Hindi book on Comrade P Sundarayya released

Leaders across the political spectrum on Wednesday recalled the immense contribution of veteran Marxist leader P. Sundarayya to building the Communist movement in Andhra Pradesh and the country.

Recounting the spartan life led by the Marxist leader, CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said Sundarayya contributed to ushering in democratic practices in the party structure and worked towards the development of linguistics in the State.

Releasing a book in Hindi on the life of Pucchalapalli Sundarayya, Union Minister for Urban Development S. Jaipal Reddy shared his relationship with the late leader and spoke of the immense knowledge that he brought to debates.

On his part, Bharatiya Janata Party leader M. Venkaiah Naidu lamented the changing attitude in politics and the drifting personal relations among politicians from different parties. He said that while parties had different ideologies earlier, its members used to interact on a social plane, a tradition now on the decline.

Lakshmi Prasad, a former Telugu Desam Party MP, who heads the Andhra Pradesh Hindi Academy, said that in order to highlight the contribution of leaders such as Alluri Seetaramaraju, Tanguturi Prakasam, and P.V. Narasimha Rao in national politics, the Academy would publish their translated biographies for the benefit of Hindi-speaking people.

Veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar presided over the function held here at the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan.

Centre should probe mining in Andhra Pradesh: CPI (M)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has demanded that the Centre constitute a high-level committee to inquire into the mining activities in the State and put exploitation work on hold till the panel submits its report.

CPI (M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu charged the Congress with adopting “double standards” on mining activities. While the party was supporting mining in the States where it was in power, it was opposing it in States where it was in the Opposition. Denial of mining permission to Vedanta in Orissa on environmental grounds while allowing bauxite mining in Visakhapatnam in spite of the pollution it was causing was ample proof of the ruling party's approach.

The Government which denied permission to set up the thermal power plant at Sompeta in Srikakulam district as it had no environmental clearances, however, ignored “violation of tribal laws like 1/70 Act” in case of mining in Bayyaram in Khammam district.

“Why is the Centre particular about enforcement of legislations in States where the Congress is not in power while it is setting aside the same in Congress-ruled States” he wondered.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

Deshabhimani signature song released

Deshabhimani', the official organ of the CPI-M in Malayalam, released its signature song, penned by eminent poet and lyricist O N V Kurup. The song was released by CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan at a function at Thiruvananthapuram. A musical rendering of the values for which the newspaper stood over decades as the voice of the toiling masses, was sung by noted playback singers K S Chitra and Madhu Balakrishnan. The tune was rendered by top-notch film and stage music director M K Arjunan.

DMK wavering in its stand on major issues: CPI(M)

Accusing the DMK of wavering in its position on all major issues such as Nuclear Deal, trade union rights and state autonomy, the CPI(M) on Thursday said the Dravidian party, once a champion of state autonomy, had been reduced to the level of pleading the Centre with petitions.

“The Congress-led UPA government is taking away the rights of the state government and the DMK is pleading with petitions,” CPI(M) state secretary G. Ramakrishnan said, reacting to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s remarks that the communist parties had no policy other than changing their stand frequently.

“The communists have never compromised their stand on issues such as anti-imperialism, secularism, rights of the state governments and protection of poor in the urban and rural areas,” he added.

Mr Ramakrishnan said the though the DMK had expressed concern over the hike in the price of petroleum products, the fact remained that the DMK was also a party to the cabinet decision to hike the price.

“The price of agriculture inputs has become beyond the reach of farmers. But the DMK extended its support to hike the price of fertilisers,” he said, alleging that the DMK was wavering because it had embraced liberalisation policy.

As regards the Chief Minister’s another remark that the CPI(M) was trying to suppress the achievements of the DMK government, Mr Ramakrishnan quipped, “no one can suppress achievements such as power cut, spiralling of prices of essential commodities, deterioration of law and order and denial of trade union rights in multi-national companies.”

He said though the DMK was claiming that it was the champion of social justice, suspension of IAS officer C. Umashankar and the wall to prevent the entry of Dalits in Uthapuram “tell different story.”

Mr Ramakrishnan said only a few CPI(M) men attended the meeting to admit former CPI(M) MLA C. Govindasamy into the DMK.

“Others belonged to the DMK. What is the need to organise such a big function to admit the DMK men into the DMK,” he said.

Rejecting the Chief Minister’s comments, CPI state secretary D. Pandian said, “time has come for the Chief Minister to retire from politics.”

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

No justification for innocent killings in Jammu Kashmir : CPIM

Terming the situation in Kashmir as ‘extremely serious,’ General Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Prakash Karat on Monday said there can be no justification for use of bullets by government forces against stone throwing youth in the Valley which has resulted in killing of 63 Kashmiris.

Karat asked Government of India to recognize the special status of the state and treat it as “special case” to seek its political solution by resuming dialogue, without any pre-condition, with all shades of opinion. Favoring “greater autonomy” to the state, Karat who along with senior member of the Central Committee, Muhammad Salim, arrived here on Sunday, said the Congress led UPA was clueless on how to take the dialogue process forward on Kashmir.

