For some time now, it seemed like the internal dispute within the CPM over the nuclear deal was preventing the left from carrying out the ultimatum to the Congress Government. It was quite clear that there was a lobby within the West Bengal unit (which had both the Chief Minster and Jyoti Basu) speak up for nuclear energy and even proclaim that relations with the US were important for the country; as opposed to the push by the politburo and Prakash Karat for a no-holds barred line against the nuclear deal even if it means bringing down the Government. And when pushed to whether this means that the left is agreeable to the BJP coming back to power if the Government falls, the left states that it treats both the BJP and US imperialism on the same level. At the same time, all the public comments by the Congress are that it will not favor going back and will push for the deal. Maybe they feel that if they go back, they will have no face left and will be pushed by the left again and again over other issues as well.
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We have an obsession with cricket in this country. It is the most popular game, and maybe there are valid reasons for that. It has been marketed wonderfully, and people’s involvement in the game has been raised to such a high degree that when the finals of the Twenty-Twenty were taking place in South Africa, the roads in Delhi were deserted, and for the next 2-3 days, the newspapers had major sections covering the event. The players were heroes, welcomed by the state government on arrival in Mumbai, with the BCCI doling out large sums of money to the players. Now, so far, the BCCI is a body for cricket, and it can give awards. But the Government has to appear broad-based and fair to all sports, and yet we know that is such a fiction. So, we have the hockey players, who won the Asia Cup when no one expected, protesting against the doling out of money to the players by State Governments.
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It would seem that the debate within the Communist party (CPM) over the issue of withdrawing support over the nuclear issue is continuing, and is not a done deal. Initially, there were just plain suspicions that there would be tension between the West Bengal unit of the CPM and the central Politburo; there were unnamed sources in the West Bengal unit who claimed that the attitude of the central leadership was not comfortable to the West Bengal unit. They are in a state which needs to rapidly develop, it’s people are looking for development and they have already faced a mini-revolt over the issue of earlier land acquisition for development, with Mamta Banerjee leading the protest.
As the tension between the Left and the Congress escalated, and the Congress got support from its other allies, there must have been a lot of thought going into the West Bengal leadership about what this means for the state. For many of their measures, such as rural electrification, industrialization and SEZ’s, they need to have a friendly centre. In a small indicator of what a uncooperative center can mean, the West Bengal Government faced problems regarding getting funds for rural electrification. And of course, a Congress aligning with Mamta Banerjee is the worst nightmare for the Left (and by Left, I primarily mean the CPM, since the CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc don’t seem to care all too much).
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At some point of time, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the premier investigating agency of the country and the main federal such body will get the kick from the Supreme Court that it so badly needs in order to its job independently and without political influence. Currently the CBI reports to the Department of Personnel, and hence is extremely open to influence. In theory, the CBI works under its director and evaluates each case on its merits, but a review of many recent cases shows the kind of joke this concept is: The acquittal of Shibu Soren, the one/off investigation of Mayawati in the Taj Corridor case, the dismal performance in the Bofors / Quattrochi case, and the current issue about the Disproportionate assets case against Laloo Prasad Yadav and his wife:
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When do we get to a situation where normal people, get worked up enough to form a mob and then proceed to pummel, beat, thrash, or use other means of harming or killing somebody who is supposed to have been a thief ? Well, if people could find an answer, they could prevent what seems to be happening in Bihar. In yet another another incident of a supposed criminal having been beaten up by a mob and killed in a frenzy, 2 people were beaten to death after becoming the target of a mob.
Superintendent of Police (city), Anwar Hussain, said the lynching of the two men took place at Nutan Colony under Sultanganj police station last night after news spread that three persons were robbing passersby. The trio was then chased by a crowd. One of them jumped into a pond to save himself but he was pulled out and bludgeoned to death with sticks, iron rods and whatever the mob could lay its hands on.
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There is hope for the Congress Government as yet. It currently seems to be between a rock and a hard place; if they back down from the nuclear deal under Left pressure, then the Government will have a serious loss of face with future agreements being disputed and maybe rolled back under other such pressures. In addition, internationally the Primer Minister will have a monumental loss of face in the sense that a Treaty, negotiated for a period of 2 years and seemingly which meets the needs of the Government is being held up. In addition, it will tell the Left that the Government will eventually give in with the right amount of pressure. On the other hand, if the Government does decide to go ahead with the nuclear deal, it is very likely that the Left will carry out its threat to withdraw support and leave the Government in a very fragile political environment.
