Salute to Chinese Masters

Kudos to the Chinese brains and giants trying to prove their potential in achieving the very best and the very first in the field of economic activities especially in creating a superior infrastructure. Look at the latest record they have shown to the world by erecting a rail link to a distance of 2298 K.Ms between Beijing and a commercial town Quang Shu with fast trains running at a speed of 300 KMs per hour i.e covering in just eight hours instead of 20 hours needed in the past.

The fare is of course a little costlier at Rs 7600 for a second class ticket which is more than the air ticket as reported!

This is the longest rail link in the world as on date!!

Nature's Most Loyal Lovers

Magellanic penguins are the most loyal lovers in the animal world, as asserted by a finding after a 30-year study of the breed where researchers placed metal identity bands on the flippers of 50000 birds on the southern coast of Argentina, the Daily Mail from London reported.

One particular pair of Magellanic penguins, much to the surprise of biologists, have always returned faithfully to each other after long solo journeys totaling over three lakh kilometers over a 16-year period , a study has found. What a great unity and loyalty towards each other? Should one wonder at this couple or the nature for such a rare conduct?

Secondly let us look at the relationship maintained by a human couple as shown below:

• Village:  Punnapakkam near Poondi in Tiruvallur District of Tamil Nadu State in India.
• Married for 70 years before their death this week.
• Bride's age was 12 years & the bridegroom's age was 21 years at the time of marriage.
• Palayam was 91 years old when he died & Bhagya lakshmi was 82 years old. The gap between their deaths was only a few minutes. The lady collapsed the moment she heard the news of her husband's death.  
•  
•  
• What a bond and reletionship between the two elderly persons? Hats off to this couple because some of the newly-wed couples are unable to live together even for a few days or months these days.

Sex and the V.I.P

The latest casualty linked to sex-based misconduct on the part of a VIP is the Head of American Intelligence David Patrias who resigned the other day under moral pressure. The US President Barack Obama accepted it although many an official in the administration felt bad looking to his ability and contribution to US military as its head and the Chief of US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for quite some time. His own regret over the illegal relationship developed with Paula Bradwel, a researcher from Harvard University writing on the General’s life during his stay in Afghanistan was conveyed through an e-mail to the people concerned. He felt ashamed of his own conduct – a man having married life of 37 years with a lady and being the head of an organization at the national level. One should admire his step after all. There are many other individuals in public life who care little about such affairs till they are literally pushed off from their positions.

However a moot point to be raised and discussed here is why should people occupying very high positions in life or exhibiting extraordinary qualities and high achievers fall a pray to such passions and become an easy victim to female beauties like some saints and celebrities. Probably such individuals are not satisfied with one female in their life and likely to develop relationship with a female companion in their weak moments at their work places. It is human weakness and a necessity at some points of time in their life. How do you explain otherwise the strength of a harem in a King’s palace being discussed in history books or the modern leaders of public life practicing polygamy with impunity even now in certain places?

Worshiping God in a crowd

Lord Venkateswara is the presiding deity at Tirumala-Tirupati Dewasthanam (Seven Hills) in Andhra Pradesh. Thousands and thousands of devotees throng to this abode of faith and prayers throughout the year. But on certain special occasions there is an unmanageable crowd keeping the temple staff on their toes. Puratasi, a Tamil month is very special for the devotees to worship in the temple. The third Saturday is very special for them. The report is that there was a crowd of 76000 people on that day i.e on October 6, 2012. The people stood in the 4 KM long queue to have a darshan of Lord of Seven Hills. For free darshan the wait was for 16 hours, Divya darshan took 10 hours and quick darshan (on Rs 300-ticket per head) was possible after a wait of 7 hours.

Except for VVIPs the darshan means a 2-3 seconds standing only in front of the God. One wonders what sort of darshan the people are able to have in such a mad crowd. Either the Lord's idol could be made visible for more than 100 people at a time by widening the entrance and opening the sanctum sanctorum to a bigger audience, or booking the days of visit to the devotees in manageable sizes in advance that could avoid crowd on such occasions. Some planning is required in this direction from the management committee of the temple. A devout worshipper like me is unable to visit the shrine for the fear of the crowd and satisfy his soul by worshipping the God from his residence regularly.

Gandhiji - an avatar of God?

