Once bitten, twice shy
During the last Lok Sabha polls, a CPI(M) Politburo member
from Kerala was sad that the state had only 20 constituencies. As the results came out, he boarded himself up inside Delhi’s AKG Bhavan. Party committees blamed chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan’s remarks, his studied silence on controversial issues and the LDF’s relationship with Abdul Nasser Madani’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the loss of 16 seats. Now, the party faces yet another litmus test. The three Assembly seats, which fell vacant after the representatives got elected to the Lok Sabha, go to polls on November 7.As usual, the fight is between the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF. Unlike the parliamentary elections, this time both fronts are reluctant to claim victory. The constituencies as well as the warring fronts themselves have been in considerable flux.
In an attempt to come clean in front of the voters, the LDF has made sure that CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan does not hug Madani this time. Vijayan had supported Madani, who was in jail for nine years as an accused in Coimbatore blast case, against all odds in the Lok Sabha polls. He had even challenged the CPI, another key LDF constituent, to protect the interests of the PDP chairman on Ponnani seat. Now he keeps mum on his party’s relationship with PDP. To add to that, Madani has fielded his candidate against G. Krishnaprasad, the CPI nominee in Alappuzha. But in Ernakulam and Kannur, where CPI(M) candidates are in the fray, PDP has offered support to the LDF. However, the CPI(M) leadership has assured other LDF constituents that the front will not share dais with any party that is not a part of the front.
Another major change has been chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan’s ouster from the party’s supreme committee over charges of factionalism. Achuthanandan, who was always vocal in criticising the official faction of the party, is virtually silent after the Politburo action against him. He even inaugurated the LDF poll campaign at Kannur, where his archrival and Pinarayi-confidant M.V.Jayarajan puts up a hard fight against A.P. Abdullakkutty, the former CPI(M) MP who changed sides after getting booted out from the party just before the Lok Sabha polls. The UDF has another advantage in Kannur. The Janata Dal (S) faction, led by M.P. Veerendra Kumar, has officially joined the UDF. Moreover, there is no history of an LDF candidate winning the Kannur Assembly seat.
The bypolls in Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Kannur have become a trial of strength for both the fronts. The seats, held by UDF, fell vacant after the representatives were elected to the Lok Sabha and the LDF has made this an issue for campaign. The UDF wants to prove that the victory in the parliamentary election was not a fluke. The LDF, on the other hand, is determined to wrest at least one seat this time to show that the Lok Sabha poll result was just a one-time occurrence.
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Rashmi Bansal Publisher Of JAMMAG Magazine Caught Red-Handed, for details click on the following links:-
When the chips are down and you perform under pressure, you feel great. I used to love that type of feeling. I felt that I had done my bit for the team.
the world - be it its hyped space missions, interference in world diplomacy or booms or bursts in its economic activities. Even President Obama, recently, grabbing the Nobel peace prize surprised many while flabbergast the rest. Congratulations to him for his noble intentions and most importantly his ability to convince people across the border, though people are still waiting to see Obama and his administration working effectively other than making frivolous speeches. Moreover, the trend of healthcare ad spending in the US is going to shake rather shock the world. Surprisingly, Obama is giving more attention on how innovatively and effectively he can convince people to accept the plan rather how innovative and effective the plan actually is!
abilities and a better immune system will also contribute to make this specimen of the soldier truly dominant. And suspiciously similar to Wolverine, sans the claws. The fascination with the super soldier is not new; mythology is littered with the ultimate warrior’s tales from Achilles to Arjuna. And today’s convergence of technology – in the fields of nanotechnology, biology, chemistry and of course, computing – has resulted in the best chances armies have had in decades to go full speed ahead. Says Major Gen. Thapliyal, “I don't think we can ever come to a situation where people can be made immortal, but there definitely exists training of soldiers to better their reflexes, their skills, their destructive and safeguarding capabilities, which one might say is close to being a super soldier. These soldiers are trained to use high-end gadgets and perform super quick operations with high destruction chances.”
in 1877 to end British dominance of the textile trade, he blazed a trail. Since then, the Tatas have continued the tradition with their own brand of ‘pragmatic aggression’. They have challenged the system time and again, yet they have coexisted with the system. The Tatas are a live example of how a business house can survive and thrive without compromisng on its core values.
swadharan bhakti marg or thought, there are three things: gyan, karma and bhakti. But the bhakta has over time learnt that the way to nirvana cannot be through karma; bhakti is, in this case, the essential ingredient. The final stage of mukti, or liberation is nirvana.
pronounced (the finial for instance resembles a trident) that many have claimed it to be a Shiva temple. The most tragic myth surrounding the Taj is that the emperor chopped off the hands of the master craftsmen so that they could not replicate the designs elsewhere, while one of the most absurd ones is that Lord William Bentinck, governor general of India in the 1930s, planned to demolish the Taj and auction the marble in a fund raising drive. Historian Anshuman Dwivedi says the monument is designed to stun. “The ten-and-a-half feet doorway that leads to the Taj (A UNESCO World heritage site) is made of a mixture of eight elements and was originally covered in silver. It picked up wavering reflections of the monument. It has 1100 nails and each is covered with a silver coin.” The Taj’s main dome is 187 feet tall and is made of red sandstone from Fatehpur Sikri, jade and crystal from China, turquoise from Tibet and gems from Sri Lanka.
