August 2016 Archives

Justice Dhingra Submits Vadra Report, Hints at ‘Irregularity’

The Congress has hit back with allegations of the BJP waging a vendetta against it and claims that Justice Dhingra compromised his position, nullifying the report’s findings.

Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, whose land deals were investigated by the Dhingra commission. Credit: PTI

Fifteen and a half months after it was constituted, the one man Justice S.N. Dhingra Commission of Inquiry that probed nearly 250 land deals struck by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government in Haryana – including one involving Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi – submitted its report to Haryana’s chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday.

Speaking to the media after submitting the report, whose contents have not yet been made public by the Haryana government, Dhingra hinted that his inquiry had unearthed a lot of wrongdoing. “I have named each and every person involved, whether private or government,” he said, adding that “had there been no irregularity, I would have submitted a one-line report. My report has 182 pages.”

Justice Dhingra, who retired from judicial service in 2011 after serving in the Delhi high court, said his report also identifies the beneficiaries from the nefarious land deals he investigated. “I have logged irregularities in [the] grant[ing] of license[s] and the persons who benefited from it.”

In his report, Justice Dhingra also noted that he had found the conduct of Hooda’s conduct during the probe to be“contrary to the law”. Hooda ignored two orders to appear before the commission, saying he wanted a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) instead.

When the commission was first constituted, Hooda said that its formation was “contrary to [the] established rules and norms, without due cabinet approval and prompted by malice and political considerations” and he urged the Haryana governor “to revoke the Constitution of the Commission of Enquiry”. On Wednesday, Hooda maintained that would only comment on the report after it is made public. But, he again hastened to add that the constitution of the Commission was motivated by political considerations and vendettas.

BJP spokesperson Jawahar Yadav, however, insisted that the constitution of the panel was not motivated by a political agenda and it was only formed to arrive at the truth of the matter. “There is no question of vendetta. The panel has only investigated if some wrong was committed. If that indeed was the case, the guilty would be punished; but no harm would come to the innocent,” he said.

The controversy around Vadra

The Hooda government was charged with deliberately favouring and monetarily helping Vadra, by granting him a license to develop commercial properties on a 3.5-acre plot in Sector 83 of Gurgaon in 2008. The government sold the plot to Vadra for just Rs 7.5 crores whereas its market price was much higher and so Vadra was able to sell the property to India’s largest real estate developer, Delhi Land and Finance (DLF) for Rs 58 crores, just three months after buying it at a heavy discount.

The Comptroller and Auditor General had also noted that Vadra’s firm, Skylight Hospitality, did not prove its financial adequacy before it was granted the licence.

Incidentally, the Dhingra Commission did not summon former whistleblower bureaucrat Ashok Khemka, who had cancelled the mutation entered in the revenue records through an order of October 15, 2012, in the case. Speaking to the media after submitting his report, Justice Dhingra stated: “If I wanted to call Ashok Khemka, I would have. I didn’t think it was necessary.”
Khemka told The Wire that he had “submitted two compilations to the Chief Secretary, first on 21 May 2013 in response to a show cause notice and second on 12 February 2015 in reply to the charge sheet. It was for the Government to appropriately act on the reports.”

The Haryana government issued a notification on the constitution of the Justice S.N. Dhingra Commission of Inquiry on May 14, 2015. The notification stated that the commission would probe issues concerning “the grant of licence(s) for developing commercial colonies by the Department of Town and Country Planning, Government of Haryana to some entities in Sector 83,Gurgaon.” The panel was also tasked with investigating the property’s subsequent transfer or disposal, allegations of private enrichment, the eligibility of beneficiaries under the rules and related matters.

At the time, the Haryana government stated that issues concerning the public importance of such licenses and the alleged illegalities of the process had been brought to its notice. Though it had granted the commission a maximum period of six months, from its first sitting till the submission of its final report, the term was extended and the report was delayed by nearly eight months.

The commission’s mandate

The commission was to probe a) the circumstances under which license(s) for development of commercial colonies were granted to some entities in sector 83, Gurgaon; b) whether the said entities were eligible for grant of licence(s) as per the applicable laws; c) whether the transfer of licences by the original licensee within a short period of time to other entities was violative of law; and whether the Town and Country Planning Department had contemplated the transactions that had taken place before or after the grant of license, particularly with reference to the loss of revenue to government.

The panel was also directed to recommend measures, which may be adopted to take corrective steps, particularly in respect to the loss of revenue suffered by the public exchequer.

Though initially restricted to Sector 83, Gurgaon, the scope of the Dhingra commission was expanded in August 250 to cover nearly 250 land deals involving the Hooda regime’s grant of licenses to colonisers and individuals in four Gurgaon villages.

Vadra’s defence

While chief minister Khattar did not comment on the contents of the report, these developments evoked a sharp response from the Congress, whose members alleged that the contents of the report had been leaked even before it was submitted and that the commission did not even listen to Vadra.

A former minister in the Hooda government and now in-charge of communication for the All India Congress Committee, Randeep Singh Surjewala, claimed that “even before the report was submitted to government today, portions thereof were leaked to [the] press and aired on most television channels”, which reflected on the “intent and sinister conspiracy of Haryana government, top leadership of BJP and even the Commission itself”.

“It clearly proves that [the commission’s] sole intent is to defame, conspire and malign, rather than adjudge the issues fairly,” he said.

Surjewala claimed that “there is not even a whisper of favour, preferential treatment or violation of any rule/regulation/policy in the grant of licence for a small piece of 2.7 acres of land to Skylight Hospitality Private Limited of Shri Robert Vadra in Village Shikohpur, Sector-83, Gurgaon. Even the licence for this 2.7 acres of Skylight has not been renewed. Final permission for transfer of licence from Skylight to DLF has also not been granted till date.” So where did the question of any undue favour come up, he asked.

