UDP's Youth Wing president Allan Dkhar on Tuesday said the party had decided to file a PIL in the court to compel the government to abandon the deals once for all.

"We want the deals scrapped immediately but the MDA Government has decided to keep them in abeyance," Mr Dkhar said.

According to Mr Dkhar, UDP is collecting "details and other documents" related to the MoAs on the electricity projects.

As soon as the papers are ready, the party will go to court, seeking scrapping of the power pacts.

The youth UDP leader also said people of Garo Hills should no longer vote for Deputy Chief Minister Mukul Sangma in the coming Assembly elections as he was instrumental in inking the "shady deals."

He pointed out that the Cabinet was split into two groups over the contentious issue - one, led by Mr Sangma, supporting the deals and the other against.

Mr Dkhar felt the Cabinet ministers opposed to the electricity deals should have filed a note of dissent instead of remaining silent on the issue.

So far, UDP and FKJGP have expressed dissatisfaction with the Cabinet decision to keep the power deals in abeyance, alleging that this is a ploy of the government to buy time in the interest of a few Cabinet ministers.

SHILLONG: UDP has accused KHADC chief HS Shylla of "auctioning (off) the assets of the Council for his own profit" by leasing out the trade and professional tax departments to private parties.

"He (Mr Shylla) has auctioned off the professional tax and trade departments of the Council to private parties which amounts to taking away the powers and functions of the Council," UDP MDC Hardinge L Massar said at a media conference here on Tuesday.

Mr Massar claimed to have learnt about the "hidden policy" of Mr Shylla through an RTI application.

The KHADC member said the Council CEM had leased out the Trade Department to private parties at Rs 54 lakh for three years despite the department's annual collection amounting to Rs 80 lakh.

Similarly, Mr Shylla had leased out the Professional Tax Department at Rs 62 lakh whereas normal income of the Council was over Rs 3 crore per year, Mr Massar alleged.

Charging the KHADC chief with manipulating the system of administration in many Elakas, the MDC went on to say that "this dictatorial manner of Mr Shylla as CEM has reduced the status of the Council and even threatened its very existence."

Mr Shylla was not immediately available for comment.

JOWAI: Jaintia Hills District Committee (JHDCC) was reconstituted at a party meeting at Ladthadlaboh, Jowai on Tuesday.

Besides party workers of Jaintia Hills, MDCs and Congress poll nominees, including Dr RC Laloo, Shitlang Pale, Sniawbhalang Dhar, Commingone Ymbon, Draison Kharshiing and Lahkmen Rymbui, attended the meeting to revive the party's district committee, which was earlier said to have been dissolved by its former president ES Lyngdoh.

JHADC CEM Hambertus Nongtdu, who chaired the meeting, was elected president of JHDCC, while MDCs Skit Sari and Hollando Lamin were elected as vice-presidents.

The newly-elected president nominated MDC MB Rymbai as general secretary of the district Congress committee. Former MLA Oliver Neat Shyrmang was elected as the treasurer.

Talking to The Shillong Times, Mr Nongtdu said the meeting discussed the position of Congress in Jaintia Hills and decided to strengthen the party from the grassroots level.

The party gathering also decided to organise "common platform" meetings in all seven constituencies of the district to request the people to support the Congress candidates.

Meanwhile, Mr Nongtdu clarified that JHDCC was not dissolved as reported recently, but its president was suspended by MPCC.

"In fact, a DDC cannot be dissolved by its chairman. The JHDCC president was suspended. MPCC had appointed the JHADC CEM as the adhoc president till a new president was elected", the new JHDCC president said.

Shillong: UDP’s Youth Wing has urged UDP to pull out of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) in the KHADC, alleging that the Council is rying to "auction" its assets."

Talking to newsmen here on Tuesday, UDP's youth wing president A Dkhar said the KHADC, under the leadership of Congress MDC HS Shylla, had put the Council in a "shameful position," asserting stating that the manner in which the CEM acted called for such an action as UDP withdrawal from UDA.

"As UDP is a major partner of UDA, all the MDCs should resign in protest against the dictatorial act of Mr Shylla in selling out two departments of the Council for his own personal gain," Mr Dkhar added.

Youth UDP's statement came in the light of Mr Shylla, along with his Executive Committee, allegedly trying to lease out two departments of the KHADC, namely, the Trade and Professional Tax Departments, to private parties without getting the approval of the whole House. Mr Dkhar said such a major decision, which could affect the functioning of the Council, could not be decided by the CEM alone and his Executive Committee.