Bapu, the Mahatma Gandhi is no less than God in Salangapalayam, 25 Kms from Erode in Tamil Nadu. On Gandhi Jayanthi there is a stream of people from the neighbouring villages heading to the Mahatma Gandhi koil(temple) as it is locally known. The priest performs the arthi to a granite idol of Bapu as part of the daily puja.

A class 4 student, M.Sanghvi, studying at Appachimar Madam Government School prays at this shrine for obtaining first position in the class. Elders and senior citizens also visit the temple on special occasions. Strangely and in contrast to this Gandhi temple where any one can walk in and pray, there is a temple for Goddess Mariamman too in the vicinity where only upper caste people are allowed and not dalits.

Hey Ram! where are we leading to? Untouchability is still prevalent in Gandhi's land and he is worshipped as a God. This is a beginning. Lord Gandhi will be a god of millions in some hundred or thousand years' time  like in the case of several messiahs of humanity like Lord Ram, Lord Buddha.  

I was expecting this phenomenon for quite sometime now.

Reshuffle of ministers in AIADMK government

AIADMK party came to power in 2011 under the leadership of Ms J.Jayalalitha. The cabinet has been reshuffled several times so far by dropping 12 ministers. A number of senior and loyal leaders have been shown the door. It appears that they have either committed mistakes or lost the confidence of the chief minister who happens to be the supreme leader of the party.

Nobody can question the wisdom and authority of the CM to induct anybody or drop anyone from the ministry. But the way and the speed with which it is happening these days one tends to believe that the ministers are appointed on superficial grounds without assessing their actual background or they appear to be careless in their conduct leading to their ouster by the CM. It reflects the crop of leaders and their quality in Tamil Nadu politics at present. It is an unfortunate development depicting the absence of strong leadership in those departments held by such birds of passage. Where is the time for original and long-term thinking enabling the growth and development of the state?

Role of Media

Mr M.Katju, Chairman, Press Council of India is a strong personality and known for his frank views on different topics. While delivering the Anna Endowment Lecture at Anna University on Monday, Sepember 10,2012, Katju advised the students to have love marriages and not listen to the parents because they are indulging in casteism, communalism, superstition and astrology.

He accused the media of dverting attention from real national economic issues like poverty, unemployment, education nad  health care saying that they were more interested in covering the lives of actors and garnering TRPs by showing "astrology, half-naked women and ghost stories".

One should fully agree with his statements and ideas. Atleast someone from the establishment side is speaking the truth boldly and openly without any fear or favour.

Sir, Kudos to your explicit and encouraging views on contemporary topics.

Procurement Price Up as Paddy Production Falls

Paddy was raised in about 13500 acres only as against the total cultivated area of 90000 acres under paddy due to non-release of water from Lower Bhavani Project dam (although promised to do so from August 15) in the ayacut of Tadapalli-Arakankottai canals forcing the traders from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh to buy paddy at a price higher than the official procurement price. In a way it helps the farmers to sell at their doorsteps but the state as a whole stands to lose in terms of normal production this year due to drought condition.

Paddy production is bound to decline in such circumstances and the state may be forced to import rice from other countries very soon, thanks to our inadequate planning, nature’s and the neighbor’s cooperation in terms of water and irrigation rights.

A Super Cop at the helm of TNPSC

A few months ago Mr R.Nataraj, the former DGP of Fire Services took over as the Chairman of Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission mainly with a view to setting right the beleaguered and mismanaged organization with his rich experience as the super cop in the state. But the way it has been managed in recent days reveals its pathetic nature.

Question paper has been leaked with large scale collection of money at different levels. Therefore the paper for Group II exam has been cancelled and the re-exam ordered.

The result of Group IV exam has been stayed by the High Court on the basis that in some centres question paper contained only 105 questions instead of 200 in number and nobody could help the candidates in getting the remaining questions in the examination hall.

Another news item: “Wrong address on hall ticket foxes TNPSC candidates”. The helpline numbers on the hall tickets were also not in use. Many aspirants tried in vain to locate the correct venue by dialing the numbers. Hundreds of aspirants for the Group II services conducted by TNPSC had to return without appearing for the examination as the hall tickets had wrong address of the examination centre.

One is not sure what and why everything went wrong with a good-intentioned and experienced hand at the helm of affairs. He is perhaps not aware of the intricacies involved in maintaining secrecy and executing the work correctly and efficiently or he is quite casual in approach which has landed him in deep waters. The candidates are the sufferers and wastage of the time & money is the result.

