Suspected Maoist Attack on Train

The Maoists have vowed to observe a "black week" and a rail attack seems to be part of this.

The Hindustan Times wrote,

The Indian Railways said sabotage by suspected Maoist guerrillas may have caused the train derailment in West Bengal that left 20 people dead and over 100 injured early Friday.

"We suspect it is a case of sabotage. The driver (of the passenger train) has reported to have heard a large sound. There was definite tinkering with the tracks," member railway board Vivek Sahai told reporters in New Delhi.

The sleeping passengers were killed when a goods train rammed into four bogies of the Gyaneshwari Express that jumped rails at 1:30 am on Friday morning allegedly after fish plates were removed and portions of tracks cut out deep inside Maoist-dominated West Midnapore district of West Bengal.

This comment from the Wall Street Journal India section is not that common in print.

President Patil met President Hu Jintao; the First Visit in Ten Years by an Indian Head of State to China

A very significant visit by the Indian President to China this week, and it seems that no nicety has been spared.

India needs China's support in her bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
I met the Indian President on my visit to Delhi recently, she was loquacious and answered all my questions at length.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's First UPA 2 Press Conference

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave his first press conference and addressed two major issues; his relationship with Sonia Gandhi as well the matter of Rahul Gandhi. Dr Singh was also asked about Naxalism, relations with Pakistan, and dissent within his cabinet.

This is the first anniversary of UPA 2.

19 Years Ago Tonight, Rajiv Gandhi was Assassinated

It was while campaigning on 21st May 1991 in Tamil Nadu at a rally that Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a LTTE human bomber.It was a rare early instance of a belt bomb being used. The blast blew out the whole of the front of Rajiv's face, as can be seen from photos of the time. In Delhi, his memorial site is called Vir Bhumi and I visited it ten days ago, around 36 hours before returning to london.

The site was being prepared for today's memorial ceremony, noted in Indian newspapers today.

This day is commemorated every year at Vir Bhumi, and is also called "Anti-Terrorism Day" in India.

The Fight Centres on the Indian State of UP

I visited the royal constituencies of UP recently in India where Mayawati holds sway. But Rahul Gandhi is working hard here, as this update demonstrates.

The maximum number of MPs to the Lower House come from UP and also the maximum number of Indian Prime Ministers hail from this state.

Sonia Gandhi's Comment on Naxalism

The Hindu newspaper and most other outlets carried UPA Chairperson's comment on the Naxal issue, which appeared to be an approach appreciating both the Home Minister's tough stance while acknowledging the needs of the indigenous poor.

The comment appeared in the Congress Party's own journal Sandesh.

Rahul Continuing to Visit Election Constituencies

Rahul Gandhi is paying attention to West Bengal, where elections are due in 2011.

I understand that these visits are often in collaboration with senior, older party members and use local Congress chiefs for co-ordination. The results are carefully monitored and assessed.

West Bengal traditionally has a Left wing following. The left has seen a dent in its popularity recently, but will always have a place in Indian politics.

The Communist Party HQ in Delhi had the least security of any major party HQ, when I visited, and the least amount of staff serving its officials. Just a couple of guys at reception.

Rahul Gandhi takes Bill Gates to his Constituency

I followed Rahul Gandhi around his constituency while I was in India recently and it seems that Bill Gates is keen on helping Rahul out there.

Back in London from Delhi, to a Coalition Government - Something Indians Know All About

A bit jetlagged, I didn't get up in time to respond to the invitation to attend the first Con-Dem Downing Street Press Conference in the Rose Garden but in any event, have been given this first communique on negotiations so far...take a look at the point at number 9 on the euro...

12/05/2010
Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition negotiations

