May we sue Congress and Muslim League for its role in partition?
Friends!Vedic Mantras in US senate may seem the glory of shining Brahminical brand India, but it coincides with dire forcast of Dooms` Day for the marginal people of this subcontinent.
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com
Children of Holocaust survivors to sue Germany ! May we the surviving partition victims of this subcontinent sue those criminals of partition and refugee persecution?
May we sue Congress and Muslim League for its role in partition? May we fix the liability of Brtish Nation and government which divided us to be destined for eternal Holocaust?
Will Comrades of Ruling Marxist Regime be prosecuted for Marichjhanpi and nandigram?
Social networking sites on the Internet not only serve as a meeting ground for like-minded people, but also defy the physical distances between people.Many second and third-generation refugees in India are actively networking on sites like Orkut, Facebook and Hi5. They share their experiences with others sailing in the same boat and even push forward their viewpoint on issues concerning their homeland.
Mind, you Dr Bidhan chandra Roy , the leader of Bengali ruling Brahminical Class and Pdt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the Kashmiri Pdt ensured the infinite persecution of Dalit Bengali rufugees all over India. Transfer of power and so called freedom and parlimentary democracy could not change the destiny of eighty percent ensalved underprevileged Dalits, Untouchables, BC, OBC, tribals and minorites despite constitutional provisions. Post Modern Manusmriti is killing the constitution and laws like citizenship to use of natural resources, laws relating industries,economy and labor are being changed to suit the US interests.
Vedic Mantras in US senate may seem the glory of shining Brahminical brand India, friends , but it coincides with dire forcast of Dooms` Day for the marginal people of this subcontinent.
When we write or speak about the plights of refugees and dalits, tribals and minorities we may not spare the Brahminical system. Well, I am not against brahmins in particular as I belong to uttaranchal where majority people are caste Hindu and we as refugees and dalits always enjoyed their love and support in exile from homeland. My teacher has been no less a person than Mr Tara Chandra Tripathi who guided me in my subaltern studies and fight aginst Brahmincal system. Yes friends, this Brahminical system is no good for the Brahmins themeselves. In revers conditions, the dominance of other classes and castes pronounce doom`s day for them in different geopolitics. It happened in East Bengal. It happened in Kashiries as the brothers of sistres of Pdt Jawahar Lal Nehru, the kashmiri pundits became refugees in India! It was the fault of Nehru, thus the kashmiri pundits suffer today. It is the fault of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, Shyama Prasad mukherjee and comrade Jyoti Basu that we the dalit Bengali refugges suffer all across the subcontinent. The Brahmins also suffer in North India, the aryavarta, including Bihar and UP!
Thus, caste system in accordance with Manusmriti remains the root cause of suffering. The dominance of Brahmins is decided in so called holy scripts like Vedas, Upanishads and Brahmins. A marxist like Dr Ram Vilas Sharma glorified the Vedas which were quite differently analysed by Dr Sukumari Bhattachary in Bengal, from which Taslima nasrin got raw matter for her fiery writings. Again Dr Namvar Singh and Dr Ramsharan Joshi do justify the Brahminical aesthetics of castism. In Politics congress as well as The communists always justified the descrimination. Only Ram Manohar lohia tried to understand this rotten system and Dr Ambedkar wityh Jogendar nath Mandal tried to change the Great Indian Scenerio on the line of India`s great tradition of Peasant`s uprisining, Bhakti andolan of Kabeer, Lalan fakeer and chaitnaya mahaprabhu and social reforms by Harichand Thakur Guruchand Thakur, Gaekawad, Jyoti Ba Fule and Periyar!
We may not discuss the reality of Polity in different geopolitics of this subcontinent without a post mortem of Brahminical system and the thorouup styudies in the plights of Dalits, tribals, refugees and Minorities.
A new caste System is launched based on purchasing capacity with a glam name Industrialisation and Urbanisation to serve only US interests! It is globalistion! The Post Modern Manusmirti.
