Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Snubs,praise and a good friendship
As Environment and Forest Minister,Jairam Ramesh had refused forest diversion clearance to Vedantas bauxite mining project and stalled clearance to Poscos 12-million-tonne steel project. The ruling Biju Janata Dal had then dubbed him Orissas enemy and burnt his effigies. So when Ramesh,now Rural Development Minister,described BJD Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as a good friend,it surprised everyone. He snubs me and at the same time praises me, Ramesh told journalists this week after ending a two-day tour to Orissa to reviewing rural development in Maoist-affected areas. The relation between the two leaders had appeared to have reached rock bottom till Ramesh cleared the Posco project this year. Now that Ramesh has actually praised Naveen,Congressmen in Orissa are perplexed at this turnaround.
MLAs out,a watchdog to issue caste certificates
The government is set to curtail the powers of its MLAs. Caste certificates,which have been so far the domain of MLAs,will go out of their hands once the Assembly passes the Odisha SC,ST amp; Backward Class registration of issuance and verification of caste certificates Bill,2011. Once the Bill becomes an Act,a competent authority,which is yet to be named,will be set up to issue caste certificates. A scrutiny committee will be set up to check the genuineness of claims and certificates already issued; it can confiscate or cancel a caste certificate if found fake. According to the provision of the Bill,any person issuing a fake caste certificate would be liable to rigorous imprisonment of six months to two years,or a penalty between Rs 2,000 and Rs 20,000,or both.
Panchayat poll bugle: revision of rolls starts
The state Election Commission has set the stage for next years panchayat polls by announcing a schedule for voters list revision. In January-February,elections will be held for 854 zilla parishad members,6,234 panchayat members,as many sarpanches and 87,542 ward members. Only the zilla Parishad members will contest on party symbols,with the others to be allocated free symbols by the Central or state election commission. The process of voters list revision has started with the commission setting out to short-list an estimated 2.4 crore panchayat voters from the total 2.8 crore voters in the state. A budget of Rs 56.23 crore has been made for poll management including law and order. The final list will be published in October.
