Mr Syiem will take oath as KHADC chief at the Council's special session on Thursday following the defeat of his predecessor HS Shylla in Tuesday's non-trust motion tabled by Congress members.

The special session starting at 11 am will see Mr Syiem formally elected as KHADC CEM with his name being proposed and seconded by Congress MDCs. He will be later sworn in as CEM by KHADC chairman Martamlin Pyrbot. A new Executive Committee is likely to be announced on the same day.

Mr Syiem was elected to KAHDC from Nongpoh in 2004. Known as a protégé of Chief Minister DD Lapang, Mr Syiem was also the Executive Member (Trade) for Ri-Bhoi and West Khasi Hills on the Shylla-led executive body.

Meanwhile, Mr Shylla told The Shillong Times that he was awaiting the House proceedings of Tuesday's session before filing his writ petition at Gauhati High Court against the KHADC chairman's decision to hold the session "in violation of existing rules."

"Let the court give its own interpretation whether summoning and proceedings of such House session without the Governor's approval is valid" Mr Shylla said, while pointing to the provisions of Sub Rule 1 and 2 of Rule 36 of Assam District Council Rules 1951 on the matter.

Stating that he had no intention of clinging to power, the ousted CEM said he decided to go to the court to ensure that members of the House and the chairman followed the rules.

This is the second major set back for the ULFA in Garo Hills in recent times after their top leader Madan Koch was gunned down in Oidoba area of West Garo Hills on the eve of this year's Republic Day celebrations.

Personnel from the 4h Kumaon Regiment, based in Damra area of East Garo Hills, while undertaking a routine checking of vehicles at Depa reserve forest area, near Dainadubi, came across the militants inside a public bus that was coming from coal belt region of Jadigittim in South Garo Hills.

The army seized from the possession of the six militants a sum of Rs 2 lakh, two hand grenades, two revolvers, two shotguns (SBML), and two packets of IED explosives.

Among the six militants one is a sergant major from the 709 battalion of the outfit. He has been identified as Astaf Ali alias Marwar Hussain alias Medhi Pathak. The other members belong to the 109 Bn of the ULFA. One is a Rabha and another is a Garo cadre identified as one Simchang.

Sources reveal that the six militants had crossed over from Bangladesh into South Garo Hills and had boarded the bus at Jadigittim enroute to Assam.

ULFA regularly uses the dense forests of Garo Hills for taking shelter and also as a transit point to and fro Bangladesh. Last year, Army and East Garo Hills police successfully busted an ULFA camp deep inside Adokgre forest and killed one militant besides arresting two others.

The Education Department, through a notification issued recently, directed teachers of all government-aided schools to stay away from election campaigns, saying "this act of commission on their (teachers') part is violative of rule of conduct of government and government-aided employee."

The notification said teachers of institutions enjoying grants-in-aid from the government should refrain from taking part in poll campaigns because they were given salaries like government servants.

The government warned that teachers found violating "the rules would be dealt with strictly."

Interestingly, some politicians who have been given tickets by various political parties, both regional and national, to contest the election are teachers of government-aided institutions.

During his whirlwind visit to Shillong, the Union Minister would meet all the Congress candidates and other senior Congress leaders to discuss poll strategies in Meghalaya, especially in Nationalist Congress Party's heartland in Garo Hills.

Mr Munsi will be accompanied by AICC secretary in-charge Meghalaya Maj (Retd) Ved Prakash.

After the Union Minister's visit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lead the campaign trail in the three Northeastern states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura ahead of the Assembly elections.

AICC general secretary in-charge of Meghalaya and Nagaland Margaret Alva had said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi were also scheduled to hit the campaign trail for two days in the three poll-bound NE states.

The NECCC general secretary, Mr Shariff Laskar, who met Ms Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday, told newsmen that the Congress chief is slated to visit Shillong in the last week of this month. From there she would visit Nagaland and on the last leg she will campaign in Tripura.

Mr Laskar during his meeting with Mrs Gandhi demanded deployment of more central para-military forces in Left Front ruled Tripura. "The law and order situation in Tripura has gone from bad to worse and the CPM is known for massive violence and rigging," Mr Laskar told the Congress president.