The Congress leader reasoned that even Khattar’s government granted numerous licences under the same licensing policy in 2015 and 2016. “Does it mean that there should be an inquiry against Shri Manohar Lal Khattar and BJP government also?” he quipped.

He also questioned the justification behind the constitution of the commission saying that the BJP government in Haryana has itself issued a policy, dated February 18, 2015 , liberally permitting changes in developers, the transfer of joint development rights and even the transfer of FSI i.e. Floor Space Index by labelling it a ‘tradable commodity’.

Surjewala also insisted that the commission violated Sections 8B and Section 8C of The Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 – that require that any person prejudicially affected by a commission’s findings must be granted a hearing – by summoning neither Vadra nor any officer of his company or even Hooda. “That being so, no adverse finding can be given against any person by the commission in accordance with law,” said the lawyer politician.

The Congress spokesperson also stated that “Justice S.N. Dhingra has compromised his position as an independent and neutral arbiter by accepting favours from the present BJP government of Haryana for [the] Gopal Singh Charitable Trust [which is] headed by him, including expenditure of nearly Rs 1 crore from [the] public exchequer in contravention of government norms, besides accepting gift of land free of cost in Gurgaon for his trust from a private individual.”

“Seeking favour[s] of this nature has compromised the neutrality of Justice Dhingra. Even the possibility of bias would disentitle him from heading the commission. This has rendered the report of the commission per se non est and unacceptable,” Surjewala added.

Speaking to media persons in Kurukshetra, chief minister Khattar said the Dhingra Commission report was very exhaustive and the government will study it before deciding on a course of action.

World’s Oldest Fossils, From 3.7 Billion Years Ago, Found in Greenland

The structures, built by microbes, were found on a newly exposed outcrop of rock that had been buried under snow for millions of years.

Allen Nutman (left) and Vickie Bennet (right) with a specimen of 3,700 Myr-old stromatolites from Isua, Greenland. Credit: Yuri Amelin/Nature

Scientists have discovered the oldest fossils known to humankind, and they predate the existing record by 220 million years. The newly discovered fossils are stromatolites found in the rock formations of Isua, a belt of ancient rocks in southwest Greenland. They are 3.7 billion years old, displaying evidence of microbial mat formations.

The origin of life has always been shrouded with mystery. There are several unanswered questions when we talk about the earliest lifeforms. Where did life first evolve? What was the environment where it evolved? Why did life evolve? One of the questions the new study published in the journal Nature this week helps us understand better is when life evolved.

The tedious journey to finding an answer has thrown out several bits of valuable knowledge, such as what defines a fossil. When we think of fossils, we typically picture a rock with the imprint of a large animal embedded in it. This is the most obvious kind of fossil. There are also trace fossils – evidence of an animal’s footprints or faeces. Animal and plant secretion, such as amber, is also evidence of life and therefore a fossil.

In the same vein, life also secretes chemicals whose signatures are preserved in rocks. These are physical manifestations of animal remains, like petroleum and natural gas, as well as things like carbon isotope ratios in rocks that could have been modified only by biological processes. The further back in time we go, the harder it is for us to pinpoint the exact reason for changes in chemical composition. The chemical fossil evidence for the oldest life on earth currently points to 4.1 billion years ago, according to a study published last year. However, the paper is contested as there could be alternate explanations for these chemical anomalies.

What cannot be rebutted, however, is direct evidence of life in the form of structures that can only be biological in origin. An example of such formation is a coral. The newly discovered fossil, called a stromatolite, is also such a bio-chemical structure built by microbes, most notably cyanobacteria, in shallow water. The bacteria stick together side by side and form mats. These mats then expand to form layers tied closely with sand grains in the water. The bacteria secrete chemicals that trap and bind together all the grains to form a complex, rock-like structure. After the bacteria die, the rock is essentially a shell of a huge thriving colony of microscopic living creatures.

Stromatolites in the Soeginina Beds (Paadla Formation, Ludlow, Silurian) near Kübassaare, Saaremaa, Estonia. Credit: Wilson44691/Wikimedia Commons

Until last week, the oldest known fossils were also stromatolites, from 3.5 billion years ago, but located in Shark Bay, Australia. They were discovered in the 1950s and dated by the early 1990s. Indeed, Australia, Greenland and Canada tend to have the some of the oldest surviving fossils in the world because they’re made up of some of the longest surviving pieces of land. The latest discovery incidentally was in the oldest ever rock formation on Earth, called the Isua greenstone belt, believed to be between 3.7 and 3.8 billion years old.

The newly discovered stromatolites were found to be one to four centimetres thick, considered high. The team behind the discovery was led by Allen Nutman, a geologist at the University of Wollongong.

The findings are exciting because, for the longest time, we believed that life could not have formed in the volcanic hell that Earth was soon after it formed some 4.5 billion years ago. In fact, we’ve gone from thinking today that the planet was too hot to hold water to thinking that between 4.4 and 4.0 Ga, vast oceans could have existed for long periods, allowing simple organic compounds to come together. Perhaps it was during this warm, tranquil period that key steps in the origin of life occurred.

The fossil discovery provides proof for a proposal first advanced way back in 1996, about geochemical signatures on these rocks as having been that of bacteria’s. No evidence had been uncovered for this theory till today, as there is always a tiny possibility that even very strong bio-geochemistry could continue to be explained by natural, non-biological processes. The Isual fossil opens up the prospect of confirming at some time in the future that the chemofossils dating to 4.1 billion years might indeed be bacteria as well. This could very well be true as the stromatolite-forming bacteria were already sophisticated and diverse, which would mean simple life originated much earlier.