Agreements reached

11 May 2010

This document sets out agreements reached between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats on a
range of issues. These are the issues that needed to be resolved between us in order for us to work
together as a strong and stable government. It will be followed in due course by a final Coalition
Agreement, covering the full range of policy and including foreign, defence and domestic policy
issues not covered in this document.
1. Deficit Reduction
The parties agree that deficit reduction and continuing to ensure economic recovery is the most
urgent issue facing Britain. We have therefore agreed that there will need to be:
a significantly accelerated reduction in the structural deficit over the course of a Parliament,
with the main burden of deficit reduction borne by reduced spending rather than increased
taxes;
arrangements that will protect those on low incomes from the effect of public sector pay
constraint and other spending constraints; and
- protection of jobs by stopping Labour's proposed jobs tax.
The parties agree that a plan for deficit reduction should be set out in an emergency budget within
50 days of the signing of any agreement; the parties note that the credibility of a plan on deficit
reduction depends on its long-term deliverability, not just the depth of immediate cuts. New
forecasts of growth and borrowing should be made by an independent Office for Budget
Responsibility for this emergency budget.
The parties agree that modest cuts of £6 billion to non-front line services can be made within the
financial year 2010-11, subject to advice from the Treasury and the Bank of England on their
feasibility and advisability. Some proportion of these savings can be used to support jobs, for
example through the cancelling of some backdated demands for business rates. Other policies upon
which we are agreed will further support job creation and green investment, such as work
programmes for the unemployed and a green deal for energy efficiency investment.
The parties agree that reductions can be made to the Child Trust Fund and tax credits for higher
earners.
2. Spending Review - NHS. Schools and a Fairer Society
The parties agree that a full Spending Review should be held, reporting this Autumn, following a
fully consultative process involving all tiers of government and the private sector.
The parties agree that funding for the NHS should increase in real terms in each year of the
Parliament, while recognising the impact this decision would have on other departments. The target
of spending 0.7% of GNI on overseas aid will also remain in place.
We will fund a significant premium for disadvantaged pupils from outside the schools budget by
reductions in spending elsewhere.
1
The parties commit to holding a full Strategic Security and Defence Review alongside the Spending
Review with strong involvement of the Treasury.
The Government will be committed to the maintenance of Britain's nuclear deterrent, and have
agreed that the renewal of Trident should be scrutinised to ensure value for money. Liberal
Democrats will continue to make the case for alternatives. We will immediately play a strong role
in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, and press for continued progress on
multilateral disarmament.
The parties commit to establishing an independent commission to review the long term affordability
of public sector pensions, while protecting accrued rights.
We will restore the earnings link for the basic state pension from April 2011 with a "triple
guarantee" that pensions are raised by the higher of earnings, prices or 2.5%, as proposed by the
Liberal Democrats.
3. Tax Measures
The parties agree that the personal allowance for income tax should be increased in order to help
lower and middle income earners. We agree to announce in the first Budget a substantial increase in
the personal allowance from April 2011, with the benefits focused on those with lower and middle
incomes. This will be funded with the money that would have been used to pay for the increase in
Employee National Insurance thresholds proposed by the Conservatives, as well as revenues from
increases in Capital Gains Tax rates for non-business assets as described below. The increase in
Employer National Insurance thresholds proposed by the Conservatives will go ahead in order to
stop Labour's jobs tax. We also agree to a longer term policy objective of further increasing the
personal allowance to £10,000, making further real terms steps each year towards this objective.
We agree that this should take priority over other tax cuts, including cuts to Inheritance Tax. We
also agree that provision will be made for Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain on budget resolutions to
introduce transferable tax allowances for married couples without prejudice to this coalition
agreement.
The parties agree that a switch should be made to a per-plane, rather than per-passenger duty; a
proportion of any increased revenues over time will be used to help fund increases in the personal
allowance.
We further agree to seek a detailed agreement on taxing non-business capital gains at rates similar
or close to those applied to income, with generous exemptions for entrepreneurial business
activities.
The parties agree that tackling tax avoidance is essential for the new government, and that all efforts
will be made to do so, including detailed development of Liberal Democrat proposals.
4. Banking Reform
The parties agree that reform to the banking system is essential to avoid a repeat of Labour's
financial crisis, to promote a competitive economy, to sustain the recovery and to protect and
sustain jobs.
We agree that a banking levy will be introduced. We will seek a detailed agreement on
implementation.
We agree to bring forward detailed proposals for robust action to tackle unacceptable bonuses in the
financial services sector; in developing these proposals, we will ensure they are effective in
reducing risk.
We agree to bring forward detailed proposals to foster diversity, promote mutuals and create a more
competitive banking industry.
