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| Apr 13, 2007 |
Jharkhand seeks higher royalty for coal, iron ore
Jharkhand has sought a 20 percent share in the centre's profits from coal and iron ore, saying delays in the revision of royalty on minerals mined from the state were causing it a loss of Rs.35 billion annually.
The demand was put forth at a two-day meeting of the Inter State Council of Mineral Resources (ISCMR), which began Thursday at the Indian Institute of Coal Management (IICM), Ranchi.
The meet is being attended by the chief secretaries of 14 states, which include Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Goa, Nagaland and Orissa.
Jharkhand Chief secretary A.K. Chug demanded a 20 percent royalty on profits made from coal and iron ore mined from the state.
Jharkhand officials believe if this demand is accepted by the central government, the state will earn an additional Rs.35 billion per annum. At present, Jharkhand gets Rs.11 billion as royalty.
Chhattisgarh representatives supported Jharkhand's view.
The representatives of different states are discussing royalties paid on different minerals by the central government. The delegates also talked about the low rates paid on iron ore despite a boom in the steel industry.
http://www.indiaenews.com/business/20070413/47149.htm
Ho tribals discover cops as friends
The Help Line, a unique initiative of the West Singhbhum police, is fast shoring up the image of the police as 'friend' and not the 'enemy' the Naxalites had made it out to be.
Today, police stations are choc-a-bloc with Ho tribesmen, all seemingly content with the instant justice the Help Line was meting out.
Earlier, it was a rare Ho who dared the opprobrium that his fellow tribesmen treated the police machinery with, to make the journey for justice to a police station. The times, as they say, are indeed changing.
It took West Singhbhum's Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Jha lots of initiative and little time to effect the remarkable change. Of course, with a little bit of help from his peers in the district administration, but once he had got the Help Line going, it was an 'upward travel' all the way. "Today, the Ho tribesmen are realising that they had been foolishly taken in by the Naxalites' propaganda. They are realizing the merits of a democratic system of governance, something the naxalites had turned them irrevocably against," the SP said.
The concept, as such, is disarmingly simple. At all police stations of the district there is a Help Line, made up of thana-level peace committee members all of whom are well versed in the local dialect as also Hindi, the State's official language. The Help Line thus, is the first layer that complainants as also the accused, come across at police stations.
The moment a plaintiff reaches a police station, Help Line members greet him or her in the local dialect, offer a chair and note down the complaints in a ledger. A minor irritant, not meriting litigation, is normally 'talked over' and quick and easy solutions suggested. On the complainant sticking by his or her stand and resolutely refusing the solutions suggested, the case is forwarded to the police station In-charge for further action.
A simple enough thing, one might say, but the 'Police is your friend' approach has been paying huge dividends from the day it was launched a couple of weeks ago. "Public dissent against the police, inordinately high till lately, has come down significantly ever since the Help Lines have started functioning at the police stations here. We try and keep legalese to the barest minimum, preferring instead to give them instant justice, something that they appreciate. Moreover, charges of human rights violations that we were always up against in the past, too have come down," the SP told HT.
One of the most underdeveloped districts of Jharkhand, West Singhbhum also has the dense Saranda forest, a forest that is spread out across half the district. Maoists, sheltering within the forest had all this while been cashing in upon the simple Ho tribesmen even as they went about projecting the police force as a cruel, inhuman one that suffers no quarter. Unfortunately, the Maoists had been able to convince the Ho people who had for long kept themselves at a distance from the police. In fact, they had actively colluded with the naxalites in their anti-police operations.
"The Help Line concept has helped minimize public support to the naxalites in the district," the SP said, adding, "People are now realizing the significance of a democratic system. They are getting convinced now that the 'thanas' are by them, for them and of them. We are getting tremendous support from local educated tribal youth, who now see the police in a distinctly friendly light."
Jha said that he regularly inspects the Help Line registers at the monthly crime meetings of police station in-charges each month.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=6db33c68-bd7a-4238-8822
-8a19b9dd075f &
Mines ministry plays Naxal card
NEW DELHI, APR 13: The ministry of mines has written to the finance ministry, seeking withdrawal of the Rs 300-a-tonne duty on iron ore exports levied in Budget 2007. The ministry said this duty would lead to job losses in iron ore-rich states and thereby heighten Naxalite activities. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Karanataka and Goa have among the country's largest iron ore deposits.
Describing the levy as premature, the ministry of mines note stated that iron ore-rich states were largely under-developed and had large forest reserves and tribal populations. Agriculture had limited possibilities and there was little scope for manufacturing due to poor infrastructure.
