Agartala: Twenty people fell ill following leakage of Ammonia gas in a cold storage at the outskirts of Dharmanagar sub-divisional town in North Tripura district, official sources said on Monday.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Ratan Biswas said the leakage occurred last evening and 20 people living near the cold storage fell ill and were admitted to Dharmanagar hospital. (PTI)
Friday L Rani, a resident of Lawsohtun Block-VI, passed away on Monday. His funeral will be held at the Laban Presbyterian cemetery on Wednesday at 2 pm.
Tagore anniv
IIM Shillong celebrated the 150th Birth Anniversary of India’s most loved and prolific literary figure Rabindranath Tagore at its Mayurbhanj Palace Complex through a formal gathering. Noted Rabindra Sangeet exponent John Gilbert Soanes performed a number of favourites like Purano Shiye Diner Kotha and Shedin Dujone on the auspicious occasion in the company of his daughter Zareen Nongrum. The function was attended by Faculty members, officers and staffs of the Institute along with family members and special invitees.
Nirmal Academy affiliated to Bangiya Sangeet Parishad collaborated with Little Star School to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabin-dranath Tagore on Mon-day. Ex Educational Youth minister R.G. Lyngdoh attended the programme as the chief guest.
Rock Band
Nepali band from Darjeeling, Mantra is set to perform in Shillong on Wednesday at Anjali cinema hall at 4 pm.
Tourist taxi
The Khasi Hills Tourist Taxi Association elected a new executive committee for 2011-2013 with Glen Khongwir as president, Dapborlang Pde as vice-president and Mehan Shaihun Khyriem secretary and executive members. The association decided to use the Polo Parking Lot as a regular stand. The meeting also resolved to work hand in hand with the district authorities.
Achik body
The Delhi A·chik Youth Association (DAYA) has formed a new executive body for 2011 and 2012 in its recent meeting at Meghalaya House in New Delhi. Benny A Sangma was elected president, Ivan Arengh as general secretary and Michael Sangma as adviser among others.
IGNOU
The 23rd convocation of IGNOU for the North East region will be held on May 23 at the IGNOU Regional Centre, Guwahati.
Correction
The feature item, Mom’s tailor style to match children’s steps, ST, May 8 was authored by Radhika Bhirani and not by Rajib Roy as appeared. The error is regretted.
Jorhat: A tribal person was trampled to death by a wild elephant at Bharaligaon village in Assam’s Nagaon area on Monday, forest department sources said. (PTI)
One Bubbly Dhar (32) of Rynjah, was reported missing from Laitumkhrah since May 6. Information about the missing can be provided to Rynjah PS (0364-2223069 /2222277).
Editor,
Apropos the news item in your esteemed daily (ST April 2, 2011) captioned, “13 year old girl gang raped in city hotel,” we appreciate your coverage of such an inhuman act of crime perpetrated on a minor. This type of perverted act needs to be condemned by all. However, while the news report specifically mentioned the name of the community to which the facilitator of the crime belongs to, the same was not done in the case of the victim and the accused persons. We feel that such kind of reporting is biased and should be avoided in future. We strongly feel that the law must take its own course in awarding capital punishment to all those involved in this heinous crime.
Yours etc.,
C Vanlalhriatpuia
General Secretary
Mizo Students’ Union, Ricky Z Renthlei
Secretary
Young Mizo Association, Shillong
Let’s fight corruption
Editor,
The hunger strike by Gandhian Anna Hazare can be described as another historical chapter in the history of independent India ever since Gandhi stood up against the ills and malpractices of the British, which unfortunately we have inherited. As he rightly stated this is India’s War of Independence against corruption and it has rightly gone down well with the masses. It is true that in Meghalaya when we achieved statehood we felt that governing our own would bring about changes in all spheres but everything turned out the other way round. I believe that all communities in Meghalaya should come out totally against corruption by our state politicians and also other government officials.
