Telling- the- truth syndrome has come to stay in CPM; Iron curtain cracks The Iron Curtain has cracked, for telling-the-truth syndrome has come to stay in the CPM. In that case, a lot of instances which should have come out in the open but kept within the echelons of the party hierarchy would come up in the public arena in the not-so-far future. Some others could also come out in the open. There is no sacrosanct party discipline as such. In an era where social media, the internet and channels have broadened the horizon of people's knowledge, there can be no sanctity to the hidden agenda of any party.

Rahul Gandhi officially crowned; his responsibility goes up too At the Jaipur conclave of the Congress Party, Rahul Gandhi, the Gandhi family scion, has been officially crowned. He is de jure number two, but for all practical purposes he would be de facto number one. Politics has not been the same for the Nehru-Gandhi family all these decades. It is fast opening up to new challenges. One may perceive the factor of family fiefdom, but for the working efficiency of the Congress Party, it needs a central controlling power. Otherwise, the squabbling would be worse than when the central power centre calls the shots. Mind you, India is the largest democracy in the world, but it has still to evolve as a developed democracy. Perhaps, Rahul Gandhi would have to compete with Narendra Modi in the political arena. The BJP president could be anyone- Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj or someone else. In the given circumstances, the people would have to put up with who all are the leaders chosen by the parties. Let there be an attempt at cleansing the cesspool of wickedness, corruption, brutality against women and crimes of all sorts.

The calendar itself is man-made; what is the sanctity for man-prophesied apocalypse? The day, month, year and the calendar have been made by man, and that too in different categories. Day and night phenomenon exists because of the Sun and Moon. God had never revealed to any prophets about the exact time of the doomsday. There are indications, but there is not a fixed date. Is there a fixed date for the Sun to become a red giant and swallow everything, including the Earth? Scientists have observed that this phenomenon would occur, billions of years from now. All calculations of 666, the number attributed to Satan, are transcending the realm of imagination. God-believers can safely believe in the Apocalypse, but without a pre-known day. Therefore, why should we worry about December 21, 2012 when no one has the information from God Almighty. Atheists can scoff at the very idea of Apocalypse. They would believe the scientific explanation of the Sun turning a red giant billions of years from now.

P.Govinda Pillai had transcended a world of intrigues He was a firm member of the CPM whose rules and regulations are rigid and inflexible. But P.Govinda Pillai, the writer, thinker, intellectual and ideologue, transcended all these trammels and postulated his views, reactions and affirmations, occasionally earning the wrath of steely-framed party apparatus. He was a Buddha, Ram, or Jesus Christ in the matter of renunciation. When positions were taken away from him, he took it in his stride and did not have a vengeful attitude towards his tormentors. All the same he remained a staunch Marxist. That is what gives him a shining personality. We see a lot of people, leaders, and powerful people who have earned their hour of reputation by intrigues, committing a lot of wrongs against others. He was a member of the nobility, a class that is vanishing rapidly in the intellectual world.

Hospital managements are taking the foolish path; they are leaving the nurses to organise themselves strongly The hospital managements are taking the foolish route by denying a fair deal to nurses, most of whom are women. When the managements become rigid, and as of now all of them are more than rigid when it comes to paying nurses, the organising capacity of the Nightingales gets stronger. Sheer will to live would spur them to go to any extent. Private hospitals are run by managements of all hues, religious and otherwise, to make a fast buck. Because when it comes to the question of life and death, human beings would go the whole hog to cling on to a worthy or unworthy life. Forget about the fact for a moment that it would be the prerogative of God Almighty to call us back to the unknown world. Nurses have already become well organised and they have gained the capacity to paralyse the health sector. Even the knowledgeable Labour Minister Shibu Baby John has recently been harping on taking action against the striking nurses. Pray, tell us what action can you take against the striking nurses? Would you put them in jail for demanding fair wages. Shibu Baby John has been telling us that minimum wages are being paid. What is this minimum wage? Would it come to, say Rs 15,000 per month? The Minister does not say anything about revising upwards the so-called minimum wages. The government has a lot of powers to insist on fair wages to nurses being paid to them. Any nursing course can be started by a management, provided it has a hospital. At the time of sanctioning courses and adding new batches, the government and the nursing council can insist on a clause, to the effect that the nurses in the respective hospitals should be paid fair wages. These days, the state government has been going back on the promises made to the nurses earlier. With the result that the nurses would get organised further and there would come a time when the managements would have to dance to the tune of the Nightingales, if the managements' reticence goes on like this. Better pay the nurses, say Rs 15,000 per month, and don't go in a round-about way to fleece money from this sum by other means.

What a miracle awaits the UPA II Government? P.Chidambaram says the government is expecting the Opposition, particularly the BJP, to rescue it, to pass the controversial legislations on FDI in pension, insurance and what not. Diesel price hike, cut in the number of subsidised LPG cylinders, steep hike in price of non-subsidised LPG cylinders and the like are simply matters which can be tackled by administrative diktat. How easy it is to manage technical jargons like fiscal deficit, inflation, and plummeting economy!!! Simply take away all subsidies and go on increasing administrative prices!!! Thank God, the government had asked the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Vinod Rai, to go through the accounts of the petroleum companies. Who knows about the expenses, dimensions of oil prospecting and payments being given to identified and unidentified entities concerned? To sum up, all the recent measures introduced by the Manmohan Singh Government are not being relished by the people. Still the government says it has the requisite numbers to enjoy majority. Maybe, the legislators of various parties do not want to wallow in the wilderness by moving against the government.

