Thursday, January 20, 2011

RED SALUTE TO COM. J NAVALAN

 
J.Navalan  Tiruvarur district secretary of the Tamil Nadu Vivasaya Thozhilalar Sangam,  and district leader Communist Party of India (Marxist), was hacked to death at Kotur near Peralam on Wednesday night. Mr.Navalan was returning after attending a party meeting. Illicit liquor vending group led by Paneerselvan, also a DMK district functionary is behind the brutal killing  of com. Navalan. On his tip off police had raided a bootlegging den last september. Thousands of people attended the funeral of Com Navalan. People from nearby districts also came to pay tributes to the slain leader. CPIM State Secretary Com. G Ramakrishnan paid tributes to the leader.  He demanded the immediate arrests of the culprits behind the crime and told the party will carry forward the fight against illicit liquour trade holding the legacy of Com. Navalan. 
 

Call for Anti-Price Rise Agitation

The people are suffering due to the relentless increase in the prices of food items. Onions and vegetables have gone out of the reach of the common people. Food inflation remains unbearably high. The general inflation rate of 8.5 per cent is an iniquitous tax on the people. While the people are groaning under price rise, the country is witnessing rampant corruption and plunder of resources.
 
Yet, the UPA government remains callous to the plight of the people. False assurances are given that the prices will come down within a short period.   The ministers in the UPA government are giving differing and contradictory statements regarding price rise and how to tackle it. 
 
The government has not taken any effective  measures to curb price rise. On the contrary, its policies have contributed to inflation.
 
  • Since deregulation, petrol prices have been hiked seven times leading to 20 per cent rise in petrol prices. Oil companies have increased the price of petrol twice in a month. The hike amounts to a steep Rs. 5.50 per litre.
  • The government has not stopped the speculation through forward trading in food items and essential commodities.
  • The export-import measures for commodities such as onions etc. have fuelled price rise and only helped the private trading companies to make huge profits. 
The price rise of food items have not benefited the farmers. In many areas, farmers in distress continue to commit suicides. Neither do they get remunerative prices nor are they compensated adequately for crop losses. The Central Government has not extended adequate assistance to meet the losses of farmers due to unseasonal rains.
 
The Manmohan Singh government wants to allow foreign companies in the muti-brand retail trade. This will mean loss of livelihood for lakhs of shopkeepers and traders.
 
To condemn the failure of the government to curb price rise and to demand immediate steps to check rising prices, we, the representatives of the undersigned political parties have decided to call for a countrywide agitation against price rise and to demand the following immediate steps:
 
  1. Prohibit forward trading in food items and essential commodities.
  2. Universalise the Public Distribution System; distribute the excess foodgrain stocks in FCI godowns at BPL rates.
  3. Take firm measures against hoarding.
  4. Provide remunerative prices to farmers and inputs at reasonable cost to boost productivity in agriculture.
  5. End the deregulation of petroleum products; roll back the budgetary hikes on petroleum products and rationalize the tax structure on petroleum products. 
  6. Don’t allow foreign capital in retail trade.
 
Week-Long Agitation
 
We have decided to jointly conduct a week-long agitation against price rise from February 3rd to 9th. During this week, there will be picketing of central government offices, protest demonstrations, dharnas and rallies. On 9th February, on the last day of the week, there will be a mass dharna which will be attended by thousands of people at New Delhi in which the main leaders of all the parties will participate. 
 
Sd/-
 
Prakash Karat (CPI-M)
H D Deve Gowda (JD-S)
A.B. Bardhan (CPI)
Nama Nageswara Rao (TDP)
Arjun Charan Sethi (BJD)
Thambidurai (AIADMK)
Debabrata Biswas (AIFB)
Ajit Singh (RLD)
Abani Roy (RSP)

Others who attended the meeting: Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), Atul Kumar Anjan (CPI) and G Devarajan (AIFB)

CITU denounces Petrol price hike by the Scam Tainted Government

CITU strongly denounces the scam tainted UPA Govt’s. shameless act of imposing fresh burden on common man through Rs. 2.54 per litre hike in petrol price. It appears that the Govt. is bent on recovering the money lost through multimega scams like 2G spectrum, CWG etc. from the pockets of common man by hook or crook.

CITU does not find any justification in oft repeated false claim by the govt. that price hike of Rs. 5.50 per litre within a month since last hike on 15.12.2010, is because of high international crude price. The present crude price of 92 dollars/barrel which is equivalent Rs. 26 per litre does not justify petrol price of Rs. 59 per litre approx. in Delhi. 

