General Archives - Page 3 of 8 - Voice from the rooftop

Definition of rape

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Rape is forced sex with a female by a male. Sex means vaginal intercourse which means penetration of vagina by the penis. Any other definition that includes other sex crimes under rape dilutes the gravity of rape.

Some countries have broadened the definition of rape to include various sex crimes. In India there is a demand to change the definition of rape to include all sex crimes. That should be avoided. Vaginal intercourse is different from anal or oral intercourse. In vaginal intercourse a female can become pregnant. That does not happen in anal or oral intercourse. Penetration of vagina by any object other than penis is an unnatural sex crime.

Salman Rushdie controversy

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Jaipur Literature Festival 2012 made news for controversy surrounding Salman Rushdie. The festival started on 20/1/2012 and ended on 24/1/2012. Over the years Salman Rushdie had come and gone. He had attended one Jaipur Literature Festival. He had attended one seminar in Delhi. The events had passed off peacefully.

This time TV channels gave wide publicity to statements of some Muslim leaders, some clerics and some politicians. The statements began in UP where elections are going on and spread to other parts. No party wanted to offend Muslims and lose their votes. If the TV channels had ignored the statements there would have been no controversy. Once those leaders demanded Salman Rushdie should not be given a visa and it was widely telecast the controversy began. Salman Rushdie tweeted he did not need a visa to come to India. Being a Person of Indian Origin he had Indian Overseas Citizen card and could come to India anytime. If he had kept quiet the Muslim leaders would have thought he would not get a visa and stopped the protests. The Muslim leaders continued the protests and demanded he should be stopped from attending the festival. The organizers said the invitation stands. Ashok Gehlot, Rajasthanâ€™s chief minister went to Delhi. Law Minister Salman Khurshid told him Salman Rushdie cannot be stopped from coming to India. Ashok Gehlot met P. Chidambaram and returned to Rajasthan.

Dow Row

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Dow is a sponsor of London Olympics. Some people want India to boycott London Olympics if Dow continues to be the sponsor because Dow bought Union Carbide which was responsible for Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984. IOC has said Dow is not responsible for Bhopal gas tragedy and Dow sponsorship for Olympics will continue till 2020.
India has not boycotted Olympics any time. In 1980 USA and many countries boycotted Moscow Olympics. In 1984 USSR and some countries boycotted Los Angeles Olympics. In 1976, 22 African countries boycotted Montreal Olympics.

Seven billion people

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

According to UN the world population reached seven billion on 31/10/2011. How correct is UN is a separate issue as there is no round-the-clock monitoring of population all over the world.

Population growth is slowing down and world population is expected to stabilize when it reaches nine billion. However floods, earthquakes, cyclones and other natural calamities play a part. In some countries there has been decline over the years and they want to increase their population. Russia, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, South Korea and Singapore want more people.

Firecrackers and Pollution

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Firecrackers cause air pollution and noise pollution. When firecrackers burst day and night over a month the damage is great.

Firecrackers are meant to be burst during joyous occasions. They are burst during marriages, feasts, when countries win matches and during the opening ceremonies of sports events. Candidates who win elections to Parliament or Legislative Assembly burst firecrackers.

Parliamentary privileges

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

MPs are free to move privilege motion against anyone including PM. Sometime back BJP had moved a privilege motion against PM. Article 105 of the Constitution does not define the privileges of MPs. It does not say Parliament can send someone to jail. Some MPs want to punish Om Puri and Kiran Bedi for what they said against MPs. MPs say the dignity of Parliament has been violated. Om Puri has issued a qualified apology on TV channels. He said he was offended when Manish Tewari accused Anna Hazare of corruption. Kiran Bedi has stood by her words. She said it was a game changer.

Where is the dignity of Parliament when MPs repeatedly disrupt Parliament? Days pass without doing any work. Sometimes whole sessions are disrupted. Many MPs donâ€™t attend Parliament for most of the days. Foul means are adopted to get majority in Parliament. When there is need of SP, BSP and RJD votes CBI finds no evidence in cases against Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav. MPs are not to hold offices of profit however they declare them as not offices of profit and hold them.

Relevance of CBFC

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

The controversy about Aarakshan has raised the question of relevance of CBFC. Once CBFC certifies a film there should be no problem about its release anywhere in India. However many people without seeing the film want the film to be banned. Some want special screening for them. It is bad for anyone to do that but worse when people in power do that. It is unpardonable for the home minister of state to say that films should be shown to certain politicians. It is unpardonable for other ministers to demand special screening and they will decide what should be shown. States should have no power to ban a CBFC certified film and those who create law and order problem should be strictly dealt with.

Phone hacking

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Phone hacking in Britain was going on for a long time. People did not protest when phones of royalty, politicians and celebrities were hacked. When it became public that phones of a murder victim Milly Dowler, 7/7 victims and of soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan were hacked there was outrage.

The phone hacking scandal has made international headlines. Not only there was hacking but also bribing of police officers to know the phone numbers of the queen and her itinerary.

NATO and regime change

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

In December 2010 demonstrations began in various Arab countries. Someone at that time questioned why they were taking place. He felt some people were behind those demonstrations. In Tunisia the president resigned. In 2011 Tahrir Square in Cairo made news. USA wanted Hosni Mubarak to quit. He quit. USA talked of democracy. Many said revolutions were sweeping Arab countries. Protests continued in many countries but the leaders held on. Bahrain demolished Pearl Square or roundabout. Saudi Arabia sent its army to Bahrain. In Yemen the leader held on.

Demonstrations began in Libya. It seemed Muammar Gaddafi will flee or that was the impression given by some people. That did not happen and there was civil war. Gaddafi held on and took back territories held by rebels. Arab League wanted a no-fly zone. UN authorized a no-fly zone. The resolution was worded in such a way that any country could interpret it in anyway. Russia, China, Brazil, India and one more member of Security Council abstained on the vote on resolution.

Death of Salman Taseer

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Murder is a crime. It is more serious when a security guard murders his protectee. Security guards who allow their colleagues to murder are accomplices in murder. Murderers and their accomplices deserve death penalty. Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab in Pakistan, was shot dead by a security guard. Other security guards allowed him to shoot….