This cancer of corruption should end before it swallows the entire society ruining generations to come. It is a shame that being a Christian state,
a section of our politicians and officials are just ‘Christians’ in name, while their actions speak differently. The fight against corruption must not end in only sermons and political rallies but must continue to come out like the recent arrest of a government
officer. Surely such public actions would make others feel that what belongs to the masses must rightly go to them. .
Yours etc.,
Dominic S.Wankhar
Shillong-3
Anna Hazare for Meghalaya
Editor,
As somebody said ‘India does not have democracy, it has an elected monarchy’ and a monarch does not have to heed to popular demands. With the sun king he can say “I am the Law, I am France.” Strains of it we once heard from a guy from the North East: “India is Indira and Indira is India”.
After all the anguished outpourings against vandalizing the ‘Tara Ghar’ property (including one from MoEF), we still get the news from the monarchs of Meghalaya how Tara Ghar is waiting for the new Assembly House and that too at a whopping cost of more than 260 crores (surely there will be cost overruns). Almost the same amount the bigger and more prosperous Tamil Nadu spent on its new Assembly complex. (ST 8/4/11) What takes the cake is that we are demanding a100% handout from the Central government. Yes we have an endemic financial crunch and for a quite a few years, on and off, we have not been able to pay our elementary school teachers. We are told that if we clean up one government guy we can easily get around 2 crores (the cost of missing ‘entertainment equipments’ plus what is demanded for a fictitious ‘chicken coop’ (from the official residence of the very imaginative government functionary) Repeat the process with ten other flunkies we might get enough to keep the hearth burning for the poor teachers.
Other state governments mostly generate the money they need for their grand schemes within. They are productive. Non productive states cannot be spendthrifts with somebody else’s tax money. We cannot keep our heads very high with a begging bowl in hand. Maybe we badly need our own Anna Hazare to bell the fat cats gleefully licking their chops ‘ex Cathedra.’
Yours etc.,
John Jayakumar,
RRTC Umran
Of corrupt BDO and dinosaur’s egg
Editor,
Browsing through the Shillong Times I could not help but make a couple of observations. (1) The B.D.O. of Mawryngkneng made one mistake while trying to pocket public money – he did not get himself elected as a representative of the people before doing so. If he had done it as an MLA/MDC he would, for sure, have got away with it. (2) This has to do with the ’10 million year old dinosaur egg’ displayed at Lady Keane HS School – dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago so it would be rather difficult for us to be in possession of a 10 million year old egg. Perhaps the school should have the age of the egg rechecked.
Yours etc.,
DM Pariat,
Shillong -3
As Indians rise in protest and rally around Anna Hazare’s crusade against corruption, the corrupt and the opportunist are looking for cover. The swelling resolve to birth a movement that would usher in real democracy with transparency and accountability as hallmarks is slowly assuming unprecedented levels.
And yet, there are a few voices coming up to sow dissension in this tide of popular discontent against the venal politician-bureaucrat-corporate nexus that has not only fattened itself on public money but has also perpetuated a system that carefully looks after the interests of the privileged and the powerful, often denying just basic rights to the majority.
There are, in essence, three major points in the murmur of criticism against the civil uprising sweeping the country.
First, the cause is just but the method is undemocratic and, some have suggested, fascist. These civil society leaders are not elected and thus have no locus standi to demand change. Second, if we allow such pressure groups, instead of established institutions and channels, to dictate terms to government, there would be anarchy. And third, a mere law will not be able to curb corruption.
It is understandable that the corrupt would slyly, when not brazenly, try to derail any move to tame them. But what is surprising is that some so-called liberal commentators have also raised similar “concerns”.
Let us take them one by one and see the hollowness of such arguments. If the cause is just then why have all the “democratic” methods failed to curb corruption in the last 63 years. Why is it that almost all institutions today stand tainted and their functioning mired in scams and scandals? Corruption has been institutionalised, flowing through every artery of the state. How absurd then it is to talk about an elected lawmaker, with ill-gotten wealth and criminal charges, having a better locus standi than a mass leader of impeccable integrity and transparent simplicity.
