Nothing Like EGYPT or Middle East, But Tens of thousands of people protested in the Indian capital against surging prices on Wednesday, heaping pressure on the embattled government to help the inflation-hit poor in next week's budget!As the Ruling He

Nothing Like EGYPT or Middle East, But Tens of thousands of people protested in the Indian capital against surging prices on Wednesday, heaping pressure on the embattled government to help the inflation-hit poor in next week's budget!As the Ruling Hegemony Begins the COVER UP SCAMS Cricket to Sustain an Economy of Ethnic Cleansing, Exclusion, Holocaust and Manusmriti Rule!The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which joined forces with other unions to stage the march, said it expected a turnout of up to one million people from 19 states, though the turnout could not be independently verified.Mind you, the Trade Unions failed to Mobilise whatsoever Resistance against Economic Reforms rather they were INSTRUMENTAL in Economic Ethnic Cleansing!


Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time -FIVE  HUNDRED  NINETY One

Palash Biswas

http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/

http://basantipurtimes.blogspot.com/


Nothing Like EGYPT or Middle East, But Tens of thousands of people protested in the Indian capital against surging prices on Wednesday, heaping pressure on the embattled government to help the inflation-hit poor in next week's budget!As the Ruling Hegemony Begins the COVER UP SCAMS Cricket to Sustain an Economy of Ethnic Cleansing, Exclusion, Holocaust and Manusmriti Rule!

Meanwhile,Citi in its latest report on Global Growth Generators said that India can overtake China and the US to become the largest economy in the world by 2050.On the other hand,Crude oil prices surged and investors sought safety in bonds, gold and the Swiss franc on Wednesday as turmoil in Libya fanned fears of inflation and its potential drag on the global recovery.


Streams of demonstrators, many hoisting flags emblazoned with the hammer-and-sickle communist symbol, shouted "control prices" and slogans against corruption, amid a telecom scandal which may have cost the Congress-led government up to $40 billion.Nearly 2,000 policemen were deployed in central Delhi to keep control of the demonstration, a police spokesman told Agence France Presse

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which joined forces with other unions to stage the march, said it expected a turnout of up to one million people from 19 states, though the turnout could not be independently verified.Mind you, the Trade Unions failed to Mobilise whatsoever Resistance against Economic Reforms rather they were INSTRUMENTAL in Economic Ethnic Cleansing!

Police were unable to calculate the number of demonstrators who filled the streets, paralysing city centre traffic for hours.

While India has rebounded smartly from the global financial crisis with growth of nearly nine percent, inflation has also surged, and many Indians feel shut out of the economic boom.

The march was organised to press for the right of workers "to seek their rightful share in the country's so-called 'robust growth story'," said a CITU statement.

India's poor -- who are key supporters of the ruling Congress party -- have been hit hardest by the rise in the cost-of-living.

Rishi Pal, a 52-year-old member of a farmers' union from the northwestern state of Punjab, said: "We need the government to control prices. Poor people can't feed their families."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described inflation as a "serious" threat to India's growth and the government has tried to boost vegetable and other supplies to bring down soaring food costs.
The central bank has raised interest rates seven times in less than a year, while general annual inflation still stands stubbornly above eight percent.

Food inflation is running at over 11 percent and consumer prices of food have risen by a massive 80 percent in six years, according to investment house Credit Suisse.

One protester, Jagdeesh Thakur, president of a secondary school teachers' association in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, said the left-leaning government "has forgotten the poor".

In an attempt to assuage voter anger and with four state elections due this summer, the government is expected to opt for a "safe" budget laden with food, fertilizer and fuel subsidies and to avoid any big-bang economic reforms.

"We anticipate a sizeable boost to welfare spending, designed to protect the incomes of the poorest members of society," said Credit Suisse economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde.

As well as surging inflation, a host of corruption scandals ranging from the Delhi Commonwealth Games last October to the sale of multi-billion-dollar telecom licences has sapped the popularity of Singh's administration.

On Tuesday, Singh capitulated to opposition demands to set up a cross-party investigation into the telecom licence sales in 2008, which has led to a police probe and the arrest of his former telecom minister, A. Raja.

Middle East RSS Feed

Libyan Death Toll Mounts as Protests Continue in Region

Suzanne Presto | Cairo February 23, 2011

Photo: AFP

Libyan protesters shout slogans against Libyan leader Gadhafi in front of the Libyan embassy in Kuala Lumpur on February 23, 2011.

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Reports coming out of Libya indicate government-sanctioned violence against protesters is intensifying during a widening revolt.  The international community has denounced the violence, while Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has threatened death for anyone who takes up arms against him.  

Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told reporters in Rome Wednesday that there are credible reports that about 1,000 people have been killed in Libya's ongoing crackdown.  

There are reports that anti-government protesters have gained control of some Libyan cities, such as Bayda and Benghazi.  Frattini says he has heard this is the case in parts of eastern Libya, though he notes that information from the region is far from complete.  

"But as far as I know from our embassy, the province of east Cyrenaica is lost to the control of the government of Tripoli while in the other areas there are, I would say, riots, there are people shooting, it is a difficult situation. And unfortunately what we want is that the government ceases immediately the violence," Frattini said.

Restraint urged

The Arab League, the United Nations, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others have urgently called for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to show restraint.  

Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in the U.S., told reporters late Tuesday that he would be very surprised if Gadhafi manages to hold on to power.

He said Libya's strongman only has the allegiance of a part of the army, which Abrams said is weak and fractured.  

"The army has been disorganized in Libya for a long time, I think, partially because Gadhafi came to power in a coup and doesn't want a coup to repeat itself against him," Abrams said. "So the army is already weak, and the army is already split along geographical and tribal lines."  

In a rambling speech Tuesday, Gadhafi vowed to battle on, and he called on his supporters to fight those who challenge his more than four-decade rule.

Anti-government protests also continue elsewhere in the region.

Yemen protests

Video from Yemen's capital, Sana'a, shows pro-government groups firing upon pro-reform protesters outside Sana'a University Tuesday night.  At least one person was reported killed and 38 others injured in the clashes.

New York-based Human Rights Watch says witnesses report that Yemeni police allowed the government-allied demonstrators to attack the protesters outside the university.  

Activists in Yemen have staged daily protests since February 11 to call for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.  

Bahrain

In Bahrain, where reform-seeking demonstrators have also mounted rallies, the Sunni monarchy is making concessions to the protesters.  

Cheers erupted Wednesday when authorities released some activists who had been detained in recent demonstrations.  More than 20 Shi'ites who were accused of trying to topple the Sunni-led government were also freed.  In another concession, the monarchy is allowing activists to hold peaceful protests.   More than 100,000 people marched in the capital, Manama on Tuesday.

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ESSAY

Lobbyists & the law

A. G. NOORANI

The Niira Radia episode may not have gone as far as it did if there had been a law that exposed the activities of lobbyists to the public gaze.

AMAN SHARMA/PTI 
 
CORPORATE LOBBYIST NIIRA Radia.

THE Niira Radia episode richly illustrates a gaping void in the Indian legal system. There is no law to regulate activities of lobbyists. The affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of the Government of India in the Ratan Tata case says in paragraph 6: "A complaint was received by the Finance Minister dated 16 November 2007 inter alia alleging that Ms. Radia had within a short span of nine years built up a business empire worth Rs.300 crores, that she was an agent of foreign intelligence agencies and that she was indulging in anti-national activities. On this complaint, it was directed that the matter should be examined."

It proceeds to mention that the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Anti-Corruption Branch, Central Bureau of Investigation, in a letter, dated November 16, 2009, to the said Director General of Income Tax (Investigation) stated: "It has been reliably learnt that certain middlemen including one Ms. Niira Radia of M/s. Neosis Consultancy were actively involved in the above mentioned criminal conspiracy. It is understood that the Director General of Investigation Income Tax kept information regarding such undesirable contact persons using various methods of surveillance including telephonic surveillance. In case your office is in possession of any information or records pertaining to any middleman including Ms. Niira Radia regarding award of UAS licenses, the same may please be made available to this office for pursuance of investigation."

It is unlikely that matters would have gone as far as they did – including influence peddling by her and associated journalists to secure plum portfolios in the Ministry at the Centre for favourites – if there had been on the statute book a law that exposed activities of lobbyists to the public gaze.

Lobbying is a part of the democratic process. The human rights activist who meets legislators and Ministers to press for ratification of an international convention is also a lobbyist. Not all such lobbyists are unpaid. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) remunerate them sometimes. This lobbyist acts out of conviction. It is the lobbyist hired to promote an interest who poses the problem. India has ignored this problem despite growing signs of abuse. The H.G. Mudgal case is 60 years old. He was expelled from the Lok Sabha for taking money from a business house in return for promoting their interests. Here is the text of a press note issued by the Union Home Ministry and published inThe Statesman as far back as on July 13, 1973: "Cases have come to the notice of the government that certain persons approach business houses, trade associations and important individuals and assure them that for a fixed fee they could expedite consideration of their cases pending with certain agencies of the government.

"In order to create confidence in the minds of the people, communications are accompanied with printed pamphlets and other literature. They also make it appear that they have contacts in certain departments of government with which businessmen have to deal. Also, these people obtain advance payments for doing lobbying or liaison work for business firms. Even when these persons turn out to be cheats, as most of them are, the firms fight shy of reporting the matter to the police.

"The government therefore warns the public against the operation of such undesirable elements."

On March 26, 1981, Indian Express published this report: "The Central Bureau of Investigation circulated to all Ministries a blacklist of liaison officers with unsavoury antecedents with instructions that they are not to be permitted to enter any Ministry or meet any official. This was revealed in the Lok Sabha by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr. P. Venkatasubbiah, who said that the list was updated from time to time by the CBI. Care is taken to see that such liaison officers are not allowed to come into Ministries and contact officers."

The Minister said this was in line with the recommendation of the Santhanam Committee, which said that no officer should have any dealing with any representative of any business firm unless that representative is properly accredited to the government. There was, however, no restriction on proprietors and managers contacting officials.

Niren Ghosh (CPI (M)) demanded that retired Indian Civil Service and Indian Administrative Service officers be banned from accepting liaison jobs. He alleged such officers got easy entry into Ministries and they spent crores in securing licences for their principals.

Venkatasubbiah said he had no information about retired ICS and IAS officers doing liaison work "The government would spare no effort to stop leakage of official files to multinationals in connivance with some government officials as alleged by Mr. K. Lakappa (Congress(I))."