And maybe not. The CPM is divided into 2 sections, with a section representing the central leadership, people in the politburo who don’t face Lok Sabha elections (most likely because they would not get elected given their stands on various issues) and the Governments in West Bengal and Kerala who have to face public pressure and ensure that they are seen on the side of development. So far, it has been under-stated that there are differences of opinion between the Central and State leadership, but they have been mostly papered over.
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What happens when a Government is so taken up by populism that it won’t listen to reason ? Well, now is a good time to find out. The Andhra Pradesh Government of Y. Rajsekhar Reddy has been trying to implement a separate reservation quota for Muslims in state colleges. Now reservation vs. merit has been a tricky subject currently, with plenty of impassioned speech for and against the subject. However, most debaters seem to agree that trying to implement reservations with a religious agenda is just not on; it smacks too much of a populist move (not bad by itself if it works for public good), it goes against the concept of the state not discriminating between against religions (sacrosanct in the Indian system), it militates against the concept of targeted reservations where reservations are only meant for those people who have been denied or suppressed for a historically long time (and you just cannot say that about the Muslim community in Andhra Pradesh) and is against the concept of judicial review where the ultimate correctness of a Government action is viewed against the intention of the constitution by the courts (and in this case, this particular stand is being reviewed by the Supreme Court).
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India’s faces a severe problem with respect to terrorism. Some of them are on the path of terrorism due to wrong incitement, some are due to the situation and some are terrorists due to being mercenaries, and this being the most profitable route. So, for example, terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir got a massive boost by the rigging of the 1987 state elections, and this was further increased due to the massive boost given by Pakistan through training, funds and men. In many sections of the North-East, terrorism has grown because of separatism again, but for many Naxalite affected areas, people also turn to violence because the state and its institutions have failed them. Hence, the message always goes out from security experts that innocents must not be harmed, and a lot of care and attention must be taken to ensure that people do not feel prompted to turn to terrorism to escape state repression. Those who would have seen Gulzaar’s movie ‘Machis’ would see one example of this happens. In Kashmir right now, the biggest measure that brings hundreds of people out to protest against security forces is the case of frame-ups and innocents being killed. Such one-off problems increases the total problem of handling the insurgency.
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This seems like a good way to help farmers in Haryana to get information that helps them, and that too without running around and chasing after some Government Babu who may not be too interested. Sometimes one wonders as to how Government departments are able to implement such innovative solutions, that too, which actually work and which can be used by people in the State, no matter where they reside:
Farmers in Haryana are SMSing a free government helpline to get solutions to their agro-problems. The government set up this trouble-shooting service in February, the first of its kind in the country. Farmers can contact senior officials of the agriculture department for advice. Even illiterate farmers are taking help of others in the family or neighbourhood to send SMSes.
Officials say it will take time to exploit such technology in the farm sector. They feel this service will go a long way to educate farmers once they get hooked to it. The department feels that farmers have been deprived of scientific advice as agriculture department officials and professors of agriculture universities have been unable to disseminate information to farmers in remote areas. Mobile technology is helping surmount these problems.
No one would have expected this. It was known that Indians are very irritated with the number of unwanted calls they get from tele-marketers, and hence most people welcomed the setting up a National Do Not Call Registry, but this would have been most unexpected. When the registry opened on September 5, 2007, it got 5 million users. This is an incredible number and demonstrates how much people are willing to go to avoid these unwanted calls.
The sheer numbers — around 2.5% of India’s over 190 million mobile subscribers — reveal just how much people resent pesky sales calls. Considering that prepaid subscribers — who are much less of a target for telemarketers — form a huge percentage of all subscribers, this figure of 5 million assumes even greater significance.
The sheer numbers — around 2.5% of India’s over 190 million mobile subscribers — reveal just how much people resent pesky sales calls. Considering that prepaid subscribers — who are much less of a target for telemarketers — form a huge percentage of all subscribers, this figure of 5 million assumes even greater significance.