Thus. The Vedic Mantra in US senate is quite a logical result and it only satisfies the advocates of super Power Hindu Rashtra which is in fact the Post Modern Colony of US imperialism!
What is the raeality, pl look into the Latest update of international update !
From a boat on the Yamuna River that flows past India's capital, it's easy to spot bubbles of fetid gas sent up to the water's surface by rotting sewage -- and that's after at least 350 million dollars has been spent on cleaning it up.
-G?s stand on Nandigram
KOLKATA, July 12: On the fourth and concluding day of his submission in the Nandigram carnage case before the Division Bench of the Chief Justice, Mr SS Nijjar and Mr Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose of Calcutta High Court today, Advocate-General, Mr Balai Ray stated that the CBI has no legal power to investigate any aspect of the police firing at Nandigram on 14 March.
He pointed out that the CBI cannot inquire into the matter since inquiry is a defined word in the Code of Criminal Procedure which provides that an inquiry must be made by a magistrate on the subject before the court. The State had not given consent to a CBI inquiry as the question did not arise because there was no cognizable offence to be investigated. n SNS
Halt projects until SEZ policy is revamped: Joshi
Allahabad, July 13 (PTI): Objecting to "sick industrial units" acquiring fertile land close to the metros, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi today urged the Centre to halt all new projects until the SEZ policy is thoroughly revamped and made more beneficial to farmers.
"The formation of SEZs and acquisition of land have been done on the basis of a more than 100-year-old land acquisition act. This must be revamped and farmers allowed to lease out land and reserve the right to claim it back," the former Union Minister told reporters here.
He said the government should ensure multi-crop land was not acquired and those interested in SEZs only given "dry agricultural land or barren land".
"There are many sick industrial units across the country... Why should they always be given fertile land tracts in the vicinity of places like Delhi," he asked.
India Infoline.com Mukesh?s SEZ plan cleared
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NEW DELHI, July 12: Reliance Industries? Navi Mumbai SEZ project finally got the official nod, figuring among the 27 proposals cleared by the Board of ...
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The Board of Approval (BoA) on Thrusday cleared 28 fresh SEZ ... NDTV.com
Navi Mumbai SEZ promoted by Mukesh Ambani gets formal clearance plastemart.com
Maharashtra tops SEZ chart
Daily News & Analysis, India - 12 hours ago
Chavan termed the apprehensions raised in Maharashtra over the Raigad SEZ going the Nandigram (West Bengal) way baseless. ?One can understand the agitation ...
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No SEZ in populated areas or forest land: Orissa minister Financial Express
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Chandigarh IT park calls off proposal seeking SEZ status
Business Standard, India - 12 Jul 2007
Another advantage of being registered with STPI is that the unit can change its location according to requirements but not if it is notified as an SEZ. ...
NDTV.com BPOs to tap SEZ route for growth
NDTV.com, India - 12 Jul 2007
So after Genpact, EXL too is planning to set up an SEZ. The two locations on the EXL's horizon are Hyderabad and Chennai, to begin with the company would ...
Get land first, then set up SEZs
Hindustan Times, India - 22 hours ago
Godrej is developing a 55-storey residential complex in the central Mumbai mill land and has proposals for SEZ in its sprawling Vikhroli complex. ...
SEZ panel set to vet 41 proposals
Calcutta Telegraph, India - 11 Jul 2007
These include Videocon?s biotechnology project in Siliguri, Mukesh Ambani-promoted Navi Mumbai SEZ, Hindalco?s aluminium zone in Sambalpur and the ...
Come forward for talks, Buddhadeb tells Opposition
Hindu, India - 19 hours ago
?The State Government will take the necessary steps to prevent such offences and will not surrender to violence in Nandigram. ...
