On 22/5/2010 at 6.03 a.m. Air India Express Boeing 737-800 plane crashed at Mangalore Airport. It crossed the table top runway and spill over area of 90 metres and fell below. Of the 166 people on board, 158 died. In August 1981 there was a similar air crash. That day it was raining and visibility…
Author: Vincent Augustine D'Souza
Vincent Augustine D'Souza is a blogger, author, novelist, and quiz master.
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Defence by MPs of their demands
MPs have come out with defence of their demands for increase in salary and benefits. In my previous article I had proposed that salaries of MPs be made Rs.86,000/- p.m. and their allowances and benefits be abolished and I stick to that. There are two types of MPs: Lok Sabha MPs and Rajya Sabha MPs….
Murders, not honour killings
Murder is murder whoever commits it for whatever reason. Murder does not become honour killing because murderers think a marriage was against the honour of family or community.
Many times people in media talk of honour killings. They persist even after they are told that they are murders.
Facilities to former Presidents and Prime Ministers
A reply dt. 26/4/2010 under RTI has revealed facilities granted to former presidents and their spouses, former vice presidents and their spouses and former prime ministers.
Former prime ministers have facilities of secretarial staffers and office expenses without limit for the first five years and after that Rs.6,000/- p.m.
Salaries of MPs
MPs want increase in salaries. A committee of MPs has recommended that salaries of MPs should be on par with that of Secretaries of Government of India.
For secretaries the salary is Rs.80,000/- p.m. It is not known what allowances and perks they get apart from salary.
For MPs the salary is Rs.16,000/- p.m. They get a constituency allowance of Rs.20,000/- p.m., daily allowance of Rs.1,000/- when Parliament is in session, free accommodation, phones, water, power, healthcare, railway travel and 34 free single air journey tickets.
Death to terrorist
On 6/5/2010 special sessions judge M. L. Tahaliyani sentenced Ajmal Kasab to death on five counts. People in general expected death penalty and were happy at the judgment. Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam was on all channels.
The death penalty has to be confirmed by the High Court. Thereafter it can be challenged in the Supreme Court. After that mercy petition can be filed. Pratibha Patil does not want to reject any mercy petition and with her as president there is no hope of Ajmal Kasab being put to death.
As of now mercy petitions are decided on a monthly basis, one case at a time. Home Ministry advised rejection of two mercy petitions. Pratibha Patil did not do that. It may take more than two years to dispose of the present pending cases.
Sports and IOA
Sports Minister M. S. Gill came up with an order restricting the tenure of officials of IOA and its affiliates. He fixed the retirement age at 70.
The officials were upset. They challenged the minister and have gone to court. They claim restricting terms and fixing retirement age of IOA officials is against Olympic Charter and India can be expelled from Olympics.
Schools and leather shoes
There is a proposal to do away with leather schools for students in schools and replace them with canvas shoes. It is said the leather shoes are environmentally hazardous, unhealthy and an uncomfortable vestige of colonialism.
There is no reliable data to show how much the leather shoes are environmentally hazardous and unhealthy.
English-medium education is a vestige of colonialism. Before that education was in Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic.
Why canvas shoes? Why not sandals or slippers? Why not allow students to come bare foot? In many villages students go to school bare foot.
26/11 Judgment
On 3/5/2010 special sessions judge M. L. Tahaliyani declared Ajmal Kasab guilty of 86 charges of 26/11 attack. Sentencing to follow later. Two other accused, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed, were acquitted.
The judgment could have come early if the chargesheet against Ajmal Kasab was restricted to the crimes he committed instead of it being a chargesheet including all crimes connected to 26/11. Nine terrorists connected to 26/11 were dead, the conspirators were in Pakistan and Pakistan was not willing to hand over them to India. Having a chargesheet over 10,000 pages and examining witnesses not connected to Ajmal Kasab’s crimes prolonged the trial. There could have been separate chargesheets for different crimes of 26/11 attack.
Trials for terrorism and waging war against the state should be different from other trial. The state should not provide the lawyers. The accused should hire the lawyers themselves. If the accused are unable to hire lawyers trials should proceed without defence lawyers.
BJP, JMM and Jharkhand
On 28/4/2010 BJP withdrew support to Shibu Soren led government. It was to submit a letter to the governor of Jharkhand the next day. Shibu Soren’s son Hemant Soren stepped in. He wanted BJP to continue to support. Shibu Soren will step down. Hemant Soren will be CM. BJP did not agree. Hemant Soren proposed that CM can be from BJP.
BJP had candidates to be CM. BJP forgot about withdrawal of support. Now the discussion was who should be CM. One candidate was opposed to coalition with JMM. The chance of becoming CM made him forget about it.
Some MLAs in JMM are opposed to BJP CM. They were not ministers in Shibu Soren government and they have no hope of becoming ministers in BJP led government. However they do not have enough members in their groups to cause a legal split.