ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Friends Among the joys of life is a sense of perspective looking back over the shoulder the labyrinth you journeyed to cover the distance. The completion of 9th year of our continuous publication is indeed a matter of great satisfaction to all of us here at ISSUES & CONCERNS. Yes, this month represents the beginning of 10th year of our journey in the world of print media. As one of our very supportive admirer had said some years ago "I do hope and pray ISSUES & CONCERNS will continue to march to its own sane and sensitive beat". That we shall live up to her hope and prayer is an unconditional promise to all our readers, patrons, friends and well wishers as we usher into the new year. Month began with the news of UPA government’s ‘operation quite burial’ of giving the notorious Bofors scandal an official death certificate. It is indeed shameful for any government worth its name to do what is patently unthinkable only because, ostensibly the CBI ‘managed’ to fail to fi...

NAXALS & FUTILITY OF VIOLENCE In the context of violence all around us, the importance of Mahatma’s principles of non-violence appears the only solution. Although violence is a global phenomena, in the Indian context it is the naxalite menace that is causing serious concern. Mahatma Gandhi objected to violence not only because an unarmed people had little chance of success in a situation of armed conflict, but also because he considered violence a clumsy weapon which created more problems than it solved and left as its legacy a trial of hatred and bitterness because of which harmony and reconciliation became almost impossible. The relevance of Mahatma, in an increasingly violent world, does not require to be repeated. But in the world of facts, probably it needs to be repeated every now and then to keep alive the legacy, which no other human being must have left behind for any future generation that followed. The Focus is basically on Naxals and the futility of use of violence in ...

GANG LEADER FOR A DAY A Book by : Sudhir Venkatesh First Days on Federal Street Autry knew I was on good terms with J.T., although I’d been cagey about the extent of our relationship. Many times he’d told me I needed to have the courage to ask J.T. more difficult questions about the gang, even if it would upset him. "At least you can ask one of these niggers the question," he said. "And he’ll be here tonight." Autry let out a loud laugh and went outside to smoke his cigarette. Shit. It would be the first time I’d seen J.T. in several weeks. I was usually craeful to ask his permission before attending any event involving gangs, both to show respect and because I needed a patron. Otherwise, as he always told me, my personal safety couldn’t be guaranteed. I decided to wait outside the club to talk to J.T. when he arrived. Autry offered to wait with me. We stood on the sidewalk and watched the busy, noisy traffic along Federal Street. The club sat in the shadow of a pro...

Pregnant Klum shoots nude in chocolate LONDON: Supermodel Heidi Klum, who is expecting her fourth child, turned her pregnancy fetish for chocolate into a sexy photo shoot when she asked photographer Rankin to click her nude dipped in Chocolate syrup. The German stunner, who raises three children with husband and singer Seal and Rankin, have been working on a photo book for years. And now fans will be able to get their hands on all the unseen shots in new book ‘Heidilicious’ one of which features a pregnant Klum covered with chocolate, Contactmusic reported.

Aspirin, Not For Primary Prevention of disease Good old aspirin, good at times Aspirin is of uncertain net value in primary prevention of vascular disease, says a new study published in The Lancet. However, low-dose aspirin is of definite and substantial net benefit for many people who already have occlusive vascular disease. In other words, aspirin is enormously useful as a prophylactic (preventive) for cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction (MI, i.e. a heart attack) and ischaemic stroke (blockage of artery leading to death of brain tissues). There has been concern, however, that aspirin can increase haemorrhagic strokes and cause gastrointestinal bleeding. Hence the study, which was funded by the UK Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, and the European Community Biomed programme. Antioxidant in melon relieves stress London : A dietary ingredient derived from a melon, rich in an antioxidant, has been shown to relieve stress. Rese...

World Order Has Changed! It looks like its no more G8, like we used to hear all these post World War II years. Its going to be replaced by G20. Yes, reflecting the growing economic clout of many developing countries, which include India, China & Brazil among others. The G20 are a group of 20, shall eventually replace group of 8 or G8, the elite club of rich industrial nations, as a global forum for economic policy. The group of 20-leaders of 20 countries representing 90% of the world’s financial and industrial output-met recently at Pittsburgh in the United States, for a two-day summit, to deliberate on the financia l crisis, or the meltdown as was known, and to take measures how to avoid its repetition in the future. This group consisting G20 are the earlier G8 members and the additional 12 of those emerging economies. The original group of 8 are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S.A. Adding to the original, are these 12 new entrants into this elit...

