gave a clear message to the farmers that their interests will be protected while economic policies are being formulated."Your well-being is supreme for the party and the government," she said, without making any direct reference to the SEZ policy and other contentious issues.

Her remarks are important in the context of Haryana where the maximum number of SEZs (65), including three mega multi-product projects, have been proposed. Besides, the Bhupinder Singh Hooda Government has also faced criticism from within the party on this issue. Hooda also made several announcements, including waiver of interest on cooperative loans, at the rally which was held to celebrate two years of his government early next month.Congratulating the state government for the 'good work' it has done, the Congress president underlined the need for honest implementation and continuous monitoring so that maximum number of people can draw benefits from the welfare programmes.
Enslaving and eviction drive need some spirit as it needed for partition of India to ensure the trnsfer of power to Brhmins from the British. They waited for this all the Muslim Rule time, East India Misrule and the Raj period.

Now the Ruling classes in India are not ready to wait and a nonviolent Genocide is on against the Dalit, Tribal and Minority Rural India. They support US and Israel with their intelligentsia and never hesitate to liquidate whatsoever Resistance at home front.

Thus, Iraq, Afganistan or Iran are not so far away. They stand logged in as Indian neighbours including Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, US is not afraid to entrap itself in land mine in India. We know well US sponsored insurgency activities in North East since Indiara regime.

Zionism plus Hindutva wave is well set to overcast the sky in every part of asia very soon.

The reaction is very crucial as it means global menace. War against Terrorism has been transformed in a Global market dominated by Hindutva and Zionism as well and supervised by the Global government headed by George Bush who rightly charge for escalating US interests worldwide. From ATLANTA Reutersreports that Islam is growing fast among African Americans, who are undeterred by increased scrutiny of Muslims in the United States since the September 11 attacks, according to imams and experts.Converts within the black community say they are attracted to the disciplines of prayer, the emphasis within Islam on submission to God and the religion's affinity with people who are oppressed.Some blacks are also suspicious of U.S. government warnings about the emergence of new enemies since the 2001 attacks because of memories of how the establishment demonised civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.As a result, they are willing to view Islam as a legitimate alternative to Christianity, the majority religion among U.S. blacks.

Psychological warfare is fast emerging as the key component of the conflict between Iran and the United States. It is being used extensively by the latter to influence Iranian behavior in Iraq and secure a climbdown by the Islamic Republic in the intricate negotiations over the country's controversial nuclear program.As the Iranians analyze and react to this carefully crafted psychological- warfare campaign, they run the risk of miscalculating broader developments in the region. The most important of these is Saudi Arabia's new proactive foreign policy. In this climate of heightened tensions and widespread misunderstanding it is easy for the Iranians to dismiss Saudi diplomacy as yet another plank of America's psychological warfare against the Islamic Republic. Miscalculations of this kind can have drastic long-term consequences for Iranian interests in the Middle East.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said on Saturday In Sydney that the United States and its allies must not allow Iran to become a nuclear power and raised concerns about Tehran's actions and "inflammatory" rhetoric.The stern comments from Cheney, who is known for his hawkish views, followed Tehran's refusal to heed a U.N. deadline to halt uranium enrichment and a vow by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to stand up to the rest of the world and not show weakness by acceding to the West's demands.

"They have made some fairly inflammatory statements," Cheney said of Iran at a joint Sydney news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard. "They appear to be pursuing the development of nuclear weapons."

"We are deeply concerned and have made it very clear we're deeply concerned about Iran's activities," he said.

Iran insists that it is not trying to acquire nuclear weapons and its enrichment activities are for peaceful purposes.

Dalit Voice is an Indian political magazine published in Bangalore that claims to express the views of the Dalit movement. The current full title is Dalit Voice: the voice of the persecuted nationalities denied human rights and it appears fortnightly in both internet and print formats. It was founded in 1981 [citation needed] by V.T. Rajshekar, a former journalist for the Indian Express, who is still its editor.

The magazine has been described as characterized by a strong anti-Brahminist, anti-caste and anti-racist stance, advocacy of liberation from Brahminism, and a polemical tone. It proclaims itself as "the sole spokesman for the entire deprived, dehumanised lot of India...", Dalits, Backward Castes, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, women, whom it describes as "all victims of the Aryan Brahminical racism."[1].

Dalit Voice has published at least one article praising Hitler as a "patriot" and praising Nazi Germany, claiming that "Zionist Jews" have "deliberately mis-portrayed" him as a villain[2].

The Dalit Voice claims that the majority of the population is "oppressed" by the minority, whom are regarded as "Aryan" and historically alien to the native inhabitents of the sub-continent. They also allege that discrimination in India as the original source of racism in the world, a claim that is not borne out by scholarly or historical sources. This extremist wing of the broader Dalit movement has formulated an "Indian variant" of Afrocentric history[3], based on the Nation of Islam in the USA, with whom it co-operates closely[4].