Instead of writing long articles in a daily called Dinamani as usual and presiding over functions every now and then, he can very well focus his attention on the working of TNPSC for a while.

21st Century Hero

One is simply aghast at the extraordinary prowess exhibited by a human being called Michael Phelps in our midst and had created history in 30th London Olympics. By August 5, 2012 when the Swimming Event came to a close we had no other option but to salute Phelps, the legend of USA. With one last gold that took his tally to 18 gold and 22 medals, he has, with his extraordinary feats, inspired a generation.

India, the great and largest democracy on the globe, has not bagged so many medals in the Olympic movement so far! Imagine his power!!

Paddy fields missing fast in India

Thanks to large-scale migration of the villagers to the urban centers throughout the length and breadth of this nation in the last one decade or so, the pressure on the lands near and around the existing towns and cities in the country is so enormous that the realtors have swallowed so much of fertile agricultural land, mainly paddy fields that we are bound to face rice-shortage in a few years time. Anybody travelling on the major highways, state and district roads will easily realise the meaning of this apprehension and statement.

Wherever I have travelled in Tamil Nadu, I felt this phenomenon and compelled to plead before the authorities to kindly understand this reality and do something for correcting this trend urgently. All over the routes you would find several housing plots marked and being advertised aggressively. God knows which authority has been so liberal for such a development. Lakes and fields are being converted into small and big plots for sale. 

“How the political class has looted India”

     A.G Noorani, a lawyer and commentator says in his article on the above topic ( The Hindu of Monday, July 30, 2012) that the media performs its duty, each time, of comparing the latest figures with the ones disclosed only a few years earlier marveling each time at the talent our political class has of amassing money in a short time with none to demand that they account for the dramatic increase. He also refers to the observations of Dr Ambedkar on disclosures by candidates and the efficacy or the usefulness of such unaccountable disclosures on the eve of elections. Wonder of the wonders is the “absolute silence observed and practiced by the courts and the election commission on this issue”

He further narrates how bribery and corruption in public life existed in India even during pre-independence days. Motilal Nehru bitterly complained to Jawaharlal that “heavy bribing of the voters was the order of the day. I am thoughly disgusted and am now seriously thinking of retiring from public life. The Malviya-Lala (Lajpat Rai) gang aided by Birla’s money are making frantic efforts to capture the Congress.” Oh my God! Purchase of votes by the politicians with the money of business men was prevalent even during the early days of our freedom struggle in our country. No wonders, the chief ministers are repeating the same gestures to capture power in modern India.

High Court’s suo motu action?

The tragic death of six-year-old Sruthi in Mudichur near Chennai on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 on the spot, when she slipped through a gaping hole on the seat floor of her own school bus and got crushed, drew the attention of the high court and the first bench comprising Chief Justice M.Y.Eqbal and Justice T.S.Sivagnanam was compelled to question the state authorities concerned by registering a case suo motu after reading a news item.

It is pathetic to know that the bus was given clearance of road-worthiness just fifteen days earlier. It speaks volumes of the callousness on the part of road transport authorities. Such a murderous neglect and dereliction of duty is not only condemnable but fit for prosecution under I.P.C as a criminal. High Court deserves all the praise and we expect that it ensures a deterrent action and instills fear in the minds of regulatory authorities for better governance.

China in Olmpics 2012

30th Olympics (2012), London:

No. of countries participated: 204
No. of games/ sports items: 26
No. of parts in all these games: 302
No. of players who participated: 10,820
No. of countries which bagged medals: 85

Medals Tally [Tues, July 31, 2012]

China - 8 Gold, 4 Silver, 2 Bronze, Total :14

USA - 3 Gold,  5 Silver, 5 bronze, Total: 13

Italy -  2 Gold, 4 Silver, 2 Bronze, Total:  8

India - 0 Gold, 0 Silver, 1bronze, Total: 1

The first gold medal went to China indicating the trend to follow.

Today [Tues, July 31, 2012] China is leading with 8 gold medals, the next best USA with only 3 G-medals. Where is my beloved country India? Today it made a beginning with 1 bronze medal.

We are yet to see the final tally at the end of the Games on Aug 12, 2012. More or less the ranking will be on the same lines as we witness today with the difference only in the ratio of gold, silver and bronze medals. Let us reserve comments till the end.