The new paper also seemingly lends credibility to the theory of Genetic Molecular Clocks, according to Nutman and his colleagues. The molecular clock is a dating technique that uses DNA sequences to determine the point in time when one lifeform diverged from another. The current time for the split of prokaryotes (cells without a nucleus, including bacteria) from eukaryotes (cells with nucleus and organelles) by molecular clock is estimated to be at 3.97 billion years, which is quite close to the 3.7 billion year number on our hands.

There is an even exciting prospect. These findings take us one inch closer to legitimately using “aliens” in a headline one day. If life could form under unimaginably violent conditions on Earth, it is not picky. Life seems to have been hardy, fighting for opportunities to flourish and thrive under the harshest of conditions. We know that 3.8 billion years ago, Mars was very like Earth, teeming with oceans and an atmosphere. Now, there has been a marked improvement in the odds that any of our current or future missions could discover microscopic evidence of life on the now-barren red planet.

Pushing the record back for the oldest fossils on earth is next to impossible now. There is no rock on the face of Earth today that is older than Isua’s. And any rock older than those at Isua would have undergone such extensive metamorphosis due to plate tectonics that it would not have retained any evidence of life or anything else at all. The discovery of these fossils is perhaps the only positive thing to have come out of human-made global warming, as the stromatolites were found on a newly exposed outcrop of rock that had been buried under snow for millions of years.

Sandhya Ramesh is a science writer focusing on astronomy and earth science.

A Culture That Dominates Is No Culture At All: T.M. Krishna’s Magsaysay Address

“Power has tall citadels, culture has a level stage. The tall citadels need to be brought down; the ignored artistic traditions brought on to the proscenium stage.”

T.M. Krishna speaking at the Magsaysay Award ceremony in Manila. Credit: Twitter

I am a musician; practitioner of Karnatik music – one of India’s two celebrated classical systems. From when I can remember I have been part of the world of this music. Learning the art as many Brahmins do from my childhood years. I was a full time musician by 22 focused on only success as an end.

A set of unusual situations made me delve into my music’s life beyond the learning and singing of it.

What is this music, its history and purpose?

As the questioning progressed it turned into self-questioning. Who am I, what is my social address and who are the people who applaud my music, every movement of it? And it became clear to me that the music was not just about the melody and rhythm; it had been so internalised by the religion, conventions and rituals of the holding community, my community as to make it ours, ours to practice, to preserve, to protect, excluding the rest, especially those on the first step of India’s caste based social order.

A precious, aesthetic experience can become part of a political and social commentary. This, it was clear to me, was wrong, unfair – unfair to society, unfair to the art. I must, I felt, resist this near hegemony.

Belonging to the holding community made the task anything but easy. The art – my art, which was my very life – was being seen as part of India’s dominant or ‘ace’ culture. A culture which dominates can call itself powerful; it cannot call itself culture. Power is about power, culture is about culture. Every community, even the most marginalised, has its own exquisite art and hosts multitudes of cultures. Power has tall citadels, culture has a level stage. The tall citadels need to be brought down; the ignored artistic traditions brought on to the proscenium stage.

Democracy demands that society’s wealth, physical and cultural, be shared with openness, respect and love. This calls for empathy and not just tolerance; an embrace not putting up with one another.

Cultures are not bound by the lines that we draw on a map. It is in fact art that reveals to every human being inhabiting this complex yet beautiful planet that we have similar struggles and celebrations. But to truly sense this oneness we need to detach art traditions from socio-political constructions.

My journey in this direction has just begun and will proceed with awareness and constant learning. This award has reassured me that the art experience is seamlessly linked to life. I would not be here without the guidance and support of so many of my fellow-journeyers. This award comes to me in name alone, but belongs to the great music tradition that has nurtured me and has led me, with many others, to experience its majesty, and has opened not one but an infinity of windows to the mystery called life.

I will conclude with a few lines from a Karnatik song. A few words about it.

In the 19th century, the Tamil composer Gopalakrishna Bharati composed a musical opera describing the struggles of the Dalit Hindu saint Nandanar (6th – 7th century). In this song from the opera, Nandanar seeks entry into the temple to be in the lord’s (Siva) presence and celebrate him in song. We must remember that Dalits were not allowed inside Hindu temples even until the early part of the 20th century.

Today, in 21th century India, Dalits are demanding access, not into temples that are no longer closed to them, but into the architecture of opportunities, rights and power-sharing. Today’s Nandanars are stronger, organised, aware of their rights, far more powerful and impactful. The struggle for marginalised communities – across the globe – to ensure respect and equality in every sphere of living, be it the political, social or religious, unfortunately still finds doors closed.

Varugalaamo Ayyaa

Is Venezuela on the Verge of Another Coup?

While there is more than enough evidence to suggest a coup may indeed already be in the works for Venezuela in the near future, a wide range of opinions comprise Venezuelan public opinion regarding the opposition’s latest call for protests.

While there is more than enough evidence to suggest a coup may indeed already be in the works for Venezuela in the near future, a wide range of opinions comprise Venezuelan public opinion regarding the opposition’s latest call for protests.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a meeting with ministers in Caracas, in this handout picture provided by Miraflores Palace on March 23, 2016. Credit: Reuters/Miraflores Palace

Current events in Venezuela and the political opposition’s call for global protests against President Nicolas Maduro conjure up memories of the 2002 coup d’état – a moment marked by violence that was all too familiar to most Venezuelans. The opposition’s public call for national and international protests, slated for September 1 – accompanied by transportation strikes in some of the nation’s opposition strongholds, along with rising inaccessibility to most basic staples – indicates a strong possibility for the rise of rampant guarimba (protest) violence reminiscent of the 2014 opposition demonstrations. So it would seem that a potential coup d’état is in progress.

