Of the Land, for the Land

Even as the government of Assam stands accused of bending over backwards to accommodate the interests of illegal Bangladeshi migrants, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh in the northeast are standing up against the influx, which has come to threaten the very existence of the indigenous communities in this region. The two states have fallen back on every available legal provision to throw out illegals.

Setting a precedent – as opposed to the one set by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, who said all Bangladeshis would be treated as guests in Delhi – Meghalaya has, especially after the serial blasts in Assam in October, decided to go on the offensive against the illegal migrants.

In November alone, Meghalaya pushed out more than 250 suspected Bangladeshis from its capital Shillong. Chief Minister Donkupar Roy did not mince words: “I have asked the district administration to push out not just Bangladeshis but also others who enter the state without proper identification papers,” he told the press. “Security concerns must not be limited to Assam alone but to the entire region,” he said, referring to the blasts that had left close to a hundred people dead, while injuring hundreds of others, in Assam on October 30.

States in the northeast, the worst affected by the Bangladeshi problem, have often shown varying and sharply contrasting responses to the migrants problem. The Assam blasts had been claimed by the Islamic Security Force (Indian Mujahideen), which is believed to have among its ranks illegal Bangladeshis from the northeast. Strangely, Assam’s Congress government has for weeks now, been in the dock, blamed for trying to place the blame on militant groups like National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), to avoid displeasing its alleged Bangladeshi votebank in the state.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Cosmetic changes

Fairness has always been a treasured asset, right from ancient times. In olden days, studies have discovered, women applied cream made from animal fat, starch and tin oxide. While the animal fat came from animal carcasses, the starch was obtained by boiling roots or grains in water and tin oxide came from heating the metal. This created a smooth, powdery texture which lightened the skin. While animal fat and tin oxide aren’t in use anymore, starch is still used in a number of cosmetics even today.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Astro-psephology: who will win? Sunita Chabra

Sonia likely PM, BJP to lose states

With Saturn and Uranus conflicting, there will be a complete overhaul. Obama won under the same situation and the same astrological coincidence is possible for Sonia Gandhi who can have the same ‘Audacity and dreams’. Last time she was rejected but this time she will ride public opinion. In BJP, Advani’ s chart is very weak so he is not forming the government. It is not a complete win for any party. Manmohan Singh’s chart is very strong and they have the chances of coming back, but it is clear that there will again be a coalition at the Centre. And sorry, Mayawati is no way India’s next PM. She may gain a better position but will merely play spoil sport.

Chhattisgarh: Raman Singh beware: Congress is coming back. Your sadey saati and backstabbing by party colleagues is going to do you in. In fact, your own party people want to see you in the wilderness and not the secretariat, so that is that! Delhi – Shiela Dixit (31st March 1938) v/s Vijay Kumar Malhotra (3rd dec 1931) Delhi: It will be a very, very close tie and stars won’t make it easy for Shiela Dixit to win this time. Her chances are higher, but it will not be a clean sweep. VK Malhotrs might win his own seat but not the CM’s seat!

Rajasthan: With Sun and Saturn at war in chart, Vasundhara Raje may not form a government. Congress will come to power but Ashok Gehlot’s chart doesn’t show him as Rajasthan’s next CM. Jammu & Kashmir: Bad situation: Even if some party wins, planetary positions posit president’s rule in the state. Ghulam Nabi Azad won’t win, for sure, but even if Mehbooba Mufti does, she won’t last a full term. And Farooq Abdullah faces life threats....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

You want to live to be 150, isn’t it? Why? What would you do at 150…

IIPM Publication

Dr Kakoo had seen one of his aunts, a lovely loving lady, a kind pious soul, live long into her 90s. And he had seen the loneliness of her last decade which was spent mourning the loss of many who ought to have waited for her, but couldn’t… Whenever I met her, I was touched by the warmth and affection that seemed to cascade from her being, but what struck me most was the aura of quiet fortitude that seemed to envelop her. And in that sense Dr Kakoo is right. Longevity can be as much of a curse, as it is a boon. “ I don’t want to see what my aunt had to…”, he said, “And I don’t want to become a disfigured and worthless lump that is kept alive as a relic (a dynamic and successful intellectual, Kakoo has too much pride to allow himself to be reduced to that). I wish we could invent a tablet which once ingested, will ensure good health for the next decade or two and then on a random preset date (unknown to the individual), burst while asleep and euthanise us painlessly…”

