Marxist Ways of land reforms EXPOSED!Land Scam Unlimited AND Vedic’s wellness friend!
Galaxy's 'cannibalism' revealed

Trouble Galaxy destroyed Dreams, Chapter 364

Palash Biswas

http://www.nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com

I had a Taxi driver friend from Bhangar! I had interactions with the man more than fifteen years! He has shifted in kolkata and had been PUZZLED to save his Home and Land in Bhangar!He would request anytime to visit Bhangar and see LIVE the ground reality of Land management by the Ruling Hegemony. He hated marxists and would not hear the names of comrades whoever may be! Though, he calimed to be an ACTIVE Cadre in the beginning of land Reforms in Bengal!The man informed me time to time about Land scams and the Big names involved. He had most complaints against two marxist Ministers gautam Deb, the Architect of RAJAR Hat Sub Urban and REZZAK ALI MOLLA, the MIC in land reforms department. Since the Marxist got defeated in every Election held in ruaral Bengal, i could not Trace the man! But his words echoes in my ears when I read about the Land scams Unlimited!

Ex Governor, Dharmabir told me once upon a time that Land reforms have created the Mass Base for the Ruling Left in rural Bengal and the Front may not be DISLODGED!

What a Turnaround!CPI launched a veiled attack on its alliance partner CPI(M) saying although the Left Front constituents had been together for 32 years, one of the partners had thought itself to be "too big" sending the wrong message to people during the recent Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing a public meeting in Kolakta recently, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan ascribed corruption, ego and high handedness by members and leaders of the Left Front as the reasons behind the Front's poll debacle in Kerala and West Bengal.

In West Bengal, the Front had deviated from its main plank of land reforms and sought forcible acquisition of land from farmers in Nandigram and Singur in the name of industrialisation, he alleged.

Rezzak ali Mollah has to prove himself SUPER Clean before Media and Gautam Deb is ready to CANCEL the IT Hub project due to SURFACING land scape followed by VEDIC Village Violence! The Man was against Land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram! But he turns a WELL Ness Friend visiting the Vedic Village for MASSAGE!

WBPCC acting president Pradip Bhattacharjee accused the Land and Land Reforms Minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah of concealing the truth behind the 'land scam' in connection with Vedic Village, a premier resort in the outskirts of the city.

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has argued that the Left needs to engage in a dialogue, particularly on the issue of ending poverty. Perhaps he is urging the Left to look at China, which has catapulted its growth rate in the last 30 years. “There is enough fierceness of the prevailing political arrangement and it has not helped to harness India’s potential for a high growth rate. It never seemed to grow,” says Sen.Hindustan Times reports.

We all know all about Bengali Economists since sixties from Arjusn Sengupta and Ashok Mitra to Dr Amartya sen and all about their role in Policy making! All these Gentlemen have been HARD Core Committed Personalities well known to justify the Manusmriti ways of Economy and society. They remain the best, most Creditable Faces of the Ruling Hegemony! Ashok Mitra was the finance Minister in Jyoti basu Cabinet while Marichjhanpi genocide had been EVENTED! He NEVER spoke a single word against the Genocide culture!All the VULTURES of Culture Industry who had been FED and favoured for Luxury by the Marxists, have Turned into the ANGELS of CHANGE! The Genocide master of Marichjhanpi, AMIYO samanto turned a CULUMNIST in a News Paper Reputed for supporting the Resistance. Rachhpal Singh, IAS, hounded in BHIKHARI Paswan case and Sultan Singh, who physically beat Ms Mamata Bannerjee, have become the KEY Stones of Resistance! SO most of the retired IAS and IPS officers succeeded to clean the Slate as the Political Parties are EXPERT to Wipe Out the History of ETHNIC Cleansing! ABHIRUP Sarkar, SUGAT Marjit and Dipankar dasgupt, the bunch of Economists who projected Buddha as the GOD of development, try to DEMONISE him this times!

DR. Amarty sen had been a KNOWN friend of the Marxists who is well reputed to defend US Corporate Imperialist zionist interests with Bangladeshi Economist Md, YUNUS, have always advocated NGO MNC Corporate Raj!

His thoughts on Society and economy are very very Hyped in Media Toilet!

Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI(M), entered the debate through an article in People’s Democracy while defending his party’s role in taking up the pro-poor policies of the UPA government. Repeated claims of getting the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) Bill passed do not entitle the Left to the sole authorship of the scheme. In fact, no political outfit challenged the passage of the NREGS Bill. Likewise there are numerous programmes like Bharat Nirman, Ambedkar Awas Yojana, Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, etc., that were announced in the Budget.

It must be reiterated that the Congress government, in 1991, laid the foundations of India’s modern economy. It propelled the growth rate from 2-3 per cent to the present 9 per cent mark.

Let Karat understand that economic reforms built a strong framework to eventually meet social sector expenses like subsidising health, housing and other aspects that raise the standard of living of poor people. Direct tax collections, in the last five years, have tripled to nearly Rs 4 lakh crore. Economic reforms have generated huge revenues for the government not only to finance NREGS on a national scale but also other pro-poor policies.

