By M H Ahssan
Think public sector, and its need for reform comes to mind automatically. Many questions arise about its apparent kowtowing to vested interests and opacity in decision-making. With the Satyam Computer Services imbroglio, similar doubts can’t but assail the private sector. The IT major’s promoters recently resolved to pour $1.6 billion into buying stakes in two firms — Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra — founded by the Satyam chairman’s sons.
The board of directors concurred, without any compunction about the fact that the sweetheart deal-pushers owned only 8.5 per cent of the IT company. Shareholders’ funds would thus be used to expand into realty, a trade entirely unrelated to Satyam’s business profile.
The fig leaf was that Satyam needed to de-risk by diversifying, given the IT sector gloom. The decision, it was said, didn’t require shareholder approval. With the market backlash that followed, the promoters beat a retreat. But that the Maytas acquisition collapsed can’t undo the damage on various fronts. The software company’s market value has eroded. Satyam stocks suffered severe mauling in New York and Mumbai, reflecting widespread anger in the investor community.
It’s unlikely that investor confidence can be restored any time soon. Without some management overhaul, shareholders have no guarantee against a sequel to the episode. Satyam has reportedly clamped a temporary moratorium on diversification. This suggests that the Maytas buyout backers could live to fight another day.
Arguably, Satyam’s promoters didn’t mess up technically. The firm follows market regulator SEBI’s rule book on an independent board of directors meant to shield shareholder interests. However, shareholders were taken for granted in the ostensible bid to alter Satyam’s risk profile, and their activism set things right. The board of directors, on its part, failed to exercise judgment. Whether or not Satyam wanted to broadbase, the nepotism charge would still stick. As also the charge of disingenuousness, since realty and infrastructure aren’t less impacted by today’s economic downslide than IT.
Sadly, ham-handedness on the part of one of India’s ivy-league companies may rub off on India Inc’s image as a whole. That’s bad news, given the double whammy of the global economic mayhem and Mumbai terror attacks. If business-friendliness is to be projected domestically and overseas, corporate governance must top India Inc’s list of priorities. Following business best practices can’t be reduced to a tightrope-walk on technicalities. It’s a matter of keeping the faith of the larger community.
Friday, December 19, 2008
How To Bounce Back?
By Amitabh Kant
The tourism industry could convert crisis into opportunity
The economic downturn and the terror attacks in Mumbai have adversely impacted tourism. But in many ways tourism is an antidote to terrorism; tourism is a catalyst for employment creation, income redistribution and poverty alleviation. One of the best ways to fight the terrorists is to support India’s beleaguered tourism industry.
The Indian tourism industry will be resilient and bounce back as it did post-September 2001. The present crisis presents an opportunity. There was an even bigger crisis in Indian tourism in 2001-02. The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, war in Afghanistan, withdrawal of flights, attack on Parliament House in New Delhi and troop mobilisation on the India-Pakistan border meant that Indian hotels had just 20-25 per cent occupancy. International tour operators had removed India from their sale brochures and inbound Indian tour operators had switched to outbound operations.
Then tourism was positioned as a major driver of India’s economic growth and its direct and multiplier effects were harnessed for employment generation, economic development and providing impetus to infrastructure development. At a time, when the national tourism boards of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia had stopped their advertising, promotion and marketing budgets, the ‘Incredible India’ campaign was launched to bring back consumer demand, generate momentum and enhance growth in the tourism industry. This was also a period when the tourist infrastructure around Ajanta Ellora, Mahabalipuram, Kumbalgarh, Chittorgarh, the Buddhist circuit and at Humayun’s Tomb was improved.
The Indian tourism sector had been crippled by the limited air services, seat capacity and high ticket prices. Changes were ushered in this sector. It started with the permission to ASEAN carriers to operate to seven Indian metros, permitting low-cost carriers to launch operations, liberalisation of charter policy, the opening up of the UK bilaterals, granting approvals to new airlines and permitting private airlines to operate on international routes. One of the most closed sectors of the Indian economy was suddenly opened up and it unleashed huge growth in both India’s GDP and higher tourism flows.
This was also the time when young entrepreneurs launched travel portals. These changed the way Indians booked their travel. It is now projected that online channels would continue to outpace the total travel market and online penetration would be nearly one-fourth of the travel market by 2010. New products like medical tourism, value, cruise and rural tourism were conceptualised and implemented in partnership with the private sector and the community.
The 2008 economic slowdown and terror attacks require another such response. The terror attacks were restricted to Mumbai. Other regions and states such as Kerala, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal and UP remain safe, calm and normal.
Long haul markets still make for 95 per cent of India’s international traffic. There is a need to focus on China and Japan, which will emerge as the biggest source of tourists in the coming years. Kerala as a tourism destination was unheard of almost a decade back. Its emergence was largely on account of travel diversion from terror-prone Jammu & Kashmir. Kerala, of course, had developed new products like backwaters and Ayurveda, its entrepreneurs had created experiential boutique resorts and infrastructure had been spruced up. There is a need for new states to emerge as tourism destinations by enhancing the quality of experience and improving infrastructure. In fact, the next year should see focused attention on infrastructure deficiencies which have threatened to derail India’s aim to become a world-class global destination.
The imbalance in demand and supply of hotel rooms and a near-total absence of the two- to four-star category of hotels have led to escalating prices thereby reducing India’s price competitiveness. India needs to create an additional 1,50,000 rooms in the next three years to penetrate large volume markets like China. Domestic tourism can help balance both the present adversity and the seasonality of inbound tourism. The strategy necessitates creating awareness among the rising Indian middle classes about new experiences (chasing the monsoons), new attractions (plantation holidays) as well as pilgrim circuits, heritage and monuments.
To drive growth, we need to push five critical C’s: civic governance (improving the quality of tourism infrastructure),capacity building of service providers (taxi drivers, guides and immigration staff), communication strategy (constant innovation of the ‘Incredible India’ campaign and penetration in new markets), convergence of tourism with other sectors of the Indian economy, and civil aviation (continued opening of the skies, improved airport infrastructure and rationalisation of taxes).
In the context of India, the vast potential of tourism as an employment creator and wealth distributor still remains untapped. The size of the tourism industry worldwide is $4.6 trillion whereas the software industry globally is a mere $500 billion. The tourism industry globally generates over 250 million jobs whereas the software industry generates only 20 million jobs. In India, in 2007, revenue from foreign tourists was $10.7 billion and 53 million people were employed in the tourism sector.As India grows and expands its base in travel and tourism, it will generate many more jobs and the sector will become a major catalyst for India’s growth with employment creation.
The tourism industry could convert crisis into opportunity
The economic downturn and the terror attacks in Mumbai have adversely impacted tourism. But in many ways tourism is an antidote to terrorism; tourism is a catalyst for employment creation, income redistribution and poverty alleviation. One of the best ways to fight the terrorists is to support India’s beleaguered tourism industry.