Yet, what are the real possibilities? What are the grassroots movements and other organisations aligned with the Bolivarian process saying about the opposition’s upcoming demonstrations? What strategies are in place? And, more importantly, how are the grassroots preparing to respond come September 1?

2016 opposition protests and their political backdrop

This week’s protests centre on the Venezuelan opposition’s insistent demand for a recall referendum to occur this year. This is not the first time Venezuela has faced a potential presidential impeachment. As teleSUR English’s Iain Bruce reports, “On August 15, 2004, the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, faced his opponents in the first and only recall referendum against a sitting president in modern world history. The opposition parties were confident they would win. They assumed they would naturally recover the positions of power they had lost.” However, Venezuelan history proved otherwise and Chávez remained in office, securing a majority.

Since the people’s election of Chávez in 1998, the Bolivarian revolution has marked a distinct transition away from an oligarchy that historically siphoned oil and resources from the people, effectively devastating Venezuela’s majority poor nation. Over the last 17 years, Venezuela’s Bolivarian process has made major strides in inclusionary rights, economic access and raising political consciousness domestically and on an international scale.

However, the opposition, actively supported by the US, continues to strategise against the Bolivarian process which has radically transformed people’s material conditions and improved the majority poor’s livelihood.

On several occasions, the opposition has illegitimately pushed for a recall referendum to happen this year. Yet, the National Electoral Council’s (CNE) president Tibisay Lucena publicly announced earlier this month that according to constitutionally established timelines, the recall referendum will not happen this year. This is due to the opposition consciously beginning the process too late for all the steps to be completed this year.

Nonetheless, the opposition has found support of right-wing factions throughout the region such was the case earlier this month when 15 out of 35 Organisation of American States (OAS) members released a joint statement calling for the Venezuelan government to carry out what would be an unconstitutional referendum process before January 2016.

We’ve witnessed the same tactic over and over again. The corporate media wages a seemingly endless battle in the political arena – to delegitimise Venezuela, allege that the country is breaching its constitution and highlight its challenges, both economic and political. To a certain extent, the opposition has successfully confused millions internationally about the diverse realities facing most Venezuelans.

The economic lead-up to this year’s call for protests parallels that of the 2002 coup. Just last week opposition legislator Freddy Guevara admitted that the opposition had used an ‘economic boycott’ to force the government out. Moreover, he vowed that the opposition would reach Miraflores Palace on September 1, just as they did in 2002 when the opposition suddenly diverged from its pre-determined route and decided to march to Miraflores resulting in a direct confrontation between the right-wing opposition and the Venezuelan popular forces.

The opposition’s other tactics have included a campaign to prevent the country from assuming Mercosur’s pro tempore presidency. Minister of Foreign Affairs Delcy Rodríguez along with grassroots movements aligned with the Mercosur process has denounced the continued refusal to transfer power over to Venezuela without grounds.

While international reports may paint a picture of disaster across the Latin American left and especially of more progressive governments, the continued efforts to destabilise Venezuela indicate that US imperialism is re-positioning itself in the region and returning to relationships with its historic right-wing allies.

With this said, the direct hand of the US government in these destabilisation attempts against Venezuela remains ever present, even after sanctions were renewed in April this year. For instance, the Venezuelan foreign ministry’s North American agency released a statement this Monday that renounced the US state department spokesperson John Kirby’s call to release the former mayor of San Criśtobal, Táchira state, Daniel Ceballos from prison.

Ceballos was transferred to prison after spending time under house arrest for his role in the 2014 guarimbas. The Ministry of Justice asserted that the transfer happened after recent information surfaced of Ceballos’ potential escape plans to “coordinate acts of violence” this week.

“The brand and authorship of the coup being planned for September 1, 2016, in Venezuela, in collusion with the anti-democratic opposition and international right, has become clear,” read the statement. It continued, “[President Barack Obama’s government] is seeking to destabilise Venezuela and the region in its final days to legitimise its imperial plans against peace and the development of the people.”

Likewise, US’s prize winning opposition spokesperson Yon Goicoecha was also arrested this week for the alleged possession of explosive making equipment.

Voices from the Bolivarian process

For example, the government has taken steps to prevent violence such as prohibiting drones from entering into Venezuelan airspace for the next 120 days unless sanctioned by the defence ministry. Many private businesses are also closing their doors amidst security concerns.

Meanwhile, grassroots spaces such as community councils and local media outlets have called for marches in support of the Bolivarian process starting Tuesday, August 30, as well as reminding people to behave non-confrontationally on September 1 to avoid any possible bloodshed. For example, the Bicentennial Women’s Front convened “a great mobilisation in defence of the revolution … we will demonstrate that we are the guardians of Chavez and the Revolution.”

In an exclusive with Venezuelanalysis, María Helena Ramírez, student organiser and resident of San Crístobal, Táchira state, stressed that despite the opposition’s alleged call for “peace”, “some right wing spokespeople have remarked that ‘there will be deaths’ and ‘blood will run’ in public interviews.” during the September 1 demonstrations.

Ramírez also remarked on the opposition’s strategic use of transportation, highlighting that, “there will be buses leaving many regions of the country toward Caracas. This is a very interesting strategy given that Chavista social movements have mobilised across the country to march in the capital for years and the opposition historically has not.” The opposition most certainly counts on selling the impression internationally that their political position has a consolidated and unified base.

