Category Archives: General

The Battle of Staligrad remembered – A report

02 Saturday Feb 2013

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VOLGOGRAD, Russia (Reuters) – The city of Volgograd readopted its old name of Stalingrad for a few hours on Saturday, as Russia commemorated the 70th anniversary of the battle that turned the tide of World War Two.
The victory in the six-month Battle of Stalingrad, which killed about 2 million people, is a symbol of national pride which has produced an outburst of patriotic fervor and, for some, nostalgia for the Soviet era and dictator Josef Stalin.
President Vladimir Putin flew to Volgograd, known as Stalingrad from 1925 until 1961, to lay a wreath and meet veterans after a military parade led by soldiers in World War Two uniforms and featuring a wartime T-34 tank.
“I saw cities in Europe that were practically untouched by the war, countries that capitulated to the more powerful enemies even before war was declared,” First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in a speech at the parade.
“But we are not like that. Our grandfathers, our fathers, our older generation, our great leaders, fought here for each building, for each street.”
Hundreds of war veterans turned up for the parade on Volgograd’s central Square of the Fallen Fighters, their coats weighed down by medals, the youngest of them now 89.
After Stalingrad, Soviet troops fought their way westward to Berlin, taking the German capital 27 months later.
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“It’s very important to remember this battle,” said Valentina Olekhina, who was celebrating her 70th birthday.
She was born in Stalingrad on February 2, 1942, the day Nazi German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus told his forces to cease fire after he was captured in a cellar by Soviet troops.
“I think my mother went into labor out of relief or excitement. I was born outside but I don’t know exactly where,” she told Reuters.
SURGE OF PATRIOTISM
Putin did not attend the parade but flew to the city 900 km (600 miles) south of Moscow after holding a reception for veterans in the Kremlin on Friday.
“At the heart of all Russia’s victories and achievements are patriotism, faith and strength of spirit,” Putin said on Friday. “In World War Two, these true values inspired our people and our army.”
Under a decision by the city council intended to please the veterans, Volgograd was referred to as Stalingrad at the official events. Admirers of Stalin posted his portrait in minibuses, in a move not approved by the authorities.
For 200 days, Germans and Russians fought hand to hand, street by street and from room to room, battling the winter cold and sometimes starvation too.
Russian historians say 40,000 people were killed on the day of fiercest bombing and at the height of combat the average survival time of Soviet soldiers sent into battle was 24 hours.
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Pride in the bravery of Soviet troops and the endurance of civilians trapped during the battle unites almost all Russians ..
Russian television has repeatedly shown footage from wartime Stalingrad and broadcast films and documentaries about the battle.
Even the crew of the orbiting International Space Station congratulated the war veterans.
“We will always be grateful for your heroic act. The memory of it will live on down the ages,” cosmonaut Roman Romanenko said in video footage shown on Russian television.

India Going Down in Human Index

02 Saturday Feb 2013

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It is now official. India is going down on Human Rights Index. As per the report of the Human Rights Watch, an international organisation, India has been going down below in maintaining human rights.
This is well known to the Indians. The attacks on women, gang rapes, police atrocities etc. are increasing despite many pious declarations. Child labour is rampant. No action is taken to stop it.
This is the time to review and improve the situation.

Diesel – Now it is monthly increase in prices

02 Saturday Feb 2013

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The government has now decided that there will be monthly increases in the price of diesel. This was stated by Veerappa Moily, central Minister. Every month the price will be hiked by 40-50 paise, till all the subsidies are taken away.
The government is in an aggressive mode to wipe out the subsidies to the poor and the common man. But in the case of subsidies to the rich and corporates there is no wiping out. Whether it is for relaxing conditions for FDI, acquiring land for MNCs, the government is too willing to subsidise every thing. The government has become the government of the rich and not the comman man.