Later on

After 10 days, USA had changed the trend and, at the end of the Games on August 12, become the  first ranker ( 46 gold and a total of 104 medals) pushing China to the second place ( 38 gold and a total of 87 medals) and the host Great Britain took the third position ( 29 gold and a total of 64 medals) with the fourth place going to Russia ( 24 gold and a total of 82 medals) and India taking 55th rank with 2 silver and 4 bronze medals.

India takes pride that it has bagged 6 medals in all although it failed to get a single gold medal this time. As a nation India is not up the mark compared to other countries looking to its strength in terms of population, economic growth etc. Small nations have fared well and better than us. What is that preventing us from competing with China on equal terms? Is it politics or bureacracy or industry or local governemnts or the character of Indian citizens that is responsible for such a poor performance consistently? We don't seem to learn a lesson from others in this sphere of activity. When and how are we going to put up a show like China?

Anybody in the government or any political party is in a position to give an answer to this question?

Realty boom behind graft in land registration

     The registration department of late leads other departments like revenue, transport, police and the state electricity board in the number of cases filed against it by the Department of Vigilance & Anti-Corruption Cell. Interestingly, the number of cases filed against officials of registration department was only five during 2003-04 when the state witnessed the first real estate boom of the decade. In fact three years back, the land registration department trailed behind other departments in the number of corruption cases it faced. The focus has now shifted to registration department and its number has gone up although the departments like, revenue, transport, police and electricity Board were notorious for bribes since ages. One is at a loss to understand and prescribe a fool-proof remedy to such a situation prevailing in the country. Despite changes in governments and the presence of a bunch of good-intentioned bureaucrats and technocrats, the issue of high-level corruption and petty bribes continues to flourish at the cutting edge level of government and public agencies unfortunately.

Rajiv Gandhi Equity Scheme [RGES]

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his last budget speech announced the introduction of RGES. God knows the real reason for naming that scheme after the former Prime Minister and the justification for it.

It seems the SEBI, the regulator has asked the Finance Ministry (G.O.I) to route the tax-saving Rajiv Gandhi Equity Scheme through mutual Fund (M.F). The chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India U.K.Sinha had submitted a proposal in this regard to minimize risk associated with direct stock investment for new investors. A good proposal indeed!

Instead of naming it after Rajiv Gandhi who already has many schemes and public assets in his name all over India, it could have been named after Harshad Mehta so that it could act as a good deterrent to the new investors!!

(May 20, 2012 Karur)

On the eve of India's Presidential poll.

Shri Pranab Mukherji, the former Union Finance Minister was nominated by the UPA as its candidate for the post of President of India. NDA's truncated alliance along with AIADMK and Biju Janata Dal led by Mr Navin Patnaik supported Shri P.A.Sangma as their candidate for the elections.

Ms Mamta Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal vehimently advocated the candidature of Dr Abdul Kalaam who of course very correctly refused such an offer. It is her gesture that earned a very bad name in the public. Her stand was totally devoid of any reason and mature understanding of the current situation in the country . Ultimately she had to come round and support the UPA's candidate. What a poor showmanship in political arena! Pranab Mukherji is bound to win the elections and become the President of India. A well-managed affair by Smt Sonia Gandhi!

Heading For Grain Drain -

As Kirit S. Parikh points out, if FCI does not cover the whole country with an effective procurement network ensuring MSP to every farmer, the danger of destabilising food production and unsettling foodgrains trade is a very real one. This would suggest a more universal scheme while excluding the clearly identifiable rich. He also suggests that if cash is distributed instead of foodgrains, we can rely on markets and do not have to rely on FCI whose operations are more expensive than that of traders. It would eliminate the need for the FCI and even the PDS itself. I am reminded of an article written by the author in 1990s in this regard.

Govt. May Hike SME Investment Cap

New Delhi: Small is set to get bigger. Government is planning to revise investment limits for classification of micro, small and medium enterprises and also link it to employment and turnover, as is the case in several parts of the world.

At present, in case of manufacturing, any unit with investment between Rs. 25 lakh and Rs. 5 crore is classified as a small enterprise, while those with investment of Rs. 5-10 crores are classified as medium. In case of services, the limits are lower, given the lower capital requirement in the sector. Investment includes funds invested in tools, plant and machinery, power generator and fire fighting equipment. Although the issue has been discussed with stakeholders, a final decision has not been taken and the new caps have not been worked out so far.

