The whole system is corrupt -- right from politicians to the common man, who easily get influenced by money power during elections; legislators are not committed to working for overall development of the people as well as the State; enlightened and responsible citizens need to take over the process of governance from self-centred and selfish politicians; the State Government and people should work together to take the State to higher levels. These were some of the candid views expressed by a section of people when asked by The Shillong Times how they felt about the State stepping into the 37th year of its statehood and what they expected in the coming years. FKJGP general secretary Joe Marwein said it was pretty sad to see Meghalaya still remained underdeveloped even after 36 years of its statehood. "It is sad to note everything is in shambles -- road connectivity, health care, education and even economy. If these major sectors are not in proper shape, you cannot expect the State to develop," Mr Marwein said.

He also rued the act that State legislators were not committed to working for development of the State. "The present legislators are self-centred and are more involved in activities to make profit for themselves rather than work on policies which would bring benefit to the State. One such example is the recent shady power deal," he added.

A young student from Shillong College Celia War suggested that the State Government should to act in a more responsible manner and try to see that Central schemes were properly implemented in the State. "So far, there have been a lot of questions raised over the failure of the government to implement the Centrally-sponsored projects. It was also reported that the State Government was even asked to return funds for not being able to implement certain projects," she pointed out.

According to Seng Khasi College student Juban Syngkli, as long as the power lies with the present lot of politicians, the future of the State would continue to be bleak.

"For the past 36 years majority of our legislators have been more into politicking rather than working on issues for benefit of the people and general," Mr Syngkli said.

Enlightened and responsible citizens need to take over the process of governance from "these self-centred and selfish politicians" who are destroying the State with each and every second, he added.

He further alleged that the whole system, right from politicians to the common man, was corrupt, adding, "people are easily influenced by the power of money during elections."

Lympung Ki Seng Kynthei president Theilin Phanbuh felt the amount of development achieved by Meghalaya was not enough, saying "the Meghalaya Government and the people should work together to lift the State to higher levels."

She also said women empowerment in the State had not really taken off during the last 36 years.

"Women are still being overlooked and denied various opportunities, though, I admit, their status is much better compared to women in other parts of the country," Mrs Phanbuh said.

The public perceptions are mismatched with that of the bureaucrats. State Chief Secretary Ranjan Chatterjee claimed that the State was progressing in the right direction. He, however, admitted that there was room for improvement to take the State economy to higher levels.

He expressed the hope that celebrating the 36th Meghalaya Day would mark the starting point for trade and business to flourish in the State.

Mr Chatterjee also said agitations and protests should not hinder progress of the State and assured that there would be proper maintenance of law and order.

Speaking to reporters during the cleanliness programme at Iewduh and Motphran, Chief Secretary Ranjan Chatterjee said the drive at Iewduh and Motphran was part of the government initiative to keep Meghalaya clean and beautiful.

"We hope that this initiative will send a positive message to the people on the need to keep the city and the State clean," he said.

The Urban Affairs Department has been instructed to conduct a year-long programme to clean other market areas in various parts of the State.

The BSF also deputed 235 personnel to join the drive. BSF IG PK Mishra said the Force was always committed to such social activities.

According to Additional Advocate General WHD Syngkon, this was a good initiative on the part of the government and it would send a message to the people on the need to keep the market place clean.

Lympung Ki Seng Kynthei president Theilin Phanbuh and Greater Iewduh Welfare  Organisation president A Marwein also lauded the government effort to clean the market areas.

"This initiative of the State Government would help shopkeepers and street hawkers in Iewduh area realise the importance of keeping the market area clean," Mrs Marwein said.

One of the NSS volunteers D Lyngdoh, who also joined the cleaning drive, said it was nice to see clean roads and drainage system in and around Iewduh and Motphran but expressed doubts about how long the cleanliness would be maintained, adding the very next day Iewduh and Motphran areas would be seen in an unhealthy state.

Government officials, personnel from various paramilatary forces like BSF and Assam Rifles and several NGOs took part at the cleaning drive.