Shillong: NCP leader Purno A Sangma has stressed on the need to elect a government that could deliver the goods in the March 3 Assembly elections.

Speaking at public meetings held at Oakland, Nongmynsong, Jail Road and RR Colony recently to campaign for party candidate from Pynthorumkhrah seat James Marvin Pariat, the former Lok Sabha Speaker said that development, stability and good governance would be the main objectives of the party for the State. Mr Sangma also assured to work for justice and social security of all sections of the community in the State adding that people should see the larger picture of the State instead of electing their representative from an individual perspective.

Others who spoke at the public meetings included Mr Pariat, NCP Shillong City president Laitphar Cajee, Secretary (Election) Babet Sangma, Youth Wing president Aldo Sangma and Youth Wing secretary Sujit Dey.

Shillong: The Bharatiya Janata Party, Umroi Mandal has held the Congress and all regional parties responsible for taking Meghalaya backwards in the last thirty five years.

Taking dig at the regional parties at a meeting held on Monday, members of the BJP unit, in a statement issued here, said the regional parties in the State had lost their ideological values and termed them the "B team of the Congress".

"Five long years they have shared power with the Congress in the State without any 'commom minimum programme' for the welfare and development of the State, the statement added.

They said the Congress and the regional parties were equally responsible for rampant corruption, non-performance, lack of determination of political leaders in the State.

A tough battle is expected between the BJP candidate from Umroi constituency, Mr Duruth Majaw, who will face former Chief Minister EK Mawlong.

The meeting also discussed in depth the developmental activities in the constituency and the State.

Shillong: At the age of 88, businessman JN Bawri might forget many things of the past. But, he will never forget those three days he spent with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose when he came here 70 years ago to stake claim for first Congress Government in undivided Assam.

The Shillong sojourn of the "Patriot of Patriots" may be unknown to many but one of his aides, Bawri, will remember Bose's visit to the North East in 1938 forever.

"I was transfixed and elated at this life-time experience as I drove with Subhash Babu sitting next to me. Contrary to my perception, he was exceptionally humorous despite his serious countenance," recalled octogenarian Bawri, who drove Netaji through the streets of Shillong in 1938.

Bose, then the president of Indian National Congress, had come to Shillong, the capital of undivided Assam to form Congress Government. "There were no cars here then. So I took out our family's made-in-England 'Wepat' car to cater to Netaji for three memorable days," Bawri said.

"Getting fuel and a chauffeur in those days were big hassle. I faced a lot of trouble arranging for 4.5 litre petrol at a cost of 3 anna because my elder brothers did not approve it," Bawri chuckled.

They made arrangement for Subhas Babu to stay in a private house near Ward's Lake in the city. Along with some tribal friends we guarded him throughout the night, Bawri said.

"After addressing his first meeting at the Polo market, which was hugely attended by the public despite the threat of the British, Subhash Babu addressed another meeting at the Durbar Hall at Mawkhar calling on the people to gear up for India's freedom," Bawri remembered.

Netaji met British governor of Assam here and put forth the claim to form a Congress government.

"Sensing the Governor's unwillingness, he showed his true capability and threatened him that if his demands were not met, Congress Governments all over India would resign," Bawri recalled.

Finally, the Governor agreed to swear in a Congress Government under the premiership of Gopinath Bordoloi on November 18, 1938.

Recalling his historic drive with Bose, Bawri, said, "I also took him on a sight-seeing trip in Shillong. He was particularly interested in visiting the house where Rabindranath Tagore stayed and I took him to Rilbong, where the poet laureate composed some of his greatest literary pieces."

Bawri also recalled that Netaji did not mention that he had been to Shillong before, especially during his fairly long stay at the salubrious pine city for regaining health in 1927 after he was released from Mandalay Jail in Burma. (PTI)

We do not blame a carnivorous animal for its predatory nature. The Nehru-Gandhis will be Nehru-Gandhis and will continue to take this nation for granted. The nub of the issue is the background of circumstances which inveigles the nation into being taken for granted by the dynasty. Way back in the late Fifties, J.B. Kripalani used to take agonizing pleasures while narrating an incident. He was addressing a village crowd somewhere in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Indira Gandhi had very recently been installed as Congress president and had just made a statement on a matter of considerable national importance that was full of hauteur and presumptuousness. Kripalani complained to the crowd: "What does she take herself to be? Is she the princess of the country?" The moment he spoke the words, thundering response from all sections of the crowd: Of course, she is our princess.

