The government has instead amended the Foreigners' Act to ensure fair hearing to a person before declaring him a foreigner.Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee briefed reporters about the developments after the CCPA meeting. As per the changes, a person will now be referred to a tribunal before being declared a foreigner and given a full hearing.Political analysts say the decision, which comes just ahead of assembly elections in Assam and West Bengal, is to woo the minority vote.

The opposition party, BJP, has also voiced similar concerns and accused the government of trying to pander to minority vote bank."The recent move has been made only to secure the vote bank of minorities. Earlier, the SC had ruled against this Act," said Ravi Shankar Prasad, spokesperson, BJP.

During his Assam visit, the PM had assured minorities that all necessary steps will be taken to protect their legitimate interests in the wake of scrapping the IMDT Act.The Supreme Court had last year struck down the IMDT Act saying there was no requirement for a separate law for Assam, which led to protests in the state. After the decision, a Group of Ministers (GoM) was set up to study the ruling and decide on further action.

Instead of bringing IMDT Act in another form, the GoM decided to utilise provisions under the Foreigners Act and set up tribunals for determination of illegal migrants.Cong backs Cabinet decision : Meanwhile, supporting the Cabinet decision to set up a tribunal to determine the nationality of persons facing charges of being foreigners, the Congress has denied that it was taken with an eye on the coming Assembly elections in Assam to appease the minorities there.There was no question either of bringing back the IMDT Act, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters here. The decision has to go to Parliament for approval, Mr Singhvi said.(With inputs from agencies)

New Delhi: State-owned BSNL and MTNL have launched the much publicised OneIndia plan, which will be effective from March 1.Under the scheme, the two telecom companies will charge a maximum tariff of Re 1 for a call anywhere in the country.Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran said the scheme will help put a check on fixed-line phone surrenders, which were enormous last year. 

"The government will be put in the dock in Parliament if it insists on voting for a referral to the Security Council. Left parties have formulated some opinion on this. We will convey it to the government. If government still goes ahead with it, we are free to take steps to bring the government to its knees," CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat told reporters here.

"The Manmohan Singh government has refused to heed public opinion (on the Iran issue) and the Left parties have decided to demand a debate in the house ahead of the March six IAEA Board meeting," he said.

Karat also hinted at mobilising support from other parties, both within UPA and outside, to form a pressure group on Iran and FDI in retail trade.

"The party (CPI(M) should actively seek support of other political parties within and outside the UPA and forge a joint platform on issues such as Iran and FDI in retail," he said. The CPI(M) would discuss with other parties - both within and outside UPA - issues like Iran, airport privatisation and FDI in retail and try to build a joint platform to take on the government, he said.

"We will take stock of the overall performance of the UPA government. We have already told all Left parties to assess the political situation and take stock of the relationship with the UPA government," he said. (PTI)

A student of Patna’s Don Bosco Academy, Nirmalendu was kidnapped near his house in Phulwarisharief while he was on his way to school.The protesters told newspersons that they had lost faith in the police despite assurances from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that he would be traced.

The students have been organising mass prayers, forming human chains and staging a relay hunger strike seeking the student’s release from the clutches of the abductors.They took out a march Friday to Hartali chowk and blocked the busy roads in the town. Later, a memorandum was submitted to top government officials.(IANS)

Tulani was produced before a special court here and remanded in police custody till Feb 22.Nikhalje and three others were arrested and booked under MCOCA in December for allegedly extorting builders at the Chembur and Kurla suburbs of central Mumbai and for reconstructing old buildings using Rajan’s money.

According to police, Rajan is holed up in a foreign country and acting on his instructions, his wife had allegedly indulged in extortion by forcing builders to pay up huge amounts of money.Police said the Rajan gang had created a reign of terror in the Chembur and Kurla areas by terrorising builders as real estate prices in these neighbourhoods were going up.Police suspect Tulani knew about Nikhalje’s illegal transactions and believe his interrogation would reveal more about the Rajan syndicate’s activities concerning extortion. (IANS)

New Delhi: Indians can now call from one end of the country to another - believe it or not - for just one rupee a minute.State-run telecom units Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) Friday launched the path-breaking scheme called IndiaOne.BSNL chairman A.K. Sinha and MTNL chief R.S.P Sinha unveiled the plan at a joint press conference here, saying the new rates would be effective from March 1.

