Darjeeling continues to be on the boil. The Gorkha Janmukti Movement (GJM) is adamant that it would not allow the "king of the Hills" Subhas Ghising to have his way anymore. The GJM's message through protests running into the second week is clear: Neither will it let the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council's erstwhile Chairman and presently Administrator to return to the hills nor will it settle for anything short of a separate State. Not only have Ghising's plans to replace his autonomous Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council with the Gorkha Hill Council under the Sixth Schedule gone awry, but both the Centre and the State have been forced to rethink strategy. Intelligence reports have warned the Union home Ministry against any haste in granting the special status to Darjeeling hills, given the distinctive geographical location of the region, wherein a thin strip 'Chicken's Neck'; separates China and Bangladesh and connects the North-East. Any decision without a consensus could set the Hills ablaze and give the neighbours a chance to fish in troubled waters!

* Tripura creates electoral history

Tripura has created electoral history in India. This tiny State in the North-East which had gone to the polls on Saturday last had an incredible voter turnout of about 92 per cent. Polling at some booths went on till 11.15 pm, much past the 4 p.m. deadline as hundreds of voters were still in queue. And, the State went to polls with 100 per cent voter identity cards, the first for any North-Eastern State. Moreover, the good news is that polling passed off peacefully, something which the State hadn't witnessed in the past two decades. Though there were more companies of the Central Police Force this time around, the five working groups monitoring election process in Delhi did not receive any complaint. Reason enough for the Election Commission to cheer. But, perhaps, it will wait till it conducts the elections in Meghalaya and Nagaland due to be held next week.

* No Hindi in Mumbai city hall?

Maharashtra and its Capital, Mumbai, appear to be limping back to normal after the turmoil triggered by Raj Thackeray. Many apprehended fresh trouble when Bal Thackeray demanded that Marathi must remain the official language of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation and sounded the bugle against a proposal to publish the Corporation' papers in Hindi as well. This was viewed as giving impetus to nephew Raj Thackeray's agitation against the 'north Indians'. But the BJP defused the situation by playing a faithful partner and supporting Bala Saheb's stand. It has openly come out against the Hindi proposal on the ground of it being a part of the "divisive politics" of the Congress. With the proposal expected to come up in the Corporation's meeting next week, Sena corporators have been asked to "safeguard Marathi" in the city hall. Will they be able to stall Hindi?

* MP High Court Lifts Ban on Jodhaa

Film buffs in Madhya Pradesh have reason to rejoice. The State government's ban on screening of "Jodhaa Akbar" was quashed by the High Court on Tuesday last. The ban was imposed last Friday following protests by Kshatriyas, who had threatened to burn cinemas screening the Mughal period drama. Their grouse: the film distorted history and hurt their sentiments. However, the division bench viewed the protests, in the form of two theatres being attacked, as not "so intense that it could disrupt peace in the State." It upheld UTV Software Communications' petition against the ban and noted that the government's decision was in violation of the Fundamental rights of citizens. Some freedoms are eternal.