Briefing newsmen after the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting of the party here, MDP president Martle N Mukhim, who is seeking re-election from Dienglieng constituency, said the second list of candidates would be released shortly.

The list of 15 MDP poll nominees has names of former Jaintia Hills District Congress Committee (JHDCC) president Edmund S Lyngdoh (Nongbah-Wahiajer), former ministers Sujit Sangma (Rongjeng) and H Ledishon Nongsiang (Mawthengkut) and former legislator Dhabal Ch. Barman (Mahendraganj).

The other candidates are Pretty Kharpyngrope (Malki-Nongthymmai), Stevenson B Nongdhar (Laitumkhrah), Michell Wankhar (Nongkrem), Blassius Kharsyntiew (Mawsynram) Jotin Khardewsaw (Langrin), Heronice Marsharing (Mawhati), Jemberson R Marak (Jirang), Rita M V Lyngdoh (Raliang), Return Sna (Nartiang) and Lenitha M Sangma (Rongrengiri).

BSF Inspector General PK Mishra told reporters on Monday that BSF would give all kind of support to ensure free-and-fair elections and peaceful Republic Day celebrations in the State.

The borders are well-protected and the threat of militants or any foreign nationals to the election process does not arise, he said.

"We have got a good number of weapons, technical gadgets and night vision devices in order to man the borders," Mr Mishra said and added that BSF personnel were on "high alert" specially after announcement of the election date. He said the international border of Meghalaya could be termed as the "safest" because no weapons or IEDs had been seized from border areas in the past few years.

Mr Mishra also said he was confident that Republic Day celebrations in Meghalaya would be free from any kind of untoward incident.

SHILLONG: Even as avian flu has spread across West Bengal, Meghalaya's Animal Husbandry and Veterinary (AH&V) department is collecting blood samples of birds from border areas to be sent for virus test.

The department has so far collected around 30 blood samples from the Indo-Bangladesh border areas, AH&V Joint Director Dr L Lyngwa said on Monday.

The samples will be sent to Bhopal-based High Security Disease Laboratory for bird flu virus tests.

"Though this is a routine process, this time we are collecting the blood samples of chicken to verify the presence of bird flu virus," Dr Lyngwa said.

He also reiterated the State Government's earlier statement that there was no need of panic as no case of unusual death of chicken had been reported so far in the State.

Meanwhile, the government has started an awareness drive on the disease by distributing pamphlets.

BSF Inspector General PK Mishra said personnel of the frontier agency have been monitoring all the entry points on borders to check import of poultry products and chicken coming from Bangladesh.

Earlier, the State Government had banned entry of chicken and other poultry products from West Bengal and Bangladesh and additional gates had been set up along the inter-state and international borders.

Going by the charges and counter-charges being traded by Congress and NCP over the candidatures of KHADC Executive Member (EM) Sanbor Shullai and MLA Monindra Rava, political pundits are sceptical that the election or its outcome would provide the people with some better alternative.

"Look, Mr Shullai, a former NCP, UDP and Congress man, is now with NCP. Monindra Rava, a former NCP member, is now with Congress. What kind of difference will they make to the system?, a Political Science researcher questioned.

Even as the "poaching game" between most political parties of Meghalaya has become the order of the day, State Congress took comfort from the fact that it was "not involved in grabbing members or candidates of other political parties."

MPCC president OL Nongtdu on Monday told The Shillong Times that Congress was "the only party" which had not indulged in anything close to poaching. "Most of the political figures and MLAs from other parties who have joined our party, have done so after resigning from their former parties," he said. "We are in the clear unlike other parties," Mr Nongtdu added.

Congress on Sunday came under attack from NCP for "playing cheap stunts."

NCP's State president Dr WR Kharlukhi had reacted strongly to Mr Nongtdu's allegation that KHADC Executive Member (EM) Shanbor Shullai decided to contest the Assembly elections on NCP ticket without resigning from Congress. According to Congress, it was enough ground on which Mr Shullai could be charged under the anti-defection law.

The MPCC chief, however, admitted that "there is some misunderstanding."

