SC
order deals a major blow to CPI(M) and Basu
by Gautam Ghosh
Kolkata:
The Supreme Court order quashing the allotment of a
plot of land in Salt Lake to Justice BP Banerjee, a former
judge of the Calcutta high court, by Jyoti Basu from his
discreminatory quota as the chief minister, has dealt a
major blow to the state CPI(M) in general and Basu in particular.
The apex court order, which came at a time when the party
is gearing up for its state conference in February, is expected
to have a serious impact on the CPI(M)'s rank and file.
The verdict, which detected an "unholy alliance" between
the concerned judge and the state government headed by Basu,
appears to have vindicated the opposition parties' charge
that the CPI(M)'s top leadership "has been involved in corrupt
practices and nepotism during Basu's long tenure as the
chief minister." This is the first time that a Marxist of
Basu's stature has been served an open stricture by the
apex court in connection with a litigation having immense
political ramifications.
The ruling Marxists are understandably trying to shield
the veteran politburo member and put the entire blame on
Justice Banerjee for the state government's predicament
in the wake of the Supreme Court order. State CPI(M) organ,
"Ganashakti," even went to the extent of publishing a distorted
version of the court order to exonerate the former chief
minister who allegedly allotted several plots of prime land
in Salt Lake from his discreminatory quota in the late eighties
among his relatives and close associates. While the Supreme
Court order spoke of an "unholy alliance" between the passing
of a judicial order by Justice Banerjee and granting of
the order of allotment, the state CPI(M) mouthpiece said
the order found "an unholy alliance between the judge's
duty and personal interest." According to informed sources,
other allottees of land from the chief minister's quota
during Basu's tenure included his son, brother-in-law, a
former advocate-general and his biographer. A number of
leaders and legislators of different political parties,
intellectuals and bureaucrats also benefited from the distribution
of plots in Salt Lake when Basu was occupying the chief
minister's chair. The apex court, in its order, mainly targeted
Justice Banerjee as it clearly detected a link between his
order allowing Basu to allot plots from his discreminatory
quota and his getting a plot of land.
India's
rigidity not good for ties: Musharraf (Go
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Lahore:
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has told some visiting
Indian journalists attending a SAFMA moot that New Delhi's
rigid stance on Kashmir could affect the progress of the
ongoing composite dialogue between the two countries. Meeting
up with the journalists at a hotel in Lahore, Musharraf
is believed to have told them that Islamabad is sticking
to its demand for a plebiscite in Kashmir blaming India
of adopting a rigid stance. "We want to meet India half-way,
but we are not going to go all the way," Musharraf was quoted
as saying in response to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
statement that India will not consider changing boundaries
of Jammu and Kashmir. On his maiden visit as Prime Minister
to Jammu and Kashmir on November 17, Dr Manmohan Singh had
said that any division of the state was unacceptable, an
option Musharraf talked about at an iftaar party in Pakistan.
Intel
to invest 40 milion dollars in India (Go
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Bangalore:
World's largest chip maker Intel Corporation has said
it would invest upwards of USD 40 million at its India centre
here for building software for its next generation Centrino
mobile chip and for enterprise chips. The announcement was
made when Intel Chief Executive Officer Craig Barrett laid
the foundation stone for the next phase of Intel's centre
here on a land of 43 acres. "Intel has already made capital
investments in Bangalore of over USD 40 million since January
2003, with plans to spend a similar amount over the next
two years," Barrett said in a statement. Journalists who
had joined at the Intel's campus for a press conference
of Barrett during his visit here boycotted the event, after
the scheduled meet was delayed by nearly two hours with
no clear explanation from Intel officials for the delay.
Reliance
is professionally run: Mukesh Ambani (Go
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Mumbai:
A stock analyst said today that the ownership issue
between the two brothers over Reliance, India's second-biggest
company with a market value of 16.5 billion dollars, could
affect the markets in the long run. "In the long run, it
will all depend on the post-ownership. The ownership problem
that they have, once that is sorted out people will again
take a look whether the company's management can still deliver
the results they have been doing together," said Ankit Ajmera,
senior consultant, Ajcon Capital Markets. Reliance Group
shares plunged on Friday after chairman Mukesh Ambani admitted
to differences with his brother Anil over the 'ownership
issues'. Citing an example of General Electric company,
Ambani had said in the interview that like GE has moved
beyond Jack Welch, Reliance has also moved beyond one, two
or three individuals. Ajmera, however, said that Reliance
could not be compared to GE since Indian companies are still
known by their promoters. "I think the example of GE that
has been given, you cannot compare GE to a Reliance. Because
even today a lot of Indian companies, even the best of companies
depend on the promoters. Mukesh Ambani said 'that we have
a professionally run company, our differences will not affect
the running of the company.' But definitely in India, companies
are run by the promoters," he said.
43rd
World Junior Chess Championships starts in Kerala (Go
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Kochi:
The 43rd World Junior Chess Championships has started
here from Friday and will last till December 1. This is
the third time in 12 years that the state is playing host
to the event. Over 35 countries have already registered
their names for the championship. The previous championship
was held in Goa in the year 2002. India has orgainsed this
premier competiton four times, which is more than any other
country. The participants also seemed excited and energetic
to play the game. Over 150 players from 40 foreign countries
would fight for the prestigious title, Chess Association
sources said. An important feature of this competition would
be that the winners in both the boys and girls' sections
will straight away win the international Grandmaster title.
International Arbiter and FIDE rating administrator Casto
P Abundo of Philippines is the Chief Arbiter of the event.
SA
230 for 4 at stumps: Day 1 (Go
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Kanpur:
The South Africans have consolidated in the post-tea
session on the first day of the Kanpur Test against India.
The Proteas are 230 for four at stumps on Day 1. Andrew
Hall, opening the innings for the first time in Test cricket,
was batting on 78 while Boeta Dipenaar was on 46. Anil Kumble
had earlier snapped up two wickets off successive balls
in the penultimate over before tea, to suppress a spirited
South African fight-back. The veteran leg spinner, who had
claimed both the wickets to fall before lunch, swung the
pendulum in India's favour again, dismissing Jacques Kallis
(37) and Jacques Rudolph (zero) in consecutive deliveries.
