PRAGOTI

Accompanying George Bush's presidential determination on Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation were documents that clearly laid out the fact that most of the clauses in the 123 agreement were actually in conformance with the notorious Hyde Act. Be it reprocessing rights or the condition on Iran, the US has interpreted whatever agreement it has made through the 123 with India to be suited exactly with the Hyde Act, putting paid to the Indian government's defence that the Hyde Act has no validity or influence over the 123. It makes immense sense therefore to discard the 123 agreement now, as there exist clear cut cases of violation of understanding or at-least deliberate misunderstanding between the two nations over nuclear cooperation. The Left parties, particularly the CPI(M) which was at the vanguard of the opposition to the 123 agreement, come up with a statement in the context of the presidential determination affair in the US. Attached also are the documents that accompanied the presidential determination.

By undermining its own fuel supply assurances and reprocessing consent, the U.S. has made bilateral nuclear cooperation with India virtually impossible, Siddharth Varadarajan writes in The Hindu.

The following is the text of the statement sent to the United States Congress for approval,by US President. The letter gives full detail of the US administration's determination to overturn the clauses of the signed 123 agreement.

Pragoti publishes first reactions to the NSG waiver given by the cartel to India for enabling civil nuclear cooperation with other nuclear suppliers in the world. Pragoti has for long opposed the nuclear deal and the reasons adduced by the government to push in the deal through. Pragoti also opposes any initiative by the government to haul in nuclear fuel for the purposes of nuclear weapon testing. Here, reactions from MK Bhadrakumar, a career IFS officer, who questions the government rationale to hold China responsible for the NSG waiver complications; Brahma Chellaney, a security expert who suggests the NSG waiver text is a sure shot goalpost shift from the PM's promises to Indian parliament; press communique from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who have led the opposition to the nuclear deal from the forefront of the political spectrum; are carried. Articles; courtesy: Asiatimes.com/ others.

Vijay Prashad addresses a western audience and explains the work of the Left Front in India over the past years vis-a-vis carving a space in the mainstream polity, addressing and articulating peoples' issues, the Nuclear Deal issue and the changed political situation since 2004. Article courtesy: Counterpunch magazine.

Pragoti brings the first reactions to the revelations made from secret letters exchanged between the US Administration and the US Congress over the Indo-US Nuclear Deal. The revelations establish it clearly that all that tainted prime minister Manmohan Singh had promised to the Indian parliament were lies and that the US Administration has been lying low with its interpretations of the 123 Agreement. Pragoti has always believed clearly that the 123 Agreement is in consonance with the notorious Hyde Act, which impinges directly on sovereign India's foreign policy. The letters only go on to confirm that the US government and the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh have used the strategem of double-crossing to hoodwink the critics of the deal. The clarifications issued by the Bush administration are available at http://www.hcfa.house.gov/110/press090208.pdf .

Contents: CPI(M) Party Statement on the latest revelations / Siddharth Varadajaran (strategic affairs editor of The Hindu)'s blog reactions on the same/ Rediff report on the revelations. Courtesy: www.cpim.org / svaradarajan.blogspot.com / www.rediff.com .. Image courtesy: The Hindu Business Line newspaper

The trust vote episode in parliament was no less than a coup d'etat enacted by the present day government to firmly enmesh the Indian nation into the strategic grip of imperialism, writes professor Prabhat Patnaik.Courtesy: Network Ideas.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi couldn't possibly have meant that the United Progressive Alliance government was deferring the monsoon session of Parliament since it didn't want to be 'distracted' from its resolve to remain focused on Jammu and Kashmir.

An NSG waiver "inconsistent" with Hyde Act will "jeopardise" the Indo-US nuclear deal in Congress,a key US lawmaker has warned the Bush administration, insisting that the group should agree to terminate the pact with India if it conducts an atomic test.

Courtesy: The Hindu

[Exclusive interview with Prakash Karat, General Secretary CPI(M) on the current political situation]