It is time that the country demands an honest explanation from Karat and his party, which has ruled West Bengal for one-third of a century. There is a need for him to clarify what specific anti-poverty measures have contributed to the well-being of the poor in West Bengal. If Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu can sell cheap grain at Rs 2 per kg, why can’t the Marxist government do the same?

Further, if one compares per capita expenditure on social services with other states, the pathetic performance of the West Bengal government is obvious. According to the Reserve Bank of India, in West Bengal, social sector expenditure to total expenditure declined to 23.4 per cent in 2003-04 from 46.91 in 1990-91. But it increased in the last four years and, according to the Budget of 2007-08, it was 35.1 per cent, still less than other poorer states.

It compares badly to the figures of other poorer states like Bihar (40.8 per cent), Chhattisgarh 44.8 (per cent), Jharkhand (43.7 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (37.8 per cent) and Rajasthan (38.2 per cent). It shouldn’t also be forgotten that social sector spending has increased only in the last four years because the central government hugely increased the funding on pro-poor programmes in the states.

If we look at the record of land reforms in West Bengal, one finds that tenancy rights are protected and land is not given to the tiller. Have the Marxists learnt a lesson that keeping people poor is in their best interest?

The global collapse of Communism must be studied and lessons learnt sooner than later before India’s Left becomes redundant and archaic. As it is, the appeal of the Left is on the decline and it is no wonder that India’s young refuse to join it. The CPI(M) would do well to take on board Sen’s advice.

Addressing the media in Kolkata, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) president said, ''The state government is suppressing the truth, though Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has assured of stern actions against the culprits. The Chief Minister should order a CBI probe into the scam.'' Mr Bhattacharjee said while land was being acquired in Singur and Nandigram for setting up industries, the construction of Vedic Spa and Resorts was on.

''Why did not the state government go for a consensus in case of Vedic Village? We have instructed our party activists to organise a campaign by conducting road shows, meetings and processions throughout the state,'' Mr Bhattacharjee added.

The Vedic Village came under police scrutiny following the recovery of huge arsenal and bombs, and allegation of land encroachment.

A large cache of illegal arms and ammunition was recovered from the resort following violence on August 23 in connection with a clash over a football match that led to the killing of a person.

Indian xpress reports:

The 600-acre IT park at Rajarhat, near Kolkata, is the latest casualty of Bengal’s land acquisition tragedy and the state government’s abdication of responsibility post-Singur, post-electoral rout. The CPM appears to be struck by a paralysis of will that’s putting every developmental project on hold. If the government, led by the party, keeps retiring hurt, paranoid about the next election, the list of the disappointed will not end with a Tata Motors or an Infosys — notwithstanding a reformist chief minister who’s been missing the plot for a while and an intriguing land reforms minister who opposes industrial land acquisition, but gave vested land to a luxury resort, and now, caught up in controversy, wants the IT park scrapped.

Indeed, the IT park is inextricably tied up with the Vedic Village controversy, as the land is contiguous to the resort and was to be acquired by Vedic’s developers for the government. Following violence and allegations of forcible land acquisition, the government has retreated. If Singur was about state acquisition of land, Vedic Village has exploded “direct” acquisition by developers. Evidently, neither Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s nor Mamata Banerjee’s preferred means of acquiring land is working. But the state government should not equate the mechanism of land acquisition with the fact of acquisition. The problem is with the former alone, where compensation packages do matter, while using goons unleashes all the goriness of Bengal’s brand of muscle politics.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/losing-plots/511716/

Dalit Aikya Samiti leaders today appealed to the Kerala Government to implement the Land Reforms Act effectively and ensure that justice was meted out to landless Dalits.

Talking to newspersons here, State President T D Eldo and General Secretary C B Ramanan, among other leaders, demanded population-based reservation for Dalit Christians and effective implementation of the Adivasi Forest Rights Law.

A two-day meeting of the Samiti would be held from September 19 to chalk out a future course of action in support of their demands, they added.

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Kerala Government over the state Governor's permission to CBI to prosecute Pinarayi Vijayan.

The apex court was hearing the petition filed by Vijayan, challenging the governor's sanction for his prosecution by the CBI.

Vijayan is the politburo member of Communist party of India (Marxist) (CPM)

A bench of the apex court comprising Justice R.V. Ravindran and Justice B.S. Sudarsan Reddy admitted Vijayan's lawsuit directly for hearing.

The bench stated that the petition involved several important questions of law.

Vijayan is facing the charges of by passing the regulations while awarding a contract to a Canadian based company, SNC Lavalin for renovating three power plants when he was Kerala's power minister in 1997.

The charges against Vijayan were filed in a special court after Kerala Governor R.S. Gavai gave the green signal to the CBI to prosecute the stalwart of communist movement in June.

Earlier, the central agency had asked Vijayan to appear before the CBI court at Kochi on September 24.

The Rs.374-crore SNC Lavalin scam, has created a tussle between Vijayan and State Chief Minister V.S.Achhuthanandan.

