Supreme court's events

The petition by women across various disciplines sent to the Supreme Court Judges on the constitution of the in house committee has raised many valid points. They have raised valid questions  regarding,  the  formation of the committee without any external member as required by the provision of  the Sexual Harassment of Women At Work Places Act -2013 and about  the non provision  of legal representation to both parties especially when the complainant is not equally placed with the Chief Justice, (As per vishaka judgment) The nation is watching closely the development in this case since, the integrity of the judges of the Supreme  court is of paramount importance in our democracy.    In this case an ordinary woman and the highest judicial functionary are leveling charges against one another . The nation has faith in the judiciary and expect both parties be given level playing fields till the truth is established  .The chief justice of India  should refrain from  making statements, tarnishing the character of the complainants, if his dignity is  to be maintained . The union ministers of India should also not get involved in this case by giving favorable certificate to one party when the matter is in the court. The lawyers fraternity ,  the judges, the media and the politicians should refrain from sensanalising  or trivialising this matter of seriousness by making unnecessary statements.

This is India

For PM. Modis road show the streets of Varanasi were thoroughly washed  yesterday . To day , again the path of his procession was washed with 1.4lakh liters of drinking water,  400  workers and 40 water tankers were used  .  45% of the household in Varanasi didn’t get water supply to day and people who wanted  water tankers to supply water for their daily requirements couldn’t get the tankers .

Scrutinising the manifesto of BJP

Many would agree with Shiv Visvanathan’ views expressed, “Scrutinising the manifesto of BJP “(The Hindu article on 11.4. 19 that, “it lacks scant sensitivity to the basic problems of the people”. Talking about agriculture without a solution to water mismanagement and  indebtedness of the farmers resulting in suicides, thumping the  chest about Swatch Bharat Mission  while closing the eyes to the inhuman condition of the scavengers , being silent on demonetisation which destroyed small businesses  ,  job creation rate and converted day to day lives of people into  a nightmare ,lip service to enhancing the quality of education while using rhetoric  like “world class education” etc., is not going to impress any body . What is the use of quoting data and high sounding technical words to prove their performance ? India lives in villages . Rural population in general and the  poor in particular want their basic needs  to be addressed  so that, they can give a decent  standard  of living to their family members and live with dignity in this “fastest  growing economy”. Jargons, grand names to schemes and data to support them, mean nothing these  sections . Utter lack of understanding of their real needs and lack of humanism while preparing the manifestos  will result in lack of connectivity  between parties and voters     

NYAY scheme the poll promise of the Congress Party

There are   supporting arguments for direct cash transfer to the poor as promised by the Congress party resulting in their higher productivity based on Behavioral  economics theories and the success of this scheme in various nations. Behavioral  economics seeks to complement traditional approaches to economics by incorporating insights from psychology and human behavior, and taking a behavioral approach allows us to understand a host of behaviors that are critical to the success of a variety of development policies. It is true that , when the poorest of the nation get direct cash transfer, they would like to satisfy their hunger primarily and their spending behavior would center around food expenditure . Then, other basic needs would be satisfied .This  type of behavior regarding use of cash transfer would reflect on their productivity through health improvement . Through linkage effect on the economy, job   opportunities would be created and reduce the magnitude of poverty in a nation. When the Congress Party’s NYAY scheme meant for the 20% of the poor is  criticized by the major opposition parties on the basis of their doubts on  it’s likely positive impact of this scheme and source of funding , the success story of this scheme in other nation will encourage them to be firm on this promise.

Indias wrong priorities .

Source, telegraph  news on line version

An impending price rise that is likely to raise India’s budget for a key vaccine by less than Rs 100 crore has prompted the government to seek an international donor’s help at a time it has built a showpiece statue for an estimated Rs 3,000 crore. Two senior health officials declined to speak to this newspaper about the implications of the IPV price rise or reveal how long the already procured IPV stocks are expected to last. The health ministry will have to justify a higher budget and protect our investment for polio eradication and secure it through continued universal IPV immunisation.” global donor community would likely be surprised at India’s request for intervention to address the IPV price rise. A UK media report said Britons were “outraged” that the Indian government had spent so much money on a statue while Britain was sending 1.17 billion pounds in overseas aid to the country. British MP Peter Bone was quoted by The Daily Express as saying: “To take (pounds) 1.1 billion in aid from us and then at the same time spend (pounds) 330 million on a statue is total nonsense and it is the sort of thing that drives people mad.”

intolerance towards minorities

All along we were believing that Indian democracy’s strength lies in  concepts of secularism and solidarity in the midst of diversity . Till today  people of this nation are living in peace, friendship and  tolerance towards with one another   despite India being a multi religious, linguistic,  racial and cultural  nation. But of late as the author feels , high degree of intolerance  is shown towards minorities especially the Muslims . If the leaders following right wing ideologies alone are now  engaged in dividing the society through their intolerant views , statements and actions we need not worry to a greater extent, , because in a vibrant democracy like India, matured voters will take care of it. But   the danger lies in the fact that, majority of youngsters who are active in the social media seems to have been thoroughly  brain washed by the intolerant ideologies expressed  day in day out thorough media by the  leaders of right wing parties . They spit venom on minority communities and accuse them  all the time of non patriotism and anti national activities  in their social media comments.   Is it good for India’s future if these many youngsters have intolerant mindset  towards minorities?