"I never said Mr Shullai cannot join NCP, but I said that he should resign as member of the District Council. "We still strongly believe that Mr Shullai should resign as MDC, and we are taking up the case with the chairman of KHADC," Mr Nongtdu added.

Meanwhile, Mr Shullai, who still holds the post of KHADC EM, besides being in charge of a number of important portfolios, said he would put in his papers as MDC, member of Congress and EM on Tuesday.

Mr Nongtdu may not agree but he still has a lot of answering to do for Mr Rava and two independent MLAs, Sengman Marak and Francis Pondit Sangma, who recently switched over to Congress. This case at least for now does not corroborate his statement that the Congress party is looking "for new and good candidates."

Regional parties, too, are not far behind their national rivals. UD is poaching MLAs of MDP which in turn are accepting "Congress discards" like Edmund Lyngdoh, Rita Lyngdoh and Sujit Sangma, to name a few.

"How will these people (candidates) be loyal even if they win the polls and become part of a coalition or a government, when just now they are being so untrustworthy?," Paul Kharwanlang, a student of Shillong, questioned.

"Look, Mr Shullai, a former NCP, UDP and Congress man, is now with NCP. Monindra Rava, a former NCP member, is now with Congress. What kind of difference will they make make to the system?, a Political Science researcher, who is collecting data on the elections, past and present, said.

Speaking to The Shillong Times here on Monday, UDP youth wing president Allan Dkhar termed the MDA Cabinet's decision to keep the power deal in abeyance as "delaying tactic" of the present Government which could lead to more complications in the future.

"The Cabinet decision to keep the controversial power deal in abeyance as well as formation of the special committee headed by the Chief Secretary on the matter are nothing but delaying tactics of the present Government on the issue" Mr Dkhar said.

While terming the Cabinet decision as a "nonsensical policy", the UDP leader also said that by not scrapping the deal, the State Government was turning it into "potent source of generating fund for political ends". He also said that the UDP as a whole was opposed to such a decision.

"On the one hand, the MDA Government is appeasing the companies with such delaying tactics, on the other it was pleasing the agitators by showing that the deal was shelved for the time being" Mr Dkhar also.

Meanwhile, the central executive committee meeting of the KSU, which met here on Monday, has welcomed the Cabinet decision since it could pave the way for shelving the deal permanently.

"We welcome the Cabinet decision to keep the power deal in abeyance. The formation of the special committee itself shows that the present MDA Government has admitted its own fault" KSU president Samuel Jyrwa said.

On the Cabinet's decision to put on hold the controversial power deal against popular demand to scrap it, the KSU leader said that the students' body would pursue with the new government after the Assembly elections not to go ahead with the present power deal which was not in line with the State Power Policy.

Earlier, the FKJGP had criticised the Cabinet decision not to scrap the deal as demanded.

The organisation while terming the deal as an "attempt to buy time for the benefits of few Cabinet ministers" has also threatened to launch anti-government campaign by holding public meetings all across the State to expose the corrupt activities of the present MDA Government and to urge people to vote against legislators involved in the "shady" deal.

Under the programme, the CYP will give financial assistance to 30 youth including those from Sohra, Jowai and Smit, through Impulse NGO Network.

Briefing mediapersons here on Monday, CYP regional director, Raj K Mishra said under the programme, credit facilities will be provided through banks to the local entrepreneurs from the under-privileged families to take up small scale industries. An amount of Rs one lakh would be release as loan to the beneficiary followed by other instalment depending on the success of the project undertaken.

Impulse NGO Network team leader informed that a core committee comprising of members from banks and other financial institutions in Meghalaya would help monitor the progress of the schemes and also the repayment of loans.

Chief Secretary Ranjan Chatterjee also spoke on the occasion.

Shillong: The Greater Shillong Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Birthday Celebration Committee has urged Governor Shivender Singh Sidhu to convince Meghalaya Government to officially declared January 23 as State holiday on account of birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

In a letter submitted to the Governor, committee president Naba Bhattacharjee said Netaji was one of the freedom fighter who visited Meghalaya, formerly under Assam state, and was impressed with the system of governance in Khasi Hills.