In West Bengal, land reforms occupy an important position in the rural development policy of the left Front Government. Since its coming into power, it has been laying thrust on the rural development works. Land reforms are integral part of rural development and as such it needs to be placed firmly in the forefront of rural development strategy. The Government of West Bengal formulates and implements policies towards the fulfillment of that objective.

The land reforms programme of the Government of West Bengal aims at putting and end to the feudal and semi-feudal system, prevalent in the country throughout ages and centuries, by implementing the Zamindari Abolition Act, 1953 and Land Reforms Act, 1955 after making fundamental amendments to the same. It also ensures the cultivators to enjoy their just rights and possession over the land and agricultural products. Thus, the exploitation of the feudal landlords rolls into the pages of history. Direct participation of the people at large and their representatives as well of the rural areas finds best exposition in the developmental schemes and projects of the Government.

With the sole aims and objectives to reduce disparity and irregularities in the rural economic structure by bringing about a change in the ownership of land and land tenancy system the Government takes adequate measures to distribute vested lands among the landless and poor peasantry and safeguard the rights of the share croppers under comprehensive multipurpose programmes.

The Panchayat bodies are largely involved for executing the land reforms policies of the Government. However, the programmes for financing bargadars and assignees of vested lands are normally implemented through the nationalized commercial banks and rural banks to get them free of the clutches of land owners. Besides this, bargadars and assignees of vested lands are given priority in the selection of beneficiaries in may other rural development programmes.

CPI(M) for mass movement against price increase

Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday flayed the Union government for not controlling the price rise and failing to provide relief to the people from its crushing impact, and promised to organise a mass movement on the issue.

“There has to be a nation-wide struggle. Every citizen should have the right to food and by going to the people with a definite programme and adding strength to the issue, we can convert it into a “jan andolan” [people’s movement],” CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said at the conclusion of a national convention on “For the Right to Food and Against Price Rise.”

The day-long convention, organised by the CPI(M) and its affiliated organisations, adopted a resolution demanding that the Public Distribution System (PDS) be made universal, the targeted PDS system be scrapped; provide 35 kg of foodgrains at Rs. 2 a kg; expand the PDS to include pulses, sugar, cooking oil and kerosene at subsidised rates; incorporate all food and nutrition schemes of the Centre; promote national self-sufficiency in production of foodgrains, pulses, sugarcane and oilseeds; and strengthen the PDS.

Mr. Karat said the CPI(M) did not agree with the government’s yardstick of delineating people Below and Above Poverty Line. In early 1990s, when India opened its economy, the IMF/World Bank pressured the then Congress government to reduce food subsidy under “structural adjustment.” The CPI(M) described the move “as a conspiracy to weaken and finish the PDS.”

The CPI(M) “in principle” supported the government’s move for a food security legislation, but with alternative proposals.

The resolution, moved by party MP Brinda Karat, registered opposition to proposals such as limiting benefits to the BPL people, slashing family quotas from 35 to 25 kg and raising the issue price from Rs. 2 to Rs. 3 a kg; eliminating all subsidies and access to the PDS for all APL households; and restricting the legal entitlement to rice and wheat and excluding other essential commodities such as sugar, pulses, edible oil and kerosene.

Other speakers at the convention said the decision to permit forward trading resulted in the price rise.

Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said the rise in volumes ran into several lakh crore rupees in the last two years. He demanded a ban on 25 commodities under forward trading.

Hunger, poverty

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar blamed the policies of successive Congress governments for a situation that even after 62 years of Independence, the country was not able to eliminate hunger and poverty.

West Bengal Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta touched upon the schemes of the State government within available structure to implement alternative polices that resulted in land reforms, increased foodgrain productivity and self-sufficiency and augmenting irrigation.

Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac said the State would double the fair price shops.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/27/stories/2009082760471000.htm

27 th year of degenerated Left Rule in West Bengal

From Land Reform to Land Scams

-- Sukanta Mondal

Land reforms is gone, land scam is on. Land has always been one of the core agenda for the left parties. But this time it is the other way round in the Left Front, ruled West Bengal. It is not the ‘Rural land for the poor’, but the ‘urban land for the elite’.

The irregularity in the allotment of a plot of land to a former Calcutta High Court judge out of the Chief Minister’s discretionary quota has invited the ire of the apex court. The court indicted the judge, Justice Bhagawati Prasad Banerjee for compromising judicial authority to get a plot in the Salt Lake area of Kolkata in 1986. The State Govt. has been asked to evaluate the property constructed over that plot of land and to give the corresponding money to him before taking over the premises within one year. The court has gone on record to comment that ‘there is undoubtedly an unholy nexus between the judicial orders and granting order of allotment’ by the State Govt. to him.

The court could unfortunately see only the unholy nexus between the judicial orders and the allotment of plots of land in Salt Lake out of the Chief Minister’s quota. But the unholy nexus between the chieftains of the chief constituent of the ruling Left Front in the state, the CPI (M) and urban land sharks, the real estate promoters and a horde of mushrooming gang of criminals who sustain and thrive on that nexus, escaped the notice of the court. Even a section of the sports fraternity has been roped into this nexus, who have chosen an alternative playground for themselves for multiplying their sports-gotten unaccounted money.

