As the Chairman of the State Planning Board, Mr SC Marak will also accompany the Chief Minister. Mr Marak said that he would like to use this opportunity to meet the Congress president and the other leaders. The duo are leaving for Delhi on March 6.

The former Chief Minister admitted that the persistent demand for change of leadership by some leaders has damaged the party's image. According to Mr Marak this has given wrong signal to the people and said that it all depends on the AICC to analyse the situation.

Mr Rymbai is expected to be back in the State capital on March 9 after completing the official engagements in Delhi.

Meanwhile, some Rymbai loyalists have informed that there was no communication from Delhi on the issue so far.

According to sources, the AICC would initiate action against Mr Rymbai if defies the high command's diktat. There was unanimity among the leaders in view of Mr Rymbai's refusal to step down even after the verbal order. His attempt to drag this issue to the floor of the House during the Assembly session, which starts on March 12, has also irked the AICC top brass.

Mrs Gandhi held a series of meetings with senior party functionaries on Thursday and Friday to discuss the matter. However, the General Secretary in charge of the State Oscar Fernandes, who rushed to Imphal after attending the Thursday's meeting to attend the swearing in ceremony of Mr Ibobi Singh in Manipur, could not be present in Friday's meeting.

When asked about the demand of some of the supporters of the Chief Minister for a trial of strength in the proper forum - the CLP, the AICC sources said that the similar exercise was already undertaken and added that "the Chief Minister does not have more than a dozen MLAs in his support". (With inputs from Our Spl Correspondent)

Reliance, Airtel and Aircel customers also complained that they were unable to get through to their family members and friends who are BSNL subscribers.

A subscriber, Mr A Hynniewta said that whenever he dialled any number, the message that was displayed on his cell phone was "error in connection".

Mrs J Chettri, another Cell One subscriber, said that she too was unable to call up her relative for some important matter. "It's so frustrating to have such service. We have cell phones to make us accessible to people at all times and vise -versa, but if you cannot provide that kind of service to your customers, there is no use ", Mrs Chettri said.

Mr S Das too faced the same plight, told that he was unable to inform his son about his grand- daughter's illness, and eventually had to get the doctor himself from Laitumkhrah.

Informing this on Friday, Shillong Municipal Board (SMB) Chief Executive Officer W L Lyngdoh said that the enforcement of new taxes as revised recently was kept in abeyance till completion of the report of the Review Committee.

While stating that the decision was taken in pursuance to the decision taken by Urban Affairs Minister Prestone Tynsong and leaders of the Synjuk ki Rangbah Shnongs, Mr Lyngdoh informed that all tax payers who wished to avail of the rebate as per rules are allowed to pay the old Municipal tax within March 31.

According to sources, the youths who have passed the interview for Grade-IV posts held by the DSC, would first take out a procession from Motphran to the Arts and Culture auditorium in Rilbong where the Assembly is temporarily housed.

Speaking to the reporters, they said that the demonstration in front of the Assembly would be to inform the legislators on their plight. Prior to the demonstration, they would hold a meeting on March 6 afternoon at Khasi-Jaintia Welfare Association (KJWA) office in Mawkhar to discuss their plan for the proposed agitation.

The election of Mr Syiem as the new Syiem has filled the vacuum in the Hima Mylliem, which could not get a full-fledged Syiem for several years after the suspension of Manik Syiem. The long drawn court case between the KHADC and the suspended Syiem was finally settled after he decided to withdraw the case earlier this year.

The suspicion gets strengthened by the fact that the former Community and Rural Development Minister Beckstar Sangma, who is allegedly involved in the innovating housing scheme, is a supporter of Rymbai.

When asked why no FIR was filed so far, official sources said that the government is studying the report of ACB and the High Court order and the decision will made known at the earliest. It may be mentioned that the High Court had directed the State Government to file an FIR in November last.

When contacted, a Rymbai loyalist said that law would take its own course whether the legislator is supporting one camp or the other.

NEW DELHI: The Khasi Students' Union on Friday submitted a memorandum to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) about the alleged irregularities in the KHADC.

