Is Mahto's Murder going L N Mishra Murder case Way?

"Police officers, sceptical from the beginning about the involvement of Maoists, are now convinced of a wider, political conspiracy." Sunil Mahto was killed at Bakudia village in East Singhbhum district while he was watching a football match on March 4, 2007.

The Jharkhand government has made a formal request to the CBI to investigate into the killing of Mahto. CBI comes under Department of Personnel and Training. The mortal remains of slain JMM MP Sunil Mahato was cremated at his native village of Gamaria in Sareikela-Kharsawan district in Jharkhand on March 6, 2007. Chief Minister Madhu Koda, Deputy Chief Ministers Stephen Marandi and Sudhir Mahto, cabinet colleagues, legislators, Leader of the Opposition Arjun Munda and leaders of different parties were present.

The murder case of Lalit Narain Mishra, Railways Minister that has entered in its 32nd year of trial. Mahto case is is all set to go this very route.

Mishra was a Railway Minister under the Indira Gandhi Government. He was murdered on January 2, 1975 at the Samastipur railway station, Bihar. Eight Anand Margis were made main accused in the case. The case was tried in Patna from 1975 to 1979. Later, the Supreme Court ordered for the transfer of case to Delhi. The 12,000 page case file has been transferred to 19 judges since 1979. Now, the case has been moved to day-to-day hearing under the present ASJ MC Garg’s court. Mishra was the elder brother of Jagannath Mishra who later beame Chief Minister of Bihar.

Mishra was the first ranking national politician assassinated in India since Mohandas Gandhi was shot in 1948, Mishra had been the target of corruption charges involving the issuance of import licenses during his term as Minister for Foreign Trade (1970-73).

TIME magazine noted on January 13, 1975, "Mishra's death might well strengthen Mrs (Indira) Gandhi's position". It further noted, because of recent political agitation in India's Bihar state, a force of at least 1,000 security men was present last week when the Indian Minister for Railways, Lalit Narayan Mishra, 51, formally opened a new 36-mile-long rail line from Samastipur to Muzaffarpur. Mishra had just finished his remarks and was stepping down from the dais when a time bomb exploded, ripping the dais to pieces and wounding Mishra as well as 24 bystanders. Mishra himself died the following day during emergency surgery.

With JMM's Shibu Soren in jail, convicted in the Shashinath Jha murder, it was widely recognised that Mahto would find a berth in the Union cabinet. An anti-Mahto lobby, unhappy with the MP's sudden rise, may have masterminded the killing.

Mahto was very much part of the agitation that eventually led to the creation of Jharkhand. As a student leader, he remained in the forefront of the All Jharkhand Students Union politics. A potential leader of the JMM, Mahto was known for his oratory and ability to connect with people.

The JMM MP was put on the hit list for his campaign against the Naxals through his Nagrik Suraksha Sangharsh Samiti. Contractors, backed by Mahto, were refusing to give in to Naxalite demands for money. Mahto is the second high-profile politician to be killed by the extremists in Jharkhand. In 2005, CPI (ML) MLA from Bagodar Mahendra Singh too was shot dead, Outlook notes.

Mahto had a reputation of being pro-people. Mishra was charged with allegations of corruption.

India using shunned waste technology , incinerators

The anti-incineration campaign seem to have driven home a message but it soon became clear that the obsolete technology vendors are still on the prowl. The Times of India Report below shows the same. The Global Alliance Against Pollution (GAAP) has a work cut out. There is still a long way to go.

India using shunned waste plant technology
4 Mar 2007
NEW DELHI: In what could trigger a major health concern, municipal corporations of Delhi and Mumbai have signed MoUs to use incinerator-based waste disposal technologies now being phased out in Europe and the US for producing cancer-causing pollutants and heavy metals like lead and mercury.

Indian cities may put up banners speaking of 'recycle, reuse and reduce' waste, but Delhi and Mumbai have signed MoUs with Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd for a technology that seeks to produce energy by burning waste.

Apart from the health hazards that the technology may pose, 16 years ago an attempt to set up an incinerator plant at Delhi's Timarpur came a cropper. This was due to low "calorific" content of Indian waste which is picked clean for plastics. Even now, 60% plastics are removed, and with improving segregation, the waste may become even less fit for incineration.

In fact, the Delhi Master Plan Report on waste management (2020) says: "RF is often an option when emission standards are lax and RDF is burned in conventional boilers with no special precautions for emissions."

There is also an ongoing case in Supreme Court on management of municipal solid waste, during the course of which two technical experts have also said that RDF must be supported by the ministry of new and renewable energy only on experimental basis.

The developed world has been trying hard to phase out these technologies because they promote waste generation and produce chemicals dangerous to public health.

Besides, the municipal corporations of Delhi and Mumbai, at least a dozen more cities in India have signed MoUs with IL&FS and other private companies to set up plants that convert municipal solid waste to energy. Studies in the West have shown incinerators to generate dangerous persistent organic pollutants. In India's case the technology — called Refused Derived Fuel — has not worked previously.

RDF's earlier variant, direct incineration was tried in Timparpur, Delhi, before and failed within a month of operation. The Delhi High Court had asked CAG to investigate the purchase. RDF is seen as advanced version of the direct incineration technology.

RDF uses waste turned into pellets after the removal of non-combustible materials such as glass and iron. This is then burnt under fixed conditions to produce energy. The burning of waste has to be strictly managed to reduce pollutants which are emitted by burning plastics.