"She expressed concern over the law and order situation in Tripura and urged all Congressmen to remain united and fight the polls," he said. The party would also try its best to wrest power in Nagaland, currently under President's rule," Mr Laskar said.

The NECCC General Secretary also submitted a memorandum to Ms Gandhi seeking her personal intervention in mitigating the pressing problems of Barak valley.

Congress has fielded candidates in all the 60 constituencies of the state with Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang seeking re-election from Nongpoh and Speaker Martin M Danggo from Langrin constituencies.

A single-phase election of the 60-seat Assembly will be held on March three. The counting will be held on March seven,

The filing of nomination papers will begin on February eight and close on February 15.

The last date for withdrawal of nomination is February 18. (UNI & Our Spl correspondent)

East Khasi Hills DC Bhalang Dhar said eleven check-gates belonging to Shillong Municipal Board, KHADC and Forest Department were dismantled by the district administration along with police personnel.

"If any individuals or departments try to reconstruct these check-gates, arrests will be made immediately," Mr Dhar said, adding the district police had been asked to register a case and arrest people found collecting such toll.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Dhar had passed an order to dismantle all illegal toll gates set up along national highway and PWD roads in East Khasi Hills district.

He also said a detailed survey done by officials of the district administration found that all the check-gates set up by the various authorities along the NH and PWD roads were illegal as they were built without permission from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the PWD.

SHILLONG: MUDA is facing financial crunch thanks to large-scale backdoor appointments allegedly made at the behest of ministers as well as politicians.

Sources on Wednesday said the head office of MUDA was overstaffed due to excessive illegal appointments, specially casual staff, on recommendation of politicians. Excess staff have also been reported in the Byrnihat branch of the agency.

Creation of the MUDA office at Byrnihat had put Urban Affairs Minister Paul Lyngdoh at the centre of a controversy last year as Byrnihat was not a town as per provisions of MUDA Act.

"The new branch at Byrnihat is adding to the burden of the department rather than generating revenue. So far, 19 appointments have been made at the branch office and a majority of them simply draw their salaries without doing any work," sources alleged.

According to the sources, MUDA does not have much work to do at Byrnihat. The branch office was created only to fulfill political aspirations of some politicians. The situation in Shillong office is no better. It has also excess staff and majority of them just "hang around" as they have no duty to perform.

"On account of this excess manpower, the department is facing difficulties in paying salaries of employees. The money going into payment of salaries is almost twice the revenue earned by the department", sources said, adding, "If this situation continues, then in no point of time MUDA would be facing the same consequences as those faced by MTC."

A few years back, MTC was unable to pay salaries to its employees due to excess manpower, and now it has becomes a sick unit. It was only after majority of the staff opted for voluntary retirement that the Corporation could be revamped.

Moreover, official sources said there was a proposal to appoint M Nampui as MUDA secretary after Israel Ingty was removed from the post. But political interference allegedly prevented Mrs Nampui's appointment. Politicians were apprehensive of Mrs Nampui's appointment as it could uncover "the unlawful activities" of the department.

Meanwhile, Urban Affairs Minister Paul Lyngdoh was not available for comments.

According to the police, the accused, who were arrested last week from Mawlai, were identified as Mainul Haque, Neela Babu Singh and Ralregina Kharhujon.

Earlier, during interrogation the accused revealed that they had convinced Mr Dkhar to lend them Rs 43 lakh with a promise that they would give Rs one crore in return.

Police further said that the culprits 'returned' the money to Mr Dkhar in bundles in Shillong on January 4 last.

However, on reaching his residence in Jowai, he found out that the bundles were stuffed with grey papers only in the shape and size of currencies.

The police also seized the Maruti Local Taxi (ML 05 C 8737) that was used for committing the theft.

Talking to newsmen here on Wednesday, UDP leader Samuel Khongbuh and MDP general secretary BK Khongjirem termed the claim as "baseless and unjustified".