While a local BSNL or MTNL call from a fixed line to any other fixed line would cost Re.1 every three minutes, any other call including long-distance STD (subscriber trunk dialing) calls would cost Re.1 per minute.The latter category will include calls to a mobile network.

While customers can continue availing their existing plans, the IndiaOne plan can be opted for at a monthly rental of Rs.299 per month.At present an STD call from a BSNL/MTNL fixed line costs Rs.2.40 per minute while a similar outstation call to a mobile costs Rs.3. Both charge Rs.1.20 per three minutes for a local call to a fixed line. (IANS)

With the NCP and the Congress making this election a prestige issue, it is evident that much heat would be generated by supporters from these two major parties. A group of suspected Congress supporters attacked their rival from the NCP in East Garo Hills on Monday last even as some media persons filed a complaint with the Returning Officer over threats to voters by members of a student organisation.

Delayed reports reaching here reveal that some NCP workers and supporters were waylaid and attacked at Sawegre village of Songsak Constituency in East Garo Hills on Monday night allegedly by Congress workers.

According to the FIR filed by the NCP's East Garo Hills unit general secretary Mehim D Shira, vehicles belonging to the NCP that were returning after dropping home party supporters and workers were attacked at the village shortly after 10 pm.In the attack, four NCP workers and supporters sustained injuries. The victims filed the FIR giving names of some Congress supporters and the East Garo Hills police are investigating the case.

Meanwhile at Tura, three reporters of an English daily (not The Shillong Times) covering Dr Mukul Sangma's campaign trail, lodged a complaint with the Returning Officer, P Sampath Kumar, complaining about threats and intimidation to voters by some youth in the name of the Garo Students' Union (GSU).

They handed over the numbers of two vehicles, which were allegedly used by the youth to distribute pamphlets threatening voters not to cast their votes in favour of Dr Mukul Sangma in Mellim area of Rangsakona constituency. Rangsakona is represented by Dr Sangma's younger brother Mr. Zenith Sangma.

Following the complaint, the Returning Officer immediately ordered the Superintendent of Police Mr O Pasi to investigate the matter and arrest the culprits besides seizure of the vehicles.The Garobadha police later managed to detain one of the vehicles, whose number was revealed in the complaint, and detained its occupants for investigation.Police said no incriminating documents or evidence could be recovered from the vehicle or from its occupants. Investigation is still on.

TURA: Union Minister for DoNER, Mr PR Kyndiah, dropped in to campaign for Dr Mukul Sangma of the Congress and attended three separate public meetings where he sought the support of Garo Hills electorate. Mr Kyndiah dwelled on various developmental projects undertaken by the Congress government and claimed that there was no alternative to this party.The Union Minister also expressed confidence in the candidature of Dr Sangma and reiterated that development was the key issue for the Congress in this election.

Home department sources said the Centre was peeved at HNLC's criminal activities that were going on without a break, even when their emissary Rev PBM Basawiawmoit sent a letter to New Delhi expressing the underground outfit's desire to sit for peace talks.

The HNLC's letter signed by three of its leaders - Chairman Julius K Dorphang, General Secretary Cherishstarfield Thangkhiew and Commander-in-Chief Bobby Marwein - sought that invitation for talks should come from the Prime Minister's Office or the Union Minister for Home Affairs and not from the MHA Director.

In December 2004, the outfit had sent its reply to the invitation for talks that had come from the Director of MHA. Sources said there was no response from the PMO or the Union Home Ministry so far following the outfit's involvement in illegal activities, including extortion, looting, abduction and killing.

Sources said the Centre was very much interested in signing a ceasefire agreement with the HNLC, but the matter was kept in abeyance until the outfit responded positively by suspending illegal activities.

Earlier, on January 25 the MeSEB resorted to similar load shedding in Garo Hills citing low water level in Umiam Reservoir as the reason behind it.Chief Minister DD Lapang had recently said that the state was experiencing acute shortage of power due to low water level at Umiam which compelled the government to buy power at the rate of Rs. 2.03 crore per month from Power Grid.