We agree that ensuring the flow of credit to viable SMEs is essential for supporting growth and
should be a core priority for a new government, and we will work together to develop effective
proposals to do so. This will include consideration of both a major loan guarantee scheme and the
use of net lending targets for the nationalised banks.
The parties wish to reduce systemic risk in the banking system and will establish an independent
commission to investigate the complex issue of separating retail and investment banking in a
sustainable way; while recognising that this would take time to get right, the commission will be
given an initial time frame of one year to report.
The parties agree that the regulatory system needs reform to avoid a repeat of Labour's financial
crisis. We agree to bring forward proposals to give the Bank of England control of macro-prudential
regulation and oversight of micro-prudential regulation.
The parties also agree to rule out joining the European Single Currency during the duration of this
agreement.
5. Immigration
We have agreed that there should be an annual limit on the number of non-EU economic migrants
admitted into the UK to live and work. We will consider jointly the mechanism for implementing
the limit. We will end the detention of children for immigration purposes.
6. Political Reform
The parties agree to the establishment of five year fixed-term parliaments. A Conservative-Liberal
Democrat coalition government will put a binding motion before the House of Commons in the first
days following this agreement stating that the next general election will be held on the first
Thursday of May 2015. Following this motion, legislation will be brought forward to make
provision for fixed term parliaments of five years. This legislation will also provide for dissolution
if 55% or more of the House votes in favour.
The parties will bring forward a Referendum Bill on electoral reform, which includes provision for
the introduction of the Alternative Vote in the event of a positive result in the referendum, as well
as for the creation of fewer and more equal sized constituencies. Both parties will whip their
Parliamentary Parties in both Houses to support a simple majority referendum on the Alternative
Vote, without prejudice to the positions parties will take during such a referendum.
The parties will bring forward early legislation to introduce a power of recall, allowing voters to
force a by-election where an MP was found to have engaged in serious wrongdoing and having had
a petition calling for a by-election signed by 10% of his or her constituents.
We agree to establish a committee to bring forward proposals for a wholly or mainly elected upper
chamber on the basis of proportional representation. The committee will come forward with a draft
motions by December 2010. It is likely that this bill will advocate single long terms of office. It is
also likely there will be a grandfathering system for current Peers. In the interim, Lords
appointments will be made with the objective of creating a second chamber reflective of the share
of the vote secured by the political parties in the last general election.
The parties will bring forward the proposals of the Wright Committee for reform to the House of
Commons in full - starting with the proposed committee for management of programmed business
and including government business within its scope by the third year of the Parliament.
The parties agree to reduce electoral fraud by speeding up the implementation of individual voter
registration.
We have agreed to establish a commission to consider the 'West Lothian question'.
The parties agree to the implementation of the Caiman Commission proposals and the offer of a
referendum on further Welsh devolution.
The parties will tackle lobbying through introducing a statutory register of lobbyists. We also agree
to pursue a detailed agreement on limiting donations and reforming party funding in order to
remove big money from politics.
The parties will promote the radical devolution of power and greater financial autonomy to local
government and community groups. This will include a full review of local government finance.
7. Pensions and Welfare
The parties agree to phase out the default retirement age and hold a review to set the date at which
the state pension age starts to rise to 66, although it will not be sooner than 2016 for men and 2020
for women. We agree to end the rules requiring compulsory annuitisation at 75.
We agree to implement the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman's recommendation to make fair
and transparent payments to Equitable Life policy holders, through an independent payment
scheme, for their relative loss as a consequence of regulatory failure.
The parties agree to end all existing welfare to work programmes and to create a single welfare to
work programme to help all unemployed people get back into work.
We agree that Jobseeker's Allowance claimants facing the most significant barriers to work should
be referred to the aforementioned newly created welfare to work programme immediately, not after
12 months as is currently the case. We agree that Jobseeker's Allowance claimants aged under 25
should be referred to the programme after a maximum of six months.
The parties agree to realign contracts with welfare to work service providers to reflect more closely
the results they achieve in getting people back into work.
We agree that the funding mechanism used by government to finance welfare to work programmes
should be reformed to reflect the fact that initial investment delivers later savings in lower benefit
expenditure.
We agree that receipt of benefits for those able to work should be conditional on the willingness to
work.
8. Education
Schools
We agree to promote the reform of schools in order to ensure:
that new providers can enter the state school system in response to parental demand;
that all schools have greater freedom over curriculum; and,
that all schools are held properly accountable.
Higher education
We await Lord Browne's final report into higher education funding, and will judge its proposals
against the need to:
increase social mobility;
take into account the impact on student debt;
ensure a properly funded university sector;
improve the quality of teaching;
advance scholarship; and,
- attract a higher proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
If the response of the Government to Lord Browne's report is one that Liberal Democrats cannot
accept, then arrangements will be made to enable Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain in any vote.
9. Relations with the EU
We agree that the British Government will be a positive participant in the European Union, playing
a strong and positive role with our partners, with the goal of ensuring that all the nations of Europe
are equipped to face the challenges of the 21st century: global competitiveness, global warming and
global poverty.
We agree that there should be no further transfer of sovereignty or powers over the course of the
next Parliament. We will examine the balance of the EU's existing competences and will, in
particular, work to limit the application of the Working Time Directive in the United Kingdom.
We agree that we will amend the 1972 European Communities Act so that any proposed future
Treaty that transferred areas of power, or competences, would be subject to a referendum on that
Treaty - a 'referendum lock'. We will amend the 1972 European Communities Act so that the use
of any passerelle would require primary legislation.
We will examine the case for a United Kingdom Sovereignty Bill to make it clear that ultimate
authority remains with Parliament.
We agree that Britain will not join or prepare to join the Euro in this Parliament.
We agree that we will strongly defend the UK's national interests in the forthcoming EU budget
negotiations and that the EU budget should only focus on those areas where the EU can add value.
We agree that we will press for the European Parliament only to have one seat, in Brussels.
We agree that we will approach forthcoming legislation in the area of criminal justice on a case by
case basis, with a view to maximising our country's security, protecting Britain's civil liberties and
preserving the integrity of our criminal justice system. Britain will not participate in the
establishment of any European Public Prosecutor.
10. Civil liberties
The parties agree to implement a full programme of measures to reverse the substantial erosion of
civil liberties under the Labour Government and roll back state intrusion.
This will include:
A Freedom or Great Repeal Bill.
- The scrapping of ID card scheme, the National Identity register, the next generation of
biometric passports and the Contact Point Database.
Outlawing the finger-printing of children at school without parental permission.
- The extension of the scope of the Freedom of Information Act to provide greater
transparency.
- Adopting the protections of the Scottish model for the DNA database.
- The protection of historic freedoms through the defence of trial by jury.
The restoration of rights to non-violent protest.
- The review of libel laws to protect freedom of speech.
Safeguards against the misuse of anti-terrorism legislation.
Further regulation of CCTV.
- Ending of storage of internet and email records without good reason.
- A new mechanism to prevent the proliferation of unnecessary new criminal offences.
11. Environment
The parties agree to implement a full programme of measures to fulfil our joint ambitions for a low
carbon and eco-friendly economy, including:
The establishment of a smart grid and the roll-out of smart meters.
- The full establishment of feed-in tariff systems in electricity - as well as the maintenance of
banded ROCs.
Measures to promote a huge increase in energy from waste through anaerobic digestion.
- The creation of a green investment bank.
- The provision of home energy improvement paid for by the savings from lower energy bills.
Retention of energy performance certificates while scrapping HIPs.
Measures to encourage marine energy.
The establishment of an emissions performance standard that will prevent coal-fired power
stations being built unless they are equipped with sufficient CCS to meet the emissions
performance standard.
The establishment of a high-speed rail network.
- The cancellation of the third runway at Heathrow.
The refusal of additional runways at Gatwick and Stansted.
- The replacement of the Air Passenger Duty with a per flight duty.
The provision of a floor price for carbon, as well as efforts to persuade the EU to move
towards full auctioning of ETS permits.
Measures to make the import or possession of illegal timber a criminal offence.
Measures to promote green spaces and wildlife corridors in order to halt the loss of habitats
and restore biodiversity.
Mandating a national recharging network for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Continuation of the present Government's proposals for public sector investment in CCS
technology for four coal-fired power stations; and a specific commitment to reduce central
government carbon emissions by 10 per cent within 12 months.
We are agreed that we would seek to increase the target for energy from renewable sources,
subject to the advice of the Climate Change Committee.
Liberal Democrats have long opposed any new nuclear construction. Conservatives, by contrast, are
committed to allowing the replacement of existing nuclear power stations provided they are subject
to the normal planning process for major projects (under a new national planning statement) and
provided also that they receive no public subsidy.
We have agreed a process that will allow Liberal Democrats to maintain their opposition to nuclear
power while permitting the government to bring forward the national planning statement for
ratification by Parliament so that new nuclear construction becomes possible.
This process will involve:
the government completing the drafting of a national planning statement and putting it
before Parliament;
specific agreement that a Liberal Democrat spokesman will speak against the planning
statement, but that Liberal Democrat MPs will abstain; and
- clarity that this will not be regarded as an issue of confidence