Opinion
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| | Human Rights and the "Razor Wire" | | | | Recently after quite some time there was a three day long shut down in Kashmir. It was the occasion of the death anniversaries of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat. The authorities being apprehensive of a mass protest had imposed what many newspapers called "Razor Wire Restrictions". During the agitations of 2008, and 2010 the word "Undeclared Curfew" had assumed a normal usage. Every time there was a call for a protest or a march, the authorities would impose undeclared curfew. The curbs imposed on the movement of people were the same as are normally imposed after a magistrate issues an order for imposition of curfew to maintain law and order. A pet phrase was that restrictions under section 144 are being strictly enforced. In fact, imprisoning people in their homes and stopping all movement h... |  | |
| | | Baksheesh after looting..! | | | | It was a huge petrol station my driver has driven up to. All the pumps have four or five cars waiting their turn. I watch the car that is about to be filled. After he has blown his horn a million times an attendant walks up and looks at him. It's like he's asking what the car driver has driven up for,
"Sir what do you want?"
"Petrol! Ah sir you have come to the right place. Sugar is down the road, rice on the next street but petrol you can get here!"
After supposedly exchanging these pleasantries the attendant puts the pipe in then walks off to have a chat with his colleagues. The driver in front of our car finds that his tank is full and shouts to the attendant who waves to him holds the plastic cup of tea from which he sips his chai and continues sipping his tea.
Behind this charad... | | |
| | | Hitting The Poor, Pampering The Rich | | Disaster on four wheels | | | "Scorched earth" is the kindest phrase to describe the approach of the last budget (rather, vote-on-account) of the United Progressive Alliance in its inglorious second term. Finance minister P Chidambaram savaged social sector spending, severely cut capital expenditure, pampered the elite, and left an ugly mess for his successor
The Rs 1.5-lakh-crore cut in plan expenditure, which represents productive investment, will impoverish the infrastructure and affect growth. But even more unkind is the 31-percent reduction in the current financial year's allocation to schemes which benefit the poor and address long-neglected areas like health and education.
The budget for mid-day meals was slashed by 11 percent, school education by 7 percent, sanitation by 46 percent, rural drinking water by ... | | |
| | | An Apology That Wasn't | | | | Western journalists love to describe it as the greatest show on earth—and with good reason. It is the biggest democratic spectacle on the planet involving a staggering 814 million voters—double the combined population of the US and Canada—and thousands of candidates. That this massive, mindboggling exercise has been conducted at regular intervals with efficiency for 67 years is in itself a miracle and a tribute to the strength of Indian democracy.
The countdown for the 2014 Elections is already underway. In many ways, this could very well turn out to be the most defining election yet. It’s not merely the fate of the party in power that hangs in balance.
At stake is the very future of Indian democracy with its celebrated secular and liberal traditions and a constitution that promises e... | | |
| | | Laugh out loud..! | | | | Do you get jokes forwarded to you everyday? Billions of such gags, funny yarns and wise cracks travel cyber space tirelessly round the clock hoping that at their journey's end they will evoke laughter to the recipient! And since most are undoubtedly funny, the world should I dare say be rollicking, rolling and rebounding with chuckles and titters all the time!
But I hear no such laughter!
No, giggles, no guffaws when joke is read on screen, just a little sign saying LOL; meaning laughed out loud! But did you really laugh out loud? Sometimes, nay oftimes there's no trace of even a smile! Which brings me to the conclusion there's nothing like listening to witticism being said for a really good chuckle!
Your computer screen just can't replace someone who can crack joke well! ... | | |
| | | India-Pakistan: Nuclear threat | | From cosmetic to credible CBMs | | | The Nobel Prize-winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in a new study, 'Nuclear Famine: Two Billion People at Risk?' (http://www.psr.org/assets/pdfs/two-billion-at-risk.pdf), conducted along with Physicians for Social Responsibility, have said that even a 'limited' nuclear war using a 100 weapons would disrupt the global climate and agricultural production so severely that the lives of more than two billion people would be at risk. This finding is based upon research by climate scientists assessing the impact of nuclear explosions on the earth's atmosphere and ecosystems. The study used a hypothetical India-Pakistan war to prove its point.
An earlier study on the impact of 'local nuclear war', published in the Scientific American (http://www.scientificamerica... | | |
| | | Not interested in work..! | | | | They wear spotless khaki uniforms. Pressed, ironed, dry cleaned. Very rarely does sweat settle on those khakis, very rarely do those creases get crushed.
How smart! How appealing they look! They are meant to stay that way!
These are the policemen of India!
They have a huge invisible notice pasted outside their station walls, 'Not Interested In Work!'
Why should they be?
Isn't it bad enough receiving complaints everyday and then telling same people there is no need to note it down?
Isn't bad enough telling somebody on the phone that inspector sahib is out and cannot be disturbed, when Inspector sir is having his siesta?
'Our job is to see these creases remain creases, and our uniforms remain pressed and ironed as when we put it on this morning!'
A lady in my society was abused by... | | |
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