Educational backwardness in Telangana continues to be the serious problem, in spite of so called development. In a brief note like this some glimpses are provided..

1        In 2011, latest census data and literacy rates would be known. However as per 2001census Literacy rate in Telangana is 58.77, as against 61.11 for AP.

The Babli is located at a distance of around ten kilometers from Andhra Pradesh border. No dam or project is permitted at such a distance from other state border. As a result of Babli and others, the flow of water into Sriram Sagar project in Andhra Pradesh is obstructed. In the last two years  Kharif crop is lost in the Sriram Sagar command area. No where in the  world, one finds a project  within a project.  Every drop of  water in the Babli and every drop of water taken from Babli is in fact water that should flow into Sriram Sagar  and irrigate lands in Andhra Pradesh. The Sriram Sagar project is originally designed to irrigate about 16 lakh acres. But, due to siltation this has reduced to only ten lakh acres. Thanks to Maharashtra’s water theft due to illegal projects, the Sriram Sagar project is facing a threat to its survival.

The Trinamul Congress has mounted a shrill campaign for the dismissal of the duly-elected state government and the holding of early elections.  This is not only patently undemocratic but completely irrational. The total number of people eligible to vote in these municipal elections was 85,33,000 out of a total electorate in the state of 5,24,32,000, ie, only 17 per cent of the total electorate.  This makes up for less than 40 seats in an assembly of 294. The rest of the 83 per cent constitutes the rural Bengal electorate or more than 250 assembly seats, which has predominantly determined the character of the government in the state in the past. Hence, it will be fallacious to conclude that the results of these municipal elections are a reflection of the state’s electorate as a whole.

The country was witness to a sad spectacle of naked corporatisation of politics when the prime minister and his senior most colleague in the cabinet appealed to the heads of the two corporate groups, belonging to one family, to settle the KG basin natural gas price dispute between them in national interest. Since when has national interest become synonymous with corporate interest?

The massacre of 76 CRPF and Chattisgarh policemen by the Maoists in the Dantewada district of Chattisgarh state is a reminder that no state government can singly tackle the violence perpetrated by the Maoists. Given the fact that the Maoists are conducting their major armed operations in seven states, it becomes the responsibility of the Central government to ensure a coordinated response and for providing adequate assistance through the Central police forces.

After several decades of respite, the historic city of Hyderabad witnessed   communal riots. The peace, tranquility and communal harmony is underthreat from the fundamentalist forces.  Several theories on conspiracy angle are being floated. Even the union home minister  and the city police commissioner expressed similar sentiments . The government has to bring the facts before the people.

The antagonists in the forest are disparate and unequal in almost every way. On one side is a massive paramilitary force armed with the money, the firepower, the media, and the hubris of an emerging Superpower. On the other, ordinary villagers armed with traditional weapons, backed by a superbly organised, hugely motivated Maoist guerrilla fighting force with an extraordinary and violent history of armed rebellion. The Maoists and the paramilitary are old adversaries and have fought older avatars of each other several times before: Telangana in the ’50s; West Bengal, Bihar, Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh in the late ’60s and ’70s; and then again in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra from the ’80s all the way through to the present. They are familiar with each other’s tactics, and have studied each other’s combat manuals closely.

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Sudhanva Deshpande comments on the “embedded journalism” of Arundhati Roy in Maoist territory. A shorter version of the article is appearing in the Outlook Magazine.

‘Embedded journalism refers to news reporters being attached to military units involved in armed conflicts. . . . Gina Cavallaro, a reporter for the Army Times, said, “They’re [the journalists] relying more on the military to get them where they want to go, and as a result,

The Hyderabad is under communal fire again. Years of communal harmony and peace are under threat. The fundamentalist forces have made the old city as their sanctuary. The socio-economic distress of the old city of Hyderabad is providing a breading ground for the communal forces.  Hyderabad is the cyber city. The government intends to make it a world class city. Behind this loud talk, the often ignored aspect is the pathetic plight of old city of Hyderabad, once the seat of imperial power. The Old city has a hoary past, but, its presence is murky. The glaring inequalities between the old and the new parts of the City of Hyderabad tell the tale of two cities.