The KSU general secretary H Dohling also met AGP MP Mr Sarbananda Sonowal in this regard. "Mr Sonwal assured me that the matter would be raised in the Parliament during the ongoing session itself," Mr Dohling told The Shillong Times after the meeting.

The general secretary Group 'C' Ministerial Officers' Association Customs & Central Excise, Shillong, Mr S Dutta has clarified that the staff of the Customs & Central Excise Department had gathered infront of the office premises during lunch break and not as reported in the photo caption which appeared in The Shillong Times on Feb 27.

The Coordination Committee led by its chairman and secretary, DD Dympep and LD Lakiang respectively had also conducted an inspection of the river and the cement company at Lumshnong.

On inspection, it was found that fishes continue to die. Besides, the river is emanating foul smell while the change in waters colour also continued. Mr Dympep also said that the Committee would write to the Government to take preventives measure in case of outbreak of an epidemic in villages situated along the banks if the river while issuing a warning that about 8000 villagers would be affected if the smell or the contaminated waters is not contained.

The Committee also inspected the cement plant as locals claimed that the Factory is responsible for poisoning the river. Mr Dympep, however said that the Committee at the moment cannot solely blame the cement plant and it is still waiting for results of the examination of sample of waters from Wah Lukha.

"We cannot blame the Cement Factory, but we had taken all the sample from wah Lukha and sample of waste product from the factory to be examined and only after obtaining the result then we are able to find out the real causes of the contamination".

It may be mentioned that the cement plant has no proper dumping area for disposal of waste product.

Meanwhile, Mr Devender Basan said their cement plant is a dry process and no waste products were produced from the factory. He also informed that the Pollution Department of the Company has done the Examination, and they had also sent the water sample to Pasture Institute for thorough Examination for which copies of the results were also given to the Committee.

The Committee will sent the sample to Laboratory for Examination independently.

Shillong: New executive body of the Langrin Block unit of the NCP was constituted recently with Mr Lastbornson Pariong as president in a general body meeting held at Ranikor recently. Four general secretaries - Jewin R Marak, Steward Syiemlieh, Shinning Syiemlieh, and Babu M Sangma - were also elected besides other office bearers in the meeting. President of All India Youth NCP, Conrad K Sangma was also present in the meeting.

Shillong: Social Welfare Minister MN Mukhim has expressed concern over the fact that Meghalaya GDP is yet to become at par with the national growth.

Speaking at the state-level awareness programme on Rural Employment Generation Programme Scheme held here recently, Mr Mukhim said that the people of Meghalaya are rural based to the extent of more than 80 percent and "the grower rate of our GDP continues to lag far behind those of the more advanced parts of the country."

Mr Mukhim also added that the State does not boost of a full-fledged manufacturing sector, and at any rate, large-scale industrialisation would not be very suited to the sensitive make up of the social structure and the delicate balance of natural environment of the State.

"Meghalaya share substantially in the concern which is engaging the attention of the country as a whole and we too have designated the current year as the Year of the Farmer."

According to him, the eco-friendly, sustainable and appropriate techniques promoted by the KHADI and Village Industries Board and Commission are, thus of special relevance and benefit to Meghalaya.

The awareness camp was organised by Meghalaya Khadi and Village Industries Board, Shillong for artisans and aspiring small industrialists hailing from all the districts of the State.

Chairman MKVIB, D Kharshiing also spoke on the occasion.

They took part in the play acting on the story of Tara, inspection parade, drawing and painting competitions, clay modelling, paper cutting, handicrafts exhibition and kalarav programme in which they performed Khasi dance, songs and group dance. The smallest girl, Emika Rani, who narrated the play was selected to present a speech on the occasion of World Brotherhood Day held at the National Headquarters, New Delhi. At the all round performances, the State bagged the first position while the second and third position went to Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu respectively.

This decision was taken in a meeting of the Committee held on February 25th, 2007 at Assam Club. The meeting formed a new committee with Dr Prakash Boruah as president and Mr Phatik Ch Deka as general secretary.

