This is not the way to transport deadly gas and chemicals The tanker lorry disaster in Chala, Kannur, calls for more vigil in handling transportation of deadly gas and chemicals as also the precarious condition of the roads as well as the precautions needed in running such vehicles. All the factors might have contributed to the devastation that occurred at Chala, Kannur, where denizens of a rural pocket were caught unawares in the dead of night and a lot of them have lost their lives and many more are battling for their lives. Eleven persons have already lost their lives and at least 10 more are battling for their lives. Only God Almighty can save the lives of such critically burnt people. We are not learning anything from similar disasters, for there was a tragedy in Karunagappally in Kollam district in 2009. There were inspections, probes, studies and priorities ordained, but none of them worked. It seems we are all living a life simply because Destiny has allowed us to do so. Man-made precautions are simply absent.

Placing of bomb is a serious affair, let it not be trivialised It seems there is haste in making a conclusion that the bomb was placed on the railway tracks near Velloor to settle personal scores by two bus conductors. Why did the accused person place the bomb on the railway tracks? Would it help to settle personal scores with another conductor? Is it possible for an untrained conductor to make bombs. The media appear to be hastily concluding that this was something arising from personal vengeance. Let a thorough enquiry be done before arriving at conclusions. Matters like placing bomb are serious affairs. There should not be trivialising of issues.

What a pity, nurses have to offer threat of suicide to get even a measly salary!!! There is no point in grandstanding on technical grounds regarding provision of justifiable salary to nurses in the country, and in Kerala in particular. The Labour Department says it cannot go beyond assuring minimum salary. What is the minimum salary? Doesn't the Labour Department feel that it should be steeply revised upwards? The Health Department has washed its hands off thinking that salary and other pecuiary benefits is none of its business. But it takes care of such things in the case of doctors, in government service, of course. Doctors in the private sector may not need such proactive action from the government. For, they may be taken care of very well, otherwise. The latest incident refers to suicide threat by the nurses. Managements do not pay salary to newly appointed nurses. They are considered as trainees only. This is a sad state of affairs. In the case of teachers of unaided schools, including the CBSE, the managements get the acquittance rolls signed by the teachers for a hefty salary, but then they give the teachers a pittance. This is the case with managements of missionaries and mercenaries. The social situation has changed and people have to be paid decently.

Dissensions, apprehensions, explosive situations, UDF, LDF rocked from within The atmosphere is replete with dissensions and apprehensions of various sorts in the UDF and explosive situation in the LDF in Kerala. Some of the divergent goings-on could be V.M.Sudheeran's vibe against Ramesh Chennithala and Oommen Chandy, parallel team's foray into Nelliyampathy, M.M.Hassan's resignation from the post of Convener, UDF Committee on Nelliyampathy and what not. Sudheeran has been articulating his dissidence on various issues in a fire-brand manner these days. He had even made a comment against computer whiz kids pointing a finger against Rahul Gandhi. Now he is against Kerala leaders of the Congress who have not consulted him regarding reconstitution of KPCC. The confused state of affairs in the UDF is with regard to Nelliyampathy. Kerala Congress leader and Chief Whip P.C.George had taken a strong stance trying to protect the interests of the farmers, according to his version. But Forest Minister K.B.Ganeshkumar as well as several leaders of the Congress have been against showing any sympathy to the so-called farmers in Nelliyampathy. It has come to such a pass that within the Congress, a few MLAs have gone against the sub-committee formed by the UDF which was headed by M.M.Hassan. Now Hassan has resigned his post in protest. Things are not hunky dory in the affairs of the UDF, particularly the Congress. The LDF appears to be in tatters, with the CPI dissociating with many moves of the CPM. Lately, the party has made it clear that the CPM had not consulted it before ordering a hartal on Thursday last. Even otherwise the CPM has been on the defensive in various murder cases with political dimensions. Normality is far off in UDF and LDF.