Let us wait and see.

The Cabinet recently cleared a policy that mandats at least 20% government procurement from the units.

Corruption - a Way of Life at TTD

Taking a bribe or charging a commission in all purchases and sales have become a part of the game both in the private and public sectors not only in India but probably even in other parts of the globe. That explains the reason why even the Tirupati Tirumla Devasthanams are no exception to this rule. The annual income of TTD is supposed to be around Rs. 2,000 crore with a work force of around 10,000 persons in 98 wings of its adminsitration. G. Arun Kumar reports in the Time of India, Chennai that corruption has seeped into its system very badly. He reports that right from the time a pilgrim gets down at Tirupati to catch a bus to the Tirumala hills for a darshan, has his head tonsured, obtains an appointment with the joint executive officer for accommodation, buys laddu prasadam, he has to grease the palms of employees and agents.

Lord Venkateswara's darshan is available to pilgrims with varying amounts of entry fees and depending on the status of a pilgrim. As is true of every other organisation in the country, TTD also is manned by people with varying degrees of demands and greediness. Unless a drastic surgeory takes place under the able leadership of the Chairman and the Chief Executive officer of TTD, nothing will improve there for quite some time.

Special Privileges for VIPs irk Pilgrims at Tirumala

It is reported that Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L Narasimhan's sixth visit to the Tirumala Temple since 6th January, 2012 had yet again delayed the entry of pilgrims to the shrine on March 18, 2012. Special arrangements for VIPs like the governor have made such delays at the shrine a routine affair. Lord Venkateswara's Darshan at the shrine is sought after by all the devotees - rich, poor, VIPs alike. Darshan once a year itself gives a great privilege for any normal human being and such a facility should be available to other individuals too who are yearning for such a darshan. It is nothing but the misuse of office or power to over-take the wishes of other people again and again which only goes to show that those individuals (i.e the so-called influential and powerful V.I.Ps) are bent upon misusing such powers dirsregarding the claims and aspirations of the ordinary and common devotees visiting Tirumala. Probably the VIPs need to be controlled and regulated by a High Court dictat as it happens usually in other cases.

COALGATE

Hats off to the present incumbent in the post of Comptroller and Auditor General, namely, Mr. Vinod Rai who has been extraordinarily vigilant and vigorous in exposing the extent of flaw prevalent in policy and procedure involved in implementation of different schemes of government or its agencies. The latest exposure of the series refers to a draft report prepared by CAG at allocation of coal blocks by the Ministry of Coal in New Delhi from 2006 to 2009. As early as July 28, 2006, the CAG draft report notes, the Department of Legal Affairs told the ministry that the government could, if it wished, introduce competitive bidding by amending the "administrative instructions".

According to the lists of allotment in the CAG's draft report, 61 coal blocks were allotted to private companies in 2006. This is the highest number of allocations made between 2004 and 2009 in terms of how many blocks were given away in a year. However, in terms of reserves, 2009 stands out inasmuch as the government gave away a reserve of 5,216 mt (million tonnes) through 12 mines against 3,793 mt in 2006. Of this around 3,000 mt was given away to two private parties, a Tata group joint venture and a Jindal group unit, on a single day, namely, February 27, 2009, barely a month before the Lok Sabha elections that year. It speaks volumes of the power wielded by and the influence exercised by the industrial giants on the eve of General Elections.

Top level CAG sources have indicated that the draft estimate on allocation of coal block was 'conservative'. They were based on an elaborate calculation that took account of mining costs and notified prices of Coal India Ltd. (CIL) in a continguous region, while assuming 90% extractable reserves and uniform behaviour of output, costs and prices over the 25-year life of the mining lease.

Plan Panel Waging a War With the Poverty Figures?

Planning Commission of India under the Vice-chairmanship of Montek Singh Ahluwalia stuck to its stand that poverty had declined by 7.3 per cent between 2004-05 and 2009-10, a period when the Congress-led U.P.A has been in power. He further asserted on Tuesday, March 20, 2012: " You can put whatever poverty line you want, the fact is ... the decline in poverty is twice the decline in the previous 11 years". He argues that the poverty line he is referring to is meant to reflect conditions of 'absolute poverty' in the country. In other words he identifies it as a rock-bottom bare subsistence kind of line which we can safely call it destitution. Planning for the poor in the country is not to keep the humans on survival kits but to ensure a reasonable standard of life to the citizens of this democratic country. So his definition of poverty has no utility both from planning angle and implementation purpose.

