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The tiny hamlet of some 400 Triqui Indians lies in the north-west of the state of Oaxaca. The shooters are thought to belong to the Union for the Social Wellbeing of the Triqui Region (UBISORT)--a deceptively beneficent-sounding group set up by the ruling party in 1994 to enforce its wholesale silver bracelets in the remote mountain area.

In 2007 San Juan Copala and various nearby villages declared themselves an "autonomous municipality". Since then the violence has worsened: over 100 people are thought to have been killed since the beginning of 2008. The terrorisation of the village, probably orchestrated in part by UBISORT paramilitaries, is punishment for this rebelliousness, says Marcos Albino, a Triqui spokesman. The message to other indigenous towns is clear, he says: "You take the risks and you pay the price."The state's backing of local strongmen has only made the region harder to govern. UBISORT is at war with the Movement for Triqui wholesale silver pendant and Struggle (MULT), a resistance group wooed by the government in the 1990s. It now receives over 17m pesos ($1.35m) of public money a year, supposedly for social projects. Fighting between these rivals has made entering the area dangerous. On June 8th a caravan carrying doctors and federal deputies was turned back by gunmen. That followed an attack on human-rights activists and journalists on April 27th, which killed a local campaigner and a Finnish observer. Prosecutors have not inspected the crime scene because of worries about their own safety.

Two developments may force progress. First, on July 4th Oaxacan voters booted out the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (pri). The pri still acknowledges its links with ubisort, although it says it opposes the group's violent activities. In contrast, the new lot, an alliance of the pri's main rivals, will probably be less accommodating. Heriberto Pazos, the leader of MULT's political wing, says he is willing to negotiate with the wholesale silver earring leaders and ultimately with UBISORT.

Second, the murder of the Finnish observer has attracted outside attention. Juanita Cruz, a congresswoman, says her fellow lawmakers have become far more interested in the case since April. The often lethargic federal prosecutor's office took it up within three days.The case is being handled in Mexico City, free from pressure and intimidation. The families' lawyer says he expects arrests soon--of funders and weapons-suppliers, as well as shooters. That would be a start. Brokering peace with Oaxaca's indigenous groups may take longer.

In Jagatpura, on the eastern outskirts of Rajasthan capital Jaipur stands a huge incomplete structure on pylons so tall it looks like the deep cuts and debris from a recent earthquake. This was meant to be a world class complex with an indoor arena for shooting, archery, polo and a convention complex that could host up to 1,500 persons. The work on the complex began when the BJP's Vasundhara Raje Scindia was chief minister.When the Ashok wholesale silver necklace government took over in December 2008, it moved to ensure that work on the complex was stopped because it symbolised the Raje regime. This when nearly Rs 60 crore or four-fifths of the project budget had already been spent. The government refused to release the final Rs 15 crore for completion of the project, which would have resulted in an inflow of Rs 3 crore a year as lease money from two private companies that wanted to run a clubhouse and hotel there.

Reliance had indicated an expenditure of about Rs 25,000 cr on the Ring Road. Gehlot wanted the NHAI instead to work on it. No progress has been made.Accumulated losses in the power sector went over Rs 25,000 cr with a record annual deficit of Rs 10,000 cr in 2009-10. Losses from 2000-08 were Rs 8,000 cr.Social sector spending on total plan ceiling has gone down to 27 per cent for 2010-11 from 32 per cent in 2009-10.The wholesale silver ring amount in centrally-sponsored schemes increased three times over last year to Rs 11,200 cr by March 2010. The Planning commission has blocked Rs 308 cr of the state for the huge fiscal deficit. Turn 20 km to the north on to a stretch of road laid two years ago at a cost of Rs 76 crore. It was meant to be the starting point of a bus rapid transport system (BRTS) in the state but Gehlot government closed it to traffic and stopped all work on most of the proposed 42-km stretch. Eighteen months later, when the Centre questioned the move, a panicked government opened the road to traffic and then demanded more money from the Centre for its completion, including cost escalation for delay. The Centre rejected the request.