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[1] From: "dn.rath" <dn.rath@gmail.com Date: Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:27 pm Subject: SUCI flays union railway budgetrship SUCI flays union railway budget as superlative attempt to suppress massive privatization under bagful of gimmicks Reacting on the union Railway Budget 2008, Shri Nihar Mukherjee, General Secretary, SUCI, in course of a statement issued today (27-02-2008) said that on the eve of election, the UPA government and its Railway Minister has demonstrated what could be a height of deception and cunningness they have mastered in covering reality and bypassing necessities under plethora of stunts as well as gimmicks. Cleverly suppressed under the claim of booking operational profit of Rs 25,000 is, observed Shri Mukherjee, massive privatization of essential services bypassing the parliament in tune with the rabid anti-people prescriptions of capitalist globalization which in paper is no doubt indicating lowered operational cost for the Railways but proving dear to the passengers on every count as existing infrastructure of passenger amenities are getting dismantled to pave way for private operators minting super-profit by selling the various services like catering services at exorbitant price notwithstanding rapid fall in the standard and quality. Boasting of reduction in passenger fares with continued imposition of cess, realization of hefty surcharge by upgrading more number of trains to superfast category without of course reducing the journey time, extracting increased sum on return ticket booking, augmenting the quota of costlier 'tatkal' seats at the cost of reduction in general reservation and so forth is akin to steal a goose and give the giblets in alms, added Shri Mukherjee. Shri Mukherjee also mentioned that in stead of addressing the all important issues of replacing forthwith all broken dilapidated coaches or undertaking due repair of the worn out tracks causing frequent accidents as well as mitigating the increasing hardship of the passengers due to overcrowding, severe lack of punctuality in running and serious lapse in maintenance, the Railway Minister's has been an attempt to project as agenda of improvement certain cosmetic application of information technology in the operation, oft-repeated hollow promise of introducing modern carriages and hygienic toilets and a so-called scheme of modernization of select railway stations. While train travel is getting increasingly unsafe and insecure due to rising number of theft, burglary and incidents of rape and sexual assault on women by intruding anti-socials, the Railway Minister preferred to observe the code of silence in the matter and escaped by conveying mere intention to man the unmanned crossings - something that has been told many a times in the past as well but never translated into action. Shri Mukherjee also drew attention to the fact that the budget is totally silent of any definite drive to check the rampant corruption that has deeply entrenched in every level of operation causing massive drainage of public money, pilferage, wastage and palpable deprivation as well as harassment of bona fide passengers. Shri Mukherjee also pointed out that the CPI(M), CPI with whose consent this budget has been framed and with whose unstinted support the government is running, not only remained accomplices to this deceitful formulation but even reflected narrow sectarian regional-provincial sentiment which was expressly manifest when their MPs from West Bengal staged a walkout in protest against deprivation of their own state but those of Kerala and other states preferred to be in the house to indicate their satisfaction with what has been granted to their respective states. Shri Mukherjee called upon the people not to be misled by the bucketful contrivances contained in the budget but rise up against such chicanery of the Congress-led CPI(M)-backed government. News ASIT BHATTACHARYYA ----------- [2] From: Asha Shahed <ashahed45@hotmail.com Date: Thu Feb 28, 2008 1:48 am Subject: RE: [indiathinkersnet] Teesta ! Can you fill out my TIAA forms so I can talk to them. me To: indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com; teestateesta@gmail.com; javedanand@gmail.comFrom: smshahed@hotmail.comDate: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:56:38 -0800Subject: RE: [indiathinkersnet] Teesta ! ----------- [3] From: Bhaskar Menon-undiplomatic times <Papamenon@aol.com Date: Thu Feb 28, 2008 12:02 pm Subject: Decoding Kosovo Decoding Kosovo The declaration of independence by the province of Kosovo in Serbia is like the proverbial Buddhist onion: every layer of reality (or illusion) peeled away reveals another, till finally, at the heart of it one discovers the powerful void, sunnata. The outermost layer presents a picture of the Muslim Kosovars escaping predominantly Christian Serbia. Peel that away and you find a remnant of the Cold War: Britain, France, Germany and Italy speedily recognized Kosovo because it weakened Serbia, a traditional Russian ally (both are Slavic). The next layer down is the revenge of the Hapsburg empire (in the dissolution of which the Serbs had a significant role); Kosovo is the final act in the implosion of Yugoslavia, which was set off by German recognition of Croatian independence. Deeper still is the animosity left over from the Christian schism that separated the Church of Rome from the Eastern Orthodox, and under that are layers of hostility dating back to the tribal confrontations of Teuton and Slav. Peel away those final layers and at the heart of it all is the ineffable, all powerful nothingness of manipulative politics, Washington's masterful hand, introducing into its emerging rival, Europe, a country that will be sick and backward, violent and undemocratic, a perpetual worry and drain. Anyone who feels that this all so much waffle should read the lead article in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs (March-April 2008). It is on "The Clash of Peoples" by Jerry Z. Muller, a professor of history at the Catholic University of America. He argues that everywhere but in the United States "ethnonationalism" has been on the march, and will not be denied, especially in the developing world, where States are "recent creations and where borders often cut across ethnic boundaries." There is "likely to be further ethnic disaggregation and communal conflict," he prophesies, read the rest at http://undiplomatictimes.blogspot.com ----------- |
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March06, 2008 - [India Thinkers Net]WCC on attacks ,countercurrents update etc >> |
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