On the political front his posture has become a subject of ridicule and powerful joke of the day both inside and outside the Parliament.

The Planning Commission tries to take shelter for the current predicament from the difference of data of 66th round of National Sample Survey (2009-2010) on household consumer expendtiture and the national accounts data provided by the Central Statistical Organisation. The Commission could have resolved the issue by using the expertise at its command. There seems to be no bottom-to-top approach in its work schedule till now.

2 School girls raped by 15 men

Again a teenage girl is ditched by her boy-friend at Betma near Indore in M.P who indulged himself and allowed others to gang-rape her along with cousin sister in broad daylight. The funniest part is that those workers in the neighbouring fields also joined in the crime instead of rescuing them.

Where is sanity in our humanity? It seems the female figures have become an object of pleasure and lust, probably enhanced by the constant exposure of sex appeals and catchy pictures and films and easy access to pornography. God helps these females from such vultures and satans.

Undue Delay resulting in commuting death penalty to life sentence

Once the Apex Court clears the death penalty after the duly conducted review, there is no question of a second review at the executive level except in the rarest of rare cases where extreme cases of passionate grounds deserving the action of the Head of the State exist. Commutation should not be ordered on political or extraneous grounds.

It is also very strange and pathetic that the Apex Court is once again forced to go through the records and adjudicate. It is not a good and welcome development under any circumstances. Discrimiantion in such cases would certainly set bad precedents and the citizens forced to lose faith in the Constitution and the laws made under it.

Ex-top official takes fight for retirement benefits to tribunal

K. Ashok Vardhan Shetty an I.A.S Officer of 1983 batch of Tamil Nadu cadre has sought the intervention of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) Chennai Bench for directing the state government to release his retirement benefits by accepting the resignation letter.

Probably he is aggrieved by the state government's order transferring him to a lacklustre post namely, Special Commissioner of Archives and Historical Research last May by the new government. It is a part of the game in today's system. One has to have a big heart and tide over the situation unless he has an alternative avocation readily available for engagement. As usual the government will take revenge or try to teach the person a lesson by starting an enquiry to gain time and harass the individual as much as possible. In this case the officer served three months' notice on September 8, 2011 for voluntary retirement under Rule 16(2) of the All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules 1958 but the VRS was rejected and a vigilance enquiry ordered just seven days before the expiry of the notice period i.e. December 9, 2011. The immediate provocation may be that the person was close to a politician in the previous regime and tried to implement the schemes of the government in all serious ways. When a person wants to retire peacefully one should be allowed to do so by setting a good precedent unless a strong and compelling reason like embezzlement of funds exists or is caught red-handed in office.

The act of Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-corruption is at times not above board like in the case of CBI at the Centre. Anyone can be taken to task for anything he has done in his career. Motive behind such vindictive actions should be flawless and purely on merits. Otherwise civil services would be totally ruined and society would stand to lose an impartial and efficient administration. And only the first-rate jokers would be in the helm of affairs.

I am doubtful whether this officer would get justice in the hands of C.A.T. After all it is headed by our brethren having less and less courage to question the wrong doing of the system or the set-up.

Heroines on the run

Are over-zealous industry insiders generating rumours to remain in the news, CT asks (Sunday, February 19, 2012).

Bollywood (Mumbai) heroines are on the queue for a call from Kollywood (Chennai). Chennai Times, a supplement of Times of India is awash with the hot news almost daily about the leading stars vying with each other to steal the show with the scantily-clad and the most attractive attire that would easily catch the attention of even the strong 'brahmachari' (avowed bachelor) too while reading the daily news. Everybody seems to be enjoying the pictures of those celluloid females.

Necessity to set right the Internal Order?

In an extra-ordinary move the top seven judges of the Madras High Court formed a Jumbo Bench headed by the Chief Justice Shri M.Y. Eqbal on Thursday, February 9, 2012 to "nip in the bud" the growing tendency of advocates and litigants writing contemptuous letters carrying allegations against Judges.