As the loss to the state exchequer was heavy, the MeSEB had put forward two proposals before the Cabinet such as load shedding and arranging subsidy to MeSEB to buy power.As load shedding would hamper the day to day work, the Cabinet had suggested to arrange fund to buy more power to tide over the crisis.The power-consuming industries set up in Byrnihat are behind acute shortage of power in the state though the government cites the reason of less water level at Umiam.

Interestingly, the state government has not yet realised the pending power dues worth Rs 120 crore from Assam government which should have been used to purchase power to meet the growing demands in the state.Though the installed capacity of the state is 185 MWs, power released to the industrial units in Byrnihat is 140 MWs.The peak power demand of the industrial units in 2004-05 was 480 Mega Watts and the demand for power from the non- industrial sector is 130 MWs bringing the total requirement to 610 MWs.

SHILLONG: Chief Minister DD Lapang on Friday got an assurance from the West Bengal government regarding exclusion of heritage tag from Kolkata Meghalaya House at Russell Street.

"I personally met West Bengal Chief Minister Budhdhadev Bhattacharjee and the meeting was very positive. We hope to get the clearance on the exclusion of heritage status by next week," Mr Lapang told The Shillong Times over phone from Kolkata.

The committee dealing with the issue of heritage status of Meghalaya House in its last meeting held in January failed to take any decision."Mr Bhattacharjee rang up the City Mayor and urged him to pursue the matter," Mr Lapang said adding that West Bengal Chief Minister informed him that as there was no more old structure of historical impact, Meghalaya government would be allowed to construct the new building after "the committee removes the heritage tag".

"We also talked about the marketability of Meghalaya products through Kolkata. There is also a need for the investors from West Bengal to invest in the state. Moreover the issues related to tourism promotion was also discussed in the meeting", Mr Lapang said.

The Chief Minister also thanked the West Bengal government for giving security to the Meghalaya students studying in that state.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Shylla said that at present he want to concentrate on the uplift of the Council and make follow up actions on various Bills passed by the Council but lying pending with the State government.Mr Shylla had contested the last Assembly election from Nongkrem Constituency and lost to a debutant, Mr Lambor Malngiang of KHNAM by a thin margin.

The accused - Mohan Singh and Kala Singh - were arrested on February 8 from Umtyngngar near Mylliem while ferrying 2500 kilos of cannabis worth Rs 1 crore by a truck (AS-01-3698).It may be mentioned that the contraband was brought from Manipur through Silchar and was supposed to be unloaded at Guwahati.

SHILLONG: Alarmed by the truckers allegation against the tollgate keepers for illegally collecting taxes without receipt, the KHADC Chief Executive Member HS Shylla on Friday said that the Council would issue receipt books to all the tollgate lessees in order to keep a tab on them.

So long, the tollgates lessees were printing their receipt books themselves. However, realising the loopholes in this practice, the Council decided to go for its own receipt books and make the tollgates lessees more accountable.Mr Shylla said the receipt of the Council would be issued from March 1. He also informed that from now on, the trucks would pay one-time tax for both entry and exit.

The Council CEM warned that any tollgate lessee found continuing with exploiting the truckers by illegally collecting taxes, his or her license would be immediately cancelled. "Even if the officers of the Council are found involved in illegal collection of taxes he will be immediately terminated", Mr Shylla said.

Meanwhile, Gauhati High has authorised the KHADC and the Syiem of Mylliem for collection of taxes in Raid Marwet.The Council Chief alleged that even after the court order, the Chiefdom of Raid Marwet continued to collect taxes for his personal gain. "The KHADC has decided to write to the Deputy Commissioner of Ri-Bhoi District to stop this malpractice", Mr. Shylla said.

SHILLONG: War Jaintia MLA and Parliamentary Secretary in the Congress-led MDA government, Mr RL Tariang, faced an embarrassing situation at Muktapur on Friday when the local headmen, landowners and villagers, who had gathered for a meeting with him on the issue of border fencing, left the venue in a huff.Mr Tariang faced the wrath of the villagers and Rangbah Shnongs of different villages for supporting the on going fencing works in the border.

The local headmen strongly criticized the local MLA for his stand and warned that they would take up the issue very seriously if the government continued with the fencing works without considering their rights and suggestions regarding border fencing.