The Budget 2007-08 has been praised as well as criticised depending upon the perceptions of political parties and individuals. But for an impartial observer the Budget hides more than it reveals micro and macro financial jugglery. As Nobel laureate and monetarist Milton Friedman said that "budget making is a stupid exercise as statistics are always incorrect". To what extend this applies in the present case should be left for future. But in economics there is never a tomorrow. For a regime which has been accused of not living up to its "aam admi ke saath" pledge, Finance Minister, Mr. P. Chidambaram gave his Congress colleagues and restive UPA partners enough talking points to claim that their heart still beats for the poor. The Budget bristles with a whole deal of initiatives - from bringing down duty on imported edible oil and review of forward trading in agricultural commodities to extension of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the introduction of an Aam Admi Bima Yojana - which can be touted by the grassroots campaigner to quell suspicions of dilution of the professed commitment.

Though his Budget speech had been printed before the assembly poll results of Punjab and Uttarakhand came in, Chidambaram, just like the Economic Survey a day earlier, appeared to have anticipated the setback. Wiser by grilling sessions with fellow CWC members, and aware of the growing lament that government was not in sync with political priorities of the regime, the Finance Minister chose to wear his concern on his sleeves, quoting Nehru to stress, "Everything else can wait, but not agriculture".

The additional emphasis the he would put so conspicuously whenever he announced hikes in allocations for rural and farm sectors - insurance scheme for the rural landless or extension of rural employment scheme to 330 districts - is to be seen in this light only.

Presented just hours after Finance Minister helped Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, ban forward trading in wheat and rice despite resistance from agriculture ministry, the Budget fully brings out the government's anxiety over price rise. Reduction in import duty on edible oil is a clear pointer. No adventurism was expected on disinvestment or labour reforms, but the Budget makes it appear that government's elbow room has shrunk. Provisions on minority welfare show that government sees much percentage in ignoring protests against the Sachar panel's recommendation for special measures for Muslim welfare. The linkage between one per cent additional cess on education on OBC quota was a clever ploy which ensured that the initial protest turned into cross-party acquiescence.

But not all flanks seem to have been protected. Given the lag effect, government has to bank more on a good rabi harvest than price control measures to hope that it is not penalised for price rise in UP as well. While senior citizens, on their way to evolving into a constituency, should be happy with the mortgage option, salaried classes - reeling under hardening interest rates - have, apart from the Rs. 1,000 tax relief, got little to cheer.

Unlike the earlier Budgets presented by the UPA, the BJP-led Opposition has reasons to be happy. It can pick enough holes in the Budget to challenge UPA regime's claim to be the saviour of aam admi. Price rise gave NDA the cutting edge in the Punjab and Uttarakhand polls, and NDA feels that the Budget has done little to blunt it. The Opposition feels that the results of the price control measures will not kick in for a long time to come, rendering the Congress vulnerable. The objective is not to relax the pressure. This was evident from the way a resurgent BJP sought to trash the Budget. L. K. Advani said the Budget proposals marked a "betrayal of aam admi". Party chief Rajnath Singh was also confident that the Budget had not plugged the chinks in Congress's armour.

The Left is angry with Chidambaram and it minced no words. With the jury out within the Congress on the Budget fallout, Left added to it by calling his Budget a "disappointment", a "victim of fiscal fundamentalism" which fails to "deliver resources to warrant its rhetoric that the Budget serves the cause of a crisis-ridden peasantry, the working people and poor" and address unemployment and inflation. The CPM even said it would move enough amendments since none of its advice has been heeded. There is also an indication that CPM was waiting for the Budget to make a concerted attack on UPA's reform agenda and reform actors. Budget has only strengthened its resolve.

Left has always had reservations with the direction of Chidambaram's Budgets. The criticism this time takes on significance also because of signs of growing estrangement and the indication that Left may wish to extract policy concessions from Congress now that defeats in Punjab and Uttarakhand have left the latter enfeebled.

The sum total of expenditure on three flagship schemes - NREGS, SCRY and SGSY - is just 7 per cent which amounts to stagnation in real terms. The irony in Shiv Sena MP Anant Geete's taunt - "what's there for the aam admi" - is unlikely to have been lost on Congress benches. A day after Congress governments lost power in Punjab and Uttarakhand, with price rise playing party pooper, the jibe hurts.