A series of such incidents hit the headlines recently. First it was the international gold-medal winner athlete-turned Member of Parliament Jyotirmoyee Sikder and her athlete coach Awtar Singh and now the national footballers like Bhaskar Ganguli, Sashthi Duley, Dipankar Roy et al, whose names have come to the fore for having nexus with the criminal gangs backed by the real estate promoters and CPI (M) leaders.

The drama which unfolded in connection with the arrest of notorious criminal hathkata Dilip has unraveled how criminals are exorcising undeterred sway over the affairs of the neo-urbanisation drive in the Dum Dum, Baguiati, Rajarhat, Mahishbathan and Salt Lake areas in the fringe of Kolkata with overt and covert political patronage from their local CPI (M) bosses.

It has also come to light that it is not only hathkata Dilip, but various organized gangs of criminals in different parts of the state, owing allegiance to different senior local CPI (M) leaders, have been working as the frontal force of the grass root state CPI (M) party apparatus for controlling all the profitable economic activities like real estate business, export-oriented fish culture, particularly growing of shrimps, lobsters, etc, brick-field operations etc. These activities involve illegal grabbing of land for which these criminals act as essential tools. And thus goes on the reversed land reforms in West Bengal under the LF rule. The peasants, the poor toiling urban population, the people on the margins are being forcibly evicted from the land in their possession to make room for so-called development and neo-urbanisation composed of high-rises, shopping malls, multiplexes, star hotels, private hospitals and elite schools and colleges to cater to the needs of the upstart rich which have become the new found class base of the ‘improved Left Front’ today. To appease the people in high places, the industrialists, the top bureaucrats, the judges et al, the LF govt. has distributed plots at lucrative places for a song out of the so-called Chief Minister’s quota, which got revealed in the Justice Banerjee-land scam recently.

The degeneration and corruption in party life found passive acknowledgement even in the 20 th West Bengal State CPI (M) conference document. It inter alia stated that:

“There is gap in being firm against the immoral activities connected with urban land, construction of buildings, rural properties; panchayet functioning etc. the question of morality has mainly remained an issue for abstract discussion, wherever specific complaints are received or noticed, there is hesitation or inertia in intervening, making efforts to rectify the things or taking preemptive actions.” It is all the more revealing later: “For some time there is an increasing tendency to form voluntary organisations as the own organisations of the party activists which run parallel to the party organisation. The party activists are themselves at the helm of these organisations but at no level – state, district, zonal or local – these are under the party control or leadership. Money is flowing, in big volumes … but the party is in the dark as to the fact that the same is happening in exchange of what. … And spent for what purpose and how much. As a result of being in power, apart from the ministers, there is no dearth of capacity to raise money even for the party leaders, if morality can be sacrificed. ”

Despites these pious admissions, things have only worsened during the last there years since the 20 th State Conference. Reports of worst kind of clash of vested interests are pouring in everyday during the local level conference hold prior to the 21 st conference which is just on the cards. Things have come to such a pass that murders are taking place even within the Conference itself. 27 years of Social Democratic rule is thus taking its inevitable toll.

Galaxy's 'cannibalism' revealed

The vast Andromeda galaxy appears to have expanded by digesting stars from other galaxies, research has shown.

When an international team of scientists mapped Andromeda, they discovered stars that they said were "remnants of dwarf galaxies".

The astronomers report their findings in the journal Nature.

This consumption of stars has been suggested previously, but the team's ultra-deep survey has provided detailed images to show that it took place.

This shows the "hierarchical model" of galaxy formation in action.

The model predicts that large galaxies should be surrounded by relics of smaller galaxies they have consumed.

Ironically, galaxy formation and galaxy destruction seem to go hand in hand

Dr Scott Chapman
University of Cambridge
The scientists charted the outskirts of Andromeda in detail for the first time.

They discovered stars that could not have formed within the galaxy itself.

Pauline Barmby, an astronomer from the University of Western Ontario who was involved in the study, told BBC News the pattern of the stars' orbits revealed their origin.

"Andromeda is so close that we can map out all the stars," she said.

"And when you see a sort of lump of stars that far out, and with the same orbit, you know they can't have been there forever."

Andromeda, which is approximately 2.5 million light years away from Earth, is still expanding, say the scientists.

The researchers also saw a "stream of stars" of a nearby galaxy called Triangulum "stretching" towards Andromeda.

Dr Scott Chapman, reader in astrophysics at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, was also involved in the research.

He said: "Ultimately, these two galaxies may end up merging completely.

"Ironically, galaxy formation and galaxy destruction seem to go hand in hand."

Nickolay Gnedin, an astrophysicist from the University of Chicago, who was not involved in this study, described the work as showing "galactic archaeology in action".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8234898.stm

The project manager of Vedic Village,
Biplab Biswas, and Kalo Babu alias Kalua, were remanded in judicial custody for 14 days today by the Barasat court. Earlier, both men had been remanded in police custody for questioning.

