Bandhs are different from strikes. In a strike people stop working. In a bandh other people are prevented from working, travelling, keeping schools, colleges, shops, theatres etc open. Bandhs are successful only if there is violence or fear of violence. Bandhs cannot be tolerated in a democracy. Where bands disrupt normal life it is mobocracy.
Thoughts on 7/10/2007
Marion Jones won five medals, three of them gold, in Sydney Olympics 2000. At that time she was tested and drugs were not detected. On 5/10/2007 she admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs. Many take drugs. Some get caught soon. Others are not caught. Some win medals and keep them. Some are exposed later. At…
Partition was not pleasant
Jaithirtha Rao’s article “Let’s wish them well” in Indian Express on 29/9/2007 was amusing. Jaithirtha Rao thinks partition was good and is grateful to the British. Pakistan is a buffer state that protects India from Afghanistan and Iran. Pakistan is not a buffer state. It will be offended at such a description. It wants Kashmir….
Population solution
Many countries in the world want to increase their population. They are taking various steps to have more children. Australia, Japan, Singapore, S. Korea, Russia and countries of Europe want more children. In Australia for every child born the mother gets 4,000 dollars. India should learn from these countries and stop promoting family planning. Ministry…
Thoughts on 28/9/2007
Pedro Zapeta I came across this news item on CNN. Pedro Zapeta was an illegal immigrant working in USA. He worked as a dishwasher for11 years and saved money. Two years back he wanted to return to Guatemala. He wanted to buy some land and build a house for his mother and sisters. When boarding…
Sting operations are out of control
A recent report about a teacher of a school in Delhi luring ex-students into prostitution telecast on an unheard and not much known TV channel, led to riots, the teacher, Uma Khurana, being beaten up and destruction of cars and other property. Uma Khurana was arrested and lost her job. This report proved to be…
In India all pay taxes
Many people say in India only 1% of people pay taxes. They think only of Income Tax. In India all pay taxes. There are many direct and indirect taxes. Income Tax is one of the direct taxes. Service Tax, VAT, Sales Tax etc cover all people. People pay them directly or indirectly. Telephone users pay…
Is India a banana republic?
India is a nuclear power and a country of more than a billion people. It has a strong army, navy and air force. Yet its past and present shows it to be a soft state.
Oval Test
India did not enforce follow on at Oval in spite of having 319 runs lead. India batted and declared at 180/6 setting a target of 500 for England to win. The excuse by Dravid was that bowlers needed rest which was contradicted by Zaheer Khan. Chandu Borde said a team can score 500 runs in…
Floods
Floods play havoc every year. This is mainly uneven distribution of rain. When some areas are flooded some areas are drought stricken. Also during monsoon on some days there is heavy rain followed by many days without rain. All efforts must be made by nations to study the reasons for flood and their prevention. In…