That was 30 years ago. As the economy grew, competition intensified and the role of the state expanded, opportunities for lobbyists increased. They became "smoother", more skilful and insidious. Even heads of reputed business houses employed them.

Quoted and courted

Lobbyists need the services of legislators as well as journalists; not the poor hack but the one at the top with contacts that can help the lobbyist. Known identifiable lobbyists have emerged as "public figures" quoted and courted by the media.

How lobbying acquired menacing proportions is ably documented in Karl Schriftgiesser's The Lobbyists: The Art and Business of Influencing Lawmakers. He writes: "Lobbying is as old as legislation and pressure groups are as old as politics." The lobbyist was once known as "lobbying agent". Walt Whitman denounced "bawling office-holders", "kept editors", "bribers, compromisers, lobbiers, spongers… the lousy combings and born freedom-sellers of the earth".

THE HINDU ARCHIVES 
 
WOODROW WILSON, THE 28th President of the United States (1913-1921). In 1912, when he was the Governor of New Jersey, he said: "The government of the United States is a foster child of the special interests. It is not allowed to have a will of its own."

In 1874, the United States Supreme Court delivered a stinging rebuke to one form of lobbying which it found reprehensible. Justice Noah H. Swayne said: "The agreement… was for the sale of the influence and exertion of the lobby agent to bring about the passage of a law for the payment of a private claim, without reference to its merits, by means which, if not corrupt, were illegitimate, and considered in connection with the pecuniary interest of the agent at stake, contrary to the plainest principles of public policy.

"If any of the great corporations of the country were to hire adventurers who make market of themselves in this way, to procure the passage of a general law with a view to the promotion of their private interests, the moral sense of every right-minded man would instinctively denounce the employer and employed as steeped in corruption and the employment as infamous….

"If the agent is truthful and conceals nothing, all is well. If he uses nefarious means with success, the springhead and the stream of legislation are polluted. To legalise the traffic of such service would open a door at which fraud and falsehood would not fail to enter and make themselves felt at every point. It would invite their presence and offer them a premium. If the tempted agent be corrupt himself and disposed to corrupt others, the transition requires but a single step. He has the means in his hands, with every facility and a strong incentive to use them…." The author points out that lobbying flourishes under two political circumstances. "One is when the executive is weak. The other is when the parties are decentralised."

In 1905, the Armstrong Committee's 10-volume report exposed how far big business had corrupted legislators in every State in the U.S. and in Congress, no less. Witnesses were reluctant to appear before it. The report said: "Nothing disclosed by the investigation deserves more serious attention than the systematic efforts of the large insurance companies to control a large part of the legislation of the State. They have been organised into an offensive and defensive alliance to procure or to prevent the passage of laws affecting not only insurance, but a great variety of important interests to which, through subsidiary companies or the connections of their officers, they have become related. Their operations have extended beyond the State, and the country has been divided into districts so that each company might perform conveniently its share of the work. Enormous sums have been expended in a surreptitious manner. Irregular accounts have been kept to conceal the payments…."

Vicious circle

It is a vicious circle. The politician needs money for election campaigns. Big business helps. Its lobbyist sends IOU to the legislator when his help is needed. None other than Woodrow Wilson said: "The masters of the government of the United States are the combined capitalists and manufacturers of the United States. It is written over every intimate page of the records of Congress; it is written all through the history of conferences at the White House; that the suggestions of economic policy have come from one source, not many sources…."

Suppose you go to Washington, Wilson, who was then the Governor of New Jersey (in 1912), continued, "You will always find that while you are politely listened to, the men really consulted are the big men who have the biggest stake – the big bankers, the big manufacturers, the big masters of commerce, the heads of railroad corporations, and of steamship corporations….

"Every time it has come to a critical question, these gentlemen have been yielded to and the demands treated as the demands that should be followed as a matter of course. The government of the United States is a foster child of the special interests. It is not allowed to have a will of its own."

In 1921, Senator Kenneth B. McKellar painted this picture. "There are lobbyists from the sugar interests, for the steel interests, for the fertilizer interests, for the cotton manufacturers' interests, for prohibition and for anti-prohibition, for postal employees, for labour organisations, for railroads, for civil service employees, for the equal rights of women, for the bonus, for those opposed to the bonus, for the shipping interests, for Henry Ford's acquisition of Muscle Shoals, for the water-power trust, for the oil interests, for the disabled serviceman, for the manufacturers, for the Army, for the Navy, for national aid to education, and many other interests. Washington is honey-combed with lobbyists. The hotels are full of them."

The U.S. Constitution guarantees "the freedom of speech" and the right "to petition the government for redress of grievances" – individually and collectively. This does not cover paid lobbying to bring pressure on behalf of business interests. This professionally inspired effort to put pressure on Ministers and MPs stands on a different footing altogether.

Regulation Act

In 1946, the U.S. Congress enacted the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act. The act did not offer a succinct definition of a lobby or of a lobbyist. But it placed under its regulation any "Individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, and any other organisation or group of persons" (Section 402 [c]) who "by himself, or through any agent or employee or other persons in any manner whatsoever, directly or indirectly, solicits, collects, or receives money or any other thing of value to be used principally to aid, or the principal purpose of which person [individually or collectively, as above designated] is to aid, in the passage or defeat of any legislation by the Congress of the United States" (Section 307).

Any person coming under this definition, with certain exceptions, shall "before doing anything in furtherance of such object, register with the clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate…" (Section 308 [a]). The registrations, to be made under oath, must contain the following information: "…the name and address of the person by whom he is employed, and in whose interest he appears or works, the duration of such employment, how much he is paid and is to receive, by whom he is paid or is to be paid, how much he is to be paid for expenses, and what expenses are to be included" (Section 308 [a]).

Under these provisions, both lobby organisations and individuals acting as lobbyists are required to register. Having done so, the lobbyist must also file with the House and with the Senate detailed and sworn quarterly reports giving the following information: all money received or spent by him during the quarter for lobbying activity; to whom it was paid; the purposes for which it was paid; "the names of any papers, periodicals, magazines, or other publications in which he has caused to be published any articles or editorials"; and the "proposed legislation he is employed to support or oppose" (Section 308 [a])."

The New York Times suggested a crucial safeguard on October 23, 1950. It is transparency. "Lobbying is not a crime, and Chairman Buchanan doesn't say it is. What he does say, and the argument seems reasonable, is that 'influencing legislation is an activity that should be carried on in a goldfish bowl.' The nature of the pressure and who is paying for it ought always to be public knowledge, and there ought always to be some accurate way of distinguishing between a million dollars and a million votes. If this can be done lobbying can be a part of the democratic process; if it can't some new legislation may be required."

In United States vs Harris 347 U.S. 612, the Supreme Court upheld the law by narrowing its scope. "Present-day legislative complexities are such that individual members of Congress cannot be expected to explore the myriad pressures to which they are regularly subjected. Yet full realisation of the American ideal of government by elected representatives depends to no small extent on their ability to properly evaluate such pressures, otherwise the voice of the people may all too easily be drowned out by the voice of special interest groups seeking favoured treatment while masquerading as proponents of the public weal. This is the evil which the Lobbying Act was designed to help prevent. Toward that end, Congress has not sought to prohibit these pressures. It has merely provided for a modicum of information from those who for hire attempt to influence legislation or who collect or spend funds for that purpose. It wants only to know who is being hired, who is putting up the money, and how much."

Justices William Douglas and Hugo Black dissented. "We start with an all-inclusive definition of 'legislation' contained in Section 302 (e). It means 'bills, resolutions, amendments, nominations, and other matters pending or proposed in either House of Congress, and includes any other matter which may be the subject of action by either House'. What is the scope of 'any other matter which may be the subject of action' by Congress? It would seem to include not only pending or proposed legislation but any matter within the legitimate domain of Congress.

"What contributions might be used 'principally to aid' in influencing 'directly or indirectly, the passage or defeat' of any such measure by Congress? When is one retained for the purpose of influencing the 'passage or defeat of any legislation'? (1) One who addresses a trade union for repeal of a labour law certainly hopes to influence legislation. (2) So does a manufacturers' association which runs ads in newspapers for a sales tax. (3) So does a farm group which undertakes to raise money for an educational program to be conducted in newspapers, magazines, and on radio and television, showing the need for revision of our attitude on world trade.

"(4) So does a group of oil companies which puts agents in the nation's capital to sound the alarm at hostile legislation, to exert influence on Congressmen to defeat it, to work on the Hill for the passage of laws favourable to the oil interests. (5) So does a business, labour, farm, religious, social, racial, or other group which raises money to contact people with the request that they write their Congressman to get a law repealed or modified, to get a proposed law passed, or themselves to propose a law. Are all of these activities covered by the Act? If one is included why are not the others? The court apparently excludes the kind of activities listed in categories (1), (2) and (3) and includes part of the activities in (4) and (5) – those which entail contacts with Congress.

"There is, however, difficulty in that course, a difficulty which seems to me to be insuperable. I find no warrant in the act for drawing the line, as the court does, between "direct communication with Congress" and other pressures on Congress. The Act is as much concerned with one as with the other."

Disclosure Act

In 1995, Congress enacted the Lobbying Disclosure Act to make reporting obligations more stringent. Under Section 4 of the Act every lobbyist or his employer must register with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives. As well as details about himself and his area of work, he is required to disclose the identity of his client "and a general description of its business or activities". Contribution from other sources for lobbying in excess of $10,000 must also be mentioned along with details about the donors. Registered lobbyists file semi-annual reports.

The law and the reality

The law is one thing, the reality is another; and the reality is the power of the National Rifle Association (NRA) to prevent sensible reform of gun laws and the power of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to prevent any pressure on Israel to make the concessions which alone can make any accord with the Palestinians possible.

Prof. S. John Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt have exposed its activities in their famous book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.

In an article in Foreign Policy of January-February 2011, Walt notes: "Even in areas where there is a clear scientific consensus, like climate change, public discourse has been distorted by well-organised campaigns to discredit the evidence and deny that any problem exists. Not surprisingly, those whose economic interests would be hurt if we significantly reduced our reliance on fossil fuels have aggressively funded such campaigns.

VIPIN CHANDRAN 
 
WELL-KNOWN LOBBYIST Dilip Cherian. He says lobbying is an `iterative' process and lobbyists function as a bridge between companies and the government.

"In the United States, this problem with self-interested individuals and groups interfering in the policy process appears to be getting worse, in good part because of the growing number of think tanks and 'research' organisations linked to special interests.