The Indian tourism industry will be resilient and bounce back as it did post-September 2001. The present crisis presents an opportunity. There was an even bigger crisis in Indian tourism in 2001-02. The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, war in Afghanistan, withdrawal of flights, attack on Parliament House in New Delhi and troop mobilisation on the India-Pakistan border meant that Indian hotels had just 20-25 per cent occupancy. International tour operators had removed India from their sale brochures and inbound Indian tour operators had switched to outbound operations.
Then tourism was positioned as a major driver of India’s economic growth and its direct and multiplier effects were harnessed for employment generation, economic development and providing impetus to infrastructure development. At a time, when the national tourism boards of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia had stopped their advertising, promotion and marketing budgets, the ‘Incredible India’ campaign was launched to bring back consumer demand, generate momentum and enhance growth in the tourism industry. This was also a period when the tourist infrastructure around Ajanta Ellora, Mahabalipuram, Kumbalgarh, Chittorgarh, the Buddhist circuit and at Humayun’s Tomb was improved.
The Indian tourism sector had been crippled by the limited air services, seat capacity and high ticket prices. Changes were ushered in this sector. It started with the permission to ASEAN carriers to operate to seven Indian metros, permitting low-cost carriers to launch operations, liberalisation of charter policy, the opening up of the UK bilaterals, granting approvals to new airlines and permitting private airlines to operate on international routes. One of the most closed sectors of the Indian economy was suddenly opened up and it unleashed huge growth in both India’s GDP and higher tourism flows.
This was also the time when young entrepreneurs launched travel portals. These changed the way Indians booked their travel. It is now projected that online channels would continue to outpace the total travel market and online penetration would be nearly one-fourth of the travel market by 2010. New products like medical tourism, value, cruise and rural tourism were conceptualised and implemented in partnership with the private sector and the community.
The 2008 economic slowdown and terror attacks require another such response. The terror attacks were restricted to Mumbai. Other regions and states such as Kerala, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal and UP remain safe, calm and normal.
Long haul markets still make for 95 per cent of India’s international traffic. There is a need to focus on China and Japan, which will emerge as the biggest source of tourists in the coming years. Kerala as a tourism destination was unheard of almost a decade back. Its emergence was largely on account of travel diversion from terror-prone Jammu & Kashmir. Kerala, of course, had developed new products like backwaters and Ayurveda, its entrepreneurs had created experiential boutique resorts and infrastructure had been spruced up. There is a need for new states to emerge as tourism destinations by enhancing the quality of experience and improving infrastructure. In fact, the next year should see focused attention on infrastructure deficiencies which have threatened to derail India’s aim to become a world-class global destination.
The imbalance in demand and supply of hotel rooms and a near-total absence of the two- to four-star category of hotels have led to escalating prices thereby reducing India’s price competitiveness. India needs to create an additional 1,50,000 rooms in the next three years to penetrate large volume markets like China. Domestic tourism can help balance both the present adversity and the seasonality of inbound tourism. The strategy necessitates creating awareness among the rising Indian middle classes about new experiences (chasing the monsoons), new attractions (plantation holidays) as well as pilgrim circuits, heritage and monuments.
To drive growth, we need to push five critical C’s: civic governance (improving the quality of tourism infrastructure),capacity building of service providers (taxi drivers, guides and immigration staff), communication strategy (constant innovation of the ‘Incredible India’ campaign and penetration in new markets), convergence of tourism with other sectors of the Indian economy, and civil aviation (continued opening of the skies, improved airport infrastructure and rationalisation of taxes).
In the context of India, the vast potential of tourism as an employment creator and wealth distributor still remains untapped. The size of the tourism industry worldwide is $4.6 trillion whereas the software industry globally is a mere $500 billion. The tourism industry globally generates over 250 million jobs whereas the software industry generates only 20 million jobs. In India, in 2007, revenue from foreign tourists was $10.7 billion and 53 million people were employed in the tourism sector.As India grows and expands its base in travel and tourism, it will generate many more jobs and the sector will become a major catalyst for India’s growth with employment creation.
Haldi May Cure Alzheimer’s
By Shireen Razzak
Researchers Believe Curcumin In Haldi Can Minimise Effects
India’s very own ‘haldi’ is now giving scientists hope of an Alzheimer’s cure. Researchers at the University of Southampton are investigating whether curcumin found in turmeric — that gives curries the yellow colour — could benefit people with Alzheimer’s.
Researchers believe curcumin could greatly minimise the effects of Alzheimer’s and will examine whether curcumin-containing drugs could counte ract some of the brain changes that are characteristic of the disease.
Dr Amrit Mudher, lead researcher from the University of Southampton, said, “Indian communities that regularly eat curcumin have a surprisingly low incidence of Alzheimer’s, but we do not know why. Part of our research will investigate how curcumin may help protect the brain and prevent the disease.”
In healthy people, proteins in the brain’s nerve cells help them to communicate with each other. In Alzheimer’s sufferers, these tau proteins become abnormal and disrupt the cell’s ability to communicate with each other and the nerve cells eventually die.
The team at Southampton will use fruit flies, genetically modified to have nerve cells that contain malfunctioning tau proteins similar to those found in people with Alzheimer’s.
Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the British Alzheimer’s Society, said, “Unless we act now, one million people will develop dementia in the next 10 years. A cheap, accessible and safe treatment could transform the quality of life of thousands of people with the disease.”
An ancient spice used for centuries by practitioners of ayurvedic medicine in India to treat inflammatory disorders, curcumin is marketed widely in the western world as a dietary supplement for the treatment and prevention of both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.
Researchers Believe Curcumin In Haldi Can Minimise Effects
India’s very own ‘haldi’ is now giving scientists hope of an Alzheimer’s cure. Researchers at the University of Southampton are investigating whether curcumin found in turmeric — that gives curries the yellow colour — could benefit people with Alzheimer’s.
Researchers believe curcumin could greatly minimise the effects of Alzheimer’s and will examine whether curcumin-containing drugs could counte ract some of the brain changes that are characteristic of the disease.
Dr Amrit Mudher, lead researcher from the University of Southampton, said, “Indian communities that regularly eat curcumin have a surprisingly low incidence of Alzheimer’s, but we do not know why. Part of our research will investigate how curcumin may help protect the brain and prevent the disease.”
In healthy people, proteins in the brain’s nerve cells help them to communicate with each other. In Alzheimer’s sufferers, these tau proteins become abnormal and disrupt the cell’s ability to communicate with each other and the nerve cells eventually die.
The team at Southampton will use fruit flies, genetically modified to have nerve cells that contain malfunctioning tau proteins similar to those found in people with Alzheimer’s.
Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the British Alzheimer’s Society, said, “Unless we act now, one million people will develop dementia in the next 10 years. A cheap, accessible and safe treatment could transform the quality of life of thousands of people with the disease.”
