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Mar 15, 2007

10 killed due to land subsidence in Jharkhand

Ranchi, March 15 (IANS) At least 10 people were killed and more than 15 sustained injuries Thursday due to land subsidence in a mining area of Dhanbad district of Jharkhand, police said.

The incident took place early Thursday in Nayakusundi locality of Dhanbad district, which comes under the mining area of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), 210 km from the state capital Ranchi.

Two houses went 40 feet inside the mining area and nearly six houses were partially damaged.

The two families that belong to Samin Mia and Suresh Bhuiya were completely gutted inside the debris. Samin died along with his wife, two sons and two daughters while Suresh was buried alive along with his three sons.

Of the 15 injured people, the condition of five are said to be serious.

More than 150 houses are located in Nayakusundi locality.

'We had issued notice to family members in Nayakusundi to vacate their houses but they ignored our notice' said a senior BCCL official. BCCL had declared the entire locality as a danger zone in 1999 itself.

Samin and Suresh, who were buried along with their family members, were employees of BCCL.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda has ordered an inquiry into the incident. The issue was also raised in the state assembly Thursday.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1277838.php/10_killed_due_to_land
_subsidence_in_Jharkhand

SAIL to build 6 MT greenfield steel plant in Jharkhand

KOLKATA: State owned steel major, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has decided to set up a six million tonne greenfield steel plant in Jharkhand costing around Rs 18,000 crore.
SAIL Chairman S K Roongta told reporters that the company has already taken in-principal decision and communicated it to the Jharkhand government.
The project was in lieu of renewal of the mining lease for the Chiria mines, Roongta said. Chiria mines is considered to have the finest iron-ore deposit in the country.
"The Jharkhand government wanted value-addition of the iron-ore sourced from the state and we are willing to meet their aspirations," he said.
Consultant Mecon had been given the mandate to carry out the preliminary study for a possible site for the six-million steel plant, Roongta said.
"The finer details of the project is yet to be worked out including investment. But, according to standard cost for a six-million plant would be around Rs 18,000 crore, but could change depending upon the final product mix," he said.
The company is likely to finish the current fiscal selling 14.5 million tonne. SAIL will add two million tonne hot metal to its capacity by the next financial year 2007-08

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Indl_Goods__Svs/Steel/
SAIL_to_build_6_MT_greenfield_steel_plant_in_Jharkhand/articleshow/1764940.cms

State government aims to put Jharkhand on global tourism map in three years

The Madhu Kora government in Jharkhand has accorded top-most priority to tourism promotion. The state plans to promote all its facets of tourism, be it spiritual or rural, globally. The mission is to put the state firmly on the world tourism map in the next three years according to S K Choudhary, principal secretary, department of tourism, government of Jharkhand. "At present the state hardly gets any foreign tourists. However, with the kind of initiatives undertaken by the state government, foreign tourist traffic is bound to shoot up in the next three years," stated Choudhary.

He further informed that on an average 30-35 lakh domestic tourists visit Jharkhand every year during the peak season, of which 25 lakh visit Deoghar, famous for religious tourism. The main source markets currently for domestic tourists for the state are West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

According to Choudhary, the state tourism department is focusing on improving infrastructure and is facilitating the creation of tourist bungalows, yatri niwas, lodges, wayside facilities and resorts with private participation on a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model. In order to attract more foreign tourists, the state government has also identified the famous Ranchi-Netarhat-Betla circuit for development and also an inter-religious circuit covering Parasnath Temple. The temple situated at 4,431 ft (highest hill in the state) is also known as Samved Shikhar and is the most sacred place for the Jains,. It is located about 190 km from Ranchi, the state capital. Deoghar or Baidyanath Dham is also an important pilgrim centre with scores of pilgrims travelling for around 100 km during the month of shravan (July-August) on foot.

Commenting on the outlay of funds for promotion of tourism, Choudhary said, "There is a rise in requirement of funds for tourism promotion. The annual fund allocation for tourism in the state has increased from Rs 18 crore five years ago to Rs 25 crore. The fund allocation will be further increased in the 11th five-year plan." Elaborating on the initiatives for rural tourism, Choudhary informed that the department has identified Amadubi village in east Singhbhum, with core competency in handicraft and culture. The village is known for the state's Paitkar paintings. "Small cottages will be developed in the village for tourists who want to live among the tribals and experience the lifestyle. The tourism department has allocated Rs 50 lakh for developing Amadubi village for rural tourism. Tribal families living in the village practice traditional dances like Baha, Sarhul and Dasai, while around dozen families are still involved in Paitkar paintings," stated Choudhary. He further added, "We are also taking steps to revive the Firkaal dance, the martial dance of Bhumij tribe in the state. The dance, which is being practiced in Janumdih village in Potka block in east Singhbhum district, is almost facing extinction. The state is also looking at developing eco-tourism in Janumdih village for the self-sustainability of the dancers."