Malala, icon of girls’ education nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

01 Friday Feb 2013

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Oslo, Feb 1 : Malala Yousafzai, the shot Pakistani schoolgirl-turned-icon of Taliban resistance, and ex-Eastern bloc activists are among those known to be nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, as the deadline expired today.
This year’s award will be announced in early October, but speculation was already underway as the deadline for nominations ran out on February 1.
Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot by a Taliban gunman at point blank range as she travelled on a bus to school on October 9, targeted for promoting girls’ education.
She has since become an internationally recognised symbolof opposition to the Taliban’s drive to deny women education, and against religious extremism in a country where women’s rights are often flouted.
“A prize to Malala would not only be timely and fitting with a line of awards to champions of human rights and democracy, but also … would set both children and education on the peace and conflict agenda,” said the head of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, Kristian Berg Harpviken.
Others known to have been nominated are human rights activists whose names have been mentioned in previous years, including Belarussian human rights activist Ales Belyatski — currently behind bars — and Russia’s Lyudmila Alexeyeva.
Trying to predict who will win the Nobel Peace Prize is a difficult task, complicated by the fact that the list of nominees each year is kept secret for 50 years.
But thousands of people are eligible to nominate candidates — including former laureates, members of parliament and government around the world, some university professors, and members of certain international organisations — and they are allowed to reveal the names they have put forward.
As a result, it is known that French, Canadian and Norwegian MPs have all separately nominated Malala. Beliatsky’s and Alexeyeva’s names have meanwhile been put forward by two Norwegian lawmakers.
“They have both defied authoritarian state structures and the illegal and illegitimate abuse of power,” one of the two MPs, Jan Tore Sanner, said.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee is quick to point out that a nomination should not be interpreted as any kind of recognition on its behalf. In the past, Adolf Hitler, JosephStalin, Benito Mussolini, and even Michael Jackson have all been nominated.

A train journey

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

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On 28th January, I started for Lucknow from New Delhi by Shramjeevi Express. Since the waitlist in the AC III tier/Sleeper was very long, I had booked for I class, where the waiting List was only two. Though the ticket was booked more than one week back, there was no change in the waiting list till the last moment. To my great relief, the ticket was confirmed and I started by the same train in the First Class.
My allotment was in a two berth cabin. There was another passenger who seemed to be from military. Actually, when we got acquainted, I found out that he was a top officer in a para-military contingent. I could understand a lot about the difficulties being faced by the military and para-military forces and officials in their day to day hard life. Though being a very high officer, he was so polite and simple. On the way, he got down at Shajahanpur.
At Shajahanpur another passenger came. He was an armed guard of Minister of the state government, who was sitting in the next cabin. I told that I am coming from Delhi, when he asked. The moment we started speaking again,the young man told me that my speaking Hindi was not as a Delhi man, but seemed to be a man from the South. I fully agreed and told him that I am from Kerala, but staying in Delhi for the last more than 20 years for union work.
I know my Hindi is weak, especially when speaking. But I never thought that it was so easy to find out that I was a South Indian through my accent.
The attendent also brought sugarless tea 3-4 times, whenever I asked for the same, without any murmer. It seems that my old age with white hair arouses sympathy among the young. Fair enough!
Anyhow, my train journey was interesting, as always it was in the past. Another benefit for train journey – Being a Senior Citizen, there is good concession to the extent of 40% ( for women Senior Citizen the concession is 50% – congratulation for the Railways!)
But of course, now the train charges have been increased.

Taxing the Super Rich

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

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In many countries, the governments have started increasing the tax on the super rich. The Government of India has also proposed the same.
The reaction from the media, mostly controlled by the big corporates, was on the expected line. They have opposed the proposal stating that it is not necessary. The corporates have reacted sharply. They have, in fact, threatened that the MNCs will leave India, the FDI will shift away and that the GDP will come down drastically if the super rich are taxed more.
It seems that the threat from the corporates and the media is having its effect. There is not much talk about taxing the super rich now.
Workers reasonable and justified demands are denied forthwith; but when the corporates demand, it is seriously considered by the government and necessary decision taken to satisfy them.
The government by the Corporates and for the Corporates!

Meeting with Chief Minister U.P.

