Night curfew during polls

With cross-border terrorism becoming the order of the day,night curfew has been imposed along the entire stretch of the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam.....

With cross-border terrorism becoming the order of the day,night curfew has been imposed along the entire stretch of the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam and Tripura till the general elections so that illegal crossing of the border is reduced. The curfew,that covers a one-kilometre stretch along the International Border,not only restricts movement of people in the area after sunset but also prohibits movement of rickshaws,cycles,handcarts and other private vehicles without prior permission of the authorities.

Manipur: scrap AFSPA,take votes

IROM Sharmila,the Iron Lady of Manipur,who has been on an indefinite fast since November 2000 demanding repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act AFSPA,is definitely not contesting the elections. But she has already raised the most important slogan as the state prepares for the Lok Sabha polls. Dont fight elections if you cant scrap AFPSA, Sharmila has said,asking the people to extract a promise from the aspiring candidates of fighting against this Act. This draconian piece of legislation,passed by Parliament without any discussion way back in 1958,empowers even a havildar to shoot and kill a person on suspicion that the latter is an insurgent.

Nagaland wakes up to climate change

WHAT has Nagaland,a state with over 82 per cent forest cover,to do with global warming and climate change? Ask Forest Minister M C Konyak,and his reply is: Why? Isnt Nagaland also a part of the globe? Thus,when the Nagaland Assembly met for a brief budget session last week,the House also discussed the impact of climate change on the hill state,especially after it suffered heavy losses due to forest fire,reducing large patches of several rich forests to ashes. No doubt,Nagaland is increasingly discouraging jhum slash-and-burn cultivation,and providing incentives for private afforestation projects in the recent years.

Congs headache in Assam

OVER three years ago,when Badruddin Ajmal,a Mumbai-based global perfume trader from Assam,floated the Assam United Democratic Front AUDF,the new party had almost unseated the Congress. Such was its impact that the Congress tally in the Assembly elections came down from 75 in 2001 to just 53 in 2006. This time round,Ajmal is once again posing a major headache for the ruling party. With the AGP and BJP joining hands,the Congress faces a difficult time,especially because Ajmals AUDF is sure to slice away a sizeable portion of the Congress partys minority vote-bank.

3 booths with just 3 voters in Arunachal

HOW many voters does it require to set up a polling station? Well,if it is Arunachal Pradesh,the most sparsely populated state in the country though a large number of Bangladeshis have already reached there,then three voters are enough. The state,cradled in the Eastern Himalayas,has three polling centres that have three voters each,located at Lumta,Mramboo and Upper Modoi-Deep villages,all close to the India-China boundary. What if the people cannot trek several kilometres of mountain terrain to cast their votes? Democracy will be at their doorstep.