"Organisations like the American Enterprise Institute, the Centre for a New American Security, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and the Centre for American Progress – to name but a few – are not politically neutral institutions, in that their ultimate purpose is to assemble and disseminate arguments that advance a particular worldview or a specific policy agenda. The people who work at these institutions no doubt see themselves as doing serious and objective analysis – and many probably are – but such organisations are unlikely to recruit or retain anyone whose research challenges the organisation's central aims. Their raison d'etre, after all, is the promotion of policies favoured by their founders and sponsors."

As for the NRA, Albert R. Hunt reported in International Herald Tribune that over time "the clout of the National Rifle Association only grew. There are few lobbies in Washington as powerful or protective of their interests. Any gun laws are seen as violations of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which cites the need for a well-regulated militia, stocked with arms. The power of the NRA is pervasive, both in Washington and in State capitals. When Democrats were trying to pass a campaign finance disclosure measure last year, they had to write a special exemption for the gun lobby in order to secure majority support in the House."

Peter Hennessy's classic Whitehall describes the clout of lobbyists in Britain. It led Douglas Hurd to remark: "They are the serpents constantly emerging from the sea to strangle Laocoon and his sons to their coils."

Situation in India

The situation in India was well described by Payal Khandelwal in a report in Indian Express of December 6, 2010. It bears quotation in extenso: "There are no regulations on lobbying in India, so far, but it is not illegal either. Lobbying is a well-established industry though it operates in a largely opaque environment. There have been demands from the lobbying industry and also outsiders to spell out clear laws determining dos and don'ts for the practitioners, but it hasn't happened so far.

"Dilip Cherian, founder of a public relations agency, Perfect Relations, and also a well-known lobbyist, says that lobbying is an 'iterative' process and lobbyists function as a bridge between companies and the government. 'We help our clients in understanding the policy environment of the country. We help them in identifying key players and their positions in the policy area. The key players could be political parties, bureaucrats, Central government, panchayat government, etc. We advise companies on the communication to present their point of view to these key people,' he says. He, however, agrees that there is no transparency in the industry so far.

"Industry bodies such as Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), National Association of Software and Services Companies are among the top lobby groups. The FICCI, however, maintains that it is not a lobby group and has only been working as an influence to engage with the government on the policy issues. CII president Hari S. Bhartia has also maintained a similar stand on the issue: 'We are not lobbyists, we are advocates… [We] help build policy framework and perform advocacy work,' he had said earlier this year.

"There are several other private lobbying firms such as Vaishnavi Corporate Communications owned by Niira Radia, DTA Associates managed by Deepak Talwar. These firms represent top private companies and lobby for them with policymakers. There are some individual lobbyists such as Tony Jesudasan, who represents the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Suhel Seth of Counselage.

"The Planning Commission has set up an expert group to look into the processes that comprise lobbying. Arun Maira, member of Planning Commission, said, 'We will be considering various interests of all the stakeholders involved. This expert group comprises industries and government secretaries. There is an ongoing dialogue with the industry associations for their views. We want lobbying to be transparent and representative.'"

This is best accomplished by a statute on the lines of the U.S. Act of 1995. Additionally, we must fill a serious lacuna in our parliamentary system. There is no Register of Members' Interests in which they record their business interests and the like.

The Report of the Select Committee on Members' Interests (Declaration), which was endorsed by the House of Commons on June 12, 1975, identified nine classes of pecuniary interest or other benefit which were to be disclosed – in remunerated directorships of companies, public or private; remunerated employments or offices; remunerated trades, professions or vocations; the names of clients when the interests referred to above include personal services by the Member which arise out of or are related in any manner to his membership of the House; financial sponsorships, (a) as a parliamentary candidate where to the knowledge of the Member the sponsorship in any case exceeds 25 per cent of the candidate's election expenses, or (b) as a Member of Parliament, by any person or organisation, stating whether any such sponsorship includes any payment to the member or any material benefit or advantage direct or indirect; overseas visits relating to or arising out of membership of the House where the cost of any such visit has not been wholly borne by the Member or by public funds; any payments or any material benefits or advantages received from or on behalf of foreign governments, organisations or persons; land and property of substantial value or from which a substantial income is derived; the names of companies or other bodies in which the Member has, to his knowledge, either himself or with or on behalf of his spouse or infant children, a beneficial interest on shareholdings of a nominal value greater than one-hundredth of the issued share capital.

Transparency is an effective guarantee. The U.S. Congress' "Findings" in Section 2 of its Act of 1995 put it well: "(1) responsible representative government requires public awareness of the efforts of paid lobbyists to influence the public decision-making process in both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government; (2) existing lobbying disclosure statutes have been ineffective because of unclear statutory language, weak administrative and enforcement provisions, and an absence of clear guidance as to who is required to register and what they are required to disclose; and (3) the effective public disclosure of the identity and extent of the efforts of paid lobbyists to influence federal officials in the conduct of government actions will increase public confidence in the integrity of government."

We have no time to lose. A law on lobbying is essential.

http://www.frontline.in/stories/20110311280508100.htm

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7. Changing role of trade unions

   22 Apr 2005 ... Hopefully the same shift in the character and role of trade unions will happen in India -- even in places like Kerala and Bengal, ...
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   The Role of Trade Union

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   It can be said that the protective role of trade unions remains in form, ... It is useful to take stock to see whether the trade unions in India are at the ...
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9. Trade union - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

   In France, Germany, and other European countries, socialist parties and democrats played a prominent role in forming and building up trade unions, ...
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10. Trade Union in India

    Trade Union in India is the primary instrument for promoting the union of trade unionmovement and championing the cause of working class in India.
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Economic reforms and trade unionism in India--a macro view. Publication: Indian Journal of Industrial Relations Publication Date: 01-JAN-08 Format: Online Delivery: Immediate Online Access

