Round The States
New Delhi, 27 November 2008
It’s War On Mumbai
UNPRECEDENTED
TERRORISTS ATTACKS
By Insaf
Maharashtra has been hit once more as never
before --- this time by an unprecedented monstrous terrorism on a balmy
Wednesday night. No bomb blasts, but terrorists using heavy duty guns including
AK-47 and grenades to strike at the city’s most high-profile and popular
targets --- CST, Rail Terminus, five star hotels Taj and Oberoi at Gateway and
Nariman Point, domestic airport at Santa Cruz. If this was not enough, they
also struck at Kama and GT Hospitals like they had in Ahmedabad. The attacks
were so sophisticated and coordinated on a scale never seen before. Till the
time of writing late evening, the terrorists continued to hold hostages at all
locations even as Navy commandoes, army sharp shooters, anti-terrorists squad
and the National Security Guards work over time to bring this horrific crisis
to an end without any loss of life. So far, nearly 100 people have been killed including
the ATS Chief and two other sharp shooters and over 500 injured. None has a
clue as to where these terrorists came from. Unconfirmed sources averred that
they came by sea in speed boats.
Clearly, this is virtually a war on the Indian State.
An unknown outfit call the Deccan Mujahideen has taken responsibility for these
horrific attacks. According to eye witnesses, the terrorists are tech-savvy
educated youngsters. No doubt, all the stops have been pulled out by the
Central and State Administration to bring the situation under control and
maintain calm in this hour of crisis. The Prime Minister has held an emergency Cabinet
meeting and the State Home Minister R.R. Patil is continuously monitoring the
situation. The Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil flew into Mumbai and the Chief
Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh cut short his visit to return to Mumbai. Unquestionably,
the writing is on the wall for not only Maharashtra but the Indian State.
Several questions need to be addressed on a war footing: Was there intelligence
failure? Who is accountable for this? What action is the State going to take to
erase the image of being a soft target for terrorists?
* * * *
All Not Well In
Orissa Coalition
All is not well with the decade-long coalition partners in
Orissa. True, the under-currents of tension between Naveen Patnaik’s BJD and
the BJP was open knowledge in the State Capital Bhubaneswar. Particularly, post
the killing of the VHP leader Swami Laxmannanda Saraswati. But all were surprised
by the sudden jolt given by the BJP when it boycotted the BJP-BJD joint
Legislature Party meeting for its failure to nab Saraswati’s killers on Tuesday
last. In fact, many BJP leaders are getting suspicious about Naveen’s
intentions towards the Saffron Sangh especially against the backdrop that in
their perception Saraswati was killed because the Government failed to provide
security to the Swami. A ‘surprised’
Naveen is now leaving no stone unturned to appease his Saffron partners.
* * * *
Bihar Government
Celebrates Three Years
In these days of short-lived Government’s, Bihar’s
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has much to be pleased about. Proving his
detractors and soothsayers wrong, his Government has completed three years in
office. Any wonder that the Chief Minister made the occasion special as he went
about releasing the NDA Government’s report card early this week. An electoral
promise he has scrupulously upheld since taking charge of the State in November
2005. However this has not gone down well with his bête noir RJD’s Lalu Yadav
who too annually releases his own report to chargesheet the Government for its
‘failure on all fronts.’ No matter, that his taunts of bringing down the NDA
Government mid-way has turned out to be a damp squib, what with Nitish Kumar
moving from strength to strength tightening his hold on the State along with continuing development activity at
an accelerated pace. Clearly, the twin plank of development and politics are a
feather in the Chief Minister’s cap.
* * * *
Peace Bonus For
Arunachal
The estranged North East which is oft synonymous with terror
has charted a new serene path on the peace road. Arunachal Pradesh has earned
the distinction of being the most peace-loving State among the seven sisters of
this far-flung region. Towards that end, its Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu has
sought an Rs 500crore peace bonus from the Centre for maintaining tranquility
in his State. Importantly, unlike its neighbours’ Assam and Nagaland, Arunachal also
boasts of being bereft of any local militant outfits. Happily his plea for a
reward has met the approval of the Union Finance and Home Ministries which have
set up a committee to ascertain the State’s revenue generation and the
short-fall which would be funded by the Centre. Indeed, it pays to be peace
loving.
* * * *
Karnataka Hit By Beijing Slowdown
Karnataka and its iron-ore capital Bellary
have been hit hard by a slowdown in Beijing
following the global meltdown which has led to worldwide cuts in steel production.
Bellary is
known for its high quality iron ore pellets of grade 62 and above. The demand
for these has slumped heavily as a result of which the number of trucks leaden
with iron-ore passing through the town everyday has plunged to barely 200 from
the 15,000 and odd in September. This is, indeed, a killer drop provoking the
Bellary Lorry Owner Association President to say: “You have heard of farmers’
suicides; soon you will hear of truckers’ suicides.” In fact two truckers have
already committed suicide in Chitradurga and Devanagere. Many of the Bellary truckers were
farmers till they decided to hitch themselves to the booming Iron-ore exports.
Which brought the mining business in the State profits of some Rs.3,600 crore
per year. As many as 1,000 lorries have already been seized and 300 truckers
are facing seizure of their vehicles purchased with sizeable loans.
* * * *
Women Voters
Outnumber Men In Mizoram
Mizoram is one up on other States and Union Territories
once more in one sensitive area: the fair sex! Women voters in the State
outnumber male voters by over 6,000 in the upcoming Assembly elections. Of the
6,11,124 voters eligible to vote in the December 2 poll for the 40 member
Mizoram Assembly, 3,08,884 are women and 3,02,240 men. Sadly, however, very few
women in the State have ventured into active politics despite the fact that the
literacy rate in the State is the second highest in the country. There are only
nine women in the list of 240 candidates for the 40-number Assembly, despite a
campaign by the Women Welfare Front, constituted by women members of the
Village Councils, for more women candidates. Al the three major parties --- the
MNF, Congress and UDA --- have nominated only once woman each. Tradition is
perhaps mainly blame. Women have generally been confined to the role of a
homemaker. But the younger generation appears determined to break with
tradition in an era when the whole world is talking about women’s empowerment. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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