The ministry has argued that the export duty would erode Indian iron ore's competitive edge vis-à-vis Australia and Brazil, as prices would shoot up by $7-8 a tonne. This would cause additional unemployment of about 5-6 lakh people in these "backward states". Hence, Naxalite activities would gather momentum and could be difficult to contain, it warned
"It need not be over-emphasised that the mainstay of these backward states is mining activity and the move to tax will have an adverse impact on the employment potential in these areas," the ministry said.
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=161135
Indian postal workers vote for pay strike
Postal workers in East Singhbhum and other districts of Jharkhand, India voted unanimously this week for an indefinite strike on April 24 to demand the national government implement the Sixth Pay Commission recommendation to increase salaries. The workers, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Dak Karmchari Sangh (ABDKS), are also seeking a time-bound promotion system, the filling of all vacant posts, a transportation allowance and other employee welfare schemes.
Unlike other government employees, postal workers have not received pay and dearness allowance increases. A union spokesman said the central government had rejected the commission recommendation in order to cut costs. "We have no choice but to go on an indefinite strike," he said. Sona Ram Mardy, a postal employee, said workloads in post offices had increased and complained "the government has forced its employees to sell tea, mutual funds, contraceptive and other products".
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/apr2007/lab-a07.shtml
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE
- The quality of Muslim human resources must improve
India has very many poor and deprived people. There are large groups like small farmers, landless labourers, urban slum-dwellers and women (especially in low-income families), aborigines and other tribes, lower castes as scheduled in the Constitution and other backward classes among Hindus, Muslims, the indigent elderly, gypsies, and so on. Deprivation is widespread and not a prerogative of a single community or group. However, on some indicators, Muslims are worse off than Hindus, who also suffer serious deprivation. India's experience with subsidies, dual pricing and specific handouts is that they have not significantly improved the condition of many recipients. It may only have added to their dependence. Since the Nineties, a fast-growing economy has reduced the numbers of the very poor. We must recognize that economic well-being brings in its wake social well-being as well. The deprived must become better-off and for that they need opportunities and the building of their capability.
Governments must improve opportunities for the poor and deprived. Is reservation of jobs in governments, public enterprises, academia and the private sector the best way of improving opportunities? Such jobs are few in relation to the need and in recent years, are decreasing in numbers. Few people from scheduled castes and tribes have benefited, perhaps owing to the lack of enough capable people. Tamil Nadu has offered, for the longest period, mid-day meal schemes to schoolchildren. Nutritious meals for pregnant and lactating mothers have helped the health of mothers and infants. Their beneficial effects on school attendance and on decline in fertility rates are known.
Unfortunately, social services delivery by many governments to the poor is inefficient and ineffective. Delivery of government services in health, education and subsidized supplies of essentials, is badly targeted and handled. They are not delivered at least cost and with minimum wastage, nor are they of uniformly high quality to those for whom they are meant. It is the incompetence of the government delivery system of these services that has resulted in continued deprivation of almost every section of the economically backward in India, despite large expenditures since independence. Children of the very poor get little out of the schools they attend. The quality of delivery of government services must improve. No government has given this the priority it deserves.
In 1992, the National Council of Applied Economic Research commenced the study in detail of human development indicators in each state of India. The sample had a strong rural bias and would get comparable data for Hindus (particularly scheduled castes and tribes) as well as majority-minority religions in each state — for example, Muslims in Uttar Pradesh or Christians in Kerala. The rich data out of this study has been used by many researchers. A key finding was that Muslims were, on many indicators, as badly or well off as the scheduled castes, but the scheduled tribes were the worst off on most indicators. The Sachar committee report has established certain other kinds of deprivation of Muslims that can only be attributed to discrimination.
The Sachar report uses many other data sources, particularly the National Sample Survey and the National Health and Family Planning Survey, and other specially designed studies. Muslims are deprived. So are scheduled castes and tribes in relation to OBCs, uppercaste Hindus and all other minorities. The worst-off Muslims are those in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, which together have 52 per cent of all Indian Muslims. The Sachar committee compares the status of deprivation between Muslims and Hindus (percentages below are in relation to total number of Hindus or Muslims).
In rural India, Muslims are much less represented in agriculture than Hindus and much more in non-agriculture. While 28 per cent of Hindus had no land, the number was 34 per cent for Muslims. Land holdings by Muslims are, on average, much smaller than those held by Hindus. However, rural Muslims match rural Hindus in monthly per capita expenditures. Muslims, and especially women in rural areas, trail even farther behind Hindus on higher education.
