Sunday, August 15, 2010

That's all, Your Honour!: August 8-14

1. So the Prime Minister finally felt it was time to address the nation, on Jammu and Kashmir. He makes an appeal to the youth and tells them that he is setting up a panel to provide them with better job opportunities. Now, we are confused - so all this unrest was because of lack of employment opportunities? And then he says he is ready to consider the autonomy demand within the ambit of the constitution of India, provided there is consensus. Now, did you just see how loaded that statement is? Framed in such a way that it is open to interpretation in whichever way you like! Observe one more thing - "if there is consensus". Congress always has followed this policy of leaving it to the opposition to arrive at a view, before it even thinks of having a view. Telangana was an example - It didn't have an opinion till Dec.7th, and on the 9th announced a separate state! The recent caste census decision - government has asked all parties to given their opinion and guess which party hasn't given in writing - the Congress! One would think it is not too much to ask for the ruling to take a stance on critical issues - but here we are - it depends on the opposition! Anyways, coming back to the speech - ahh well that's all that is worth mentioning. 2 days after this speech, 4 people were killed in firing. A day later, 2 more were killed. Like we mentioned in an earlier post here: 9 headlines on different days - only the number of killed changes.

2. Also, the Prime Minister took a decision on the
Corruption Wealth Games too. He has asked relevant ministries to investigate all charges of irregularities and said that those found guitly should face "exemplary punishment". This announcement came a couple of days after the Urban Development Minister, Jaipal Reddy announced in the Lok Sabha that the punishment will be "draconian". Meanwhile, when the sports minister wa asked for details, he asked the members of Lok Sabha to file an RTI ! Yep - you read it right - the sports minister asked the lawmakers themselves to file an RTI to get more details! Meanwhile, some more details of corruption have been "exposed" by channels and with the Prime Minister himself deciding to visit the staidiums to see first hand - the muck is all out in the open. Curiously though - Mani Shankar Aiyar and Sheila Dixit have been let off by the media.Wonder why?

3. About 10 days back, a cargo ship, MSC Chitra, carrying about 3000 tonnes of oil and diesel, collided with another ship MV Khalija. MSC Chitra then started tilting, thereby spilling over containers of oil into the shores Mumbai. This happened very near to the coast, and there are different
versions as to who the culprit is - MSC Chitra or MV Khalija. Meanwhile, the Central government has asked MSC Chitra to pay up for the damages from this collison. Needless to say, the environmental damages that this spill will cause are enormous.. the Mangrove forests aroud the damaged area have already been hit very badly. This being the breeding season for sea animals, it is also feared that the eco system balance will be missing, this year for sure. Meanwhile, many suggestions are coming forward on how to clean up the mess left behind. Also sadly, a boatman died when he was transporting a TV crew to the crash site. The latest news is that the oil spill has stopped because the ship has stabilised.

4. Justice Dinakaran took oath as the Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court. An
old blog piece mentions how the judge facing corruption charges has been conveiniently moved to Sikkim! Pilid Lao, in his sattire, explains to us, what the law abiding people of Sikkim need to do, so as to get "equal treatment" by the Supreme Court ! That's all, your honour! (literally :D)

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