FM assures Corporates that their demands will be met

Nobody has any doubt that the UPA II Government under the leadership of the three promoters/pensioners ( Dr.Manmohan Singh, Ahluwalia and Chidambaram), of Bretton Wood Institutions( World Bank, IMF and WTO)will continue aggressively with the anti-people anti-worker reforms. This has now been clearly spelt out by the present Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, in a special meeting called by the FM with the captains of Industries. The industrialists included Ratan Tata, Anil Ambani, Sunil Mittal, Anand Mahindra, Shashi Ruia, N.R.Narayana Murthy, Venu Srinivasa, G.V.K.Reddy and others.
The Finance Minister assured that the Banking Laws Amendment Bill, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill,Insurance Lawa Amendment Bill, Life Insurance Corporation Bill etc. will be passed in this Monsoon session itself. The progressive sections of the people and the working class organisations have been opposing these bills which are intended to take away the hard-won rights of the workers as also to utilse the pension corpus for the benefit of market which may shatter the pension of the retired workers. The FM never called or discussed with the representative of the workers on these bills which are completely against their interests. It has become very clear that whose interests are most important to the government. It is not the interest of the workers but the interests of the MNCs and big business.
A sustained and united struggle is required to correct the priorities of the government. Start preparations for the same now itself.

What is in a name? But W.Bengal differs, wants Bongo or Bongodesh

W.Bengal had always some difficulty with its ‘West’. It did not give any benefit to anybody. Having the ‘West’ tag, it used to be always in the last being one of the last alphabet. In any conference, the delegates from W.Bengal gets the last chance to speak. It is the same with the Central Government meetings also. By the time a lot of time have been taken by others and the delegates lose interest. In another way, W.Bengal is not in the west of the country. It is on the east. Due to the partition and the Bangladesh taking its name, Indian Bengal became W.bengal.
Now Mamata Government is trying to change the name to Bongo or Bongodesh. Certain historians have pointed out that the original name of Bengal was Bongo and it became as Bengal at a later period. It is called Vangadesh in the puranans.
So, West Bengal will have a new name based on the old name as Bongo or Bongodesh? Do the Bengalis cherish the name?

2G Scam – What is the break up of loss of Rs. 30,984.55 crore as per CBI?

The CBI has calculated the loss to the government from 2G spectrum allotment as Rs. 30,984.55 crore, while according to CAG report it is Rs. 1.76 lakh crore. According to R.K.Chandolia, IAS and Personal Secretary to former Minister A.Raja, the break up of the loss for issuing licence to the companies is as follows:
Company No of licences Loss to Govenment
Tata 19 GSM 3 CDMA Rs. 4930.66 crore
Unitech 22 Rs. 4441-05
Datacom 21 Rs. 4239.19
Loop 21 Rs. 4239.19
Reliance 14 Rs. 3379.58
Shyam 21 CDMA 1 GSM Rs. 2650.03
Swan 13 GSM Rs. 2624.26
Idea 9 GSM Rs. 1816.8
S-Tel 6 GSM Rs. 1211.2
Spice 4 GSM Rs. 807.46
Allianz 2 GSM Rs. 403.73
HFCL 1 GSM Rs. 241.4
Total Rs.30984.55 Crore

According to Chandolia, all the companies who got the licences have got windfall benefit. He might have pointed out this to escape from conviction, but it seems that there is something fishy and some private companies are being allowed to escape. The Prime Ministe and former Finance Minister P.Chidambaram have got a lot to explain before the people of India.

Casual workers wage – No equal pay for equal work?

I am surprised and shocked by reading in the newspapers that Delhi High Court has given a judgement stating that equal pay for equal work can not be extended to the workers appointed on casual basis. The High Court was disposing of an appeal filed by the Air India against order of the Central Government Industrial Tribunal.
This is completely against the principle accepted for decades. The casual worker is neither allowed increments nor promotion etc. He is given only the minimum of the scales of pay. This is an accepted principle by the Government, the Labour Authorities and even the judiciary earlier.
Now the bolt from the blue has come denying the casual worker his right for equal wages. This has got to be opposed and justice got to the casual worker.The Government should immediately make necessary legislation to ensure the right for equal wage for the casual labourers.

Parliament Session started today

The Parliament session has started today which is going to be a stormy one with the issues of intolerable price hike, 2G and other corruption cases, differences in the Lok Pal Bill, PFRDA Bill etc. The Prime Minister and the former finance Minister P.Chidambaram have to answer a lot in the 2G scam after the statement given by former Minister A.Raja that they were in loop for all decisions connected with 2G auction. The no-action by the Government on Black Money is another issue.
Central TUs and various Federations of workers are also in the struggle field during the Parliament session.
It is really going to be a stormy session.