They said the name of Mr Nongkynrih was suggested by the Joint Coordination Committee of the three parties, whose authority was annulled as UDP and MDP pulled out due to certain differences of opinion with KHNAM. "Therefore, Mr Nongkynrih is not our joint candidate but solely of the KHNAM," they rebutted.

The two leaders further said that the allegation of the secretary of Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) Harban Dkhar that the UDP betrayed the candidature of Mr Nongkynrih holds no water today as the two parties had pulled out of the JCC due to non-cooperation of KHNAM members.

The two leaders said a Joint Coordination Committee (JCC), comprising three regional parties - UDP, MDP and KHNAM - was formed in Lyngkyrdem constituency in which ten members from each party were nominated to the committee to search for a consensus candidate from the constituency.

The name of DR Nongkynrih was suggested by the JCC in which the parties involved agreed in principle that his name would be placed before a public meeting for approval.

A public meeting was convened on October 10 last at Pynursla to formally announce the candidature of Mr Nongkynrih.

However, things did not progress smoothly for the parties as the meeting was cancelled overnight, a day before schedule.

"In spite of requests from the UDP and MDP to hold the public meeting, the chairman and secretary of the JCC turned their deaf ears to the request indicating that there was partiality in selection of the candidate," they alleged.

Sensing foul play, the two parties - UDP and MDP - served an ultimatum to the chairman of the JCC to reconvene the meeting within October 18 last failing which they would automatically withdraw from the JCC.

As chairman and secretary of the JCC maintained their silent, UDP and MDP finally decided to pull out thereby annulling the existence of JCC, they said, adding "D Roblin Nongkynrih is purely a KHNAM candidate."

The MDP has nominated Mr Kodin Nongrum, a Myntri from Hima Sohra, as party candidate from Sohra constituency for the ensuing Assembly election slated on March 3. His candidature was formally accepted at a meeting of party supporters in the presence of MDP president, Martle N Mukhim at Laitryngew on Wednesday.

Mawsynram legislator D Plaslanding Iangjuh has resigned as member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. Mr Iangjuh recently resigned from the MDP to make way for contesting in the ensuing Assembly poll from the UDP ticket.

Meanwhile, Mawthengkut legislator Francis Pondit Sangma has also resigned as member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. Mr Sangma won the 2003 election on an independent ticket and later associated himself with the Congress. He will contest the coming election from the Congress ticket.

After his resignation as an MLA, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Secretariat has announced that Nartiang legislator Draison Kharshiing is no longer the Chief Whip of the State Government with immediate effect.

Mr Kharshiing had to resign as an MLA following his resignation from the primary membership of the MDP. Mr Kharshiing would contest the coming election from the Congress ticket.

Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Secretariat has also informed that Mahendraganj legislator Nidhu Ram Hajong has ceased to be the Deputy Chief Whip of the State government with immediate effect. Mr Hajong will contest as an independent candidate.

In a meeting held at the residence of SB Nongdhar, MDP candidate from Laitumkhrah, the Meghalaya Democratic Party Laitumkhrah circle was formed with DE Nongkynrih as its president and Robert Diengdoh as general secretary.

The meeting also elected office bearers for the circle, namely, Fredric Bareh as joint secretary, Malcolm Warjri as chief organiser, Wankitbok Pohshna as publicity secretary besides other secretaries and executive members.

The meeting also constituted the party's Youth Wing, Laitumkhrah circle with Joshua Sohtun as president, Starland Kharkongor as vice president and others.

The Central Election Office of the Laban Block Congress Committee located at Laban Main Road was inaugurated on Tuesday in the presence of MPCC president, OL Nongtdu and Minister of Higher and Technical Education RG Lyngdoh and others.

Speakers on the occasion urged the people of 22-Laban constituency to support Sanjoy Das, a Congress candidate from Laban.

Kynmaw Talang has resigned as president of Congress, Nartiang Block to join the Samajwadi Party, a release said. He was subsequently appointed as convenor of the Samajwadi Party, Nartiang Modop unit.

