The Myawaddy-Thinggan Nyenaung-Kawkareik section of the Asian highway linking India, Myanmar and Thailand has been put into service.

Myanmar Vice President U Nyan Tun, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and Chairman of the Kayin National Union General Saw Mutu Sae Po attended an inaugural ceremony of the service on Sunday, Xinhua reported.

With the 25.6-km-long section becoming operational, travel time between Thinggan Nyenaung and Kawkareik will be reduced from three hours to 45 minutes. The construction of the Asian highway section started in 2012 with the assistance of Thailand. The Asian highway runs from Moreh in India to Thailand’s Maesot via Myanmar’s Tamu, Mandalay and Myawaddy.

The section, also part of the East-West economic corridor of the Greater Mekong Subregion, will not only enhance trade between Myan- mar and Thailand, but also contribute to better links among people in the region. A cornerstone laying ceremony was also held at Myawaddy on Sunday for the building of Myanmar-Thailand Friendship Bridge No.2 to link Thailand’s Maesot with Myanmar’s Myawaddy.

Notably, it has been quite sometime that Myanmar and India has been talking about introducing bus service between Imphal and Mandalay.
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India-Myanmar-ThailandIndia-Myanmar-Thailand road

The nation is going to witness the biggest strike named Bharat Bandh by ten central trade unions on Wednesday, 2nd September. Trade unions are going to protest against anti-worker economic policy proposed by National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government. The strike will affect all major services.

On Monday, ten central trade union said that they will be doing one-day nationwide strike, which is going to be the biggest strike, country has ever witnessed. The strike will express the protest against NDA Government newly proposed anti-work economic policy and the changes made in the labour law.

Why Are They Protesting?

On Wednesday, India will witness biggest strike of our country by 10 trade union against the NDA Government for changing their labour law and Anti-Worker Government policy.

Initially, Bharat Bandh was planned to be called in July. The discussion between 11 trade union leaders and union labour minister, Bandaru Datareya couldn’t yield any result for anti-worker economic policy and labour reforms, and later it postponed to September.

New changes proposed in labour law by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his committee were to increase minimum wages of labour and make them fixed or mandatory across the country.
What Are Union Trade Demanding And What Are The Reaction Of Government On The Demands?

After the failed talk with central ministries, President of Centre of Indian Trade Union, AK Padmanabhan said that they will be going with the strike anyway.

Demands proposed by Union Trade were to seek withdrawal of land acquisition ordinance and changes made in labour law amendments. Trade union also demanded the Government to stop privatisation and foreign investment in defence, insurance and railway.

Some more addition demands include Universalization of Public Distribution System, policies to include price hike, banning speculative trade in commodities and improve employment opportunities.

The Trade Union also suggested broadening the coverage of health insurance and provident fund, and an increase in bonus and workers in schemes live Aanganwadis.

Another suggestion of Trade Union was to increase minimum wages of unskilled labour from Rs. 7,100 to Rs. 10,000 per month. While, for skilled worker it should be increased from Rs. 14,200 to Rs. 20,000 and an average wage of the union must be Rs. 15,000.

In response to the Trade Union, NDA government’s Minister of Labour and Employment said that they are working on 9 of the 12 demands proposed by the Trade Union.

NDA minister also said that the Government is ready to consult with trade union for labour law reforms and said to reconsider their call for a strike in an interest of workers and the nation.

The Trade Union and Government in last two-month have discussed a 12-point charter demand for five times, the government has given a solution of 9 of the 12 demands proposed by the Trade Union positively.

The government has proposed new formula to calculate minimum wages of skilled and non-skilled workers, they also assured a minimum level of pay for workers, working on contract basis. The government is also ready to increase salary limit and double the bonus ceiling.

The Trade Union are stilling demanding over Privatisation and will protest against government policy on Wednesday.
Who Are Protesting And Participating In A Strike?

The nationwide strike was earlier called in July by 11 trade union including BMS but later BMS backed out of the strike, as they want to give some time to parliament, to fulfil their demand for minimum wages. After backing out of strike BMS also requested all unions for thinking again on strike.

After Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and National Front of Trade Union pulled out of nationwide strike by Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), remaining 10 union trade are claiming a combined membership of 15 crore workers from both public and private sector, including bank and insurance companies have decided to go with nationwide strike after their proposal was failed by Central ministry.

Ten central trade union participating in the nationwide strike are CITU, INTUC, AITUC, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, UTUC and LPF.

Many media reports suggest that even coal unions and All-India Bank Employee Association will also join strike protesting against an anti-worker economic policy of NDA Government.
What Will Be An Effect Of A Strike On The Nation?

Around 15 crore workers from public and private enterprise are going on strike, which will affect mainly coal, cement, power, textiles, banks, oil, aviation, insurance and post office.