Government not to bow to violence against industry drive, says ... Expressindia.com
Singur math in House Calcutta Telegraph
Buddha: Breaking walls no solution Times of India
Maya Raj spells trouble for SP strongman
The Statesman, India - 22 hours ago
KOLKATA, July 12: The Tatas have clinched a deal with the Italian automobile manufacturer, Fiat, in collusion with the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-government ...
India's health minister on Wednesday lamented opposition from several states to a government plan to introduce sex education from next year, a report said.
India's largest telecom services provider, Reliance Communications Ltd said it has awarded its more than 400 mln usd network expansion contract to Alcatel-Lucent.
It said Alcatel-Lucent (nyse: ALU - news - people ) will expand its Internet protocol-based next-generation CDMA and GSM network to more than 20,000 towns and 600,000 villages in India.
'The expansion of our wireless CDMA and GSM network would further enhance our competitive edge in effectively participating in the achievement of our national tele-density targets of 500 million by 2010, thereby contributing to economic growth,' said Anil Ambani, chairman, Reliance Communications.
India's Sensitive Index climbed to a second straight record. Hindalco Industries Ltd. led metal shares higher spurred by Rio Tinto Group's $38 billion bid for Alcan Inc.
``The merger is boosting sentiment in metal stocks globally,'' said Amandeep Chopra, who manages about $700 million in equities at UTI Asset Management Co. in Mumbai.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex rose 195.03, or 1.3 percent, to 15,287.07 as of 2:02 p.m. local time, surpassing yesterday's record close. The index is poised for its fifth weekly gain. Twenty-four stocks advanced while six declined in the index.
The S&P/CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange gained 62.30, or 1.4 percent to 4,508.45.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the Baghdad government's mixed report card against critics in Congress on Friday, saying the Bush administration needs another two months to find a "coherent way forward" in Iraq.
"We do have to recognize what a hard thing it is that they're doing. We have to continue to support them, and most importantly, we need not to make premature judgments," Rice told NBC's "Today" show.
"They're trying to bring about these fundamental changes," she said.
Rice appeared in a series of U.S. morning television interviews a day after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted 223-201 to approve legislation to bring combat troops out of Iraq by April 1, 2008.
The symbolic House vote followed the release of an interim White House report on Iraq that provided ammunition for war opponents by giving the Baghdad government a mixed review in meeting political and security goals that Congress set while authorizing President George W. Bush's current troop buildup.
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown denied on Friday a shift in foreign policy away from the United States after one of his ministers told an audience there that a country's strength depended on alliances not military might.
CBI antagonistic to party, says Basu
Kolkata, July. 13 (PTI): West Bengal's ruling CPI(M) today again slammed the CBI in the wake of the arrest of one of its leaders in a murder case, with patriarch Jyoti Basu saying the agency was "antagonistic" to the party.
"It is no secret that the two central agencies, the CBI and RAW, are antagonistic towards us," Basu said when asked to explain the contradiction in Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee handing over the Tapasi Malik murder case to the CBI and the party protesting the arrest of its leader by the agency.
Stating that the chief minister had handed over the case to the CBI in his capacity as Home Minister, Basu said, "The accused will defend himself in court which is considering the matter."
CPI(M) leader Suhrid Dutta was arrested by the CBI on June 28 for is alleged involvement in the murder of Tapasi, a woman who was at the forefront of protests against the acquisition of land for the Tata Motors project in Singur.
State CPI(M) Secretary Biman Bose made a sharper attack on the CBI, saying, "The CBI is acting like a political party. It should be more restrained."
A court in Hooghly district yesterday rejected the bail plea of Dutta and remanded him to jail custody till July 26.
We can win, says defiant Bush
The Australian
US President George W. Bush yesterday insisted that the US could still win in Iraq, despite a bleak picture of the Baghdad Government's progress in a US report that fuelled a rising revolt in Congress.
PM asks Karnataka to take serious steps to curb terrorism
Hindu
New Delhi, July. 13 (PTI): With Bangalore becoming a focus of the investigation into the failed Glasgow bombing, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked Karnataka to take "serious steps" to curb terrorist activities and strengthen intelligence ...