The government of India is being run by 186 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers. There are 62 officers in the rank of secretary: the rest occupy secondary positions. Over the last 10-years, there were as many as 104 reshuffles of secretaries. On an average, a secretary to a department remains in that post for not more than 22.64 days. Similar are the case with others at the lower rungs, who had changed departments, and their stay with the ministries averaged 14.34 days in a year.

Such large-scale reshuffles among the top bureaucrats badly affect the administration. Some people sympathise with the lot of the bureaucracy and blame the politicians who misuse the power of transfer to, penalise the civil servants. They also argue that in the majority of cases, arbitrary transfers of officers are resorted to for taming the recalcitrant elements who refuse to do the biddings of their ministers, legal or illegal.

At their annual conference recently the chief secretaries, once again registered their sense of disappointment that senior IAS/IPS officers were being transferred frequently and often arbitrarily. This is a far cry from the relationship of mutual confidence and trust enjoined by the Administrative Reforms Commission in the 1960s. The Sarkaria Commission recommended in 1987 that nothing should be done to undermine the morale of the all-India services. For their part, the bureaucrats should also learn to stand up instead of giving in tamely to the whims of their political bosses.

Since no system of government can work without an efficient and cohesive permanent bureaucracy, the present state of the civil service in this country cannot but be a source of acute concern. During the 13-year-interval between its liberation from the German occupation and the rise of General de Gaulle to power, when governments changed rapidly, France was kept going essentially by its competent bureaucracy that acted in concert, though it had its rare of abominable non-men, sticklers for rulers and votaries of the red tape. Should conditions reminiscent of the French Fourth Republic arise in this country—that bleak prospect can no longer be ruled out—it would be utterly unrealistic to expect India’s battered bureaucracy to cope with them.

The disarray and demoralisation among the services that were expected to be free India’s steel-frame have to be seen to be believed. The picture is dismal, both at the Centre and, even more so, in the states, particularly in the North. For instance, Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Ms. Mayawati, is fond of transferring senior officers at the drop of hats without any valid rhyme and reason.

It may be useful to turn the spotlight on the bureaucracy’s own failings to which attention has not so far been drawn. The enemy within appears to have become a powerful ally of the enemy without in the case of the higher civil services. It would not be fair to blame the politicians alone for the erosion of the integrity and professionalism of the Indian bureaucracy. The public servants have collaborated with the politicians in abusing the norms of trusteeship, which are the criteria governing the appointments to the all-India services.

In their defence, the bureaucrats maintain that the politicians harm their legitimate career prospects if they do not bend the rules to the advantage of the latter. To prove their case, they narrate many stories of revenge by the politicians against the honest officials. But the bureaucrats in India are not a weak social group. More than 4,800 IAS officials, who stand at the apex of the bureaucratic pyramid, are truly an elite group.

Only about 100 persons join the IAS fraternity every year. Its social base has also not really broadened beyond the well-off professional groups who can provide the best educational facilities to their children in the elitist institutions at home and abroad. Similarly, the higher administrative services of the state governments have been cornered by the children of the professional groups and rich peasants, who enjoy all the social privileges of caste and class in the agrarian society.

The actual functioning of the country’s mixed economy has opened many career opportunities for the higher echelons of bureaucrats. But the bureaucrats can exploit new opportunities only by coming to terms with other social and politically powerful groups in the society. And this they have done. During the last 25-years, the Indian bureaucracy has consciously established solid linkages with the political leaders for post-retirement amenities in the shape of induction into the posts of Ambassadors, Governors, and into many other offices of profits. While in service, the bureaucrats establish a firm nexus with the political leaders for personal gains, compromising their official positions. The senior bureaucrats have secured political or semi-political positions by establishing proper links with the political leaders. The politicians have appointed L.P. Singh, L.K. Jha, B.K. Nehru, Sarla Growal, Jagmohan, S.M.H. Burney and many other top civil servants as Governors.

Many military officers have also received similar benefits. Generals like J.N. Choudhury, Thapar, Raina, K.V. Krishna Rao, S.K. Sinha and the latest to join the rank is the recently retired army chief J.J. Singh as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh.

