A half-life. And a rat’s death

HOW MANY more deaths will it take for the Meghalaya government to wake up to the reality of child-miners in the rat-hole mines of the state? On 9 July, 15 young lives were lost in the rat-holes in south Garo Hills. Trapped in the mines after rainwater flooded them, all hope of a rescue was lost. As this goes to press, authorities are still searching for bodies.

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Fence-sitters Eye a Windfall

THE RESULTS of the Manipur Assembly election are some weeks away but horse-trading has already begun. Tapes of alleged conversation of a Delhi-based journalist with a Cabinet minister and a key Congress leader reveal plans to buy the support of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs to form the government. While TEHELKA could not independently verify the authenticity of the tapes, senior politicians accept that such activity will only increase once the results are out on 6 March.

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Rebel on a Mission

IN A state where chief ministerial candidates abound, Yumkham Erabot Singh, 73, stands apart. This senior cabinet minister in the Okram Ibobi Singh government has been most critical of the two-term CM and could snatch away his dream of a third term.

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