Nov 4, 2011
Oct 1, 2011
Victory for Mamata comes with a thorn ...
Soon after coming to power in the state, the Mamata Bannerjee government passed the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011. On June 22 this year, the government took over possession of the land on which Tata Motors had started construction before moving to Sanand in Gujarat. On the next day, Tata Motors moved the high court, challenging the legality of the Act.
Tata motors not to get back the Singur land ...
Calcutta high court on Wednesday ruled that the state government was well within its rights to repossess the land in Singur, Hooghly that was handed over toTata Motors for a small car factory. Tata Motors can't get back possession of the land but can apply for compensation to the district judge of Hooghly who will determine the same under sections 23 and 24 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
Floodgates have opened on the net with comments for and against ... in a vote conducted by Times 78% respondents feel Singur would not have benefitted by Tata opening the factory there. I re-post some of the comments here for a good read of both perspectives...
Sougata Pramanick Giving fertile land to TATA was an error which the Left committed. If Mamata opposed that - it was not her fault. She became the scapegoat for Left's folly. Tata could have easily taken barren land few hundred km away. The land near Kharagpur is a arid plateau near to Jamshedpur - what about the multi-crop yielding greenery of Singur besotted Tata / CPM govt's imagination, is beyond comprehension.
WB no doubt needs industrialization, but not by grabbing land like in Lavasa, Noida or Gujarat. These poor farmers elsewhere in the country have splurged the extra cash on Skodas and Mercs and reverted back to alcohol/poverty in no time.
Mamata now needs to attract industrialists by reforming work culture in the state, again spoilt by the decades of Leftism.
Krishna Sharma what TATA has given to India none of any other industrialist or any charitable organization has ever given or in future they will give .. and this treatment with the India the most respectable firm is really very sad.. We youngster are the great sufferers of all this ...........
Vivek (Sydney)
29 Sep, 2011 07:29 AM
TATAs were, a couple of decades back, synonymous with "nation building". This perception, in recent times, has eroded drastically because participation in Nation Building programmes by TATAs is minimal. Nano or most of their ventures are part of personal wealth building. Yes, had it been linked to 'road space' increase - we would have continued to accept their role in NB. Negotiating with a government to usurp arable land from farmers without negotiating an acceptable "package", (by farmers ; not govt) is certainly unbecoming of a business house of the repute of TATAs. When the push came to shove during Mamata's movement, at no stage did any senior representative of Tatas meet the farmers or landowners to negotiate a fair deal. The contact was mostly through the government machinery, which invariably had vested interests. On one hand we laud Team Anna and in the same breath how can we tolerate "Corporate Zamindari" being practiced from the shadows of the government. Well done Mamata!!! The farmers will bless you, not only if they get their land back but also if they get a better deal from any future venture in Singur.
Rama (Hydrabad)
29 Sep, 2011 02:36 AM
Calcutta High Coart has given a judgement, it is expected in all the state same rule should be followed. There are huge land grabbed by Railways,Government agencies,Corporate body and army,those lands should be returned to land owners.. Equal Rule should be followed for all the states .Can any government change the act and take back the land as they desire? What will be the fate of future development?
Abhijit Kulkarni (Singapore)
28 Sep, 2011 10:45 PM
who says India is a capitalist country? here comes the bold statement from Indian judiciary stating development at the cost of non creamy section would certainly dismissed and dismissed strongly. well who knows what the actual repercussion of this judgement on longer term would be, since this doesn't send a very good signal to India INC which has already had quite a few dent because of bad governance. I certainly feel bad for Tata's, one of those few names in Indian corporate which are perceived to holds some strong real moral, to loose on this front specially after going through their defense since they were never quite wrong in this case, its a bit mis-handling the deal by government with some injustice to localities best exploited by political moves .. I am sure Mamta would never have got that for Tata's since this is case, that has brought her into the power. In the end, we can only hope that the common people who lost their land should be benefited. The irony is this is one of the biggest industrial deal signed by communist government only to get ruled out by so called Socialist (or capitalist) Congress.
Sutanuka Banerjee There are a large number of closed and sick industries in West Bengal. The West Bengal Government does not have any policy related to the land locked-up in such closed and sick industrial units. This land had been given to various industria...lists to set up factories in the past. This land cannot be used for any other purpose, but residential complexes and shopping malls are coming up on such land and they are also being used for other non-manufacturing activities......http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article52.html...... Citizens’ Chargesheet On West Bengal Government’s Development Policies.....
Anwar Husain Left destroyed the wb
Sutanuka Banerjee more than 4,000 heavily armed police stormed the Nandigram area with the aim of stamping out protests against the West Bengal government’s plans to expropriate 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) . The police sho...