The problem, as many Congress members of parliament and ministers saw it, was that things were not likely to change any time soon. The Budget admittedly could not be expected to replace a sustained, long-term approach. While intense pressure to do something was reflected in the bid to review forward trading, curb cement prices and boost farm production, major respite is not going to be immediate.

The benefits of anti-inflationary measures, if they succeed, will take some time to haven: doubling certified seeds, even by Finance Minister's reckoning, will take three years. In politics of here and now, Congress leaders, sensing public discontent, are looking for a charm to ward off the evil eye of electoral defeat. It promises to be a tough year for Congress, with poll tussles in UP, Goa and Gujarat. If the aam admi plank looks creaky how can Congress claim to protect interests of the poor? And while there is an effort to reach out to minorities, failure to make an impact in the April-May UP polls could fuel doubts over the utility of making Sachar Committee the government's Magna Carta. Looking at the larger picture, Chidambaram's offering is seen as an effort to consolidate the growth story.

The Finance Minister failed to do anything beyond pay lip service in the first minute or two, almost as if a couple of sentences had been tacked on in haste to an already prepared text. The only measure he mentioned ~ banning forward trading in wheat and rice ~ is itself a non-measure and gimmick, once beloved of the UPA's communist friends. Forward, futures and other financial "derivative" contracts allow for improved sharing of risks and have nothing to do with inflation; though their proper functioning requires properly working spot markets and efficient interest-rates which we do not have in India (the JNU professor the FM has appointed to investigate the subject will discern none of this). Indeed, not only did the Finance Minister not address inflation, most of his speech gave every reason to suggest the UPA is on a carefree spending spree of public resources that will doubtless add to inflation in the future. Big-ticket items like military spending Rs. 96,000 crore or the fertilizer subsidy Rs. 22,000 crore were glossed over without a murmur in a Rs. 6.85 trillion (Rs. 6.8 lakh crore) spending programme that is mostly deficit-financed ~ since the Finance Minister is sanguinely relying not on major new taxation but on improved tax administration. Most worrisome may be the clear impact of organised pressure groups on our economic policy-making.

Hidden among all charitable talk about death and disability insurance for rural landless, help for senior citizens, lactating mothers, SC/ST postgraduate students et al was Chidambaram approving an ominous proposal of Citibank, Blackstone Corporation and Deepak Parekh to borrow some of India's forex reserves from the RBI and lend them to Indian business houses that had been acquiring foreign assets, all under sovereign guarantee of the Government of India! Delhi's hotel-construction lobby would have been pleased too with subsidies in the name of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, while the fact Finance Minister ended up discussing imported pet food for Indian dogs and cats was an oddity also.

Mr. Chidambaram did make serious proposals to benefit India's ordinary farmers, notably that agricultural extension programmes would restart training and visitation that had once contributed to the Green Revolution, and that farmers would be helped to recharge depleted groundwater by directing rainwater into wells.INAV 

A month ago we had a National survey by leading TV channels along with newspapers indicating that the UPA would get 300 plus seats and all this looks like a distant dream as we see results in Punjab and Uttarakhand [ Mumbai municipal elections were a disaster] where the Congress suffer defeats and we have to look at the political repercussions of the situation on the present and the future of Coalition politics. The Congress suffers a electoral setback and the 'Q' issue raises further complications on the credibility issue and it requires a great deal of political skill to handle the situation. Let us look at the situation one step at a time. The Congress lose ground to the BJP [party revives lost ground] after defeats in Punjab and Uttarakhand and clearly the effects of all this will be felt in Uttar Pradesh where both the SP/BJP stand to gain in elections next month and in both these states we have seen the vote consolidating between major contestants and fringe parties are being isolated and this pattern may repeat itself in Uttar Pradesh where the electoral battle may well be between the SP and the BJP with the BSP in contention.

The BJP success in Mumbai followed by Punjab and Uttarakhand will consolidate the Minority vote for the Samajwadi Party and I would not be surprised to see the SP cross 130=140 seats and the BJP in reaction to the Minority vote consolidation may reach 70-80 seats and the BSP can 110=120 seats. Gloomy picture for the Congress and the Jan Morcha and the RLD. Things may change but for the moment on current trends I see the SP/BJP gaining and whilst this may confuse the Coalition patterns in the future the obvious loser is the Congress and there will be greater pressure from the NDA and the Third Front in the future.