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Article Excerpt Liberalisation has exposed the weaknesses of our trade unions and forced them to rethink their policies and programmes. Drawing on several primary and secondary sources of data, this paper primarily focuses on exploring the responses of our unions to the changing industrial scenario. Today our unions are defensive, less militant and more pragmatic about the productivity and efficiency of their organisations. To fight against the bigger enemy and the entire system, they now understand the need for working class unity and expansions beyond the so-called 'citadel' with growing concern for wider issues. All these changes have initiated a new beginning in the history of our working class struggle. Today trade unions can sustain themselves only through a pragmatic approach that compels them to develop wider networks in association with other civil society organisations. INTRODUCTION India's economic reforms introduced since the early 1990s have posed serious challenges before the old unions. The New Economic Policy of 1991 was aimed at bringing the Indian economy into the mainstream of the global economy and thereby bringing a culture of competition, private initiative and growth to business. Quite necessarily, the introduction of the new model of 'liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation' (LPG) has opened a veritable Pandora's Box with far reaching implications for labour, their unions and management as well. Drawing on several secondary sources and personal experience, this paper primarily focuses on understanding and exploring the responses of the Indian trade unions to these developments in an attempt to judge their viability and modus operandi in the near future. As a corollary, this paper would also try to locate the changing nature of labour-management relations in India. Before analyzing these changes, it would be appropriate to discuss, in short, the salient features of the pre-reform labour movement in India. PRE- REFORM LABOUR MOVEMENT IN INDIA In the pre-liberalised Indian society, the state maintained a complex set of labour regulations that aimed at strengthening trade unions, improving wage outcomes and increasing job security in the formal economy. Governmental intervention to strengthen the position of workers vis-a-vis employers has led to the passing of nearly 45 labour laws by both the central and the state governments. These laws dealt with issues like employment, minimum wages, other benefits, job security, dismissal, industrial disputes, formation of trade union and collective bargaining (Zagha, 1999: 169). Apparently, these labour regulations have contributed to the strength of the Indian trade unions by making job security, wage rate and other benefits 'statutory compulsions' for the employers of factories. But contrarily, these laws have also made our unions and workers dependent on the Government machinery for settling any issue. The pre-reform industrial relations in India are, therefore, typically marked by third party intervention that stood in the way of a rapid growth of genuine collective bargaining. In fact, it has been argued that state regulations have perpetuated, if not also actively contributed, to a weak and divided labour movement that remained dependent on external props (Ramaswamy and Ramaswamy, 1981: 201). Problems like fragmentation and intra-union rivalry, narrow sectarianism and lack of ideological base, short-time objectives, economism and electoral considerations for trade union struggle, corrupt leadership with managerial support, etc., broadly characterise trade unionism in post-independent India. The existence of a vast pool of unorganised labour has made our unions inherently weak. In spite of some of the best efforts of a few organisations, our brand of unionism has failed to generate any hope for them. Also our trade unions have mostly ignored the important social issues, and the workers in general have remained ignorant and non-committal about 'class issues'. Political unionism in India, in spite of its historical necessity, has contributed to a fragmented world and also contributed to their social irrelevance. The overall impact of government control over industrial relations has been to rob the labour movement of its vitality and perpetuate a superficial parity between labour and management. As such, the government could not make union recognition statutory. Registration of a union does not entitle the union to recognition by the employer as a legitimate representative of his workmen. Alternatively, the employer can weaken the genuine trade union by sponsoring a rival union that would remain loyal to him. Indian labour laws have, thus, ironically prompted the employers to promote a Dalai union (1). Another important effect of Indian labour laws has been to encourage firms to remain small in the informal sectors (2). As the laws have made it more costly to firms to adjust to changes in the market conditions and technology, they have encouraged the employers to either go for casual and contractual labour or make use of the cheap services of informal sectors. These tactics were followed both to cut cost and to reduce the pressure of the organised labour movement. Considering the gains made by the trade unions for a small section (around 7-8 per cent) of the labour force in India, it is argued that they have created an 'aristocracy of labour' (3). Workers in the 'factory sector' enjoy higher wages, different statutory benefits and trade union protection, and are, therefore, considered 'privileged'. As such, the growth of trade unionism in India has occurred unevenly. Trade union membership has remained far from adequate, as compared to the disproportionate growth in the number of unions. The mushroom growth of unions within a limited circle has reduced the average strength of membership per union. Thus, in 1980, there were 36,507 registered trade unions in the country, of which 4,432 having a membership of 37.27 lakh submitted returns (4). The number of registered trade unions increased to 56, 872 by 1994, but only 6,277 of them submitted returns having a membership of 40.94 lakh. Membership of the unions submitting returns to the appropriate authority was less than 2 per cent of the total labour force in the country as of 1994 (Ratnam, 2001:30). As a result, in spite of a century old history of trade unionism, union density has never crossed 6 per cent in the country. It appears that the thesis of 'aristocracy of labour' is partly misleading, considering the general failures of even factory sector unions. There may be differences in the socio-economic aspects of the labour force in the formal and the informal sectors. Nevertheless, the terms and conditions of employment vary not only between various industries or within an industry, but also within the units in the so-called formal and informal sectors. It is misleading to characterise the whole factory sector as a 'citadel' and their workers as the 'privileged class'. All that can be said about trade unions in our country is that if they had not existed, even workers in the large and registered factories would have lost much. Ideally, a permanent job is secure; but in reality, factories close down or lay off workers in bad times. Even legal rights, especially job security, are effective only where there is a strong union. As a corollary, even schemes like Workers' Participation in Management or institutions like collective bargaining could not make any significant headway in prereform Indian society. If workers in the large factories could not defend their rights without a union, unorganised workers needed them badly. ECONOMIC REFORMS AND NEW CHALLENGES BEFORE TRADE UNIONS The package of economic policies unwrapped since June 1991 has threatened the interests of Indian workers and their unions. In a more competitive situation, the old labour regulations have exposed our workers to greater risk. The main thrust of our economic reforms has been to allow a wider scope for the operation of the free market by dismantling the old structures of licences, controls and regulations. Concerns related to equity, social justice or self-reliance have become subordinated to the logic of the market. Liberalisation has made the employers too powerful by allowing them the right to hire and fire at will. The vulnerability of labour has been enhanced by the accelerated mobility of capital in an intensely competitive product market. The 'disorganised capitalism' has become successful in tackling its 'inherent contradiction' by reshaping the production process through swift technological changes. New forms of industrial organisation, including enormous growth of informal work relations, spatial reorganisations, changes in the skill levels of working 'classes', etc., have initiated qualitative changes in our industrial life today (Jose, 2000 : 32). In the name of efficiency, the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) and the Exit Policy are being indiscriminately adopted to retrench the organised workforce and to close down most of the sick industrial units. The proposed Industrial Relations Act (lying with our Parliament for some years) would break down the strength of organised labour. The recommendations of the Second National Commission on Labour (2002) also have threatened the interest of the permanent workers (5). The right to strike may soon become a prerogative only of the negotiating agent and that too after it attains the support of 51 percent of the workers through ballot. This may however infuse greater democratisation in the functioning of our unions with regard to vital decisions. Some state governments like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka have also proposed to introduce a 'flexible labour policy' applicable to the units working under Special Economic Zones. With increasing state support for the capital and the expanding culture of the 'free market', trade unions now face the writings on the wall. There were several instances of political, administrative, legal and police support or protections being provided to prospective investors, the Haryana Honda Motors case being the clearest one. Even the Left parties and their governments cannot take the risk of providing blanket support to trade unionism that might antagonise the prospective investors or hamper the productivity of a firm. Opposition to traditional styles of militant unionism is almost common in today's life and the greater society has little sympathy for any kind of vandalism. The Union Government has however initiated 'The Trade Unions (Amendments) Act, 2001' in an attempt to stop the mushrooming of unions as well as to reduce the number of outsiders into any union. The new law, which has come into effect from January 2002, has also imposed some restrictions on the registration of unions (6). A union failing to secure the support of at least 10 per cent (minimum seven) or 100 of the workmen, whichever is less, of an establishment now will lose its recognition. In other words, trade unions will now face the threat to lose affiliation if workers don't support them in substantial numbers. The goal of 'one industry--one union' has already become an easy solution to many for increasing the bargaining powers of workers. Thus, the Government of West Bengal, like many others, has amended the Trade Union Act, 1926 to strengthen the position of a union as a bargaining agent. Now, only a single union in one industry/factory or a majority union elected through secret ballot can be the sole/principal bargaining agent. Notwithstanding such 'positive reforms', economic liberalisation has caused more harm to our unions through job losses in the organised sector. The curtailment of public investment, growing sickness and closure of sick units, exit policy, etc., has together accelerated the process of labour retrenchment. Thus, organised sector employment (public and private) has come down from 282.85 lakh in 1997 to 264.43 lakh in 2004. Over the last one-decade nearly 8.34 lakh workers in the organised sector have already lost their jobs, as regular jobs are being casualised gradually (7). In some traditional sectors, liberalisation has caused loss of employment without creation of new ones. Simultaneously, the problem of sickness has engulfed many old and new industries. It should be noted here that due to sickness, sluggish industrial growth and cheap agricultural import, unemployment has raised sharply during the reform period. Thus, from 1993-94 to 1999-2000, employment growth rate has declined from 2.7 per cent to 1.03 per cent, and the figure went further down to 0.85 percent in 2003. But as our labour force has grown at a much faster rate (between 2 and 2.54 per cent per annum) during the last two decades, the unemployment rate has shot up from 5.99 per cent in 1993-94 to 8.90 per cent in 2005-06 and it is expected to reach double digits by 2010. The rising unemployment level has worked as a necessary means to destroy the achievements of the workers' movement. When trade unions fail to defend the rights of their members and the management finds it easy to retrench workers or replace them by machines, incentives for union activities decline. Consistent with this, union membership and the number of trade unions are showing declining trends in recent years (Ratnam, 2001:49; Marnkoottam, 2003:70). Thus, for instance, the number of trade unions furnishing returns in the country has come down from 8152 in 1999 to 6531 in 2001 with a corresponding decline in their membership from 64 lakh to 58 lakh during the same period (GOI, 2005). Similarly, in West Bengal the number of live registered trade unions has declined from 13059 in 1995 to 10872 in 2004 (see Table 1). This is not only due to job losses, but also due to the entry of 'new workers' in the emerging areas of our industrial expansion. These new tribes of 'knowledge workers' (Sheth, 2004: 171) work as individuals with distinctly individualistic equations with their work technology and organisations. It has therefore been possible to patronize non-unionism very strongly in the information technology industry even after the formation of the West Bengal IT Services Association at Kolkata in recent times. Apart from VRS, Compulsory Retirement Scheme (CRS) has appeared as a major cost-cutting measure in the private sector. In industries such as textile, where VRS has been a complete failure, the problem of CRS has confounded many. Trade union leaders have also noticed several backdoor retrenchment procedures becoming popular of late. For instance, strategies like redeployment in a completely different work unit, mass transfer to far away places, declaring a unit sick, closure of a unit through merger or lockout help the management to keep labour under control. Loss of employment has also been caused by mechanisation, reengineering and technological upgradation. Though technology places demand for 'high jobs', it also makes many jobs obsolete. Market reform has, therefore, changed the concept of work. Today, capital-intensive work organisations look lean and thin stressing on competitiveness, multiple skills and higher productivity. Our old trade unions do not fit into this structure. The question that has become pertinent today for any trade union activity is where will the unskilled or old-fashioned workers go? Even if VRS is provided to them, their capability to be gainfully self-employed is doubtful. And government figures also show that out of 1,05,402 workers rationalised in the formal sector only 14, 269 as on 29.2.2000 could actually be redeployed. There are also problems related to the proper payment of VR compensation. A survey of 200 industrial units employing more than 40 workers was conducted by the CITU in the industrial belt of Burdwan district during 2000-2002. It revealed that a total of 1,90,000 workers had lost their jobs with only 10 per cent of them being redeployed (Das, 2003: 27). Disinvestments or privatisation of the public sector industries and mass scale casualisation of the labour force have further aggravated the trade unions' agony. These steps have broken the walls of the so-called 'citadel' of formal sector workers. It is quite apparent that in a changed environment where the state reverses its role from being the 'protector' of labour to the 'mediator' of capital, the working class movement would meet with many setbacks. While casualisation is causing increased employment opportunities for some, it also means the loss of jobs for others. On the whole, casualisation displaces the better-paid, more protected workers and increases insecure and low-paid employment (Pais, 2002; Jhabvala and Sinha, 2002). Today, the process of casualisation has also intensified another labour process called the 'feminisation' (8) of workforce in several industries. This may be mainly due to the readiness of women to do any kind of work to