The publication attacks Hinduism, Jews, Zionism and American neoconservatism. Authors in this publication have also claimed that the religion of Hinduism and the Hindutva ideology are the same, conflating the religion with a political and cultural view:

"One cannot save Hinduism and destroy only Hindutva. The idea of difference, though it may be perceptible theoretically for the highly intellectual, is useless for the masses and needs to be abandoned. Let all Bahujans consider that Hindutva and Hinduism is one and the same thing and the Bahujans need to oppose and fight against both." (from Dalit Voice, vol.25, No.1)
Dalit voice has also made various anti-Semitic accusations and touted "Jewish conspiracy theories"[5][6]. In various broadcasts, VT Rajasekhar has claimed that the famous hoax book Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion as a legitimate text [7] and has verbally attacked Indian Jews with allegations of a conspiracy to "join hands (with Hindus) to crush Muslims, Blacks and India's Dalits"[8]

The writer Koenraad Elst has criticised the publication for having anti-Hindu views. [9], counter-claiming that claims of racism in Hinduism are a "crank ideology".

Dalit Voice, in addition to publishing articles about "Zionist conspiracies" regarding Hitler and the Third Reich[14][15], have also supported the Iranian regime and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denial of the holocaust[16].

Their anti-Brahmin rhetoric, frequently follows to further anti-Semitism with claims of Brahmins in India being descended from Jews and deriving their "fanaticism" and "arrogance" from "Jewish Zionist Racism"[10] [11]. Dalit Voice has also been criticized for "buying into anti-Jewish conspiracy theories" by far left-wing organizations such as the "Maoist International Movement". The MIM, while praising the organization of having "some good information on caste and other problems in India", they suggest that[12]:

"We hope to see Dalit Voice drop its conspiracy theories about Jews that underestimate the oppressiveness of oppressor nation people in the United States and Western Europe and take up Marxism-Leninism-Maoism[12]."

In addition, scholars and Islamic intellectuals such as Yoginder Sikand have criticized the publication, referring to it as "radical" and asserting that their rhetoric does not help alleviate the Dalit situation[13]:

"Far from alleviating the prevailing situation the militant rhetoric of the writers of Dalit Voice offers nothing substantial and instead create even more disunity. One writer calls the [Islamic] Ulema as the ‘progeny of iblis’ and appeals to the Muslims to stop reading their literature at once[13]."

US Interference in West Bengal
A visit by the US Consul General here to the office of Jamait Ulema-i-Hind leader Siddiqullah Chowdhury has sparked a row in West Bengal as the Muslim group opposes farm land acquisition in Nandigram village for industry.'How can the consul general interfere in our state's affair?' a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader asked even as party supporters raised slogans outside the office of Chowdhury. According to informed sources, Consul General Henry V. Jardine discussed land acquisition as well as the condition of Muslims in the state Saturday.Chowdhury is the latest bugbear of the CPI-M because of his outfit's role in the Nandigram movement. The CPI-M has dubbed the Jamait protests in Nandigram over land acquisition a 'communal campaign'. 'It is a people-to-people programme to know each other and nothing to do with interference in the state government's internal matter,' Douglas Kelly, director of the American Centre, told IANS Sunday.

'I agree that it is a sensitive issue (meeting Siddiqullah at this point) but Jardine was very careful not to interfere in any internal matter. It is part of our Muslim outreach programme and we do it in a routine way everywhere.'

Siddiqullah added: 'People are scared the way land acquisition is going on. We are not against industry but at the same it should not be (built) over farmland, schools and religious places. I communicated this to the consul general.'

Chowdhury told Jardine that the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) was an American concept and it would not work in India.

CPI-M MP Mohammed Salim reacted cautiously.'The government will comment on it. But Siddiqullah's association with the US is nothing new. He had visited Washington earlier also as a guest,' Salim said.

A visit by the US consul-general to the Jamait Ulema-i-Hind general secretary’s office here this afternoon became a red rag for the CPM, which accused America of “interfering in the internal affairs of Bengal”.

Henry V. Jardine’s meeting with Siddiqullah Chowdhury comes at a time when the CPM has charged the Jamait with turning the land war raging in the state into a “communal campaign”.Through the 40-minute meeting, CPM and Rashtriya Janata Dal supporters virtually besieged the office in central Calcutta’s Rabindra Sarani, urging Jardine to “go back” and asking why “after Iraq, the US is meddling in Singur and Nandigram”.

Police held the 150-odd protesters, led by the local Left-backed MLA, Mohammed Sohrab of the RJD, at bay.

Jardine emerged around 2.30 pm and was escorted through the slogan-shouting crowd by the police, who avoided a lathi-charge to keep things “amicable”. The US official was accompanied by Tinku Roy, senior adviser to the consulate.