Likewise, in Táchira, Ramírez confirmed reports that there has been a transportation strike called for nine days meant to interrupt and complicate citizens’ daily lives contributing to heightened levels of frustration and concern. Similarly, this past weekend when Ramos Allup, the current opposition leader in the National Assembly, visited Táchira, people found road blocks made out of tires in the same places that were strongholds for the 2014 guarimbas.

Ramírez suspects that, “what we are seeing is the beginning of an attack against Venezuela meant to push the people to the limit and carry out a coup.” However, Ramírez highlighted that the grassroots along with the Bolivarian government have committed to “protecting the people of Venezuela, especially in Caracas and the Bolviarian Revolution.”

José Vicente Rangel, long time comrade of former president Chávez who also served as a minister during his administration, publicly expressed similar concerns over the September 1 marches to Venezuelan media – distinctively drawing parallels to the prelude of the 2002 coup. “In the time of a tense climate, this march could have very grave consequences. Any detail can be explosive and although the same promoters [of this march] insist that it will be civil in character, [our] experience proves otherwise,” Rangel said.

“As the march can occur in all normalcy, it can also repeat the brutal experience of [the] April 11, 2002 march and other episodes of violence like the guarimbas, we must put forth with urgency: dialogue,” he said. He added that dialogue is favoured by 80% of Venezuela’s population.

“There are factions intent on creating a chaotic situation and provoking the rupture of constitutional and democratic order, as well as foreign interventionist adventures that would severely affect our national sovereignty. The opposition that exists in this country seems bent on disaster and total institutional rupture to facilitate [their] access to power; apparently all other options, except violence, are blocked,” Rangel stressed.

It is also worth noting that Maduro also conveyed similar concerns at a rally this weekend and denounced what he called “an imperialist attack on all.” Maduro cited ongoing US interference and right-wing assaults against the governments of Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador among other examples.

Dissenting opinions

However, there are dissenting opinions. These opinions rest on the memory of the ingenuity of the Venezuelan people, who can defy all odds and prevail against an avalanche of uncertainty.

In his recent publication The Takeover of the Cities and Power (and the desire to take), Venezuelan public intellectual José Roberto Duque explains why he believes September 1 will be another unsuccessful attempt by the opposition to destabilise the nation. Principally, Duque believes that very few historical cases exist that show that ‘rebellions’ lead to drastic societal shifts.

“The only mobilisations of this historical time that have toppled governments or at the very least have shaken [them] include:
1) sudden and spontaneous [rebellions] (Venezuela, 1989); 2) [rebellions] directed, defined and inspired by genuine leaders (Venezuela, 1998); or 3) [rebellions] headed or financed by the international war machine (Libya, 2011),” he attests.

Additionally, Duque explains that while there may be a series of violent episodes across the country, due to the opposition’s lack of effort to build a consolidated base – combined with the Venezuelan Chavista population’s will to rectify the errors of the revolutionary process – nothing will mark a definitive ‘exit’ to Maduro’s administration.

“Maybe blood will be spilt in some places, maybe they try and prolong for a few days the media sensation of a rebellion (the cameras and audiovisual production are ready, count on that),” Duque writes. However, he continues, “And perhaps from our side, from the side building this country, we will probably forget the arguments and demobilizing divides, and maybe we will remember in unison that the revolution charges us with an important task, parallel or previous to all the others: avoid at all costs that the transnational corporation’s racist plague take ahold of the institutional management of the state.” He concludes, “If this is the result, we will have obtained another political victory as others walk around announcing our decisive defeat.”

What about international solidarity?

While we’ve assessed the vast array of hypotheses regarding Venezuela’s future, time is the truest test. While one may argue that it would be foolish for the opposition to carry out a coup at this time when they are relatively close to securing a recall referendum for early next year, we have seen how often the opposition is prone to bouts of sabotage and violence at the expense of stability and people’s lives.

However, in the process of writing this piece, what remains glaringly clear is the incredible need for international grassroots movements to re-engage with Venezuela and develop a renewed sense of commitment with the Bolivarian process. Hypothesising serves us little in the larger scheme of Venezuela’s future.

The growing divide between the Venezuelan grassroots movement and global left is not only systematically intentional but also discouraging..

The international media’s barrage with all its exaggerations, misleading headlines and largely unfounded coverage has been critical for building one of the greatest imperialist and interventionist offensives in Latin America and the Caribbean region. The historically racist isolation of Haiti and the distance between the global left and the popular movements carrying on more than 200 years of revolutionary process on the island may be the only case similar to Venezuela in the western hemisphere.

As the impeachment process against Dilma Rousseff is underway in Brazil , it’s necessary to redraw our shared political lines to defend Venezuelan, Latin American and ultimately oppressed nations’ sovereignty and defeat capitalism’s steadfast determination to persevere no matter what.

What the world needs is for Venezuelans to face this trying time head on and win. A coup for Venezuela would mark what promises to be an already challenging era for our political generation as this chapter of great revolutionary fiesta winds down and we are charged with the real task of building other worlds different than our present. Venezuelans already embarked on a path to achieve the nearly impossible. Seventeen years is not nearly enough to identify, create and consolidate viable economic alternatives as well as cultural and structural shifts in society. Seventeen years is not nearly enough to decolonize and undo over 500 years of imperialism, colonisation and devastation.

International solidarity needs to be ready on September 1 to accompany the Venezuelan people and defend their revolutionary process.

This article originally appeared in Venezuelanalysis.

Supreme Court Quashes Acquisition of Land for Tata’s Singur Project

The Supreme Court bench declared the acquisition a “colourable exercise of power and a fraud on the people”. It directed the West Bengal government to return the land to the farmers, who originally owned the land, in 12 weeks.

The Supreme Court bench declared the acquisition a “colourable exercise of power and a fraud on the people”. It directed the West Bengal government to return the land to the farmers, who originally owned the land, in 12 weeks.