Mosque Siege Exposes Rift In 'Mullah-Military' Alliance
Washington Post - 11 hours ago
By Griff Witte ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 12 -- In the fire-singed prayer hall of the Red Mosque on Thursday, pinpricks of sunlight filtered through hundreds of bullet holes in the corrugated tin roof while soldiers in combat boots stood at attention.
Market ends strong: Metal stocks shine
Moneycontrol.com - 3 hours ago
The markets ended the week on an extremely strong note taking cues from strong Asian markets. The turnover was brisk but the smallcap and midcaps underperformed the benchmark indices.
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The Catholic Church?s plans to introduce quota in its educational institutions from 2008 has evoked mixed but sharp reactions.
Even as city parents criticised the move, the Muslim leaders lauded the decision while the RSS endorsed the need to broadbase education to include marginalised sections like Dalits and tribals.
DNA reported on Thursday that the Catholic Bishops Conference of India has prepared a document titled ?All Indian Catholic Education Policy 2007? aimed at increasing the number of seats for Christian students, Dalits and tribals in the 25,000 schools and 400 colleges it runs across the country.
Interestingly, the Human Resource Development Ministry has maintained silence on this issue. However, insiders observed that the new policy seemed to be a good idea as it was important to take education to all strata of society.
Former NCERT chairman J S Rajput, however, cautioned against religion-based quotas. ``I stoutly oppose reservation on the basis of religion but I am for affirmative action,?? he told DNA.
New Delhi, July 13 (IANS) Central Home Minister Shivraj Patil Friday discussed the safety and security of IT companies in Karnataka, especially those in Bangalore, with state Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy here in the wake of alleged involvement of three Bangalore men in the foiled British terror attacks.
Though Kumaraswamy had come to the national capital to discuss the flood situation in his state, he said Patil informally brought up the issue of safety and security of the IT companies.
Patil suggested that the security of IT companies be strengthened, Kumaraswamy said, adding that on his return to Bangalore he would hold a meeting with police and administration officials on Monday.
But friend react vehemently whenever we discuss US Imperialism and Indian Brahminical system altogethre!
A friend, S kumar writes responding my article,`Risk of Terror Strike and Vedic Mantras in US Senate?:
Palash,
You have always been doing Brahmin bashing and exaggerating Caste system in Hinduism, blaming Brahmins for the evil. By Reservations and anti-Brahmin movements, and denial of even admission in the Schools on merit, these Brahmins were driven out of the Country where there is recognition of merits and in past three decades or so, they have carved out a niche in the American Society as the group earning the largest per capita income in USA.
Can you name a single SC/ST/OBC who have made i to the top of the organisations like the Tamil Brahmin Nooyi Chairman of Pepsi International or various other posts?
Now their services are accepted for reciting Gayatri Mantra invocation in opening of the Senate. Who has invited them to do it? There should be some substantial support from US citizens for this change from Christian monopoly?
Now you want to support anti-Hindu movement in US against non-Christian participation in the invocations in Senate? You want to send some SC/ST there?
In India, even reciting of Vandemataram was not accepted by the Central Govt. consisting of mostly non-Hindu-s in Congress dominated Govt. If the Hindu invocation of gayatri mantra is introduced in India there would be a furore from people like you as well as the so called minorities led by Bukhari, Valson Thampu and the Deoband/Aligarh groups.
Read this also:
Dear all:
This is a proud moment for all the Hindus, because the whole America came to know about our ancient religious scriptures.
United States Senate opened with Hindu prayers for the first time -By Stony Gray
Manoj Padhi
For 60 years Hindu refugees from Pakistan wait for Indian citizenship
By Prakriiti Gupta in Jammu
Hindu refugees from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and West Pakistan settled in Jammu and Kashmir have been treated as children of lesser god for the past 60 years.