The state also views eco-tourism as a big opportunity and has marked the segment as a major thrust area. Jharkhand is a treasure trove of herbal plants and forest resources with a large chunk of the over 1,500 herbal plants of the country found in the state.

On the hospitality front, the tourism department has received several proposals from domestic and international hospitality groups to set up star-category hotels in the state. InterContinental, the Taj Group and the Oberois have evinced interest to set up projects in the state.

According to Choudhary, the state has also embarked on an aggressive marketing and promotion exercise. It is participating in major travel and tourism marts in the country and abroad. Harinarayan Rai, tourism minister, Jharkhand led a high-level delegation which included senior tourism department officials to WTM London last year. "We showcased our tourism strengths as an 'Emerging Destination' at TravelWorld 2007, South Asia's most comprehensive and integrated B2B travel forum," Choudhary added.

http://www.expresstravelworld.com/200703/market09.shtml

Lurching Towards A Crisis

The killing of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Member of Parliament (MP) Sunil Mahato on March 4 bore all the elements of a typical Maoist 'surprise attack'. As the 38-year old MP watched a football match organised to mark the Holi festival at Bakuria village in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district, cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) numbering around 40-45, including women members, who were already present among the spectators, suddenly overpowered the bodyguards, snatched their weapons and fired at the MP, his associates and his bodyguards. The MP was killed on the spot along with one of his party colleagues and two bodyguards, while another party colleague succumbed to his injuries subsequently. The Naxalites raised slogans before leaving with four INSAS rifles and ammunition looted from the guards.

The CPI-Maoist on March 6 claimed responsibility for the killing by putting up handwritten posters in the villages of Hadia and Lango areas under the jurisdiction of Ghorabandh police station in Dhanbad district, far from the site of the killings, thus arousing suspicions that Mahato could have been the victim of his personal rivalry with the Mafia, not the Maoists. The posters, however, claimed that Mahato had instigated villagers at Lango to kill 11 Maoists, and further that Mahato was killed for two reasons: for telling contractors not to pay 'tax' to the Maoists; and, for supporting the anti-Maoist movement being led by the Nagrik Suraksha Samiti (Citizens Defence Committee) in East Singhbhum and West Singhbhum districts. The posters declared: "He instigated innocent tribals. He asked them to kill us with arrows. We killed him with bullets."

Unlike the Jharkhand government, which preferred an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the killing, the union government was convinced of the fact that the act was the handiwork of the Maoists. Union home secretary, V.K. Duggal, stated on March 5, "Apparently, it looks like retaliatory action because as a key functionary of the Nagarik Suraksha Samiti, Mahato had been raising his voice against Naxals." The union minister of home affairs, Shivraj Patil, in a suo moto statement in the Rajya Sabha on May 6, before the Maoist posters claimed responsibility for the killing, provided a vivid description of Mahato's assassination. He also spoke of the customary reinforcements, 'sealing' of borders and combing operations to nab the culprits.

It was, however, nobody's belief that Mahato's killers would actually be caught. There is even less faith that the unlikely event of their arrest could dent the reign of the Maoists in Jharkhand. While the ministry of home affairs (MHA) maintains that Left Wing extremism in the country has declined by 6.15 percent from 1,608 incidents in 2005 to 1,509 in 2006, fatalities in Jharkhand have actually risen from 119 in 2005 to 124 in 2006, though this rise is marginal. According to an estimate in August 2006, as many as 21 of the 22 districts of Jharkhand were affected (highly affected - 12, moderately affected - 4, marginally affected - 5) by Left Wing extremism. [There are wide variations in these estimates. While the MHA maintains that only 16 districts are affected, the Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda in December 2006 stated that 18 of the state's districts are affected.]

Interestingly, the East Singhbhum district, where Mahato was killed, was in the 'moderately affected' category. Intelligence inputs indicate that most districts affected by the Maoist movement are in the "mass mobilization" stage, but pockets in the state are now in the advanced "guerrilla warfare stage". Jharkhand is the part of the CPI-Maoist's Eastern regional bureau that looks after Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and the Coastal belt.