maintain the survival level of the family these days (Breman, 1996: 227; Kalpagam, 2001:311). As a result, the work participation rates of women workers have increased from 13.9 per cent in 1999-2000 to the highest ever rate of 16.6 per cent in 2004-05 (NSSO). Although technical changes have eliminated many jobs traditionally performed by women, there has also been a mass scale replacement of permanent male workers by casual female workers in some industries. For instance, Jhabvala and Sinha (2002) report that in the unorganised sector a decline in employment opportunities has seen a simultaneous casualisation and growing feminisation of the workforce with low wages and declining job security. Neetha N. (2002) also reports that in the Tiruppur Knitwear Industry, female workers are replacing male workers. Feminisation and flexible production are argued to be the central features behind the success of these industries. This 'gendering' of jobs helps the employers to pay less and get rid of powerful protesters as well. Women workers hardly join any union activity and their image of 'supplementary wage earner' helps in perpetuating the myth that they are easily 'dispensable' (Ghosh, 2001a). Obstacles to successful trade union mobilisation also emerge from the fact that casual and temporary workers in the informal sectors generally remain less enthusiastic about union activity. With little or no job security, they also cannot always take the risk of engaging their masters. The growing size of the informal employment, therefore, is a major challenge before the existing unions. The entry of subcontractors or third party between the workers and the employers makes such endeavour even further difficult. Today, many big companies including MNCs have evolved a vendor system of subcontracting for their products (Jhabvala and Sinha, 2002). It should be noted here that processes like casualisation or subcontracting are not new. Even in preliberalised India, these strategies were used widely to avoid statutory obligations. But in the post-reform period, there has been phenomenal growth of these work processes. The rising trend towards casualisation is an indication of the extent of the informalisation of the economy. (9) Apart from informalisation, modern electronic (henceforth ME) technologies also have caused fragmentation of the labour processes and consequent segmentation of the workers (Bagchi, 1995). Centralised unions with compactness now find it difficult to handle the situation. Trade union leaders today are concerned about the effects of new technologies, but they cannot seriously oppose them. Technological superiority is required for any survival in the competitive market. Trade unions can't indefinitely postpone or prevent modernisation when other competitors are doing it. ME technologies not only increase profitability and productivity, they also heighten the prestige and pride of the workers. Trade unions are, therefore, often seen suggesting and implementirig plans and programmes of modernisation. (10) But such modernisation is not without any cost. First, new technology has labour saving capacity. So it causes redundancy and unemployment, and consequent shrinkage of union's power. Second, ME technologies break down established job classification. Flexibility and redeployment break down workers' groups on the shop floor. For instance, in the Mumbai industrial region, new technology has brought blue and white-collar workers together. But as these workers were traditionally organised in distinct and often antagonistic organisations, such developments did not strengthen their collective bargaining potential (D'souza, 1995: 292). Third, new technology creates a new set of 'elite' workers whose interest is distinct from traditional workers. Established trade unions face problems of managing these young, energetic and skilled workers in the absence of senior workers who might have opted for VRS. Fourth, new technology has strike breaking and labour control capacity. Standardisation of methods, lean and thin staff, better working conditions, enforced cooperation and productivity norms shift the balance of power in favour of the management. Finally, new technology has led to deunionisation or weakening of the bargaining strength of trade unions. In some Indian newspapers, for instance, new technology has terribly damaged the accepted role of the union as a 'power' in the plant (Samaddar, 1995). In the Bombay industrial region computer technology has left workers without a collective means of protecting their interests (D'souza, 1995). When unions fail to prevent any redeployment, retrenchment or closure, localised anti-union protests or formation of independent trade unions gather momentum. The issue of technological modernisation thus traps most trade unions into a catch-22 situation. If they oppose modernisation, workers' bargaining strength deteriorates. If, on the contrary, they give consent to such steps, the management gains. The critical situation, thus, becomes an ideal ground for company unionism and syndicalism. Furthermore, the entry of global traders or TNCs into the local market has brought a new factor, the international division of labour, into play. Now local disputes are to be solved internationally with the real master either hiding himself or remaining far away from the reach of any union activity. When the 'employer' of a company merely serves the interest of some invisible forces deciding everything, traditional trade unionism is put into an awkward position. The working class then requires a new weapon to strike the far off targets. This calls for qualitative changes in the modus operandi of the existing unions. In other words, trade unions' fight against capitalism then becomes a political fight against imperialism eating into the economic (and political) sovereignty of the nation. The expanding horizon and challenges of the trade union struggle introduce both compulsions and hopes for the future of the working class struggle in the country. TRADE UNIONS' RESPONSE TO NEW CHALLENGES Indian trade unions, barring a few, have responded to the new challenges with a kind of pragmatism that not only seeks to forge the long cherished ideal of working class unity, but also helps them to accommodate and adjust with the new reality. Even though the Indian trade unions and their political 'bosses' have been able partially to halt the privatisation of the PSUs and to obstruct labour law reform, irrespective of colour and shades, they have accepted by now that globalisation is irreversible. Hence they are gradually reversing their role from power holders to weak bargainers, from strikers to consensus builders, and from narrow 'trade union consciousness' builders to wider political organisers. Initially, the Leftist trade unions protested vigorously against the anti-labour policies of the economic reforms. But as it gradually became clear that the pressure in favour of market reforms could not be obstructed for long due to several national and international factors, our unions, in spite of reaching some sort of consensus against liberalisation, have accepted it as a force to reckon with. There is therefore a perceptible change in the plans and programmes of trade unions' actions today as they have to comply with the compulsions of the market on the one hand, and also to act against the social and economic consequences of liberalisation, on the other. They are therefore put into the dilemma of both cooperating and opposing the management at the same time. This does not, however, mean that unionism had died down in the country. Contrarily, in both the service and the manufacturing sectors, trade unions are able to make their presence felt in spite of certain marked changes in their stratagems. One can, however, notice divergent patterns of responses of our trade unions at the national, regional, sectoral or enterprise levels depending on factors like productivity and profitability of an organisation, history of trade union struggle, political affiliation, level of unity among the workers and their unions, response of the government and the like. The divergent faces of the same union at different levels explain the complexity of union politics today. Before discussing the responses of Indian trade unions to the economic reforms, it would be relevant to assert some points here. There is no denying the fact that the need for genuine trade union movement has increased many folds after reform. As Sheth (2004: 176) has correctly argued, 'trade unions are necessary and relevant as long as unfairness and injustice remain in employment relations. The logic of trade unionism has just got more widely open'. It should also be kept in mind that the pre-liberalised economic slowdown in many countries was only marginally affected by trade unionism. (11) Field experience further lends little support to the argument that non-unionism is better that unionism. Contrarily, a strong union has several positive features in terms of the accountability and enforcement of contracts (Rao and Patwardhan, 2000: 138). Therefore, the responsibility to restore economic growth and win the confidence of labour lies mainly with the management. The major changes in a trade union's actions and policy prescriptions are detailed below. Unions are Defensive in General: The first perceptible change that many of us have noted in trade union action is that they are defensive today in general. Even if there are some structural limitations inherent in the nature of the trade union as such (Anderson, 1977: 333-349), Indian trade unions can hardly continue their old tactics and stratagems. Hence, strikes or gheraos are being converted into gate meetings at lunch break wearing a black badge during work or other innovative protest actions to draw public attention. (12) As a corollary, the proportion of strikes in industrial disputes has declined even more sharply as compared to that of lock-outs. Almost similar experiences have been documented in other developing countries (Chakravarty, 2002). The strike no longer appears to be a viable weapon of the working class struggle today. Contrarily, if such an activity results in job losses through closure of the unit, workers become suspicious and skeptical about any attempt to 'organise them' (Roychowdhury, 2005:2252). The famous Hero Honda strike at Gurgaon during July 2005, for example, has proved that capital, in open or tacit collaboration with state machinery, now can launce any offensive against labour. The verdict of the Supreme Court of India on the Tamil Nadu Government employees' strike in 2004 has further strengthened the hands of the 'aggressive employers'. Table 2 clearly shows that Indian trade unions, far from being aggressive, are at the receiving end these days. In the pre-reform decade (1981-1990), 402.1 million manday's were lost as compared to a total of 232.29 million manday's lost during 1995-2004, nearly 70 per cent of which were caused by lock-outs. Most remarkably, lock-outs are not only frequent; they also now last longer than strikes. The share of lock-outs in work stoppages was a mere 8 per cent during 1961-1964 and they increased to more than 30 per cent during 1990s (Sundar, 2004: 4378). This, along with the increasing use of layoffs and closure, increase in unilateralism in rule making, and weakening of collective bargaining clearly support the 'employer militancy' view. Even in West Bengal, where militant trade unions of particularly the Left variety had established a strong tradition, the management's increasing aggression has now added a new dimension to the state of industry in the state. (13) The largest Left trade union of the state, i.e. CITU, today talks of the need of 'responsible unionism'. This has resulted in the development of institutions and practices that strengthen capitalism further. Economic reforms have, thus, exposed the limitations of our unions in the formal sector and forced them to compromise with capital. There is therefore, as Virmani (2000: 9) observers, a feeling in the trade union circle that the ultimate basis for all industrial relations strategies is cooperation and not conflict based on an adversarial approach. Militancy against Closure/Mass Retrenchment: The shadow of militant trade unionism, however, still hangs over industries facing closure or mass retrenchment. In most cases, these industries saw the rise of 'Bachao Committees', a type of union formation stressing the unity of the workers. The workers of some cotton mills in Haryana, for instance, formed a Trade Union Council (TUC), a non-political joint front of INTUC, AITUC, HMS and CITU. The formation of the TUC has led to the return of militant trade unionism in an otherwise peaceful Haryana. In the jute mills and engineering units of West Bengal a number of 'save committees' comprising all the workers irrespective of their union membership were formed during the last ten years. The strike called by the Sangrami Yukta Mancha (joint platform of four labour unions) from 13th March 2007 on survival issues, involving nearly 5000 workers at the Uttarpara plant (West Bengal) of Hindustan Motors, a sick company, continued for about a month. There are also instances of a breakaway group of workers directly affected by restructuring becoming militant. For instance, in the Texmaco Factory at Agarpara (West Bengal), workers of the welding section went on an indefinite strike from 12th April 1998, in protest against the introduction of new technology and consequent job loss. These workers formed an independent union to do so as the dominant CITU and INTUC unions could not support the strike due to their earlier agreement with the management on the issue of modernisation. Acceptance of Labour Flexibility Measures: Striking commonalities mark the responses of the majority of our trade unions to the economic reforms. Even though the unions and the workers had little or no choice on the process and pattern of technological change, they in most cases have accepted VRS, technological modernisation and restructuring. Initially, however, labour flexibility measures were not welcomed by the trade unions in any part of the world (Mamkottam, 2003: 67). But in spite of their opposition to job loss and other related processes, unions gradually understood that they couldn't resist the processes for long in the greater interest of workers and industry. In a study of 234 collective bargaining agreements during the 1990s, Ratnam (2000: 261) has found that unions were not a hindrance to introducing labour flexibility measures in the firms. According to Deshpande et al. (1998: 137), unionized firms are more likely to introduce technological changes, change the product range and improve the quality of the product. The trade union leaders in Mumbai, for instance, have accepted the management's right to introduce new technology. In some engineering organisations in and around Mumbai, the introduction of computer-controlled technology did not meet with much resistance because the unions and workers were satisfied with 'no retrenchment' assurance given by the management (Bagchi, 1995). Similarly, the rice mill owners of Burdwan were allowed by the CITU to set up some completely mechanised 'Mini Rice Mills' to cut down labour cost. The union also had to scale down militancy for the sake of saving the industry from facing a crisis due to cheap import of rice (Ghosh, 2001a). Again, in the textile mills of Coimbatore, no major dispute regarding VRS was noticed. There was also no evidence of a single strike in the modernised firms. The unions accepted the process of modernisation and consequent VRS as the industry was going through a bad phase for the last few years (Chakravarty, 2002: 748). In the Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals as well as in Hindustan Copper, unions have agreed to defer wage revision. There are several other instances of unions accepting a wage freeze. The Report of the National Commission on Labour (2002: 62) had earlier revealed that over 100 PSUs did not revise their pay scales since 1992. Concerns for Efficiency and Productivity at Plant Level: It would not be out of place to refer to the new role that trade unions have picked up at the plant level as compared to that at the national level. They are now seriously concerned about the efficiency and productivity level of workers. (14) There are several instances of unions negotiating with the management to ensure higher productivity through technological changes in return for higher wages (Mamkottam, 2003: 105-129). The current trend in industrial relations is, however, far from the extension of 'industrial democracy' in work places. The employer's aggression, as evident from lockout statistics, remains unabated despite labour's defensive posture. Yet, one can notice several instances of labour cooperating with the management for the introduction of techniques and processes that lead...