According to the Rangbah Shnongs of that area, Mr Tariang forced them and the landowners to welcome the border fencing without giving any respect to their rights over the land and their fear about losing thousand of acres of cultivable lands to Bangladesh. Despite strong objections from the people of the area, he asserted that fencing works would go ahead on the pretext that "no one has got the right to object as it is the policy of the Government of India".

While the meeting was on, one of the members of Syngkhat Village Dorbar Mr M Lamin was chased out by the local MLA because of his views against the fencing, alleged a headman.

"If Mr Tariang is representing the National Building Construction Corporations (NBCC), he has got the right to support border fencing but if he is representing the people of War Jaintia he has no right to dictate term on them", some agitated members of public said.

SHILLONG: In a clear case of adopting delaying tactics, the state government is yet to constitute one-man judicial inquiry commission to look into the controversial Dr Reena Konsam issue.

It may be mentioned that Chief Minister D D Lapang on November 14 last year announced the setting up of a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the Gauhati High Court to look into the discrepancies that had crept in while nominating Dr Konsam for post-graduate study at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal.

However, the government has failed to take necessary action to speed up the inquiry let alone the circulation of notification for the same.The delay on the part of the state government has been criticised by various quarters who feel that the "authorities are avoiding transparency and justice".

Meanwhile, the Meghalaya Medical services Association (MMSA) in a letter to the Commissioner and Secretary to Chief Minister here on Thursday expressed dismay over the failure of the government to honour its commitment.

"It is very unfortunate that till date after a lapse of almost three moths, the said Commission is yet to be notified. We feel that once again the state government has not honoured its decision thereby compelling us to go for alternative action," MMSA president Dr Rajen Nongbet and general secretary Dr Aman War said in the letter.

In a separate letter to the Director of Health Services (DHS) Mrs M Rynjah, the MMSA complained that the applications submitted by a number of doctors from the State for undergoing post-graduate course at RIMS for the 2006 academic session were rejected by the Health department without any "clear-cut criteria".

"The MMSA is very much surprised by selection procedure," the doctors' body said while referring to the clarification made by the Media Adviser of RIMS on the selection of candidates against sponsored seats appearing in a local Daily from Imphal which made it clear that final selection of candidates rested with the state government.

Shillong: The Raid Laban Durbar in its emergency meeting on Thursday has demanded immediate removal of the present Officer-in-Charge of Laban Police Station for "hostile and uncivilised behaviour" towards the local Rangbah Shnong Mr Krep S Swer.In a statement issued here, the Durbar said that the continuance of the said police officer in his present posting "might cause unnecessary breakdown of law and order which should be avoided at all cost".

According to the Durbar's statement, Mr Swer and few local leaders had visited the police station to seek clarification from the concerned OC over his refusal to allow one Mrs Bluema Ryntathiang to unload building materials on the roadside near Laban Bengali Higher Secondary School "as there is permission by the Durbar for unloading of such materials before 8 am and after 8 pm".

"The hostile attitude by the OC to the Rangbah Shong on that day was not at all desirable. He should have been polite, patient and courteous as after all, an efficient police force depends on the confidence it get from the people" the statement said adding that the said police officer had failed to build police-public relationship.

The Durbar also said that the Rangbah Shnong and his members had all along maintained cordial relationship with the police and had not caused any obstruction to the functioning of the police within the entire Raid Laban area.

Addressing a presentation meeting on the 3rd North East Trade Expo 2006 here, Ms Shaque said that the event is an effort to highlight the merchandise and services of north eastern states comprising Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.

Ms Shaque said, "the products on handloom, handicrafts, bamboo and cane furniture, tea and spices, horticulture and floriculture, handmade paper, fruits, jute products, carpets, herbals, rubber petroluem products and industrial product will be displayed in the event".

"An art exhibition comprising of paintings of artists from north eastern States along with a photo exhibition depicting different hues of the region besides screening of films from the North East would be held during the Expo," Ms Shaque said.

Meanwhile, she said that designs workshops on handicraft items and seminar-cum-buyer-seller meet to promote the north eastern products in India and abroad by North East Chamber of Commerce are slated to be organised during the Fair.Further, Ms Shaque informed that the ITPO, the premier organisation of the Government of India for organising trade fairs in India and abroad, has as many as 35 fairs to offer to the north eastern region for boosting India's trade from the region.

