There are many companies that issue prepaid cards which are said to have lifetime validity but are valid for some years. They should mention the correct number of years.
Besides the cards need to be recharged within certain months otherwise they become invalid. That means they are not valid even for the period they are mentioned.
A US court in New York has issued summons to Kamal Nath to appear before it to answer charges of involvement in killing Sikhs in 1984 in a suit filed by Sikhs for Justice. The group has charged Congress with attacks on Sikhs. Why Kamal Nath is summoned and why not Sajjan Kumar or Jagdish Tytler is not known. H. K. L. Bhagat, known for his role in killing Sikhs, is dead.
I have some questions.
Who authorized Pinki Virani to file a petition on behalf of Aruna Shanbaug? Aruna Shanbaug did not authorize her. She is not a member of Aruna Shanbaug’s family.
Pinki Virani is not Aruna Shanbaug’s caretaker. Why does she want to become her undertaker?
What is right to live with dignity?
Why is right to die is presented as right to live with dignity?
What should be the punishment for someone who wants to kill someone through starvation?
I have my answers.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented India’s budget for 2011 on 28/2/2011. He began reading the budget at 11.00 a.m. Within half an hour many MPs were seen dozing and some yawning. At 12.25 p.m. Speaker Meira Kumar was seen dozing. Veerappa Moily and Veerbhadra Singh were sitting behind Pranab Mukherjee. Veerappa Moily kept himself awake. Veerbhadra Singh dozed sometimes.
Looking forward to the game between India and England today should be a cracker. My prediction a tie.
That was Shane Warne’s prediction about India versus England match on 27/2/2011 which came true.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat. That was a good decision.
India scored 338 runs and were all out in 49.5 overs. They did not bat 50 overs. Two batsmen were run out at the end. The score looked good enough for India to win the match. Vivian Richards said if they can not win this match they can not win the world cup.
The match swung between England and India. When Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell were batting I hoped India would win by one run as Australia had done against India twice. Then wickets began to fall and when England had to score 42 runs off 24 balls to win the match India’s victory seemed assured.
In the 49th over Tim Bresnan reduced the margin before being bowled by Piyush Chawla.
When the last over began England needed 14 runs to win the match. India needed to restrict England to 12 runs to win the match. There was hope for India.
After the government of Orissa surrendered to the demands of Maoists for release of a collector and an engineer BJD MP Jay Panda said the government acted with maturity. Maturity is a word overused and misused by journalists and politicians. Surrender is not maturity.
The state government abdicated its responsibility when it agreed to negotiate with criminals and accepted their demands. This makes mockery of the rule of law.
Cricket World Cup 2011 is proving to be a boring tournament. It has 14 teams and spread over 43 days. Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games are of 14-16 days. Football World Cup with 32 teams is about 32 days.
When Cricket Word Cup began in 1975 there were eight teams and four matches per day. The gap between matches was not long. In 1987 there were three matches per day. In 2011 it is one match or two matches per day with long gaps for teams in between. India played Bangladesh on 19/2/2011 and its next match against England is on 27/2/2011. In an ODI tournament a team having to wait for 5-8 days to play its next match is strange.
India should have a policy of no negotiations with criminals whether they are terrorists, abductors, kidnappers, hijackers, pirates or Maoists. The policy should be followed by central and state governments. The policy should be irrespective of who the hostage is. The hostage may be a minister’s daughter, engineer, doctor, collector, truck driver or someone else. It does not matter whether there is one hostage or there are many hostages. When the policy of no negotiations is declared and followed there will be no pressure on any government.
Since December 1989 when Rubiya Sayeed was abducted and five terrorists were released there have been many cases when India has surrendered to criminals and released prisoners or paid ransom. In recent years Maoists have abducted many people and state governments have released prisoners. The abductions continue.
In December 1999 a hijacked plane was allowed to take off from Amritsar and go to Kandahar. Three terrorists were released who caused many deaths later on.
On 21/2/2011 Bombay High Court confirmed death sentence of Ajmal Kasab for his crimes during 26/11. Many people expressed happiness. Someone said he is a foot soldier and pawn and we have to concentrate or mastermind.
A murderer is neither a foot soldier nor a pawn. He is a criminal. A pawn does not have life. A man has life and he makes choices and should face the consequences.
Over the years pirates of Somalia have expanded their sphere. From the coast of Africa to the coast of India there is no safe zone from the pirates.
UN, NATO, EU and AU have been ineffective in putting an end to piracy. When piracy began the demands of pirates for ransom were met. They became bold and piracy increased. More ships became targets. More Somalis became pirates. In few instances pirates were met with resistance and hostages rescued. EU countries let off pirates caught instead of putting them on trial. India, China, South Korea and USA have on occasions fought pirates.