It is an anecdote that says it all. Way back in 1989, when Devi Lal became deputy prime minister and hurriedly got his son, Om Prakash Chautala, to replace him as the chief minister of Haryana, a journalist asked him if it was right for him to do so. "So who should I’ve made CM? Bansi Lal’s son," he bluntly retorted, referring to his Congress archrival.

If only the choice were that easy. From Maneka Gandhi famously storming out of Indira Gandhi’s residence in 1981 on being denied late Sanjay Gandhi’s mantle to the recent violence involving Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) factions, patriarchs—and one matriarch—of India’s political dynasties are caught in family squabbles over political legacy. Consider this:

Supporters of DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s elder son M.K. Azhagiri attacked the office of the Dinakaran newspaper because it had carried an opinion poll projecting Karunanidhi’s younger son, M.K. Stalin, as his likely successor. The internal war extended to Karunanidhi’s grand-nephews, the Marans, leading to the ouster of Dayanidhi Maran, whose brother owns Dinakaran, from the Union Cabinet.

Whispers about tensions between the Gandhi family siblings, Rahul and Priyanka, refuse to go away. A Congress minister points out that Priyanka’s recent statement that she be called Vadra, not Gandhi, and entering the Uttar Pradesh poll campaign late can be interpreted as an attempt to carve her own identity in politics. It stemmed from anger and anguish at being denied her due, says an opposition leader.

Last year, Shiva Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray looked on as nephew Raj Thackeray floated his own party—the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena—after being sidelined in favour of Balasaheb’s son, Uddhav. A senior Maharashtra politician says Balasaheb tried to avoid the split, but couldn’t reconcile the ambitions of his son and nephew.

Managing political succession when there’s more than one claimant is clearly not as easy as creating a dynasty. Political families seem to be rivalling business families in bitter succession conflicts, though they don’t end up in court. That’s because political legacies cannot be divided the way business empires can be. "Politics is a zero sum game. You either have all or nothing." Barring that, there isn’t much of a difference, says political commentator Cho Ramaswamy, "Politics is also becoming a commercial enterprise."

Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sushma Swaraj cannot understand the fuss. "Succession battles and palace intrigues are part of any dynasty. Why expect dynasties in a democracy to be any different?"

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder N.T. Rama Rao (NTR) was probably the only supremo who never bothered about a succession plan. "NTR," says a former TDP leader, "had an ‘after me, the deluge’ attitude. All he wanted was help in running the party while he was alive." Most other dynasty heads, however, have a succession plan involving, as Swaraj sneers, "always the son, especially the eldest, and never the daughter."

The daughter does figure, but usually when there is no son. Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar, who was widely seen as his successor, reportedly resents Cousin Supriya Sule’s induction into the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

On some rare occasions, political parties witness the rise of a daughter-in-law or a grand-daughter. In Haryana, late Bansi Lal’s elder son, Ranbir Mahindra, is battling sister-in-law Kiran Choudhury, widow of Surendra Singh (Bansi Lal’s favourite son and his political heir) over both family property and political legacy. Bansi Lal’s act of publicly tying a turban on Shruti Choudhury, Surendra’s daughter, indicating she was the heir, also helped in widening the rift in the family.

The decision on whom to anoint is usually a well thought out one. These are not casual decisions, though succession takes place in a way that’s completely personalised. The eldest is preferred, but never at the expense of ability. The chosen one must have charisma or political acumen.

Devi Lal chose Chautala over his other sons—Ranjit Singh and Pratap Singh—not just because he was the eldest and his favourite but also because of his political acumen, acknowledged even by his political rivals.

In the DMK, too, Stalin is seen as the natural inheritor. Ramaswamy says that Kraunanidhi’s eldest son (from his first wife), M.K. Muthu, was always a problem child (he’s now with the AIADMK), though Karunanidhi did try to prop him up to cut to size his rival, AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran. Stalin entered politics in his teens and was arrested during the Emergency. Azhagiri, on the other hand, developed political ambitions much later. Nobody, not even Azhagiri thought he could be the successor," says Ramaswamy.

NTR chose his son-in-law N. Chandrababu Naidu as his right-hand man because of his ability to manage the organisation. His sons, says his former confidant, never measured up, always having lived in NTR’s 70 mm shadow. It’s another matter that NTR couldn’t handle Naidu’s overweening ambition and a distance emerged between the two. NTR’s second wife Lakshmi Parvathi stepped into this vacuum, prompting NTR’s family to close ranks behind Naidu who ousted his father-in-law as chief minister in 1995.