PROBITY – A SELECTIVE APPROACH Neerja Chowdhary is a political commentator, generally writing for mainstream print media. Writing on post YSR scenario in Andhra Pradesh, she wrote "Though he was criticized by his opponents of corruption, YSR was among those who recognized that money must be made not at the level of grassroot schemes". Whether she is right or not is not the point, but it is certainly a newer journalistic prism to have a view of corruption at higher echelons of governance, although this kind of view was indeed in vogue at oral-people to people-level. Now what does this observation really boils down to? In politics, most people make money. There are as many ways of making money as there are politicians. In making illegitimate sleaze, all political parties pass the test. May be among Communists there are more people, who could be construed to be upright. Similarly in BJP, number of MLAs, MPs, MLCs who are not making money on the quite, may be m ore than other po...

An open letter on Good Governance Shri Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister, Bihar Subject: The touchstone of good governance: a people friendly administration Dear Mukhyamantriji The most important and attractive plank of your election campaign was the promise of ‘Sushasan’(good governance). The people who were sick of the rule of your predecessors generously voted in your favour and offered you the opportunity to serve them by keeping your promises. You have not forgotten your pledge of ‘Sushasan’ as is apparent from the frequent claim made that it has been achieved. However, whereas the people accept that there is a change for the better, they do feel that the change is quantitative and not qualitative. I hope you would agree that an improvement on a deplorable governance is not ‘good governance’(Sushasan). I would refrain from passing a judgment on the governance in the state and would like to suggest objective criteria, which you may apply and judge yourself the quality of the governance,...

Do we owe anything for the country! In the world that we live, in this 21st century, John F Kennedy’s oft quoted sentence, surely shall sound like bit of a cliché. ‘Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country’ must have been heard over and over again, ever si nce he said it, some 50 years ago. Yes, it did inspire lots of people, the world over, in its prestine appeal. In the globalised consumeristic world, it has stopped being attractive to the ears and has lost its original lustre over a period of time. Ever since the United States of America held out its promise of good life, even before India became politically independent from the British colonialists, there have been many Indians, brilliant and not so brilliant who migrated. They all went in search of better tomorrows. And it is easier to assume that they all found their El Dorado. Having found the going smooth, most Indians kept going. Most stayed back for generations. Some came back to settle d...

Citizens Can Use RTI for Court Paper Copies A Push to the right The Central Information Commission (CIC) has passed an order that enables citizens to use the Right to Information (RTI) route to get certified copies of court papers. The CIC has also clarified that the RTI overrides all laws except the Official Secrets Act 1923. The order says, "If Parliament wanted to restrict the citizen’s right, it would have been stated in the law. Nobody else has the right to constrain the rights of the citizen. There is no provision in the RTI which restrains citizens ‘right to use it’

Man thrown out of running train, dies MUMBAI : VIOLENCE on trains have assumed grave proportions when a group of rowdies threw a 21-year-old man out of a running tra in. The hooligans also grieviously injured passengers in the general coach of the Up Verawal Express between 8.30 and 10pm. The 21-year-old Dilip Salaat, who along with his family was traveling from Baroda to Pune, died after being thrown out of a moving train between Badlapur and Kalyan when he tried to stop an unruly group of eight people, all between 20 to 25 years, from molesting wife Mala. The police complaint states that the rowdies tore off Mala’s blouse. According to the complaint of Pappu Salaat, brother of the deceased, when co-passengers tried to restrain them, they were attacked with swords. They then roughed up Dilip and threw him out of the moving train and Dilip died. "When her husband and other family members protested, the assailants became violent and began beating the Salaat family members—Tejal, P...

Defence ministry wanted its pound of flesh in boat tragedy The defence minis try asked the Kerala government for Rs.45 lakh for a military aircraft to transport the bodies of the people who had died in the Thekkady boat capsize, a senior Kerala minister said. The state government, however, rejected the demand and instead chartered two planes from a private airline to take the bodies to different places, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, and spent less than Rs.25 lakh. "We requested the defence ministry to provide a military aircraft to transport the victims bodies and survivors to different parts of the country. They also said the aircraft could not be used for civilian purposes," the minister told IANS on the condition of anonymity. ‘Unsavoury’ remarks on Rahul land cop in soup A senior police officer in Kerala is in the dock over his remarks against All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Kozhikode on Wedne...