CITU demands that Govt. should reduce and rationalize its disproportionate and irrational taxation which is the root cause of high price of petrol and diesel. For example central excise duty on petrol is Rs. 14.35 per litre whereas for Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), used in Aircrafts, the same is Rs. 2.75 per litre. This is lower even than Rs.4.60/litre on diesel, a product of mass consumption. CITU demands that cess of more than Rs. 8000 crore collected from ONGC & OIL India, by the Govt. should be used as price stablisation fund to take care of fluctuation of global crude oil price without affecting the people through price-rise. CITU further demands that ONGC should not be made to shoulder the burden of royalty payment in thousand of crores for crude oil produced by the Private Oil Companies like M/s. Cairn and others. 

CITU also deplores the Govt.’s deceptive tactics of fleecing the common man with so called “market determined” price for petroleum products whereas it sold spectrum worth several millions of rupees in 2008 at an abysmally low price prevalent in 2001 in a most arbitrary manner. It is preposterous for the present corporate captive govt. to talk about recovering the “notional” amount of so called under-recovery of OIL PSUs from “Aam Admi” while their spokesmen Kapil Sibal and Montek Singh Ahluwalia justify Rs.1.76 lakh crore loss to the exchequer in the spectrum scam, as notional loss. Govt. should first recover proven under-recovery to public exchequer owing to scam in sale of 2G telecom spectrum instead of burdening the Aam Admi with regular dosage of petro-product price hike on the plea of absolutely notional “under-recoveries” of OIL PSUs. 

CITU calls upon the working class to expose the deceit and deception of the Govt. CITU demands withdrawal of price hike in petrol and end of the present pricing anarchy in the name of deregulation of petroleum pricing.

11th Party Congress of Communist party of Vietnam closes


Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong Newly elected General Secretary addressing the delegates


The 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) successfully came to a conclusion in Hanoi on January 19 after sitting for nine days.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet chaired the closing session, on behalf of the Congress Presidium.

Representing the Congress’ Secretary Board, Dinh The Huynh revealed that by January 18 the Congress had received 176 messages of congratulations from various parties, international organisations and foreign friends.

Huynh reported on the results of votes on a number of issues the Congress had discussed, the draft Platform, which was supplemented and developed as well as a number of supplements and amendments to the Party Statute.

On the draft Platform, most delegates agreed to keep the name laid down in the draft: “Platform for national construction during the transitional period towards socialism (supplemented, developed in 2011)” and agreed on the economic features of a socialist society: “Have a highly developed economy based on modern production forces and suitable, advanced production relations”. Regarding proposed changes to the Party Statute, the Congress voted on 13 matters in the Party’s draft.

On behalf of the Congress’ Secretary Board, Ta Ngoc Tan read the full text of the CPV’s draft Statute. The Congress then voted by a show of hands for the Party Statute by a large majority.

Truong Tan Sang, who represented the Congress Presidium, read the results of the elections for the Political Bureau, the General Secretary, the Secretariat, the Commission for Inspection, and Chairman of the Commission for Inspection of the 11 th CPV Central Committee.

The Congress elected a 200-member Central Committee for the 11 th tenure, consisting of 175 official and 25 alternate members.

The 11 th CPV Central Committee convened its first meeting and elected 14 members to the Political Bureau. Nguyen Phu Trong was elected as General Secretary of the 11 th CPV Central Committee.

The Central Committee entrusted the Political Bureau to assign a number of Politburo members to participate in the Central Committee’s Secretariat. At the first meeting, the 11 th CPV Central Committee elected four members to the Secretariat.

The 11 th CPV Central Committee also elected a 21-member Inspection Commission, with Politburo member Ngo Van Du as chairman.

The Congress warmly congratulated Nguyen Phu Trong on his election as General Secretary of the 11 th CPV Central Committee, as well as members of the Central Committee, the Political Bureau, the Secretariat and the Commission for Inspection for the 11 th tenure.

Nong Duc Manh, General Secretary of the 10 th CPV Central Committee, delivered a speech, saying that he believed that the Congress’s success would open up a new period of development for the nation on its path of building a socialist Vietnam with a wealthy people, a powerful country and a democratic, equitable and civilised society.

Manh warmly congratulated the newly-elected Central Committee, the Political Bureau, the Secretariat and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

With solidarity and democracy and a spirit of revolution, the Congress, which mapped out guidelines for the next stage and elected the Central Committee with Nguyen Phu Trong as its General Secretary, would bring new vitality to the Party, people and army to overcome all difficulties and challenges and successfully accomplish the task of national construction and defence, he said.