The state is also an integral part of the Compact Revolutionary Zone (CRZ) and the 'Red Corridor' that runs along India's eastern board, from Andhra Pradesh to the border with Nepal.

Mahato's killing was preceded by several operations by the Maoists in the state, in the first two months of 2007 alone. On February 5, a group of 200 CPI-Maoist cadres attempted to overrun a Police picket at Lawalong in the Chatra district. In the ensuing encounter a civilian was killed and two others were injured. On February 27, CPI-Maoist cadres detonated an explosive device and destroyed an under-construction building of the state Tourism Department at Madhuvan in Giridih district. The Maoists had warned against the construction, but the government had chosen to go ahead. Earlier, on January 23, a consignment containing spares for arms, including assemblies for mortars, sent from Indore in Madhya Pradesh to the CPI-Maoist 'area commander' Rajendra Oraon, was seized from a private transport firm in Ranchi. A man, identified as Prabhu Sao, was arrested in this connection.

The preceding year, too, was no exception. Major attacks by the Maoists in Jharkhand in 2006 included the following.

June 1: At least 12 police personnel were killed when CPI-Maoist cadres triggered a landmine explosion in the West Singhbhum district.

June 3: Maoists killed three civilians in the Hadian village under the Ghorabandha Police Station of East Singhbhum district.

June 26: At least 400 Maoists attacked a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp, killing one CRPF man in the Hazaribagh district.

December 2: Fourteen police personnel belonging to the Special Task Force of the Jharkhand Police were killed and three injured in a landmine blast detonated by suspected CPI-Maoist cadres at Kanchkir in the Bokaro district.

December 10: CPI-Maoist cadres stopped the 346 Tata-Kharagpur passenger train near the Kanimouli Station on the Gidhni-Chakulia line in the East Singhbhum district bordering West Bengal for about two hours. Maoists also looted two rifles and cash from the Railway Protection Force personnel escorting the train, and snatched walkie-talkie sets from the guard and driver of the train.

Mahato's killing could just be the starting point for the escalation of the Maoist 'people's war' through out the country, which appeared to have weakened temporarily. Premonitions of such a trend were provided by a statement released by the CPI-Maoist on February 19, 2007, to mark the successful completion of the outfit's 'Unity Congress' in January-February 2007 at an unspecified location (widely speculated to be in Jharkhand). The statement declared:

The Unity Congress… resolved to advance the people's war throughout the country, further strengthen the people's army, deepen the mass base of the party and wage a broad-based militant mass movement against the neo-liberal policies of globalization, liberalization, privatization pursued by the reactionary ruling classes under the dictates of imperialism.

The conclave, attended by 100 senior Maoist leaders from 16 states, re-elected Muppala Lakshman Rao @ Ganapathi as the 'General Secretary' of the Party. Ganapathi is reported to have remarked: "No more hit and run. Now time has come to spread in the towns and identify specific targets, hit them precisely and with impunity." There is overwhelming apprehension that the Maoists have started finalizing plans for executing hits involving high-profile targets.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, on March 6, indicated that the state was exploring options of adopting the 'Andhra Pradesh model' to tackle the Maoists, and also to "review the surrender policy for extremists." Only a day later, on March 7, the Union Home Minister made a statement in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Indian Parliament) noting that Andhra Pradesh had achieved "note-worthy success in controlling the problem through Special Forces, namely, Greyhounds, and other measures". However, given Jharkhand's past record, replicating the 'Andhra model' is easier said than done.

Reports indicate that Jharkhand has not being following the directions laid down by the union government for Left Wing extremism-affected states. The Jharkhand Police has an alarming vacancy rate of 29 per cent and there has been little attempt by the state government to recruit additional personnel. The state also has a poor police-population ratio of 85 per 100,000, compared to the national average of 122. Similarly, the density of police personnel (policemen per 100 square kilometre area) in Jharkhand is 30.8 against an all India average of 42.4. Given the fact that nearly 30 per cent of the state's geographical area of 79,714 square kilometres is forested and consequently virtually un-policed, such a profile of the state's Police Force can hardly make the task of countering the Maoists easier.