Nano car shells at the abandoned Tata Motors’ factory at Singur in Hooghly district. Credit: PTI

In a severe blow to the Tatas – and to the reputation of the erstwhile left front government in West Bengal – the Supreme Court on Wednesday declared that the the 2006 acquisition of about 1000 acres of land in Singur for the Tata’s Nano small car project was illegal and quashed the acquisition.

A bench comprising Justices V. Gopala Gowda and Arun Mishra, in their 204-page judgment, held that the acquisition was a “colourable exercise of power and a fraud on the people”. It directed the West Bengal government to return the land to the farmers, who originally owned the land, in 12 weeks. The two judges gave separate but concurring judgments.

The common order said “the acquisition of land of the landowners/cultivators in the instant case is declared as illegal and void. Since the nature of the acquired lands has been changed in view of the acquisition, we direct the Survey Settlement Department of the State Government of West Bengal to conduct a survey and identify the mouzas (area) of lands acquired with reference to lay out plans, other connected records, village maps and survey settlement records of the lands in question within 10 weeks in order to identify the respective portions of land which need to be returned to the respective landowners/cultivators. Let possession of the lands be restored to the landowners/cultivators within 12 weeks from the date of receipt of the copy of this judgment and order.”

The bench said the compensation which has already been paid to the land owners or cultivators shall not be recovered by the state government as they have been deprived of the occupation and enjoyment of their lands for the last 10 years. The landowners or cultivators who had not withdrawn their compensation amounts are permitted to withdraw the same which is in deposit either with the land acquisition collector or the court.

A batch of petitions were filed on behalf of farms challenging the proceedings of the acquisition of land to an extent of about 1000 acres within the mouzas – Gopalnagar, Singherberi, Beraberi, Khaserberi and Bajemelia, P.S. Singur, District Hooghly – were dismissed by the Calcutta high court. The appeals are directed against this judgment. In 2008 following agitation in the state, Tata shifted the small car project to Gujarat but held on to the lands stating that it would be used for other ancillary purposes.

The relevant facts are: The state of West Bengal formulated an industrial policy to establish automobile industries in the state to cater to the needs of the people and to solve West Bengal’s unemployment problems. It sought a report from the district collector on the nature of lands required and issued a notification acquiring the lands. It was alleged that due procedure was not followed while acquiring the lands.

Accepting the submissions, Justice Gowda said the state government is required to apply mind to the report of the collector and take the final decision on the objections filed by the landowners and other interested persons. Then and then only, a declaration can be made under Section 6(1) of the Land Acquisition Act,1894 (L.A. Act). In this case there seems to be no application of mind either at the stage of issuance of the notification under Section 4 of the L.A. Act, or the report of collector under Section 5-A (2) of the L.A. Act or the issuance of the final notification under Section 6 of the L.A. Act.

He said such an acquisition, if allowed to sustain, would lead to an attempt to justify any and every acquisition of land belonging to the most vulnerable sections of the society, all in the name of ‘public purpose’ to promote socio-economic development. Before land can be acquired, the procedure consistent with the statutory provisions of law must be followed mandatorily. There is nothing in the law which supports the acquisition of land for a particular company under the guise of ‘public purpose’, rendering the exception provided under Section 3(f)(viii) of the L.A. Act useless and nugatory.

Voicing concern over the bulldozing of the entire process, Justice Gowda said “In this day and age of fast paced development, it is completely understandable for the state government to want to acquire lands to set up industrial units. What, however, cannot be lost sight of is the fact that when the brunt of this ‘development’ is borne by the weakest sections of the society, more so, poor agricultural workers who have no means of raising a voice against the action of the mighty state government, as is the case in the instant fact situation, it is the onerous duty of the state government to ensure that the mandatory procedure laid down under the L.A. Act and the rules framed thereunder are followed scrupulously otherwise the acquisition proceedings will be rendered void ab initio in law.”

He said that the state government cannot treat its compliance with the provisions of the L.A. Act as an empty formality, as that would amount to handing over the eminent domain power of state to the executive. This cannot be permitted in a democratic country which is required to be governed by the rule of law. It is also a well settled principle of law that if the manner of doing a particular act is prescribed under any statute the act must be done in that manner or not at all. It becomes clear that in the instant case, the lands in question were acquired by the state government for a particular company, Tata Motors Limited (TML), at the insistence of that company. By no stretch of the imagination can such a transaction be considered an acquisition for ‘public purpose’. If the acquisition of land in the instant case does not amount to a transaction undertaken for the company’s interest, I do not know what does.

The acquisition in the instant case in favour of the company is thus, improper for not following the mandatory procedure prescribed under the L.A. Act and Rules and therefore the acquisition proceedings are liable to be quashed.

Justice Mishra however, differed with Justice Gowda’s opinion that the notification was not intended for public good. Justice Mishra said, “acquisition of land for establishing such an industry would ultimately benefit the people and the very purpose of industrialisation, generating job opportunities hence it would be open to the state government to invoke the provisions of the LA Act. When government wants to attract the investment, create job opportunities and aims at the development of the state and secondary development, job opportunities, such acquisition is permissible for public purpose.” He, however, agreed with Justice Gowda that proper procedure was not followed and this vitiated the acquisition process. Exercising powers under Article 142 of the constitution to do substantive justice, he set aside the acquisition and granted relief to farmers.

ISRO Announces Plans to Launch a Record 68 Satellites in One Mission

According to officials, if everything goes well, the launch may take place in another six to seven months and “the satellites will be nano in nature from foreign countries.”

Onlookers look at sattelites being launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. Credit: PTI

Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch a record 68 satellites in one mission by early next year, it announced yesterday.

