ISSUES AND CONCERNS

Friends  At the outset wishing all our patrons, friends and well wishers a great 2013. Hope and wish there is peace and contentment all over the living world. Year 2012, witnessed everything from sense to non-sense. However, we have tried to recapitulate some significant milestone as we welcome the new year. HUNGaMA, the report on malnourishment informed that 42% of Indian children are malnourished. In absolute terms, a shameful fact worse than Sub-Saharan Africa. Supreme Court cancelling all 122 licences given by A.Raja in 2G spectrum, was another judicial intervention of far reaching dimension. Two fishermen shot dead off Kerala coast by two Italian marines mistaking them for pirates in late February incenced most Indians. Among the 5 states that went to poles, UP gave a shock defeat for BSP and SP romped home with majority on its own. Life term conviction of 18 from Ode village killing during 2002 Gujarat riot was an important development in the 10 year old sectarian imbr...

MAHARASHTRA: The so-called White Paper by the Prithviraj Government in Mumbai, on the scam tainted irrigation projects in interior Maharashtra was indeed a bit of white-wash-or rather as Kejriwal calls it, ‘Black Paper’. It has been in the media that there have been some Rs: 7000/- crores per year allocation during the last 10 years, leading to Rs: 70000/- outlay for the decade, for irrigation purpose. But the growth is anywhere between 0.01% to some 8.9% for the entire period. In the wake of disclosure by a whistleblower, an executive engineer with the Maharashtra irrigation department and the consequent public outcry, Ajit Pawar, the Deputy CM, a Pawar nephew and minister in charge of irrigation had resigned. He is now cooling his heals and waiting to comeback after his hasty step to ‘prove his innocence’. The White Paper, released for political reasons, probably scripted by the Congress High Command to accommodate the UPA ally in the larger picture, has not made any reference to ...

KAAVU YERIDA KAAVERY For those who are not in the know of Kannada ‘Kaavu yerida Kaavery’ is where Kaavu represent ‘heat’ Yerida means ‘rising’. Thus we can infer the title to mean “Rising Heat around river Kaavery”. Indeed, the whole of north is reeling under cold wave of the December winter. But the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are engaged in a war of words of one-up manship, thus raising the temperature around the border areas of these states, fighting for a larger share of water from its celestial source in Kodagu’s Talakaavery. Water, everybody knows, is needed for all, at all times, in abundant quantity. Given the choice, nobody want to suffer its inadequate supply. Fortunately for these states, there is this gift of nature, the river Kaavery. What is needed is its fair distribution, as per the needs of people on both sides. But men being men, they unfortunately suffer from selfish streaks, both from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, are no better. The iss...

GOD THAT FAILED Deccan Herald of Nov. 30th carried this story “Gambhir bats for Tendulkar” “Tendulkar deserves to be left alone”, was another take from the humility personified Anil Kumble, also appearing alongside. This sudden response from the above cricketers was because an Australian, former cricket captain, Ricky Ponting, called it quits from first class cricket. However, a Mumbai based English daily had this head line in the front page “Ponting quits as Sachin twiddles his Thumb.” The decision to quit cricket was purely based on his declining performances and he has just completed his 38. But Sachin who is pushing 40, is still undecided despite being in poor form, for far longer than Ponting, for almost two years.   “The deathly hush signified Indian’s cricket at the Eden Gardens. The master was out, the test almost lost. It was a situation that fans of Indian cricket have come to accept as something routine. The crowd sat stunned as Sachin Tendulkar flopped and dragge...

Worship mosquito & say 'no' to dengue ! Bokaro: The ward off dengue and malaria fever, people in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district are offering prayers to the ‘mosquito god’ to seek a shield against the life-threatening mosquito-borne diseases. A big mosquito statue was installed at Chas a day earlier and a procession organised by devotees who beat drums and chanted mantras to appease the winged god. A priest recited mantras in the presence of hundreds of people and the statue was also garlanded and worshipped before the holy fire. “Hundreds of suspected dengue cases have been reported in the district. The health department is yet to wake up. We have sought a shield from the ‘mosquito god’ and tried to appease it by installing a statute and worshipping it,” Rajendra Mahto, a district resident, told media. Four people have died of suspected dengue in the district which has reported around 130 cases of high fever this season. The blood samples of the patients have been s...

Vit.D for RMOs After 11 resident medical officers (RMOs) of Sion Hospital contracted tuberculosis this year due to squalid living conditions in their hostel, the civic body has now arranged for vitamin D tablets for the 500 RMOs. Sources at the hospital have confirmed that the BMC will provide vitamin D tablets for the RMOs. A study conducted by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has proved that vitamin D could help the body fight the TB bacteria. According to the study, TB patients recover more quickly when given the vitamins along with antibiotics. PSU banks NPA rises to Rs 1.12 lakh cr Mumbai : State-run banks and foreign banks were hit by bad loans as their non-performing assets rose, says the Reserve Bank. Led by state-run banks and foreign lenders, “the asset quality of the banking system deteriorated significantly in FY12 after a period of sustained improvement,” says RBI report on ‘Trend and Progress of Banking in 2011-12′ released. Non-per...

Pee & be shamed  In a bid to tackle the menace of people urinating in the open, a UK city has decided to take offenders on a 'walk of shame' to show them the damage to historic sites due to such corroding behaviour. Each day, up to 30 people are caught on CCTV urinating in public in Chester, which was founded by the Romans and attracts eight million visitors a year. Chester Council has joined forces with police to introduce a "heritage awareness" course in an attempt to combat the public nuisance, which officials say is corroding the city's buildings. While students, soldiers and the unemployed are the primary culprits, accountants, solicitors and teachers have also been caught, the Daily Mail reported. In the past year, 108 offenders have agreed to pay 75 pounds to enrol on the course, which is run by trading standards officers, rather than go to court and face a possible heavy fine. Man bites off nose London: A 45-year-old man in Britai...

INDO-BANGLADESH RELATIONS Dr. M. V. Kamath India-Bangladesh relations have been subject to mood swings ever since the latter’s liberation in which India had a big hand. The tragedy is that there is no apparent irresolvable source of contention between the two countries. For all that they have failed to develop a mutually beneficial and trustworthy relationship for quite some time. Bangladesh, it is clear, feels insecure, feeling too close and needlessly too weak with a powerful neighbour. What is worse is that there still exist groups of Islamic fundamentalists in our Bangla neighbourhood like the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh that are hostile towards India. Their very existence reminds one of the gunning down of founder Chief Minister Mujibhur Rehman and most of his family on the night of 14th-15th August 1975. Many in India have long been sceptical of Begum Khalida Zia, presently leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), but following Prime Minister Dr Ma...