Karat, D. Raja visit Jaitapur
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat. File photo
Police detain Congress workers for trying to disrupt meeting
A group of Congress workers alleged to be supporters of Minister Narayan Rane, MLA from the Konkan, were rounded up and detained on Tuesday as they tried to disrupt a meeting of activists, attended by the Communist Party of India. The police said there was no lathi charge, but around 12 persons were picked up from the meeting venue in Ratnagiri district.
On Tuesday, Prakash Karat, general secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist), and D. Raja, MP and CPI national secretary, visited Jaitapur, the site of the proposed nuclear power plant, along with activist Vaishali Patil and others. The delegation of Left parties met the family of Tabrez Sayekar, who was killed in the police firing in April.
“It was a courtesy visit to express condolences. There was a meeting at Nate village and another one at Ratnagiri. The two leaders also met Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited officials who took them on a tour of the site,” Vivek Monteiro, member, Maharashtra State Committee of the CPI (M), told The Hindu over telephone.
Meet locals, leaders
“In Mithgavane village, they met the local people and leaders. The people said the Jaitapur issue was significant for the whole country. They said the struggle would be expanded to other parts of Maharashtra and the country,” Mr. Monteiro said.
The Ratnagiri police told The Hindu that some 10 to 12 Congress workers gathered at the meeting venue. “They have been taken to the police station. We are taking action against them,” the police said.
This is the second incident in the past few days that organised groups tried to disrupt the meetings of Jaitapur activists.
On Sunday, a group of unidentified persons barged into a meeting and created a ruckus.
Union Council of Ministers - July 12, 2011
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Dr Manmohan Singh : Prime Minister and also in-charge of the Ministries/Departments not specifically allocated to the charge of any Minister viz, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions; Planning; Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space
Cabinet Ministers
Pranab Mukherjee : Finance
Sharad Pawar : Agriculture; Food Processing Industries
A K Antony : Defence P Chidambaram : Home Affairs S M Krishna : External Affairs
Virbhadra Singh : Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Vilasrao Deshmukh : Science and Technology and Earth Sciences
Ghulam Nabi Azad : Health and Family Welfare
Sushil Kumar Shinde : Power
M Veerappa Moily : Corporate Affairs
Dr Farooq Abdullah : New and Renewable Energy
S Jaipal Reddy : Petroleum and Natural Gas
Kamal Nath : Urban Development
Vayalar Ravi : Overseas Indian Affairs; Civil Aviation.
Ambika Soni : Information and Broadcasting
Mallikarjun Kharge : Labour and Employment
Kapil Sibal : Human Resource Development; Communications and Information Technology.
Anand Sharma : Commerce and Industry; Textiles
C P Joshi : Road Transport and Highways
Kumari Selja : Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation; Culture
Subodh Kant Sahay : Tourism
G K Vasan : Shipping
P K Bansal : Parliamentary Affairs; Water
Resources Mukul Wasnik : Social Justice and Empowerment
M K Alagiri : Chemicals and Fertilizers
Praful Patel : Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
Shriprakash Jaiswal : Coal
Salman Khurshid : Law and Justice; Minority Affairs
V Kishore Chandra Deo : Tribal Affairs and Panchayati Raj
Beni Prasad Verma : Steel
Dinesh Trivedi : Railways
Jairam Ramesh : Rural Development.
Ministers of State (Independent Charge)
Dinsha J Patel : Mines
Krishna Tirath : Women and Child Development
Ajay Maken : Youth Affairs and Sports
Prof K V Thomas : Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
Srikant Jena : Statistics and Programme Implementation and Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers
Jayanthi Natarajan : Environment and Forests
Paban Singh Ghatowar : Development of North Eastern Region
Gurudas Kamat : Drinking Water and Sanitation Ministers of State
Ministers of State
E Ahamed : External Affairs; HRD
Mullappally Ramachandran: Home Affairs
V Narayanasamy : Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; PMO
Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia: Commerce and Industry
D Purandeswari : HRD
K H Muniappa : Railways
Panabaka Lakshmi : Textiles
Namo Narain Meena : Finance
M M Pallam Raju : Defence
Saugata Ray : Urban Development
S S Palanimanickam : Finance.
Jitin Prasada : Road Transport and Highways
Preneet Kaur : External Affairs
Harish Rawat : Agriculture and Food Processing Industries; Parliamentary Affairs
Bharatsinh Solanki : Railways
Mahadev S Khandela : Tribal Affairs
Sisir Adhikari : Rural Development
Sultan Ahmed : Tourism
Mukul Roy : Shipping
Choudhury Mohan Jatua : Information and Broadcasting
D Napoleon : Social Justice and Empowerment
S Jagathrakshakan : Information and Broadcasting
S Gandhiselvan : Health and Family Welfare
Tusharbhai Chaudhary : Road Transport and Highways
Sachin Pilot : Communications and Information Technology
Prateek Prakashbapu Patil: Coal
R P N Singh : Petroleum and Natural Gas; Corporate Affairs
Vincent Pala : Water Resources; Minority Affairs
Pradeep Jain : Rural Development
Agatha Sangma : Rural Development
Ashwani Kumar : Planning; Science and Technology and Earth Sciences
K C Venugopal : Power
Sudip Bandyopadhyay : Health and Family Welfare
Charan Das Mahant : Agriculture and Food Processing Industries
Jitendra Singh : Home Affairs
Milind Deora : Communications and Information Technology
Rajeev Shukla : Parliamentary Affairs.
It was business as usual for Jairam Ramesh in his new Rural Development Ministry where he held extensive meetings with officials on his first day that stretched past midnight.
Mr. Ramesh, who had a controversial stint as Environment Minister, assumed charge of the new ministry immediately after taking oath as Cabinet Minister at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Tuesday evening and flagged the land acquisition bill as his priority.
He held discussions with Ministers of State and senior officials on various issues and met two members of the National Advisory Council (NAC) which had recently made recommendations on the Land Acquisition Bill.
“We will soon put out a draft Bill for public debate by middle of next week. That was my approach in the Environment Ministry and it will be the same in Rural Development ministry,” he said.
Mr. Ramesh said besides compensation to land owners, he felt that the issue of giving benefits to those whose livelihoods depend on the land to be acquired also needs to be addressed.
“It is not just compensation to land owners but more important issue is to compensate those whose livelihood depends on the land being acquired. This is the most important matter. Compensation is the second important issue,” he said.
Mr. Ramesh said he held extensive meetings in the ministry till 1:00 A.M. and followed it up with more discussions on Wednesday morning.
“The purpose for which the land is being acquired -- whether it is for critical infrastructure or golf courses -- are important issues that have to be discussed,” he said.
In the Cabinet reshuffle effected by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, Mr. Ramesh was elevated from the rank of Minister of State (Independent Charge) to a Cabinet Minister and given the Rural Development portfolio.
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