“There are many launches. There is one particular launch we are planning about 68 satellites, that’s also there, that is yet to be finalised,” Rakesh Sasibhushan, chairman and managing director of Antrix told reporters in response to a question on the line up.

Antrix is the commercial arm of ISRO.

According to officials, if everything goes well, the launch may take place in another six to seven months and “the satellites will be nano in nature from foreign countries.”

Setting a record in its space programme, ISRO successfully launched 20 satellites in June this year – including its earth observation Cartosat-2 series. It launched all the satellites in a single mission on board ISRO’s workhorse PSLV-C34 from the spaceport in Sriharkota, Andhra Pradesh.

The space agency earlier sent 10 satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008.

Certain sections of the US have expressed concern regarding ISRO’s launches since the organisation is subsidised by the Indian government. Sasibhushan responded to these concerns saying, “our competitiveness will give answer for this.”

“All launches are subsidised, it is not that we are subsidising or somebody else is subsidising. These government subsidies in the form of R and D (research and development) investment comes in all launch programmes, now some private industries have come up who have started questioning, let them question,” he said.

“We have our own programme, we are competing with the world, we will try to be more competitive and probably that will provide the answer,” he added.

Rakesh said small satellites are going to become a large market and it can be exploited by Indian industries.

“ISRO can play a technology provider’s role there. We would like to get this across to as many industries as possible to see that tomorrow the country is benefited by this.”

South Africa’s ANC Supports Gordhan, Asks Him to Cooperate with Investigation

Finance minister Pravin Gordhan is being investigated for using a surveillance unit set up when he was head of the tax service to spy on politicians.

South African finance minister Pravin Gordhan reacts during a media briefing in Sandton near Johannesburg March 14, 2016. Credit: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

Johannesburg: South Africa’s ruling party backed finance minister Pravin Gordhan on Tuesday but urged him to cooperate with police investigations, days after Gordhan declined to meet detectives looking into his time at the tax office.

Gordhan said last week he had done nothing wrong and had no legal obligation to obey a police summons over the inquiry into whether he used a surveillance unit set up when he was head of the tax service to spy on politicians.

State prosecutors have denied suggestions in local media that Gordhan could be charged over the investigation, but the speculation has hit South African assets.

The main opposition party Democratic Alliance said last week the police investigation into Gordhan was a ‘witch-hunt’.

Political commentators say the probe is supported by a faction allied to President Jacob Zuma, who is said to have been among the politicians spied on by the tax surveillance unit.

Zuma – who has said he backs Gordhan but cannot stop the investigation – has denied warring with the finance minister.

“The ANC reaffirms its unreserved confidence in the minister,” the African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said, warning that speculation over the minister was hurting the economy and the case could be dealt with better.

The rand gained after Mantashe expressed confidence in Gordhan but then went into reverse, falling 0.6% to a session low, after he said the minister must obey the police summons.

“The minister must cooperate with processes. If he has no case to answer he can only prove that through processes,” Mantashe told a news conference.

Mantashe said the investigation into Gordhan should be carried out in a manner that does not embarrass the minister.

“All we are saying is that please deal with this matter in a decent way. We don’t say Pravin Gordhan must be untouchable,” he said, adding the probe should be conducted without ‘having an element of humiliating this minister’.

Analysts said the ANC was split on how to handle the fallout from the Gordhan investigation.

“The ANC is also divided on the question of whether the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan should remain or should be removed, which ever way it turns it will affect the ANC,” said Professor Shadrack Gutto, a law lecturer at the University of South Africa.

Treasury, Eskom row

Mantashe also said the ANC was concerned about a dispute between the treasury and state-owned power utility Eskom.

The treasury on Monday accused Eskom executives of blocking the probe of coal contracts between the utility and a company linked to the wealthy Gupta family that is accused of holding undue political sway over Zuma.

Eskom said it was cooperating with investigations and had not been involved in any wrongdoing.

The public enterprises minister Lynne Brown said she was concerned that the row could lead to the utility being downgraded by credit rating agencies and ordered the utility to provide a report to facilitate the probe.

The utility later said it sent the report to the treasury.

“It has been unfortunate that Eskom and National Treasury have also taken their disagreement to the public domain on matters relating to procurement issues,” Mantashe said.

In another public spat between the treasury and a state-run company, South African arms maker Denel said late on Tuesday it would fight a bid to halt a joint venture it has been pursuing called Denel Asia.

Local media have reported that the company is linked to the Gupta family but Denel said this was not the case and there were no grounds for the Treasury to block the joint venture.

“The allegations that Denel is ‘captured by the Guptas’ are unfounded and politically motivated. The Gupta family has no business joint venture with Denel and none of the Gupta family members or relatives are shareholders in Denel Asia,” Denel said in a statement.

(Reuters)

Family of Slain Activist Kem Ley Flees Cambodia

Kem Ley’s death comes amid rising political tensions between veteran Prime Minister Hun Sen and an opposition hoping to challenge his grip on power at local elections in 2017 and national elections in 2018.

A man holds portrait of Kem Ley, an anti-government figure and the head of a grassroots advocacy group, ‘Khmer for Khmer’, shot dead on July 10, as they attend a funeral procession to carry his body to his hometown, in Phnom Penh July 24, 2016. Credit: Reuters/Samrang Pring

Phnom Penh: The family of murdered Cambodian government critic Kem Ley have fled abroad fearing for their safety, friends of the family said on Wednesday.

Kem Ley, 46, was gunned down in broad daylight at a shop in the capital Phnom Penh on July 10. Tens of thousands turned out for his funeral last month including his heavily pregnant wife Bou Rachana.

