ISSUES AND CONCERNS ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ಕ್ಷಕಿರಣ

Free Speech – My foot! Public memory, we are told, is notoriously short. Hence we find in the media, players of different class playing to the gallery or even otherwise, mouthing, pearls of wisdom, so also inanities of grand standing, conveniently forgetting, having said the very reverse.  Instances and issues are innumerable. Sometime ago, a Mumbai based newspaper had carried the story “Shabana offended by ‘Ishq Ki Maa Ki”. Those who are in the know of colloquial Hindi/Urdu in Mumbai would vouch that the above statement is not only very distasteful but also derogatory to both love and mother. It is a song in the film ‘I don’t love you’. Taking exception to the song, she went viral on the social networking site. She is reported to have said “When we talk about self regulation in our industry, we must keep in mind the identity of women before producing such things. One must be vigilant whether our work is treating woman as commodities or objectifying them and their individua...

Flash strike by CR motormen on Visarjan day Mumbai: Central Railway motormen and guards struck work for half-an-hour, affecting services for an hour. They wanted an additional 10 minutes during their break between two trains. During the protest, two engine failures occurred, further disrupting the services. An engine of a train stalled at Kalwa and the other at Tilak Nagar. Official suspect foul play, as the engine failures occurred exactly during the protest. Both, motormen and guards refused to ply trains from CST from 5.05 pm to 5.35 pm due to which 36 trains were cancelled on the main line and 51 on the harbor line. Although this was the peak hour but due to a holiday on account of Ananth Chaturdashi there were comparatively fewer commuters. The motormen and guards want to increase their ‘signing on’ time, that is, the time between changing of two trains as well at the beginning of their work hours. The demand of the 754 motormen of CR is to increase this time from 20 min...

Illegal Evidence may be admissible: SC The Supreme Court held that obtaining evidence illegally by using tape recordings or photographs is admissible in law although such methods was not the procedure established by law  "It is a settled legal proposition that even if a document is procured by improper or illegal means, there is no bar to its admissibility if it is relevant and its genuineness is proved. If the evidence is admissible, it does not matter how it has been obtained," a bench headed by Justice B S Chauhan said.  The bench, however, said that before accepting such evidence, the court must come to the conclusion that the evidence is genuine and free from tampering.  "However, as a matter of caution, the court in exercise of its discretion may disallow certain evidence in a criminal case if the strict rules of admissibility would operate unfairly against the accused. More so, the court must conclude that it is genuine and free from tampering or mutilation,...

Italy has lowest graduation rate Rome: Italy has the lowest graduation rates in Europe with just one-fifth of people aged 30-34 holding a university degree, according to a study. A total of 31 percent of Italian families cannot afford to pay for their children's university studies, and must take out loans or have their offspring seek jobs to help fund tuition and living costs, said the report by charity Save the Children. It said Italy was jeopardizing the future of its youth by spending just 1.1 percent of its economic output on children and families, putting the country in 18th place out of Europe's 27 nations. Almost 29 percent of children during the crucial early years from 0-6 are living in poverty and 23.7 percent endure hardship in terms of nutrition, clothing, holidays, sport, books, equipment and school charges, according to the study. When jail bird chose honesty Houston: In a bizarre incident, a prisoner in the US state of Oklahoma chose honesty over ...

An Icon for Gen Next leaders  Dr. M. V. Kamath When I read in the papers that 50 percent of the Lok Sabha members and 17 per cent of Rajya Sabha members have criminal cases against them and another 16 per cent have “serious criminal cases” against them, I keep wondering about those great days in pre-Independence times, when it was an honour to be a people’s representative. Many of them were best and the brightest of the lot, who had fought for freedom and in the process often, gave up their flourishing careers.  My favourite is Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi (1887-1971), one of the greatest of his generation, who established the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in November 1938 with the blessings of Mahatma Gandhi. It is the only organization which can boast of 119 kendras (branches) in India and seven centres abroad, not to speak of a record 367 constituent institutions that are engaged either in teaching or researching a range of subjects from science, arts, commerce, communicati...

Friends This October signifies the completion of yet another eventful year of this journey 'towards a purposeful regimen'. Yes, ISSUES & CONCERNS has completed 13 long years. Looking back over the shoulder, this sojourn has been very trying and tiring too. But the satisfaction of completing a milestone has its own rejuvenating dimension. We are certainly more sure of facing the future with confidence. Monsoon has ebbed. But it has been far more copious than the requirement. In different parts of the country there have been massive water logging and inundation. Hopefully it has not damaged the food crops to any cognizable extent. But it was clear that climate is changing. Hope our experience of this year’s monsoon fury shall become handy in the next monsoon to be better prepared. Bombing at church in Peshawar, where some close to 100 died with over 200 injured, was the worst terror attack that world witnessed in recent times. It was very very sad and bad that in in...

RAJASTHAN: It is rather sad that we had to start this column with the episode involving a 16 year old girl accusing a septuagenarian preacher Aasaram of sexual assault at his Jodhpur Ashram. A student of 12th from the preacher’s Chindwara gurukul in Madhya Pradesh has even alleged that the accused has threatened to eliminate her parents if she goes public about the alleged assault.  Public, she did go, with Delhi police filing an FIR and recording her statement before a magistrate under section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code. Although, the details of the incident is not important, as long as the truth of the sexual assault is established and the perpetrator is dealt with extreme severity for the crime committed on a minor.  The incident allegedly happened in Jodhpur, where the girl was brought by her parents to see this Aasaram from the hostel in Chindwara, for a cure of an alleged possession of the girl by the evil spirit. What transpired in the Ashram is in public do...