He had stated, "… If one has to witness true democracy, visit and study the local system in Khasi and Jaintia Hills of Assam", a statement said.

The committeee stressed that Netaji was the patriot of patriots and as such he deserved to be honoured with a state holidy. "Netaji's role in the freedom struggle of our motherland is legend not only in India but also throughout the world," a statement said.

Mr Mishra said the BSF bands troop were touring the villages in border areas with a view to entertaining the villagers with songs and also to showcase the skills of playing different kinds of instruments by the band members. Balm

"The BSF band troops are enjoying this experience as they could bring some joy and happiness in the life of the villagers," Mr Mishra said.

He said the band had also visited some border areas like Shella, Dawki and some villages in Garo Hills.

According to the BSF IG, BSF doctors also visit border villages thrice a month for examining those villagers who are not well, besides distributing medicines to them.

"During the outbreak of malaria, BSF had managed to provide assistance to the villagers in terms of disease control or distribution of anti-malaria vaccines," Mr Mishra added.

The passengers, hailing from localities of Jaiaw Pdeng and Mawlai, were identified as Rickyskhem (15), Wolly Pyrbot (25) Robertland Jyrwa (31) John Marbaniang and Rijen Mukhim (17). Police said the deceased were yet to be identified.

According to police, the youth were returning from a picnic at Sohra when one unloaded truck, which was proceededing towards Sohra, hit the Maruti van.

The truck fled from the scene after the incident.

Three among the passengers have been shifted to Shillong Civil Hospital while another one, who is in critical condition, has been shifted to Woodland Hospital, Shillong.

In another incident, seventeen-year-old Abdur Rahman died when his bike fell into a gorge on Wednesday last at Nidapur, West Garo Hills district, while the pillion rider sustained minor injuries. According to sources, the youth was riding his bike at full speed which led to the accident. (From Our Phulbari Correspondent)

Police said all them were shifted to Shillong Civil Hospital for treatment.

TURA: The Garo National Council (GNC), a political party fightiing for a separate state for the Garos, is fielding a former Congress candidate for the Rongchugre constituency in West Garo Hills in the March 3 elections. The former Congress candidate, Paul B Marak, who lost the last elections to sitting MLA Beckstar K Sangma, has resigned from the Congress and joined the GNC. Mr Marak had reportedly been unhappy with the Congress High Command's decision to allote the party ticket to sitting MLA Beckstar Sangma against whom there has been allegations of misappropriation of Central funds and which had led to his resignation from the State Cabinet as C&RD Minister, early last year. (From Our Correspondent)

Shillong: The Nationalist Congress Party, Laitumkhrah Block has strengthened the party by constituting two working committees and one unit for smooth conduct of the elections in Laitumkhrah Assembly constituency.

The NCP appointed Donbor Pyngrope as chief volunteer to the working committee of Pohkseh locality, Jona F Wahlang as assistant chief volunteer, along with ten volunteers in-charge and 30 executive members. It also constituted the Working Committee of Nongshiliang locality with Lang Dkhar as chief volunteer, Wordly Dion Fancon as chief organiser, four volunteers in-charge and 28 executive members.

The NCP Nongrim Hills unit was formed with Shemphang Lyngdoh Nongbri as president and Edmund Pyngrope as general secretary, four vice presidents and 45 executive members.

"The next on the block is the Bharat Ratna followed by the Padma awards. In the reckoning are: former Prime Minister Vajpayee, Dalit icons Jagjivan Ram and Kanshi Ram, State satraps DMK's Karunanidhi, Orissa's Biju Patnaik and Bihar's Karpoori Thakur, Jat leader Chaudhary Charan Singh. Hold your breath, the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. The bidding starts now…..And the Bharat Ratna goes to….." This, dear aam aadmi, is how the country's highest civilian honour is decided. A game of akar bakkar bambeh boh or inky, pinky, ponky, have your pick. Either way it matters little. The awards are all about darbari politricking!