If just being elected puts that person above the rest, as it practically does an MP or an MLA with all those VIP status symbols, red-light-mounted cars, bodyguards, fantastic privileges, including high-wire fenced free homes, and turns them into masters instead of servants, then there is something terribly rotten about Indian democracy.
Also, judges, including those in the Supreme Court, are also not elected and yet they, through their judgments, change course of history, make or mar a corporation or a government and above all, take away life by handing down a death sentence.
It is true Anna Hazare is not sitting in an air-conditioned office surrounded by flunkeys but lying in this hot weather in a street corner and going without food, and thus perhaps not to be taken as seriously as the creepy elected politician. Anna Hazare has simply called upon Indians to reclaim their right, and that is to have real democracy where elected representatives are servants of the people and truly accountable, and not new masters as they have wangled to be in independent India.
The second argument is even more specious. Pressure groups or lobbies have always influenced Indian governments and continue to do so. Arms dealers to corporate entities have long entrenched themselves in every sphere of government. The Bofors gun kickback scandal and recent Niira Radia tapes are ample proof of how pressure groups operate deep inside government.
For the cynics, such pressure groups are perfectly acceptable but not Anna Hazare and his millions of ordinary Indian followers who are pressuring the government simply to do its job – and that is to protect the interests of the people rather than serve the shadowy lobbyists and corrupt politician-bureaucrat mafia.
It is already anarchy for the poor and the under-privileged in this country of 1.2 billion people. The majority feel they live in a state of lawlessness and despair. The state and its machineries are seen mainly as oppressors by the vast rural masses in India’s hinterland and urban ghettos.
That is why Anna Hazare’s call for a relentless non-violent struggle for a corruption-free society resonates with so many different sections of the society. It is one burgeoning pressure that is beginning to shake government malfeasance. And thus should be welcomed with open arms.
Lastly, when all their arguments fail to hold water, the cynics say that a mere legislation will not end corruption. Of course, not. It will take a whole new protracted freedom movement to reinstall a truly participatory democracy in India. The good news is that a beginning has now been made that is aimed at empowering common people.
There is something unique about India’s experiments with democracy. The simple Gandhian has been able to galvanise the whole nation around an emotive issue. The Anna Hazare solidarity vigils are cropping up across the country with novel ways of protest, where the youth feels energised to be agents of change. From little school children to a shy homemaker to old pensioner to outraged professionals to harassed citizenry – all are in this together. It is a giant step toward making India a true beacon of democracy. (The author can be contacted at [email protected])
Assam is keeping its fingers crossed after the successful completion of the first phase of polling for its next Assembly. The voter turnout recorded a high of over 75% and was violence-free. However, the Congress continues to worry, notwithstanding a confident Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi who is convinced of sounding the victory bugle. Causing the Grand Dame sleepless electoral nights is perfume baron Maulana Badruddin Ajmal and his All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). Given that both parties are locked in a fight for the minority vote, 30% of Assam’s electorate. The Congress’s unease stems from the fact that the AIUDF nibbled away minority votes in the last Assembly and Parliamentary polls. Recall, in the 2006 State elections, the AIUDF won 10 seats with a 9% vote share, one seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and ensured the Congress defeat in at least three.
Pertinently, the Maulana, known as India’s perfume baron came into limelight in 2004 when his home Hojai became the State’s first sub-division to become 100% literate in 100 days. Till recently, the AIUDF Chief headed the Assam unit of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind that has influence on Assam’s minorities. However, following differences for using the Jamiat as a political platform, he floated the AIUDF to champion the cause of minorities, read illegal migrants from across the border. In a State where the Muslims vote for the Party the Jamiat favours, the Congress is hoping the Jamiat-Maulana split would help wean minority votes its way. Both are also busy trying to make inroads among tea tribes, the State’s most exploited group. It is to be seen who emerges trumps?