On behalf of the 11 th Central Committee, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong sincerely thanked the Congress’s delegates for electing him to the Party’s important leadership bodies for the 11 th tenure and entrusting him with major tasks.

The newly-elected leader also thanked former Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh for his sincere sentiments, best congratulations and profound expectations.

“Our country’s recent achievements are closely connected to the leadership of the Party, the management of the State and the great efforts of the entire people, including the important contributions of the 10 th Central Committee and comrade Nong Duc Manh in his position as the General Secretary,” he stressed.

Trong stressed the 11 th CPV Central Committee was fully aware that the valuable achievements and experiences recorded during the previous terms, especially during the years of renewal, would lay a firm foundation for the country’s next development steps under the leadership of the CPV.

The 11 th CPV Central Committee would join hands with the entire Party to continue upholding the Party’s glorious traditions and valuable experiences, enhancing the unity and unanimity in ideology and action, strengthening political firmness, consistently adhering to the spirit of independence and self-reliance, promoting democracy and creativeness, and endlessly studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s moral example, thereby contributing to the successful implementation of the 11 th National Party Congress’s Resolution, he stressed.

At the closing session, Head of the Congress Secretary Board Ngo Van Du read the full text of the draft Congress Resolution, which was then adopted by the delegates.

In his closing speech, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said the Congress has engaged in energetic, frank and democratic discussions and unanimously adopted documents of great importance and strategic significance both in the long-term and in the immediate future for the country’s development: The platform for national construction during the transitional period to socialism (supplemented and developed in 2011), the Socio-economic Development Strategy for the 2011-20 period, orientations and tasks for the 2011-15 period and the Party Statute (supplemented and revised).

The documents adopted at this congress are profound theoretical and practical summarisation of 20 years of implementing the Platform, 10 years of implementing the Socio-economic Development Strategy (2001-10), 25 years of implementing the renewal process and five years of implementing socio-economic tasks and directions (2006-10).

They are the essence of the brainpower, the will, the desire of the entire Party and people, the continual affirmation, perfection and development of the Party’s viewpoint and policy under the renewal ideology; and define the targets and tasks of the entire Party and the nation in the new period of development which are full of prospects and not less challenges of the country’s revolution from now until 2020 and the following years.

The Congress’ united will has manifested the Party’s firm determination to in the coming years lead the entire Party, people and army in striving to absolutely achieve the goal of “Continuing to improve the Party’s leadership capacity and combativeness, promoting the entire nation’s strength, comprehensively boosting the renewal process, creating foundations for the country to basically become a modernity-oriented industrialised nation by 2020”.

The Party chief emphasised that “The 11 th CPV Central Committee consists of outstanding comrades representing more than 3.6 million Party members, who have fully met criteria in terms of qualifications, ability, professionalism and ethics to shoulder the heavy responsibility assigned by the Party and people.”

The Congress entrusted the new CPV Central Committee with a heavy task to lead the entire Party and people in successfully carrying out the 11 th National Party Congress’s Resolution.

“Aware of the great responsibility in the new stage with both big opportunities and severe challenges, the 11th CPV Central Committee commits itself to sparing no effort and whole heartedly working to serve the country, the nation and the people, unceasingly striving to improve capacity, skill, will power, morality, in order to together with the entire Party, people, army to successfully accomplish the major goals and tasks set by the Congress,” Trong noted.

The General Secretary went on to say that “The success of the 11 th National Party Congress has created a great strength to encourage the entire Party, people and army to overcome all difficulties, challenges, to seize new opportunities, in their efforts towards the goals of making our country a basically modernity-oriented industrialised nation by 2020.”

Right after the Congress, all Party organisations need to well organise the study for thorough understanding of the Congress’ Resolution and documents; popularise the Congress’ outcomes among the entire Party and people; promptly develop and implement programmes, plans of action to translate the Resolution into life, stir up intensive and large-scale patriotic movements among the entire Party, people and army.

The Congress calls on the entire Party, army and people both inside and outside the country to uphold their patriotic spirit, self-reliance, self-improvement, national unity strength, and do their best to implement the Congress’s Resolution successfully, step up the renewal process in a comprehensive manner for the country’s fast and sustainable development with the resolve to successfully fulfill the goal of a wealthy people, a strong, democratic, equal, civilised country, firmly advancing toward socialism.