Come 26 January eve, the story will be the same. The Roll of Honour will be grandiosely announced. Many will applaud, some will criticize and the remaining will sulk. The increased tu-tu-mein-mein and lobbying by our netagan including a Prime Minister-in-waiting's 'gratitude' to his predecessor, state satraps flexing their muscle and filial outpourings of paternal love has yet again put a question mark on the highest civilian award. The UPA Government may just give the Bharat Ratna a miss, the seventh in a row.

Ever since it was instituted by India's first President Dr Rajendra Prasad on 2 January 1954, our founding fathers wanted the Bharat Ratna be awarded to people of impeccable integrity, extraordinary service towards advancement of art, literature and science, and in recognition of public service. They also advocated it be conferred sparingly for exceptional service to the country.

Since Independence, only 40 persons from various fields, mostly of high eminence, with some exceptions have been honoured. During the Nehru era there were no problems as eminent personalities with immense contributions were conferred the Bharat Ratna. Tall leaders like C Rajagopalachari, C V Raman and S Radhaksishnan were the first ones to be given the award.

The nation applauded them and next year it was given to Dr Bhawan Das, the 90-year-old engineer who had built the city of Mysore. However, on 13th July 1977, the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai discontinued these honours, which were later restored by Indira Gandhi on 25th January 1980, during her second term.

Some of the latter recipients like Sir M.Visweswaraya, Mother Teresa, Vinobha Bhave, J.R.D.Tata, Satyajit Ray, M.S.Subbalakshmi, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Amartya Sen, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela. Lata Mangeshkar and Ustad Bismillah Khan were the last to receive the award in 2001.

However, controversies cropped up when former cinema star and AIADMK supremo M.G.Ramachandran was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1988. Murmurs were also heard when former President V.V.Giri, Congress President K.Kamaraj former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi were given the award. True, they had made contributions to the nation but it was felt that they were being awarded with political motives rather than for stellar credentials.

Unbelievable but true, the most important person, who befits this award is missing. The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi! Interestingly, the Bharat Ratna was conferred on Subhash Chandra Bose posthumously in 1992, by the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao's Government. But it regrettably got embroiled in a controversy over his death and had to be withdrawn.

Distressingly, the conferring of the Bharat Ratna stinks of populism and vote-bank politics at its crassiest best. Dalit stalwart BR Ambedkar was honoured by 'Mandal' Prime Minister V P Singh in 1990, Jayaprakash Narayan was conferred the Bharat Ratna in 1999 by Vajpayee and Mother Teresa by the Congress. Why now? To help our netagan and their parties to garner votes in subsequent elections.

The less said the better over the jostling for the other three awards --- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. There is no dearth of award-seekers. Like every year, already the Centre and State Governments have been besieged with self-recommendations for the three categories of the Padma awards and other State Governments award. The corridors of power are witness to people lugging their resumes to concerned Ministers and X, Y, Z's who can help them get an award. All stops are being pulled out, favours called and relatives and friends pressed into service to put in a word.

Till date, the awards committee which shortlists the nominations for the three awards and forwards them to the Prime Minister, has received over 1,500 recommendations from Union Ministries, States, MPs, MLAs, individuals and private organizations over the last six months. The Bharat Ratna, however, is decided by the Prime Minister, who if he wishes may consult the President and the Leader of Opposition.

Sadly, over the years successive Governments have treated these awards as favours to be bestowed in exchange of personal loyalty while ignoring deserving people in civil society. Never mind that it lowers the value, prestige and dignity of the awards. Worse, the awards are trivialized to an extent whereby conmen and fortune-tellers too can boast about being the proud recipients.

Recall the 1960's, when the then Defence Minister YB Chavan secured a Padma Bhushan for his professor N.S.Phadke, a popular Marathi writer of kitsch romances, even as senior and more deserving littérateurs were left out. The 2001 list of the Padma awards figured a relatively junior Mumbai vocalist whose sole claim to glory was her 'singing' Vajpayee's poems. The politics of largesse continues unabated.