An ancient spice used for centuries by practitioners of ayurvedic medicine in India to treat inflammatory disorders, curcumin is marketed widely in the western world as a dietary supplement for the treatment and prevention of both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.
Haldi May Cure Alzheimer’s
By Shireen Razzak
Researchers Believe Curcumin In Haldi Can Minimise Effects
India’s very own ‘haldi’ is now giving scientists hope of an Alzheimer’s cure. Researchers at the University of Southampton are investigating whether curcumin found in turmeric — that gives curries the yellow colour — could benefit people with Alzheimer’s.
Researchers believe curcumin could greatly minimise the effects of Alzheimer’s and will examine whether curcumin-containing drugs could counte ract some of the brain changes that are characteristic of the disease.
Dr Amrit Mudher, lead researcher from the University of Southampton, said, “Indian communities that regularly eat curcumin have a surprisingly low incidence of Alzheimer’s, but we do not know why. Part of our research will investigate how curcumin may help protect the brain and prevent the disease.”
In healthy people, proteins in the brain’s nerve cells help them to communicate with each other. In Alzheimer’s sufferers, these tau proteins become abnormal and disrupt the cell’s ability to communicate with each other and the nerve cells eventually die.
The team at Southampton will use fruit flies, genetically modified to have nerve cells that contain malfunctioning tau proteins similar to those found in people with Alzheimer’s.
Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the British Alzheimer’s Society, said, “Unless we act now, one million people will develop dementia in the next 10 years. A cheap, accessible and safe treatment could transform the quality of life of thousands of people with the disease.”
An ancient spice used for centuries by practitioners of ayurvedic medicine in India to treat inflammatory disorders, curcumin is marketed widely in the western world as a dietary supplement for the treatment and prevention of both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.
Researchers Believe Curcumin In Haldi Can Minimise Effects
India’s very own ‘haldi’ is now giving scientists hope of an Alzheimer’s cure. Researchers at the University of Southampton are investigating whether curcumin found in turmeric — that gives curries the yellow colour — could benefit people with Alzheimer’s.
Researchers believe curcumin could greatly minimise the effects of Alzheimer’s and will examine whether curcumin-containing drugs could counte ract some of the brain changes that are characteristic of the disease.
Dr Amrit Mudher, lead researcher from the University of Southampton, said, “Indian communities that regularly eat curcumin have a surprisingly low incidence of Alzheimer’s, but we do not know why. Part of our research will investigate how curcumin may help protect the brain and prevent the disease.”
In healthy people, proteins in the brain’s nerve cells help them to communicate with each other. In Alzheimer’s sufferers, these tau proteins become abnormal and disrupt the cell’s ability to communicate with each other and the nerve cells eventually die.
The team at Southampton will use fruit flies, genetically modified to have nerve cells that contain malfunctioning tau proteins similar to those found in people with Alzheimer’s.
Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the British Alzheimer’s Society, said, “Unless we act now, one million people will develop dementia in the next 10 years. A cheap, accessible and safe treatment could transform the quality of life of thousands of people with the disease.”
An ancient spice used for centuries by practitioners of ayurvedic medicine in India to treat inflammatory disorders, curcumin is marketed widely in the western world as a dietary supplement for the treatment and prevention of both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.
Haldi May Cure Alzheimer’s
By Shireen Razzak
Researchers Believe Curcumin In Haldi Can Minimise Effects
India’s very own ‘haldi’ is now giving scientists hope of an Alzheimer’s cure. Researchers at the University of Southampton are investigating whether curcumin found in turmeric — that gives curries the yellow colour — could benefit people with Alzheimer’s.
Researchers believe curcumin could greatly minimise the effects of Alzheimer’s and will examine whether curcumin-containing drugs could counte ract some of the brain changes that are characteristic of the disease.
Dr Amrit Mudher, lead researcher from the University of Southampton, said, “Indian communities that regularly eat curcumin have a surprisingly low incidence of Alzheimer’s, but we do not know why. Part of our research will investigate how curcumin may help protect the brain and prevent the disease.”
In healthy people, proteins in the brain’s nerve cells help them to communicate with each other. In Alzheimer’s sufferers, these tau proteins become abnormal and disrupt the cell’s ability to communicate with each other and the nerve cells eventually die.
The team at Southampton will use fruit flies, genetically modified to have nerve cells that contain malfunctioning tau proteins similar to those found in people with Alzheimer’s.
Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the British Alzheimer’s Society, said, “Unless we act now, one million people will develop dementia in the next 10 years. A cheap, accessible and safe treatment could transform the quality of life of thousands of people with the disease.”
An ancient spice used for centuries by practitioners of ayurvedic medicine in India to treat inflammatory disorders, curcumin is marketed widely in the western world as a dietary supplement for the treatment and prevention of both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.
Researchers Believe Curcumin In Haldi Can Minimise Effects
India’s very own ‘haldi’ is now giving scientists hope of an Alzheimer’s cure. Researchers at the University of Southampton are investigating whether curcumin found in turmeric — that gives curries the yellow colour — could benefit people with Alzheimer’s.
Researchers believe curcumin could greatly minimise the effects of Alzheimer’s and will examine whether curcumin-containing drugs could counte ract some of the brain changes that are characteristic of the disease.
Dr Amrit Mudher, lead researcher from the University of Southampton, said, “Indian communities that regularly eat curcumin have a surprisingly low incidence of Alzheimer’s, but we do not know why. Part of our research will investigate how curcumin may help protect the brain and prevent the disease.”
In healthy people, proteins in the brain’s nerve cells help them to communicate with each other. In Alzheimer’s sufferers, these tau proteins become abnormal and disrupt the cell’s ability to communicate with each other and the nerve cells eventually die.
The team at Southampton will use fruit flies, genetically modified to have nerve cells that contain malfunctioning tau proteins similar to those found in people with Alzheimer’s.
Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the British Alzheimer’s Society, said, “Unless we act now, one million people will develop dementia in the next 10 years. A cheap, accessible and safe treatment could transform the quality of life of thousands of people with the disease.”
An ancient spice used for centuries by practitioners of ayurvedic medicine in India to treat inflammatory disorders, curcumin is marketed widely in the western world as a dietary supplement for the treatment and prevention of both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.
Now, Dogs Star in Film Publicity
By M H Ahssan
2 Puppies Set To Hog Limelight In Tollywood For The 1st Time
For the first time in the ‘dogeat-dog’ world of Tollywood, two pretty dogs have been given glorious place, something that has never been heard of in the industry known for ‘hero worship’. The two dainty puppies are prominently featured on the posters of a new movie to be released on Friday.