His death comes amid rising political tensions between veteran Prime Minister Hun Sen and an opposition hoping to challenge his grip on power at local elections in 2017 and national elections in 2018.

Bou Rachana, who is seven months pregnant and her four sons left Cambodia on Sunday in a car, said Buntenh, a Buddhist monk.

“She visited Angkor Wat in Siem Reap for the last time before leaving,” Buntenh told Reuters, declining to say which country the family fled to.

Buntenh said supporters of Kem Ley had persuaded Bou Rachana to leave Cambodia so she could deliver her baby in a foreign country and the family will later decide whether to seek political asylum.

Tim Malay, head of local group Cambodia Youth Network, said the family had arrived safely at their destination. “Rachana was worried about her safety and the safety of her family,” he said.

Rachana could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

A 38-year-old-man has been charged with Kem Ley’s murder, claiming he killed him over an outstanding debt.

Shortly before he was murdered, Kem Ley gave a radio interview discussing a report by the London-based NGO Global Witness documenting how Hun Sen and his family have amassed millions. The Hun family has dismissed the report.

Many of Kem Ley’s supporters say the murder was political and are skeptical of the official reason given for the killing.

Amidst ‘Coup’ Charge, Venezuela Arrests Opposition Activists Accused of Plotting Violence

The opposition is calling on sympathisers from across the country to march in the capital to push for a recall referendum against President Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro wipes his face while he speaks during a pro-government rally in Caracas, Venezuela August 27, 2016. Credit: Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Caracas: Venezuela has arrested several opposition activists accused of plotting violence during an anti-government rally scheduled for Thursday, President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday as opposition leaders slammed the arrests as intimidation.

The opposition is calling on sympathisers from across the country to march in the capital of Caracas to push for a recall referendum against Maduro, who calls the rally a plot to stir up violence and set the stage for a coup.

The upcoming march follows months of tensions between Maduro and the opposition-controlled legislature, exacerbated by triple-digit inflation, product shortages and a severe economic recession.

“We must win the battle against the coup – before, during and after the dates announced by these fascists,” Maduro said in a televised broadcast. “We’ve captured a group of people carrying important equipment, C4 explosives. We’re trying to capture a number of them in real time.”

Maduro called the opposition party Popular Will ‘the party of violence that is mixed up in the coup of September 1’. He accused opposition leaders of seeking to stage a putsch similar to the one that briefly toppled late socialist leader Hugo Chavez in 2002.

Intelligence agents on Tuesday raided Popular Will’s offices and arrested long-time street activist Carlos Melo, opposition parties said. Popular Will activist Yon Goicoechea was arrested on Monday on charges of carrying explosives.

Another Popular Will leader, jailed former mayor Daniel Ceballos, was transferred to prison from house arrest on Saturday. He was accused of trying to escape his home to plot violence during the march.

Opposition leaders have accused elections authorities of intentionally stalling the recall vote. Maduro’s approval rating in July fell to a nine-month low of 21%, according to pollster Datanalisis.

“We denounce the pathetic way in which the government is seeking to demobilise and intimidate the democratic leadership,” said Jesus Torrealba, leader of the Democratic Unity coalition.

Opposition sympathisers have been walking from far-flung corners of the country to join the Caracas march. Popular Will was founded by Leopoldo Lopez, a former mayor jailed for leading the 2014 anti-government protests. The opposition describes him as a political prisoner and rights groups across the world have pressured Venezuela to release him.

The issue of jailed opposition leaders helped scuttle a brief 2015 rapprochement between Venezuela and the US, its main ideological adversary.

Maduro insists his government does not hold political prisoners and described Lopez as a dangerous criminal.

(Reuters)

Kashmir Unrest: Teenager Killed in Fresh Clashes

The death toll in the ongoing unrest in Kashmir has reached 69. Fresh clashes occurred even as authorities lifted curfew from all areas of Kashmir after 53 days.

Tensions between the state and civilians in Kashmir have not subsided. Photo taken during April, 2016 Credit: PTI

Srinagar: A 15-year-old boy was killed on Wednesday in clashes between security forces and violent protesters in Sopore area, Baramulla district in northern Kashmir, taking the death toll, in the ongoing unrest in the valley, to 69.

Danish Manzoor and six other people sustained injuries when security forces allegedly opened fire at stone-pelting protesters in Lodora in Sopore area, a police official said.

He said Manzoor succumbed to injuries while being shifted to a hospital in Sopore town.

Fresh clashes occurred even as authorities lifted curfew from all areas of Kashmir on Wednesday after 53 days.

“There is no curfew anywhere in Kashmir today. It has been lifted even from the two police station areas in Srinagar – M.R. Gunj and Nowhatta – the only places in the valley where the curbs were in place yesterday,” a police official said earlier.

He said improvement in the situation across Kashmir prompted authorities to lift curfew.

Security forces have been deployed in strength in sensitive areas of the valley to maintain law and order, the official said.

Greater movement of vehicular traffic and people was observed in major areas of the valley, he added

In Srinagar city, where authorities lifted the curfew on Monday, private cars and auto-rickshaws were seen on roads in and around the commercial hub of Lal Chowk.

However, normal life remained disrupted in many other areas of the valley.

While schools, colleges and other educational institutions and shops remained closed, the attendance in government offices and work in banks had improved since Monday, according to the official.

Curfew was first imposed in the entire valley on July 9 in the violent aftermath of Burhan Wani, a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist, being killed in an encounter in Kashmir s Anantnag district a day earlier.

The separatist camp, which is spearheading the agitation in the valley, has extended their strike call till September 1.

Meanwhile, mobile internet continued to remain suspended in the entire valley, where the outgoing facility on prepaid mobiles remained barred.