Perhaps that is why in both the Shiva Sena and the NCP offspring (Uddhav and Supriya) were preferred over nephews. Both Raj Thackeray and Ajit Pawar had been in the party longer than their respective cousins and were acknowledged as the better politicians. Sharad Pawar, says a senior Maharashtra politician, was insecure about his protégé upstaging him. He had the feeling that Ajit was beginning to take decisions on his own. "It is only the daughter in whom he can have complete trust."

Anointing children and grooming them is easy. Ensuring smooth succession for them isn’t. Devi Lal’s disgruntled sons sniped at Chautala but couldn’t harm him or the party. "Popular support is usually with the person who is seen to have the blessings of a popular leader," says Swaraj. That is what is behind Sonia Gandhi’s success, while Maneka has to struggle harder for less. But it isn’t always that simple.

Thackeray tried dividing responsibilities between Raj and Uddhav on geographical lines. While Uddhav got the southern and eastern parts of Maharashtra, Raj got the north and the west, where the party was weaker. Karunanidhi gave Azhagiri total control of Tamil Nadu’s southern districts and groomed Stalin for government. The brothers, says political scientist M.S.S. Pandian, were reconciled to this division. Not so Raj Thackeray, who saw the division of responsibilities as an attempt to marginalise him.

Other families have tried to avoid sibling fights by dividing responsibilities between the Centre and the state. Madhya Pradesh’s first chief minister, Ravi Shankar Shukla, did that with his sons—S.C. Shukla for the state and V.C. Shukla for the Centre. Pawar has eased his daughter’s entry by getting her into the Rajya Sabha, so that there’s no run-in with cousin Ajit too early. Chautala has done the same with his two sons—Ajay for the Centre and Abhay for the state.

It doesn’t always work, though. The state is where the power is. The arrangement will work only if one child is content to remain at the Centre. There was always tension between the Shukla brothers, though it was never open or bitter. Karunanidhi thought he could keep peace within the family by letting the Maran family (late Murasoli Maran is his nephew) be the DMK’s face at the Centre while keeping the state for his sons. "The senior Maran was content with this arrangement," says Ramaswamy, "but Karunanidhi underestimated Dayanidhi’s ambitions." That’s perhaps why Karunanidhi brought his daughter, Kanimozhi, into Rajya Sabha as the family’s Delhi representative.

It’s only in Haryana leader Bhajan Lal’s family that the arrangement seems to be working—so far, that is. Elder son Chandra Mohan was deputy chief minister in the state while the younger, Kuldip Bishnoi a Member of Parliament. No one’s betting on this arrangement being successful. Though differences are not out in the open, the low-profile Chandra Mohan, they say, resents the ambitious Bishnoi’s grandstanding on special economic zones, which got him suspended from the Congress.

Peace lasts only as long as the patriarch is alive—as the numerous instances of widows battling stepsons or brothers-in-law demonstrate. You can’t have a process that is dissension free. Dissension shows there is more than one player. That is the essence of politics. Watch out, then, for the next feud. INAV

Georgia was one of the Republics of the erstwhile Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). Like other 14 Republics Georgia also became an independent country with the break-up of USSR in 1991. Since then this country is in political turmoil, and it is under western influence much against the geographical and historical relations with the Russian Federation. Four governments have changed, and at present it is being ruled by the hero of the 2003 United States-backed "rose revolution" and the West's darling, President, Mr. Saakashvili, who is not very popular leader with the masses. Recently he unleashed riot police on thousands of non-violent protesters calling for his resignation. Hundreds were injured when security forces hit demonstrators with truncheons, rubber bullets, and tear gas. Georgia earned the dubious honour of becoming the first nation in the world to use health-crippling sonic blasters against its own people. Until now, this non-lethal weapon has only been used by U.S. troops in Iraq.

Notwithstanding these damning facts, U.S. Congressman Alcee Hastings, coordinator of election monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said that "democracy took a triumphant step" in the Georgian poll.

The reason for this glaring display of double standards is obvious. Russia under President Vladimir Putin has become a thorn in the West's side, challenging it on nearly every major international issue, and therefore it cannot by definition be called a democracy. By contrast, Georgia, which lies at the strategic crossroads of energy-rich Central Asia and Europe, has fully allied itself with the West, and in the words of U.S. President George W. Bush, is a "beacon of democracy."

This is partly because Georgia, which sits astride the Caspian oil pipeline route on Russia's southern flank, is of disproportionate strategic significance to the Moscow.