Usually, it is either an angry-looking hero or six-pack, muscle-flexing hunk or a scantily clad heroine who dominates the publicity material. But now, for the first time, only two dogs feature on the posters of ‘Nachchavule’, a film produced by Ramoji Rao and directed by Ravi Babu. The message obviously intended to be conveyed is: a movie does not sell because of its artistes alone.
However, it is not just the dogs in the movie poster that are telling a story about where the film industry is going. A movie released to packed houses on Thursday has a scene which describes the state of affairs in the Telugu film industry in the boldest possible manner.
“If I do not get a hero, I can make a film with a dog in the lead character,” comedian Brahmanandam says in the film, ‘Neninthe’, starring Ravi Teja and directed by Puri Jagannath. These lines have become USP of the film and being repeatedly shown in TV promos.
In another hit movie, ‘Khadgam’, directed by Krishna Vamsi seven years ago, through the character he played, Ravi Teja pokes fun at the big heroes who prefer to be as ‘Babu’, a reverential term. The specific target then was Nagarjuna.
“Clearly, the reference to a ‘dog’ in ‘Neninthe’ is intended to take a dig at the top heroes of the film industry who play hard to get,” a movie analyst said. But the clawing in the film industry has just begun. Comedian-turned-producer Babu Mohan has literally been barking allegations against big-budget film producers and distributors accusing them of unethical practices and controlling theatres. “There is no unity in the film industry which is being ruled by a handful of selfish producers,” Babu Mohan declared.
Some other small producers who agreed with his allegation that Suresh Babu, Allu Aravind, Dil Raju and Dasari Narayana Rao were ruling the roost, sat on a dharna at the A P Film Chamber of Commerce at Filmnagar. However, the top producers pooh-poohed the charges.
If small producers have drawn their daggers at their big brothers, an open fight is also being fought between producers and exhibitors. At present, exhibitors (theatre owners) are giving their theatres on lease. Producers want a switch over to the percentage system wherein they would get a lion’s share of the revenue while the rest - perhaps 20 per cent - would be left for the exhibitor. Theatre owners, ideally, want 50 per cent revenue.
This has led to unrest in the film industry. On December 21, the Telugu Film Producers Council is meeting to take stock of the situation and suspend film shootings if the issue does not get settled in their favour. The Hyderabad State Film Chamber of Commerce, which is a body of exhibitors has also convened a meeting on December 22 to demonstrate their strength.
The fight in the film industry is not just about business. Alongside, there a battle is also being fought on political lines. “Never before has there been so much of bad blood in the industry. The make-up has peeled off and everyone is showing their true colours and countering each other openly,” a film analyst said.
Actors, producers and directors have thrown in their lot with either the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Congress or indicated that they are solidly with Chiranjeevi who launched his ‘Prajarajyam Party’.
2 Puppies Set To Hog Limelight In Tollywood For The 1st Time
For the first time in the ‘dogeat-dog’ world of Tollywood, two pretty dogs have been given glorious place, something that has never been heard of in the industry known for ‘hero worship’. The two dainty puppies are prominently featured on the posters of a new movie to be released on Friday.
Usually, it is either an angry-looking hero or six-pack, muscle-flexing hunk or a scantily clad heroine who dominates the publicity material. But now, for the first time, only two dogs feature on the posters of ‘Nachchavule’, a film produced by Ramoji Rao and directed by Ravi Babu. The message obviously intended to be conveyed is: a movie does not sell because of its artistes alone.
However, it is not just the dogs in the movie poster that are telling a story about where the film industry is going. A movie released to packed houses on Thursday has a scene which describes the state of affairs in the Telugu film industry in the boldest possible manner.
“If I do not get a hero, I can make a film with a dog in the lead character,” comedian Brahmanandam says in the film, ‘Neninthe’, starring Ravi Teja and directed by Puri Jagannath. These lines have become USP of the film and being repeatedly shown in TV promos.
In another hit movie, ‘Khadgam’, directed by Krishna Vamsi seven years ago, through the character he played, Ravi Teja pokes fun at the big heroes who prefer to be as ‘Babu’, a reverential term. The specific target then was Nagarjuna.
“Clearly, the reference to a ‘dog’ in ‘Neninthe’ is intended to take a dig at the top heroes of the film industry who play hard to get,” a movie analyst said. But the clawing in the film industry has just begun. Comedian-turned-producer Babu Mohan has literally been barking allegations against big-budget film producers and distributors accusing them of unethical practices and controlling theatres. “There is no unity in the film industry which is being ruled by a handful of selfish producers,” Babu Mohan declared.
Some other small producers who agreed with his allegation that Suresh Babu, Allu Aravind, Dil Raju and Dasari Narayana Rao were ruling the roost, sat on a dharna at the A P Film Chamber of Commerce at Filmnagar. However, the top producers pooh-poohed the charges.
If small producers have drawn their daggers at their big brothers, an open fight is also being fought between producers and exhibitors. At present, exhibitors (theatre owners) are giving their theatres on lease. Producers want a switch over to the percentage system wherein they would get a lion’s share of the revenue while the rest - perhaps 20 per cent - would be left for the exhibitor. Theatre owners, ideally, want 50 per cent revenue.
This has led to unrest in the film industry. On December 21, the Telugu Film Producers Council is meeting to take stock of the situation and suspend film shootings if the issue does not get settled in their favour. The Hyderabad State Film Chamber of Commerce, which is a body of exhibitors has also convened a meeting on December 22 to demonstrate their strength.
The fight in the film industry is not just about business. Alongside, there a battle is also being fought on political lines. “Never before has there been so much of bad blood in the industry. The make-up has peeled off and everyone is showing their true colours and countering each other openly,” a film analyst said.
Actors, producers and directors have thrown in their lot with either the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Congress or indicated that they are solidly with Chiranjeevi who launched his ‘Prajarajyam Party’.
Exclusive: RAJU’S SATYAM STOCK SLIDING
By M H Ahssan
Ramalinga Raju will take some time to recover from the ‘acquisition’ blow it served itself. TOI traces the big IT man’s Bhimavaram to bourses journey, examines its land worth claims and unearths a state decision to sell the company land at throwaway rates in Vizag.
When Byrraju Ramalinga Raju, then 23, returned to India armed with an MBA degree from Ohio in 1977 he did not want to enter his family business of agriculture. He started off with a spinning and weaving mill called Sri Satyam but his first love was constructions, so soon after he spawned a constructions company called Satyam Constructions. Even though this company did not do too well, Ramalinga Raju started acquiring land in Hyderabad - most of it in the Medchal area. Satyam Computer Services was started in 1987, but clearly 21 years later, the first love of the Bhimavaram born boy -who did his B Com from Vijayawada’s Loyola College- remains to be construction. And that is why he has come to grief, his move to use the sizeable cash surplus of Satyam to buy two constructions company - Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties - that are run by his sons bringing forth very violent reactions from the investor community.