Rahul Gandhi should prove himself; And now is the time Everyone knows that Rahul Gandhi is the Gandhi family scion, out to reign the country sooner or later. For, the Congress clan can pull on only around a fulcrum which has pan-India recognition. Rival political outfits and certain other intellectuals would poohpooh the idea that only the Gandhi family clan can rule the country, simply because they otherwise would want the seemingly-safe cohesion of the Congress Party shattered. Take for example the BJP where a lot of leaders are clamouring after becoming the next Prime Minister, and there may not be consensus ad idem, a meeting of the minds. Here, in the Congress no one would challenge the Gandhi family scion. If someone challenges, it would be like the fate meted out to P.A.Sangma. Sharad Pawar being a Maratha 'king' himself, he has managed to remain afloat, but cannot aspire to become the Prime Minister, anyway. In the circumstances, the 41-year-old Rahul Gandhi cannot simply fancy himself to be ruling the country. For now is the time for him to come to the fore and prove himself. Let him be a Cabinet Minister, Deputy Prime Minister or Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha, or whatever it is. Let him prove his role as something that he can undertake with ease. There are limits to just imagining that things can be done. The challenge is to undertake the role and go through the drill of getting and giving bouqets and brickbats and perfecting himself to the role.

Karat does not concede an inch; What would VS do now? It would be interesting for observers of political developments in the state as to what rebellious V.S.Achuthanandan would do after the central leadership of the CPM has ruled out conceding any of his demands. The only concession was the last warning against any more violations of the basic norms of the party and thereby doing nothing to remove him from his positions. The central leadership has said Achuthanandan had acceded in self-criticism to having made mistakes. Calling Pinarayi Vijayan a Dange and making a visit to the residence of murdered T.P.Chandrasekharan on the day of polling of Neyyattinkara by-election were grave mistakes, according to Prakash Karat. More over, the central leadership has asked Achuthanandan to apologise in public. The central leadership has emphatically reiterated that there was no deviation by the official leadership from the party ideology. All these things have been published in the party mouthpiece, Desabhimani. Now Achuthanandan cannot give out the impression that the central leadership would heed to some of his requests. Also, now there is no point in his sending any more letters to the central leadership, as a final call has been taken by Prakash Karat. It may be naive to think that Achuthanandan has lost all his ammunition. Keralites are looking forward to his next move.

CPM trying to buttress VS as well as Pinarayi; who knows what happens next?

By O.J.George Thiruvananthapuram: The CPM leadership is trying to put a lid on the nagging problems arising from egoism between state's top leaders as also ideological differences between two groups led by Pinarayi Vijayan and V.S.Achuthanandan by taking certain steps that it believes should take care of everything. The state secretariat meeting held on Monday and the state committee meeting being held on Tuesday were slated to take steps like public censure of Achuthanandan and reporting to all the branches about corrective steps to be taken against the leaders holding the organisational set-up as demanded by Achuthanandan. Definitely, Achuthanandan's demand for restructuring the state secretariat and state committee won't be heeded to. For, the party congress had elected the state leadership for three years. The state leadership had reported to all branches below about the 'wrong-doings' of Achuthanandan about which VS had complained to the central leadership. But Achuthanandan had not been sitting idle. As he had no organisational set-up, he spoke everything in public. All bits and pieces were carried by the electronic media as well as the print media. Thus he had no need for reporting to the lower branches. Lately, close on the heels of CPM general secretary Prakash Karat announced the public censure for violating basis tenets of the party, Achuthanandan retorted by getting the complete contents of his letter to the central leaderhip published in a newspaper. That was his reply to the public reprimand. No one can reprimand him. In fact, in heart and mind, no doubt, one can perceive contempt for the junior boys of all sorts admonishing him, and that too against the basic ideological plank on which the party had stood.