Transport facilities will be completely closed in many states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab. “Railway being a backbone of India will not be affected by strike”, said Gurudas Dasgupta, General Secretary of All India Trade Union.

Many public sectors undertakings, which are also part of central union trade will not take part in a strike. Thus, service like oil, gas and electricity will not be affected. PSU like ONGC, NTPC and PowerGrid will not take part in the strike.

Ahmedabad: The Patel community has decided to launch a fresh round of agitation for reservation from today amid claims of support from various other sections of the society.

Hardik Patel, who is leading the agitation that plunged Gujarat into violence last week, made the announcement on Monday on his return from Delhi.

“We will start the agitation from Surat tomorrow. We will focus more on taluka and village level this time,” Mr Patel told reporters in Ahmedabad, adding rallies will also be organised in various other parts of the country.

The second round of agitation will attract the attention of the entire nation, he claimed.

“We will make the official announcement tomorrow about our upcoming programmes and rallies to be held in the state. This time, the entire nation will have its eyes on our programme. We will walk on the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi,” Mr Patel said.

During the first round of agitation, a mega rally was held in Ahmedabad on August 25 after which violence erupted in which 10 people were killed.

Giving details of his Delhi visit, Mr Patel said many organisations have extended their support to the ongoing agitation.

He showed letters of various organisations who have extended their support. These include Gujjar Vikas Parishad, Kurmi-Kshatriya Mahasabha, Anjana-Chaudhari Samaj, Rashtriya Gujjar Manch etc.

“We are now getting support from entire India. Gujjars, Kurmis, Chaudharis and many others are with us. Our movement will further spread in other parts. In coming days, we have planned to hold a rally at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

According to him, the total population of Patels, Gujjars and Kurmis in the country is 27 crore.

“We have also planned to take signatures of all 27 crore of our members on an application demanding reservation and hand it over to the Prime Minister,” he said.

Mr Patel also lashed out at the Gujarat police as well as the government for the violence in the state after the crackdown on Patel leaders, hours after the mega rally at GMDC ground on August 25.

“No such incident took place in all the 37 rallies we organised ahead of August 25. I hold police as well as this Gujarat government responsible for inciting violence.

Otherwise, we always walked on the path shown by Gandhiji,” he said.

Mumbai: Media tycoon Peter Mukerjea is recording his statement with the police on the murder of his step-daughter Sheena Bora, allegedly by his wife Indrani Mukerjea and two others.

Last week, the Mumbai police had called the former Star India CEO for questioning and had refused to accept a written statement from him. Mr Mukerjea was told that when the police needed to, they would call him for questioning.

Indrani Mukerjea was arrested on August 24 for the murder of Sheena Bora, her daughter from an earlier relationship, in 2012. She has been accused of killing her over a financial dispute, with the help of her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver.

Peter Mukerjea, who has been married to Indrani Mukerjea for 13 years and set up a media company with her, had first said that he was unaware that Sheena Bora was his wife’s daughter; Indrani Mukerjea had introduced her to the world as her sister.

A few days after the arrest, Mr Mukerjea amended his version to say Sheena Bora did inform him that she was his step-daughter, but he had no reasons not to believe his wife Indrani Mukerjea’s denial of that claim though he found it “difficult to digest”.

Mr Mukerjea maintained that he vaguely remembered the date when he was told about the fact and it was sometime in 2011.

He also claimed that the same thing was communicated to him by his son, Rahul Mukerjea, but he had not believed him as well.

Sheena Bora was engaged to Rahul, Peter Mukerjea’s son from an earlier marriage, when she was murdered on April 24, 2012.

The 24-year-old was strangled in a car, then her body was burnt and dumped in the forests in Raigad, 84 km from Mumbai. The remains were found a month later and buried by the police, which treated the body as unclaimed. For three years, Indrani Mukerjea told family and friends that Sheena had shifted to the US.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi today extended greetings to the people on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan and hoped the festival will strengthen bonds between people.

Gandhi described the festival as a “celebration of mutual bonding between people, as indeed the affection between a brother and a sister”.

She hoped the festival “as always will foster bonds and honour amongst people”.

Raksha Bandhan festival is being celebrated today.

On the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, sisters tie ‘rakhi’ (sacred thread) on the wrists of their brothers which symbolises their love for them while the brothers promise to protect them always.PTI

NEW DELHI: A retired army havildar who was on a relay hunger strike as part of agitation by veterans for early implementation of ‘One Rank One Pension’ was on Saturday rushed to the Army hospital after his health deteriorated.

“Havildar Abhilash Singh has been taken to hospital. He was on relay hunger strike,” an official from the United Front of Ex-Servicemen, the umbrella organisation of veterans carrying out the protest, said.