No immediate threat to the UPA but credibility is at a all time low. There will be the usual reasons for suppressing the 'Q' information for 17 days but this was done to prevent a negative reaction for the Punjab and Uttarakhand elections [13th and 21st Feburary ] and did not help and by hindsight was a poor decision.Things may settle down after a week or so and during this time the opposition will aim to secure political points over the Congress and then events in Uttar Pradesh will take over and we may well see mass 'defections' towards the SP/BJP with the aim of securing tickets for the elections. The Railway budget has got lost in the political noise and the Union budget will suffer the same fate [both will be positive] and so will other issues as the major contestants consolidate on the caste/religion angle in Uttar Pradesh and fight for political control.

The Mumbai result as I have written earlier was a 'warning' to the Congress that minority appeasement and caste reservations were very big negatives and the election results in Uttarakhand [upper caste votes] , and the debacle in Urban area's in Punjab is a grim reminder of the reality and the Congress may well find that the upper caste votes have gone to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. Sandwiched between the Uttar Pradesh election will be elections in Delhi and here again the BJP will win by a mile!

A post-mortem of the election results will show that winning and losing is done by a slender vote margin of 1=3% and I think this should be a lesson both to the winner and the loser of the election. These are not blanket verdicts given to the winning party to interpret the verdict for indulging in any 'excesses'. The Punjab verdict is much closer than it seems and more than the Akali Dal it is the BJP who have defeated the Congress in urban area's in Jullunder, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Pathankot and Amarinder Singh has put up a 'strong' fight and will live to fight another day. The BJP have much to cheer about and Navjot Singh Siddhu wins by a massive margin in Amritsar and may have had some effect on the urban vote. The Uttarakhad election was a 'tactical' error in keeping a reluctant ND Tewari as the CM and I am very surprised that the talented and totally committed Harish Rawat MP was kept away from the power game. The BJP in this election had Maj Gen BC Khanduri , a former Cabinet Minister with a impeccable record as a Central Minister and with very high integrity levels and I do hope that he becomes the Chief Minister of the state.

The Congress have much to think about and last night I saw a TV show with Karan Thapar with Mr Arun Kumar a MP from Andhra Pradesh and I was quite shocked that the Congress High Command in this age and time had allowed a 'gag' order on the media [CM Andhra scrapped the order] and does it make sense to have a 'vendetta' against Ramaji Rao [Ennadu] and his media empire and the comments made against N Ram the Editor of the Hindu were most unfortunate and clearly the Congress in Andhra Pradesh will face a electoral rout if they persist with using the official machinery to muscle in anyone with a contrary view. The Congress High Command cannot take these issues lightly and no surprise that the TDP and Chandra Babu Naidu are gaining ground. The public cannot be taken for granted and any allegations on 'excessive assets' by the CM and his family members have to be investigated and acted upon. The Congress acted in time in Goa and scrapped the 'land deals' [ TV had given details of real estate companies formed by CM Goa's family members] and it would be a mistake to take things for granted in Andhra and a 'debacle' here could change the government at the Center.

Sir,

This is with regard to the appointment of external invigilators or observers in the centers of examination. We would like to bring to the notice of the Board (MBOSE) officials (SSLC section), that in view of the increasing trend of cheating and using other unfair means to pass the examination by the students, it has become extremely necessary to appoint external invigilators or observers in all the centers of examination to curb this menace.

There are plenty of instances where appointment of external invigilators in the centers of examination has yielded good results in checking such malpractices. Depending on the report of the observer or external invigilator, even the 'centreship' of the institution could be cancelled.

However, entrusting the government officers of the Education Department with this responsibility will not serve the purpose, as these officers remain busy with their own office works and come to the centre just for a few minutes. It is also quite difficult and inconvenient for them to visit each centre of examination in their area, especially in the remote areas, and devote themselves in the exam duty.

This matter, therefore, needs immediate attention of the Board Authority.

Yours etc.,
Name and address withheld on request

Sir,

I fail to understand all the hullabaloo about domestic violence against women especially in a society like ours where the roles of the sexes are reversed, where women rule the house and have full authority over everything.