Break-down of the value system is the culprit for evil practices, corruption The report about the Intelligence Bureau finding that a majority of the cops posted at the major airports in Kerala, that is Nedumbasserry, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, are hands-in-glove with rackets of various sorts is alarming. There would be even national security issues involved. Some of the cops may not be even aware of the security implications involved. They may be simply covetous of the quick money they would receive. When we look at corrupt practices of all sorts, we can easily find that the craze for grabbing quick money and indulging in pleasures, carnal of course, is the main reason. They won't mind receiving slush money from the conduit of Dawood Ibrahim even. The fundamental issue is that a lot of the human beings have lost the fundamentals of human values. Value system has no takers. Even those who are supposed to uphold the value system and groom the next generation are culprits. If it goes on like this, there would be a break-down somewhere down the line.

Poodle, puppet, under-achiever: such terms being used by any foreigner is unacceptable What do these people think about India and its democracy? Some half-witted people in the journalistic fraternity in the US and the UK have been throwing verbal mud and slush against our Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, of late. This method-in-the madness started with Time magazine in the US calling Dr Manmohan Singh an under-achiever. One can say, it has been following some norms available in the West. Such norms may not be applicable and implementable in India, which is a curious and sluggish democracy. A foreigner cannot simply call the shots as to how to run our country. Let their democracy reign supreme in their country. India is a vast country with all sorts of diversity in incalculable ways. No one can issue a fiat and rule the economy like that. Innumerable constraints are there for executing an order. These Westerners do not understand a thing about India's diversity, particularly in the face of the fact that no party is able to cobble up a firm government. In such circumstances there would be a lot of wobbling and indecision. If one regional party agrees to do a thing, several other such regional outfits would go against it. The UK newspaper, Independent, has dubbed Dr Manmohan Singh as Sonia Gandhi's puppet and poodle. Do they think that they are still ruling our country? Dr Manmohan Singh may have been slow and sluggish in taking essential decisions. But then, there cannot be such decisions of far-reaching consequences in the face of political fragility. In the ensuing Parliament elections in 2014 or a little earlier, the people will have to decide whether the country should have a firm government. But these foreigners have no business to defile and damage the reputation of the Indian Prime Minister.

Pension matters: Kerala cannot pull on like this for long Kerala cannot go on for long with the present system of pension and service rules. When the Union Government and various other state governments have introduced the contributory pension scheme for new entrants in service, Kerala cannot remain otherwise for long. Earlier there were many thoughts about first benefit, second benefit, third benefit etc. First benefit is salary, second benefit is DA, and third benefit is pension. Bank employees also struggled hard to have pension as part of salary package as third benefit. But they could not succeed. Now it is participatory pension for them. If the pension funds are best managed there could be boosted pension for those who subscribe to the participatory pension. Youth organisations among political parties in Kerala would always oppose the move for hiking pension age. They fear that their prospects for employment would be lost. The thing is, the government should be able to offer good schemes for creation of jobs and other benefits for youth, like self-employment. Service sector jobs could be quadrupled if proper steps are taken. The latest thrust is on the manufacturing sector. We should be able to produce things like all sorts of things produced in China as part of small and medium enterprises. In the UK, the latest reports say 65 per cent of the population are above 65 years of age and are pension-earners. The government there is struggling hard to cope. Whatever it is, no government in Kerala would be able to pull on with the present scheme of things regarding pension age, participatory pension and the like.