29 Tuesday Jan 2013

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Today, 29th January, along with Com.Basudeb Acharya, Member of Parliament and Leader of CPI(M) group in Lok Sabha I had the opportunity to meet the Chief Minister of U.P. Shri Akhilesh Yadav, and place our strong demand for immediate action to arrest the General Manager, Ghaziabad Shri Adesh Kumar Gupta, in connection with the murder of Com. Sukhenderpal Singh, District secretary, BSNLEU on 22nd October 2012 in the GM’s room.
First we met Shri Srivastava, Chief Secretary at his office at 1100 hours. We pointed about the undue delay in arresting the GM Ghaziabad despite the filing of the FIR on the gruesome murder in the office of the GM itself. We pointed out that the postmortem report clearly shows that the body had serious injuries. Despite meeting the SSP/officer-in-charge Ghaziabad twice, no arrest has been made so far. A copy of the letter addressed to the Chief Minister was handed over to him. Chief Secretary assured that immediate report will be called for from the SSP on the matter for taking necessary action.
At 1400 hours, the meeting took place with Shri Akhilesh Yadav, Chief Minister at his residence. In addition to Com.Basudeb Acharya and myself, Com. K.R.Yadav, Vice-President BSNLEU was also present. The Chief Minister heard our submissions patiently. We explained all the facts including the vendetta of the General Manager against Com. Sukhenderpal Singh for complaining about the corrupt practices of the GM and the revenge he has taken by planning the murder of the Dist. Secretary. A detailed letter, signed by the President and General Secretary BSNLEU along with the copy of FIR and post-mortem report was handed over to the Chief Minister. Com. Basudeb Acharya, M.P., emphasised the need to take immediate action in the matter since the entire workers all over India are agitated over the issue. Chief Minister assured that he will immediately call for the reports and take necessary action in the matter. He expressed his sympathy to the bereaved family and proposed to help them. The stand of the young Chief Minister was very positive. The meeting continued for more than half an hour.
(In between, I mentioned about the help needed from the state government in providing BSNL connections in the police, educational institutions, hospitals etc. and increasing the connections for which he took very positive interest.)
It was through the good offices of Com. Basudeb Acharya, M.P., that the meeting took place. He came to Lucknow from kolkata for this specific purpose, although he attended certain other programmes also. My heartfelt thanks to Com. Basudeb Acharya for taking much pains on our issue and meeting the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary.

UPA persuing anti-people policies – Budhdeb Bhattacharjee

27 Sunday Jan 2013

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Baruipur (WB), Jan 27 Lashing out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for allegedly failing to improve the condition of the poor, CPI(M) Politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said the UPA regime has pursued
anti-people policies to help a handful of rich people for the past nine years.
“Can Manmohan Singh claim that the conditions of poor and middle class have improved during the nine years of UPA regime? Can he claim that the number of unemployed youths in the country has come down? The fact is the condition of the poor has worsened under this regime because of its anti-people policies,” Bhattacharjee, the former chief minister, told a rally here.
The UPA government had not undertaken a proper PDS to provide food grains at subsidised rates, he said and criticised it for increasing fuel prices and capping the number of subsidised LPG cylinders.
“We(CPI-M) are fighting against UPA’s policies both inside and outside the Parliament. We have time and again requested the government to strengthen PDS, but it is least bothered about it. Instead it is differentiating the poor as APL and BPL categories. How much money does it take to provide
subsidized ration to the people?” he said.
“We had requested that oil prices be controlled by the government as these have an direct impact on price rise and inflation. The petrol, diesel, kerosene prices are increasing regularly and it is impacting the masses,” he said.
(Courtsey : Ganashakti)

The Republic Parade – a mighty show of strength and cultural heritage

26 Saturday Jan 2013

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New Delhi, Jun 26: A kaleidoscopic view of the country’s rich cultural heritage and military prowess were on display at the 64th Republic Day parade on Saturday on the 8-km stretch from Rajpath to Red Fort.
An eager audience on both sides of the imposing Rajpath braved the winter chill and cheered loudly as the parade went past them portraying the rich and diverse culture of the country.
The icing on the cake was the 5,500-5,800 km ballistic Agni-V missile mounted on a road mobile launcher, which was paraded by the Defence Research & Development Organisation as the crowd lapped it up with loud cheer.
General Officer Commanding (Delhi) Lt. General Subroto Mitra led the synchronised military and police contingents, as they marched to the cheerful tunes of bands through Rajpath, where President Pranab Mukherjee took the salute for the first time after assuming office in July last year.
The impressive march-past was watched by chief guest, Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and top political and military brass.
Police and other paramilitary forces turned Delhi into a virtual fortress for the Republic Day celebrations, as helicopters scanned from air, snipers kept a hawk eye vigil from rooftops and armed personnel at every nook and corner provided a ground-to-air security apparatus.
After the customary 21-gun salute and unfurling of the tricolour by President Mukherjee, the spectacle began with four Army helicopters flying above Rajpath carrying the national flag and the three flags of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
The country showed its military strength with the MBT Arjun Tank, Armoured Ambulance Tracked Vehicle, BrahMos missiles and 214 mm Pinaka rockets, 15 metre Sarvatra Bridging System.
The Army contingent from horse-mounted columns of the 61st Cavalry, Mechanised Infantry Regiment, Maratha Light Infantry, Dogra Regiment, Garhwal Rifles, Ladakh Scouts, 8 Gorkha Training Centre, Army Ordnance Corps and Territorial Army (Punjab) marched to the martial tunes.
The next to follow were smartly-dressed Navy personnel and then the Air Force contingent. The Air Force contingent was led by Flight Lieutenant Heena Pore.
A mini version of INS Vikramaditya, which will join the naval fleet by the end of this year, was also part of the parade, which highlighted Indian Navy’s blue water operating capability.
As the country’s armed and police forces demonstrated their might, States and different departments put up an impressive show when they showcased their rich cultural diversity in full display in 19 tableaux — 14 from States and five from ministries.
This year, the number of tableaux has been reduced to 19 from last year’s 23. (Courtsey: Ganashakti)