Even though the IT operations began in 1987, it was only four years later that Ramalinga Raju was able to make a mark. This, was largely due to his risk taking nature. “ He was the first guy to start outsourcing in India,” says an old IT expert. In 1991 he procured work from an US tractor company called John Deere and since telecom links between India and USA were very poor in those days, Raju came up with the innovative plan of opening an office in Illinois where John Deere was located and hired 50 engineers. Satyam’s office called Little India was connected by means of a 64 kbp line with John Deere’s office and that’s how work was executed. “ There was no physical contact of Satyam’ engineers with the John Deere managers,” the expert points out. Since that day Ramalinga Raju has never looked back even though investors are now demanding his scalp.
The bespectacled Ramalinga Raju started on a company starting spree thereafter. By the end of the century even as the fear of the Y2K bug brought in a lot of business to IT companies, Satyam had spawned many companies - some of them marketing outfits - like Satyam Japan, Satyam Asia, Satyam Asia and Dr Millenium besides Satyam Infoway. But once the Y2K phase was over, many of these companies lost their utility. Satyam Infoway, which as Sify was the first Indian internet company to be listed on Nasdaq was sold off by Raju in 2001. In 2001, Satyam listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The last eight years have been golden years for the IT industry and for Satyam this has been no exception. Even as software companies like TCS, Infosys and Wipro spread their wings all across the globe and the country so did Satyam. As of now, Satyam has 28 software development centres including in place as diverse as Tokyo, Beijing, Chicago, Munich, Sydney and Sao Paulo. In the country it develops software at Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Bhubaneswar. Satyam has on its rolls 52,865 employees and closed the last financial year with revenues of Rs 8473.49 crore. Profit after taxes amounted to Rs 1687.89 crore.
Even though Satyam has been going places, periodically stories have been circulated in the marketplace that the company would be sold to IBM. These stories have been constantly denied but they have still persisted. Even as Maytas floated a couple of years ago started going strong the tales doing the rounds has also been that Raju would now rather concentrate on this real estate company. Insiders also averred that Satyam’s IT operations - though very profitable -were also being hit by quality concerns. “As Satyam became the largest employer in its home state of Andhra Pradesh, there was constant social pressure on it to hire more staff. Since the IT business was expanding through the roof the company management fell to these social pressures and bloated,” an insider says. Two months ago when the impact of the US meltdown began to be felt, Satyam like many others started shedding staff.
But this slowdown has not done Ramalinga Raju in. Rather it is Maytas Infra led consortium’s out of the blue bid to get a contract for Hyderabad’s metro rail project. While most other bidders sought ‘viability gap funding’ (read funds ) from the government for the project that at Rs 12,000 crore is highly capital intensive and not profitable to start with, Maytas actually undertook to pay money to the government. With such an outlandish bid, Maytas bagged the metro rail project but as its bad luck would be the deal came at a time when slowdown came out of the blue. This made raising finances for the company a near impossible task. It is then that Raju, it is averred, conjured up this plan for using Satyam’s huge reserves to fund Maytas’ metro rail project. Raju was not available to cofirm or deny this. But the rest as they say is history.
State awards Satyam; ‘sells’ land at dirt cheap rate: Even as Satyam Computer Services is under the scanner for its bid to acquire Maytas Infra and Matyas properties, it has come to light that the Andhra Pradesh government has allotted over 50 acres of land in Visakhapatnam to it for developing a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in violation of all rules.
The government order (GO 1439) allotting the 50 acres of land in Kapuluppada village under Bheemunipatnam mandal in Vizag was issued a fortnight ago on December 4, 2008. Auctions by Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) in the area has secured a price of Rs 5-6 crore per acre, but the state has given away the land at Rs 10 lakh per acre. Describing the pricing as ‘highly arbitrary,’ former union power secretary E A S Sarma - who now lives in Vizag and is a public crusader- told TOI that this has resulted in a loss of Rs 250 to Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer. State government sources also told TOI that the state government has violated all rules “in its anxiety to benefit a private company.”
The VUDA Master Plan states that exo-sensitive areas “like hills, water bodies, forests and sea coasts needs to be conserved.” However, the land allotted to Satyam in Kapuluppuda village is classified as ‘Hill Porampoke’ in revenue records and as ‘Hill and Forest’ in VUDA Master Plan. “Thus the land given to Satyam is part of the ‘eco-sensitive area’ in which the Master Plan prohibits any kind of construction activity,” Sarma said.
Government sources said the land in question is part of the land originally notified by the state government as ‘protected area’ of the Thotlakonda ancient Buddhist archaeological site. “Hence, no construction can be permitted within the ‘protected,’ ‘prohibited,’ and ‘regulated’ areas under the provisions of The (central) Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, and the AP Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules, 1960,” a revenue official said.
The allotment of land to Satyam is also violative of the Coastal Regulatory Zone rules. “The land alienated to Satyam falls within CRZ II where no construction activity is permitted. As such, alienation of the land in question not only violates CRZ but also the Master Plan itself,” said officials of the state environment and forests department.
Sarma maintains that Satyam Computers is a profit-making private company. “It has already been allotted two more chunks of prime urban land in Visakhapatnam and many other stretches of urban land near Hyderabad at concessional prices. The land in question here belongs to the public and its alienation at an arbitrarily low price is detrimental to the public interest. The manner in which the land was allotted to Satyam via GO 1439 on December 4 is thus highly improper,” he alleged.
Rs 1 crore per acre realistic estimate?: With the real estate market down in the dumps, financial analysts are questioning as to how Satyam arrived at the valuation of Rs 1 crore per acre of Maytas Properties’ asset of 6,800 acres of land. They point out that the land’s value of Rs 6,500 crores was either arrived at many months ago or it has been a clear case of a ‘favourable self assessment’.
This was the basis on which Satyam had offered to take over shares of Maytas in the now aborted bid. With the company and its board of directors are chary of revealing the name of the consulting firm who did the land valuation, industry circles are abuzz that perhaps the management took the assessment of the consultant only partially and thus cannot credit them publicly for the same. “You either go by purchase price or the market value of the land or get the valuation done by a valuer. The fourth option is to do a self assessment and this is what this Rs 1 crore per acre estimate appears like,’’ said a senior industrialist dabbling in real estate. “These 6,800 acres is spread at various locations and not all of that land is prime.
A more realistic per acre average in the current scenario would perhaps be Rs 50 to Rs 60 lakh per acre or even less. Land in Hyderabad which was priced at Rs 20 to 25 crores per acre is now going for Rs 10 crore per acre for bulk land deals,’’ says the financial officer of a real estate firm. However, he adds that Maytas is the single largest landowner in Hyderabad and almost “all the rocky areas of the city’’ belong to the firm. But what is Maytas all about? Popularly known as the ‘real estate’ arm of the IT major Satyam, industry sources say that the two Maytas firms— Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties— are known for the high quality standards they maintain in their projects. But more than that, they are known for being ‘Satyam backed organisations’.
