PM to release Vision 2020 on July 2

PM to release Vision 2020 on July 2

KOLKATA, June 19 – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will unveil ‘Vision 2020’, a document aimed at the socio-economic development of the North-Eastern region, in New Delhi on July 2, Union Minister for Development of North-Eastern region Mani Shankar Aiyar has said. The ‘Vision 2020’ was prepared after three years of uninterrupted consultations with 50,000 common people of the North East and a host experts and institutions to take care of the shortcomings in the region Terming the vision document as an ‘Aam Aadmi (common man) document’, DoNER Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said it would require Rs 13 trillion for the implementation of Vision 2020 in the region. The document had been endorsed by the North Eastern Council and Chief Ministers of the region, he told members of the four industry chambers at an interactive session on N-E development, last evening. Aiyar said if India wanted to match the GDP growth of China, then it will have to consider the contribution of the North-East where growth potential was immense. –PTI

PM wants to quit over nuclear deal

PM wants to quit over nuclear deal
Sheela Bhatt

June 19, 2008 23:42 ISTLast Updated: June 20, 2008 00:03 ISTCongress 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: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jun/19pm.htm

Gogoi seeks Sonia’s intervention

By Our Correspondent GUWAHATI, June 13 – In view of the changed guidelines for admission into National Institutes of Technology (NITs) issued by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has taken up the matter with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, requesting her intervention so that students’ from Assam are not deprived of seats in NITs outside the State. The Chief Minister has also written letters to the Prime Minister and the HRD Minister Arjun Singh in this regard. Earlier, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) today flayed the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development for its decision to change the seat allotment pattern into the NITs.The Ministry, through a notification issued on June 9, it may be mentioned, had decided that from 2008-09 onwards, admissions into the NITs for outside the State (non-domicile) seat would be on all India merit basis.Earlier, though 50 per cent of the seats in the NITs were reserved for the domicile students, the rest were filled up by the non-domicile students from across the country. Moreover, an equal number of seats were also kept reserved in the other NITs of the country. The country, at present, has 20 NITs.Asserting that the change in pattern of the seat allotment in the NITs would adversely affect the cause of the students in Assam and other backward States in the country, the students’ body alleged that the decision is a part of the step-motherly treatment meted out to the people of Assam both by the United Progressive Alliance Government at Delhi and the Congress-led State Government.“The new guidelines mean that the State would be deprived of as many as 230 seats in NITs, which will have a deterrent impact on the career prospects of the local students,” stated AASU general secretary Tapan Kumar Gogoi.“Such an unfair step would never be accepted and we warn both the Central and the State Government not to play with the sentiments of the people of Assam,” he pointed out.“It is because of the lacklustre attitude of the Tarun Gogoi Government that the decision was taken even without the consent of the State Government,” rued Gogoi.

Source: assam tribune

Accord implementation

Accord implementation

It is a positive sign that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has started taking personal initiative to monitor the implementation of the Assam Accord as only such initiatives at the highest level can bring a ray of hope to the people of Assam, who are waiting for around 23 years for the implementation of the Accord for the solution of the problem of infiltration of foreigners. The Prime Minister recently assured a delegation of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) that he would seek reports from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Assam Government on the progress of the implementation of the Accord to personally monitor the same. One hopes that he would keep his promise to ensure that at least the international border is sealed within the tenure of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to at least check the unabated infiltration of foreign nationals to Assam which to not only poses a threat to the identity of the indigenous people, but also a threat to the security of the nation. However, it remains to be seen whether the Prime Minister actually keeps his promise in the interest of the nation as the decisions taken in a meeting chaired by him more than three years back are yet to be implemented. A series of vital decisions were taken in a tripartite meeting involving the State and Central Governments and the AASU on May 5, 2005, which was chaired by none other than the Prime Minister himself, but unfortunately, the decisions taken in the meeting are yet to be implemented.One of the major decisions taken in that meeting was to complete the fencing and roads along the Assam-Bangladesh border within a year, but till date, the international border remains a porous one and several deadlines on the completion of the fencing expired. The Government of India must complete the fencing on war footing to check further infiltration of foreigners. The other major decision was to complete the process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of 1951 within a couple of years and to provide photo identity cards to the Indian citizens. This is vital for identification of the foreigners. But unfortunately, the Assam Government took more than three years even to formulate the modalities for updating the NRC and the same is yet to be approved by the Government of India. Moreover, the Centre is yet to amend the Citizenship Act to authorise the State Government to update the NRC. If the decisions taken in a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister are not implemented, the people may lose faith on the democratic system and one hopes that keeping this in mind, Dr Singh will take personal initiative to ensure implementation of all the clauses of the Assam Accord within a stipulated time frame. Source: Assam Tribune 13.06.08

