UPA: The 100 days
From the Left … CPM no to troops for Iraq
New Delhi: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has demanded that the Manmohan Singh Government make it clear that there is no question of sending troops to Iraq to support the "American occupation." The CPI(M) Politburo's demand came in response to a statement by the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, at a press conference with the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, in Washington that the situation in Iraq had changed. The Politburo asserted, "Iraq has been under American occupation for the last 14 months. There is a popular uprising against the brutal occupation."

The CPI(M) said the Council resolution approved the setting up of an interim government in Iraq by June 30. It also approved the continuance of a multinational force under the U.S. command. As far as the interim government was concerned, the U.S. authorities handpicked it. "In fact, the Prime Minister-appointee himself has admitted that he has a longstanding relationship with the CIA. The people of Iraq have had no say whatsoever in constituting the interim government. It is nothing but a creature of the U.S. occupation," the statement said.

To the Right… Najma joins BJP
New Delhi: Najma Heptulla today joined the BJP, a day after it nominated her as a candidate from Rajasthan for the Rajya Sabha elections.

And In the Centre… New Cabinet Secretary
New Delhi: B.K. Chaturvedi, an IAS officer of the 1966 batch, has been appointed Cabinet Secretary to succeed Kamal Pande.
An Uttar Pradesh cadre officer, Chaturvedi is at present the Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He will assume office on Monday.

Blessed are the faithful… The Congress Rajya Sabha list
New Delhi: The Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, the AICC general secretary, Ambika Soni and the Union Minister of State for Programme Implementation, Oscar Fernandes, have been named by the Congress as candidates in the coming Rajya Sabha elections. It has also decided to field sitting MP Vijay Darda from Maharashtra and B.K. Hari Prasad from Karnataka.
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Assocham opposes private sector job reservation
New Delhi: Strongly opposing the reservation for employment in private sector units, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has termed the proposed move a 'stumbling block to progress'. In a representation to the Government the President of Assocham, Mahendra K. Sanghi, said, ``Job reservation in industrial units of private sector should not be done by the Government. This will have a far reaching impact on the industry as it may completely destroy meritocracy in the industrial units of private sector and bring inefficiency". Moreover, the chamber chief said the reservations could bring to the fore `class issues', which can vitiate the working atmosphere in the private sector.

Sanghi said the industry captains were highly worried and concerned of its impact on the efficiency and productivity of a unit in an internationally competitive environment in which the industry is striving to become globally competitive. The industry feels that any action on such a move will be a retrograde step as it may adversely affect the capability of the domestic industrial units.
According to the chamber, it is more worrying since it will have multiplier effect on exports, employment generation and new investments.
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Industry posts 9.4 per cent growth in April
New Delhi: The latest quick estimates of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for April, released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) here on Friday, show that Indian industry registered a healthy 9.4 per cent growth during the first month of the current fiscal, as against 4.2 per cent during April 2003. This comes just a fortnight after the Commerce Ministry's export data for April pointing at a 19.95 per cent growth in dollar terms.

The 9.4 per cent industrial growth for April has been powered by the `manufacturing' index, which has recorded a year-on-year increase of 9.2 per cent, compared to 4.3 per cent in April 2003. The other two major sectors comprising the general IIP - `mining' and `electricity' — have also notched up higher growth rates of 9.5 per cent (6.3 per cent) and 10.7 per cent (1.9 per cent), respectively. The buoyant numbers for the opening month of the current fiscal follows an overall industrial growth rate of 6.9 per cent during 2003-04, against 5.7 per cent for 2002-03. The `use-based' classification of the IIP provides further encouraging news.

The index for `capital goods' — considered a reliable proxy for investment activity in the economy — has surged by 23.2 per cent in April, which is on top of a year-on-year growth of 6.5 per cent for the same month of the preceding fiscal. The indices for `basic goods,' `intermediate goods' and `consumer durables' have also correspondingly registered higher growth rates of 8.2 per cent (2.8 per cent), 9.4 per cent (2.1 per cent) and 17.7 per cent (0.4 per cent), respectively. Only consumer non-durables have shown a lower growth of 3.5 per cent during April 2004, compared to 9.1 per cent in April 2003.
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Fiscal deficit up 52 per cent in April
New Delhi: There has been an almost 52 per cent increase in the Centre's fiscal deficit during the opening month of the current financial year. According to the Controller-General of Accounts in the Finance Ministry, the gross fiscal deficit for April 2004 mounted to Rs 25,998 crore from Rs 17,140 crore during the same month last year.

The revenue deficit (the gap between the Centre's current expenditures and revenue receipts) and primary deficit (revenue deficit net of interest payments) also stood higher at Rs 23,218 crore (Rs 16,340 crore) and Rs 18,401 crore (Rs 11,853 crore) respectively. The main cause of higher fiscal deficit has been the Centre's total expenditure for April at Rs 30,277 crore, over 52 per cent more than the Rs 19,914-crore figure in April 2003.
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Inflation rises marginally to 5.03 per cent
New Delhi: Inflation rose for the third consecutive week to 5.03 per cent for the week-ended May 29. The point-to-point Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation was up marginally by 0.1 per cent from previous week's 5.02 per cent. The index stood at 5.75 per cent during the same period a year ago. The final WPI stood corrected at 180.7 points during the first week of April as against the previous week's figure of 180.5 points.
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Finance Ministers to meet on June 18
Kolkata: The finance ministers of all States will meet in New Delhi on June 18 to discuss a gamut of issues including value-added tax, the West Bengal Finance Minister, Dr Ashim Dasgupta, said. Dasgupta said that the recast of the present Agriculture Infrastructure Credit Fund, which is the erstwhile Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), will also be discussed.

He said that several activities such as construction of roads, bridges, as well as creation of drinking water facilities, healthcare facilities and promotion of mass education was being neglected with the scrapping of the RIDF by the NDA. A roadmap for introduction of VAT and the States' rights over service tax, which garnered Rs 8,000 crore for the Centre last fiscal year, would also be on the agenda. The financial condition of the States caused largely by their inability to access markets directly, will also figure on the agenda of the June 18 meeting.
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