In addition, the state government is known to have failed to utilize the central funds released under the Police modernization scheme. According to the MHA, Rs 1.827 billion were provided to Jharkhand in six financial years between 2000 and 2006 under the scheme. Utilization has, however, been abysmal. In 2004-05, for instance, the utilization of the Rs 220 million released was a minuscule 7.33 per cent.

Jharkhand appears to have faltered miserably in executing the development schemes that the union government supports in the Left Wing extremism affected districts. The state has an unutilised balance of Rs 2.4 billion allotted to it under the Backwards districts Initiative (BDI) component of the Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana (RSVY) and other schemes to fill in the critical gaps in physical and social development. Under the BDI Scheme, an amount of Rs 150 million per year is sanctioned for each Maoist affected district for three years. The state government shares 25 percent of the expense on BDI. There have also been allegations of widespread corruption in the implementation of schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Interestingly, lack of finance has never been cited as a reason for the poor implementation of projects by the Jharkhand government.

In a way, Jharkhand represents all that's currently lacking in most of the states affected by Maoist activities. Union home minister Patil, on March 6 informed the Rajya Sabha that a strong mechanism for 'monitoring' Left Wing extremist activities had been put in place. However, as the Maoists bid to intensify the peoples' war throughout the country, there appears to be little hope that a comparable mechanism will emerge that goes beyond a role that simply 'monitors' to one that effectively counters the extremist depredations.

Author is a Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management. Courtesy, the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South Asia Terrorism Portal

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20070315&fname=jharkhand&sid=1&pn=3

Satellite database to aid urban planning

New Delhi, March 15 (IANS) A total of 137 cities and towns in India have been covered under the National Urban Information System (NUIS) scheme to develop a spatial information database for urban planning, Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken said Thursday.

Maken said the scheme has two components - one is to meet the space requirements of urban planning and the second to develop a town level urban database.

'The NUIS scheme also aimed at establishing a comprehensive information system for planning, development and management of urban local bodies,' he informed the Rajya Sabha.

The digital maps and geographic information system (GIS) databases are useful for preparation of master plans, zonal plans and detailed town planning schemes, Maken said.

Digital information is also useful for infrastructure development, disaster management, environment monitoring and natural resource management.

Maken said industrial townships like Bokaro Steel City, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur and Ranchi have been included under the NUIS scheme.

'The work of generating a GIS database and mapping for 137 towns and cities has been assigned to the Survey of India (SOI). The central share of Rs.16.24 crore has been released to SOI as first instalment,' he said.

SOI has initiated procurement of satellite images for 65 towns in 16 states and images have already been received for five towns in two states.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1277916.php/Satellite_database
_to_aid_urban_planning

Learning the hard way

Gangapur (Dhanbad): Even as the government promised to spread education to every remote corner of the state, it has done precious little to develop the schools in Gangapur, a Naxalite-dominated area.

Located in the Baghmara block of Dhanbad, about 22 km from the district headquarters, the government schools here function under thatched roofs. The local residents believe the schools are in shambles as politicians do not visit the place fearing Naxalite attacks. The teachers, however, take regular classes in exchange of the paltry sum they receive every month.

Schools in Domnighuttu Tola and Chirubera Tola, a few kilometres from Gangapur, have around 70 students each. Falling under the government's ambitious Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) that aimed to universalise education and eradicate illiteracy, these schools were upgraded to new primary schools.

But infrastructure facilities are yet to be provided to these institutions. Classes are held under the shade of matted dry palm leaves and students seat on hardened clay grounds. Electricity and water problems are obstacles too, said Class V student Teklal Rai.

Despite these problems, the schools have drawn a number of students. Interestingly, the number of girl students is over 60 per cent.

"The shiksha mitras and para teachers have to commute long distances to reach the schools," said Kapil Deo Mahato, a para-teacher at a school in Domnighuttu.

Letters and reminders to the district education department to address the problems of teachers yielded no result.

"We have been writing repeatedly to the education department but a solution is yet to reach us," said Radheshyam Prasad, the headmaster of the middle school.

Surprisingly, not a single minister has visited Gangapur in the last decade.

"Earlier, we did not have roads but today, even when roads have been constructed, our leaders do not come here," said Kundan Prasad Murmu, a member of the Gram Shiksha Samiti in Gangapur, said.

Jaleshwar Mahato, the former state minister for drinking water and sanitation, said he had no idea about the schools in Gangapur. The deputy superintendent of education (DSE) of Dhanbad, Dharamdev Rai, said he would look into the matter.

