PM wants to quit over nuclear deal

June 20, 2008, Congress sources told rediff.com late on Thursday night that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is putting the maximum pressure possible on Congress party president Sonia Gandhi to go ahead with the India-US nuclear deal. The tussle between Dr Singh and some party leaders, who do not want an early general election provoked by the withdrawal of Left support, is on and far from over, the Congress sources added.
Dr Singh would like to resign as prime minister if the Congress party does not back him on the deal. However, negotiations between Dr Singh and the party continue and the final verdict is not out yet.
The prime minister is likely to continue pressurising the Congress leadership before the next United Progressive Alliance-Left parties meeting on the nuclear deal on June 25.
Dr Singh will not have much to lose if he insists on an exit from power because his four-year tenure has ensured his place in history. The final year in power will be the most difficult with international oil prices likely to cross $150 per barrel.
Another factor behind the current political drama in New Delhi over the nuclear deal is a powerful lobby's belief that a strategic partnership with the United States is a win-win situation for India and the US. Dr Singh's supporters think it is time "the Congress calls the bluff of the Left parties" and goes ahead with the nuclear deal.
But it seems difficult for Dr Singh to garner his own party's support for the deal. Notwithstanding the public stand of UPA allies like Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad, Nationalist Congress President Sharad Pawar [Images] and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham supremo M Karunanidhi supporting the deal, the Congress is well aware that these allies do not want an early election, and certainly not in November. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the mediator between the Congress, the Left parties and its allies, briefed Dr Singh on the issue today.
Dr Singh cancelled all his appointments for Thursday, June 19. An official statement said the prime minister is unwell and running a viral fever.
The prime minister is understandably anguished because it will be embarrassing for him to travel to Tokyo next month for the G-8 summit -- where he will meet US President George W Bush -- after suffering a domestic political defeat on a diplomatic issue of great importance. "The prime minister," a reliable Congress source said, "wants to save his prestige in an international forum."

source: www.redif.com

Gujjars to get 5 per cent quota in Rajasthan

June 18, 2008 19:25 ISTLast Updated: June 18, 2008 20:49 IST

The Rajasthan government on Wednesday announced a five per cent reservation for Gujjars under a "special, separate backward class" category sealing an agreement with the community and ending the nearly month-long agitation by its members demanding Scheduled Tribe status.
Apparently as a balancing act ahead of assembly polls later this year, the Rajasthan government also announced 14 per cent reservation for "poor among upper castes" including Bramhins, Rajputs, Vaishyas and Kayasthas.

Addressing a joint press conference with Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla in Jaipur, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje announced five per cent quota for Gujjars as also Rebaris and Banjaras.

Apparently keeping in mind the sensitivities of the influential Meena community, which enjoys the ST status in the state, she sought to allay apprehensions about the impact of the quota for Gujjars on the present reservation system.

"This quota would not have any adverse effect on the present reservation system in the state," she said adding, "there is a necessity to give special support to some sections."
Expressing gratitude to Raje and giving her all credit for ending the stalemate, Bainsla said that in view of Wednesday's announcement the Gujjar agitation would be called off after he reaches Pilupura in Bharatpur, the nerve centre of the agitation.

"We hope there will be no need for any more agitation on the issue", he said.
Earlier, the formal announcement of the agreement between the two sides, which was slated for morning, was delayed by a few hours apparently due to some last-minute glitches.
The 27-day Gujjar agitation, which witnessed largescale violence, claimed 43 lives in police firing in Rajasthan and Haryana.

Soon after resolving the Gujjar issue, Raje addressed a separate press meet announcing reservation for economically poor among upper castes, based on a report submitted on Wednesday by the Economically Backward Classes Commission.

The speed with which the commission report was accepted by the government underlines the Bharatiya Janata Party's anxiety to ward off possible backlash by upper castes, perceived to be the party traditional vote bank, to reservation for Gujjars.

At the same time, the chief minister assured other castes that EBC's recommendations would not affect the existing quota categories of SC/ST/OBC.

The state EBC Chairman Justice Shashi Kant Sharma and his two colleagues Ashutosh Gupta and Mahesh Tanwar submitted the report to the government on Wednesday, Raje said.
A cabinet meeting would take up the report on Thursday and consider its implementation in the state at the earliest, she added.

The state EBC commission was set up on the pattern of the Central EBC to cover poor people of upper caste and who were deprived of their educational and professoinal rights, Raje said.
In the past, almost every political party promised reservation for poor among upper castes, but it was never fulfilled, she said.

The Rajasthan government also a relief package for the Gujjar community including Rs.5 lakh cash ex gratia each to the next of the kin of those killed in police firing and violence.