Shillong: Laban MDC Sanbor Shullai has threatened to resort to a public agitation with the co-operation of greater Laban area if the residents do not get drinking water in the locality.Mr Shullai has sought the intervention of ministers of Public Health Engineering and Urban Affairs to look into the water scarcity within greater Laban area.

In separate letters to the Urban Affairs Minister Friday Lyngdoh and PHE Minister H D R Lyngdoh, Mr Shullai said that they had so far not taken any initiatives nor listened to the people of greater Laban area in connection with water supply, which is very scarce.

"The public are fed up of pleading, approaching, reminding a thousand times to the authority of the Municipal Board. The treatment meted out by the Municipality and the PHE and its usual tactics in covering up facts and hidden plans are usually seen and noted through constant promises for water just to pacify the crowd and in order to be free from public agitation," Mr Shullai said.

According to Mr Shullai, the people of greater Laban area though are paying water taxes, spend a large amount of money in buying water everyday for their daily necessities. Besides taking care of the needs of school going children, the main hardship is to fetch water, he added.

The Laban MDC has said, "the people of greater Laban area will be compelled to hold public protests" and stop paying water taxes if the Shillong Municipality fails to supply sufficient water the people.

"If Mr Bazeley has helped the MeSEB to earn a profit with his efficiency, that profit should have been reflected in the reduction of the tariff," KWWADA said adding "the tariff, however, keeps on rising and increasing instead."

The Association also questioned the motive behind the proposed corporatisation of the MeSEB which it said "is not a genuine necessity".

According to the Association, the Government has instituted an empower committed to take a "sound decision" on the proposed corporatisation of the Board. While stating the the committee is not adequately competent to decide the issues which affect the whole State, the Association said that the committee should consist the members of the Legislative Assembly.

The Railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has promised a Budget without raising the passenger and freight fare in 2006-07. Like his earlier two budgets, if it is going to be a populist third one, much against the stipulations of the railway board, it would prove financially catastrophic. Track renewable, more coaches, introduction of new passenger trains, electrification of routes, concession in fare to all kinds of people, greater use of electronic systems, etc. were projected to cost Rs. 34,000 crore. All such renewal schemes have not been implemented.

The minister will have to bite the bullet because the planning commission appears to have not ceded to a bigger budgetary support, as there are competing demands from other infrastructure sectors. In a November presentation to the Committee on Infrastructure, headed by the planning commission chairman and prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, the railway ministry officials voiced concern over the issue of expansion and development of network in the face of the poor financial health of the system. They cited the capacity constraints on high-density network, inadequate connectivity of ports to hinterland, inadequacy in terminal facilities affecting traffic, and the non-availability of high-speed freight corridors.

The railways proposed that the capacity constraints could be solved by doubling track, improving signalling and enhancing throughput works and sought to ensure adequate wagons through increased procurement and improved turnaround. The railways concedes that the extant track is unfit for heavy haul (25 tonne axle load and higher) or high speed operations. Modernisation of identified routes for 100 kmph freight operation and procurement of rolling stock capable of high speed and high axle load entail massive investments. For carrying freight the minister has proposed introduction of double-storey containers to compete with the road transport. But nothing has been achieved to enhance railway efficiency.Funds will also be needed for the introduction of 150 kmph trains, new coaches offering better passenger comfort, expansion of the passenger reservation system, automation of parcel management system and extension of coaching operations information system.

Last year Lalu Prasad Yadav had unveiled an integrated railway modernisation plan for 2005-2010 with an outlay of Rs. 24,000 crore, envisaging funding through a Special Railway Safety Plan (Rs. 4,000 crore), market borrowing (Rs. 6,000 crore) and the balance through enhanced budgetary support of Rs. 10,300 crore, spread over five years. This fiscal, the railways annual plan was pegged at Rs. 14,498 crore involving budgetary support of Rs. 7,028 crore (48 per cent), internal generation of Rs. 4028 crore (28 per cent) and market borrowings by the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) of Rs. 3,400 crore (24 per cent).