A CPM central committee member later said: “How can the US interfere in our state’s affairs? This is an attack on our sovereignty.”
The visit revived memories of 1999, when two US consulate representatives had visited Nanoor in Birbhum after the murder of 13 farmers, allegedly by CPM men. Similar accusations of meddling, hurled by then chief minister Jyoti Basu and his party, had prompted the consul-general of the day, Christopher Sandrolini, to meet Basu at Writers’ Buildings.

“Jardine wanted to know the general condition of Muslims in Bengal and our stand on acquisition of farmland for industry and special economic zones,” Chowdhury said.

“I told him Muslims’ socio-economic condition is not good. I asked him to impress on the US government that the UPA should be persuaded to shelve its SEZ policy. He promised to get back to me.”

Roy had called up Chowdhury on Thursday to tell him Jardine wanted a meeting, and then confirmed the trip last night. In between, Chowdhury got the visit cleared by the Jamait’s all-India secretary, Mahboob Madani.

The American didn’t want to dig too deep into the land controversy, saying “it would not be proper for him to interfere in administrative decisions”, the Jamait leader said. Jardine also asked how madarsas are run.

Roy said: “I am not authorised to comment on his visit.’’

“The visit was part of the consulate’s Muslim outreach programme. Similar things are done elsewhere in the country,” a consulate official said.

The consulate reportedly uses the programme to fund organisations working for the uplift of Muslims.
Dasmunshi asks Bengal Government to stop work at Singur
Kolkata, Feb 25. (PTI): Senior Congress leader and Union Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi today asked West Bengal Government to stop work on the Tata Motors' project at Singur and open dialogue with opposition parties on land acquisition policy.

"It is not enough for Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to admit the mistake on the Nandigram land acquisition for a chemical hub. Is the Government ready to stop work at Singur too?" Dasmunshi told a youth Congress rally here.

He was sceptical if the Chief Minister would put on hold the Singur project like Nandigram and settle land acquisition controversies.

"He should hold talk with opposition parties in this regard," the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting said.

"The turmoil in Nandigram was the result of widespread resistance at Singur, which showed the way. It was not merely an outburst of farmers' agitation but a sequel to forcible acquisition of land," Dasmunshi observed.

Criticising the way the land was acquired at Singur for the Tata project, the Minister said "Nowhere in the world farmlands were acquired at the dead of night with the help of police as it was done in Singur".

It was done 'by force' when Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee was on fast and Congress was agitating.

Dasmunshi wanted the Chief Minister to have first hand knowledge of the Tata project at Uttarakhand where only low-lying uncultivated land was used.

"Mrs Sonia Gandhi once asked me to go to Uttarkhand for some purpose and I had the occasion of seeing the Tata project. I am asking the Chief Minister to visit the place as I have a different experience compared to what is happening in Singur".

He said, it was wrong to accuse Congress of 'hobnobbing' with CPI (M) and approving the "wrong" policies of the Left Front Government here because it was taking support of Left parties to run the central government.

"The Congress and the Centre would support Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee if his policies are right. If there is 'Dadagiri' by CPI (M) here against the Opposition, Congressmen would not sit idle but would give a reply through 'Gandhigiri," he said indicating that Congress in the State would follow a non-violent path shown by Gandhiji.

"We will not accept foisting police raj and fascist politics by the Marxists by wearing the mask of democracy," he said.

On the UPA Government's policy on Special Economic Zones, he said "Our policy is to see that there is no food shortage or suffering caused to farmers and a proper rehabilitation is put in place for the landlosers while setting up the SEZs".

"Our policy is to see that in the first instance the fertile land should be avoided", Dasmunshi said.

Alternative land and jobs for SEZ displaced people: Draft policy
From correspondents in Delhi, India, 12:39 PM IST
The government is considering giving alternative land and employment to people whose property is acquired for industry, particularly to set up special economic zones (SEZ), according to a new national rehabilitation policy being vetted at the highest level.The existing National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy has a provision for only cash compensation to families whose land has been taken over by the state.A draft of the new policy, a copy of which has been made available to IANS, seeks to make the 'affected persons' a stakeholder in the industrial projects, including the SEZs, by giving them land not too far from the place of displacement as well as employment, besides cash compensation.

The report concedes that 'cash compensation does not by itself enable the affected families to obtain cultivable agricultural land, homestead and other resources which they have to surrender.'

'The difficulties are more acute for persons who are critically dependent on the acquired assets for their subsistence and livelihood,' says the report.

'There are some minor points in this policy which are under discussion between our ministry and the Prime Minister's Office,' said a senior official in the rural development ministry.

'Once they are clarified, it will be sent to the union cabinet for approval and adoption. But since it is not new legislation or a bill, it would also be soon made available to members of parliament,' the official added.