Maytas Properties is just about five years old and is known largely for its flagship project, Maytas Hill County, which is coming up over an expanse of 300 acres at Bachupally on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The firm owns more land on the same stretch. “Maytas Hill County land would easily be worth Rs 4 to 5 crore per acre,’’ says a senior official of a real estate firm. However, he says that this would account only for 300 acres of land, which is only a fraction of the 6,800 acre land kitty.
The remaining land is in tier II and III cities such as Vizag, Vijaywada, Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and Nagpur in Maharashtra. The company also owns land in Chennai and Bangalore. Maytas Properties is also developing the Jubilee Hills Landmark Project, which would be spread over 5.7 acres and would house a star hotel and luxury apartments. Project partner ICICI is believed to have disengaged itself from the project but Maytas Properties spokesperson denied it on Wednesday.
But giving Ramalinga Raju sleepless nights is not the downward real estate market but Maytas Infra and its Rs 12,000-crore metro rail project, raising funds for it from the market is now a Herculean task. Maytas Infra is about two decades old and has dabbled in major projects including the Mumbai-Pune expressway, Bangalore elevated highway project, Singapore township in Hyderabad, Machipatnam Port, Calpong Hydroelectric Project in the Andamans, the Gulbarga airport among others. Industry sources point out that the now aborted acquisition bid was essentially to enable Maytas Infra’s metro rail project raise funds from the market.
“Right now the group is only worried about Maytas Infra. There is no other possible reason why it took this ill-advised step,’’ says an industry source.
Ramalinga Raju will take some time to recover from the ‘acquisition’ blow it served itself. TOI traces the big IT man’s Bhimavaram to bourses journey, examines its land worth claims and unearths a state decision to sell the company land at throwaway rates in Vizag.
When Byrraju Ramalinga Raju, then 23, returned to India armed with an MBA degree from Ohio in 1977 he did not want to enter his family business of agriculture. He started off with a spinning and weaving mill called Sri Satyam but his first love was constructions, so soon after he spawned a constructions company called Satyam Constructions. Even though this company did not do too well, Ramalinga Raju started acquiring land in Hyderabad - most of it in the Medchal area. Satyam Computer Services was started in 1987, but clearly 21 years later, the first love of the Bhimavaram born boy -who did his B Com from Vijayawada’s Loyola College- remains to be construction. And that is why he has come to grief, his move to use the sizeable cash surplus of Satyam to buy two constructions company - Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties - that are run by his sons bringing forth very violent reactions from the investor community.
Even though the IT operations began in 1987, it was only four years later that Ramalinga Raju was able to make a mark. This, was largely due to his risk taking nature. “ He was the first guy to start outsourcing in India,” says an old IT expert. In 1991 he procured work from an US tractor company called John Deere and since telecom links between India and USA were very poor in those days, Raju came up with the innovative plan of opening an office in Illinois where John Deere was located and hired 50 engineers. Satyam’s office called Little India was connected by means of a 64 kbp line with John Deere’s office and that’s how work was executed. “ There was no physical contact of Satyam’ engineers with the John Deere managers,” the expert points out. Since that day Ramalinga Raju has never looked back even though investors are now demanding his scalp.
The bespectacled Ramalinga Raju started on a company starting spree thereafter. By the end of the century even as the fear of the Y2K bug brought in a lot of business to IT companies, Satyam had spawned many companies - some of them marketing outfits - like Satyam Japan, Satyam Asia, Satyam Asia and Dr Millenium besides Satyam Infoway. But once the Y2K phase was over, many of these companies lost their utility. Satyam Infoway, which as Sify was the first Indian internet company to be listed on Nasdaq was sold off by Raju in 2001. In 2001, Satyam listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The last eight years have been golden years for the IT industry and for Satyam this has been no exception. Even as software companies like TCS, Infosys and Wipro spread their wings all across the globe and the country so did Satyam. As of now, Satyam has 28 software development centres including in place as diverse as Tokyo, Beijing, Chicago, Munich, Sydney and Sao Paulo. In the country it develops software at Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Bhubaneswar. Satyam has on its rolls 52,865 employees and closed the last financial year with revenues of Rs 8473.49 crore. Profit after taxes amounted to Rs 1687.89 crore.
Even though Satyam has been going places, periodically stories have been circulated in the marketplace that the company would be sold to IBM. These stories have been constantly denied but they have still persisted. Even as Maytas floated a couple of years ago started going strong the tales doing the rounds has also been that Raju would now rather concentrate on this real estate company. Insiders also averred that Satyam’s IT operations - though very profitable -were also being hit by quality concerns. “As Satyam became the largest employer in its home state of Andhra Pradesh, there was constant social pressure on it to hire more staff. Since the IT business was expanding through the roof the company management fell to these social pressures and bloated,” an insider says. Two months ago when the impact of the US meltdown began to be felt, Satyam like many others started shedding staff.
But this slowdown has not done Ramalinga Raju in. Rather it is Maytas Infra led consortium’s out of the blue bid to get a contract for Hyderabad’s metro rail project. While most other bidders sought ‘viability gap funding’ (read funds ) from the government for the project that at Rs 12,000 crore is highly capital intensive and not profitable to start with, Maytas actually undertook to pay money to the government. With such an outlandish bid, Maytas bagged the metro rail project but as its bad luck would be the deal came at a time when slowdown came out of the blue. This made raising finances for the company a near impossible task. It is then that Raju, it is averred, conjured up this plan for using Satyam’s huge reserves to fund Maytas’ metro rail project. Raju was not available to cofirm or deny this. But the rest as they say is history.
State awards Satyam; ‘sells’ land at dirt cheap rate: Even as Satyam Computer Services is under the scanner for its bid to acquire Maytas Infra and Matyas properties, it has come to light that the Andhra Pradesh government has allotted over 50 acres of land in Visakhapatnam to it for developing a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in violation of all rules.
The government order (GO 1439) allotting the 50 acres of land in Kapuluppada village under Bheemunipatnam mandal in Vizag was issued a fortnight ago on December 4, 2008. Auctions by Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) in the area has secured a price of Rs 5-6 crore per acre, but the state has given away the land at Rs 10 lakh per acre. Describing the pricing as ‘highly arbitrary,’ former union power secretary E A S Sarma - who now lives in Vizag and is a public crusader- told TOI that this has resulted in a loss of Rs 250 to Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer. State government sources also told TOI that the state government has violated all rules “in its anxiety to benefit a private company.”
The VUDA Master Plan states that exo-sensitive areas “like hills, water bodies, forests and sea coasts needs to be conserved.” However, the land allotted to Satyam in Kapuluppuda village is classified as ‘Hill Porampoke’ in revenue records and as ‘Hill and Forest’ in VUDA Master Plan. “Thus the land given to Satyam is part of the ‘eco-sensitive area’ in which the Master Plan prohibits any kind of construction activity,” Sarma said.