During the 1947 Partition, several Hindus from West Pakistan migrated to India and later during the invasion of Muslim tribal in erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir princely state several Hindus were killed and the remaining were forced to migrate to Hindu-dominated Jammu. Almost sixty year had passed and these Hindu refugees are still awaiting citizenship rights of Jammu and Kashmir.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=191&page=14
Interrogating Victimhood: East Bengali Refugee Narratives of Communal Violence
Nilanjana Chatterjee
Department of Anthropology
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Introduction
In this paper I am interested in analyzing the self-representation of Hindu East Bengali
refugees as victims of Partition violence so as to historicize and politicize their claims to inclusion
within India and their entitlement to humanitarian assistance in the face of state and public disavowal.
I focus on the main components of their narratives of victimhood, which tend to be framed in an
essentializing rhetoric of Hindu-Muslim difference and involve the demonization of ?the Muslim.? I
conclude with a brief consideration of the implications of this structure of prejudice for relations
between the two communities in West Bengal and the rise of Hindu fundamentalism nationwide. A
story I was told while researching East Bengali refugee agency and self-settlement strategies in West
Bengal bring these issues together for me in a very useful way.
Dr. Shantimoy Ray, professor of history and East Bengali refugee activist had been sketching
the history of the refugee squatter colony Santoshpur, referred to the enduring sense of betrayal, loss
and anger felt by East Bengalis after the partition of Bengal in 1947: becoming strangers in their own
land which constituted part of the Muslim nation of Pakistan, being forced to leave and rebuild their
lives in West Bengal in India, a ?nation? that was nominally theirs but where they were faced with
dwindling public sympathy and institutional apathy. Spurred by their bastuhara (homeless) condition--
a term which gained political significance and which referred to their Partition victimhood, groups
of middle and working class refugees began to ?grab? land and resettle themselves in West Bengal.
Santoshpur was one such colony which was founded on the outskirts of Calcutta in 1950. Dr. Ray had
not mentioned anti-Muslim sentiment in the colony although India?s Partition is synonymous with
sectarian violence.
Then he began to speak of an incident in 1964. A relic of the Prophet Muhammad was
rumoured to have been stolen from a shrine in Kashmir and this was followed by attacks on Hindus
in East Pakistan, and rioting against Muslims in India. Thousands of Hindu East Bengalis began to
seek refuge in West Bengal.
Some local Muslim families who still lived scattered around
the colony--they were mostly agricultural labourers, carpenters
--poor people, came to our compound in terror. Colony youth
had destroyed their huts and were out to slaughter them. I let
them in and locked our gate. Our household was overwhelmed.
We had over forty people in our care--bereft, wounded, fearing
for their lives. And then I saw the boys approaching. I knew them
well. We all knew each other in those days. I had seen them
grow up here. Kanu, Romesh, Madhab--they were unrecognizable
in their hatred. They were armed with sticks and knives and screaming
about avenging the murder of Hindus in East Pakistan. Slaughter
them as they slaughtered us, they shouted. I was stunned by
the insanity of their words.
http://www.swadhinata.org.uk/misc/chatterjeeEastBengal%20Refugee.pdf
Tel Aviv, July 13 (DPA) Children of Holocaust survivors in Israel aim to file a suit in an Israeli court seeking compensation from Germany for their suffering as the 'second generation,' it was reported Friday. Haaretz newspaper said a suit would be filed in the Tel Aviv district court Sunday, with the plaintiffs demanding their suffering be recognized.The paper cites the suit as saying that 'both the experiences of the second generation as well as studies show that the trauma has been passed on between the generations.'So far, some 3,000 Israelis had joined in the initiative, which is believed to be without precedent.
Haaretz said the plaintiffs would seek to force Germany to pay for the costs of their therapy they were undergoing for the problems resulting from being the follow-up generation to the original Holocaust victims.The suit will cite the cases of five women whose parents had survived the Holocaust, who to this day suffer anxiety attacks and depression.