ON KILLINGS:
“We are appalled and shocked at such a large death toll in the Valley. Sixty-two people including young boys have died in few weeks due to firing by paramilitary CRPF troops and police forces. There can be no justification whatsoever for these deaths. We know that they (youth) are out on streets protesting in form of stone pelting but to meet this with police firing is something that should not be condoned in a democratic county like India,” Karat told a press conference here.

“There has to be an immediate end to these brutal and inhuman firing. There has to be a strict no firing policy while dealing with stone throwing crowds. Other measures have to be resorted to in such confrontations,” said Karat, flanked by state secretary, MY Targami and Muhammad Salim. “Kashmir is burning, there is crisis in Manipur but Government of India’s priority is nuclear liability bill which will serve interests of America.”

ON DIALOGUE:
Karat said his party does not share the views of Government of India or major political establishments which have been in succession whether ruling India or managing affairs in JK.

“Government of India is trying to deal with Kashmir as law and order problem and administrative issue. The question of Jammu and Kashmir has to be treated as special case and the way forward is to recognize its special status and need to assure Kashmiri people of their identity and these requires a new political framework in which the bedrock is maximum autonomy,” he said. “We urge Centre to initiate political dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir. Avoiding the issue will not resolve the problem. The dialogue should be held without pre-conditions and it should be an open dialogue.”

About the preconditions by separatists that GoI should admit Kashmir as dispute for talks and the repeated statements of the New Delhi regarding settlement within the Constitution, he said, “The question of Kashmir concerns Kashmiris, India and Pakistan and the issue has other international and geo-political factors which have to be taken into consideration.”

Karat said his party would urge upon the Center to come up with a roadmap on how to go for political dialogue on Kashmir. At the same time, Karat said the dialogue with Pakistan has to be resumed and it should cover all issues. “There should be resumption and continuation of CBMs to help strengthen ties and relation.”

ON ARRESTS:
Condemning the arrest of teenagers in the Valley, Karat said “I am not able to understand how this is happening. I saw newspapers and read about cases of children less than 18 years put to jail. You cannot jail a teenager. These young people must not be kept in jail,” he said.

In order to help restore normalcy, the government should release all juveniles who have been detained and lodged in prisons, Karat suggested. I don’t subscribe to the statement made by the Home Minister earlier that protests in Kashmir are engineered. They are spontaneous,” Karat responded to a query. “We have come to convey our deep sympathy to the bereaved families and tell them that there are forces in India who condemn such action.”

ON AFSPA:
Karat said the law in its present form has “draconian” provisions. “It should be amended to remove these draconian provisions. Till then the Disturbed Area Act should be removed from certain parts of JK like Srinagar and other urban and populated areas given the significant decrease in militant activities. It can work as an interim solution.”

He urged upon government for implementation of the Prime Minister’s assurance on “zero tolerance to human rights abuses” saying that action should be taken in Pathribal and the recent Machil fake encounter cases.

Karat said his party has been consistently advocating need for a sustained political dialogue with all sections in the state to eventually reach a political settlement. On many occasion in the past, he said, they had raised with successive regimes in New Delhi the issue of greater autonomy to all three regions of the state. “Congress is hostile to autonomy and more rights to states. All it wants to do is centralize more and more powers.”

During the CPI-M’s next Central Committee meeting, Karat said they would take Kashmir as a special case, discuss it in depth and come up with its clear stand on a way forward to solve it.

Karat said there was urgent need to generate employment for youth in Kashmir and it must be accompanied by rehabilitation of former militants who need jobs and other assistance. He said given the major economic losses suffered due to the continued curfews and hartals for the past two months, the government must compensate and revive trade and other economic activities. Similarly, he said, the disruption of education of the children due to closure of schools and other institutions should be addressed.

He said government should bear the treatment cost of those injured in police and CRPF firing and it should announce rehabilitation measures for those who have been left permanently disabled. He announced that his party’s central committee would donate Rs five lakhs for the treatment of the injured.

(courtesy : www.greaterkashmir.com)

SFI sweeps Kerala University Union office bearers election

Students Federation of India (SFI) swept the Kerala University Union office bearers elections by bagging 23 seats out of the total 27 seats.

Lenin R of Navjeevan Bethany College of Physiotherapy here was elected chairman of the University Union. Ramya Remanan of TKMM College, Nangiarkulangara, was elected general secretary.

In the 15-member executive committee, 12 candidates are from SFI. The remaining seats were won by AISF, SIO and KSU. SFI also won four seats in the five-member Accounts Committee.

In the Kerala University Senate elections, SFI won 5 seats and KSU won 4 seats. The remaining one seat was won by AISF.

FDI in retail market will affect livelihood of 8 crore traders: CPI(M)

If foreign direct investment (FDI) is allowed in retail market, it will swallow up the livelihood of 8 crore people involved in the trade, said CPI(M) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan on Saturday.

Addressing a protest organised by Chennai Maangar Siru Viyapari Sangangalin Kootamaippu, he said the previous UPA regime could not go ahead with its proposal to allow FDI in retail because the Left had a strong presence in the Parliament. Mr. Ramakrishnan said American public corporations like Walmart were keen on entering the Indian retail market because it was vast and offered great space for profit making.