As the railways pitches for higher budgetary support to bolster its operations in the face of escalating input and social costs estimated at Rs. 5,735 crore, and had to account for cross-subsidising of passenger fares by freight and running uneconomic lines, the planning commission may give some breather to the railways by stepping up substantially the annual plan outlay for the next fiscal. In the event of this not happening because of the finance ministry's reluctance, the railways may be forced to go for costly borrowings or pare down modernisation plans which could strain the system further.The railways is left in an unenviable position of scurrying for resources to run the 63,000-route km (16,000 km electrified) network with a one million staff, originating freight of 518.7 million tonnes. For the Indian rail user, wagon shortage is a major problem; ironic when freight fetches the best return and even subsidises the passenger traffic.

Besides the genuine inability of a large number to even pay the subsidised fares, there is politics. Successive railway ministers used the system as their fiefdom and refused to get real about the brittle finances of the corporation. When freight movement demands celerity to compete with alternative means of transport, particularly roads, and wagon shortage needs to be surmounted, the railways cannot focus only on ferrying passengers at below cost price as enterprises are not run on charities in these days when market forces resolve efficient allocation of resources for even development. In 2006-07 when steel and diesel prices shoot up (the railways is by far one of the largest consumers of steel at nearly 1.4 million tonnes every year and uses 2000 million litres of diesel), the railways jacked up only freight rates for coal, iron ore, limestone, dolomite, gypsum, bauxite, manganese ore, cement and clinker effective from November 27, 2005 by 7.7 per cent to mop up Rs. 400 crore for the rest of the fiscal.

If the political dispensation thought it unwise to make passengers pay a tad more than now, it is time that the railways tried to realise pending dues from other users. For instance, the State Electricity Boards (SEBs) owed the railways Rs. 3,118 crore as on September 30, 2005. The resources of railways should not be seen by users of the system particularly SEBs as interest free working capital.Other than the core activities of movement of men and material, privatisation or contracting out most of the peripheral activities such as production units of coaches and wagons maintenance of all services for users, and sale of surplus land (estimated at 43,000 hectares) for commercial exploitation need to be given an impetus if the investment constraints plaguing the funding of crucial modernisation and maintenance of rolling stocks and assets and amenities and safety of users, both people and industrial goods, are to be overcome. In this context, Mr. Yadav has planned utilisation of surplus land, but he has not disclosed the modalities, how he plans to go about it.

The expert group on railways has estimated that the organisation would need, even in a low-growth scenario, a minimum of Rs. 1,30,000 crore for line augmentation, technological upgradation, network expansion, rolling stock addition, and safety aspects standards. The estimates for the medium and high growth scenarios rates are Rs. 1,60,000 crore and Rs. 2,00,000 crore respectively. India's aspirations to move on to the high growth path would be severely affected if its key transport infrastructure is starved of funds for expansion, modernisation and technological upgradation both for passenger and freight movement.

Even as the Union government has made a strong case for funding for the railways from the World Bank, the Bank, in its latest country strategy for India in September 2005, maintained that the "Indian railways has suffered operating losses due to unfunded public service obligations and increased competition from road transport". The Bank said that though its involvement could help improve the quality of public expenditure, ease critical capacity constraints and improve safety results, reforming the Indian railways is "a high-risk proposition with its 1.5 million employees and a very traditional approach to the railway business". In a blunt statement, the Bank said that it would consider supporting a major investment programme provided that the investment is economic and consistent with Indian railways' reform agenda of moving towards becoming a commercially viable entity." INAV

I do not eavesdrop but could not resist listening to the animated prattle of two lively ladies occupying the table next to mine in a restaurant. One of them was rather large, in a gorgeous blue salwar-kameez.The other was somewhat slim, in a scarlet saree with narrow gold border. They were quite unconcerned about the surroundings.Big Blue was the talker and impetuous to convey a lot to Slim Scarlet, her attentive listener. They seemed to be sharing secrets. Keeping my ears as receptive as I could, I sort of shared their secrets.I agreed, rather sympathised with Big Blue when she confided to her friend, Slim Scarlet about her pressing need to reduce weight.

When the waiter brought my coffee and sandwiches, my concentration was thrown off for a while but in no time I picked up the thread.Big Blue said with some pride that her husband was a workaholic and needed a few well-distributed kilos to enhance his executive image. But he avoided sweets in a spirit of real camaraderie with his wife.