Government sources said the land in question is part of the land originally notified by the state government as ‘protected area’ of the Thotlakonda ancient Buddhist archaeological site. “Hence, no construction can be permitted within the ‘protected,’ ‘prohibited,’ and ‘regulated’ areas under the provisions of The (central) Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, and the AP Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules, 1960,” a revenue official said.
The allotment of land to Satyam is also violative of the Coastal Regulatory Zone rules. “The land alienated to Satyam falls within CRZ II where no construction activity is permitted. As such, alienation of the land in question not only violates CRZ but also the Master Plan itself,” said officials of the state environment and forests department.
Sarma maintains that Satyam Computers is a profit-making private company. “It has already been allotted two more chunks of prime urban land in Visakhapatnam and many other stretches of urban land near Hyderabad at concessional prices. The land in question here belongs to the public and its alienation at an arbitrarily low price is detrimental to the public interest. The manner in which the land was allotted to Satyam via GO 1439 on December 4 is thus highly improper,” he alleged.
Rs 1 crore per acre realistic estimate?: With the real estate market down in the dumps, financial analysts are questioning as to how Satyam arrived at the valuation of Rs 1 crore per acre of Maytas Properties’ asset of 6,800 acres of land. They point out that the land’s value of Rs 6,500 crores was either arrived at many months ago or it has been a clear case of a ‘favourable self assessment’.
This was the basis on which Satyam had offered to take over shares of Maytas in the now aborted bid. With the company and its board of directors are chary of revealing the name of the consulting firm who did the land valuation, industry circles are abuzz that perhaps the management took the assessment of the consultant only partially and thus cannot credit them publicly for the same. “You either go by purchase price or the market value of the land or get the valuation done by a valuer. The fourth option is to do a self assessment and this is what this Rs 1 crore per acre estimate appears like,’’ said a senior industrialist dabbling in real estate. “These 6,800 acres is spread at various locations and not all of that land is prime.
A more realistic per acre average in the current scenario would perhaps be Rs 50 to Rs 60 lakh per acre or even less. Land in Hyderabad which was priced at Rs 20 to 25 crores per acre is now going for Rs 10 crore per acre for bulk land deals,’’ says the financial officer of a real estate firm. However, he adds that Maytas is the single largest landowner in Hyderabad and almost “all the rocky areas of the city’’ belong to the firm. But what is Maytas all about? Popularly known as the ‘real estate’ arm of the IT major Satyam, industry sources say that the two Maytas firms— Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties— are known for the high quality standards they maintain in their projects. But more than that, they are known for being ‘Satyam backed organisations’.
Maytas Properties is just about five years old and is known largely for its flagship project, Maytas Hill County, which is coming up over an expanse of 300 acres at Bachupally on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The firm owns more land on the same stretch. “Maytas Hill County land would easily be worth Rs 4 to 5 crore per acre,’’ says a senior official of a real estate firm. However, he says that this would account only for 300 acres of land, which is only a fraction of the 6,800 acre land kitty.
The remaining land is in tier II and III cities such as Vizag, Vijaywada, Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and Nagpur in Maharashtra. The company also owns land in Chennai and Bangalore. Maytas Properties is also developing the Jubilee Hills Landmark Project, which would be spread over 5.7 acres and would house a star hotel and luxury apartments. Project partner ICICI is believed to have disengaged itself from the project but Maytas Properties spokesperson denied it on Wednesday.
But giving Ramalinga Raju sleepless nights is not the downward real estate market but Maytas Infra and its Rs 12,000-crore metro rail project, raising funds for it from the market is now a Herculean task. Maytas Infra is about two decades old and has dabbled in major projects including the Mumbai-Pune expressway, Bangalore elevated highway project, Singapore township in Hyderabad, Machipatnam Port, Calpong Hydroelectric Project in the Andamans, the Gulbarga airport among others. Industry sources point out that the now aborted acquisition bid was essentially to enable Maytas Infra’s metro rail project raise funds from the market.
“Right now the group is only worried about Maytas Infra. There is no other possible reason why it took this ill-advised step,’’ says an industry source.
In CPM - Speak, N-Deal = 26/11
By Balbir K. Punj
In Parliament’s debate on the Mumbai events and its aftermath, the alibi that the Marxists were providing for the terror merchants did not come as a surprise. While all other political parties sought to emphasise a unanimous voice of India in their speeches, pinpointing Pakistan as the breeding ground of terror, the CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury was finding excuses, even justification, for the terrorists’ attacks.
If Mr Yechury is to be believed, the Mumbai attacks were because “India was seen as a strategic ally of the US” by the Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
The Communist leader went on to recall: “We had warned at that time, with the Indo-US nuclear deal, with the strategic partnership that you are building with the US, are you prepared to face the threats of Taliban and Al Qaeda reaching our shores?… Has this even entered our radar of thinking that, because of the nuclear deal and strategic partnership, we are exposing ourselves to new types of terrorist threats which did not exist in India earlier?”
So here is the justification for the killing of nearly 200 people and the mayhem by terror mongers from Pakistan on 26/11. When the whole world has condemned this attack, and the international community has demanded of Pakistan that its government eradicate terrorist organisations from its soil, the Marxists alone are saying that the attacks were a reaction to our foreign policy. The foreign policy that India should follow, whether there should be an N-deal or whether India should have a strategic alliance with the US must all now be decided by Pakistan-based terrorists. That seems to be the Marxist gospel.
This Marxist expostulation of a justification for the terror attacks should not surprise those who have been following the Communist line in India since the second decade of the last century. It was the Communist Party of India that supported the demand for the creation of a theocratic Pakistan in the 40s. It has been the Communist line that India is not a nation but a conglomeration of nations. It was the Communist Party that refused to recognise India’s Independence in 1947 and launched an armed insurrection against the Indian State that year itself.
V.K. Krishna Menon, a known Communist who held the defence portfolio in the Nehru Cabinet, purposely ensured that the Indian Army remained poorly equipped compared to the Chinese whose hostile intentions were well known. In 1962, when Red China attacked India, we suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the invaders. The Indian Communists refused to stand by their beleaguered motherland. Instead, they supported China against India!
Even now, the Marxists continue to aid and abet extreme orthodoxy among the Muslims — a breeding ground of the ideology that the Taliban groups exploit. Despite their (false) claim of being “progressive,” they would not countenance Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen staying in Kolkata. The Marxists have consistently sought to blocked all attempts to end Bangladeshi Muslim infiltration into India. The result is that in several parts of the country Bangladeshi Muslims have a significant say in the election of representatives to state Assemblies and even Parliament.
