'BJP's defeat in Bihar elections will impact national politics'

June 11, 2015

Bhubaneswar, Jun 11: Accusing NDA of "undermining" Parliamentary democracy and concentrating all powers in the Prime Minister's hands, the CPI on Wednesday said BJP must be defeated in Bihar assembly polls.

Bihar elections"Ever since BJP-led NDA came to power, Parliamentary democracy has been considerably undermined while all powers are concentrated with Prime Minister...this is dangerous," CPI National Secretary D Raja told reporters.

Asking BJP to remember that India does not have Presidential form of government, Raja charged NDA government of patronising corporates at the cost of poor farmers and being dictated by 'Sangh Parivar' outfits.

"BJP appears to have become a political arm of RSS. As a result, the social and secular fabric of the country is threatened and there seems to be a challenge to the Constitution," he claimed.

Under these circumstances, there is a need to stop and defeat BJP in the Bihar assembly election as it would have considerable impact on national politics, Raja said.

CPI, which has taken cognisance of the coming together of some political parties for Bihar polls, would consult other Left outfits on the issue before taking a decision, he said.

Stating that the first priority is to strengthen unity and coordination among all Left Parties, he said CPI national council is slated to meet towards the end of the month and a decision on joining the alliance of JD(U) and RJD could be taken then.

Before that, the party would analyse the situation and see what kind of adjustments the other political parties are interested in, Raja said.

On the question of Congress becoming a part of a secular front, the CPI National Secretary said Congress should review its neo-liberal economic policies which, he said, were responsible for soaring inflation and hitting common people hard.

"Congress must change its economic policies," he said.

Slamming Narendra Modi-Government for making tall claims about its one-year rule, Raja claimed it has done little for the poor and farmers and its promises of ensuring good days (achche din) and bringing back black money from abroad have been proved hollow.

"Where are the good days? When will they come? Infact nobody knows. BJP had promised to retrieve black money and stated that every citizen would get Rs 15 lakh. However, no

such thing has happened so far," he said.

Claiming that a major achievement of NDA rule was that corporate houses have become very powerful as they dictate and influence policies, Raja said Modi government is patronising corporates by way of many concessions and exemptions.

Corporate tax was reduced from 30 per cent to 25 per cent in the budget, he said

Mounting a scathing attack on the BJP government, Raja said support to social sector was substantially slashed particularly in areas like education, health, welfare and

similar other activities.

Describing the Modi government as anti-poor and anti-farmer, the CPI leader said farmers are highly distressed in the absence of remunerative prices for their produce and in the midst of heavy debt burden.

Despite its loud claims, the NDA government has done everything to weaken economic federalism. Funds for several schemes have been stopped, curtailing the economic powers of the states and their share, he added.

Claiming that Modi government is desperate about the land bill in its bid to favour the corporates, Raja said there was no need for bringing an ordinance when the land bill has been referred to Joint Committee of Parliament.

"The move is definitely a challenge to Parliament," he said, adding, CPI would intensify its fight against the "anti-farmer" measure.

Hitting out on NDA on foreign policy, Raja said nothing has been initiated by Modi Government and whatever is being done is only part of an ongoing process.

The PM's visits to countries like China, Canada and Australia were routine, he said, adding, while visiting Israel, the Prime Minister should not ignore the Palestinian cause.

The CPI leader also slammed the Centre for its 'silence' over fishermen issue in Sri Lanka.

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News Network
January 9,2020

New Delhi, Jan 9: JNU students who tried to march towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday protesting the violence on the university campus were stopped by police and later detained.

The police also resorted to baton charge to control the mob who tried to block the traffic at Janpath. Using loudspeakers, the police also appealed to the crowd to maintain peace.

Before the students tried to proceed towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan, a delegation of JNU Students' Union and JNU Teachers' Association also met Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry officials and demanded the removal of Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar from his post.

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News Network
February 16,2020

Washington, Feb 16: India and the United States share "unshakeable" ties, said US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (PDAS), Alice Wells, on Sunday, adding that the upcoming visit of President Donald Trump will further strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

"The U.S. and #India enjoy a close partnership that grows stronger day by day. Together, we are breaking records. For example, we welcomed a record number of Indian exchange students to the US last year and hope to receive even more this year," said Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in a tweet attributed to Alice Wells.

"The ties between our countries are unshakeable, and we look forward to an even warmer relationship as @narendramodi hosts @POTUS later this month," it added.

Trump will pay a two-day state visit to India from February 24 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"India is at the heart of the Indo-Pacific region and plays an increasingly prominent role on the world's stage. The U.S. looks forward to partnering with #India at every step of the way, " Alice Wells further said.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Trump is expected to attend an event at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad on the lines of the ''Howdy Modi'' function that was addressed by the US President and PM Modi in Houston in September last year. Trump is slated to pay a two-day visit to India from February 24.

During the visit, Trump, who will be accompanied by First Lady Melania, will attend official engagements in New Delhi and Ahmedabad, and interact with a wide cross-section of the Indian society, the MEA said in a statement.

The announcement of Trump's first official visit to India was earlier made by the White House on Monday, which, in its statement, said that the US President and Modi had agreed during a recent phone conversation that the trip will "further strengthen the United States-India strategic partnership and highlight the strong and enduring bonds between the American and Indian people".

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Agencies
February 10,2020

New Delhi, Feb 10: The government is set to privatise Central Electronics Ltd, a CPSE under the Department of Science and Technology, by selling its 100% stake with management control and has invited the Expression of Interest for the same by March 16.

The selected bidder will be required to lock in its shares for a period of three years during which it cannot undertake the sale of its stake in CEL, the PIM (Preliminary Information Memorandum) said.

"The government of India has 'in-principle' decided to disinvest 100 per cent of its equity shareholding in CEL (which is equivalent to 100 per cent of the total paid up equity share capital of CEL) through Strategic Disinvestment with transfer of management control (Strategic Disinvestment or Transaction)," DIPAM, the Disinvestment Department, said.

The process for the transaction has been divided into two stages, namely, Stage I and Stage II.

After BPCL and Air India, this is yet another CPSE which government is slated to privatise if it gets offers from bidders.

The government has set a challenging target of Rs 2.1 lakh crore disinvestment proceeds from CPSE sell-offs and IPOs, OFSs (Offer for sale) in the next fiscal and it going out all guns blazing to meet that target after revising this fiscal target of Rs 1.05 lakh crore to Rs 65,000 crore.

The Interested Bidders (which can also include employees of CEL) must have a minimum net worth of Rs 50 crore as on March 2019. DIPAM has released complete invitation Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) of CEL. Resurgent India Limited is the advisor to the Transaction.

CEL is a pioneer in the country in the field of Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) with the distinction of having developed India's first Solar cell in 1977 and first Solar panel in 1978 as well as commissioning India's first solar plant in 1992.

More recently, it has developed and manufactured the first crystalline flexible solar panel especially for use on the passenger train roofs in 2015.

Its solar products have been qualified to International Standards IEC 61215/61730. CEL is further working on development of a range of new and upgraded products for signaling and telecommunication in the railway sector.

In the SWOT analysis of the CPSE, DIPAM has stated under weakness that "the company has weak financial loss due to past losses, high manufacturing cost and non payment of dues by state nodal agencies affecting the financial position of the company".

The CPSE has adequate land for expansion, the SWOT analysis said adding "the CPSE faces threat of dumping of solar cells at very low rates which makes solar PV manufacturing industry unviable".

Entry of new players in the market for solar products and railway signalling systems also is cited as a threat.

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