In one case, a 55-year-old woman claims she is unable to ride a bus because it reminds her of the trains used to transport Jews to the death camps. Another woman cites her great fear of dogs.
During Nazi Germany's rein over Europe during World War Two, some six million Jews were put to death in concentration camps in what has historically become known as the Holocaust.
US Senate opens with Hindu prayers
July 13, 2007
History was created in the United States Senate at 9.30 am on Thursday, when Rajan Zed, the Hindu chaplain of the Indian Association of Northern Nevada, opened the Senate with a Hindu prayer. This is the first such instance since the formation of the powerful Upper House in 1789. Zed was accompanied by his wife Shipa and four of his friends from Virginia.
According to the US Senate web site, 'Throughout the years, the United States Senate has honored the historic separation on Church and State, but not the separation of God and State. During the past 207 years, all sessions of the Senate have been opened with prayer, strongly affirming the Senate's faith in God as sovereign lord of our nation.'
However, just as Zed was about to begin the prayer, a few Christian fundamentalists protested and began screaming, while holding the Bible aloft, "Lord Jesus, protect us from this abomination. " Officers from the Sergeant of Arms' office ejected one after the other (three were taken away) from the Senate gallery which looks down on the floor.
The president pro-tem of the Senate, had to beat the podium with his gavel thrice. He called on the Sergeant of Arms to restore order in the Senate Chamber. A Senate aide said these people probably had gotten visitor's passes to the Senate gallery through a Senator's office and noted that "disrupting a Senate in the chamber is a criminal offense and they can be arrested."
A few minutes later, Zed delivered his prayer which took no more than 90 seconds, which as per the instructions from the Office of the Chaplain of the Senate had to be delivered exclusively and entirely in English.
http://specials. rediff.com/ news/2007/ jul/13slide1. htm
India took the first step towards developing a national plan to tackle the effects of global warming and assess its own greenhouse gas emissions on Friday, amid mounting international pressure. On the other hand,the victims of the Bhopal gas disaster have not disappeared as do lost memories. Maybe, even if they wanted to, they cannot. For they exist, in large numbers, bearing the continuing burden of the chemical industry?s callousness in the matter of risk and safety. Suffering impoverishment, certain only of uncertainty, ill-health and pain, incapacity imposed on them by the disaster, injustice heaped on them by the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), the executive agency of the Indian state, and American and Indian courts, they have fought on. They have found support in local and distant geographies which has helped convert their collective complaints into a cause and to keep alive the pursuit of justice.t is therefore apt that the Amnesty International report readied for release on the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster should extensively invoke victims? voices to speak about the many violations, and denials, of human rights in the sordid saga spanning more than three decades: from the establishing of the UCC factory in Bhopal to the disaster in 1984, the many vicissitudes of the litigation, and the parallel problems of contaminated soil and water.
Act or get tagged for slavery, warns US
13 Jun 2007, 0058 hrs IST,Chidanand Rajghatta,TNN
WASHINGTON: India has been warned to act swiftly on its human trafficking record involving forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation or risk being censured for what Washington calls "modern-day slavery." For the fourth consecutive year, India has been placed on a Tier 2 watchlist in an annual State Department
report on human trafficking, a citing that implies unrelenting human exploitation. The rebuke follows a fierce debate within the administration to downgrade India to the lowest Tier 3 category, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reportedly argued against it, citing improving ties in other spheres.
Administration officials were however unsparing in indicting India for human trafficking in course of a briefing that followed release of the report.
http://timesofindia .indiatimes. com/Act_or_ get_tagged_ for_slavery_ warns_US/ articleshow/ 2118390.cms
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Council on Climate Change held its first meeting in a bid to come up with a clear plan ahead of a key United Nations climate change meeting in Bali in December, but will not set any overall emissions targets.
"A decision was taken to prepare a national policy on climate change ... the draft will be ready by October," Sanjaya Baru, the prime minister's spokesman, told reporters.