Food security for all ~ The Mission Calls For A Massive Effort

YP Gupta
FAR from achieving self-sufficiency, India’s record in the food sector in recent years has been distressing. There has been a sharp decline in crop productivity. During 2008-09, agricultural growth dropped to a dismal 1.6 per cent. A national food security mission has been launched to raise production in respect of rice by 10 million tonnes, wheat by eight million tonnes and pulses by two million tonnes over the next five years.
One comes across reports of starvation deaths from some part of the country or the other. According to a rehydration project report, around seven million children die of hunger every year. It was earlier reported that 63 per cent of the children go to bed hungry and 47 per cent suffer from chronic malnutrition. In recent years, a large number of people has died of starvation and malnutrition in the poverty-stricken regions of Orissa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh. Such tragedies confirm that the procedure that is followed to benefit the BPL families through the Public Distribution System is defective and often misused.
The country’s food stock in July 2009 stood at around 50 million tonnes of rice and wheat, which may suffice for the current year. But during 2009-10, food production is projected to fall by 5.6 per cent on account of the deficit in rainfall.
Increasing poverty
Poverty and the lack of purchasing power explain why one-third of the country’s population is half-fed. And the number is rising. The FAO had earlier estimated that India has 221 million hungry against China’s 142 million. The benefits of the poverty alleviation schemes have not reached the target group. Indeed, there is no policy to counter chronic hunger and rural poverty.
The world’s population crossed 6.75 billion in January 2009. And to feed a population of 8.9 billion by 2030, the world will require twice the amount of calories consumed today.
The UN agency reported recently that more than one billion are hungry in the poor countries despite a substantial increase in food production in the last two decades. A survey by the US Census Bureau revealed that one in eight Americans live in poverty and some 37 million Americans are below the poverty line. Half a million starvation deaths occurred in North Korea in the recent past. In Indonesia, 450 children die of starvation every day. The FAO has projected that the number of undernourished may decline to 575 million by 2015 and to 400 million by 2040.
It has also been projected that India will be free of poverty, hunger and malnutrition, and will become an environmentally safe country by 2030. Presently, 221 million people in the country are undernourished and more than 360 million are below the poverty line. They are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. Also, more than 50 per cent of pregnant women are anaemic, and every third child born registers a low birth weight, with the risk of impaired health and brain development. A World Development Report had cautioned that India would not be able to reduce poverty and improve human development by 2015 without socio-economic reforms geared to improve health, education, water supply, sanitation and the power situation.
The World Food Summit in Rome had pledged to provide food security and the universal right of access to safe and nutritious food. It had called for adequate food security for the eradication of hunger in all countries. It had also resolved to reduce the number of undernourished to half by 2015. However, the FAO report on world agriculture observed that the target to reduce the number of hungry by half by 2015 would not even be met by 2030.
Our agriculture is largely dependent on the monsoon. The Economic Survey has projected the food output in 2008-09 at 230 million tonnes. It was 230.8 million tonnes in 2007-08. The scenario for 2009-10 is far from encouraging not least because of the inadequate monsoon in certain states. Food security for all may remain a distant dream. During 2008-09, our population increased to 115.4 crore from 113.8 crore in 2007-08. Therefore, the current food estimates will not be enough to feed the burgeoning population, if the entire half-fed people are fully fed. The rise in population has eaten away the benefits of higher production, and now poses a serious threat to food security.
Increasing food production will depend largely on a good monsoon in successive years, an expansion in the area under cultivation, a rise in productivity and improved cultivation under rainfed and dryland farming. Two-thirds of the net cropped area is under dryland farming, accounting for 42 per cent of the total food produce. We either wait for the miracle seed from abroad or develop the seed and the package of farming ourselves to meet the needs of the population.
The Green Revolution in wheat and rice has now reached a dead end; it has not made an impact on cultivation in the rainfed area and in respect of coarse grains and pulses. Indeed, it has had an adverse effect on agricultural environment. Both qualitative and quantitative has been the degradation of land, water and bio-resources; waterlogging and excessive salinity have rendered fertile lands uncultivable. Post-harvest losses have been substantial.
Tapping potential
THE yields of the newly developed strains of rice and wheat have almost reached a plateau under optimum conditions. Punjab and Haryana have been facing soil health problems in respect of salinity and nutrient imbalance. Both states have exhausted their irrigation potential. Micro-nutrient deficiencies are also a matter of concern. However, there is scope to fully tap the potential of the eastern region stretching from eastern UP to Assam for improving rice productivity. The International Rice Research Institute had cautioned that global warming may be a threat to rice yields.
A second Green Revolution through genetically modified (GM) technology referred to as “gene revolution” is being advocated to improve productivity. But it must be ensured that crop biotechnology products are safe; GM food poses the risk of organ abnormalities. This technology has, however, been accepted by farmers the world over.
It is unfortunate that the right to food has not been accorded the overriding priority as there is hardly any concern over privation and starvation deaths. The working of the PDS needs improvement. The “Antyodaya Anna Yojana” programme has to be expanded to cover rural households and create employment opportunities to enable the poor to buy food.
The task of ensuring food and nutrition to the vast population is challenging, particularly when approximately one-third of our population is under-nourished. It is the responsibility of the state governments to implement poverty-alleviation programmes and prevent starvation and malnutrition deaths, as directed by the Supreme Court. Food procurement needs to be decentralised. This will depend largely on doubling our food production in the next 15 years.
This, in turn, will necessitate an annual growth rate of 4.7 per cent, the present rate being 1.6 per cent. Therefore, massive efforts are needed to increase crop production, improve the rural infrastructure, prevent huge losses and ensure food security for all.