By offering coveted semi-political jobs to the retired bureaucrats, the politicians in office clearly conveyed a message to the whole group of the civil and military potentates that the cultivation of appropriate links with the former would bring off the right kind of rewards.

The reward and punishment policy at present being pursued with great vigour, has its own benefits and punishment as well. Thus, every serving officer has his eyes fixed on the next job after retirement, provided he has the chance of keeping the political leadership in good humour, by bending rules. Thus, the cry of impartial administration is a cry in the wilderness.

An independent India did not start this way. The leaders were loved, respected and trusted. The new entrants into the public service and those inherited from the British were bold, enthused by a desire to prove to the world that we Indians could govern ourselves better than the British. Nehru, Patel, Azad, Rajaji, Pant and Kidwai were in total unison with civil servants, such as V.P. Menon, H.M. Patel, Dharam Vira, the Sahay brothers, H.V.R. Iyengar, C.C. Desai, N.R. Pillai and G.S. Bajpai, Senior and Junior. There was no political interference in the civil services and promotions were assured on the basis of seniority and merit.

There was cohesion and purpose in the working of the government. The politicians and bureaucrats then knew their limitations.

It was in 1969, in the wake of the first split in the Congress, that some Central Ministers tried to import into New Delhi a variant of the Kairon-Bakshi political culture. They found a convenient handle in the then fashionable cry of a "committed bureaucracy". After the 1977 general elections, it was open to the Janata government to put a halt to the excesses of the past and start with a clean slate. But instead of doing so, it embarked on its own version of witch-hunting against those officials who were believed to be closely associated with the previous regime or were reluctant to give evidence against Indira Gandhi.

The officials who identify themselves too closely with their political bosses sometimes pay a price for their fealty when their political masters are not around to protect them. Even in the palmy and tolerant days of Nehru, V. Shankar was cast away from Delhi and packed off to Kolhapur as Collector after the death of his political mentor, Sardar Patel.

Too many and too frequent changes in the portfolios of the departmental secretaries have had a deleterious effect on the administration. Years of functioning in a particular department equips them with special knowledge of the subject and gives them an expertise which can prove to be a valuable asset for the administration. In England and France, the high quality of the administration is, to a great extent, due to the fact that with the change of government, no one thinks of reshuffling the departmental heads and secretaries. The result is that their capacity for detached and independent expert advice remains unimpaired. The fact that they have implemented policy decisions of the previous government is not considered a negative factor, nor does this disqualify them from carrying out the policy decisions of the subsequent ministry.

Another unwholesome practice is the giving of out-of-turn promotions. More often, the favourites are given coveted assignments and important postings. The favourites are none else than those public servants who get aligned with the political groups in power.

This causes understandable resentment and frustration among other civil servants and strengthens the belief that what counts for betterment of one’s official career is not efficiency, integrity and devotion to duty, but subservience to, and willingness to carry out the wishes of, the political bosses.

Much worse, however, is the predicament of the public servant when the political boss uses the power of his office and the official machinery to harass his political opponents. Any such operation would result in involving the public servants and making them pawns in the game of power politics.

Though each of the problems touched upon so far is important, all of them, individually or collectively, pale into insignificance when compared with the havoc wrought by the steady deteriorating political culture. The concept of equality before law and impartial justice is alien to India’s essentially feudal society. If it struck root at all in this country’s soil it was because of the tireless efforts of Sardar Ptael and others who took over the reins after the advent of freedom. There were the towering chief ministers like B.C. Roy, Govind Ballabh Pant and Rajaji.

Soon the decline started. By now the nadir has been reached. Men who would be a disgrace to a district board or even a municipality have become overlords of crucial portfolios at the Centre and in the large states. Such ministers don’t know the ABC of administration. Intellectually, they are shallow and have, therefore, managed to surround themselves with courtiers, hangers-on and, at best, staff officers willing to stifle their own conscience.