Given the notoriety these awards generate every year, some feel these should be "scrapped". The selection process is all wrong, merit is no longer the criteria and to top it all the people have lost faith. Especially when those honoured refuse the award on some pretext or the other. Instances include historian Romilla Thapar, Kathak exponent Sitara Devi and sarod maestro Vilayat Khan et al. Then there is the strange case of the Assamese litterateur Kanaksen Deka who refused the Padma Shri out of a respect for the highest Assamese State civil awards he had received. His argument, it would discredit the State awards which were for the same achievements.

Despite controversies, many feel the awards are necessary as a form of national recognition for meaningful contribution to society. But changes need to be made and the flaws rectified in the basic selection process. Remember, last year the then President Kalam sent back the awardees file to the Prime Minister's Office as there were grave irregularities in the selection. Three names had been included without the approval of the inter-ministerial committee and the final list had 12 names against which there were adverse reports of the Intelligence Bureau.

Also, a glance of last year's awardees list shows that the awards are Delhi-centric. The majority of the awardees were from States where the ruling Party at the Centre was in power and there were only a handful from the Opposition-ruled States. Out of the 10 selected for the Padma Vibhushan, Delhi bagged 6, Haryana and Tamil Nadu one each and the rest to NRIs.

Again when it came to the Padma Bhushan, Congress-ruled Delhi got 6, Communist Kerala and West Bengal got 6 each, NCP dominated Maharashtra three and one each was bagged by Assam, Mizoram, U.P. and Tamil Nadu. Of the Padma Shri, Delhi again bagged 17, Maharashtra 9 and Tamil Nadu 8. Similarly the Gandhi family fiefdom U. P got 5 along with Congress-ruled Andhra. Uttarakhand again Congress-ruled got 4 whereas Kerala and Karnataka three each.

Questionably, does the Government want us to believe that only Centre-ruled States have deserving people? This is unacceptable, untenable and anti-people. Also, is there a curriculum in Padma scheme on fulfillment of which one qualifies for higher degree? Orissa's Kelucharan Mohapatra bagged the Padma Shree in 1972, Padma Bhushan in 1989 and Padma Vibhushan in 2000.

Scandalously, religion and castes too are being taken into consideration while entertaining nominations for these titles. The columns that are required to be filled up in the nomination Form clearly include "Religion" and another "Category", asking whether the person belongs to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe or Other backward Castes or General Castes. This goes against the tenets of national integration.

What next? Clearly, the cesspool of awards needs to be cleansed. Greater transparency and accountability should get precedence over politicians' personal whims and Ministers should be kept out of the selection process. Two, the committee should include people with unimpeachable credentials and the awards should be weighed carefully on the scale of creative freedom and professional integrity. Three, there should be uniformity in the selection from the States and religion and caste should find no place.

In sum, the time has come to cry a halt to competitive 'awardmanship.' Specially when our national pride, honour and self-respect is at stake. Awards or nominations must be in keeping with their laudable objective of acknowledging the truly distinguished service to the nation. Not given to those who live for the moment and revel in the glory of yesteryears. Nor to the politricking darbaris! (INFA)

Of all the happy tidings that have emerged from the prime minister's Beijing sojourn, one stands apart. It is the myth that if China supports the India-US nuclear deal, the Left in India will instantly withdraw all its objections. The premise is founded on many false assumptions jointly woven by our strategic 'community' with cold war mindset, South Block bureaucracy and the non-political politicians. The harsh truth is that China or no China, the Left parties are not going to budge an inch on the nuclear deal or India-US strategic partnership.

Much of the tension in the working of the Left supporters and the government could be attributed to the absence of a proper understanding about the Left's traditional mindset. Forty-four months of close association has not made the government side any wiser about the Left's obsession with certain ideological postures and their working style. In UPA government, Pranab Mukherjee and A.K. Antony alone understand the Left mind and their nuances. Therefore, each time policy clashes between the government side and Left reached the flash point, the onus of saving the government fell on the Sonia establishment and Pranab Mukherjee.

Much of the trouble could be traced to ignorance about the Left's existential compulsions. The CPI(M), like other cadre-based parties, is ever conscious of its workers' responses to its decisions. Any false step, the leadership will encounter loud murmuring from the ranks. Naxalites of 60s and 70s have been offshoots of such ideological clashes. Effective discipline and loyalty are built on ideological and programmatic commitment. This is the Left's strength as well as weakness.