Significantly, 24 per cent of the SSA funds (between Rs 24 crore and Rs 30 crore) is used construct buildings for around 100 abhiyan schools.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070227/asp/jamshedpur/story_7446048.asp

MLA slips out from jail in Bihar

Notorious JDU MLA Sunil Pandey is back to making news for all the wrong reasons. Lodged in the Beur jail, Pandey has been able to bend the rules sufficiently enough so as to allow himself the luxury of spending time at his home.

Pandey is known to be the problem child for Nitish Kumar's government in Bihar. Last year in an inebriated Pandey staggered out of a hotel refusing to pay for his stay in a five star hotel in Patna. When the hotel management pressed him to pay he blew his fuse kicking up a royal fuss before stooping to threaten the management with dire consequences.

In July 2006, an extremely animated Pandey threatened the police for disciplining a fellow party man who had gone on a rampage. However, jails in Bihar have acquired a reputation for making life very comfortable for their high-powered inmates. The other politicians who have taken advantage of their political clout to flout prison rules include MLA Rajan Tiwari and RJD MPs Pappu Yadav and Shahabuddin.

Every time a Bihar politician is found on the wrong side of the law, the administration promises strict action against them but unless they are reprimanded, they will continue to make a mockery of the law.

http://www.timesnow.tv/Sections/World/MLA_slips_out_from_jail_in_Bihar/articleshow
/1769625.cms

Bihar farm sector on downslide, services up: survey

Despite agriculture being the mainstay of Bihar's economy, it has grown by just 3.5 to 4.5 % since 2000-01, while manufacturing and industry witnessed a decline from 6.59 % in 2000-01 to 4.17 % in2004-05, but the services sector posted a consistently high growth rate between 6.5 and 7.5 %.

The share of agriculture in the state's economy has fallen from 48.8% from 1993-94 to 42% in 2004-05, that of manufacturing sector remained unaltered at nine% and services registered a handsome growth from 41.3 to 49%, according to the economic survey 2006-07 presented in the Bihar assembly by deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

The survey, the first presented in the Bihar legislature, said the total flood-prone area in the state was 73.06% of its geographical area and 17.2% of the total flood-prone area in the country.

Identifying recurrent floods as a major roadblock in agricultural development, it suggested construction of dams in upper catchment areas of Kosi, Gandak, Bagmati and Mahanananda rivers to fight the menance in the long-run. In the short-term it suggested construction and maintenance of embankments along the rivers. Stating that tubewells accounted for 63% of created irrigation capacity in the state, the survey said a very high dependence on irrigation by tubewells and operation of diesel tubewells due to lack of power infrastructure in rural areas.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=157453

Politicians condemn police role in West Bengal clashes; death total up to 14

CALCUTTA, India (AP) - Farmers angry over plans to build an industrial park on their land torched a government office Thursday in a second day of unrest in eastern India that has claimed 14 lives.

Police responded with baton charges and tear gas, dispersing protesters who quickly regrouped elsewhere. The clashes mirrored earlier violence in the Nandigram area, which in January prompted the federal government to suspend plans to establish scores of Special Economic Zones to attract overseas investors with generous tax breaks.

Most of the zones, including the one that was to be set up in Nandigram, would be built on farmland.

At least 42 police and 73 villagers were injured in the clashes, said Prasad Ranjan Roy, home secretary of West Bengal state.

About 2,000 farmers gathered outside a hospital where those injured Wednesday were being treated. They chanted angry slogans, marched to a local government office and set it on fire.

Villager Abdus Samad said police used tear gas when people assembled near the administrative office.

On Wednesday, police fired on thousands of farmers who attacked officers with rocks, machetes and pickaxes. At least 10 people were killed by gunfire, and four died from other injuries suffered in the violence, Roy said.

Earlier, police said that all 14 killed had been shot.

"We had intelligence reports that police would face resistance, but we had no idea that the resistance would be so organized," Roy said, according to The Press Trust of India. He added that 950 police were in the Nandigram area, trying to restore order.

The shootings prompted widespread outrage in India's capital, New Delhi, and in West Bengal.

"The thought uppermost on my mind, and that of all sensitive people is, 'Was this spilling of human blood not avoidable?"' said West Bengal state Gov. Gopal Krishna Gandhi, a grandson of Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi. The governor's role is largely ceremonial.