Besides Singh, four others who were on fast-unto-death have been admitted to hospital after their health deteriorated.

The deadlock over OROP continues even as the protest entered its 76th day on Saturday.

Yesterday the government had sought “some more time” to roll out OROP.

Close to 22 lakh retired servicemen and over six lakh war widows stand to be the immediate beneficiaries of the scheme, which envisages a uniform pension for the defence personnel who retire in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement.

Currently, the pension for retired personnel is based on the Pay Commission recommendations of the time when he or she retired. So, a Major General who retired in 1996 draws less pension than a Lt Colonel who retired after 1996.

Cuttack, Aug 27 (PTI) Allowing a plea of Odisha Police, a court here has ordered the Choudwar jail authorities to make arrangements for video conferencing (VC) to avoid physical production of arrested godman Santosh Roul and his adopted son Satyam in court.

Facing problems in production of the father-son duo in the court and apprehending threat to their lives, the Crime Branch of the police had urged the court to dispense with their physical production and hold the hearing through video conferencing.

The court of sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) here yesterday accepted the Crime Branch plea and directed the jail authorities to make necessary arrangements for video conferencing.

Both the accused, who are under judicial custody, were directed for appearance in the court on September 2.

Earlier, under heavy escort, the duo were made to travel from jail to court and vice versa. The Crime Branch had also beefed up security in the court premises as mobs were chasing and heckling the alleged fake godman and his son.

Under section 167 of CrPC the accused under judicial custody are to be produced in the court once in every fortnight till the charge sheets are filed

RINGMASTER MAMATA OFFERS CARROT TO GJM SAYS BENGAL WILL DROP 115 CASES AGAINST MORCHA

Writes: Vivek Chhetri

Mamata Banerjee today played the ringmaster of hill politics, announcing a development board for Bhutias and dropping 115 cases against leaders of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha a little later, which had earlier accused the chief minister of resorting to a divide and rule policy by forming such panels.

Mamata capped the day’s developments by saying she would, for the first time, hold a meeting of the tribal advisory council tomorrow at Lal Kothi, the administrative headquarters of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).

Morcha chief Bimal Gurung, who had postponed his trip to Delhi by two days to welcome the chief minister, sat quietly as the chief minister made the comments.

Aware that the announcement might not go down well with Morcha leaders, Mamata tried to do a balancing act. Soon after the programme, Mamata met a seven-member Morcha delegation, including senior party leaders Roshan Giri, Binay Tamang, Trilok Kumar Dewan and Harka Bahadur Chhetri and announced after the session:

“In the first phase, we have decided to withdraw 115 cases slapped on Morcha leaders and supporters for blocking roads before 2011. We must all work together and we are working together.”

During the tripartite agreement to form the GTA, it had been agreed upon that all cases slapped by the state government on statehood agitators, except for murder, would be withdrawn.

Till today, none has been withdrawn despite the Morcha raising the issue at various bipartite and tripartite meetings.

The Morcha claims the government had registered around 650 cases against party leaders and activists between 2007 and 2011.

When Giri was asked about the formation of the Bhutia board after the meeting with Mamata, he said: “Leave it now.”

Hill sources said the Morcha was not sure how to react to Mamata’s twin strategies. Development boards have been Mamata’s trump card to expand her support base among various hill communities. The strategy has yielded results to some extent, strengthening the party and creating a platform to take on the Morcha.

A day after her relations with Gurung strained in 2013 after Morcha supporters protested at a government programme in Darjeeling against her announcement that Bengal would not be divided, Mamata expressed her wish of forming a Lepcha development board. On February 6, 2013, the cabinet cleared the formation of the Mayel Lyang Lepcha Development Board.

When the Morcha renewed its agitation after the Centre agreed to form Telangana, Mamata visited Kalimpong on September 3, 2013, responding to an invitation from the Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association. Thousands of Lepchas had attended the programme although the Morcha had urged people not to step out of their houses.

Just before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the chief minister had announced a board for the Tamangs, who make up about 15 per cent of the hill population.

On January 23 this year, Mamata announced the formation of a Sherpa development board in the presence of Gurung at Chowrasta.

Immediately after the announcement in January, Giri had said: “This is a divide-and-rule policy. If a board is formed for the Sherpas, similar boards must be set up for all hill communities. The (Sherpa) board should be brought under the GTA.”

All development boards are under the state’s backward classes welfare department while the GTA runs the hill administration.

Many believe that the decision to form the development board has paid dividends for Trinamul as during the last parliamentary elections, the party had managed to get around 90,000 votes in the Darjeeling hills.

The Bhutia community maintains it has around two lakh members in Darjeeling district. In the hills, there are around 50,000 Lepchas and more than 2 lakh Tamangs. The Sherpa community claims that its population is over one lakh.

(news source The Telegraph)