Calcutta high court on Wednesday ruled that the state government was well within its rights to repossess the land in Singur, Hooghly that was handed over toTata Motors for a small car factory. Tata Motors can't get back possession of the land but can apply for compensation to the district judge of Hooghly who will determine the same under sections 23 and 24 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
Floodgates have opened on the net with comments for and against ... in a vote conducted by Times 78% respondents feel Singur would not have benefitted by Tata opening the factory there. I re-post some of the comments here for a good read of both perspectives...
Sougata Pramanick Giving fertile land to TATA was an error which the Left committed. If Mamata opposed that - it was not her fault. She became the scapegoat for Left's folly. Tata could have easily taken barren land few hundred km away. The land near Kharagpur is a arid plateau near to Jamshedpur - what about the multi-crop yielding greenery of Singur besotted Tata / CPM govt's imagination, is beyond comprehension.
WB no doubt needs industrialization, but not by grabbing land like in Lavasa, Noida or Gujarat. These poor farmers elsewhere in the country have splurged the extra cash on Skodas and Mercs and reverted back to alcohol/poverty in no time.
Mamata now needs to attract industrialists by reforming work culture in the state, again spoilt by the decades of Leftism.
Krishna Sharma what TATA has given to India none of any other industrialist or any charitable organization has ever given or in future they will give .. and this treatment with the India the most respectable firm is really very sad.. We youngster are the great sufferers of all this ...........
Vivek (Sydney)
29 Sep, 2011 07:29 AM
TATAs were, a couple of decades back, synonymous with "nation building". This perception, in recent times, has eroded drastically because participation in Nation Building programmes by TATAs is minimal. Nano or most of their ventures are part of personal wealth building. Yes, had it been linked to 'road space' increase - we would have continued to accept their role in NB. Negotiating with a government to usurp arable land from farmers without negotiating an acceptable "package", (by farmers ; not govt) is certainly unbecoming of a business house of the repute of TATAs. When the push came to shove during Mamata's movement, at no stage did any senior representative of Tatas meet the farmers or landowners to negotiate a fair deal. The contact was mostly through the government machinery, which invariably had vested interests. On one hand we laud Team Anna and in the same breath how can we tolerate "Corporate Zamindari" being practiced from the shadows of the government. Well done Mamata!!! The farmers will bless you, not only if they get their land back but also if they get a better deal from any future venture in Singur.
Rama (Hydrabad)
29 Sep, 2011 02:36 AM
Calcutta High Coart has given a judgement, it is expected in all the state same rule should be followed. There are huge land grabbed by Railways,Government agencies,Corporate body and army,those lands should be returned to land owners.. Equal Rule should be followed for all the states .Can any government change the act and take back the land as they desire? What will be the fate of future development?
Abhijit Kulkarni (Singapore)
28 Sep, 2011 10:45 PM
who says India is a capitalist country? here comes the bold statement from Indian judiciary stating development at the cost of non creamy section would certainly dismissed and dismissed strongly. well who knows what the actual repercussion of this judgement on longer term would be, since this doesn't send a very good signal to India INC which has already had quite a few dent because of bad governance. I certainly feel bad for Tata's, one of those few names in Indian corporate which are perceived to holds some strong real moral, to loose on this front specially after going through their defense since they were never quite wrong in this case, its a bit mis-handling the deal by government with some injustice to localities best exploited by political moves .. I am sure Mamta would never have got that for Tata's since this is case, that has brought her into the power. In the end, we can only hope that the common people who lost their land should be benefited. The irony is this is one of the biggest industrial deal signed by communist government only to get ruled out by so called Socialist (or capitalist) Congress.
Sutanuka Banerjee There are a large number of closed and sick industries in West Bengal. The West Bengal Government does not have any policy related to the land locked-up in such closed and sick industrial units. This land had been given to various industria...lists to set up factories in the past. This land cannot be used for any other purpose, but residential complexes and shopping malls are coming up on such land and they are also being used for other non-manufacturing activities......http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article52.html...... Citizens’ Chargesheet On West Bengal Government’s Development Policies.....
Anwar Husain Left destroyed the wb
Sutanuka Banerjee more than 4,000 heavily armed police stormed the Nandigram area with the aim of stamping out protests against the West Bengal government’s plans to expropriate 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) . The police sho...
Sep 26, 2011
Another Babri in the waiting ....
Illustration by James Prinsep, 1834
Aurangzeb Alamgir invaded Varanasi and destroyed the original Vishwanath temple at Gyanvapi ("Well of knowledge") complex and erected this mosque from the parts of the temple (beyond dispute from this photograph). 
Later Marathas captured the city and reconstructed the new Vishwanath temple which is seen today. But they spared the mosque, as it was Shivaji's order, ".. fight muslims but don't destroy their holy places". Hope some radical Hindus (who claim to be his followers) are listening !
May 8, 2011
One evening 150 years back ...
On an evening in April, 150 years back, a prodigy was born to the Thakur family of Jorashanko, Kolkata. He was to transform Bengali literature, music and broadly Bengali culture. What we would have been without Rabindranath Tagore ? The man who wrote a piece for every situation of life. Influenced and inspired several generations of Bengalis - took Indian culture to the world. To fellow Bengalis is the reminder of his words ('Letters - Chithipotro'):
Amra na podiya Pondit ...
