Shillong, December 31: As the curtain sets in on 2013, mankind is all set to step into year 2014 with hues of emotions of expectation, apprehension, trepidation and some even with clueless abandon. However, this website liberally believes and quotes the 19th century Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Aabye Kierkegaard who said, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
Rewinding and writing of the past (the year gone by) had been a mechanical journalistic activity for this writer for decades that neither gave joy nor any sense of achievement as personally the writer feels that writing about the past for public consumption only undermines the readers capability to remember what they had already seen and gone through.
However, this writer do acknowledge that such writing does serve as a valuable documents for reference in the future and help in analyzing the achievements and failures in different fields.
As we prepare to enter year 2014, this website attempts to look into the 2014, not the stuff made of crystal gazing, but the coming events that would certainly impact our lives in some ways.
However while trying to do so the website once again will quote from the speech of US president Barack Obama made to the joint session of Congress in September 9, 2009 where he had said, “We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it.”
January 15, 2014: For a state that had seen orgy of violence and agitations in 2013 over the demand for implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) by the ngos, January 15 of the New Year will be a day when an opportunity to end the stalemate between the ngos and the government over the ILP issue is not lost as Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma has fixed the date for dialogue over this ticklish issue. Hopefully the ngos will accept the offer for dialogue and both the parties- state government and ngos- will find an amicable solution to the ILP demand for the greater interest of peace and prosperity in the state.
January 21, 2014: As Meghalaya celebrates the 42nd year of statehood, there are host of wish-list the people of the state hopes that the state government will fulfill: (a) Completion of the four laning of Shillong-Guwahati road, two laning of Shillong-Tura road, completion of the Shillong airport (b) providing portable drinking water to all (c) Better rural roads and electricity connectivity (d) Good public healthcare system(e) Better tourism and sports infrastructure (f) Creation of job opportunities for the youths(g) Easing of traffic congestion in Shillong city( h) Clean public toilets in important areas in Shillong and all the other district headquarters in the state.
Between Feb to Mar, 2014: Like last year, the Meghalaya government is likely to host the Indian Panorama of Film Festival 2014 in Shillong providing an opportunity to film buffs to watch classic movies from across the country. Host of film stars are also likely to converge to Shillong providing the fans an opportunity to have a glimpse of their favourite actors.
Elections 2014: Meghalaya will see two elections in 2014. The district council elections for the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Autonomous District Councils and, of course, the Lok Sabha elections for the Shillong and Tura seats. While the district councils election doesn’t evoke as much interest as the assembly elections but nonetheless it is an important election for political parties as they get to test their popularity among the indigenous electorates. It also provides the platform for those who want to contest in the assembly elections to enter electoral politics by first getting elected in the district councils election.
LS Election 2014: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will certainly get maximum eyeballs during the Lok Sabha election especially after stunting the Congress and the BJP during the Delhi assembly elections, but in Meghalaya everyone will keenly watch whether the United Democratic Party (UDP) can wrestle the Shillong Lok Sabha seat from sitting Congress MP Vincent Pala- who is likely to be given the Congress ticket once again- and former Lok Sabha speaker Purno A Sangma National People’s Party (NPP) will be able to retain the Tura Lok Sabha seat after being routed during the assembly election in 2013.
Paul Lyngdoh: UDP working president and legislator Paul Lyngdoh who is the party’s MP candidate for the Shillong Lok Sabha election will certainly be a formidable opponent to anybody who will be contesting from the Congress party. A good electoral strategist, he has not lost a single assembly election during the last fifteen years of his political career. In the 2013 assembly elections when his critics wrote his electoral obituary because he had to contest from the new delimited assembly constituency where large chunk of electorates were non tribal voters, Lyngdoh silenced his detractors by winning even though with thin margin. Of course contesting for the Lok Sabha seat is not as simple as fighting the assembly election, but Lyngdoh is no ordinary run of the mill politicians as he has also hitch in to a bigger political party UDP so that his reach becomes as bigger as the party of whose he is the working president. He will be watched keenly.