Man has craze to play God and he would go on inventing anything to become God-like Now the greatest news is about the near-total finding of the Higgs Boson particle which might have provided mass to the universe in diverse ways. The finding was arrived at on completion of a series of experiments on the large Hadron collider. When man provided it a nomenclature in a figurative way as the God particle, the media caught on with it, maybe in an exaggerated way, and have given hope that man can one day become God-like. But what is the speciality of the God- nature. The Entity can create matter from non-matter. It can ask mountains to move, oceans to dry up and re-form it. The creation of matter from non-matter was the end-product of a Word command. The bible says, in the beginning there was the Word. God commanded, Let there be the Universe, the Sun, Moon, Air, Water and everything. The Vedas speak about OM, the word, which is a command. There is no mention about the God particle which is capable of creation. The creation of the particle is a product of the Command. Man cannot Command to create the God particle. Anyway man is going on inventing and expanding the horizons of science and wisdom, which is a great thing. God had said the creation was for the benefit of man. Let there be nothing that would go to the destruction of mankind. There is another factor, which is the Energy factor. The greatest thing could be the mental energy power. The Word command or the OM command could be the outcome of the mental energy. In this context, disaster could come into being on account of the humungous amount of evil mental power of the human beings. All machinations, that is the tremendous amount of evil energy released from the planning stage to the execution stage of all evil deeds, the energy involved in evil thoughts and evil actions, all dimensions of thoughts and action against the value system, the sum total of which all when released into the earth’s planet system would be able to reverse the direction of Earth’s rotation or to suddenly change its axis movement like side-to-side movement as in the case of Uranus, which would mean serious destruction of all living beings. Let us not wait for solar flares or hitting of comets, the evil energy comet could bring in cataclysmic changes. And at this stage, we are playing God’s role. Key word: Man's craze for playing God, God particle, Hadron collider, mental energy, evil energy capable of causing destruction. Other News in this category • Money for running corruption cases could be a bone of contention between VS and Pinarayi • It is cruelty non-pareil • Could she be such a loner in the UPA? • It is a gracious decision; a former President in unsure contest would have been most awkward • Mamata Banerjee stands isolated on her pranks regarding Presidential election • Azim Premji, Narayana Murthy et al speak out against policy paralysis, but what can the govt do when ruling allies do not allow it to move at snail’s pace? • VS had his say, but central committee put issues in the court of the state committee

Actually, it was a notice to all those who rigidly opposed cogent solution

At one stroke, Oommen Chandy flummoxed all those who had stoutly opposed all methods of finding a solution to the vexing situation caused by the Muslim League by insisting on the fifth Minister.

The Congressmen who would not see reason and would not agree to any formula to come out of the precarious position were shown their proper place. The Muslim League got their fifth Minister but were in fact humiliated when Chief Minister Oommen Chandy divested himself of the Home portfolio.

Now the League stalwarts would have to approach a junior Minister, compared to them, for solving some of their ugly problems.

Speaker G.Karthikeyan and KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala should take notice and comrephend that there are other forms of solving problems.

UDF convener P.P.Thankachen himself had not conducted himself properly, if one sees the problem in proper perspective.

What was the situation? Everyone should have thought that the solution lay in finding alternatives, safeguarding the interests of the Congress Party and the leader of the government.

Someone may have thought that it would be safe to drive Oommen Chandy to the wall, ultimately leading to his exit. But that was a wrong perspective and unless these people see reason, there may be worse danger ahead.

Was there an attempt to derail Oommen Chandy Cabinet, to enthrone someone else?

The combined opposition to the excellent move made by Oommen Chandy to harmonise communal equation by interchange of portfolios, in the wake of failure of all other options, point to an attempt to weaken the Chief Minister.

Some interested parties might have thought that Oommen Chandy could be unseated simply by weakening his position using the fifth Minister issue.

Some reports say the IUML leaders had arrived at the conclusion at Panakad house that if the fifth Minister is not given, all the four Ministers of the Muslim League would resign and the party would offer support from outside.

That would have made the Chief Minister the weakest in Kerala’s history. And then there would have been many more attempts at change of leadership.

Oommen Chandy, being a pastmaster at perceiving danger, might have acted posthaste. No one was able to hoodwink him.

Karthikeyan was not prepared to quit the office of Speaker, a post he was reluctant to take over in the beginning. Ramesh Chennithala would not join the Cabinet. No formula would work out.

Then it was within the prerogative of the Chief Minister to interchange portfolios, of course with the concurrence of the high command.

Now all forces which might have been hoping for the possible exit of Oommen Chandy are aggrieved.

They say that they would teach Oommen Chandy a lesson by causing a defeat of the UDF candidate at Neyyattinkara.

Let everyone play his role and see what would be the outcome at Neyyattinkara. For, even if there is a defeat it would not be that disastrous.

What is this General up to?

Army chief General V.K.Singh was copious in filing written representations to various bodies and authorities to have his date of birth noted by him in various documents corrected to enable him to continue in service for one more year.