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1. Trade unions march to speaker to submit memo on price rise ‎ Sify - 8 hours ago New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) Leaders of major trade unions and national federations of ... general secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC). ... India trade unions protest price rise‎ - Press TV Price Rise: Cong INTUC Joins Protest by Trade Unions‎ - Outlook Delhi: Trade unions stage show of protest against UPA‎ - Daily Pioneer TopNews  all 20 news articles »

   Press TV

2. Thousands Protest High Food Prices in India ‎ Voice of America - 50 minutes ago Protesters included members of several trade unions, including one linked toIndia's ruling party. India has been struggling with rising food inflation, ... Delhi rally over high food prices‎ - BBC News Thousands march against surging food prices in India‎ - Monsters and Critics.com Thousands protest high food prices in New Delhi‎ - Livemint India Infoline.com - AFP  all 225 news articles »

   Sify

3. It's the second rung that flies the flag at trade unions ‎ Business Standard - Sreelatha Menon - 1 day ago Trade unions are mostly averse to changing their top order. ... The All IndiaTrade Union Congress (Aituc) has been a trade union with its leaders trapped...

   Business Standard

4. Workers march to Parliament over price rise ‎ indiablooms - 8 hours ago This march was called by the Central Trade Unions and national federations of employees. "The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) ...

5. Making public sector workers pay ‎ The Hindu - Cp Chandrasekhar - 5 hours ago Lakhs of workers belonging to nine central trade unions and other workers' organisations in India marched to Parliament on 23 February, to protest against ...

   The Hindu

6. Day in Pictures — February 23, 2011 ‎ The Hindu - 3 hours ago A selection of images from India and around the world. Foreigners leave Libya amid protests,trade unions in Delhi rally against price rise and anti-labour ...

7. Trade Unions to March on Parliament on Feb 23 ‎ Outlook - 3 days ago G Sanjeeva Reddy, President, All India National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), today said that all the trade unions in the country will jointly hold a "March ... Unions to march to Parliament on Feb 23‎ - MSN India Unions to march to Parliament on Feb 23‎ - Zee News all 4 news articles »

8. Indian rally raises pressure on Singh ‎ Financial Times - James Lamont - Anjli Raval - 57 minutes ago ... and Anjli Raval in New Delhi Pressure mounted on Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister,... organised by the leftist Centre of Indian Trade Unions, ...

9. Trade unions to march to Parliament against price rise ‎ Deccan Herald - 15 Feb 2011 Major trade unions and national federations of workers have announced a march to ... left parties-led Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Trade ... Price rise: trade unions to march to Parliament‎ - The Hindu INTUC to Join Left Trade Unions in Protesting Congress‎ - Outlook Intuc snubs Cong, to march with Left on February 23‎ - Business Standard all 6 news articles »

10. Govt plans outright sale of its stake in HMT Bearings and Scooters ... ‎ Business Standard - Sharmistha Mukherjee - 1 day ago The government owns 95.4 per cent in Scooters India. ... had met with stiff opposition fromtrade unions and political parties, both in the opposition and ...  BOM:505141

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1. Trade unions in India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

   In India the Trade Union movement is generally divided on political lines. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, trade unions had ...
   

   Recognised CTUOs - Other trade union centres ... - Defunct trade union centres

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_unions_in_India - Cached - Similar
2. Trade Unionism in India, India Trade Unions

   The trade unionism in India developed quite slowly as compared to the western nations, Indiantrade union movement can be divided into three phases.
   industrialrelations.naukrihub.com/trade-unionism.html - Cached - Similar
3. Trade union in India-ppt

   All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) Centre of IndianTrade Unions (CITU) Hind Mazdoor Kisan Panchayat (HMKP) Hind Mazdoor ...
   www.scribd.com › Presentations › How-To Guides/Manuals - Cached - Similar

4. News for Trade Unions India

   Press TV

   Trade unions march to speaker to submit memo on price rise 8 hours ago New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) Leaders of major trade unions and national federations of ... general secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC). ... Sify - 20 related articles Thousands Protest High Food Prices in India Voice of America - 225 related articles It's the second rung that flies the flag at trade unions Business Standard - 2 related articles

5. Trade Union in India

   The Madras Labor Union was the first organized Trade Union in India followed by a large number of trade unions in the Indian industrial centers. ...
   business.mapsofindia.com › Trade - Cached - Similar
6. Trade Unions in India

   TRADE UNIONS IN INDIA 2002. CHAPTER-I. 1.1 General Background. Development of modern industry, especially in the Western countries, can be traced back to ...
   labourbureau.nic.in/TU%202k2%20Chapter%201.htm - Cached - Similar
7. [PDF] 

   * The Role of Trade Union Trade unions are unique organisations ...

   File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
   Trade Unions in India. The trade union movement in India is over a century old. It is useful to take stock to see whether the trade unions in India are at ...
   www.bms.org.in/pdf/trade_union.pdf - Similar
8. Trade Unions India growth statistics details figures

   Industry-wise Expenditure of Employers Trade Unions (Central and State) by Items of Expenditure in India (2006) - Part II ...
   www.indiastat.com/.../tradeunions/282/stats.aspx - United States - Cached - Similar
9. Trade Union Movement in India

   6 Mar 2010 ... The historical-comparative approach has been used in terms of historically analyzing the starting of trade unions in India and comparing the ...
   www.indianetzone.com › ... › Indian Economy - Cached - Similar
10. Trade unions to protest against price rise - The Times of India

    12 Feb 2011 ... Leading trade unions including CITU, AITUC, HMS, INTUC, AIUTUC, TUCC, AICCTU and UTUC will stage a mammoth protest demonstration in front of ...
    timesofindia.indiatimes.com › City - Cached
11. All-India bandh call by trade unions: Bengal, Kerala worst hit

    7 Sep 2010 ... Nine major trade unions have called for a 24-hour long nationwide bandh today to protest against price rise and other issues like ...
    www.ndtv.com › India - Cached

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1. Dalit Voice Magazine

   6 Aug 2010 ... Dalit Voice Magazine, dalit of india, dalits, subscription magazine, issues magazine, ... Dalit Trade Union, (DTU) Dalitsatta- India. ...
   ekikrat.in/Dalit-Voice-Magazine - Cached - Similar
2. 15th, 2010 - Dalit Voice - The Voice of the Persecuted ...

   ... Dalit Voice; Show us one case of "collective efforts & pooling of resources" by Dalits; Lipstick-wali wife & lifeless gods; Dalit trade union initiative ...
   www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/sep2010/index.htm - Cached
3. ARTICLES - Dalit Voice - The Voice of the Persecuted Nationalities ...

   7 Aug 2010 ... We commended your caste-based trade union. Your initiative to ...
   www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/sep2010/articles.htm - Cached
4. EDITORIAL - Dalit Voice - The Voice of the Persecuted ...

   Dalit Voice calls them "Socialist Brahmins". These guys are the biggest ...
   www.dalitvoice.org/Templates/may2010/editorial.htm - Cached
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5. Bangalore: 'Dalit Voice' Going to Close Down? « New Front World

   2 Jun 2010 ... We have been publishing Dalit Voice from the past 30 years without .... DalitTrade Union, (DTU). 5. Dalit Means: The people who are thrown ...
   newfrontworld.com/.../bangalore-dalit-voice-going-to-close-down/ - Cached
6. DALIT VOICE: May 2008

   As the Dalit voice in organised politics has declined, the number of caste attacks ..... "There is a growing grassroots movement of activists, trade unions, ...
   dalitsvoice.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html - Cached
7. DALIT VOICE: Hidden apartheid in Madurai

   22 Feb 2010 ... DALIT VOICE. Dalits & Minorites Against Discrimination ... Interactions with a cross section of Dalits, trade union functionaries, ...
   dalitsvoice.blogspot.com/2010/02/hidden-apartheid-in-madurai.html
8. National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR)

   Initiated by Centre for Alternative Dalit Media (CADAM) as an ... and learning with Dalit ideologues, intellectuals, writers, trade union leaders, ... version of Keep Your Promise Campaign), it lead 'Dalit Voice' of Wada Na Todo Campaign.
   www.nacdor.org/TEXT%20FILES/Introduction.htm - Cached - Similar
9. Landmark Chrn Conf in India

   28 Apr 2010 ... Anandan, Former Director General of Police; V T Rajshekar, Dalit Voice, N P Amrutesh, President, All India Trade Unions' Conference (AITUC) ...
   across.co.nz/LandmarkConfinIndia.htm - Cached
10. Citizens for Democracy, Pakistan « Therearenosunglasses's Weblog

    11 Jan 2011 ... Dalit Voice Feb/March Editorial: NEVER ENDING CENTURY- OLD WAR ...No Mediterranean Union shortcut around Arab-Israeli conflict ...
    therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com/.../citizens-for-democracy-pakistan/ - Cached

CBI arrests Bhanot, Varma; is Kalmadi next? Hindustan Times - ‎47 minutes ago‎ PTI Widening its net in CWG scam probe, CBI today arrested two closest aides of sacked Games Organising Commitee chairman Suresh Kalmadi--former Secretary General Lalit Bhanot and Director General VK Verma--taking to nine the total number of arrests in ... Who is Lalit Bhanot? Hindustan Times - ‎4 minutes ago‎ Deposed Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC) secretary general Lalit Bhanot, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday, has been a familiar sports administrator for over two decades. ... India Commonwealth Games men held BBC News - ‎12 minutes ago‎ Organising committee Secretary General Lalit Bhanot and another top official, VK Verma, are accused of financial irregularities linked to the Games. These are the most high-profile arrests in the ongoing investigation into allegations of corruption ... Let the law take its own course: Kalmadi Times Now.tv - ‎1 hour ago‎ After the CBI today (Feb 23) arrested two closest aides of sacked Games Organising Commitee chairman Suresh Kalmadi--former Secretary General Lalit Bhanot and Director General VK Verma, Kalmadi reacted saying that the law would take its own course in ... Former OC Sec Gen Lalit Bhanot questioned by CBI CWG Scam Moneycontrol.com - ‎8 minutes ago‎ Former Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Secretary General Lalit Bhanot was today questioned by the CBI in connection with alleged irregularities in a Rs 107 crore contract that had been awarded to a Swiss time-keeping company. ... CBI arrests Kalmadi aides Bhanot, Verma Sify - ‎2 hours ago‎ New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) Lalit Bhanot and VK Verma, two close aides of Commonwealth Games (CWG) chief organiser Suresh Kalmadi, were arrested Wednesday for irregularities to the tune of Rs.1.07 billion ($23 million) in a contract with a Swiss company ... Congress distances itself further from Suresh Kalmadi Daily News & Analysis - ‎3 hours ago‎ Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI With party leader Suresh Kalmadi appearing to be heading for bigger trouble, Congress today further distanced itself from him noting that he was not made the Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee chief for being a party ... India Arrests Two in Games Inquiry Wall Street Journal - Amol Sharma - ‎47 minutes ago‎ NEW DELHI—India's Central Bureau of Investigation arrested two top officials involved in organizing last year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, in the government's most serious move yet as it probes allegations of corruption in the ... 'CWG revenue loss at over Rs 1300 crores' indiablooms - ‎1 hour ago‎ New Delhi, Feb 23 (IBNS): The graft-scarred 19th Commonwealth Games (CWG) held here last year lead to a revenue loss of over Rs 1300 crores and the deficit is expected to filled from the taxpayers pocket, a national news network reported. ... All 28 related articles »