In urban India, 53 per cent of Muslims are self-employed versus 39 per cent of Hindus. Muslims have much lower representation in regular wage or salaried employment than Hindus. The proportion of illiterates is somewhat higher among Muslim males, but illiteracy is rampant among Muslim females. The differences become much sharper at higher levels of education. Secondary school education was undertaken by 17 per cent of Hindus and 8 per cent Muslims; while graduates and above were 7.9 per cent Hindus and 0.8 per cent Muslims. Less women than men among Hindus, and even less Muslim women as compared to Hindu women went for higher education. In urban India, at household monthly per capita expenditures above Rs 110, there are 64 per cent Hindus versus 46 per cent Muslims, and below Rs 110 there are 53 per cent Muslims versus 36 per cent Hindus, that is, urban Muslims have much lower expenditures. With higher percentage of all Muslims living in urban areas, Muslims are expenditure-wise worse off.
Female work participation rates among both Muslim and Hindu urban women are low. In rural areas, the work participation of both is more than three times that in urban areas. The differences between Hindu and Muslim women on this indicator are small. On some social indicators, the Muslims do much better. Thus the Muslim sex ratio is better than the Hindu one, and except for Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir, Muslims are at the same or higher levels than Hindus in every state. Muslims have more live births and higher surviving proportions than Hindus, and this is so at all levels of income. While contraceptive usage among Muslims is lower than among Hindus, the differences are not large in relation to their populations. Perhaps there may be less female foeticide and infanticide among Muslims, and better mother and child care.
Muslims are far fewer in government employment in relation to their population. In key states, Muslims had 6.3 per cent share in state government employment, 7.8 per cent in judiciary and 7.4 per cent in public enterprises, all less than half of their proportions in the population. The flow of benefits under various government schemes to Muslims is very low in almost every state. Habitations with large Muslim populations in the states with large Muslim populations (West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam) also suffer from government neglect in available facilities like schools, healthcare centres, post offices, bus stops and proper approach roads.
Muslims are better than their Hindu counterparts on monthly household per capita expenditures (in rural areas), female sex ratios, infant and maternal mortality, to name a few. The means that achieved these better outcomes must be identified and the community institutions that enabled them to happen must be nurtured.
Muslim deprivation appears to be owing to social mores (poor female education), possible discrimination (poor representation in higher education), and definite discrimination (poor services in predominantly Muslim habitations). Like the deprived among the Hindus, Muslims also require a better quality of school education. More and better-remunerated teachers, better teacher attendance at schools, more school facilities, outreach programmes to improve English and general knowledge, are some aspects that must improve in government schools. This improvement must happen for all communities.
Reservations will not help Muslims as they have not helped the SCs and STs. The quality of Muslim human resources must improve. Institutions that have helped achieve better results on some parameters could be used to improve on the poor parameters as well. New institutions must be developed to improve the delivery of social services from governments to Muslims. Muslim non-governmental groups must be formed to ensure that Muslims get their due share of government services and expenditures.
The author is former director-general, National Council for Applied Economic Research
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070409/asp/opinion/story_7618534.asp
Provocative Al-Qaeda CDs find their way into Bihar
Provocative CDs containing speeches and messages from Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his associates have been found in circulation in selective parts of Bihar. The CDs - in Arabic language with English sub-titles – exhort the youth to resort to "jehad for a larger cause".
"Till we meet again, we request you to make dua for every one who contributed to the preparation of the CD. And may Allah reward everyone who participates in its circulation and distribution," says the last message of the CD, which contains video footage of Taliban training camps and news clippings highlighting atrocities against Muslims.
The CD is of nearly 90-minute duration and has been apparently prepared using inputs from different sources. It has several news clippings, Osama's speeches, Omar Abdullah's visuals and visuals of Farooq Training Camp in the mountains. The location of shooting is not known.
"We have left our homes and families to seeks the pleasure of Allah. The fire does not touch the feet covered in dust for the cause of Allah (jehad). We are raising the banner of brothers," say the transcripts in English.
It shows the Taliban fighters going through rigorous training and doing target practice on the portrait of former US president Bill Clinton. The footage shows both old Osama moving in the mountains as well as the young Osama in uniform.
It is not yet known how the Al-Qaeda propaganda reached Bihar. One of the CDs was found at Jagdishpur in Bhojpur district. Similar CDs are said to have been circulated in Muslim pockets along the Bihar-Nepal border. The CDs reportedly came from Nepal and have set the alarm bells ringing.
Last year, two suspected Al-Qaeda activists, Kamal Ansari and Khalid, were picked up from Bihar's Madhubani district following the Mumbai train blast.
