Sea horses

It is reported more than 100 sea horses were caught by Rameswaram fishermen yetserday.Many of us would have seen sea horses as specimens preserved in the zoology labs in schools and colleges or in some aquariums.Sea horses are actually a type of fish.They don't have scales like fishes.But they have armoured plates all over the body.There are about 50 different species of sea horses.They have a long horse like head and hence the name sea horse.But they are fishes because they breath water and not air.(dolphins live in water but breathe air by projecting their nostrils over water.Dolphins are mammals).They have long tails.They change colours to hide from enemies.There are tiny sea horses 1 cm long to long ones measuring up to 1 foot.The sae horses have a strange courtship.During the breeding season,they court for several days.Holding the tails they swim together, and change colours often.Finally they engage in a "courtship dance",that is said to last for 7 to 8 hours.The female sea horse drops her eggs in the males brood puch.This is very peculiar, because though the female sea horse produce eggs,it is the male sea horse that carries the eggs in its pouch and fertilizes it internally.The gestation period is about 40 to 50 days.During this period the male sea horse carries the eggs until the fuly developed young sea horses are finally pushed in to water.This can not be seen in any other animal.Though the male sea horse gives birth to thousands of young ones,as little as five suvive to live.They normally live in seaweed beds.Sea horses are very slow swimmers.The zoological name of sea horse is Hippocampus. Sea horses are considered as an endangered species world over.Habitat destructtion and excessive fishing are said to be the causes for the dwindling number of this species.Sea horses are used as a native medicine by Chinese herbal doctors.Prepackaged medcinal sea horses are sold in China.Though there are laws to prevent import and export of sea horses,it is being violated.

Race for the saddle

On June 2nd the world will know about the next Indian Prime minister.Though it is too early to predict the outcome,there are too many aspiring Prime ministerial candidates form a host of parties.This includes some regional parties also.Who will don the PM's mantle is a million dollar question.Notwithstanding the uncertainites of the poll outcome,given below is a list of possible PM aspirants .

BJP is projecting L.K.Advani as its PM candidate.As of now Advani is the only potential PM candidate from BJP.In fact BJP's entire campaign is pivoted around the theme 'For a strong PM,vote for BJP'.

Like Last elections, Congress is not projecting any one,as its prospective PM candidate.This has nothing to do with the fact that the PM is recuperating after a surgery.PM being a Rajya Sabha member will continue to be a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha until 2010.In case, the UPA manages to secure a majority to form the government,Congress could decide one way or the other.(choose a potenetial candidate from its Lok sabha members or continue with Manmohan singh).However there could be hardcore sycophants in Congress, who would want Sonia Gandhi to assume the PM's mantle.An equal number of youth congress men could vie with fellow congresmen in favour of Rahul Gandhi also.The unfortunate guy in the Congress would be its 'All Purpose Man' Pranab Mukherji.But if Pranab becomes a surprise candidate, it could be a marvel.No doubt Pranab is a competent candidate to be the Prime Minister.

The alternate front(third front) comprising Leftists,TDP,JD(s),AIADMK,BSP,TRS etc also have Prime Ministerail aspirants.The foremost among them is BSP's Mayawati.She does not in any way hold back her aspirations.She has vociferously voiced her thoughts on this.But the constituents of the third fornt have decided not to name any potential PM candidate until the elections are over.This decision is only to appease others in the front, who have similar aspirations.Obviously they don't want the front to break before the elections on the question of declaring the prospective PM.The implied threat is from the AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha.She is also nursing Prime ministerial ambitions.In the event of a fractured mandate, she is capable of doing a hard bargain and achieve her goals.Leftists apparently want a say in deciding the Potential PM from third fornt,should things move to such a situation.CPM committed a blunder years ago forefeiting a PM's chance to Jyoti Basu.Prakash Karat has gone on record this time,in case third front assumes power,CPM might join the government.Does it mean he has some trumpcards up his sleeve?Does the PB of the communist party want to do some amends to its earlier folly?Though Chandrababu Naidu and Devagowda have said they are not in the race,one gets the feeling that the wily Gowda would be hoping, that in case of difference of opinions among third front parties over agreeing to a common candidate,history could repeat itself and he could becme a compromise candidate once again.

Apart from the three major political fronts there are a host of other PM aspirants from other parties also.Some people have expressed it overtly also.People like Sharad Pawar,Mulyam Singh Yadav,Ram Vilas Paswan and Lalu Yadav have also expressed their desire to be the PM at one time or the other in their political career.Anything can happen in politics.There could be dark horses emerging form nowhere.Whatever it is,the stewardship of the nation should rest in the hands of a safe,able,competent,efficient and qualified Prime Minister.

Quid Pro quo politics of India

The Indian general elections are scheduled to be held from 16th April 2009 to 13th May 2009, and the new government would be formed on 2nd June 2009.714 milllion Indians are going to exercise their franchise to decide on the next Indian government.As one of world's largest democracy,the Indian general elections would assume greater importance and the entire world would be anxiously awaiting for the outcome.This is especially so in the context of the turmoils surrounding India's South Asian neighbours.The combined India,Pakistan and Bangladesh got independecne 61 years ago.For most part of the 61 years, Pakistan was ruled by military and the voice of the general public was stifled.Look at the current turmoils.The army chief threatens the democratically elected president on governance.India played a role in the independence of Bangladesh in 1971.But Bangladesh also had its own share of political turmoils and military coups.Bangladesh's father of the nation Mujibur Rehman was killed with in 7 months of assuming office by a group of army officers.The recent revolt by the Bangladesh Rifles says 'all is not well' with Bangladesh also.The three decades old Sri Lankan crisis and the systematic annihilation of an ethnic race has made it almost impossible for the Tamil and Sihala community to remain together in peace, even if a political solution is arrived, at a future date, with in the constitutional frame work of an united Sri Lanka.Another South Asian country Afganistan is troubled by the Talibans and also the US troop presence.
In this context the Indian general elections assume greater significance.By far the Indian general elections are free and fair,considering the enormity of holding such a difficult democratic process,country wide,without much hiccups, is itself a challenging task.Barring the recent controversy,between the CEC and EC,the autonomous body conducting elections in India deserves praise.Ironically,despite so many deiversities the common Indian thread has become strong,after the rise of regional parties in Indian politics.The rise of regional parties have made it almost mandatory to give them a share in the centre's coalition politics.The federal representation has in a way served to boost the regional pride also.The era of coalition politics has forced the main contenders like Congress and BJP to accomodate the regional parties on a quid pro quo basis.This has strengthened the bond between parties.Another fall out of this mutually beneficial arrangement,is the national outlook of these regional parties.Regional parties are forced to accomodate the national political agenda of Parties like Congress and BJP with a view to cling on to power.This has forced many regional parties to put in cold storage many of their essentially chauvnistic and jingoistic agenda.One finds the democracy in India is growing stronger after every general elections.The quid pro quo politics is only making Indian politcal scenario more interesting with each party vying with the other to prove their vote bank strength and thereby increase their bargaining powers, in forging electoral alliances.
Indian electorate should exercise their franchise to elect an accountable government,a government with a mission to uplift the quality of life of all strata of people,a government that respects law,human rights,freedom of its citizens,a government that administers justice with equity and fairness,a government that is committed to tackle terrorism and other extrimist activities. Indian electorates are well informed and would surely use some yardstick to judge each political party and each candidate before casting their valuable franchise.As the noted Political Analyst and satirist Cho Ramaswamy often says,the issue before the Indian electorate is very simple."Choose the lesser evil".