Related Suresh Kalmadi CWG Lalit Bhanot Central Bureau of Investigation Switzerland Timeline of articles Number of sources covering this story Indian Commonwealth Games bosses are arrested ‎1 hour ago‎ - BBC News CWG scam: CBI arrests Kalmadi deputies Lalit Bhanot, Verma ‎7 hours ago‎ - Indian Express Images Moneycontrol.co... Straits Times Sify Indian Express SamayLive Zee News Sify NEWS.com.au France24 All related images » Videos Key Kalmadi aides arrested in CWG scam NewsX  -  6 hours ago Watch video All related videos »

op Stories The Hindu Engineer freed, Collector still in Maoist custody  The Hindu - Aman Sethi - ‎8 minutes ago‎ PTI Junior engineer Pabitra Mohan Majhi (sporting a red helmet) being taken to the Malkangiri district headquarters after he was released by Maoists at Chitrakonda on Wednesday. Engineer freed, Maoists set new condition for Collector releaseIndian Express Maoist refuses bail to get collector out Hindustan Times Daily News & Analysis - IBNLive.com - NetIndian - Sify all 1,218 news articles » Email this story Moneycontrol.com Law catches up, Bhanot arrested  Hindustan Times - ‎37 minutes ago‎ The CBI made its most high-profile arrests relating to the Commonwealth Games scam, nabbing its former Organising Committee (OC) secretary general Lalit Bhanot and director general VK Verma on Wednesday. Video: Key Kalmadi aides arrested in CWG scamNewsX CBI arrests Bhanot, Verma for CWG scam Deccan Herald Times Now.tv - Financial Express - Sify - Daily News & Analysis all 117 news articles » Email this story The Hindu Separatists not shying away from talks: Shabir Shah  Sify - ‎1 hour ago‎ Srinagar, Feb 23 (IANS) Kashmiri separatists were not shying away from dialogue and steps like troop withdrawal and repeal of 'draconian laws' were needed to make the negotiations more meaningful, Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) chairman Shabir Shah ... Team always ready for talks with separatists: Padgaonkar The Hindu Kashmir interlocutors to submit 'initial document' in two weeksHindustan Times Times of India - Indian Express - Daily News & Analysis -GreaterKashmir.com (press release) all 209 news articles » हिंदी में Email this story Kenya vs. Pakistan, 6th Match, Group A Pak 317/7(50) | Ken 112/10(33.1)  Pak won by 205 runs. Man of the Match: Umar Akmal  Current Over: W | W . . . W .  cricbuzz.com Cricbuzz Cricinfo 30-member JPC to probe 2G scam The Hindu  - ‎9 minutes ago‎ India likely to be world`s no. 1 economy by 2050: Citi Myiris.com  - ‎4 hours ago‎ -  all 15 articles » Apple confirms March 2 media event to introduce iPad 2 Apple Insider  - ‎2 hours ago‎ - all 1,303 articles » Special screening of 'Dum Maro Dum' for Dev Anand Total Filmy  - ‎1 hour ago‎ -  all 15 articles » Pakistan hammers down miserable Kenya Sify  - ‎41 minutes ago‎ - all 1,142 articles » हिंदी में Dr Reddy’s Phase III drug stumbles Daily News & Analysis  - ‎2 hours ago‎ - all 9 articles » Thousands Protest High Food Prices in India Voice of America  - ‎59 minutes ago‎ - all 225 articles » Christchurch earthquake: 300 'speculation' New Zealand Herald  - ‎1 hour ago‎ - all 10,578 articles » In The News Ricky Ponting Vineel Krishna Pabitra Majhi Lalit Bhanot Galaxy Tab Samsung Galaxy Darul Uloom Bipasha Basu Commonwealth Games VK Verma

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India »

The Hindu

India firms up Libya evacuation plan

Hindustan Times - ‎48 minutes ago‎

India has firmed up one of its biggest evacuation plans in recent times, that can be put in force, at short notice, in view of the worsening situation in Libya.

Stranded in Libya, families wait in India NDTV.com

India set for Libya evacuation BBC News

Times of India - The Hindu - Economic Times - Indian Express

all 239 news articles »

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Sify

Thousands Protest High Food Prices in India 

Voice of America - ‎59 minutes ago‎

Demonstrators shout slogans as they hold steel plates during a protest against food prices in New Delhi, Feb. 23, 2011. Tens of thousands of people have gathered in India's capital to protest surging food prices.

Mass rally against inflation in Delhi AFP

Delhi rally over high food prices BBC News

Morning Star Online - Livemint - India Infoline.com

all 225 news articles »

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The Hindu

India, Pak home secy level talks on Mar 28, 29 

Hindustan Times - ‎19 minutes ago‎

Marking the first step in the resumption of the stalled dialogue process, Home Secretaries of India and Pakistan will hold talks here on March 28 and 29 on a range of issues covering terrorism and progress in the 26/11 trial.

Pak state actors involved in anti-India terror: Min Economic Times

State actors in Pakistan involved with terror outfits: India Daily News & Analysis

Business Recorder - The Express Tribune

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Business »

ekmulakatnews

India likely to be world`s no. 1 economy by 2050: Citi 

Myiris.com - ‎4 hours ago‎

Citi in its latest report on Global Growth Generators said that India can overtake China and the US to become the largest economy in the world by 2050.

India likely to be world's largest economy by 2050: Citi Times of India

all 15 news articles »

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Sify

Govt sets export target of $450 b by 2013-14 

Hindu Business Line - ‎29 minutes ago‎

Worried about imports outpacing exports and the consequent widening of the trade deficit, the Commerce Ministry on Wednesday released a draft strategy paper to double goods exports to $450 billion by 2013-14.

India targets doubling exports to $450 bn Hindustan Times

Govt draft shifts export priorities mydigitalfc.com

domain-B - Deccan Herald - Sify - Reuters

all 27 news articles »

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The Hindu

ICICI Bank raises FD rates by 50 basis points 

Hindu Business Line - ‎36 minutes ago‎

ICICI Bank has upped fixed deposit rates by up to 50 basis points. It has also increased lending rates by 50 basis points to protect its margins.

ICICI, HDFC Bank raise lending rates mydigitalfc.com

ICICI, HDFC Bank hike rates; loan EMIs to go up NDTV.com

Moneycontrol.com - The Hindu - Wall Street Journal - Reuters India

all 31 news articles »

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Telegraph.co.uk

Libyan Protesters Plan to Try to Keep Oil Flowing 

Wall Street Journal - James Herron -‎23 minutes ago‎

Libyan petroleum could continue to flow as normal despite the unrest racking the oil-producing country. At least 20% of Libya's oil production remained shut Wednesday and the oil-rich eastern region of the country was said to be under ...

Video: Oil Prices Surge As Libya Protests Mount The Associated Press

Oil Prices Rise on Reports of Disruptions in Libya New York Times

Livemint - Financial Times - The Guardian - AFP

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Entertainment »

BollyPatrika.com

Special screening of 'Dum Maro Dum' for Dev Anand 

Total Filmy - ‎1 hour ago‎

by Yashika kapoor - February 23, 2011 - 0 comments According to the latest tabloid reports, the makers of upcoming movie 'Dum Maro Dum' have decided to hold a special premiere for veteran actor Dev Anand.

Deepika's sensuous new look Times of India

'I make sure John has the latest watches' Daily Pioneer

BollyPatrika.com - IndiaFM - FV Current Waves - Smash Hits

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Super Good Movies

Kamal Haasan offers film to Sonakshi

Times of India - Meena Iyer - ‎Feb 19, 2011‎

This star-kid, who is currently riding a crest in Bollywood, has also caught the fancy of the 56-year-old icon, who wishes to cast her in his next film that is being made by a Hyderabad-based production house.

<B>Sonakshi Sinha, Kamal's heroine?</b> Sify

Sonakshi to romance Kamal Hassan Hindustan Times

Celebrity News - Total Filmy - Bollywood Mantra - MSN India

all 24 news articles »

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Sify

Sasha and Genelia challenges King Khan? 

Total Filmy - tarannum khan - ‎1 hour ago‎

With more and more Bollywood biggies signing up as brand ambassadors, it seems that apart from film making and anchoring reality shows on telly, brand endorsement is also becoming the most happening ...

Video: Cricketainment NewsX

Genelia-Shahid team up against SRK Rediff

PRLog.Org (press release)

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Health »

TheMedGuru

Dr Reddy’s Phase III drug stumbles 

Daily News & Analysis - ‎2 hours ago‎

By KV Ramana | Place: Hyderabad | Agency: DNA The much-hyped anti-diabetic drug Balaglitazone of the pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) seems to be in trouble with the company not able to find a partner to take the discovery of the molecule ...

New Anti-cholesterol Drug by DRL Set Up for Phase-II Clinical Trials MedIndia

Dr Reddy's faces discovery blues mydigitalfc.com

Hindu Business Line - TheMedGuru - Financial Express

all 9 news articles »

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Novinite.com

Death shows swine flu still around in Pune 

IBNLive.com - ‎11 hours ago‎

Pune: A 43-year-old resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad succumbed to H1N1 after a battle of nearly a week. Medical experts said the death was reason for worry as the district administration had recently declared that provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act ...

Fatalities hit 100 in Greece due to H1N1 flu Xinhua

Loyola Physicians Say February is Peak Month for Flu CasesEndoNurse

NBC2 News - EMportal - IC Tech News - Novinite.com

all 18 news articles »

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First HIV vaccine lab 

Calcutta Telegraph - ‎20 hours ago‎

New Delhi, Feb. 22: India plans to set up its first laboratory exclusively tasked with designing vaccines against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and plunge deeper into a back-to-biology movement hatched after disappointing results worldwide ...

