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The much-hyped Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) of Indian Railways, when completed, will change the face of India in moving faced pace heavy haul bulk freight traffic in the country. The project intends to build Western DFC covering 1500 kilometres from Dadri in West Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai via Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The 1800 kilometres long Eastern DFC will start from Dankuni in West Bengal traversing through Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to terminate at Ludhiana in Punjab.

As Punjab Assembly elections near, malevolent stars have started eyeing the Akali Dal. The actions and utterances of top Akali leaders also show emergence of such ominous signs. One need not scratch one’s head to search for reasons for the unfavourable situation developing for the ruling Akali-BJP coalition. It will be a miracle if the ruling leadership succeeds in slowing down, much less reversing, the growing tempo of anti-incumbency during the short span of six months left for the February 2012 elections.

NEW DELHI: The central trade union organisations (CTUOs) having held the All-India Protest Day massively on June 23 against the petroleum price hike, have decided to hold a National Convention in third week of August. They propose to discuss with their leading cadres the issues that need to be taken up and the effective manner these should be organised during the next phase of nationwide struggle against the UPA Government’s utterly callous attitude towards the country’s working class.

The currency markets are facing fresh uncertainty and upheaval following reports about Italy facing a debt crisis after Greece, Spain and Portugal. The euro is feared to lose against the dollar and the latter is already gaining strength. The rupee has gained from the tumult and appreciated against the euro.

KOLKATA: It was learnt in early June that formal peace talks between the ULFA and the Government would begin by June end or July beginning. But that did not happen. Prospects for talks brightened after an eight-member ULFA delegation led by its chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa met Home Minister Chidambaram and Home Secretary G. K. Pillai and rounded off their meetings with a call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on February 14.

Increasingly, it is becoming a matter of a grave public concern as charges of corruption against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government keep piling up and even the seemingly best government intention is interpreted as action to protect the corrupt both inside and outside the officialdom.

A day before the cabinet reshuffle I asked a top source what was holding up the reshuffle and he promptly said it was due to lack of talent that the PM and Sonia Gandhi were not able to decide the changes. He startled me by asking, “Give me ten names “ and I answered that if they were not there, PM should try to get them from the market. In fact, Manmohan Singh is a shining example of how outsiders could adapt to the political system. Late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao chose him to be his Finance minister when there was a total economic chaos in the country. In any case, the Congress cannot complain about lack of talent, as this aspect should have been taken into consideration during the ticket distribution for Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

The second reshuffle or rejig in the Union Council of Ministers by the Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh on July 12, 2011 is disappointing, to say the least. The first such reshuffle was effected in January 2011. Both taken together and as announced by the Prime Minister that it would be the last shuffling of the UPA-11 Government before the next General Elections to the Lok Sabha in May 2014 have come as a damp squib. It seems the UPA-11 has lost the will to govern much less take decisive measures to stem the rots of corruption, inflation and ability to reassure the people, the ultimate sovereign masters that the Government is business like and not adrift. Added to this, the Government appears to have lost the plot.

KOLKATA: For the CPI(M) in West Bengal, rediscovering its lost credibility is proving to be its biggest problem. Post 2011 State Assembly Elections, there has been a spate of self-critical articles in the party mouthpiece, spelling out the reasons for its poll debacle which saw its number of seats come down from 176 in 2006 to 40 in 2011. Leaders have done enough breast-beating in print and in candid interviews given to the electronic media.