Round The States
New Delhi, 17 March 2011
Jat Stir For Quota
TRAINS HIT, PRICES
MOUNT
By Insaf
Like the proverbial bad penny the crisis over Jats demanding
27 per cent reservation in Central jobs under the OBC quota is back with a
bang. Whereby in several parts of North India
they have disrupted movement of nearly 700 trains. In UP alone, over 60 trains
have not only been cancelled but for the first time in several decades, the
State’s flagship Lucknow Mail was hit on Tuesday last. In Moradabad Division
there have been a shocking 325 cancellations and 197 diversions of trains.
Complicating matters further, the BSP’s supremo Mayawati has extended her
Party’s support for the Jat demands. For the Dalit czarina it serves two
purposes: One, it helps counter Rashtriya Lok Dal Chief Ajit Singh’s grip over
the Jat voters. Two, it simultaneously creates problems for the Congress. Recall, the Gandhi scion Rahul much-reported
visit to express solidarity with farmers agitating in Aligarh over land acquisitions for the Yamuna
Expressway. This is Mayawati’s tit for tat answer!
Compounding the situation, goods’ trains too have been badly
hit. Leading to further escalation of food prices as also shortage of coal
supply to power stations all over the country. In fact, Haryana’s Bawala power
plant in Hissar is facing an acute problem as all the three available rail
routes which connect are hit by the agitation. This is not all. The Jats have
launched similar protest in Punjab and Jammu
& Kashmir. It remains to be seen whether the reservation tornado will
engulf the entire country in its fold once again. Meanwhile, the Central
Government has finally woken up to the problem and has begun negotiations with
the Jat leaders to find a via media to end the logjam.
* * * *
Of State Polls
& Family
Come State Assembly elections a cursory a look at the
candidates in the fray serves as a barometer of Party favorites. Typically in
the Congress scheme of things the family comes first. In Assam of the 22 new
faces in the poll fray, one is the son of former Assam Chief Minister,
Hitishwar Saikia and another, the daughter of ex-Union Minister Santosh Mohan
Deb, five are wives of deceased leaders and ministers. Four others are
progenies of former MLAs, another, a daughter-in-law of a former Speaker, and
the list goes on. In West Bengal, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s son
is to make his debut. In Tamil Nadu Union Home Minister Chidambaram’s son is
set to make his maiden entry. In Kerala, however, Union Civil Aviation Minister
Vylar Ravi has dropped plans to field his daughter after criticism from party
cadres. Will pressure work elsewhere?
* * * *
Army re-enters
Nagaland
Nearly 14 years after the Centre brokered a ceasefire with
two factions of Nagaland’s rebels, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim
(NSCN), the Army and Assam Rifles are all set to launch a fresh
counter-insurgency operation in two districts of eastern Arunachal Pradesh
following the killing of over 30 people. Seized of the matter, the Centre’s
Cabinet Committee on Security decided to intervene and clear the two districts
of armed militants from both rival factions. Accordingly, the police personnel
deployed in the districts have been increased from the present 100. This
development has also raised basic questions about the Centre's kid glove
handling of the entire Naga question, often turning a blind eye to many
transgressions including large-scale extortions by the NSCN’s factions. Add to
this the Centre’s apathy and deliberate neglect has now resulted in the
situation going out of control in Arunachal. All fingers are crossed both in
the State and at the Centre that the two sides bury the hatchet.
* * * *
Kerala’s
terror-politics cocktail
Kerala is fast emerging as a favourite destination for
subversive activities. According to the Intelligence Bureau the Students
Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) had not only re-grouped in the State but is
also piggy-backing on the strong roots it has there. The terror headache zones
are Binanipuram, Malapuram and Kozhikode. These areas serve as primary hubs for
SIMI along-with other terror groups like the Islamic Sevak Sangh, which have by
now set up over 100 modules in these areas. In fact, SIMI has started a women’s
wing in Kozhikode. Worse, the Malabar Coast and its connection to the
international waters has ensured that the terrorists manage to push in their
arms and ammunition with much ease. Also, troublesome is that SIMI does not
operate under its banner but uses several front organisations to carry out its
task. This is not all. The Pakistan’s ISI is busy funding these fronts to gain
a foothold in South India. With the Assembly elections round the corner, the
SIMI and its front and charity organizations are bound to get hyper active.
Time to nix the deadly terror-politics cocktail.
* * * *
Bangalore Traffic
Goes Hi-tech
In India’s IT Capital, Bangalore is fast becoming the envy
of other cities in traffic management. Whereby the Traffic Management Centre
(TMC), the technology nerve centre of Bangalore traffic police, remotely
monitors nearly 120 cameras put up at different junctions. In case of a
violation at a signal, policemen zoom on the vehicle, capture images of its
number plate and slap a fine on its owner. The record stored in the police’s
central database enables the violator to check his offence on the traffic
website and pay the fine at a citizen service centre, online or at a designated
police station. More. Policemen equipped with BlackBerry phones and blue-tooth
printers linked to a central base use it to key-in a car’s number and record
the offence through the phone, checking for earlier violations. Violators can
pay a fine on the spot or later while the policeman can print a receipt and
hand it over immediately. A lesson for other States to use new technology in
traffic control!
* * * *
Bihar Babudom Declares
Assets
In a scam-scarred country, three cheers to Bihar for its
initiative against corruption. Whereby, it became the first State to make
public details of the assets of nearly 80,000 Government officials on the State
Government’s website and for all to see. Not only babus belonging to the IAS, IPS, IFS but also the State
Administration. For the black sheep bureaucrats who have yet to comply, the
Administration has warned that their salaries would be withheld. The move is
being seen as a step towards ending corruption as promised by Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar. Recall, the CM and his Cabinet colleagues had posted their assets
on the website as early as December last. Clearly, Bihar seems to be going a
long way to bell the corruption cat! ---- INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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