FAST for Statehood
PTI, Cooch Behar (WB), Jan 2 The Separate State Demand Committee (SSDC) today decided
to withdraw their indefinite fast, demanding formation of a separate state
carving out some North Bengal districts, on the 22nd
day.
The activists decided
to withdraw the fast after Divisional Commissioner, Jalpaiguri A K Singh agreed to arrange a
secretary-level talks with&aposhighly placed officials&aposof the state
government in seven days.
The fast by 20 SSDC activists was being
withdrawn in the light of the patient hearing of their demands
by DC A K Singh, who also agreed to arrange a secretary-level talks
with highly placed officials of the state government in seven days,
President of Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party, a major
constituent of the SSDC, AshutoshBarma told PTI.
The GCDP President said they would decide
their further course of action very soon.
Ten SSDC activists started the fast-unto-death
at Dinhata on December 12 demanding tripartite talks over formation of a
separate state comprising six North Bengal districts of West
Bengal and 15 districts of Assam.
Besides GCDP,the SSDC comprised Kamtapur Peoples’ Party and others.
AP Christians want Center Invite them in Talks
PTI, Hyderabad , Jan 2 Christians in Andhra Pradesh today urged theCentral government to invite them for talks scheduled to be held onJanuary 5 in Delhi on the formation of a separate Telangana state.
Expressing concern on the on-going agitation for Telanganastatehood, the Christain leaders, in a statement released here, said,"We are the service oriented community in the civic society in the field of health, education, voluntary philanthropic services. Unfortunately, we don&apost have any political representation nor any one lobbying for the betterment of our community".
" Ever since the agitations started in the region, we feel our community&aposs voice has to be heard at the Centre,"they said.
"We feel inconvenient if we are not involved in the crucial discussions which are taking place without Christians and wider range consultations would be incomplete,"he felt.
Wishlist, 2010 ishan joshi
Wishlist, 2010 ishan joshi
Okay, it’s gone. 2009. You have read all that was good
and not-so-good about the year gone by and formed your opinions, taken your
positions. So, look ahead. What’s 2010 got on offer? Or, to put it another way,
what could be the bliss points in the year to be? Here’s my short wish list.
An End To Administrative Paralysis In Bengal
Governance has become a pathetic joke in these parts. Day-to-day administration is in limbo, long-term programmes and strategic vision conspicuous by their absence. The ruling Left Front and the Opposition led by the Trinamul Congress are locked in a battle of political attrition that has the state divided down the middle. Farmers, and we include bargadars in this list, don’t know whether giving up their land for industrial projects will usher in prosperity or only amplify the bucolic idiocy of rural life. The professional classes don’t have even the remotest hope of accountability in terms of what happens to the money the government nicks off them; especially if they dare espouse the radical notion that the services they receive and the tax they pay should have at least a tangential connection. Students don’t know whether their examination results, if they have anything to do with state government, will be declared in time. And teachers looking for jobs have to get by with part-time and contractual employment because nobody wants to take the decision to fill in permanent posts at college and university levels; who know what will happen if, heaven forbid, candidates land jobs on the basis of merit! The only solution is an early election to the West Bengal Assembly. The state government, of course, correctly points out it is not in any way obliged to hold one before May 2011. The Opposition too recognises that for all its rhetoric there is no way it can force a poll. The people, though, need it.
A Broadcast Bill That Regulates Cross-Ownership In Media
The messenger is in dire need of resuscitation because monopolies are now on the verge of controlling access to, and dissemination of, information. The trick, of course, is to ensure that in the process of regulating ownership across media, government itself doesn’t become an all-powerful, all-knowing arbiter. An independent, regulatory body on the lines of the Election Commission with all stake-holders adequately represented, answerable to Parliament and with Constitutional sanction, is perhaps the way forward. But that, in turn, is only possible if there is broad political, not to mention media, consensus. We live in hope.