so timeless? Would Madhubala, Geeta Bali or Smita Patil have been the legends they are if they hadn’t died so young? When Meena Kumari died at 40, Pakeezah became a blockbuster. Wonder what its fate would have been had the tragedy queen lived!
spaceship Sputnik. Space experts have been warning for years that the number of satellites in planet orbits has been increasing at a dangerously high speed. This poses a major threat to other satellites – and yet no one paid heed to them until February 10. That was the day that two communications satellites – one Russian and the other American – disintegrated, spewing tonnes of space debris in the higher and lower orbits.
in Kochi have been found to contain poisonous substances like formalin, sodium bi carbonate and sodium carbonate. Seized samples have been dispatched to Central Food Laboratories, Bangalore for testing to find if there was any presence of Melamine — a synthetic chemical to increase protein content. The samples were collected following police tip-off that adulterated milk was being supplied in Kerala from neighbouring states. The FSC has alerted food safety commissioners of other states about the adulterated milk.
wouldn’t now get the last installment of funds under the Indiramma rural housing subsidy scheme. A 42-year-old committed suicide, doubting the utility of the Arogyasri card that entitles the poor to free healthcare in the void left by YSR. An old couple jumped to their death from a bridge because “elder brother YSR had given them old-age pensions.” Hyderabad-based consultant psychiatrist M Phani Prasant describes such acts of self annihilation as an “impulsive action, an escape from perceived trauma, the result of an inability to rationalise a loss.”
Ahmad. “As the mob came close to our house, he was left with his wife and sister,” recounts his uncle Zahir Siddiqui. With only one bullet left in his revolver, his wife asked him to shoot her lest she be raped by the mob. “I am your wife, I have first right on that bullet,” his wife pleaded. His sister’s entreaties were the same. The next day, Zahir found their bodies. The empty revolver lay by Masoom’s side. Zahir stops the tale here and offers me the last piece of Bihari kebab. Who did Masoom shoot? The truth will go to the grave with Zahir. The kebab tasted awful.
erupted in an orgy of communal violence following the brutal murder of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four disciples on August 23, 2008. But the scars are still deep. Ask Sanatan Bagh Singh, a resident of Tikabali town, one of the worst-affected areas of the district.
standard school education from the next year onwards has been welcomed. Initially the new education policy to have a single-board system will be implemented in the academic year (2010-11) for I and VI classes and in 2011-12 it will be expanded to other standards.
is also a history of exciting, adventurous and celebrated love affairs. Dead right. And for excellent reasons. The very nature of film making provides the mood and milieu for two people thrown together, for continuous amorous encounters between them. Far off Switzerland or neighbouring Goa, their close and constant physical contact with each other often begins to lead on (and off the sets) to the romantic intimacies of the screenplay. Then again, they have an exclusive, subliminal and indefinable psychological bond. Idolised and damned, in equal measures, these larger-than-life creatures fall upon each other for fulfillment, leading them to believe (with some truth) that only one star can truly understand, relate and love another. But how does love surface in the first place? And what does this divine madness do to screen lovers? Does it actually help them emote better?
Gujarat assembly elections. For Narendra Modi, it was a crucial poll. He had campaigned rigorously for all the 182 assembly seats except Maninagar constituency from where he himself was contesting. Against him, the Congress had pitched the then Minister of State for Petroleum Dinsha Patel, a leader with a liberal image and strong support from the economically powerful Patidar community. But Modi was confident of victory; and not for wrong reasons as both destiny and his progress report favoured him. Dinsha faced a severe setback and Modi, singlehandedly, captured 117 seats in the Assembly elections.
defaulted on a paltry sum of money, and repaid the sum later. However, you still can’t be sure that this will be reported in CIBIL database. It might still show you a 'defaulter'.
a significant time in contributing to the direct selling industry in India; and even envisions India becoming the biggest market for Oriflame internationally. And the key to this? Providing the best natural Swedish beauty products at affordable prices all over India. Fredrik exclaims, “Asia, as a whole, contributes to around 6% of our turnover; and India is one of the major contributors – of course, as it is one of our top three high priority markets.”
urban and local bodies and state governments to stay away from public broadcasting. The regulatory authority has recommended that political & religious body and the state governments should not be allowed to run and own broadcast outfits like cable, DTH, TV channels et al. Those who are already involved in such business should plan to phase out in another three to four years. The recommendations, if made binding by the government, will surely benefit the broadcast industry as the involvement of such parties in the business has put a question mark on the integrity of the medium. There have been debates on the issue raising concerns that such involvements may lead to the misuse of the medium to fulfil the political and other considerations of the party in concern.
repercussions of ever-increasing oil prices. There were two wheelers and four wheelers rolled out of the assembly lines all across the country and auto financers were running after prospective ‘drivers’ and ‘riders’, everywhere… Cheap funds, cheap bikes, cheaper cars (with that ‘interest’ string attached), but ‘expensive’ oil! That was the buzz around, and India was worried (and so were the Americans, of course!). It felt like wartime, with guns but no bullets, with automobile engines all around but perhaps no oil to vroom around! And the financials of the auto majors? Oh! They stood tall and pretty, prouder than bearing the ‘seal of the eagle’! Happy Capitalism was the dream word, but no more a reverie!