http://www.thestatesman.org/page.news.php?clid=3&theme=&usrsess=1&id=267137

Deb turns sights on Mamata

KOLKATA, 2 SEPT: The state housing minister Mr Gautam Deb (SNS photograph) today skirted the Vedic Village resort scam at what was projected to be a tell-all Press conference, a day after the land and land reforms minister, Mr Rezzak Mollah had given his version of the affair.
Instead, Mr Deb claimed no irregularities or coercion were made for procurement of land for setting up the Rajarhat township.
He said the information technology minister, Mr Debes Das, the chief minister and the CPI-M state secretary, Mr Biman Bose, would speak on the Vedic Village issue. The IT department has been dragged into the controversy over the trade-off it had with the resort management for setting up an IT park on land acquired allegedly under dubious circumstances.
Mr Deb went on the offensive against railway minister Miss Mamata Banerjee and said MLAs ~ sitting and former ~ had been included in committees for procuring land and developing neighbouring areas of Rajarhat. This was in response to Miss Banerjee's charge that it was Mr Deb who had several times asked Trinamul MLA, Mr Arabul Islam, to meet him.
The housing minister blamed the railway minister for stalling projects at New Town at Rajarhat, while her supporters had stopped installation of transformers.
Accepting Miss Banerjee's challenge of competing for development, he said development should be through cooperation and competition and not confrontation. He said several Trinamul leaders had assured him of cooperation, with the rider that he shouldn't leak it out to the Trinamul chief.
At one point he said he didn't know Mr Islam and then admitted the latter had once met him at his office and he advised him to help development work rising above narrow politics. Mr Islam had submitted a development plan for the area worth Rs 74 lakh, but it wasn't cleared as the neighbourhood committee was bypassed, he said.
“As members of all political parties are included in different committees there was no firing or bloodshed while getting land from farmers at Rajarhat,” he boasted.
Mr Partha Chatterjee, Leader of the Opposition, said the two Press conferences yesterday and today were the outcome of a clash of interests among state ministers. He alleged about 1.1 million acres of farm land, including thousands of acres for Rajarhat, had been converted into non-agricultural land through coercion during the LF regime. He demanded the state government publish a White Paper on the acquired land. He has also demanded that 400 acres of land at Singur given to the Tatas on lease be returned to the farmers and the government's deal with the Tata Group be made public. SNS

Red rampage in Midnapore

Statesman News Service
MIDNAPORE, 2 SEPT: Villagers had to pay the price for daring to defy a CPI-M diktat not to file any nomination against the party for the upcoming election to the Moula-Paramanandapur Krishi Unnayan Samabayee Samiti (MPKUSS).
About 700 armed activists of the Red brigade went on the rampage in the village for three hours from around 10 a.m. today and exploded bombs to terrorise villagers. They allegedly ransacked several houses and looted valuables worth lakhs. The houses of Mr Bangshi Ghosh and Mr Nimai Ghosh were ransacked and looted. The duo were severely beaten up as they tried to resist the goons. Besides them, Mr Anil Khan and Mr Kshudiram Bag were also beaten up, it was further alleged.
Six Opposition candidates filed their nominations for six seats of the samiti yesterday, the last day of filing nominations. The election to the samiti is slated for 13 September.
Mr Nitai Ghosh is the worst sufferer as a steel almirah, containing gold ornaments and other articles worth over Rs 1 lakh and Rs 10,000 in cash, was looted from his house.
The criminals also tore away a pair of gold earrings from a woman member of Mr Sukumar Ghosh’s family, injuring her critically.
Some of the affected villagers called up the Chandrakona police station, asking for immediate deployment of forces to stop CPI-M terror. But their requests fell on deaf ears, thus giving the goons a free run.
It was only when this correspondent drew the attention of the SP, Mr Manoj Verma, around 12 noon to Marxist vandalism, that a contingent from Chandrakona police station arrived at Moula around 1 p.m. Seeing a police jeep approaching the village, the hoodlums fled to Kolla, a CPI-M stronghold, in a neighbouring village. But the goons have eluded police.
While fleeing, the hooligans threatened to return to the village in the evening, after police left, to terrorise inhabitants, residents alleged. They feared that police would not take any action against cadres to let them live in peace as they (visiting police personnel) were seen having tea and snacks in the house of the CPI-M’s local committee member, Mr Pradip Ganguly, at Barasat, the adjacent village.