The Internal working of the High Courts and the equations enjoyed by the leading advocates in many such Courts across the country is suspected to be suffering from some sort of discrimination in regard to disposal of cases pending before those Courts. Many a time one could notice the special type of treatment being received by some advocates in the Courts of some Judges. The advocates take the liberty of adjourning cases at their sweet will and trying to influence the judgments to suit the convenience of their clients. It is also possible that some of the Judges who hail from the Bar initially are also under some kind of self-imposed influence with a result certain pleadings before Judges are unnecessarily taken up on record, cases delayed and judgment expected in their favour.

Another Incident

A gang-rape was committed by the son of an Industralist along with three more accomplices on an Anglo-Indian woman in his car while returning from a night-club on February 5, 2012 in Kolkatta. The lady Chief Minister of West Bengal Government Ms. Mamata Banerjee seems to be criticising the local Electronic Media for having published this news. She feels that the law-enforcing agency has over-reacted to an ordinary incident with a view to malaigning her government. This is very unfortunate that the C.M appears to be very insensitive to such occurrences in her regime without going into the veracity of the facts surrounding the incident. Any simplification or sidelining of such events in her state will convey wrong signals to her supporters in the long run. Her rule should set up good precedents ignoring political compulsions.

Cruelty to Humans and not to Animals?

A 'dalit' (socially backward community) boy's ears were held with much force by a couple of policemen that one of them came off. Surgeons have not been able to stitch it back. This is a handy-work of Madhya Pradesh Police in Sagar District of Bundelkhand region.

Similarly, a man allegedly threw a 12-year old 'dalit' girl out of a running train on Sunday, February 5, 2012 when his attempts to sexually abuse her failed. The victim, Manju Binzwar, a class VII student, has sustained serious injuries. Korba district (Chhattisgarh State) police said the accused, Ramdayal Kenvat (46), is absconding.

The devils spare no efforts to torture the people from the backward community at their sweet will. Dr.Ambedkars' Constitution of India and the laws made under it provide no practical guarantee against occurence of such atrocities. Even lip-sympathy is missing these days. What a pity?

GIRLS BEWARE - DEVILS AT WORK

Two days ago there was a news item in the media that a teen-age girl was ditched by her boy-friend who enacted a gang-rape on her. Apparently she was misguided by her boyfriend and taken to his friend's home where three more of his boyfriends were consuming liquour. Although initially she was shocked to see the boys' behaviour in a funny manner she was forced to drink and gang-raped by all the four boys and she could gain consciouness only the next evening when taken to her home by the same boyfriend. Although the police have taken 2-3 of them into custody, the shocking lesson to the teen-aged girls is that no male member whether boyfriend known for sometime or long could hardly be believed to be a well-wisher. They could be subject to personal violence anytime anywhere.

In another incident a lady officer working in a bank staying in Nungambakkam area by name Seethalakshmi (52) was strangulated to death on January 1, 2012 by a fellow named Arokiaswamy (35) for the sake of 22 soveriegns of gold jewellery.

Another shocking incident occurred in a reputed educational institution opposite Madras High Court in which a school teacher by name Uma Maheswari (39) was stabbed to death by a IX class student at 10.30 am on Thursday February 9, 2012 morning mainly to show his anger at her sending a report against him to his parents. The whole school and the parent community are agitated on this. As per reports she was a good teacher liked by everyone. But a single student literally pampered by his parents could go to the extent of killing a good-natured teacher, the mother of two children and the wife of a Circle Manager in a private cell-phone company. What a pity!

The female whether a teen-aged girl or a middle-aged mother is not safe in today's society. Unless they themselves become very cautious and adopt personal safety measures, nobody can come to their rescue at the hour of crisis or emergency.

POLITICS IS NO ANSWER FOR PLANNING?

It's very interesting - there is a comment by the former Chief Minister Mr Karunanidhi on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 to the effect that the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Ms Jeyalalitha keeps changing her version regarding the availability of electric power and doing away with the power cuts. In fact he was recollecting the statement by the Chief Minsiter made on 4.8.2011 during the budget presentation that the power cut in the State would be gradually improved and by August 2012 it would be totally removed. Ironically he has commented on her current statement that power cut will be totally removed by the middle of 2013 and he was wondering what would be her statement in the middle of 2013. He was lamenting that due to the existing power cut introduced by the Electricity Board in the District of Coimbatore alone about 40,000 Industrial units would remain closed on February 10, 2012.