Homage to Comrade Harkishan Singh Surjeet.

Three years earlier (2008) on this day,1st August, Comrade Harkishan Singh Surjeet, former General Secretary of the CPI(M) and freedom fighter passed away leaving a legacy of serving the people and the country for more than seven decades.
Com. Surjeet has been close to the Telecom / BSNL trade union movement. During the difficult days in the 1990s, he helped us to maintain the organisation,advance and later to become the biggest union in BSNL.
My respectful homage to Comrade Surjeet on his death anniversary!

Chinese Red Army ended centuries of slavery for the Chinese

China was under the rule of Japan for a very long period.The land was controlled by war lords and local chieftains who exploited the chinese people. The living conditions of the common people were very pitiable. The earlier emperors of China were very powerful but that did not improve the conditions of the people.
There were dissatisfaction every where. It was the Communist Party of China which started organising the people against the tyranny of the Japan and later the Chiang Kai Shek’s army.It was the formation of the Chinese Communist Party and the formation of the Red Army that changed the entire situation. The Red Army was formed on 1st August 1927. The army was mainly formed by the peasants and workers. Mao-Tse-Dung and his comrades formed the Red Army a really revolutionary army. The armed struggle and the historic Long March ended in the victory of communist revolution.
Through decades, China has developed and is now second only to USA both in military as well as economy. And China is growing at a higher rate than USA. At this stage we remember the Red Army and Communist Party and the people of China who made it possible.Congratulations to Chinese people.

This Blog Completes One Year. Thank You Comrades, Friends!

Dear Comrades, Friends,
This blog has completed one year with the support of all of you.I have tried to bring news as also information which are important and our friends would like to read. I have got full support from all of you and a large number have visited the blog during this period as also sent their comments. I would try to improve the publication in the coming days.
Thanking you all
VAN Namboodiri

Yedyurappa resigns at last

Karnataka Chief Minister Yedyurappa, who has been indicted by the Lokayukta has resigned at last after many dramas. This is the situation in the present India. Even if a person is not only accused of corruption but also lot of evidences are there, he will not leave the position unless compelled by the situation. This is not only applicable to Yedyurappa alone. Thr same thing happened in the case of former cabinet ministers A.Raja, Dayanidhi Maran as also Common Wealth Games head Suresh Kalmadi.
Compare this with Lal Bahadur Shastry who resigned as the Railway Minister for a railway accident accepting moral responsibility for the same. But what about the present politicians? They want to retain power somehow and again exploit the nation.

Dismissal of EMS Ministry in Kerala in 1959 – Murder of Democracy

The first Communist Ministry under E.M.S.Namboodiripad in Kerala was dismissed by the Nehru Government on 31st July 1959. As every body, including Congress leaders, will admit now, it was a clear case of murder of democracy.
After the formation of Kerala as a separate state on reorganisation of States on 1st November 1956, the first election to the state was held in 1957. The Communist Party of India won the election with only a slim majority of two seats, out of 127 seats it won 60 seats with 5 independents supported by it. The entire world pointed out it as the first communist victory through democratic elections. There was reluctance on the part of the Central Government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru to accept this defeat and allow the government to be formed. The Congress party under the Presidentship of Indira Gandhi made all efforts for getting some defection from the Communist ranks, but utterly failed even to snatch away the independents. The Government was formed with E.M.S.Namboodiripad as the Chief Minister.
The first Communist ministry in Kerala within months started effective legislation on Land reforms, education system and also on the labour front. It was implementing land reforms which the Congress governments had promised but not implemented any where in India. It was a fool proof Land Reforms Act that the government passed, through issuance of an ordinance even before the bill was moved in the assembly.All these angered not only the congress government but also the feudal and communal forces which had vested interests against the education and agrarian reforms.
Indira Gandhi, then Congress President, managed to combine all the anti-communist forces and tried to defect some of the independents but failed. It was then that the ‘Vimochana Samaram’, the so called ‘liberation movement’ started. Utilising this opportunity the Central Government dismissed the EMS Government under Article 356 of the Constitution, even though there was no justification. Incidentaly, this was probably the first occasion of dismissal under Article 356, which the Central Government misused many times later to dismiss state governments which it did not like.
It is 52 years on 31st July 2011, after that massacre of democracy by the then Congress government. The first EMS government was one of the best government Kerala has ever seen.