The new breed of politicians and the strategic advisers, domestic or foreign, can hardly understand Left compulsions. Watch the kind of turmoil raised by Jyoti Basu's 'capitalism' statement this month among the Left ranks. The latter has a committed constituency, however narrow it might be. Much of the PM camp's clashes with the Left can be traced to the simplistic manner they presumed things. Even if China passionately supports the nuclear deal, it is not going to influence the Left. Even at the peak of the cold war, the CPI(M) had repeatedly reasserted its independence.

In fact, the party itself was born out of the defiance of both Soviet Union and China. Old timers know how for 13 years, week after week, their People's Democracy came out with fierce refutations of the two communist giants' divergent ideological positions. How facile is the belief that the Left will support the India-US nuclear deal just to help the Russians get contracts for four nuclear plants for Kudamkulam. For months, the government side lived on the fiction that the Left's anti-BJPism will ultimately force it to stand by it and wink at the nuclear deal. But the CPI(M) bosses could not ignore their old 'communalism vs. imperialism' syndrome.

The next hope was to use the 'Bengal group' against the rootless Delhi bosses. Before the crucial Politburo meeting began, Buddhadeb was taken for a breakfast with PM. The US investors and the envoy specially concentrated on the 'Bengal group'. Incidentally, even at the peak of Nandigram clashes and Kerala crisis, the CPI(M) was ready to pull the rug even at the cost of a reduced Lok Sabha tally. The PM's 'so-be-it' challenge to the Left in August last to try and topple the government on the nuclear deal issue marked the culmination of such miscalculations.

The outside supporters were certainly under provocation to hit back. The smaller Left partners were impatient. If the UPA government had survived in August, it was due to the Left's perseverance, Sonia establishment's decisive intervention and the pragmatism by Mukherjee and A.K. Antony. Now Mukherjee has gone public that the UPA government will survive full term even if the nuclear deal has to be dumped. This means the arrangement with the outside supporter will be stretched beyond the 14th Lok Sabha.

This calls for a deeper understanding of their compulsions and divergence of views on fundamental issues. These pertain to three areas. First, the battle for territorial domination in Kerala, Tripura and to an extent West Bengal. The Left has already proved that they can fight and win elections even while supporting the Congress at the Centre. Second has been the South and North Blocks' running battles with the Left over the reform agenda. When the CMP was signed, South Bloc dismissed it as another omnibus 'National Agenda' of NDA. It could easily be superimposed by the former's own reform agenda. Chidambaram (who had jointly drafted the National Front's CMP) alone could visualise the impending showdowns.

For two years, uneasy peace prevailed on contentions issues like PSU sell-off, pension and PF and labour bill. Now there seems to exist a political consensus on such issues with the opposition, UPA allies and the Congress ranks refusing to join the reformers' battles. The third is the Left's opposition to taking India into the US military alliance and strategic partnership. The Left thinks that the India-US nuclear deal is part of what they call 'enslavement'. Over a dozen joint programmes are in the pipeline to sever Indian military's traditional links with the Russians and integrate it with US, Israel and NATO. It held 50 joint exercises with the US against a dozen low-key ones with all others together.

Several pacts, including the Logistics Support Agreement to permit US use Indian ports and bases for attack on Islamic countries, remain blocked due to Left threat. This is going to be the next theatre of conflict. Then there are the minor areas of conflict like the petroleum price hike and the Left homilies on fighting communalism in Gujarat. As a mainstream party, the Congress will have to evolve its own policies to suit the emerging situations. Then there are areas like corporate support and foreign patronage - both are crucial for the survival of any post-1991 government in India.