Add your Comment One cannot block FDI, one cannot let in everything and have a free-for-all Those who oppose Foreign Direct Investment of any sort, in a fundamentalist view, should postulate alternative policy approach. The alternative policy approach should not be like don't hike taxes, prices, don't press income-generating ways, but the government should underwrite everything. There was criticism about the statement of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh that money does not grow on trees. Perhaps his averrment was not couched in unintelligible economic jargon, but it was a crass observation that should hammer the heads of common folks. Actually, the opposition should be on not utilising the humongous amounts of money that would accrue by way of liberalisation, FDI and the like for the larger benefit of the common people. What happens in India is that a major portion of windfall profits is gobbled up by vested interests. In developed countries, windfall profits provide a lot of money to the government. Here in India, celebrity chartered accountants prepare accounts in such a way that those who earn maximum windfall profits would have zero balance. Therefore, where should we put the control button? That is the crucial question.

Unmanned level crossings, bullet tanker explosions are death traps Accidents like the car-train hit at unmanned level crossing at Aroor in which five lives were lost, including that of an infant, and gas tanker tragedy which had claimed 22 lives are most unfortunate. Such loss of lives is cruel since there can be no warning about the impending danger. Railways together with state governments should take urgent steps to put an end to leaving unmanned level crossings open. Unmanned level crossings are an open invitation to death and devastation. Who will take responsibility for the loss of lives? The same was the case with regard to leakage of gas from the bullet tanker which had exploded and caused a conflagration all around. People who were sound asleep could not even run for their lives. There are billionaires and thousands of millionaires in our country, but rustic facilities prevail in India, that is Bharat.

Triple whammy for the people, but they are patience personified People of India, particularly those in Kerala, should be praised for their immense patience for suffering the hardships in many ways. The Government of India has hiked the price of diesel and cut down the quantum of subsidised LPG cylinders. I am sure there would be many more such acts of administrative adventure. But then shall we suffer protests also each time? The present acts are definitely deleterious to the common people. But then one hartal has passed off, in protest, on Saturday. Now there is another all-India life-stilling protest, hartal of course, on September 20. Will these hartals prod the government to backtrack? Not indeed. These would only help the political parties which call for such action. If the protesting parties are indeed sincere, they should withdraw support for the government. But they would not, for they have two more years to go to remain MPs, and some Ministers. Meanwhile, the people would suffer, first the governmental pouncing ,and then the protests of the parties. Whenever the government goes in for a hike in price, it is sure the system would absorb it. The same is the case with protest hartals as well.

Development is a must; many things can be done without harming environment Kerala needs all-round development, in infrastructure, manufacturing, services,higher education, job provision and what not. Therefore, developmental projects are a must.And at the same time, there should not be large-scale devastation of the environment. What we have to do with regard to Emerging Kerala projects are, to take up those which do not harshly impact the environment. The people at large should not be made to suffer in land acquisition. Land acquisition everywhere is an eye-sore only because we do not develop an attitude towards the victims whose lands have been taken over. Compensation should be multi-fold than what we give now. A system should be in place by which houses should be built for those who lose the same. Only after rehabilitating them, should the lands and house buildings should be acquired. Land acquisition should turn out to be a pleasant experience. Let the developments take on from now, with the people being felt happy about it.

VS may pursue fight only if action is taken against him Opposition Leader V.S.Achuthanandan had said that a CBI probe into the murder of RMP leader T.P.Chandrasekharan would bring out the truth. His overt averrment was that the allegations against CPM leaders could be set to rest, even though his covert thinking was that the CBI probe would nail some more CPM leaders, perhaps big fish. Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri had also said there was no harm in having a CBI inquiry. For, from the beginning the CPM had openly welcomed any type of investigation. Now the whole scenario has changed, with oficial Kerala leaders of the party successfully bargaining for ruling out the CBI probe. Prakash Karat himself has come out openly against the CBI probe, saying it is an attempt at trapping leaders of the party. Now what will V.S.Achuthanandan do? Everyone thinks that he would raise the bogey of another revolt. Perhaps, he may write more letters to the central committee, which is his forum. And then, in the end if no action is taken against him for various instances of breach of party discipline, he may virulently go in for attack on the UPA II dispensation and corruption issues. And this issue may gradually get eclipsed. But, VS may go in for doing something about T.P.murder case, if there is any attempt to downgrade him further in the party.

Comment on PM' tragic figure: It should have been best ignored The comment by Washington Post, not the Government of the US, about Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as a tragic figure should have been best ignroed. You cannot force a foreign newspaper to change its stance, if it believes that its posture is right. But what can simply be done is to place facts and figures before the foreign paper to disprove the allegation. Maybe, it will also publish the averrments on behalf of the Prime Minister. There may be politics and partisan attitude on the part of the foreign paper, but such interferences should stir us up to action to make our nation a vibrant one. No doubt, particularly because of the beleagured nature of the UPA II Government due to the pressures of front politics, largely of a regional nature, the government lacks vibrancy. All MPs, even those who oppose Dr Manmohan Singh, want the dispensation to continue. Therefore, policies and programmes are fine-tuned in accordance with the death wish of continuity. Taking action against widespread corruption after the instances have been notified by vetting agencies like the Comptroller and Auditor General may not be impressive. There is lack of machinery and the will to ensure prevention of corruption. There remains much to be done, still India is a sovereign country. And let the MPs, in a democracy, decide as to how to govern the country. If the people are disgusted, they will throw them out next time. But when would be the next time?

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.