But he was not prepared to give it in writing that he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore by a recently retired Army officer if he approved sub-standard trucks.

Defence Minister A.K.Antony today told Rajya Sabha, in reply to questions that the General had verbally informed him of the incident and named Tejinder Singh as having accosted him with the offer.

Antony was shocked to hear this and he had told the General to take action. But General V.K.Singh was not interested to pursue the matter. That means General V.K.Singh was not interested in complaining against Tejinder Singh.

Nothing was given in writing, and a Defence Minister cannot, on his own, initiate action on a verbal averment.

Is it such a predicament that an Army chief is going the way the Anna Hazare team is ending itself up? All parties have now complained against the Anna Hazare team that it has gone overboard and made blanket and unsavory statements.

The Army chief has been allowed to continue in service till May 31 by the Defence Minister himself even as other Cabinet colleagues reportedly demanded termination of his services the moment the General went against the government in the Supreme Court.

The General is demeaning himself by making allegations without taking any action against corruption.

Kerala’s hinterlands have not grown to remain paperless

Despite all the talk of vanishing newspaper industry elsewhere in the developed countries, particularly the West and Europe, Kerala has not grown to remain paperless.

We are replete with a plethora of television channel and broadband internet facility in Kerala. But still, the same is not true of the rural areas and hinterlands.

We need newspapers until a time the new generation can afford to ignore the written word. Television channels and internet cannot replace newspapers at least with regard to detailed obituary news and university news to such minute details as provided by the medium in black and white which is one for safe keeping.

And newspapers have changed their style a lot, to remain different from the fare provided by television channels and internet sites.

Did you notice the fast lane in newspapers offering a lot of information and awareness and worked out study materials for students? No channel can provide this much of service.

For the last few days from March 20, people are denied newspapers of their choice owing to strike by newspaper agents who want a lot of increased benefits, including status as some sort of an employee of the newspaper organization.

Maybe, negotiations can whittle down their demands leading to a settlement that would ensure supply to the readers.

Newspaper agents have the backing of strong political parties, otherwise they would not have been able to keep up the tempo of the stir.

At least for the last few days Keralites could not read newspapers in the morning, sipping a cup of coffee or tea.

Mamata Banerjee: Arrogance personified

Mamata Banerjee wanted the head of Dinesh Trivedi at one go; nothing short of guillotine. Okay, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh pleaded with her to agree to at least partially admit fare hike in the Railway Minister. Derisively she might have agreed to a little bit.

Mukul Roy was made the Cabinet Minister for Railways on the dot. But Mamata Banerjee, the super heroine, has not time to attend the swearing-in at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Let Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and other Ministers and dignitaries attend the function. Mamata has no time, she has to go back to Kolkata where she had already gone back on supporting a Congress nominee for being made a Rajya Sabha member.

Her party stance is all the more clear now. Samajwadi Party is supporting the UPA II Government from outside, for it is not part of the Government. Trinamool Congress is part of the Government. Its members and Ministers kept off the voting on the motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.

Who cares, that is the attitude of Mamata Banerjee.

Can the Congress Party bank on the Trinamool Congress any more?

What is the Congress Party going to do with Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee as an ally of the UPA II Government?

It is churlish behaviour throughout that the Congress Party is facing from the Trinamool Congress throughout. Mamata Banerjee wants an amendment to the President’s Address, wants complete rollback of the fare hike proposed by her own Railway Minister, wants another Railway Minister on the dot. What else would she do or not do in the coming days is beyond speculation.

It appears there is not even a minimum common programme approved with Congress and Trinamool Congress. Congress should at least enquire with her as to what she wants from the UPA II Government. Does she want this government to go?

In that case, the UPA II Government should find more reliable allies. This sort of governance, with a Railway Minister being sacked the day he presented a budget is unthinkable. What was Mamata Banerjee doing as party chief when proposals were mooted by Dinesh Trivedi to hike fare?

No doubt, the state of affairs at the UPA II Government is far from desirable.