Police, however, seem to have no clue about it. "I have been shown the CD and our experts will analyse it before I can make any comment. We will certainly try to find out the details," IG (headquarters) Anil Sinha said.
Purnea SP Sudhanshu Kumar said that he had alerted all the police stations close to the Nepal border following reports of the CD. "We don't have any such information so far. But we will take all precautions in view of such developments," he added.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=f316df5f-7d95-470c-8b12-
31028f8691b8 &
Bihar's parties 'one-man show'
PATNA, April 13: Most of the parties in Bihar are a "one-man show" in the absence of a second-line of leadership here. Apart from affecting the parties' organisational set-up, the trend has added to the woes of the masses as their problems remain unaddressed. While party "bosses" are away from the party headquarters more often than not, common workers are as good as "bonded labourers". They do not even enjoy the privilege of smooth access to their bosses to apprise them of the grievances of the constituencies they have been working in for so long.
The worst is the condition of the Rashtriya Janata Dal headed by Mr Lalu Prasad who is also railway minister. Caught between the state and national politics, Mr Prasad can hardly spare time for his party workers and is rarely available in Patna, though Bihar is where the RJD's "work field" is. There is no one in the party to take any policy decision. There are many leaders in the RJD, but a majority of them are Laluji' s chamchas (lackeys).
Most senior party leaders feel cornered. They have got no role but to garner blind support for the party boss's actions. "We have no existence. Yet, we cannot quit the RJD as it's a matter of ideology," a senior RJD leader said on condition of anonymity.
In the national party chief's absence, the state RJD depends on such sundry leaders as Shyam Rajak, Abdul Bari Siddiqui and Shakil Ahmad who have failed to make an impression on the masses.
Similar is the condition with Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United that is in power here. In the past 40 years, the "socialist" George Fernandes had settled in Bihar and befriended Mr Kumar after 1994 when they broke away from the parent Janata Dal to form the Samata Party that later merged with the JD-U.
Mr Fernandes headed both parties as its national president and it's here that the "power tussle" began between Mr Kumar and Mr Fernandes, it is learnt. First, he was rejected in Nalanda, the Kurmi-dominated Lok Sabha constituency that Mr Kumar had offered the "socialist" leader after they fell out with Mr Prasad, before being pushed out as the JD-U president.
Sharad Yadav, one of Mr Kumar's cronies, was made the national president of the JD-U in last year's organisational polls, held amidst a boycott by Mr Fernandes' camp. Though Mr Yadav is the official JD-U president, Mr Kumar dictates terms to the party leadership, it is learnt.
The same is the case with the BJP. The writ of Sushil Kumar Modi, deputy chief minister in the NDA government, runs here. He is vested with powers of many departments, while many of his partymen await expansion of the Nitish Kumar ministry. That appears to be a distant dream, given the shadow-boxing within.
The situation in the Lok Janshakti Party, led by Union chemical and fertilizer minister Ram Vilas Paswan, is no better. Mr Paswan appears to be all in all. There is no second man in the party to take any policy decision or make statements.
The state unit gets active only when the LJP supremo is in Patna or Bihar. Otherwise, it remains inert. Mr Paswan is the only leader in the LJP. He has his own political ambitions, so the LJP does not have any organisational presence. It's best used to cut into rival parties' votebanks, a political expert said.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=153386
'Even ministers' names in Bihar's BPL list'
NEW DELHI, APRIL 13: Accusing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of 'mismanaging' BPL list in the state, Union Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said even ministers have been included in the list while those who should be in have been left out.
"He has simply cancelled the 2002 BPL list and prepared a new one. There is a lot of discrepancies in it as it included even the name of ministers but not those who should be really a part of it", Singh said.
He said in Bihar every thing in this regard was totally wrong as only two-to-four per cent persons (right) have been listed and rest is 'completely fraud'.
Singh said every time he reminds the Bihar Chief Minister, he said, "you (Raghuvansh) is writting a lengthy letter like a Deputy Secretary. Perhaps he doesn't want to read a long and detailed letter on any issue".
Describing the BPL situation in Bihar as worst, he said dozens of fight and violence were being reported every day on the issue due to the fact right people find their name missing from the list.
Bihar is one of the leading state which was yet to submit the BPL list to the Centre and is virtually on the list of states whose funds are going to be stopped if it failed to provide the list in the next two-months.
http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=161038
Videocon to set up country`s first micro-chip facility in Bengal
Kolkata April 13: Reversing its decision to set up the country's first thin-film transistor chip facility in Hyderabad, Videocon industries limited today said it would set it up near the West Bengal capital.
"Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee proposed that we set up the facility in West Bengal and his government is ready to provide whatever is required. I could have gone to Hyderabad, but I am not going," VIL chairman Venugopal Dhoot told reporters after a meeting with the Chief Minister.
Spread over 100 acres, the facility will have an initial investment of Rs 1,000 crore. Dhoot said, "More funds would be pumped in later and the investment can go up to anything."
According to Bhattacharjee, the facility will have units for microchip manufacturing, design and research and development in one place.
Describing thin-film transistor microchip manufacturing as a "most difficult job", he said the reason for choosing Kolkata was to take advantage of the laboratory of nearby IIT- Kharagpur and the state government's Indian design centre at salt lake, which has in its advisory body some of the world's best names in semi-conductor technology.
VIL will also set up a 200-acre it and biotech SEZ at Dabgram in North Bengal, he said. The land for this will be taken from the housing board through the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri development authority.
A world-renowned French company will be the lead investor for the SEZ, he said.
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=365642&ssid=54&sid=BUS
Alcan Plans to Sell Stake in Utkal Alumina
MONTREAL (CP) -- Canadian metals giant Alcan Inc. [TSX: AL] says it plans to sell its 45% stake in India's Utkal Alumina International Ltd., a joint venture set up in 1992 to develop a new bauxite mine and alumina refinery in the Indian state of Orissa.
Alcan said it expects the sale to close in the second quarter, but did not say how much it expects to generate from the proposed transaction.
It also did not disclose the potential buyer. The company said it is selling its stake because as a minority partner it feels limited in the key decisions on the project. Hindalco, part of Indian industrial giant Aditya Birla group, holds the controlling 55% interest in Utkal.
Earlier this year, Hindalco struck a $6 billion friendly takeover deal to acquire Alcan spinoff Novelis Inc. [TSX: NVL]
''We have carefully weighed the opportunity and risk presented by the Utkal project and, given constraints within the governance structure that limit Alcan's ability to participate in key decisions, believe that we have acted in the best interests of all our stakeholders.'' said Jacynthe Cote, president and CEO of the company's bauxite and alumina division
''The company will keep a strong focus on growing and executing its pipeline of projects in bauxite-rich regions, which will leverage its world-leading alumina refining technology.''
The Utkal project, currently in an engineering phase, will continue to receive Alcan technology, the company said.
Bauxite is the key mineral used in aluminum production. It is mined from the earth then processed into alumina powder, which is used along with electricity and heat in the smelting process to produce light-weight aluminum metal.
Alcan employs 68,000 employees, including its joint-ventures, and operates in 61 countries and regions. The company had revenues of $23.6 billion in 2006.
Hindalco of Mumbai, plans to pay $44.93 a share cash for all of Novelis stock and assume $2.4 billion of debt in a friendly deal that would make Hindalco the largest rolled-aluminum products manufacturer in the world.
Hindalco is the flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group with interests in cement, metals, telecommunication and textiles.
In Thursday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Alcan shares fell nine cents to close at C$61.85 on a volume of more than 736,000 shares.
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=30818
Chhattisgarh reels under power cuts
Raipur, April 12 (IANS) A severe power crisis has forced Chhattisgarh to go for at least eight to 10 hour undeclared power cuts daily in rural areas to manage energy for industries and urban and semi-urban belts, officials said Thursday.
The long power cuts in the mineral rich state that began early this week coincides with a heat wave as mercury has shot up to 42 degrees Celsius in several areas.
In northern Raigarh, Korba, Bilaspur and Ambikapur districts, people have taken to the streets to protest against the sudden power cuts. In some rural hamlets, villagers have attacked electricity board staff members and even ransacked power sub stations.
"The state government has no option but to extend the power cut durations up to 10 hours daily in the impoverished northern and southern areas as the gap between demand and supply is 600 mw, which goes up to 900 mw during peak hours," a Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board (CSEB) official told IANS Thursday.
The official added that the crisis could be aggravated further as power demands would only increase with the rise in temperature by month-end.
CSEB has begun talks with the central government for 300 mw of extra power for the summer from the central pool.
"The state is currently getting a power supply of 1,410 mw while the demand is over 2,000 mw daily. The gap will further widen and we will try to make up the loss for domestic consumers by deducting the supply to industry between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.," the official said.
http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/april/12/india_news/chhattisgarh_reels_under_
power_cuts.html
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| Hot issues of Today |
- Apr 12, 2007
- Apr 11, 2007
- Apr 10, 2007
- Apr 09, 2007
- Apr 08, 2007
- Apr 07, 2007
- Apr 06, 2007
- Apr 05, 2007
- Apr 04, 2007
- Apr 03, 2007
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