Why are women still considered to be of the weaker sex? A few heartrending sobs and sighs here and there, while they amplify about their helpless and defenceless positions is enough to convince the concerned authorities to brandish their sword and bring out their armour. If shouting against women amounts to abusing then why is shouting against men not called abuse? If a woman hits/kicks a man it is all right, if a man does so it is "domestic violence". In addition, contrary to what the general public believes, men do not always use their superior physical strength on women.

Even men get abused physically and mentally in their homes, more so in our matrilineal society where women are dominant and believe they have the right to control the lives of their men. They get kicked, clawed and thrown out. The roles have reversed now. Men are the silent sufferers and silent victims while most women have learnt to take advantage of their position. They sit back over their so called victory and enjoy financial help from their spouses too. If these women feel their rights are violated, one wonders why they run to their friends or relatives rather than go to shelter homes where they know they will be given full protection. Just the fact that they do not says a lot about the truth behind their statements.

Why do men never raise their voices? Because they are aware of the fact that they do not have a chance of being believed or being given a full hearing. There is also the fear of being ridiculed and humiliated.

Many cases went unreported and will continue to do so. It is high time that domestic violence against men get as much attention as against women.

Yours etc.,
Lucas Lyngdoh
Shillong
Via e-mail

In the latest Internet issue of its mouthpiece 'Swadhinata' (Freedom), the ULFA stated that if the Centre was not willing to hold talks with the group on its demand for 'restoration of sovereignty to Asom' then a plebiscite should be held on the issue to have people's opinion on it.

The militant group stated this in response to what the Asom Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi stated on the floor of Asom Assembly on Wednesday last. Mr Gogoi told the Asom Assembly which is now in session, that "ULFA's demand for sovereignty is aimed at delaying the peace process as there is no question of holding discussion on the country's sovereignty. The Government is open to discuss any issue except the sovereignty of the country which is not negotiable."

Though the ULFA has insisted on a plebiscite as a way to find out whether people of Asom needed or aspired for 'sovereignty' or not, it was furious when an opinion poll conducted by an organisation called Assam Public Works (APW), showed that over 95 per cent people in nine districts of Asom did not support the ULFA's demand for 'restoration of sovereignty'. The survey was conducted last year and the results were released in January this year.

The ULFA termed the opinion poll a handiwork of Asom Police and Indian Intelligence. The APW is an organisation of close relatives of some ULFA members.

In the issue of its mouth piece, 'Swadhinata', the ULFA also denied the media reports about the group having injecting money into the election campaign for some major political parties/ poll candidates of Bangladesh. The ULFA stated that the allegation in an analytical report by the US-based Strategic Foresight Inc (Stratfor) was designed to create rift in its ranks. The Stratfor report revealed that the ULFA was bankrolling major political parties in Bangladesh by pumping in over $ 6 million.

Security agencies in India firmly believe that top fugitive ULFA leaders including its commander in chief Paresh Barua have taken shelter in Bangladesh. The ULFA commander is suspected to be running multi-crore businesses by staying in a different name in Bangladesh. However, the Government in the neighbouring country has been refusing to accept it.

The Congress members, the main opposition in the Tripura Legislative Assembly, alleged that Governor's speech did not include the issue of 'corruption' but dwelt largely on international matters. As bedlam ensued, the Governor left the House without completing his speech. Speaker Ramnedra Debnath then adjourned the House for 15 minutes.

The Governor in his speech said insurgent groups continued to operate from their hideouts in Bangladesh even as militant movement has been restricted considerably in Tripura with the construction of barbed wire fence along the border.

Speaking on the first day of the Budget session of the Assembly, the Governor said the Left Front Government is not complacent over the situation and is continuing in its efforts to provide adequate security to the people of the State.

He said police have been able to achieve commendable success during 2006 against insurgents who were compelled to restrict their nefarious activities against the peace loving people of the State.

"The Government would be forthcoming in providing all possible help and assistance to surrendered militants," he said. Sahaya said the fencing work needs to be completed as early as possible.

Muivah, who returned to the national capital after his over a month stay in Nagaland, will be holding the first official consultations after arriving in the country in December last year. (PTI)