The thirteenth state conference of Life Insurance Corporation Agents Organisation of India (LICAOI), West Bengal, was held on September 21-22 at Taki in North 24 Parganas district with a resolve to transform the united movement of all agents, employees, and policyholders into a mass movement to “save LIC”. All India president of the organisation, Basudeb Acharya was present at the conference.

The voices of various delegates of the conference, like Shubra Pal of Sodpur, Sultana Khatun of Airmari village in Murshidabad district, and Kanika Majumdar of Behala, echoed that the organisation must be strengthened at any cost. 

Basudeb Acharya said in the public rally at the ground of the Taki Biblabri Sangh at the beginning of the conference that, “The Central government’s policy of killing people has started to weaken the LIC. We have to take up the challenge of saving LIC. Forty-two crore people in the country are policyholders. We have to save our country. The danger is not only for LIC; we are all in danger.”

Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) state secretary Anadi Sahu said that the BJP is ruling the country in the same manner as British-ruled India. “The politics of division is pushing the country to destruction and privatising state-owned enterprises. The unemployment rate is growing. Workers’ safety is decreasing. No social security. Working hours are increasing. The new labour code law must be stopped. If not, the lives of the workers will be in dire danger.”

On the second day of the conference on Thursday, delegates were divided into three groups to discuss the report and discuss the commission’s paper and exchange views. Sushant Samaddar addressed the topic of ‘Life Insurance Corporation, Changed Situation, Responsibilities and Duties of Agents’.

Ishita Mukherjee discussed the ‘Cancel LIC Privatisation Plot’, while Anvika Ganguly discussed the topic of ‘The historical role of women since the dawn of civilisation.’

From the conference, ten resolution was raised, including against LIC disinvestment, saving nationalised industries and saving the country’s economy, cancelling the four labour codes, ensuring social security of LIC agents, full status for women in all fields to build a better society, for better business and better organising, against communalism and separatism, against corruption, fraud and looting, against price hike, protection of the environment for better livelihood, etc.

Two hundred seventy-five delegates from 8 divisions attended the conference. In the discussion, delegates said that there was no alternative but to fight fiercely by taking responsibility from past experience and standing on the ground of reality. The conference resolved to regularly publish the organisation’s mouthpiece ‘Jiwan Barta’, and hold education camps.

CITU North 24 Parganas district secretary Gargi Chatterjee, former MP Nepaldeb Bhattacharya, and the zonal secretary of the organisation, Manoranjan Sarkar, gave congratulatory speeches.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Central Electronics Limited stall at an exhibition. Image Courtesy: Facebook

New Delhi: The employees union of Central Electronics Limited (CEL) have resolve to continue their fight against the disinvestment of the Sahibabad-based public sector enterprise even as latest media reports indicate that the Centre has decided to scrap the sale deal for now.

The Centre has decided to scrap the sale of CEL to Nandal Finance and Leasingprivate Limited as the bidder failed to disclose its ongoing litigation in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), news agency PTI reported quoting a government official earlier this week.

The official, according to the report, said that an insolvency case is pending against the bidder in the NCLT that Nandal Finance hadn’t disclosed at the time of bidding for CEL, and it is in violation of disinvestment guidelines.

CEL Employees Union vice-president TK Thomas told Newsclick over the phone that the union is “cautious enough” since the development does not amount to the withdrawal of the decision to disinvest CEL. “The union will continue to fight against the disinvestment of CEL. It is a profit-making company which must remain in public hands,” he said.

The Centre had approved the strategic disinvestment for Rs 210 crore last November when Nandal Finance had won the bid for sale of 100% equity shareholding in the public sector unit.

In January, the government, however, decided to put brakes on the privatisation of CEL after the employees union approached the Delhi High Court highlighting irregularities in the sale process. In two separate petitions, the union alleged that the expression of interest criteria was “diluted” and Nandal Finance “have poor credentials”.

The decision to scrap the sale highlights that the union’s allegations “hold truth”, Thomas said. “Further, in order to save its own reputation, the DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management) would have now decided to scrap the whole deal,” he said adding, “This, however, does not mean that the decision to privatise CEL is withdrawn. We are cautious enough to know that.”

In-principle approval for the disinvestment was given by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs back in 2016. In the first iteration, due process was followed for the strategic sale of CEL and a ‘request for proposal’ document was shared with the qualified institutional buyers in May 2019. However, no financial bids were received and the process subsequently relaunched in February 2020.

Thomas cautioned that the process can “always be relaunched again”. “The employees union will request the [Delhi High] court to grant permission to us to once again file a petition against the disinvestment of CEL, in case, such a situation arises,” he said.

The next date of hearing is scheduled for October 6 with the union expecting a response from the Centre informing the court about the scrapping of the sale deal. The union is planning to place its request that time.