It’s raining money in TN
Come elections, it is money time. In a shocking expose, the Election Commission has seized over Rs.42 crores, most of it unaccounted cash, in poll bound Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam. Tamil Nadu tops the list with recoveries of Rs. 29 crores in cash and Rs 6 crores in gold. In West Bengal, the cash seized is over Rs. 5 crores and Rs.4 crores in Assam. Ostensibly to be used to make the voters ‘feel good’ by purchasing votes. Candidates have hit upon novel schemes to keep the monies from the Commission’s prying eyes. Large sums are hidden in gunny bags in trucks, travel suitcases in private buses and tiffin boxes, cash is bundled in newspapers and fancy sarees and delivered to the voters. In the last three weeks alone 45,000 warrants have been executed for poll irregularities. The less said the better about the rich candidates competing for the poor votes in Tamil Nadu and Assam.
Bihar’s unique Zilla Parishads
Zilla Parishads in Bihar have altogether acquired a new meaning. For the first time, since the implementation of the Panchayati Raj Act in 1992, the State Government has given the Parishads power to approve annual plans for districts. This is not all. Though the implementation of the schemes will rest with the district authorities and Government agencies, the Zilla Parishads would have supervisory powers. In addition, the State is all set to start entitlement-based planning to ascertain the needs of the people from the bottom level. Whereby, the district would not only tell Patna what it needs vis-à-vis State and Central Government schemes but also projects which require more funds and those where spending can be decreased. Needless to say a unique move to give more powers to local representatives.
Sikkim supports Gorkhaland
The move for the creation of Gorkhaland got a leg-up when the Sikkim Assembly passed a unanimous resolution demanding a separate State for the Darjeeling hills. The reason for this ‘bolt out of the blue’ motion was due to the fact that the State had to incur heavy losses of Rs.50 crores per day whenever the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha blocked the National Highway, the lifeline to Sikkim. Going a step further, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling promised to take up the matter with the Centre against the backdrop that Darjeeling was a part of Sikkim before the British came. Needless to say the issue has united West Bengal’s arch rivals CPM and Trinamool Congress who are opposed to Gorkhaland. Both are against any further division of the State and reiterate that Darjeeling would continue to be its part. Meanwhile, the Congress is watching the developments closely on the eve of State elections.
Jharkhand legal mess
Litigants in Jharkhand are in for tougher times. With the term of the fast track courts (FTC) ending on March 31 about 35,000 criminal cases pending disposal before these have got indefinitely stuck. Albeit, all are being transferred back to the Jharkhand High Court. Recall, the FTCs set up in 2000 by the NDA Government were to pave way for speedy trial of criminal cases within a ten-year term. Amidst much fan fare Jharkhand set up 40 FTCs headed by an Additional District Judge, with its own court room, funded by the Union Law Ministry. Unlike other States which ran the FTCs on State funds, the FTC’s herein relied on Central funds. Worse, since 2002 these FTCs have courted controversies over the appointment of 22 Additional District Judges. Last month, the High Court held their appointment illegal as the FTCs had not followed the Supreme Court guideline. It is a moot point what happens to the cases piling up?
Goa minister caught
Salubrious Goa with its sun-kissed beaches is in the throes of a crisis following State Education Minister Atanasio Monserrat’s detention by customs official at the Mumbai airport on his way to Dubai with reportedly Rs 25 lakh of unaccounted cash on Saturday last. Leading to the Goa Assembly being adjourned for two days following the Speaker’s refusal to allow the Opposition’s adjournment notice to discuss two issues–How much money Monserrate had with him and who channelled it? Meanwhile, the Congress maintains that the Minister was “unaware” of the procedures and hence the money in his possession was a lapse. All eyes are now on how the customs’ officials deal with this tricky question.—INFA
Chennai: His side emerged winner in the thrilling opening match of the IPL season-4 but Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the contest had a lot to offer even in defeat.
Chennai edged past Kolkata by two runs to start their IPL title defence on a high note here on Friday.
“It was a first game with a new team, and you get a new car and you want to break it in, but you don’t want to ‘break it’. Even if we did not win this game, we would have got a lot out of it,” Dhoni said after the match.
Dhoni, who also led India to World Cup triumph last week, lauded all his bowlers for their effort apart from giving his fielders a pat on their back.
Dhoni also said that he was not worried even when Kolkata were going great at one stage.