In New Delhi, legislators from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena, two right-wing Hindu nationalist groups shouted, "Communists are murderers" - a reference to the communist politicians who have ruled West Bengal for more than three decades. The outbursts forced the legislature to adjourned for the day, before any business could be conducted.

Meanwhile, the High Court in Calcutta, West Bengal's capital, ordered India's Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the shootings.

The trouble in Nandigram began Jan. 7 after the leak of the government plan to acquire 9,000 hectares of land in the area and build a petrochemical plant and shipyard.

The hastily formed Land Acquisition Resistance Committee organized protests that quickly degenerated into violent clashes.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/agriculture/story.html?id=8d9d356a-f039-4613-
aa6a-be99901aa6a6&k=28348

West Bengal revenues rise after VAT entry

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government's problems of tackling a cash crunch seems to have partially eased. As per expectations of the state finance minister and architect of the value-added tax (VAT) Asim Dasgupta, the state's revenue collections got a fillip in the post-VAT regime, which came into being in the state since April 1, 2005.

Validating Mr Dasgupta's claim that VAT is a superior tax system than sales tax for states' revenue generation, West Bengal has generated 17% more revenue in 2006-07, the second year after VAT's introduction in the state.

Riding on an inherent buoyancy in the collection system, the state has mopped up Rs 3,175.39 crore from VAT in April-January in 2006-07, against Rs 2,717.14 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Introduction of VAT appears to have come as a boon to the state ever since it was introduced here. Despite some teething trouble in bringing all registered dealers and manufacturers under the tax net, the state has realised Rs 3, 665.3 crore from VAT in 2005-06, the first year of its implementation.

With this, its total collections from VAT, sales tax and central sales tax has increased 7% to Rs 6,119 crore in the year, against Rs 5,721 crore in 2004-05.

Collections from VAT are expected to touch nearly Rs 5,000 crore by March 31, 2007 with tightening of its implementation in the second year, a senior state government official said. Currently, 550 items have been brought under the tax net in the line of recommendation of the empowered committee on VAT, headed by Mr Dasgupta.

This apart, sales tax at 17-50% are being imposed on a few items including Indian made foreign liquor, desi liquor, lottery tickets and motor spirit. However, there is one flip side to the VAT implementation in the state.

Compared to the buoyancy in tax collection, as per the Act's guidelines, refund of the tax to EOUs, SEZ units, other exporters and to domestic manufacturers against their excess payment on input tax are yet to begin in the state.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Indicators/West_Bengal_revenues
_rise_after_VAT_entry/articleshow/1764672.cms

Left double-speak

The Communists are learning an important lesson. They are finding out that while it is easy to get by doing nothing and opposing everything, when you actually try and do something positive, the whole ball game changes. Thus the forward-looking chief minister of the Communist-ruled West Bengal is seeking to bring back industrial investment into the state after having driven it out over the last 30 years. And guess what? The people, for whom his party claims to be the sole spokesman, are opposing him. So what does he do? He has the police pounce on them, of course. How can the people oppose the people's party?

When similar opposition has led to violence in other states, the CPM has been at the forefront demanding that the state government be dismissed. The police violence at the Honda factory in Gurgaon in Haryana in 2005 wasn't worse than what happened at Nandigram on Wednesday. At least, no one died there. But no one can forget the vituperation in which the CPM and the CPI leaders indulged. The same Communist politicians and trade union leaders are as quiet as church mice now. And, their poster boys are accusing the people of Nandigram of not being from Nandigram but of being outsiders who have come there to create trouble. Talk about double standards.

That said, it is interesting that the opposition to land acquisition for SEZs has been at the worst in West Bengal. After all, similar acquisitions have been made in other states as well and nothing has happened. One reason for this is that the very thing the CPM has taught the people, namely, to fight for your rights, has boomeranged on it. The people of West Bengal after three decades of Communist rule are perhaps amongst the politically most emancipated and rights-conscious in the country. The land-man ratio in the state is also very adverse and this makes it harder to find land that can be taken over without a lot of fuss. Nor can it be overlooked that the first land acquisition case to go to the Supreme Court in 1951, the one that eventually led to the Ninth Schedule, originated in West Bengal. The failure of the Communists to create alternative sources of employment has also made the people highly land-dependent. Add to this the ground-level oppression of the CPM cadres for the last two decades —the Communists did a lot for the peasantry in the first 10 years after they came to power in 1977—and you get a rich mixture, which has now exploded. One would have to be extremely naïve to believe that West Bengal will see any SEZs in the near future. Also, it will be interesting to see what the party does with its chief minister. He has already crossed swords a few times with the Politburo and it may well be that he will be forced to quit.

