Another Major Scam

The CAG draft report that nails the connivance between Government agencies and Reliance Industries Ltd. leading to huge losses to the Government exchequer is yet another example of the power of corporates in the UPA Government to subvert rules and regulations in their favour.

The CAG has noted that the former Director-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) permitted Reliance to inflate its “development costs” on the gas extraction in the D6 block of KG basin from 2.47 billion dollars to a whopping 8.84 billion dollars. This money taken by RIL affected the revenues of the Government. Government should prosecute the former DGH without any delay.

The Government’s connivance with RIL has a direct impact on the aam aadmi because increased claims of development cost get reflected in the price of gas given to consumers and also affect the prices of fertilizer and power. On this issue as well as on the inflated development cost issue, CPI(M) MPs have been raising the matter in Parliament. Letters have been written to the Prime Minister to institute an independent enquiry into the complaint of artificial jacking up of the capital expenditure by RIL for D6 KG Basin and its hasty approval by the concerned authority to find out the actual cost before gas price is fixed.

But the Polit Bureau regrets to note that in a repeat of the 2-G scam, the Prime Minister’s silence on the issue, other than mere acknowledgement of letters from Members of Parliament has again exposed the UPA Government’s acquiescence to corporate manipulation. The PB demands a statement from the PM on this issue as it involves a higher price for energy resource like natural gas that is used for power and fertilizer industries and has a direct bearing on the interests of the common man.

Congress led UDF government in Kerala trying to destablize welfare programmes and education sector : Pinarayi Vijayan

Communist Party of India (Marxist) Kerala State secretary Com. Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the beginning augured ill for the United Democratic Front (UDF) government led by Oommen Chandy.

Inaugurating the valedictory session of the 14th national seminar commemorating Communist leader Com. E.M.S. Namboodiripad at Kottakkal in Malappuram District on Tuesday, Com. Pinarayi Vijayan said that the UDF government was meddling with the people's welfare programmes initiated by the erstwhile Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.

Com. Pinarayi Vijayan said that the government was trying to destroy the State's general education system by permitting private schools under the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) stream at a time when government and aided schools were set for a big leap in the State.

“The government should be for the people of Kerala. By people, I mean the poor and the middle-class sections which constitute 98 per cent of the population,” he said. The government should not mistake the two per cent, who run unaided educational institutions, for the people of Kerala. He said Namboodiripad had a clear and defined perspective of the State's development. “He was a visionary who clearly understood the politics of the media.”

Former Minister for Finance T.M. Thomas Isaac presented a paper on ‘Kerala development – challenges raised by change in government.' A. Vijayaraghavan, CPI(M) Secretariat member, spoke on the ‘contemporary face of colonialism'. DYFI All India President Com. P Sreeramakrishnan, CPIM Malappuram District Secretary Com. Ummer Master were present at the function.

WB Assembly passes Singur Bill amid Left walkout,Bill is full of loopholes.

In a House where no Opposition member was present the Singur Bill seeking to empower the West Bengal government to return land to farmers was passed on Thursday. The Bill – The Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011, -- was passed by voice vote as members of the Opposition Left parties walked out in protest against major loopholes in the content of the Bill.

Before walkout, Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly and member of the Central Committee of the CPI (M), Surya Kanta Mishra was critical of the haste over tabling of the Bill which has left the Opposition hardly any time to scrutinize it. However, there were many loopholes and discrepancies in the content of the Bill, he said. Mishra made it clear that the Bill had created distinct division among farmers in Singur branding one section as so-called “unwilling” who refused to give land and another section as “willing” who handed over land.
The Opposition Leader Mishra said the CPI (M) was not opposed to the return of land to “unwilling” farmers but the Bill should not be reduced to being just a “gimmick.”

Meanwhile, reacting sharply to comments made in the Bill regarding “non-commissioning and abandoning” of the project at Singur, Tata Motors, in a press note said, “ The Bill does not state the reasons for stoppage of operations and shifting of the plant.” Tata Motors “wants to clarify that the operations of setting up and commissioning of the plant was conducted under very difficult conditions amidst violence disruption activities, damage to property and threats to personnel.”

Congress making desperate moves in Andhra Pradesh: CPI (M)

The two-day meeting of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Andhra pradesh State Committe that concluded in Hyderabad on Tuesday discussed the political situation prevailing in Andhra Pradesh and said the Congress' desperate attempts to appoint new leaders would be fruitless.

At a briefing here, State secretary B.V. Raghavulu cited the example of Botcha Satyanarayana as the president of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee and wondered what difference it would make when a Congress MP, G. V. Harsha Kumar, himself described the PCC president as “highly corrupt and anti-Dalit”.

Merger

Asked about the merger of the Left parties, he said that they would prefer fighting together on people's issues right now, rather than just merge and split later down the line.

Bringing pressure together on governments to concentrate on problems faced by people was more important at this stage, he added.

On alliances with other political parties in the elections to local bodies, he said they would prefer sailing with those that would give them maximum mileage and field candidates in places where they had a solid base.

Mr. Raghavulu said the State Committee meeting chalked out agitation plans on issues like health, sanitation, education and nodal agency for the Scheduled Castes sub-plan.

Between June 17 and 24, the party would observe an Education Week to focus on problems in the education sector.

Between June 25 and 30, the party's units would look into health and sanitation issues. Deliberations included implementation of G.O. Ms. No. 3 that pertained to wages of about 10.5 lakh contract casual employees working in 190 government departments and who were not covered by the Pay Revision Commission and cancellation of permission accorded to about 50 merchant power plants.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)