Since such politicos are also generally unsure of how long their power will last, they are rather reckless in exercising their "gift of the grab". The result is there for anyone to see. But what does one say about those who choose to be blind? INAV

Pakistan has emerged as the fountainhead of Islamic radicalism and terrorism in the world. Most of the recent terror attacks in the world have had a Pakistan link. The West believes that both the Al Qaeda and Taliban leaderships may be ensconced in Pakistan. The Pakistani Taliban has been challenging the writ of the state in Waziristan for years, but the fire from South and North Waziristan is now spreading.

It has not only engulfed all the seven tribal agencies in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) but what is more alarming is that the fire has spread to the settled areas. The ease with which militants overran the Swat Valley indicated the overwhelming fundamentalist influence in the region.

The surrender of security personnel to the militants with arms shows their ideological affinity with the cause of the militants and their reluctance to fight them. The militants behead "collaborators" with the regime with ease.

The radical influence is not only spreading but also increasing in intensity. So emboldened are the militants that they feel confident enough to take on the security forces in open combat.

They have attacked the security forces and have even succeeded in capturing well-fortified positions. At the same time, their suicide attacks on security forces and other such targets across the entire North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) and Punjab show the growing influence in Pakistan's heartland.

The militants eliminated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto because she had the potential to erode their support base considerably. If unchecked, the fundamentalism will engulf the entire Pakistan -- and threaten the world.

Fundamentalism has grown in Pakistan because successive governments in Pakistan encouraged it. In the past they encouraged Islamic political parties so that an all-inclusive Islamic identity could emerge in Pakistan and bridge the existing ethno-linguistic cleavages. After 1971, when Pakistan split, Islam was used to dilute ethnic identities. Many regimes used fundamentalism as a vehicle to provide legitimacy to their rule.

The current military dispensation initially encouraged the fundamentalist forces to keep the popular opposition at bay and subsequently used its growing influence to project to the world, especially the West, that it was the sole bulwark against the unfettered march of extremism. As part of this strategy, the regime looked the other way when clerics in Lal Masjid and their students enforced their Talibanised moral code right in the heart of Islamabad.

But when the students kidnapped the 'friendly' Chinese, the regime was forced to storm the Lal Masjid and confront the radical elements head on. After that the military was forced to crack down on the extremists. This led to the militants taking on the military; as a result, for the first time, ordinary soldiers were targeted.

In the ensuing clashes, a large number of security personnel surrendered to the militants, at times with arms and ammunition, without firing a shot. This led to the realisation in the West that the current military dispensation led by Pervez Musharraf was incapable of keeping the genie of extremism bottled up.

It was felt that the secular opposition was needed to move the masses disillusioned with Musharraf away from the fundamentalists. So the West brokered a deal between Benazir and Musharraf. Her assassination upstaged the planned transition to democracy.

There is no other popular leader of requisite moderate credentials acceptable to the West to take on the mantle from Benazir. Nawaz Sharif is considered close to the fundamentalists. Benazir's successors in her party are not as popular. So is the onward march of fundamentalism in Pakistan inevitable? Probably not!

There are still political groups that can halt the onward march of radicalism in Pakistan though they may not have nation-wide presence. These are the nationalist parties representing the ethno-linguistic groups that comprise Pakistan, forces that have traditionally sought regional autonomy and a more federal structure but have traditionally been hounded by the establishment.

Due to the machinations of the government, these groups have splintered into numerous smaller groups and their support base has eroded considerably although the cause they propound still evokes a strong response among the masses.

All these groups -- like the Baloch National Party (BNP) and its splinter groups in Balochistan, the Awami National Party (ANP) in NWFP and FATA, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in urban Sindh and the Sindh National Front (SNF) in rural Sindh -- have been Left-leaning secularists who have been traditionally opposed to the Islamic hardliners.

Pakistan's military establishment and intelligence agencies had encouraged fundamentalist forces in different regions to counter these nationalist forces. The last elections in Pakistan saw the nationalist forces perform abysmally. The religious parties emerged as a major force.