Another point worth noting—and not just in the context of West Bengal and the Communists—is the fact that when land was acquired for setting up public sector industries—the so-called "temples of Modern India"—there was hardly any popular or political opposition. But now that it is being acquired to assist private industry, the balloon has begun to go up. Surely this tells us something. The wrong inference would be that public sector industry is better than private sector industry. The right inference would be that if land-use has to change from agriculture to industry, it is best to let industry deal directly with the farmers, instead of—as at Singur, where the Tatas have run into problems—letting the state government act as the intermediary.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?leftnm=lmnu5&subLeft=1&autono=277895&tab=r

Jindal plant mishap in Orissa kills one

JAJPUR: At least one person died and two people sustained critical injuries Thursday in an accident in the premises of Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) in Orissa, said police officials.

The mishap occurred at about 4.30 pm in the Kalinga Nagar industrial complex in Jajpur district when three contract workers of the steel plant were working on an iron beam at a fabrication site.

The beam, a 100 feet above the ground, fell during the erection of a power plant, a police official told IANS.

The work was being carried out by the Benz Company, he said.

While Nazir Hussein, 28, died on the spot, two others sustained injuries, the official added. While one of the injured has been identified as Arjun Saha, 30, the other was yet to be identified.

All three are reportedly from Bihar, he said. The injured were initially rushed to the local government hospital at Danagadi village.

Later one of the injured was shifted to the Sriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack after his condition deteriorated, the police official said.

Tension ran high in the Kalinga Nager industrial complex after the news about the incident spread.

Over a thousand workers, including contract labourers of the JSL, surrounded the plant, demanding compensation and jobs for family members of the deceased and injured.

Over 30 policemen have been deployed at the site to avoid any untoward incident, the official added.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEQ20070315151526&Page=Q&Title=ORISSA&Topic=0

Maoists kill 55 policemen in biggest strike in Chhattisgarh

Raipur, March. 15 (PTI): In the biggest ever strike by Maoists on security forces in Chhattisgarh, at least 55 police personnel were killed and 11 injured today when more than 300 heavily armed rebels stormed a police station in the Bastar region.

The Naxalites, led by the military wing of the banned CPI-Maoist attacked Rani Bodli police outpost, 525 km from here, in the wee hours today, police sources told PTI on phone from Bijapur district.

"There was fierce fighting by both sides, but when the security forces ran out of ammunition, the rebels lobbed grenades and petrol bombs on the barracks. The policemen were forced to come out from the shelter after it caught fire, and were subsequently killed in firing by the Naxalites," a source said.

Sixteen Chhattisgarh Armed Force jawans and 39 special police officers were killed, while four CAF jawans and seven officers were injured in the incident. Nine other policemen who were at the outpost escaped without any injuries.

The Naxalites looted 48 weapons from the security forces, including rifles and a two-inch mortar, the sources said.

This was the biggest attack by the rebels in Chhattisgarh since the state was formed on November 1, 2000. The killing of 55 security personnel has put the state government in an embarrassing position.

After the incident, state police officers sought tougher steps by the government to deal with the Naxalite menace.

Talking to PTI, several senior police officers suggested a total overhaul of the state government's policy for dealing with Naxalites and said the Maoists were no longer "a local force".

"The Naxalites are not a local militia. They are working more on the line of a military wing of any well trained organisation. Keeping this in mind, police and the state government need to change their strategy," one officer said.

The officers felt the state government should stop experiments on the Naxal issue and said the people, who had a fair idea about the style of functioning of the rebels, should be included in anti-Maoist operations and field duty in insurgency-hit areas.

In the past 22 months, the state had witnessed as many as 1,187 incidents of violence related to Naxalites, in which at least 676 people were killed, official reports said.

During 2005-06, a total of 243 civilians, 43 Naxalites and 65 security personnel were killed while at least 226 civilians, 76 Naxalites and 23 security personnel were killed this fiscal up to February 4, the reports said.

Similarly, in 2005-06, a total of 639 violent incidents occurred whereas 548 such incidents were recorded up to February 4 in 2006-07.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200703151901.htm

news@jharkhand.org.uk Jharkhand News Network www.jharkhand.org.uk

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