The Left-Congress alliance may not be perfect. Coordination mechanism is in shambles with no meetings since November, 2006. Yet it has endured. Throughout the period, the confrontation was between the Left and the PM's camp. The Sonia establishment had scrupulously avoided the face-off and functioned more as an umpire. The Left leaders, on their part, behaved with utmost caution and responsibility even in the face of PM's pull-down challenge. They refused to vote with the opposition on the nuclear deal and instead negotiated 11 conditions with the government. Tough negotiators, Pranab Mukherjee knows how the two sides had held secret talks to sort out complex issues. This is going to be the feature of the ties between the two sides. (From IPA Correspondent)

Sir,

The ouster of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid proves how short sighted are our selectors. If fielding is the only criteria of team selection, then why not have 11 Md Kaifs in the team. The world champions Australia have nine players on the wrong side of 30. Have all of them been thrown out of the team. Its high time we start learning to respect our heroes.

They had earlier dropped Sourav and given chance to the youngsters which proved a costly mistake as none of them lived up to the expectations. Have the selectors penalized Sourav for being the fifth highest run getter in the world in 2007. Do the selectors thing there is a more technically sound batsman than Rahul Dravid to tackle the bouncy tracks Down Under.

The selectors need to be answerable to the people of this country. If the team does not perform well, will they be sacked from their positions as well. The irony is apart from Dilip Vengsarkar nobody is qualified enough to judge the performance of players like Sourav and Dravid. The selectors have indeed proved themselves to be a bunch of jokers.

Subhadeep Bhattacharjee
Bangalore (via e-mail)

Sir,

The Indian Institute of Management to be opened at Shillong, (now temporarily functioning at NEHU), is being named after Rajiv Gandhi, the late Prime Minister of India. We have the IIMs at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkota, Indore, Lucknow, and Calicut which are not named after any political leader, so that the geographical identity of the region is maintained. It is not understood as to why only the IIM at Shillong has been named after a political leader?

Shillong being in North-East has its own identity and character and the authorities concerned should simply call it IIM-Shillong in order to preserve the geographical identity of the region. This will also avoid the confusion, as many would not be able to know about its location if named after a person. Further there is no dearth of colleges, universities and other educational institutions named after Rajiv Gandhi in India.

Yours etc.,
Ananth Nipani
Shillong (via e-mail)

Guwahati: In a macabre incident, a gang of poachers gouged out the horn of a female rhino and shot dead her three-year-old calf in the eastern fringe of Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in Assam on Saturday night, according to delayed report received here.

According to wildlife officials in Kaziranga Park, the female rhino and her calf were pounced upon by poachers near Methoni tea estate to the eastern fringe of the 900 square kilometers sprawling national park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the most famous abode of the endangered Asiatic Rhinoceros.

The poachers fired upon the female rhino to immobilise her before gouging out the horn. The critically injured and bleeding rhino was admitted to the Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre of Wildlife Trust of India located at Panbari near the national park. The rhino died on Monday despite efforts by a team of veterinary doctors to save its life.

The poachers also shot dead the three-year-old calf of the rhino. Wildlife officials, who were informed about the incident by employees of Methoni tea estate on Sunday morning, recovered five empty cartridges of .303 and .315 rifles from the site of killings.

The National Park has been reeling under serious threat from poachers since last year. As many as 21 rhinos were killed last year. Saturday night incident happened to be the second incidents of rhino killings in the national park so far this year. Earlier on January 7, a gang of poachers shot dead a male rhino in Bagori Range of the National Park.

The National Park was estimated to have 1855 rhinos according to the census carried out in the year 2006. Park officials informed that there was severe shortage of manpower to facilitate proper manning of the over 900 square kilometers wildlife habitat. To make the matter worse, a large number of existing forest guards engaged in the national park have attained age of over 40 making them physically unsuitable for policing inside the rough terrain of the national park.

The park officials informed that a new breed of poachers armed with sophisticated weapons is on the prowl in the national park posing a serious challenge to ill-equipped and understaffed wildlife authority in the national park.

Recently, a coordination mechanism was set up between the police and the Wildlife staff of Kaziranga National Park (KNP) to help each other in fighting the menace of poaching.

The Wildlife authority in the Park suspected that an unprofessional gang of poachers armed with sophisticated weapons and with possible links with militant groups from Assam, Nagaland and Manipur are in operation in the national park in lure of the precious rhino horn that commands good prices in the international grey market of wildlife organs.