ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Friends  With this issue we are ushering into the 13th year of its persevering and diligent existence. It was in Nov 2000 that we hit the trail Towards a Purposeful Regimen. As usual, in recent times, we are upbeat about our journey in the world of letters. We are looking forward with renewed vigour to make our journey meaningful in the larger context of pan Indian evolution. India is a happening place of all kinds, from bizarre to ridiculous. Take the case of a Samajwadi Party MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh. The other day he was protesting against the alleged ‘persecution of innocent people’ by the police, outside the police headquarters in the Baharaich district. On asking, ‘if he is into Gandhigiri of peaceful protest’, his answer spoke volumes of the rot within the political establishment of India and particularly in UP. “Hum Gandhi nahee, hum tho mafia hain, hamare khilaaf chaalis mukaddamein hain. Badmash Aadmi Gandhi Kahan ho saktaa hai”. At least, Sharan Singh was hon...

KARNATAKA: For quite some time Karnataka has been in the news, mainly for all wrong reasons. The most important being the continuous skirmishes within the state BJP body politic. Ever since BS Yediyurappa’s reluctant stepping down as CM, the circus within the BJP ruled state government had reached ridiculous proportions, with party insiders themselves feeling sorry for the low level of antics by all and sundry in the party hierarchy. It has already seen 3 Chief Ministers in less than 3 years period with BSY threatening to start his own political outfit. Then there was this foreign travels by legislators belonging to all political parties, having great time in South American countries, at the cost of public money, at the times of drought in most parts of the state, and perforce had to cancel their trip. Then there is this Cauvery water distribution problem. While it is true that there has been some 35% less rain and therefore less available for release at the KRS reservoir, there co...

SCAMS  UNDERGROUND-OVERGROUND -OVERTHEGROUND India is indeed a land of scams. Why? you would ask. Somebody deciphered SCAM, as representing - Scheming, Crafty, Aggressive, Malicious. We, Indians, probably have some of the best brains on this earth, and some of them are in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). To scheme, one needs good IQ, and these IAS have it in abundance. They are managers of our national resources. They are supposed to scheme for the nation, how to raise resources and how to deploy these resources for the greatest good of greatest number, that is Bahujan Hithaya Bhahujan Sukhaya. Of course the objective is ‘Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavanthu’ of our sacred scriptures, or the Sarvodaya of Mahatma Gandhi. But somehow, being a vast country-geographically, socially and ethnically-the administrative apparatus, which is overseeing the re-distribution of our national resources, has for varieties of reasons, failed in fairer distribution of these resources. C...

Towards a Fair Society –  What Went Wrong with India? Respected judges and friends  I’m in a quandary… Should I speak on the topic ‘Towards a Fair Society – What Went Wrong with India’ or should I rephrase the topic and ask, “Is there anything at all that has gone right with India?” NO, NO… I’m not a cynic… But when I take stock of the situation that has been prevalent in Independent India, I wonder if there is anything at all that we can be either proud or hopeful of…  Think about this… Ours is a nation where pizza arrives before an ambulance does. Ours is a place where no one cries when a war widow is made to survive on a pension of Rs. 80 a month, but many blatantly celebrate the release of criminals guilty of bribery, scam, rape and murder. Ours is a country obsessed with getting money from Swiss banks but has turned a blind eye to 56  Indian soldiers who are still held captive by Pakistan from the 1971 War. I ask you, “What has gone wrong? Is t...

GANG LEADER FOR A DAY The Stay-Together Gang In the spring of 1996, I learned that I had received a junior fellowship at Harvard’s Society of Fellows. I was ecstatic; it was a much-sought-after position, a three-year salaried research post. I went to tell J.T. the good news, and that I would soon be leaving town, although I still planned to maintain my ties to Chicago. The smells of Ms. Mae’s cooking-collard greens, cornbread, and smothered chicken-hit me as I walked in the door. “You still manage to get here right when the food is ready, don’t you? J.T. said with a laugh. I apologized for missing the last few suburban Black Kings meetings. “They still think you’re the director of communications,” he said, laughing again but looking at the TV instead of at me. “There’s another meeting next Sunday if you want to come with me.” “Sure,” I said, trying to sound enthusiastic. “That would be great.” I explained why I’d been so busy lately. Until I learned of the Harvard fe...