However, since then, the Baloch nationalists have regained the lost ground and fundamentalist forces have virtually been wiped out of southern Balochistan, which is dominated by Baloch tribes. Similarly, the MQM has halted the growing influence of fundamentalist forces in urban Sindh. Rural Sindh is relatively free from fundamentalist influence, yet there is a need to strengthen the Sindhi nationalist forces to check the slow but steady rise of fundamentalism.

The main arena of the fundamentalist forces has been the region dominated by Pakhtoons - FATA, NWFP as well as northern Balochistan. It is this region where the influence of the fundamentalist forces needs to be checked. Unfortunately, the only party with grassroot support among the populace - the ANP - has lost considerable clout due to the onslaught of successive regimes.

However, the party in its previous incarnations like the NAP has been immensely popular and most Pakhtoons have at some time or the other been its supporters. It is essential that the Pakistan government and the international community must back the forces represented by the ANP to fight the menace of terrorism.

The international community must pressurise Pakistan to accept a more federal structure and concede some of the demands of the ANP - the most important being naming the NWFP (a legacy of the British) as Pakhtoonkhwa.

These steps would bolster the ANP and enable it to take on the fundamentalist forces. The global community must understand that the global war on terror will be lost or won in this region. An ANP electoral triumph in the next elections presents the best chance for a victory in the global war on terror.

Sir,

The Geological Survey of India North Eastern Region had set up a gem testing laboratory in the Petrology Division, Nongrim Hills, Shillong. However, the authority did not advertise the setting up of such testing facilities available at Shillong either -through the print media or through the electronic media, for reasons best known to it. In fact this is the only lab available in this part of the country.

Of my own interest I came to know about it and visited the lab to get precious and semi-precious gems tested against a very nominal charges. The Director in Charge provided me a certificate of the gem tested. People of different NE states too drove down to Shillong and got their job done whenever required.

There is a booming market of precious and semi-precious stones in the Northeastern region in general and in Shillong, Guwahati and Cachar district of Assam in particular. But the market is flooded with duplicate and synthetic stones. For a common man it is next to impossible to distinguish between the fake and the original one and hence this testing lab was indeed helpful for all as it catered to the needs of the common and innocent buyers.

But to everyone's surprise the Geological Survey of India, NER, has since the past six months closed down the laboratory without any prior notice. Also, it is uncertain as no correct information is given if the lab has been closed down permanently or the services would resume in the near future. Can the authority close down any lab without any notice, which exclusively deals in public interest?

The closing down of the lab has indeed increased the practice among the group of unholy sellers who are very happy since there is no other machinery which can control such corrupt practice. Ultimately the sufferer is the common man. It is not out of place to mention that, with the certificate issued by the gem testing lab, some of the fake stone sellers were caught and amount paid by the innocent customers was recovered.

Hence, I would like to bring to the notice of the concerned authority to take necessary steps to restart the gem testing lab at an early date.

Yours etc.,
LJ Singh
Shillong-1.

Talking to UNI here on Wednesday, Minister of State at PMO Prithviraj Chavan said that the Congress-led UPA Government had taken several initiatives to accelerate development in the NE.

Earlier, the Centre has set up an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) at Shillong while Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura University were converted to Central Universities last year.

''The Congress has sincerely tried to utilise the potentials of the region and developed a standard infrastructure to remove the misconception of alienation among the people here,'' Mr Chavan said.

Underlining the development of NE region, he stated that the centre emphasised on human resource management along with communication, rural development and basic amenities.

Mr Chavan said the Centre has established a Central University in Sikkim and National Institute of Technology (NIT), Agartala in 2007 while upgraded Manipur Institute of Technology (MIT) into a National Institute of Technology (NIT).

To tackle the problem of regional imbalances in higher education, one Central University in each NE state will be set up, he informed.

The Union Ministry has allocated over Rs 100 crore for the universities of the NE region from the additional Rs 153 crore provided by the Planning Commission under the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP).

The courses in Engineering and Management have been started in all such universities except Mizoram and have projected a requirement of additional funds to the UGC for building up of necessary infrastructure as well as expansion of academic programme in these two faculties.