Events in Georgia do, in fact demonstrate that it's easy to make an evolution but very difficult to actually change life for the better. The youthful, US-educated Saakashvili came to power four years age on the crest of the "Rose Revolution" with a whopping 97 per cent of the popular vote.

For example, he persuaded the population of one of Georgia's three breakaway regions, Adjaria, to peacefully accept the return of Central government control. He also made some headway against the country's endemic corruption and extended the rule of law into areas formerly dominated by bandits. He overcame a Russian embargo and found new export markets for Georgian wine and mineral waters in Europe, purchased energy from neighbouring Azerbaijan and liberalised the country's foreign investment laws.

On the other hand the plight of Georgia's poor, who comprise two-thirds of the population, is worse than ever. Over a million Georgians work abroad, mainly in Russia, and their remittance are one of the country's main sources of foreign exchange. There's been no progress in dealing with the other two rebel regions. Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and a fresh civil war looms as a likely prospect for 2008.

Worst of all, Saakashvili destroyed his reputation as a democrat last November by ordering police to crush Opposition protest rallies in downtown Tbilisi-about 200 people were injured in the ensuing violence. He declared a state of emergency, arrested Opposition leaders and shut down critical media outlets. Though he quickly backed off and called for snap Presidential polls in the first week of January to resolve the crisis, no one will ever again think of Saakashvili as a poster boy for human rights.

Following the January 5 polls, the Opposition has claimed, with some evidence, that Saakashvili may have stolen the election. Even Western observers, who certified the voting as "free and mostly fair," agree that the election campaign was marred by official abuses, an atmosphere of public mistrust and massive allocations of government resources to aid Saakashvili.

Georgian officials justify this by alleging that outside interests are interfering in their domestic affairs. Saakashvili blamed the 'hand of Moscow' for organising last November's protests and Georgian prosecutors filed charges against exiled tycoon Badri Patakatsishvili for organising an anti-government coup, presumably at Russia's behest. Opposition leaders announced that they'll stage a hunger strike and rolling street protests until the election result is overturned.

There seems little doubt that Georgia's polls were less than fair. No wonder Russian State TV thinks this is an ideal theme to focus on. The goal is to inoculate Russians against catching "democracy fever" and hitting the streets to protest against the status quo by showing that, even after a successful revolution, all the worst things will just keep coming back under new labels. INAV

Sir,

We are more communal today than ever before. No person of any religious community is better or worse, richer or poorer than another community. Therefore, one must rise above religious considerations. We have enough religion to hate and kill others but not God's spirit to love and save our enemies as preached and practiced by Jesus. May God help us to rise above our religion and do good to one and all.

There are many good reasons as to why we should do away with the reservation policy based on religion. While arguing the case against reservation we should not ignore and undermine the role that civil society can play in providing reservation for religious minorities in educational institutions and government/private jobs.

The rise of Hindu majoritarianism as a powerful force in Indian democracy over the past two decades has meant the virtual acceptance of an anti-minorities stance by large segments of our society. We are quick to appreciate the Christians' contribution to the country's educational system, but do little to ensure that they are not marginalized.

Civil society must re-examine its current understanding of minority rights before helping the minority communities.

Yours etc.,
Omar Luther King
(via e-mail)

Sir,

It is high time the people of Meghalaya raised their voices against pollution in the State. Recently, it was noticed that Lukha river in Jaintia Hills had been polluted by industrial wastes, thereby, making it deadly for the fish and other aquatic creatures. Air pollution is widespread especially in Byrnihat, where lots of industries have sprung up.

Actions should be initiated against these by the authorities concerned to check pollution in the State.

Yours etc.,
Earning RS

In the first explosion, nine persons were injured as the IED fitted to a bicycle went off near Srirampur check-gate along the Assam-West Bengal border in Kokrajhar district at around 11.30 a.m.

Three of the injured are in serious condition, police said.

Another bomb was also found from the site.

Militants then exploded a bomb in front of a Railway Protection Force camp in Bamunimaidan area here on Tuesday evening in which a youth was seriously injured.

Meanwhile, two bombs were recovered from a bus at Baihata Chariali in Kamrup district during routine checking.

The stepped-up violence comes ahead of Republic Day for which ULFA and three other groups have given a boycott call.

On the other hand, two hardcore ULFA militants were killed in separate incidents. Six rebels of the group were also apprehended from different parts of the state.