Functioning under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, the ministry of science and technology, CEL was established in 1974 to commercially export indigenous technology developed by national laboratories and R&D institutions. Over the years, the company has also developed a number of products for the first time in the country through its R&D efforts.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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एस्‍सार कंपनी ने अख़बारों को आज पूरे पन्‍ने का एक विज्ञापन दिया है। विज्ञापन कहता है कि एस्‍सार ने अपनी कंपनियों एस्‍सार ऑयल और वादिनार बंदरगाह की बिक्री कर है जिससे 85,000 करोड़ रुपये प्राप्‍त हुए हैं। कंपनी का दावा है कि यह भारत में हुआ सबसे बड़ा एफडीआइ यानी प्रत्‍यक्ष विदेशी निवेश है। इस सूचना के नीचे नरेंद्र मोदी-पुतिन की मुस्‍कराती तस्‍वीरें छपी हैं।

उसके नीचे की पंक्ति कहती है कि यह एक ऐतिहासिक दिन है जो दोनों देशों के बीच ज्‍यादा साझीदारी के लिए दोनों नेताओं के साझा नजरिये को साथ लाने का काम करता है। सवाल उठता है कि क्‍या एक निजी कंपनी के बिकने को एफडीआइ का नाम दिया जा सकता है? क्‍या देश की एक कंपनी अपने विदेशी कारोबार को बेच दे तो उस पर राष्‍ट्राध्‍यक्ष को गर्व होना चाहिए?

सवाल इससे भी ज्‍यादा बड़ा है क्‍योंकि अख़बारों की इस सौदे से जुड़ी ख़बरों में भी इस बिक्री को एफडीआइ बताया गया है। बिज़नेस स्‍टैंडर्ड की ख़बर में एस्‍सार समूह के निदेशक प्रशांत रुइया के हवाले से कहा गया है कि इस बिक्री से आने वाला आधा पैसा समूह की कर्जदारी को निप्‍आने में खर्च होगा। रुइया के मुताबिक इस बिक्री से आने वाला पैसा विदेशी और स्‍थानीय देनदारों का कर्ज चुकाने में खर्च होगा, जिसकी राशि 88000 करोड़ रुपये है।

अगर कोई कंपनी अपना कारोबार बेचकर कर्ज चुका रही है, तो यह पैसा एफडीआइ कैसे हुआ? अख़बार इस सौदे को ''विन-विन डील'' बता रहा है। अख़बार प्‍वाइंटर में कहता है कि यह देश का सबसे बड़ा एफडीआइ है जिससे एस्‍सार का आधा कर्ज समाप्‍त हो जाएगा।

देश के सबसे बड़े कारोबारी अख़बार दि इकनॉमिक टाइम्‍स की ख़बर के मुताबिक क्रेडिट सुइस का अनुमान है कि एस्‍सार समूह एक लाख करोड़ की कर्जदारी में है जो उसे देश की तीन सबसे बड़ी कर्जदार कंपनियों में शामिल करता है। इस ख़बर में असल बात इस पंक्ति से ज़ाहिर होती है: ''एस्‍सार के साथ यह सौदा क्रेमलिन की कूटनीतिक विजय के रूप में देखा जा रहा है जो पड़ोसी देशों के प्रति रूस के विस्‍तारवादी रवैये के खिलाफ़ मॉस्‍को पर पश्चिम के प्रतिबंधों का असर हलका करने में मदद कर सकता है।'' ख़बर कहती है कि एस्‍सार ऑयल के खरीदार रोसनेफ्ट कंपनी के चेयरमैन इगोर सेचिन पुतिन के करीबी सलाहकारों में से एक हैं।
   
Courtesy: Media Vigil
 

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At a secret conference organised by Israel Minister Gilad Erdan with 150 top supporters of Israel, American right wing pollster Frank Luntz rolled out statistics which show that most US Jewish students don’t see Israel as ‘civilized’ or a ‘democracy”.
 
According to the independent website, Mondoweiss, which attracts a million views a month, Luntz made the disclosure at the secret conference organised to consider ways of combating the growing global campaign, ‘Boycott, Disinvest and Sanctions’ (BDS) movement against Israeli oppression of Palestinians.   
 
Highlights of Luntz’s disclosure:

• The ministry of tourism’s attempt to market Israel as a cool destination (girls and bikinis) has failed.
•  Jewish American students have an increasingly negative image of Israel  
• Just 42% believe Israel wants peace.
• Just 38% believe “Israel is civilized and Western”.
• Just 31% believe Israel is a democracy.
• No less than 21% believe the US should side with the Palestinians.

In November 2014, the Republican pollster and best known propagandist for selling Israel to the American public had conceded that Zionism had become a dirty word for American opinion-making elite. Clearly, his prescription then was to keep reminding Israel’s critics in the US, “we’re allies.” But the magic mantra does not seem to be working.
Mondoweiss now reports that “the new, or not so new, agenda” put forward by Luntz, the “guru of political opinion” at the conference was this: Israel’s supporters should say that they are in favour of a dialogue and peace-building through diplomacy, and accuse BDS supporters of obstructing dialogue, and spreading hate.

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