আমরা না পড়িয়া পন্ডিত
আমরা না লড়িয়া বীর
আমরা ধাঁ করিয়া সভ্য
আমরা ফাঁকি দিয়া পেট্রিয়ট
আমরা ভারী ভদ্র, ভারী বুদ্হিমান
কোনো বিষযে পাগলামি নাই
আমরা পাশ করিব, রোজগার করিব ও তামাক খাইব
আমরা এগোইব না - অনুসরণ করিব
কাজ করিব না - পরামর্শ দিব !
Let's rediscover Tagore !
Amra na podiya Pondit ...
আমরা না পড়িয়া পন্ডিত
আমরা না লড়িয়া বীর
আমরা ধাঁ করিয়া সভ্য
আমরা ফাঁকি দিয়া পেট্রিয়ট
আমরা ভারী ভদ্র, ভারী বুদ্হিমান
কোনো বিষযে পাগলামি নাই
আমরা পাশ করিব, রোজগার করিব ও তামাক খাইব
আমরা এগোইব না - অনুসরণ করিব
কাজ করিব না - পরামর্শ দিব !
Let's rediscover Tagore !
May 2, 2011
Osama is past ...
The greatest icon of terror of this decade - Osama bin Laden is no more ...
He is killed in a mansion worth $1mn built over the years - 500m from a Pak military academy (overlooking the wall, some say !) - and the US President is applauding Pakistan for their help in "nabbing" Laden after 10 yrs (of sheltering !) the chief 9/11 convict ! One could have expected more from Obama on this day of victory against terror !
The Daily Beast lambasts the sham ...
Wonder why WE must keep on making mere statements ! Can't our septuagenerians learn from this action? If US navy seals could reach "deep into Pakistan" and take out their target - can't our commandos get Masood Azhar ! Some say the only 'male' PM we had was Indira Gandhi - wish she was around !!
He is killed in a mansion worth $1mn built over the years - 500m from a Pak military academy (overlooking the wall, some say !) - and the US President is applauding Pakistan for their help in "nabbing" Laden after 10 yrs (of sheltering !) the chief 9/11 convict ! One could have expected more from Obama on this day of victory against terror !
The Daily Beast lambasts the sham ...
Wonder why WE must keep on making mere statements ! Can't our septuagenerians learn from this action? If US navy seals could reach "deep into Pakistan" and take out their target - can't our commandos get Masood Azhar ! Some say the only 'male' PM we had was Indira Gandhi - wish she was around !!
Apr 27, 2011
Apr 23, 2011
The net is amazing !
Was surfing wikimapia to locate Poteswari tala in Shantipur. One hit led to another and I happened to see a reference of my Great Grandfather - Sudhamoy Pramanick's interest in Sankrit literature in 1316 BS (102 yrs ago)! Also his role in the Satyagraha movement against the Salt Laws while Netaji was being arrested in 1930 ! And this was not a happening metro city - it was a small sleepy town in the Nadia district from a century ago !
Sudhamoy Pramanick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sudhamoy Pramanick (1884– Oct 1974) ( Bengali: সুধাময় প্রামাণিক ) was a bengali advocate from Shantipur. He was the lifetime secretary of the Tili Samaj - in his time he was one of the fortunate Presidencians - a year senior to Rajendra Prasad. He was a social activist of sorts - involved in the Satyagraha movement [1] to campaign for Indian independence.
Click the link above to read the rest in Wikipedia
Another amazing piece is below. A document about Bengali books compiled by a Frenchman from more than a century back, preserved in a British Museum! I guess we have much to learn on chronicling and Infotech yet. Sudhamoy Pramanick's name appears on this page about some Sanskrit work done in 1905 !
Sudhamoy Pramanick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sudhamoy Pramanick (1884– Oct 1974) ( Bengali: সুধাময় প্রামাণিক ) was a bengali advocate from Shantipur. He was the lifetime secretary of the Tili Samaj - in his time he was one of the fortunate Presidencians - a year senior to Rajendra Prasad. He was a social activist of sorts - involved in the Satyagraha movement [1] to campaign for Indian independence.
Click the link above to read the rest in Wikipedia
Another amazing piece is below. A document about Bengali books compiled by a Frenchman from more than a century back, preserved in a British Museum! I guess we have much to learn on chronicling and Infotech yet. Sudhamoy Pramanick's name appears on this page about some Sanskrit work done in 1905 !
Apr 7, 2011
New experiences ...
A flight which had to return from mid-air after flying a few hrs ("technical snag"), boiling inside the plane for the repairs, free stay in London, snow at Boston in spring (April Fool's day, thankfully not '97 repeated) and a kilometer long jam on the expressway enroute Pune (two trucks kissed each other) - what more can you ask for ?
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