If someone is able to recollect correctly a similar situation was prevalent during DMK rule when Arcot Veerasamy was Power Minister and the former Chief Miinister was unable to do anything in this regard except a similar assurance being given to the public from time to time.

Due to change of guard every 5 years the perspective plan including detailed annual plans have had become a big joke of Tamil Nadu Government. No authority from top to bottom, from Chief Minister to lowest functionary in the Electricity Board, has no time to do a serious reading of the situation, estimate the demand of power for the next 10 years, suggest and create new source of energy on a long term basis and make consistent efforts to fulfill demand on a regular basis without un-interrupted and adequate supply of power. Almost every sector of activity - be it agriculture, industrial, educational institutions or any other establishments in the state - everyone is effected by non-availability or un-interrupted power supply. Unless a detailed monthly or weekly action-plan is intelligently planned and effectively monitored by an authority or a team of officials, things are not likely to improve in the State of Tamil Nadu in the next one decade.

Chief Minister's announcement

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has announced on Tuesday, February 1, 2012 that as many as 9 lakhs concrete houses would be built in five years time throughout Tamil Nadu. During the discussion on the floor of the Legislative Assembly one DMK member by name Mr. A.V. Velu (Thiruvamallai) stated that earlier the DMK Government had estimated that there were about 18 lakh slum houses in the whole of Tamil Nadu. He therefore wondered how the present Government is going to meet such a huge demand in view of the fact that the Government/State Government would be able to construct only three laks concrete houses at the rate of 60,000 per annum. To this the Chief Minister replied that three lakhs concrete houses would be constructed in the next five years at the rate of Rs.1.80 lakh per dwelling unit as indicated in the state budget. In addition, under the Indira Gandhi Housing Scheme of the Central Government about five lakhs houses would be constructed and similarly about one lakh houses under the Thane Cyclone's Rehabilitation Programme would be built both in Cuddalore and Villipuram districts, thus making the total to 9 lakh houses.

It is an ambitious plan and it requires a solid commitment on the part of the officials to implement it in both letter and spirit when the allocation of adequate funds is made available by the concerned authorities. Normally, the quality of work executed by the said agencies and the contractors is not up to the mark.

Frequent transfers of officials

The state government of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 had transfered a few administrative officials posted in the districts and Secretariat. Some of them like the collectors of Thiruvarur and Coimbatore have been reshuffled in a few weeks time. There is no doubt that the government has got the authority to post any one it likes in certain positions according to its convenience and need. A semblance of a set policy and norms for shifting of officials would enhance the transparency and ability of those who control the all-india cadres. After all the public interest should be the criterion on such occasions. Otherwise it would only reflect our inefficiency in judging people and extracting work from the permanent executive in the longer run.

State Government's vow

Tha State government of Tamil Nadu has planned toilets for all by 2015. Similarly it has decided to construct some 1.85 lakh housing units at a cost of Rs 17230 crore in the next five years for the growing urban population - 1.43 lakh units for the economically weaker sections and the rest for low,middle and high income groups.

It is indeed a noble plan! We wish the planners and executioners a great success.

Pongal Gifts of Times of India

On January 15, 2012, the Times of India announced two Pongal gifts in the form of two head-lines on the very first page: "Indian students rank second-last in global test" & "Super power? 230 millions go hungry daily"

Fifteen-year-old Indians (Two Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh selected by the central Government to participate in the PISA -Programme for International Student Assesssment conducted annually to evaluate education systems worldwide by the OECD - Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ) who were put for the first time on a global stage stood second to last , only beating Kyrgystan when tested on their reading, math and science abilities.

Shanghai (China)'s more than one quarter of its 15-year-olds demonstrated advanced mathematical thinking skills to solve complex problems, compared to an OECD average of just 3%. In fact the province of Shanghai which participated for the first time in PISA scored the highest in reading as well as math and science. Kudos to my Chinese friends for their extraordinary feat! Indian IITs don't stand for the whole of Indian education system. What will happen to my India's future with such youngsters in our midst?

Second Gift:

With 21% of its population undernourished, nearly 44% of its under-5 children underweight and 7% of them dying before they reach five years, India is firmly established among the world's most hunger-ridden countries . The situation is better than only Congo, Chad, Ehiopia or Burundi, but it is worse than Sudan, North Korea, Pakistan or Nepal.

There is no need for further analysis of this situation. Kudos to Indian planners, political leaders and administrators!