Besides cash, one dependent of the deceased would be given a government job, an official release said, adding the seriously injured person would be paid Rs 1 lakh while persons with simple injuries would be given up to Rs 25,000.

The state government also assured the Rajasthan Gujjar Arakshan Sangarsh Saimit that the legality of the demand for withdrawal of criminal cases filed againt those during the agitation would be examined on merit.

The Gujjar delegation, in turn, also assured the state government that it would not raise any other demand and it would not support any other Gujjar faction's movement and agitation in future.

About 35 Gujjar leaders, four state ministers K L Gujjar, Nathu Singh Gujjar, L N Dave, S M Jat, and state BJP president Om Prakash Mathur and senior party leader Ram Das Agarwal were signatories to the agreement between the two sides. source: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jun/18rajriot.htm

Trouble brews over 'holy' hill as Vedanta applies for lease

June 17, 2008, The bauxite-rich Gandhamardan hill in Orissa is likely to become the centre of an environmental and cultural controversy again after two decades.
In 1986, India's third-largest alumunium producer Balco had applied for a mining lease in the area when it was a government company. This year, the hill is being sought by Balco again, but this time as a private company owned by London-based commodities entrepreneur Anil Agarwal's Vedanta group.
When Balco tried to obtain a mining lease for Gandamardhan 22 years ago, veteran activists like Anil Agarwal of the Centre for Science and Environment, Sunderlal Bahuguna and the Gandhamardan Yuva Surakshya Sena fought the company tooth and nail. The state government had given in to the activists' demands then.
Two decades on, the company is back and the Gandhamardan Surakshya Yuva Sena is also ready to strike.
The non-government organisation said it was alerted by a notice stuck at the tehsildar's office last week asking people to give their views on leasing out the hill to Vedanta for mining.
However, the date for submitting objections had expired almost a month before the notice was pasted, the activists said.
Vedanta official P K Panda denied that a notice was issued. "It is not possible. We are only one of the 20 applicants and we may not even get a mining lease. Our turn comes last. There is no question of a notice being given out now," he said.
He agreed that there were environmental reasons for Balco being refused mining rights to the hills before. "We are now Vedanta. And as for trying for a lease at Gandhamardan, it is but natural that mining companies will try to get a lease at a place where the mineral is available. We can't seek permission to mine a hill-top on which there is no bauxite," he added.
Vedanta is already facing opposition to mining in the Niyamagiri hills in the Lanjigarh block of Kalahandi district in Orissa. Gandhamardan is in the neighbouring Bargarh district.
In both cases the opposition centres on the fact that bauxite mining might endanger the river and streams that flow from the hills and feed the surrounding villages.
The destruction of local flora and fauna and the disruption of cultural life of the mostly tribal communities in the area are also cited as reasons for opposing these projects.
Another sensitive aspect of the opposition is the religious significance of the hill for both tribal communities in the area and Hindus.
The hill is mentioned in the epic Ramayana. According to legend, the mythological Hanuman plucked a portion of the hill to heal Lakshmana during the battles in Lanka.

The two sides of the slopes also have ancient temples that are significant to local faiths -- the Nrusingha Nath temple on the Bargarh side of the hill and the Harshankar temple on the Balangir side.
The hill is rich in herbal wealth and ayurveda colleges are situated on both sides, said environment activist in Orissa, Ranjan Panda.
Given the fact that the issues surrounding the opposition to the mining lease are unchanged since 1986, companies are keeping their fingers crossed. "It is our job to apply for permission," said Panda of Vedanta.

source:www.rediff.com

How oil prices are wrecking the economy

June 12, 2008, In India, the demand for crude oil is rising by 7 per cent, while imports are rising by over 9 per cent. We're paying more for petrol (and diesel, and LPG) -- but does anyone know why? So, okay, oil prices have doubled in just over a year. Here's why: Speculative trading
Traders bet on future prices of oil through commodity exchanges. If there is a natural calamity, or if a country's president or the boss of a global oil company makes a statement which could be linked to oil, the traders at the exchanges bet on a higher price in the future. The record high price of nearly $140 per barrel is the July futures price of oil in the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Geo-political tensions, leading to supply disruptions
Caused by war, terrorist attacks or military warfare in oil rich countries, which could affect oil supply. The US sanctions on Libya, Iran and the war in Iraq have all affected oil prices
Blame it on shining India...
...and China and West Asia, where rising demand (at around 8 per cent from around 7 per cent a couple of years ago) is creating inequities between supply and demand

source: www.rediff.com