“The turnover in retail trade in 2004-05 was Rs 12 lakh crore and the amount has gone up to Rs 19 lakh crore now. That is why these multi-nationals are eyeing the Indian market,” he said, rejecting the Centre's argument that retail trade had not achieved growth. “The argument is one of the many points in the note sent to political parties by the Centre to discuss the issue,” he said.

As for another argument that these companies would set up cold storage facilities in rural areas, he wanted to know why the government depended on multi-nationals instead of creating infrastructure for the farmers. He also rejected the argument that FDI in retail trade would eradicate the middleman in procuring agriculture products.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury in his message said FDI in retail affected all sections of the society. President of the Kootamaippu T.N. Nambirajan and general secretary P. Karunanidhi participated.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

CITU wins Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Cooperative Store polls

In the election results announced for Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Cooperative Store, CITU bagged six posts of directors leaving one to INTUC. Of 14,000-odd voters, 10,957 took part in voting.

CITU Employees' Union president J. Ayothyaram thanked the employees for reposing faith in CITU.
(Courtesy : The Hindu)

Nuclear Liability Bill : Govt Protects Foreign Suppliers

The amendments to the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010 proposed by the Government not only goes against the grain of the crucial recommendations of the Standing Committee, but also seeks to further dilute the provisions of the original bill to protect the interests of the foreign suppliers of nuclear equipment and domestic private players.

The new formulation of Clause 17 (b) suggested by the Government reads as follows:

“(b) the nuclear incident has resulted as a consequence of an act of supplier or his employees, done with the intent to cause nuclear damage, and such act includes supply of equipment or material with patent or latent defects or sub-standard services;”

This makes any liability on the part of the suppliers, for supplying defective or sub-standard equipment or material, contingent upon proof that it was “consequence of an act…done with the intent to cause nuclear damage…”. With this amendment, it will become impossible to ascribe liability to the supplier. 

This goes against the Standing Committee formulation of 17 (b), which does not require any such proof:

“(b) the nuclear incident has resulted as a consequence of latent or patent defect, supply of sub-standard material, defective equipment or services or from the gross negligence on the part of the supplier of the material, equipment or services.”

Thus, in the name of removing the “and” in 17 (a), as suggested by the Standing Committee, the Government has rewritten 17 (b), effectively throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The formulation of 17 (b) proposed in the amendment is in fact worse than the provision contained in the original bill. 

The dubious intent of the Government is further exposed by the addition of Clause 7 (1) proposed as an amendment, through which it seeks to “assume full liability for a nuclear installation not operated by it” (i.e. private nuclear installations) even as the Standing Committee had categorically recommended “that there will be no private operator of nuclear installation”. This paves the way for a massive subsidization of the private players in nuclear power by the Government, as and when they are allowed to operate.

All this is clearly being done under pressure from the foreign nuclear suppliers and domestic corporate lobbies. The Left Parties call upon all political parties to unitedly oppose these amendments proposed by the Government to protect the interests of the people and the country.

DYFI convention against Maoist killings

DYFI central committe gave an unanimous call to fight against the leftwing extremism that is creating terror in the country. The decision was taken at a convetion held in New Delhi against the Maoist atrocities. 1000 delegates from various states attended teh convention and took decision to carry out state level convention to pass on the message. Families of Martyrs who were killed by Maoists in Westbengal, Jharkand and Orrisa took part in the convention. The Convention was inaugurated by CPIM PB member Com. Sitharam Yechury.

Yechury Questioned the suggestion that railway minister Mamata Banerjee mediate between government and Maoists, CPI(M) today wondered how she could do that when she openly siding with the ultra-Left brigade. He said how can the government have a minister, who is allegedly collaborating with Maoists, to be in the Cabinet headed by a prime minister who had at least on three occasions told the nation Naxals were the "gravest" threat to internal security.

He said, "Mamata is in collaboration with Maoists. How can she mediate when she is on their side? The question of Mamata mediating does not arise as they are together.

"The ruling class bankruptcy should also be exposed as they are supporting a person who is in league with the Maoists. Maoists always supported the ruling class against the organised Left."

Yechury also took on Banerjee for her remarks that she can talk to Maoists saying that the CPI(M) leader himself had spoken to Maoists in Nepal a few years back.

"The issue is different. I spoke to them after they came to the mainstream... after shunning violence and participated in the democratic process. We will talk to the Indian Maoists when they stop violence," he said.

He also accused the Maoists of targeting the same section of economically deprived sections for whom they claim to fight for.

Suggesting a three-pronged strategy to tackle the Maoist problem, he said, "It should be treated as a law and order issue as well at political front. The government should also address the problem of exploitation of the most exploited sections of the society-- like the tribals."

"If you see, Maoists are in areas which have abundant mineral resources. Illegal mining is being carried out by others. This is depriving tribals of their resources. This has also to be changed," he said.

DYFI All India president Com. P Sreeramakrishnan presided over the meeting. General Secretary Com Tapas Sinha gave the welcome speech. Cm. Subhashini Ali, Com K N Balagopal M P participated in the meeting.