Historically , the students demands found a prominent place in the all phases of Telangana movement. The Mulki rules , the six point formula , the presidential order, the 610 GO, the Girglani commission report and their non implementation and more recently the Hyderabad Free Zone issues were central to the interests of students. Unfortunately the mainstream student movement responded to these issues only when the telangana movement forced them on the political agenda. Therefore, the students of Osmania University have direct emotional stakes in the issues thrown up by the Telangana separate state movement.

The Left Front government in West Bengal decided to give a reservation of 10 per cent in government jobs for socially and educationally backward Muslims. The decision of the West Bengal government is based on the recommendations of Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission established on October 23, 2004 to recommend measures for the welfare of  religious and linguistic minorities in the country. Amongst all other recommendations of the Commission, reservation for backward Muslims was first chosen as they comprise 25 per cent of Bengal’s population.

Hate and dividing communities is the hallmark of right wing politics, wherever they are. Whether it is in Mumbai, bashing north Indian taxi drivers or Australian skinheads attacking Indian students – the underlying message is clear – “we” are different from “you” – and this some how gives “us” the right to violently exclude “you” from our society. If the “we” in this case is the majority, this gives the added bonus to whip up a majoritarian frenzy and ride to electoral victory using that.

Addressing the Chief Ministers’ Conference on Internal Security in New Delhi, Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, called for effective coordination between the Centre and the States to face the challenges of Internal Security. Following are the excerpts of the Prime Minister’s address:

The Latest manifestation of semi-fascist terror unleashed by the chauvinist political outfit  Shiv sena on any one and every one who dares to differ with it as become a subject of national concern.  Media, minorities, both linguistic and religious, political parties, trade unions, film stars, cricketers, industrialists- the Shiv Sena spares none. The Shiv Sena leader and former loksabha speaker Manohar Joshi unabashedly said: Our boys will not tolerate anybody who critisises Shiva Sena’s supremo Bal Thakerey. Bal Thackeray’s vituperative attack does not spare even India’s legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

The latest  acts  of Shiv Sena are neither new, nor will be the last. The history of Shiv Sena reveals this.

The Joint Action committee of Telangana fired the resignations salvo to reign in all the politicians for the Telangana cause. At a time when the central government is resorting to  cold storage tactics , the telangana JAC is putting forth the proposal of standing firm on the resignations to exert political pressure on the Congress party and the central government . Given the experience with the politicians who are known for their vacillation, perhaps, the JAC thought this as a method of pinning down the parties and politicians.

The first States Reorganisation Commission (SRC, or the Fazal Ali Commission as it is known) voiced several concerns about the merger of all Telugu-speaking regions into Andhra Pradesh. Telangana’s economy was less developed though it had a larger revenue base than the rest of the proposed state; there were fears that the dams planned on the Krishna and Godavari rivers would harm the interests of the Telangana region and that the people of Andhra would have an advantage in securing jobs because of their higher levels of education.

The Government has received the detailed report by the Committee set up to enquire into the helicopter crash in Andhra Pradesh which had taken place on 2 September, 2009 in which Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr.Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy and others died.

The Andhra Pradesh government has increased the passenger fares in the State Road Transport corporation run buses by a whopping 22 percentage.  In a single stroke, the state government has increased the bus fares so heavily imposing a huge burden on the bus commuters. This issue does not have relevance for the state of Andhra Pradesh only.  The arguments that defend or oppose the measure are relevant for other states too. Infact, this debate is continuing internationally. Who should bear the cost of public Transport? To what extent, the passenger fares can contribute to the total cost of public transport system?

Finally, the central government has started the consultation process on the question of Telangana and the future of the state of Andhra Pradesh.  This has come very belatedly.  Instead of making a unilateral statement earlier, if the central government had initiated such a process to begin with, then, perhaps, the large-scale disturbances and disruption of normalcy in the state could have been avoided.

In the general elections 2009, BJP had a distinct advantage in Jharkhand. The party won 8 out of total 14 Lok Sabha seats and planned to win a clear majority in the state assembly elections. The assembly results, however, came out to be a rude and shocking retreat for the BJP that too when circumstances absolutely favoured it. And for insiders, this turnaround is neither unexpected nor undesired.