Gogoi in double trouble as AASU alleges more tainted ministers

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is landing in more trouble if All Assam Students Union is to be believed. The state's powerful students body has urged the prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to order CBI probe into the allegations against five cabinet minister of the Tarun Gogoi Government.Talking to reporters on Tuesday in the city, the AASU leaders said they called on Dr Singh in the capital on Monday and urged Dr Singh to order CBI probes into the allegations raised against five cabinet ministers citing some specific allegations against them namely health minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, water resources minister Bharat Chandra Narah, excise minister Gautom Roy and power minister Pradyut Bordoloi. In a memorandum submitted before the Prime Minister, the students body has sought his intervention in the implementation of the Assam Accord, separate identity for Assam Oil Division and also for steps to bail out the Numligarh Refinery from the crisis. AASU General Secretary Tapan Kumar Gogoi said, "we called on PM on June 9 and apprised him of the allegations against these ministers and urged him to order CBI probe into these allegations."They informed that the Prime Minister will contact the Assam Government soon in this regard before asking CBI to probe these. AASU adviser Dr Samujjal Bhattacharjee alleged that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has been harbouring these tainted colleagues in his ministry. They further informed that in the memorandum they also demanded steps to implement the Assam Accord in letter and spirit, retaining of the current entity of the Assam Oil division, ensure subsidy for the Numligarh Refinery. They informed the mediamen that Dr Singh would soon seek report from the union home ministry."The Prime Minister has assured us of steps to address all these grievances and he himself has been monitoring these matters," said AASU president Shankar Prasad Roy.

AASU asks PM to institute probe

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has called upon the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to institute a thorough probe into the allegations of corruption and illegal activities against several Ministers of Assam. The students’ body said that as the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi has not taken any step to check such activities of the Ministers, the Centre must step in for a probe.In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, the AASU said that during the tenure of the present Government, the entire State Administration has become totally corrupt and the recent arrest of Education Minister Ripun Bora by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) totally exposed the state of affairs in Assam.The memorandum said that the Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was allegedly involved in criminal activities in the past and he amassed lots of properties through illegal means. But instead of taking action against him, the Chief Minister made Sarma the spokesman of the Government. The AASU demanded a CBI probe into the allegations against Sarma.The AASU said that poaching of rhinos increased alarmingly during the tenure of Rockybul Hussain as the Forest Minister of the State and in the year 2007 alone, more than 20 rhinos were killed. The AASU also alleged that Hussain encouraged settlement of illegal migrants in the forest areas and demanded that a CBI probe should be instituted against the Minister.The memorandum further stated that during the tenure of Bharat Chandra Narah as the Water Resources Minister, no positive step was taken for flood management and demanded a probe into the allegations of corruption against the Minister. The memorandum further said that a criminal charge is pending against Excise Minister Gautam Roy, while, it is alleged that Industry Minister Pradyut Bordoloi had a hand in the Prasanna Timung’s missing case.The AASU further said that the Sarba Siksha Abhijan Mission, headed by the Chief Minister failed to transform the elementary education scene in the state and the funds provided by the Centre in this regard were misused. Source: Assam Tribune

PM to review progress of Accord

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh has assured a delegation of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) that he would call for reports from the Union Home Ministry and the Assam Government on the implementation of various clauses of the Assam Accord to personally review the progress. He also assured that the Centre would provide a special package for the Numaligarh Refinery to enable it to tide over the present crisis.A delegation of the AASU accompanied by Member of Parliament Sarbananda Sonowal met the Prime Minister at New Delhi yesterday to express the frustration of the organisation because of the failure of the Central and State Governments to implement the Accord. The AASU delegation also informed Dr Singh that even the decisions taken in a tripartite meeting chaired by him on May 5, 2005, are yet to be implemented.AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said that the Prime Minister himself described the slow progress of implementation of the Accord as “unfortunate” and assured that he would convene a tripartite meeting immediately after receiving the reports from the MHA and the State Government.In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, the AASU pointed out that all the major decisions taken in the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister remained on paper only. The memorandum said that the Union Home Minister assured to complete the border roads and fencing by the end of 2006, but the assurance remained on paper as the border with Bangladesh still remains porous. The AASU alleged that the Assam Accord Implementation Department of Assam is being headed by Dr Bhumidhar Braman, who turned out to be a “very inefficient Minister” while, the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi deliberately allowed the department to be non-functional. The Union Home Minister also demonstrated casual approach to the problem of infiltration of foreigners, the AASU alleged.The memorandum said that the State and Central Governments promised to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of 1951 within September, 2007, but that promise also remained on paper as even the modalities are yet to be finalised.The AASU reminded the Prime Minister that he had declared floods in Assam as a national problem and alleged that so far the Government of India failed to take effective steps to deal with the problem. The students’ body urged upon the Prime Minister to take immediate effective steps to protect Majuli river island.The memorandum pointed out that no step has yet been taken to provide constitutional safeguard to the indigenous people of Assam under the provisions of clause 6 of the Accord, while, a decision taken to raise two additional battalions of Police to guard the international border has also not yet been implemented.In the last official level meeting to review the implementation of the Accord, which was chaired by the Secretary, Border Management of the Government of India, a decision was taken to establish detention camps to confine not only the persons declared as foreigners by the tribunals, but also the suspected migrants. But the Chief Minister is trying to project himself as the protector of Bangladeshis by refusing to establish such camps, the AASU alleged.The AASU also alleged that the families of the martyrs of the Assam Agitation are yet to be rehabilitated, while, the State Government has not paid heed to the suggestions of the students’ body and economists for the economic development of the State.Meanwhile, in a separate memorandum, the AASU demanded that the Government should immediately formulate a special package to enable NRL to tide over the crisis faced by it because of increase in crude oil prices and that the identity of Assam Oil Division should be maintained. Source: Assam Tribune