Best Wishes and Greetings on 64th Republic Day!

26 Saturday Jan 2013

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My Best Wishes and Greetings to all Comrades, Friends and Well-Wishers on the 64th Republic Day of india!
India won Independence on 15th August 1947, but was declared a Sovereign Democratic Republic on 26th Janaury 1950, after the adoption of the Constitution.
India was attacked and conquered by many foreign powers for centuries, including Alexander, Chengis Khan,Timur, the slave kings and afterwards by Babur, the Moghul. While most of the conquerors went back and entrusted their lieutenants to rule the conquered territories, the Moghuls settled and ruled the country from 1526 to 1857 with the capital changing from Agra to Fatehpur Sikri to Lahore and last to Delhi. The Mughal empire had become weak even before 1857 and emperor was only a nominal head even before many decades. The end came in 1857, after the First War of Independence was suppressed by the British and captured the last Emperor Bahadur Shah Zaffar and extradicted him to Rangoon where he died.
The British ruled the country for about two centuries. The First War of Independence could not succeed in defeating the British due to various factors including that the British had a well disciplined army with modern weapons as also they managed to divide the Indian rulers through dubious methods and mischievous agreements. Though initially the Sepoys and their leaders had victories and took Delhi and other major centres, they could not sustain and keep them. The defeat was total and the nominal head, Bahadur Shah Zaffar was taken prisoner. Most of the other military leaders like Rani Laksmi Bai, Tantia Topi and others fell in the battle field.
The rule of the British, compared to the Mughals, was for a shorter period, less than two centuries. But the change that they brought was much more. To a certain extent, they united the country adding kingdom after kingdom to their empire, and keeping nominal powers to the others who supported them. The British brought the new educational system, high taxation, Postal, telegraph and railway services. They made India their colony for exploitation. They used the Indians for their army to conquer other parts of the world. They suppressed the national movements with bruteness. India was the Kohinoor on the throne of the British Empire.
Through out the period of the British Rule there has been revolts in various parts of the country by local rulers/kings who defied the empire.But the British defeated them all one after another. The next round of independence struggle came after the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885. It achieved the form of a struggle with mass participation after Gandhiji arrived on the scene. The first half of 20th century saw the continuous struggles led under the leadership of Gandhiji. Though many leaders differed on the approach and methods adopted by Gandhiji at crucial times, the movement went ahead on the line directed by Gandhiji only. The sacrifices of lakhs of people and martyrs like Shahid Bhagat Singh, Chandrasekhar Azad and many others did not go vain. British had to leave and India became independent on 15th August 1947.
More than sixty decades are over after India became free and a democratic republic. But have we been able to live up to the expectations of the pioneers of freedom movement? Have been able to ensure a comfortable living to common people, free from hunger and poverty? Whether all children, irrespective of colour or creed, rich or poor are able to learn and take their right position in the society?
While development has taken place, it is slow. The benefit of the progress in various sectors have been captured and utilsed by the rich and powerful. The downtrodden and the toiling masses continue with out much advancement. In fact, they are neglected despite many government programmes for their upliftment. The recent gang-rape in Delhi and other places have shown that girls and women are not safe. Communalism is raising its ugly head poisoning the society.
Yes, there is an urgent need for change, a change for the better. Let all of us try to be part of a movement for change for the better for the people of this country!
Once again My Best Wishes and Greetings on the Republic day!