Striking workers resort to arson in Noida, nationwide bandh peaceful

Noida/New Delhi/Mumbai/Kolkata, Feb 20: Angry protesting workers went on a rampage in Noida Phase two, Hosiery complex today as they set on fire vehicles parked outside factories. Police haad to resort to firing teargas shells to disperse the strikers. The workers also set fire to a Noida Fire Brigade vehicle and ransacked factories and shops, where work was in progress. The two-day strike call given by the major trade unions had little effect in the national capital where, buses, Delhi Metro and taxis plied normally. The same was the scene in Mumbai, but in Kolkata, the Left trade unions ensured a complete bandh. In Ambala, Haryana, an AITUC leader Narender Singh was crushed by a bus, as he was trying to prvent plying of Haryana Roadways buses. The protesters damaged several vehicles parked in the vicinity. In Bihar, workers tried to stop running of trains in Jehanabad and Barh, but life was normal in Patna. A couple on a motorbike was beaten by bandh supporters at the busy Dak Bungalow square. The husband was beaten up by rampaging protesters with sticks, and police had to rescue the man. Striking auto drivers thrashed an auto driver taking a passenger at the New Delhi Railway Station this morning. Hundreds of commuters who arrived at the New Delhi station faced problems in reaching their homes. CPI(ML) workers in Jehanabad, Bihar ransacked the railway station and tried to stop plying of trains and trucks. Bus transport across Uttar Pradesh was paralysed as the UP Roadways staff went on 2-day strike. Hundreds of Rajasthan Roadways buses remained in depots, as the workers joined the strike. CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta claimed the first day of the strike was a success. He described it as unprecedented. "The government is not going to suffer losses. It's the common people which is suffering losses due to rampant inflation and anti-people policies", Dasgupta said. The two-day strike has hit banking and coal mining industries across India. In Delhi, Mumbai , Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and other cities, public sector banks downed their shutters as the staff went on 2-day strike. Hyderabad: Coal production came to a halt, and transportation was hit in Andhra Pradesh. Coal production came to a halt in the mines of the state-owned Singareni Collieries, with 65,000 workers in the mines spread across four districts of Telangana participating in the strike. The company officials said the strike would hit two lakh tonnes of coal production a day.Police stepped up security at mines in Karimnagar, Khammam, Warangal and Adilabad districts to provide security to those who want to work.The strike has also hit Vishakapatnam Steel Plant, another major public sector unit in the state. Over 10,000 permanent and contract employees of the plant joined the strike.The shutdown also hit work at Vishakapatnam port, with employees staying away from work Wednesday.The strike was partial in state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC). Nearly 50 percent of the buses were plying.Majority of autorickshaws went off the roads in Hyderabad and other towns since midnight, with auto drivers' unions joining the strike to press their demands, including the hike in minimum fare and an end to harassment by traffic police. The strike by three-wheelers has caused commuters to depend on a few buses that continue to ply in Hyderabad and surrounding areas, causing much inconvenience.Employees of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) also joined the strike, and this is likely to have an impact on sanitation in the state capital. The workers took out a rally in support of their demands.The two-day strike has been called jointly by the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Indian Trade Union Congress (INTUC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC) and other such central organisations.The trade unions are demanding concrete measures for containing inflation, steps for employment generation, universal social security, and making the minimum wage Rs.10,000 per month, along with daily allowance. Jaipur: Public transport and banking were affected in the Rajasthan capital Wednesday on the first day of the two-day countrywide strike called by various unions protesting the government's alleged anti-people and anti-labour policies and inability to control price rise.Though schools and colleges were open in the city, attendance of students was thin as buses and autorickshaws stayed off the roads. Raj Bihari Sharma, state general secretary of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, said the strike had support from the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation's employees union and other transport unions."No auto, mini-bus or low-floor bus and other transport vehicle has plied on the roads since morning," said Sharma.Sharma added that at least eight lakh employees in Rajasthan were on strike."These employees are associated with nationalised banks, the state-owned transport corporation, cement industry, hotels, retailers, mining, engineering and other services. The strike will continue tomorrow (Thursday) also," Sharma said.He added that the strike has been called by 11 registered trade unions in Rajasthan."We are protesting against untamed rise in inflation, poor implementation of labour laws and increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), among other things," said Sharma.Bank consumers had to suffer as all nationalised banks remained closed in Jaipur since morning.Transactions worth crores of rupees are likely to be affected due to the strike. Employees of about 6,500 branches of various nationalised banks in Rajasthan are striking, and the branches are closed, Sharma said.A senior education department officer told IANS: "The schools are open, but the strike has affected attendance. However, as parents were already aware of the strike, many of them made alternative arrangements to take children to school."Guwahati: Normal life was affected in different parts of Assam today on the first day of the two-day nation-wide strike called by Central trade unions. While buses operated by private owners kept off the roads across the state, city buses began to ply as the day progressed along with the state-run buses. Shops were closed in most areas, official sources said. Shared taxi trekker service and cycle-rickshaws though they joined the strike call were operating a skeleton service, the sources said.The auto-rickshaw union, however, decided to ply their vehicles in consideration of the difficulties to be faced by students taking the ongoing high school and higher secondary school leaving examinations.Banks remained closed with employees keeping away from their work place, they said.Train services operated as per schedule, N-F Railway sources said.Flights also took off and landed as usual at the Lokppriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here and five other airports in the state, they added. No untoward incident has been reported so far. Mumbai: The 48-hour nationwide today crippled financial services in five states of Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat as almost all banks, insurance companies and commercial establishments remained shut. In financial hub Mumbai, the strike witnessed near cent per cent participation by employees from banking and insurance sector leaving their operations completely paralysed. “We have received massive response to our strike call and operations in banks and insurance companies are completely shut,” All India Banks Employees Association Vice President Vishwas Utagi said here.However, Reserve Bank operations remained unaffected even though Grade III and IV employees struck work, joining the two-day bandh call.Also, the strike had little impact on normal life in Mumbai as suburban railway, the city's life line, functioned normally and road traffic was unaffected though there were fewer passengers using public transport.Flight operations at the Mumbai airport too were normal despite a section of airport unions declaring their support to the strike.Elsewhere in Maharashtra, at Nashik work was badly affected in many industrial units and banking sector as atleast one lakh employees, associated with Nashik District Labourer Employees Association (NDLEA) participated in the strike from today, to press for their various demands. Also, Central Government postal employees staged a huge dharna in front of their respective offices, impacting services.At Nagpur, financial transactions mostly in nationalised banks and other institutions like LIC were affected. Members of National Railway Mazdoor Union (NRMU) and bank employees took out a combined rally in the city and held demonstrations to denounce alleged anti-labour policies of the government, price rise of essential commodities and lack of employment generation among other demands.Transport services were unaffected as town buses and auto rickshaws were plying without any disruption. In Gujarat, banking services were severely hit as over 12,000 officers and 35,000 other banking employees joined the nation wide strike call given by United Forum for Bank Union (UFBU), impacting financial transactions of Rs 30,000 crore. “All clearing house operations remained closed disrupting financial transactions (cheque clearance)to the tune of over Rs 30,000 crore across the state,” General Secretary State Bank of India Officer Association (SBIOA) Ahmedabad Shankar Patel said.Bank employees took out a rally at Lal Darwaja and staged demonstration to register their protest.The strike threw normal life out of gear after employees of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) joined the strike call for 24 hours from yesterday night, resulting in stoppage of trips of around 8,000 buses in the state.