State looks beyond Bengal for potatoes

Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, 2 SEPT: Although the state has enough potatoes for consumption in the cold storages, the state government is looking at other states to procure potatoes and sell it at a subsidised rate. The state agri-marketing minister, Dr Mortozza Hossain today said this after a meeting with cold storage owners.
He said that the potato prices in the state are rising due to increase in labour and transport charges.
In most markets potatoes are selling between Rs 22 and Rs 20 and the state government's attempts to sell potatoes on its own had little impact on the rising prices. Dr Hossain said:” According to our estimates there is no shortage of potatoes for consumption. But we cannot raid the cold storages to get the potatoes for sale. How can we enter other people's property ?” He also said that the state government's plans to sell potatoes from government stalls in unrealistic. There are only 60 stalls which are obviously not enough for the whole state. Dr Hossain also added that he does not have enough manpower to measure out potatoes from cold storages. The minister also said that the state is looking at other states like Punjab to procure potatoes although the prices are not lower than West Bengal. A team of officials from Punjab went to look for potatoes for sale as well as for seeds but they have returned empty handed.
“Potatoes prices in other states are no better than West Bengal but we are trying to get potatoes from other potato growing areas and sell this at a subsidised rate,” said Dr Hossain.
According to an official of the food department, potato is on the list of essential commodities but there are legal complications which prevent them from raiding the cold storages.

http://www.thestatesman.org/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=267119

HOW THE VEDIC VILLAGE DEAL WAS STRUCK
The following information is based on the statements made by Bengal land and land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah on Tuesday. The information makes it clear that there was no adverse court order that compelled the land department to go in for an out-of-court settlement with the Vedic Village promoters

• Between 1997 and 2002, Sanjeevani Projects and other companies had been buying land in Rajarhat for the Vedic Village project

• After purchasing 10 acres, they applied for mutation at the office of the Block Land and Land Reforms Officer, Rajarhat

• Between 1997 and 2002, much of these 10 acres had been mutated in Sanjeevani’s favour

• The state government, at the behest of Mollah, conducted an inquiry and found that Sanjeevani had in its possession, in its name and in other names (benami), ceiling-surplus land

• According to the land ceiling law, the state government was empowered to conduct investigations into whether there was any benami property and hear out those against whom allegations had been made

• Hearings were held with Sanjeevani and associates. It was found that the group was in possession of 76 acres

• Law permits a company to have in its possession only up to 24 acres. So, in January 2003, 52 acres (76 acres - 24 acres) were vested (taken over) by the government

• In the same month, Sanjeevani filed a case in Calcutta High Court against the government’s move to vest 52 acres

lOn March 13, 2003, Justice Amitava Lala passed an order saying the petitioners (Sanjeevani) could not change the character of the land; he did not pass any order on whether the vesting should or shouldn’t be done. Mollah said on Tuesday that the order “did not say anything about vesting but also didn’t nullify vesting’’

• On March 27 and May 29, 2003, the state government and the private group made a joint inspection of the site, from which it was found that Justice Lala’s order had been flouted — meaning the land character had been changed by Sanjeevani by constructing on it

• On September 4, 2003, the state government moved the judiciary with the prayer that a contempt of court order be passed against Sanjeevani for having changed the land character

• On September 23, 2003, Sanjeevani made an appearance in the court of Justice Lala and apologised. According to the government, the court disposed of the case by saying that the apology was enough

• On September 24, 2003, Sanjeevani filed a writ petition in the court of Justice Jayanta Biswas — once again against the government’s vesting; the judge said the matter was not in the high court’s jurisdiction and that the petitioner may approach the Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal

• On September 25, 2003, Sanjeevani went to the tribunal challenging the government’s vesting of the land

• On September 30, 2003, the tribunal disposed of Sanjeevani’s petition and asked it to make an appeal to the North 24-Parganas District Land and Land Reforms Officer

• Instead, the private group moved the division bench of Calcutta High Court by filing a writ petition on November 9, 2003, against the vesting of the land

• On May 4, 2004, the land department issued an order to allow long-term lease settlements across the state of land which has either been vested after purchase or purchased unknowingly after vesting

• On May 2, 2005, Sanjeevani approached the land department saying it wouldn’t continue with the court case if the government, on the basis of the May 4, 2004, order, gave it the vested land on long-term lease. The land department agreed, paving the way for the out-of-court settlement

• Accordingly, Sanjeevani group associates Stone Mercantile applied for 13.71 acres, Zeon for 14.5 acres and Square Commerce for 15.99 acres from the government on long-term lease

• On May 11, 2005, the state government started initiating the long-term lease process for 44.27 acres for the construction of Vedic Village

• Through this process, the state government got Rs 97.36 lakh from the Vedic Village consortium

Vedic massage for Mollah
OUR BUREAU
Calcutta, Sept. 1: Land and land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah today said he had visited the Vedic resort a “good number of times’’.

“I suffer from bronchial and throat problems. So, I have gone to Vedic Village a number of times and had coconut water there. Naturopathy and Chinese medicine treatment are also available there. The doctor who treats me is very good and doesn’t charge fees. Nowadays, he comes to my home. But I won’t go there now as you people are after me,” Mollah told a media conference at his Writers’ chamber.