‘You don’t need a tablet and you don’t need a preset date,’ I said. ‘Kakoo, don’t you think one could possibly be happy and healthy well into one’s ninth and tenth decade too? All the stuff I do is not so that I may live long, but so that no matter how long I live, I live healthy…’ Kakoo seemed willing to consider, and finding the iron hot, I told him what Kenshin, a Japanese tourist I’d met last year in Bharatpur, told me about a magical island between

Japan and China where he’d spent his early years – an island called Okinawa. In the north of this island, on the beach stands a monument that declares to the four winds and the waves the ethos of its people – “At 70, we are mere children and still young at 80; if at 90, the ancestors beckon heavenwards, ask them to wait… for we might consider proceeding only after 100” – an ethos that every Okinawan strives to emulate, for the people here live longer, healthier lives than anywhere on earth. Their average life expectancy is well into the 80s (while India’s hovers around 60 and the United States’ in the mid 70s). More significantly, Okinawans suffer greatly reduced incidences of cancer and coronary heart disease. What fascinated me was Kenshin’s account of a number of nonagenarians and centenarians, both men and woman, who not only live healthy, but in fact, active and vigorous lives… gardening, hiking, swimming and fishing…...Continue

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The Sunday Indian

WEST BENGAL : LAW & ORDER

On October 31, CPI(M) leader Indrajit Mura was found murdered by Maoists for being a "police sleuth". Police went to Mura’s house to recover his body, but left important documents at Mura’s neighbour’s house. When these neighbours called the police to take back these papers, they were so scared they never went to recover these. Conceitedly, Raj Kanojia, IG (Law and Order), refused to call it a 'lapse' on the part of police.

Another such failure happened at Singur where a large contingent of police and RAF remained mute spectators to "Nano Bachao Committee" (NBC) rampage. An outfit under CPI(M) zonal committee secretary Amar Chanda, NBC toughs beat up senior journalists Himangshu Haldar and Barun Dasgupta. Though they were put in an ambulance, CPI(M) cadre tried to set it on fire.

Says CPI MP Prabodh Panda, "Police must be more duty-bound." Congress MLA from Medinipur, Dr Manas Bhunia, an MLA from the same district, squarely blames the administration. And Trinamool Congress MLA Sovandeb Chattopadhyay ridiculed the state administration as "a pack of slave workers of CPI(M)".....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Voters hide, rebels decide?

IIPM Publications
With people in the Valley turning anti-election, and rebels dogging all the parties, it seems independent MLAs will play the key role in deciding who takes the treasury benches in this state. People are consciously keeping away from election rallies, indicating the voting likely pattern. Among the first phase constituencies, there is no visibility of an election campaign. Last week, people tore off banners and posters of political parties. It seems mainstream political parties in Kashmir can only hope for a miracle to drive voters to the polling stations.

The political landscape in the state dramatically altered after the Amarnath land controversy. Many consider the situation in the Valley similar to that of the early 90s. However, this time separatists are carrying the sentiments of people in the Valley. On the other hand, Jammu has slipped from the hands of mainstream political parties, with people raging against ‘discrimination in the hands of Kashmiri rulers’.

But the most notable aspect of the polls this time is that with the parties’ decision to field only ‘winning’ candidates, there is an army of rebels, and they could well be deciding the future government here. Surprises are expected from several constituencies due to the division of votes, with rebels staying in for the contest. While some rebels have the better chances of winning independently, several others will play lead roles in the defeat of their party candidates by dividing party’s vote in favour of rivals.....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).