Nidhi Razdan was with NDTV 24X7 for around 21 years. In 2020 she left the channel. Google entries showed her associate professor of journalism at Harvard. On 15/1/2021 came reports of Nidhi Razdan claiming she was victim of a phishing attack. As per job offer, she was supposed to join Harvard in September 2020 but…
Washington Violence
There have been various reactions to storming of Capitol in Washington DC on 6/1/2021. Some are flabbergasted, surprised, shocked and sad. Some are glad. Leaders of West have condemned the violence. They called for peaceful transfer of power. Yet these leaders have cheered and applauded colour revolutions, Arab Spring and Hong Kong protests when such…
Bedi Quits DDCA
On 23/12/2020 Bishan Singh Bedi quit as DDCA member. In his letter to DDCA President Rohan Jaitley he asked his name be removed from a stand at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium with immediate effect and renounced his DDCA membership. This was in protest against the decision to instal a statue of Arun Jaitley at the…
India 36 all out
On 19/12/2020 India created a new Test record of lowest Innings score by being all out for 36 runs. This broke 46-years old record of 42 all out at Lord’s in 1974. It was third day of Adelaide Day and Night Test. India had 53 runs first Innings lead. It had begun the day at…
Trains to Punjab
When around two months back farmers began indefinite blocking of railways in protest against central agricultural laws it was breakdown of law and order and a fit case for imposition of President’s Rule. Central Government did not act. Farmers said they will allow goods trains, will not allow passenger trains. Railway Ministry said either both…
Bihar Elections 2020
Bihar Elections are over. NDA headed by Nitish Kumar is back in power. Grand Alliance did not win enough seats to come to power. RJD emerged as the largest party with 75 seats. Congress got 19, CPI 12, CPI (M) 2, CPI (M-L) (L) 2, GA total 110 seats. BJP got 74, JD(U) 43, HAM…
Parliament House 2020
There is a plan to have a new Parliament House. The construction is set to begin in December this year and is expected to be completed by October 2022. Estimated cost is 971 crore rupees.
The plan is to have a triangular building with seats for 888 Lok Sabha members and 384 Rajya Sabha members besides Constitution Hall, committee rooms, offices, dining areas, library and so on.
New Parliament House should be rectangular.
As per 2011 census India’s population was 121 crores. Now it must be some crores more than that. Next year we have census. India’s population is growing and is set to grow for some years though total fertility rate is 2.1 children per woman. There should be at least one representative for a million people in Lok Sabha. India’s population is expected to stabilise in 2045. Considering these factors Lok Sabha Hall should have seats for at least 1,600 members.
Great Barrington Declaration
On 4/10/2020 Dr. Martin Kulldorff, professor at Harvard University, Dr. Sunetra Gupta, professor at Oxford University, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, professor at Stanford University Medical School, authored and signed a declaration in Great Barrington, USA, known as the Great Barrington Declaration (GBD). These three doctors are epidemiologists with other qualifications. It has 42 medical and public health scientists and medical practitioners as co-signers. Many of them are epidemiologists and some are doctors in other fields. The declaration can be read and signed in many languages, most of them European. Urdu is the only Indian language in the list.
The doctors recommend Focused Protection.
No Right to Protest
There is no right to protest.
Article 19 of the Constitution under Right to Freedom mentions the right to assemble peaceably and without arms. This is not the right to protest but is interpreted as the right to protest.
On 7/10/2020 Supreme Court gave its judgment in Civil Appeal No. 3280 of 2020, Amit Sahni versus Commissioner of Police and & Ors case. The bench consisted of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Aniruddha Bose, and Krishna Murari.
The case was about blocking of Shaheen Bagh road to public traffic from 15/12/2019 onwards by people protesting against Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019. The petitioner had filed Writ Petition (Civil) No. 429/2020 on 14/1/2020 at Delhi High Court to clear the encroachment. Delhi High Court on the same day disposed of the petition directing the respondent authorities to look into the grievances of the petitioner and at the same time keep in mind larger public interest and maintenance of law and order. Nothing changed. The petitioner moved Supreme Court.
Kashmiris and India
Farooq Abdullah in an interview to Karan Thapar on The Wire on 23/9/2020 said Kashmiris do not feel Indian. They prefer Chinese rule. He wants restoration of Articles 370 and 35A and statehood. Kashmiris are angry about new domicile law which they think is intended to create Hindu majority in Kashmir. Kashmiris are treated like…