A purse that charges your phone! New York : Now charge your phone by putting it in the purse! A new cute clutch hides cutting-edge technology in the lining that makes it possible to simply drop your phone in the pocket and watch it power up. Imagine a world in which you never have to worry about your cell phone running out of battery again. For women at least, that world is here, thanks to 27-year-old Chicago entrepreneur Liz Ormesher Salcedo, who has invented the ‘Everpurse’ that charges your cell phone on the go. ‘Everpurse’, hides cutting-edge technology in the lining of a cute clutch, making it possible to simply drop your phone in the pocket get it charged. Salcedo developed the technology while working as a social worker, where she regularly found herself stranded when her phone ran out of juice. Salcedo and her husband Dan, a serial entrepreneur, started experimenting with off-the-shelf parts from an electronics store until they made the first prototype in one of her ...

The one issue Gandhi would have taken up… Mumbai: What is the one issue Gandhi would have taken up today? Answers differ from displacement to education to female foeticide and decentralization. Sudarshan Iyengar, Gandhian and Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith said, “Gandhiji would have gone on Satyagraha to protest against the enormous control that the state exercises over natural resources in the country.” Rajni Bakshi, author of ‘Bapu Kuti’ agrees with Iyengar. “I think Gandhi would have chosen to protest against massive displacement that is taking place today under so-called government projects and schemes,” she says.  Protesting against violation of women’s rights came next. “I am sure Gandhi would have protested against female feticide that we see happening now more than ever before,” says Bakshi. Ramesh Oza, Gandhian and founder of the Sandipani Vidyaniketan School in Porbandar says that Gandhi would have been sure to protest against exploitation of women as commodi...

CBI cheated by a Data Entry Operator New Delhi:  A Data Entry Operator allegedly managed to siphon off Rs 18 lakh from the accounts of the country's premier investigation agency CBI. The case came to light after a complaint was filed by Pay and Accounts Officer, which works under the Finance Ministry and manages accounts of CBI, that a data entry operator hired by them on a contractual basis, had allegedly withdrawn Rs 18 lakh through cheques, CBI sources said. The PAO, who sits in the CBI headquarters, alleged these are initial figures but the amount may be higher as more such withdrawals could come to light, they said. Based on a complaint, the agency arrested Prashant Kumar Jha, a resident of Uttam Nagar, under the Indian Penal Code sections relating to criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery among others and relevant sections of Prevention of Corruption Act. Chambers call for criminalizing private sector bribery New Delhi: Industry bodies have supported ...

Get married @ 12.00 midnight London: Just married at 3 am! With the lifting of the 176-year-old ban on marrying at night, now Las Vegas-style weddings can take place in Britain. The government is reforming the marriage law, which dates from 1836, so that people can marry outside the hours of 8am-6pm. Civil partnerships can also be held at any time of day with the removal of the traditional time restrictions. Blackpool Tower will be one of the first venues to take advantage of the new rules, offering weddings at sunrise, midnight and even at 3am at the top of the tower, the media reported. The change, to be brought in by the Home Office after public consultation, is designed to give people more choice. It is also hoped that it will unblock long waits to get to the altar. Mark Harper, the Home Office minister with responsibility for the General Register Office, said: “Removing these restrictions will give people greater freedom of choice when planning their big day.” Churche...

Student auctions her body for the poor! London: A 20-year-old Brazilian woman student is auctioning off her virginity to the highest bidder to raise cash to build homes for poverty-stricken families, the Daily Mail reported. Catarina Migliorini, a physical education student of Italian descent, has till now been offered $155,000. She hopes to pump in the money into a non-governmental organisation that will construct houses in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. The girl rejected claims that she was a prostitute, and said she still believed in love, the daily reported.She will reportedly be followed every step of the way by an Australian film crew for a documentary called "Virgins Wanted". "I saw this as a business. I have the opportunity to travel, to be part of a movie and get a bonus with it," the woman said."The auction is just business, I'm a romantic girl at heart and believe in love. But this will make a big difference to my area,...

The makers of a banana republic Dr. M. V. Kamath  Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law- what’s his name? -Vadra?-yes, Robert Vadra has said it all. According to his perverse sense of humour, Indians are mangoes in a Banana Republic. How right he is? The poor man has discovered himself. But that’s what Vadra’s father in-law, Rajiv Gandhi, not to mention Rajiv’s mother, Indira Gandhi and in a distant way his grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru turned India into: a Banana Republic. Consider its achievement, in various fields. Indian Universities do not figure anywhere in the top two hundred in the world. This year Hong Kong – just an ordinary city – has five universities and Singapore two, in the top 200. Even the University Malaya in Malaysia ranks at 156. India in all has 567 universities and not one can claim world recognition. India has 292 Think Tanks among the 5,329 such institutions round the world. (China has 425 and the United States   1,815). And yet not a single Indian Thin...