Singh, who chaired the meeting, called for a strategy to deal with glacial melting of the Himalayas, which feed many of Asia's major rivers. He said an afforestation programme called "Green India" would be launched in August to replant 15 million acres of degraded forests. He also said environmentally friendly strategies should be incorporated in all future development.
India, whose economy has grown by 8-9 percent a year in recent years, is one of the world's top polluters, contributing around 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions as its consumption of fossil fuels gathers pace.
But as a developing nation, India is not required to cut emissions -- said to be rising by between 2 and 3 percent a year -- under the Kyoto Protocol, despite mounting pressure from environmental groups and industrialised nations.
Manmohan reviews progress of Bharat Nirman project
New Delhi: Prime Minister Dr. Manmoahn Singh today reviewed progress of the Bharat Nirman project, particularly its two components-rural telephony and rural roads. The ambitious Rs 1,74,000-crore programme, which is aimed at strengthening the country's rural infrastructure, including water supply, power, housing and roads, was launched by Dr. Singh on December 16, 2006.Dr. Singh today expressed satisfaction over the rural telephony component of the programme. It is expected that the targets laid under Bharat Nirman to provide every village with telephone connectivity, is likely to be achieved by November 2007, two years ahead of schedule.
Out of the 66,822 villages, 48,125 have been covered till May 2007 and the remaining will be covered by November 2007. When completed, 14183 villages will be connected through satellite technology, and the rest through other technologies, a press release issued by the Prime Minister's Office stated.About 80,000 towers will be installed by May 2008 to facilitate mobile and other wireless services in rural areas. Efforts are also on to provide Broadband services to cover two lakh villages in 5000 blocks across the country.
The programme aims to create five crore rural connections by 2007 and increase this to eight crore connections by 2010 and provide broadband connections in every village by 2012. The performance of the rural roads has been also satisfactory with around 40,000 km of new link roads having been built and 50,000 kms of existing rural roads being upgraded in the first two years (2005-2007) of Bharat Nirman.
Dr. Singh has already written to the Chief Ministers of all the States to ensure that targets are met.
Trinamool to boycott West Bengal Assembly and Buddhadeb
Kolkata: Smarting at West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee's remarks against its leader in the House, the Trinamool Congress today decided to boycott the rest of the budget session of the assembly.
The party also asked its MLAs not to attend official programmes of the chief minister. Trinamool's decision came shortly after party legislators walked out of the assembly demanding Bhattacharjee's resignation, allegeing that he had failed to do justice to the people of Singur and Nandigram, who were victims of the governments's land acquisition policy.
"The chief minister has insulted the people of Nandigram and Singur with a show of arrogance. We condemn this attitude," Trinamool MLA and Leader of the Opposition Partha Chatterjee told reporters.
"I do not need any certificate from the chief minister whether I have a spine or not as he lectured me in the House yesterday," Chatterjee said.
As the House met for the day, the TC members entered with posters and placards shouting slogans demanding the resignation of the chief minister, who was not in the House.
They protested against alleged injustice against farmers at Singur, the site of the Tata Motors' small car project, and Nandigram.
The month-long extended budget selssion of the House began on June 3.
Cabinet committee clears appointment of Arvind Virmani as Chief Economic Adviser
New Delhi: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Dr. Arvind Virmani, presently Principal Adviser, Planning Commission, as Chief Economic Adviser, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. Dr.Virmani was born on June 22, 1949, and is Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University, USA (1975). His thesis supervisor was Nobel Laureate Professor Kenneth Arrow.Dr. Virmani was previously Director and Chief Executive of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi.
Earlier, he had served as Senior Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India and Advisor (Development Policy) in the Planning Commission, Government of India.
Dr. Virmani has written and conducted research in areas of macroeconomics and growth, external sector and balance of payments, fiscal policy and tax reforms, financial sector, agriculture, industry, infrastructure, social sector and natural resources. (ANI)
Thousands protest over Pakistani mosque assault