According to the report, the basic theme of the new policy is that while provision of public facilities sometimes requires the exercise of legal powers by the state, it could have traumatic and psychological consequences on displaced persons.

Once adopted, the new policy will not only cover the special economic zones coming up in the country but also other projects where land is acquired by displacing families.

'There is imperative need to recognise resettlement and rehabilitation issues as intrinsic to the development process formulated with the active participation of affected persons, rather than as externally imposed requirements.'

The policy had been fast-tracked by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after protests by farmers in Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal, Kalinganagar in Orissa and in Jhajjar in Haryana, who were threatened with displacement because of SEZs.

'We will be finalising a new rehabilitation policy in three months and this will be more progressive, humane and conducive to the long-term welfare of all the stakeholders,' Manmohan Singh had assured them in January.

'Issues such as land acquisition, displacement of people and rehabilitation and resettlement should be transparently addressed,' he said, adding that there was no reason for industrialisation to be a contentious issue.

Other salient features of the new policy are:

* Appointment of administrator and commissioner for resettlement, rehabilitation with adequate powers and functions.

* Appointment of a resettlement committee to monitor and review the progress of implementing the schemes.

* Specified infrastructure and basic amenities to be provided at the resettlement zones.

* Comprehensive dispute redressal mechanism and grievance redressal cell.

Dalit Voice Editorial

Defeat in Iraq & fall of Bush: India warned to quickly adjust to big changes in West
A big news is about to explode : the American defeat in Iraq. Of course, DV was the first in the world to predict this. (DV Feb.1, 2003 p.8: "US defeated even before attacking Iraq?").

The coming days are expected to throw up big developments:

The ignominious exit of US troops from Iraq after biting dust in Saddam's desert sands.
Death of killer Sharon.
Unity of Shia and Sunni Muslims to jointly tackle the zionist Israel and defend Iran.
The Israeli threat to bomb Iran which under President Ahmedinijad is likely to take over the leadership of entire Muslim world once held by Ayotollah Khomeini.
Victory for revolutionary Islam which the new Saudi ruler, King Abdullah, may silently support in the interest of extricating himself from the clutches of America.
Silent support of European Union to Iran to go ahead with making bomb and thereby snub the big bully America.
The slow death of zionism and its tail the "Jews of India"
The rise and rise of China and the fall and fall of America.
We have summed up only the most important eight developments that are taking shape in the world today.

Neo-Cons let down Bush: But the most interesting is the start of a sudden campaign against President Bush by the zionist- controlled Neo-Con rulers of America. It was the very Neo-Cons who forced Bush to attack Iraq in the interest of saving their darling Israel from Saddam using the WTC attack by "terrorists" (read Muslims) as a pretext. But the moment they felt that US was sinking in Iraq, they suddenly changed their stand and started their attack on Bush who is today facing unprecedented fire.

Changes in Palestine: Anybody who embraces zionists is sure to meet with a tragic end. Bush has further proved it.

Remember, the same zionist forces used President Clinton and once they found him inconvenient they set up a Jewish girl called Monica Lewinsky to blackmail and finish him (DV Sept.1, 1998 p.3: "Clinton, victim of zionist conspiracy?"). Bush is facing the same situation today. We will not be surprised if the zionists demand the impeachment of Bush.

Meanwhile, the revolutionary Hamas is coming up fast in Palestine and may even guide future policies of their country which may plunge into deeper and deeper violence, forcing the victory of Amir Peretz, the socialist leader, as Prime Minister in the coming Israeli election. This will bring big changes in Israel.

But this much is certain that:

with the defeat of US in Iraq and the exit of two killers — Bush and Sharon;
better unity in the Muslim world and the
rise of China, the world situation will definitely improve.
DV congratulates Iran: We congratulate Iran for re-emerging as the leader of the entire revolutionary Muslims and also electrifying the entire world.

President Ahmadinejad announcement to hold a conference of scholars to call the bluff of the "Holocaust lies" that Hitler's nazis killed 6 million Jews is a great development.

We also welcome Iran's threat to raise oil price and thereby rattling the US and other Western countries which come in the way of producing bomb. Iran is the world's fourth largest oil producer and US is the world's largest consumer of oil.

Warning to India: Capitalist-roader Manmohan Singh must note these changes and quickly make amends. If not, Sonia Gandhi must replace this Khatri Sikh Prime Minister and also the Chettiar Finance Minister. Both are a liability to her.

India cannot afford to sink deeper and deeper into poverty and ignominy to keep its 15% micro-minority Hindus as rulers and exploiters. A more detailed article on the unfolding dramatic developments in the West will come in our next issue.

Request to DV family: We fully understand that the Dalits and other deprived destitutes are too pre-occupied with their day-to-day problems and busy countering the daily aggression of their