“The fielding was very good. Tim bowled well, Randiv and Raina did well, and Ashwin as always was brilliant. When they had around 70 after the first 7-8 overs, people may have thought the game was over, but I said this is when it begins since the pitch will slow up,” he said.
Asked about the final ball of the match which was to be bowled by Tim Southee and Kolkata needed a four to win, Dhoni said he was sure a yorker on the leg side would win them the match.
“For the last ball, I was confused since it was like having two options – yorker outside off, or yorker at the legs. I decided on the latter, since with the field we had, a boundary would have been possible only if he played a great shot through midwicket. And it came off,” he said.
Kolkata skipper Gautam Gambhir, said the target was very much in their reach.
“We tried our best, 150 was a par score and we should have chased it. But this is what T20 is all about, you set a platform, but things can change. It is a long tournament, long way to go,” he said. (PTI)
New Delhi: Four days after he launched a fast here that caught the imagination of India, iconic Gandhian leader Anna Hazare on Friday night declared “victory” in the campaign for a stringent Lokpal Bill to battle corruption and said he will end his hunger strike Saturday morning.
As tens of thousands gathered at the protest venue in the heart of the city singing and shouting slogans, creating a carnival like atmosphere, the soldier-turned-activist from rural Maharashtra told journalists and cheering supporters that the “people of India have won”.
“From the way the government has accepted (our demands), the people of India have won,” the visibly pleased 72-year-old said, the roar of men and women almost drowning the electrifying announcement.
“The government is ready, so I am ready,” he said, adding that his own protest would end only when the government announced a 10-member team that would draft the Lokpal Bill that has been left hanging since 1969.
The panel would have five members each from the government and the civil society. It would include Hazare as well as Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan, who would be the co-chairman, Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan.
Shanti Bhushan, a lawyer of repute, climbed on to the stage where Hazare was seated and announced to wild cheers: “Today, the government has had to bend.”
He called the moment “the biggest victory of the people after 1977” when the Indira Gandhi-led Congress was voted out of power after the dark days of Emergency.
He said after being intransigent for more than three days, the government had agreed to issue a notification on a joint panel that would draft the Lokpal Bill, accepted all five names from the civil society proposed by Hazare and have it passed in the upcoming monsoon session of parliament. Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal, who talked to Hazare’s aides, announced separately: “This is a happy day for us. It is a victory for democracy.” Friday night’s development followed four action-packed days when Hazare’s fast ignited an unprecedented mass movement all over the country that drew people from all walks of life — from the young to the elderly, from rural folks to urban dwellers, from traders to businessmen, and from students to Bollywood.
Hazare was determined to have a stringent Lokpal Bill that could probe corruption in high places including the prime minister, ministers and MPs.
The bill had been pending since it was first introduced in the Lok Sabha in 1969 but could never get past the Rajya Sabha, the upper house, despite being introduced on nine occasions, the last time in 2008. With assembly elections underway in five states, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) initially took a tough stand against Hazare but relented as it saw the protest spread rapidly to all parts of India, with scores going on solidarity fast in town after town.
Concerned over the groundswell of protests, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday stepped in to attempt a breakthrough in the stand-off with anti-corruption crusaders. He held back-to-back meetings with his ministers and Congress leaders including party president Sonia Gandhi, apart from calling on President Pratibha Patil. There were worries that Hazare’s ‘jail bharo’ campaign from April 13 could worsen the situation.
His intervention was necessitated after Sibal’s talks with Swami Agnivesh and Arvind Kejriwal failed. Amid the continuing deadlock, Hazare refused to relent. He also made it clear that if there were shortcomings in the government draft, he wouldn’t break the fast.
In the meantime, support for Hazare swelled. From Delhi to Mumbai and from Kerala to West Bengal, thousands took to the streets hailing a man they likened to a modern day Mahatma. (PTI)
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The Shillong Times first appeared as a tabloid weekly on 10th August 1945 under the editorship of Late Sudhindra Bhusan Chaudhuri. In 1958 it was converted to a Daily. Owing to financial constraints, within six months it reverted back to a weekly.
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