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Journalism of Courage
The debacle in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections has made the Shiv Sena pull out its trump card in the form of Bal Thackeray,to revitalise the party. The ailing Thackeray has moved to the centrestage with surprising vigour,with his son Uddhav being marginalised. Right from attacking a TV channels office when Uddhav was holidaying abroad to making controversial remarks on Sachin Tendulkar,Thackeray is calling the shots. He has also planned to tour the state and be accessible to people and party workers,in a bid to erase complaints about Uddhav and his coterie being inaccessible. Moving out of Matoshri after a long time,he even travelled to Mahabaleshwar last weekend.
Sucking the juice
Maharashtra has mostly been ruled by politicians running cooperative sugar mills,which are always bailed out whenever in crisis. The recent cyclone in Konkan and north Maharashtra regions damaged grapes,mangoes and coconuts,prompting Deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal,who is from Nashik,and Revenue Minister from Konkan Narayan Rane to demand higher compensation for farmers in their regions. Though the state government did not meet the demand fully,the compensation was hiked from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 per hectare for Bhujbals region and Rs 15,000 for Ranes. It is still less than Rs 25,000 per hectare granted to sugarcane farmers two years ago for surplus cane remaining uncrushed.
NCP in on climate change
On NCP chief Sharad Pawars birthday on December 12,his party launched a campaign on global warming against the backdrop of the Copenhagen summit. The party,which projects itself as a pan-Indian entity has launched a publicity blitzkrieg on the issue and is planning to train Green Guards across the state. However,most of its publicity material is printed on plastic banners and hoardings. Besides,most of its satraps use SUVs that do not always follow emission norms. The party,which had organised a bicycle race from Mumbai to Pune on Pawars birthday to ask people to switch over to eco-friendly vehicles,is yet to ask its leaders to practice what they preach.
Water woes
The big apple of the country is staring at a severe water crisis. Consequently,water supply has been curtailed,new high rises have been refused municipal water connections and a no water day has been planned once a week. Attempts to decongest the metropolis by creating a satellite town in Navi Mumbai has failed as the business and commercial centres continued to remain in Mumbai. However,that has not stopped those in power to plan a mega-makeover of Mantralaya,ministers bungalows and political party offices that would create new commercial space in one of the most expensive areas of the world at Nariman Point in south Mumbai.