A few days back her husband had thrown a small party at home. Big Blue had baked a chocolate cake. The party, I was happy to learn, went off very well.Everyone liked the home-baked cake when offered as dessert, but since the guests had already had their fill with the delectable dishes, half of the cake remained uneaten.To impress her husband how strictly she maintained her dieting discipline, she did not touch the cake at all. Later, while clearing the table, she was tempted to sneak just a bite.

One bite led to another and in no time she had finished the rest of the cake, which alarmed her. She was supposed to keep the remaining cake for some guests expected the following evening and had to find a solution.There was short-lived silence. Then with mischief writ large on her face, she told Slim Scarlet, how she had a brainwave and the breakthrough came in a jiffy.Next day when her husband had left for work, she quickly baked a similar cake and ate half of it. (By arranegement with The Times of India)

Sir,

Now a days we often hear words like " Bharat Nirman," "India rising," and so on. India in this fiscal year of 2004-2005 has achieved GDP growth of nearly 8%. But, I would like to ask, what was the contribution of Meghalaya in this achievement. To be very frank, the answer is 'nothing.'

In this era of cut-throat competition, we are lagging behind very much. Our contribution in the fields like sports, arts, creativity, trade and commerce, etc. is nil. In spite of having abundant resources and great potential, we have not been able to achieve anything. Now it is high time to think on this issue and assess ourselves and take required steps.

Development in this area means development of our society, state and country as a whole. Let us do something and give to our future generation, a developed state of Meghalaya and India too.

Yours etc,
Pushpak Narayan.

Sir,

During my several visits to East Khasi Hills, I have come to know from the farming community that plantation of broom plants has become a very lucrative engagement yielding them quick money with minimal cost of cultivation viv-a-vis other agro-horticultural crops.

However, I have been apprised that growing of broom is bound to have a long term pernicious effect upon our fragile eco-system, as the roots of broom plants penetrate as deep as hundred feet into the ground and thus suck up maximum moisture content, thereby drying the deep underground water sources resulting in the degeneration of other adjacent standing crops.

Further, it has been affirmed by some villagers residing in and around Wahkhen village of Pynursla block that the surface volume of water-flow of river Rew has reduced to a significant extent compared to a decade earlier and the villagers asserted that the reason is the wide-spread cultivation of broom plants. No wonder the spread of these cash churning plants will be transformed by our villagers into a veritable waste land.

I hope the scientists from the ICAR and the Department of Agriculture are paying heed to this warning and are adopting remedial measures by motivating the farmers to go slow on the full scale cultivation of such a plant.

Yours etc,
PU Diengdoh
Shillong-14.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice C K Thakker granted the time when Attorney General Milon K Banerjee submitted that he needed to consult the Government and take instructions on the setting up of the commission. The bench was hearing a civil suit filed by the State of Assam in 1988 claiming jurisdiction over certain areas in the neighbouring states of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Attorney General said the problem required a political solution and it could be achieved by the constitutional amendment by Parliament.Senior Counsel K K Venugopal appearing for Assam Government said demarcation of boundaries could not be done by the court, it had to be done by the Boundary Commission.The court therefore asked the Centre to respond to the idea of settling the dispute among the states through the setting up of Boundary Commission.

Incidentally, though Meghalaya has border disputes with Assam it has not approached the apex court for such a boundary commission. The State has to appeal to the court to impede itself for the proposed boundary commission. So far the State has not done the same and feels that the inter-state dispute can be settled mutually without involvement of the top court.

Launching the low cost kit, Sibal said that the deadly disease is mostly found north eastern India bordering Bangladesh and Nepal. Hundreds of patients, mainly children, die each year either because of over treatment or wrong treatment of the disease, he said adding this kit costing about sixty rupees can correctly detect the disease.

The kit developed by the Ministry in collaboration with the All India Institute of Medical Science, has been tested and proved good, the Minister said in presence of top scientists and medical practitioners. It has been approved by the World Health Organisation and the Government is in process of getting it all other necessary approvals, he said.

Ninety percent of the Kala-azar disease occurred in India and Sudan and out of this the most affected are the persons living in remote areas of Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Nepal border. If needed, this simple and diagnostic kit would be distributed through the troops guarding the north eastern borders, the minister said.