In Kerala, the only other state where they are in power, organisations like Simi, banned in the country for their anti-national programmes, have found a haven. Two years ago, Simi organised a camp near the bustling city of Kottayam and the training, as revealed by some of those arrested by Gujarat police subsequently, included making petrol bombs, use of wireless sets, moving through forests at night, lessons in geography etc. Yet, the Kerala police pretended that they did not even have a hint of such a camp being held there.
When at last the news of such a camp broke out, police sources had to confess that they did arrest a few people on learning of the camp, but political interference prevented them from proceeding further. The Kerala Marxists genuflected before the Islamic extremist preacher Madhani, prime accused in the Coimbatore serial blasts of 1999, by organising a public function for welcoming him after he managed to get an acquittal on technical grounds.
Mr Yechury was even prepared to ignore facts in claiming that the “new type of terrorist threats which did not exist in India earlier” was due to India’s foreign policy. There was no nuclear deal with the US and no strategic alliance in 2001. Yet, did not the same organisations of terrorists launch an attack on India’s temple of democracy? What about all the terrorist attacks, including the serial train bombings in Mumbai, over the last several years?
The thesis that India must determine its foreign and domestic policies with reference to so-called “Muslim reaction” has been a long-standing Marxist demand that was repeatedly stated when the CPI(M) opposed the Indo-US nuclear deal. Now Mr Yechury has once again returned to that theme. Not just “Muslim reaction,” but even the Al Qaeda and Taliban will decide what India should or should not do. If Taliban does not like India working out a close relationship with the US, we should respect that sentiment lest they come and stage a second Mumbai mayhem in the country. India should fear and surrender to the Taliban and Al Qaeda and, logically, to their allied outfits like LeT and other terror mongers. This is the Marxist thesis.
And to hide his blatant anti-national stand, the Marxist leader quoted some terrorist leader hoping for BJP’s return to power in 1999 so that it could give enough excuse for the terrorists to strike and strengthen themselves. That a top Marxist leader could quote this with approval exposes his party’s frustration at the failure of its policy of promoting political untouchability of the BJP at one end and the promo for terrorist organisations on the other. After all, Al Qaeda, LeT and others are opposed to the US. As the CPI(M) is also opposed to America, whatever the terrorists do is justified in the Marxist eye.
In Parliament’s debate on the Mumbai events and its aftermath, the alibi that the Marxists were providing for the terror merchants did not come as a surprise. While all other political parties sought to emphasise a unanimous voice of India in their speeches, pinpointing Pakistan as the breeding ground of terror, the CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury was finding excuses, even justification, for the terrorists’ attacks.
If Mr Yechury is to be believed, the Mumbai attacks were because “India was seen as a strategic ally of the US” by the Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
The Communist leader went on to recall: “We had warned at that time, with the Indo-US nuclear deal, with the strategic partnership that you are building with the US, are you prepared to face the threats of Taliban and Al Qaeda reaching our shores?… Has this even entered our radar of thinking that, because of the nuclear deal and strategic partnership, we are exposing ourselves to new types of terrorist threats which did not exist in India earlier?”
So here is the justification for the killing of nearly 200 people and the mayhem by terror mongers from Pakistan on 26/11. When the whole world has condemned this attack, and the international community has demanded of Pakistan that its government eradicate terrorist organisations from its soil, the Marxists alone are saying that the attacks were a reaction to our foreign policy. The foreign policy that India should follow, whether there should be an N-deal or whether India should have a strategic alliance with the US must all now be decided by Pakistan-based terrorists. That seems to be the Marxist gospel.
This Marxist expostulation of a justification for the terror attacks should not surprise those who have been following the Communist line in India since the second decade of the last century. It was the Communist Party of India that supported the demand for the creation of a theocratic Pakistan in the 40s. It has been the Communist line that India is not a nation but a conglomeration of nations. It was the Communist Party that refused to recognise India’s Independence in 1947 and launched an armed insurrection against the Indian State that year itself.
V.K. Krishna Menon, a known Communist who held the defence portfolio in the Nehru Cabinet, purposely ensured that the Indian Army remained poorly equipped compared to the Chinese whose hostile intentions were well known. In 1962, when Red China attacked India, we suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the invaders. The Indian Communists refused to stand by their beleaguered motherland. Instead, they supported China against India!
Even now, the Marxists continue to aid and abet extreme orthodoxy among the Muslims — a breeding ground of the ideology that the Taliban groups exploit. Despite their (false) claim of being “progressive,” they would not countenance Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen staying in Kolkata. The Marxists have consistently sought to blocked all attempts to end Bangladeshi Muslim infiltration into India. The result is that in several parts of the country Bangladeshi Muslims have a significant say in the election of representatives to state Assemblies and even Parliament.
In Kerala, the only other state where they are in power, organisations like Simi, banned in the country for their anti-national programmes, have found a haven. Two years ago, Simi organised a camp near the bustling city of Kottayam and the training, as revealed by some of those arrested by Gujarat police subsequently, included making petrol bombs, use of wireless sets, moving through forests at night, lessons in geography etc. Yet, the Kerala police pretended that they did not even have a hint of such a camp being held there.
When at last the news of such a camp broke out, police sources had to confess that they did arrest a few people on learning of the camp, but political interference prevented them from proceeding further. The Kerala Marxists genuflected before the Islamic extremist preacher Madhani, prime accused in the Coimbatore serial blasts of 1999, by organising a public function for welcoming him after he managed to get an acquittal on technical grounds.
Mr Yechury was even prepared to ignore facts in claiming that the “new type of terrorist threats which did not exist in India earlier” was due to India’s foreign policy. There was no nuclear deal with the US and no strategic alliance in 2001. Yet, did not the same organisations of terrorists launch an attack on India’s temple of democracy? What about all the terrorist attacks, including the serial train bombings in Mumbai, over the last several years?
The thesis that India must determine its foreign and domestic policies with reference to so-called “Muslim reaction” has been a long-standing Marxist demand that was repeatedly stated when the CPI(M) opposed the Indo-US nuclear deal. Now Mr Yechury has once again returned to that theme. Not just “Muslim reaction,” but even the Al Qaeda and Taliban will decide what India should or should not do. If Taliban does not like India working out a close relationship with the US, we should respect that sentiment lest they come and stage a second Mumbai mayhem in the country. India should fear and surrender to the Taliban and Al Qaeda and, logically, to their allied outfits like LeT and other terror mongers. This is the Marxist thesis.
And to hide his blatant anti-national stand, the Marxist leader quoted some terrorist leader hoping for BJP’s return to power in 1999 so that it could give enough excuse for the terrorists to strike and strengthen themselves. That a top Marxist leader could quote this with approval exposes his party’s frustration at the failure of its policy of promoting political untouchability of the BJP at one end and the promo for terrorist organisations on the other. After all, Al Qaeda, LeT and others are opposed to the US. As the CPI(M) is also opposed to America, whatever the terrorists do is justified in the Marxist eye.
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