During 2007-08 fiscal, the Centre had earmarked Rs 239.23 crore for Central Universities in NE and with the increased allocation during the 11th Plan period it would be possible for the UGC to release necessary funds, Mr Chavan added. (UNI)

NEW DELHI: Despite overall economic backwardness, the North East continued to pay highest tax in corporate sector for past several consecutive months.

Corporate tax growth was highest in the north eastern region, official data released by the Finance Ministry said. The economic hub of the region, Guwahati reported highest corporate tax during the first ten months of the current fiscal, it said.

Interestingly, North East was followed by poor states like Bihar and Jharkhand regions at 75.45 percent, Kerala region at 71.61 percent, eastern Uttar Pradesh at 71.46 percent. Mumbai, India's financial capital though continued top position in overall direct tax collection, reported comparatively lowest corporate tax at 69.90 percent.

Direct tax collections continued to record a growth of over 40 percent for the first ten months of the current fiscal, the data showed. Net direct tax collections stood at Rs.2,18,538 crore, up from Rs.1,55,576 crore during the same period last fiscal, registering a growth of 40.47 percent and achieving over 81 percent of budgeted direct tax target of Rs.2,67,490 crore.

Corporate Tax registered a growth of 37.54 percent at Rs 1,33,851 crore, up from Rs 97,315 crore during the previous fiscal, while Personal Income Tax (including FBT, STT and BCTT) grew by 45.45 percent at Rs 84,349 crore, up from Rs 57,990 crore. Growth in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) was 85.71 percent (Rs 6,793 crore against Rs 3,658 crore) and Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) was 30.74 percent (Rs.5,161 crore against Rs.3,948 crore). Banking Cash Transaction Tax (BCTT) grew by 14.51 percent (Rs.460 crore against Rs.401 crore).

Overall direct tax growth was highest in the Mumbai region at 64.26 percent; followed by North Western region (Chandigarh) at 48.19 percent, Pune region at 44.37 percent, Karnataka & Goa regions (Bangalore) at 43.76 percent and Andhra Pradesh region (Hyderabad) at 39.53 percent, the data showed.

Personal income tax growth was highest in Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh regions (Bhopal) at 393.07 percent; followed by Mumbai at 54.48 percent, part of western Uttar Pradesh region (Meerut) at 52.91 percent, Andhra Pradesh region (Hyderabad) at 49.97 percent, eastern Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow) at 48.84 percent and Tamil Nadu region (Chennai) at 48.41 percent, the data showed.

The official data however, did not attribute any specific reasons for the tax collection figures.

The bandh began at 5 am in Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Udalguri and Baksa districts and there was no report of any untoward incident from there. All shops, business establishments, private offices, educational institutions and financial institutions remained closed. All long and short distance buses along with private vehicles remained off the road. The bandh was called to protest the killing of BPFPR vice-president Babul Swargiary on February 2 by unidentified miscreants.

Meanwhile, the Atul Rai faction of the All Koch Rajbongshi Students Union (AKRSU) blocked rail tracks in lower Assam during the day demanding creation of separate Kamatapur state and scheduled tribe status for the Koch Rajbongshis. (PTI)

Guwahati: The Right to Information Act has come to the help of candidates in Assam's state-board conducted class X and XII examinations, with the students now able to procure photo copies of their answer scripts under the Act.

Assam Education Minister Ripun Bora said yesterday that the candidates would be able to get photo copy of their answer scripts, thus diminishing further the chances of wrong evaluation.

The Minister was addressing a meeting of Board of Secondary Education, Assam, (SEBA) and Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) officials here to review the preparations for the examinations, slated to start from February 15.

It is the maiden time that an Education Minister has reviewed examination preparation in the State.

Mr Bora, urging the candidates to utilise the RTI Act to ensure that they get the correct marks, also called on the evaluators to be more careful as the person would be held responsible for any improper evaluation.

He also took stock of the security arrangements being taken to ensure that question papers were not leaked and that answer scripts were not manipulated.

Altogether 3,55,120 candidates would appear for the class X examinations in 758 centres, while another 1,65,726 candidates would take the class XII examinations in 618 centres. (UNI)