The North East Frontier Railways has suspended the running of night trains in upper Assam from January 24 to January 27, a railway spokesman said. (PTI)

Finally, there is a major relief to cancer patients of Assam, thanks to a benevolent initiative from the State Government that has launched a scheme to provide chemotherapy treatment including the medicines to cancer patients free of cost at five medical facilities in Assam.

Assam Health Minister Dr Himanta Bishwa Sharma on Tuesday informed that the free of cost chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients from Assam had been made available in five medical institutions in the State - Dr B Barooah Cancer Institute in Guwahati, Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh, Guwahati Medical College, Silchar Medical College and Cachar Cancer Institute.

He informed that the free of cost cancer treatment would be exclusive for patients who are tax payers in Assam though a large number of patients from other parts of the region come for treatment in these five Government hospitals. As many as 60 varieties of chemotherapy injections costing in the range of Rs 3000 to Rs 2 lakh per injection would be provided under the scheme that has budgetary support of Assam Government.

The minister informed that Rs 10 crore had been earmarked for the current year for the benevolent scheme to provide succor to cancer patients of the state. He claimed that it was for the first time in the country such a scheme for free treatment of cancer patients had been initiated by a State Government.

Average 10000 cancer patients undergo treatment every year in the five government medical institutions in Assam. Out of the total patients, about 50 per cent are from the state of Assam.

Meanwhile, 100 heart patients have so far availed Assam Government's scheme for free pacemaker implant that is available in Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh, Guwahati Medical College and Silchar Medical College. The free pacemaker scheme was launched two months back. Each of these pacemakers is valued at Rs 80,000. The minister informed that Assam Health Department is ready with 1000 such pacemakers for needy patients. The Government had sanctioned Rs 5 crore in the State budget for the free pacemaker scheme.

"The 30-year old male rhino died at its enclosure this morning, and based on microscopic and clinical observations, veterinarians have said it could be a case of suspected anthrax," Guwahati Zoo warden Narayan Mahanta told IANS.

Mahanta, however, clarified that a conclusive picture would emerge after microbiological test reports are received after 72 hours.

"We are not taking chances and have therefore buried the rhino carcass without any post-mortem to prevent the possible spread of the disease, and have burnt the surface of the enclosure where the animal died," Mahanta said.

Assam Forest and Environment Minister Rockybl Hussain reviewed the situation and has decided to vaccinate all animals at the zoo in Guwahati after taking expert advice. Zoo authorities have put five other rhinos at the premises under "close observation". (IANS)

Lalringa was officially inducted into the MNF by party supremo and Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga at the MNF office here on Monday.

''I am not new to the MNF as I join it today. This (the official induction) is only my declaration that I still belong to the MNF, which I have been since I was a teenager,'' Mr Lalringa said.

Mr Lalringa claimed in his statement that he was not joining the party for power. (UNI)

When the Front chairman suggested that FB should meet again for further negotiations, it was made clear to him that the party could only sit for discussion, if the CPI(M) conceded to its demand, the Forward Bloc leader said. CPI(M) spokesman Gautam Das had said on January 15 that the FB had contested only one seat since 1978 and no situation had arisen that it should be given three seats. The CPI(M) would not succumb to the "pressure tactics" of the FB, which has no member in the 60-member outgoing house, he said.

Stating that the FB would shortly announce the names of its 15 candidates, Roy said the CPI(M) 'exploited' them for the last 30 years including seat-sharing during polls. (PTI)

Agartala: He grew up with a rickshaw as the sole means of earning a square meal a day for his family.

So when it comes to his innovative creation, perhaps one could not think of any other machine than rickshaw.

Seventeen-year-old Sunil Datta, son of Naresh Datta, a rickshaw puller, would fly to Seoul in South Korea to participate in the International Science Fair to be held in that country.

Recently, at the regional science fair in Birala Planetarium in Kolkata, Sunil, a student of Class XI of Amarpur Higher Secondary School stunned all with his invention. Students from eastern region including North East, West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa attended the fair. With his model of multipurpose rickshaw, Sunil lifted the first prize.

This opened a new chapter for Sunil.

As Sunil stood first in the regional science fair, he was nominated for participation in the International Science Fair.

"I feel proud for Tripura, which has given me everything to show my skill in the regional science fair. I am looking forward to the international science fair where I will showcase my model," he said at the SCERT office here on Tuesday.

This is for the first time that a school student from the State is going to participate in the international science fair.

Sunil in entitled Rs 500 per month for the next two years, besides taking home the trophy and science kits.