The LDF should be careful about keeping its flock safe under its wings

R.Selvaraj had a grouse bordering on humiliation and the rest is history.

Now all the talk is concentrated on the resignation of CPM MLA R.Selvaraj, reducing the strength of LDF in Kerala Assembly by one, just before the by-election being held in Piravom on March 17.

That the state leadership of the CPM could not smell anything foul till the announcement of the resignation by Selvaraj himself is shocking.

Selvaraj himself had been complaining about the humiliation meted out to him by some of the party leaders, at the district level.

He was the only MLA of the party who was not given a delegate’s position at the just concluded state conference. According to reports, perhaps he would have lost his membership in the district committee of the party after the conclusion of the party Congress.

The allegation is that he was being methodically eliminated from party echelons. Therefore, he had grouse and he took measures at his command to wriggle out of the situation. Perhaps the party thought that no MLA would be courageous enough to call it quits.

But R.Selvaraj has large following, particularly in the Nadar community. He could pull off a victory in Neyyattinkara, which was fresh ground for him in the last Assembly elections, was proof of this. Earlier he was returned to the Assembly from Parassala constituency where he had considerable clout and support base.

It was his strength in the community and support base that saw through machinations to eliminate him, according to reports.

Now the CPM can raise all bogeys against the resignation of Selvaraj. But the party also has to take the blame for his exit. That the UDF, which has wafer thin majority in the Assembly, has taken advantage of the situation is quite natural.

Kerala Assembly had the history of Lonappan Nambadan, a Minister of the Congress-led front government, weaned out of the front. The government had collapsed owing to this floor crossing.

The CPM has tripped in its vigil somewhere.

Resignation of CPM MLA on the threshold of Piravom by-election a setback for party

All on a sudden Neyyattinkara MLA of the CPM, R.Selvaraj, tendered his resignation to the Speaker saying he has no surety that the party would give him support in the wake of an attack personally or on family basis.

He has clarified that groupism has not abated even after the conclusion of the party’s state conference.

He has a grouse that he was not given a seat at Parassala, which be believes is his pocketborough. Instead, he was asked to contest at Neyyattinkara which is traditionally a UDF bastion. Still he managed to win the seat, defeating Thampanoor Ravi of the Congress Party.

He feels he should have been complimented for the feat, instead he was taken to task for the defeat of the party nominee , Anavoor Nagappan, at Parassala.Moreover, he was removed from the area committee of the CPM at Parassala saying he was a member of the district committee.

He says he has called it quits on his own and was not persuaded by anyone. He would continue to be an ordinary party worker. He does not entertain any idea to join the UDF bandwagon.

All these points are relevant for him, or may not be relevant for the party. Whatever it is, the act of quitting the post of MLA just when the by-election at Piravom is being held on March 17 cannot add fervor to the campaign of the LDF. On the contrary, there is a setback on the campaign plank.

Resignation of CPM MLA on the threshold of Piravom by-election a setback for party

All on a sudden Neyyattinkara MLA of the CPM, R.Selvaraj, tendered his resignation to the Speaker saying he has no surety that the party would give him support in the wake of an attack personally or on family basis.

He has clarified that groupism has not abated even after the conclusion of the party’s state conference.

He has a grouse that he was not given a seat at Parassala, which be believes is his pocketborough. Instead, he was asked to contest at Neyyattinkara which is traditionally a UDF bastion. Still he managed to win the seat, defeating Thampanoor Ravi of the Congress Party.

He feels he should have been complimented for the feat, instead he was taken to task for the defeat of the party nominee , Anavoor Nagappan, at Parassala.Moreover, he was removed from the area committee of the CPM at Parassala saying he was a member of the district committee.

He says he has called it quits on his own and was not persuaded by anyone. He would continue to be an ordinary party worker. He does not entertain any idea to join the UDF bandwagon.

All these points are relevant for him, or may not be relevant for the party. Whatever it is, the act of quitting the post of MLA just when the by-election at Piravom is being held on March 17 cannot add fervor to the campaign of the LDF. On the contrary, there is a setback on the campaign plank.