Second States Reorganisation Commission
If not now, then when? All those committed to a robust, united nation-state converting its internal differences into a celebration of diversity within the Indian Union must, despite some very genuine concerns, sign up. We can argue till the cows come home about how a better quality of governance and a more sensitive administrative apparatus is the solution to statehood demands but that’s stupid when we all know, whatever our stand on smaller states, that these two ideals are constantly undermined by statehood agitations. Wouldn’t it be a better idea to focus on - and justifiably enforce - both these laudable aims after creating smaller states? It’s called being part of the solution, and not the problem.
Public Rights of Way
City-dwellers are fed up with hawkers, political parties, mosques, temples, gurudwaras and other fauna occupying public spaces and taking over surrounding public areas in their economic, political and/or religious interests. Their compatriots across large swathes of mofussil and rural India too, contrary to what the romanticised reportage of those peddling sociological exotica may have led you to believe, have the same problem; even worse, in fact, because land mafias get into the act in a far more brazen manner there than in cities of some size. So, let’s do what the Brits did and designate public rights of way across cities, towns, farms and pastures. You cross the line - metaphoric and literal - and you go directly to jail, as the monopoly board puts it so succinctly.
All Parents Should See Three Idiots
Just do it, and take your child along.Governance has become a pathetic joke in these parts. Day-to-day administration is in limbo, long-term programmes and strategic vision conspicuous by their absence. The ruling Left Front and the Opposition led by the Trinamul Congress are locked in a battle of political attrition that has the state divided down the middle. Farmers, and we include bargadars in this list, don’t know whether giving up their land for industrial projects will usher in prosperity or only amplify the bucolic idiocy of rural life. The professional classes don’t have even the remotest hope of accountability in terms of what happens to the money the government nicks off them; especially if they dare espouse the radical notion that the services they receive and the tax they pay should have at least a tangential connection. Students don’t know whether their examination results, if they have anything to do with state government, will be declared in time. And teachers looking for jobs have to get by with part-time and contractual employment because nobody wants to take the decision to fill in permanent posts at college and university levels; who know what will happen if, heaven forbid, candidates land jobs on the basis of merit! The only solution is an early election to the West Bengal Assembly. The state government, of course, correctly points out it is not in any way obliged to hold one before May 2011. The Opposition too recognises that for all its rhetoric there is no way it can force a poll. The people, though, need it.
A Broadcast Bill That Regulates Cross-Ownership In Media
The messenger is in dire need of resuscitation because monopolies are now on the verge of controlling access to, and dissemination of, information. The trick, of course, is to ensure that in the process of regulating ownership across media, government itself doesn’t become an all-powerful, all-knowing arbiter. An independent, regulatory body on the lines of the Election Commission with all stake-holders adequately represented, answerable to Parliament and with Constitutional sanction, is perhaps the way forward. But that, in turn, is only possible if there is broad political, not to mention media, consensus. We live in hope.
Second States Reorganisation Commission
If not now, then when? All those committed to a robust, united nation-state converting its internal differences into a celebration of diversity within the Indian Union must, despite some very genuine concerns, sign up. We can argue till the cows come home about how a better quality of governance and a more sensitive administrative apparatus is the solution to statehood demands but that’s stupid when we all know, whatever our stand on smaller states, that these two ideals are constantly undermined by statehood agitations. Wouldn’t it be a better idea to focus on - and justifiably enforce - both these laudable aims after creating smaller states? It’s called being part of the solution, and not the problem.
Public Rights of Way
City-dwellers are fed up with hawkers, political parties, mosques, temples, gurudwaras and other fauna occupying public spaces and taking over surrounding public areas in their economic, political and/or religious interests. Their compatriots across large swathes of mofussil and rural India too, contrary to what the romanticised reportage of those peddling sociological exotica may have led you to believe, have the same problem; even worse, in fact, because land mafias get into the act in a far more brazen manner there than in cities of some size. So, let’s do what the Brits did and designate public rights of way across cities, towns, farms and pastures. You cross the line - metaphoric and literal - and you go directly to jail, as the monopoly board puts it so succinctly.
All Parents Should See Three Idiots
No comments:
Post a Comment