Purno Agitok Sangma: The former Lok Sabha speaker and national president of the National People’s Party (NPP) will be another politician who will get lots of eyeballs during the upcoming Lok Sabha election. If political grapevine is to be believed Sangma- who is at present the vanquished leader in Garo hills after his party managed to get only one seat out of the 24 seats in Garo hills- will himself contest the Tura Lok Sabha seat instead of his daughter and sitting Tura MP Agatha Sangma. If one goes by the assembly results, the NPP is unlikely to retain the seat. But if the senior Sangma decides to himself contest the Tura seat he will certainly be a difficult opponent to beat. He like Lyngdoh will be watched.
Games 2014: For sport lovers 2014 will certainly be windfall as they will be treated to a plethora of games at the international level:
(a) February 7–23 – The 2014 Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, Russia.
(b) March 16 – The T20 World Cup will be held in Bangladeshti
(c) June 12 – July 13 – The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be held in Brazil.
We must have overlooked other important events, but nonetheless there are reasons to look forward to 2014 with great hopes and expectations.- By Tilak Rai
Robinhood of Delhi ?
All of last evening , experts were debating on TV channels ,
” Is Kejriwal robbing Peter ( rich ) to pay Paul ( poor ) ? ”
They were discussing the losses that Delhi treasury will suffer ( approx Rs 25-35 Crores per month ) due to ,
> 20 KL 0f free water
> 50 % subsidy on power ( up to 400 units / month )
But AAP leaders are saying ,
” If Peter is rich and Paul is poor , then there is nothing wrong with robbing Peter to pay Paul ”
What they are leaving unsaid is ,
” It is better to be a Robinhood than to be a Robbing Hoodlum !
Robbing Hoodlums of Congress governments have been robbing the poor for the past 66 years and making the rich richer, and poor poorer !
Dear Experts ,
Will you please explain ,
> Who got Rs 50,00000 Crores worth of Scam money in last 15 years ?
> Who have deposited Rs 300,000 Crores worth of black money in Swiss banks ?
> Which Industrialists / Businessmen have failed to return to the Nationalized Banks , Rs 200,000 Crores of loans – without any efforts at recovering the same ?
> Which private money-lenders are making 20,000 farmers commit suicide every year , for failing to repay their small loans ?
> Who are all travelling Air India on subsidized air-fares , which has bled the Government of Rs 100,000 Crores in past 15 years ?
> To which businessmen have State and Central governments gave away – almost free – Rs 500,000 Crores worth of farming land to set up SEZ ?
> How many sick ( ICU ? ) Public Sector Units have the poor people of India kept ” alive ” , by subsidizing them to the tune of Rs 100,000 ,000 Crores over the past 60 years ?
Who got this money ?
And if you dispute our figures , will you tell us the correct figures ? ”
But since these ” self-appointed economic experts ” have no honest answers to these questions , they are telling AAP government ,
” You are not supposed to fulfill your poll promises by increasing the EXISTING levels of subsidy on water and power
If you have only a few hours to survive , within that period , why don’t you ,
> Lay 150 Km of water pipe lines ?
> Install 20 lakh new water meters / replace 10 lakh defective ones ?
> Ditto for Electric meters
> Get CAG to finish its audit of 3 Discoms ?
> Get DERC to announce new tariff , revised downwards by 50 % ?
> Float tenders , finalize and appoint 6 Discoms ( to replace existing 3 ) ?
> Study 200 files of CWG Scam tenders and file cases against corrupt government officers / contractors / politicians , who minted money ?
Why can’t you do these things by tomorrow evening ?
Don’t you know , extending existing subsidy % , is bad economics , even if it is good politics ?
In any case , by precedence of past 60 years , bad economics has been solely our prerogative
How dare you copy us , then claim originality ? ”
AAP may choose not to answer
But by May / June 2014 , 760 million voters will
And depressed / tortured / raped / murdered / looted people around the World , will applaud an alternative to violent Arab Spring !
Mahatma will rise from the Rajghat !
* hemen parekh ( 02 Jan 2014 / Mumbai )