GeoVax Announces Publication of Phase 1 Clinical Trial in The Journal of ... PR Newswire (press release)

HIV preventive vaccine developed in India cleared first clinical trialIC Tech News

Bizjournals.com - Xinhua - MSN India

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Telegraph.co.uk

Middle Eastern media see end of Gaddafi 

BBC News - ‎54 minutes ago‎

Arab media commentators hail what they see as the end of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's rule in Libya, although many fear that his latest speech shows he will not quit without further bloodshed.

Video: Gaddafi 'could sabotage oil fields' ITN NEWS

Libya: Middle East airports turn away Gaddafi planesTelegraph.co.uk

Washington Post - The Guardian - Reuters - Los Angeles Times

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Globe and Mail

Christchurch earthquake: 300 'speculation' 

New Zealand Herald - ‎1 hour ago‎

Emergency workers search the wreckage of a building after the Christchurch earthquake. Photo / Brett Phibbs Police have taken over collating lists of those missing since the Christchurch earthquake, with a figure of 300 just "speculation", ...

Video: NZ Quake Death Toll Rises, Curfew Imposed The Associated Press

New Zealand: Hundreds missing after Christchurch quake BBC News

CNN - TVNZ - Times of India - Reuters

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Moneycontrol.com

Protests singe Arab world, Gaddafi defiant as Libya burns 

Hindustan Times - ‎46 minutes ago‎

A Libyan boy carries a sign during a demonstartion against Libyan Leader Moammar Gaddafi, in...... Muammar Gaddafi on Wednesday clung to power as rebellion against his four-decade rule intensified and a Libyan diplomat disclosed that the leader had ...

Video: UN condemns Gaddafi regime's violence euronews

The UN's duty to Libyans The Guardian

AFP - BBC News - CNN International - TIME

all 393 news articles »

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Sci/Tech »

New York Times (blog)

Apple confirms March 2 media event to introduce iPad 2 

Apple Insider - ‎2 hours ago‎

By AppleInsider Staff Apple on Wednesday sent out official invitations for a media event next week on March 2 in San Francisco, presumably to show off its second-generation iPad.

Apple sends out invites for March 2 iPad event CNET

Apple invite hints at March 2 debut of new iPad AFP

ABC News - BusinessWeek - Wall Street Journal - The Guardian

all 1,303 news articles »

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Telegraph.co.uk

AT&T: Froyo Update for Samsung Captivate Coming Feb. 24 

PC Magazine - Sara Yin - ‎34 minutes ago‎

This Thursday AT&T will push an Android 2.2 firmware update for Samsung Captivate users, leaving Verizon's Fascinate as the only member of the Samsung Galaxy S family of smartphones still using Android 2.1.

Samsung TVs send pictures to your remote control or mobile phone Telegraph.co.uk

Samsung Captivate to get Froyo update on Thursday CNET (blog)

TechGadgets.in - ZDNet (blog) - Mobiletor.com - TechShout!

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Reuters Blogs (blog)

Obama Names Chenault, Doerr, Trumka to Council on Jobs, Competitiveness 

Bloomberg - Roger Runningen - ‎1 hour ago‎

President Barack Obama named representatives from business and labor to his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, including Kenneth Chenault, chief executive officer of American Express Co.

Apple investors reject succession call Reuters

Apple faces succession questions BBC News

Telegraph.co.uk - The Associated Press - The Guardian -USA Today

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Sports »

CBC.ca

Pakistan hammers down miserable Kenya 

Sify - Nathan Gitonga - ‎41 minutes ago‎

Pakistan opened their World Cup campaign by hammering Kenya into a meek submission. The 205 run loss was a slightly "better" performance by the Kenyans who had been bamboozled by New Zealand earlier in the week to drop dead for just 69 runs.

ICC World Cup 2011 highlights: Pakistan vs Kenya NDTV.com

SL discussing Pakistan tour with ICC Cricketnext.com

Reuters UK - Times of India - Reuters Africa - The Hindu

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Telegraph.co.uk

Ponting off the hook over box tantrum

Sydney Morning Herald - Jesse Hogan -‎15 minutes ago‎

AUSTRALIA captain Ricky Ponting will not be fined or suspended over a dressing-room incident in which he accidentally damaged a TV.

Cricket World Cup: Ricky Ponting accepts ICC charge BBC Sport

Ponting reprimanded for 'TV incident' NDTV.com

CNN International - IBNLive.com - The Guardian - Rediff

all 2,462 news articles »

हिंदी में

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The Hindu

Strauss looks to spoil Indian party 

Times of India - Suhas Nayse - ‎1 hour ago‎

NAGPUR: The look on the face of Andrew Strauss while returning to the dressing room after the completion of the Netherlands innings said it all.

In praise of the Cricket World Cup's nine-to-five heroes The Guardian

Cricket World Cup: England were not switched on - Ryan ten Doeschate BBC Sport

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The Hindu

UPA on shaky ground in JPC 

Hindustan Times - ‎43 minutes ago‎

The government may find the going tough once the JPC on 2G Spectrum allocation is set up on Thursday. This is because it will be precariously poised, with the UPA and non-UPA parties having 15 members each in the 30-member panel, thereby making it ...

JPC on 2G scam to have 30 members Financial Express

BJP discloses names of its leaders for JPC IBNLive.com

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NDTV.com

Vastanvi stays Darul VC but is powerless 

Hindustan Times - ‎1 hour ago‎

Darul Uloom -- the seat of Sunni Islam in Deoband -- on Wednesday appointed an interim rector to run the seminary, seizing all powers from incumbent Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi, whose alleged praise of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had enraged ...

Video: Reprieve for Darul-Uloom VC Mohammed VastanviNewsX

Nomani made acting vice-chancellor of Darul Uloom DeobandTimes of India

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Hindu Business Line

Cong buys time till budget, BJP pacifies TRS 

Hindustan Times - ‎51 minutes ago‎

A day after the announcement of a Joint Parliamentary Committee in 2G scam case, the Lok Sabha had to be adjourned thrice on Wednesday over the Telangana statehood demand.

Congress buys temporary peace with party MPs from TelanganaDaily News & Analysis

Telangana Cong. MPs take govt. by surprise The Hindu

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Godhra revisited Times of India - ‎16 minutes ago‎ The special court's verdict on the 2002 Godhra tragedy, much as it was overdue, is unlikely to bring a sense of closure. Having triggered one of the largest ever communal conflagrations, the burning of a coach in the Sabarmati Express - leading to the ... First verdict in Supreme Court-monitored Godhra case tomorrow The Hindu - ‎Feb 20, 2011‎ NEW DELHI: A special court in Ahmedabad will pronounce its verdict on Tuesday in the 2002 Godhra train burning case, in which 99 persons have been cited as accused. Of them, 21, including five juveniles, are on bail. This is the first case in which the ... 31 convicted, 63 acquitted in Godhra train fire case The Hindu - Manas Dasgupta - ‎20 hours ago‎ VERDICT AFTER NINE YEARS: Special public prosecutor JM Panchal briefs the media on the Godhra train burning case verdict in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. At right, a file photo of the burnt-out shell of the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express at the Godhra ... "The court has upheld the conspiracy theory behind the carnage," Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj told journalists. more by Sushma Swaraj - 20 hours ago - The Hindu (3 occurrences) India Godhra train blaze verdict: 31 convicted BBC News - ‎Feb 21, 2011‎ A special court in the western Indian state of Gujarat has found 31 people guilty of setting fire to a passenger train in the town of Godhra in 2002. The court acquitted 63 other people of conspiracy and murder. The Sabarmati Express was attacked by a... BJP upbeat; Congress, Left non-committal The Hindu - ‎20 hours ago‎ NEW DELHI: In contrast to the cautious approach of the other parties, there is a sense of euphoria in the BJP camp over the verdict of the Gujarat special court in Ahmedabad on the 2002 Godhra train burning incident. While the Congress and the Left ... 31 convicted, 63 walk free in Godhra case Hindustan Times - ‎22 hours ago‎ This is where it all started nine years ago, coach S6 of the Sabarmati Express, which was...... A fast-track court in Ahmedabad convicted 31 accused and acquitted 63, including a prime accused Maulavi Umarji, on Tuesday for lack of evidence in the 2002 ... BJP hails Godhra verdict Times of India - ‎22 hours ago‎ NEW DELHI: BJP on Tuesday welcomed the "conspiracy" theory upheld by a Gujarat special court verdict that found 31 guilty in the 2002 Godhra train-burning case. The party said it "exposed the nefarious designs" of the UPA government, which "tried to ... Sabarmati Express carnage: Tight security at ground zero ahead of verdict Times of India - ‎Feb 21, 2011‎ VADODARA: Godhra - the Ground Zero of 2002 Gujarat riots - will turn into a fortress on Tuesday when the judgment for the Sabarmati Express carnage is pronounced. Police have made elaborate security arrangements to ensure that no untoward incident ... Godhra verdict: 31 convicted in Sabarmati Express burning case Times of India - ‎Feb 22, 2011‎ AHMEDABAD: Thirty-one people were today convicted and 63 others, including the main accused Maulvi Umarji, were acquitted by a special court here in the 2002 Godhra train burning incident that left 59 people dead and triggered violence in Gujarat that ... Godhra train fire verdict prompts tight security measures The Guardian - ‎Feb 22, 2011‎ India has imposed tight security measures across much of the western state of Gujarat following the conviction of 31 Muslim men for setting fire to a train in which 60 Hindu pilgrims and activists died nine years ago. The incident, which took place in ... All 128 related articles »

Related Ahmedabad Gujarat Godhra train burning Narendra Modi Bharatiya Janata Party Religious violence Timeline of articles Number of sources covering this story Godhra revisited ‎16 minutes ago‎ - Times of India 'Verdict has brought sense of justice' ‎Feb 22, 2011‎ - Hindustan Times Fight for justice in Gujarat still on: Teesta ‎Feb 22, 2011‎ - IBNLive.com Ahmedabad court to pronounce verdict in Godhra riots case ‎Feb 21, 2011‎ - Sify Godhra verdict: 31 convicted in Sabarmati Express burning case ‎Feb 21, 2011‎ - Economic Times Images Indian Express The Hindu Reuters India (... The Guardian Aljazeera.net Moneycontrol.co... Indian Express The Express Tri... Oneindia All related images » Videos Godhra verdict out: 31 convicted, 63 acquitted NewsX  -  Feb 21, 2011 Watch video All related videos »