The minister’s personal integrity has never been a subject of speculation but disclosures such as these are bound to raise questions of conflict of interest and propriety.

C.M. Pradyumna, the ayurvedacharya at the Vedic Village spa, told The Telegraph: “Patient information is confidential, but as he mentioned in public today, he suffers from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) for which he has been consulting me from August 9, 2005.”

The director of medicine at Vedic Village said Mollah was one among “3,781 patients” from India and abroad “treated” at the Sanjeeva Spa.

Whether such “therapies” can be called Ayurveda treatment, which involves a long-term regimen, is debatable. Many spas offer “wellness rejuvenation therapy sessions” that seek to trace their roots to Ayurveda.

‘Will tell wife, not cabinet’

In another ironical twist, the minister railed against the proposed IT township on 1,200 acres involving the Vedic promoters and a government agency. “People are being killed. Land mafia is ruling there. A democratic government should not pursue such a project. If the government still goes ahead, it will be out,’’ he said.

However, Mollah said he would not raise the issue in the cabinet. “I am a CPM minister and the cabinet involves ministers of other Left Front allies, too. So, I won’t raise this in the cabinet. But I will tell my wife and go to my party and the market to say that the IT township should not happen this way,” he said.

Such statements are expected to make the CPM leadership further wary of assigning greater responsibilities to Mollah, who at one time was projected by some as the possible deputy or successor to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090902/jsp/bengal/story_11440095.jsp

From cradle, IT park was on deathbed
- Haste takes toll even before Vedic nail
OUR BUREAU
Calcutta, Sept. 2: Bickering ministers in the Bengal government have started writing the epitaph of the IT township project made infamous by the Vedic Village flare-up but the death knell was sounded the very day the venture was born.

In a desperate attempt to create a land bank for potential IT investors, the state government, through its nodal IT agency Webel, entered into an agreement with Vedic Realty and Diamond Group for the 1,200-acre IT township, 600 acres of which were earmarked for IT companies.

As part of the agreement on August 25, 2008, Webel would have got the 600 acres free and, in exchange, it was to develop infrastructure for the entire 1,200-acre project.

“But the agreement was vague…. It did not peg any project cost or set any deadline on completion. The agreement was even silent on the amount of money to be spent on developing infrastructure,” said a senior government official.

No planning was done on how a company like Webel, which barely breaks even with annual earnings of around Rs 110 crore, could fund the infrastructure development in a 1,200-acre project.

According to estimates, Webel would have had to spend in excess of Rs 500 crore for roads, arteries, sewage lines and facilities for water and power.

Special budgetary provisions had to be made for the IT department to fund Webel.

Although the contours of the project, christened Kolkata Links, remained blurred, the state government started selling it as a possible destination to potential investors. The state IT department signed memoranda of understanding with Infosys and Wipro and promised to deliver 90 acres each to the IT giants.

Last month, IT minister Debesh Das promised at a CII meeting that Infosys and Wipro would be handed over the land by December, though the two companies were not in a hurry to set up campuses in the proposed IT township.

“I don’t know how the minister could make an announcement like that even before getting the land in the government’s possession from the private players,” wondered an official in the IT department.

According to sources, the private promoters had given a list of their land purchases, totalling 180 acres, to the IT department sometime in May, even though they claimed that they had purchased over 500 acres from farmers in Rajarhat and Bhangar.

“Webel was supposed to check the registration, mutation, size and the contiguous nature of the plots mentioned in the list. But even before carrying out the necessary scrutiny, the state government announced that it was ready for the handover,” a source said.

With the project now getting mired in a political controversy and the main promoter, Raj Modi of Vedic Realty, behind bars, the state IT department is at a loss.

“I can only say that we will not be involved in anything that is illegal,” said Das, distancing himself from the controversy. He probably meant that the government was in no position to hand over the land to Infosys and Wipro.

IT minister Debesh Das
This is not the first failure of the government. In 2004, Hidco, an agency under housing minister Gautam Deb’s chairmanship, had asked Wipro and Infosys to shell out Rs 2.16 crore an acre, which forced the companies to scout for land elsewhere.

The West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation also failed to arrange for land for Infosys in 2006 after the chief minister had asked the industries department to do so.

The IT department’s next attempt at developing a 350-acre township in Jagadishpur, 3km from Rajarhat, had to be aborted in May 2009 as farmers refused to sell land to the government.

Das did not have an answer to questions on what would happen to the commitments the state government had made to Wipro and Infosys. The first-time minister was also silent on what alternative plans the government was drawing up to arrange for land for IT companies.

“This particular form of public-private partnership model was ill-conceived and the government unnecessarily spent more than a year banking on it. Now they are stuck as they don’t have a Plan B,” an official said.

The impact of the controversy will affect other industries as the South 24-Parganas district administration has suspended mutation of land. In adjoining North 24-Parganas, mutation has been stalled for the past three months because land-related data are being computerised.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090903/jsp/frontpage/story_11445128.jsp