How I wish that the Gandhis, the Advanis, the Yadavs, the Karats and the Thackerays of this country had the understanding and the audacity to rise against the culture of divisiveness; on the lines of caste, region and religion; which is so pervasive in our country - as Obama does in his remarkable speech on the racial divide in his country.
And on the sidelines, I hope the Indian economy realises soon that we need to be creating enough jobs within the country to support the employment requirements of the ever-growing youth. Obama's speech makes it pretty clear that if he wins, the outsourcing on which we rely so much, will take a serious backseat. What we need to realise is that even if he doesn't, the problem doesn't get solved; we only get slightly more time to come up with a solution.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Elected Dictator
That's Vladimir Putin for you, Time magazine's person of the year 2007. This rather long article details Putin's rise to power, how he has been able to revive Russia from the days of Yeltsin and the problems that Russia is facing today. It's a must read; giving insight into the widespread corruptioin in Russia, the powerful leader's personality; and most importantly the way he has commandeered the ship with the right balance of democracy and dictator-like authority; earning himself the title of elected dictator from the author.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Baghdad Wall
I have read news reports that the US army is erecting/planning to erect a Berlin Wall in Baghdad to keep Shia and Sunni dominated areas separate; and that the Iraqi PM has requested the US to stop this after criticisms have started pouring in.
Now, I do not know how US has a right to erect a wall in Iraq; that boils down to how exactly the government is being run there. However, irrespective of US's legal rights to do it; this is perturbing me a lot. What are your views on this? Forget US and Iraq, should such a wall be created at all?
I need more research into this. Will read more about Berlin Wall and this episode and then come back .
Now, I do not know how US has a right to erect a wall in Iraq; that boils down to how exactly the government is being run there. However, irrespective of US's legal rights to do it; this is perturbing me a lot. What are your views on this? Forget US and Iraq, should such a wall be created at all?
I need more research into this. Will read more about Berlin Wall and this episode and then come back .
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Thursday, March 29, 2007
27 % Quota Policy Stayed
Now thats something to be happy about. Though the stay is not forever, the decision still carries some weight. The SC has noted that the policy can not be devised based on a census carried more than 75 years ago. It will be very tough for the union government to come up with a good answer to that. I just hope that it does its due diligence this time and does not reply in some arbitrary way so as to force the quota in the 2007-08 year.
Another good thing is that the SC bench has observed that "Reservation cannot be permanent and appear to perpetuate backwardness". An answer to this is also required. The government must have some kind of plan in place to really make the quotas (the existing SC/ST one or the proposed OBC one) effective; and that isn't possible unless they have a roll-out plan in place. The existence of a system that monitors the effectiveness and the necessity of the quota system, on an ongoing basis, is as much necessary as the quota itself, if it is at all needed.
Another good thing is that the SC bench has observed that "Reservation cannot be permanent and appear to perpetuate backwardness". An answer to this is also required. The government must have some kind of plan in place to really make the quotas (the existing SC/ST one or the proposed OBC one) effective; and that isn't possible unless they have a roll-out plan in place. The existence of a system that monitors the effectiveness and the necessity of the quota system, on an ongoing basis, is as much necessary as the quota itself, if it is at all needed.
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Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Calcutta HC puts CBI's Nandigram probe on hold
First read the news article.
I just read this news. I am sure the court would have its reasons to do so; currently I have read that the court needs time to go through all the affidavits filed before it. And I respect the court's judgment; we need to believe in the judiciary. Obviously, if the court determines that there is no need for an inquiry, then we can forget this case; but what if the court decides in favor of an investigation.
Whatever information that I have read, based on that I know that the CBI has collected evidence and the court has ordered for the evidence to be kept sealed; but there must be witnesses' statements to be recorded; other evidence to be gathered. Given the state of affairs, I am sure the probability of the witnesses being jeopardized is very high and CBI might still be in dark about some evidence which might be uncovered along the probe. There must be some way to avoid this, the legislature and the judiciary should decide upon a set of protocols which would prevent harm to an investigation in such a situation.
If anybody has more information on this case, kindly comment.
I just read this news. I am sure the court would have its reasons to do so; currently I have read that the court needs time to go through all the affidavits filed before it. And I respect the court's judgment; we need to believe in the judiciary. Obviously, if the court determines that there is no need for an inquiry, then we can forget this case; but what if the court decides in favor of an investigation.
Whatever information that I have read, based on that I know that the CBI has collected evidence and the court has ordered for the evidence to be kept sealed; but there must be witnesses' statements to be recorded; other evidence to be gathered. Given the state of affairs, I am sure the probability of the witnesses being jeopardized is very high and CBI might still be in dark about some evidence which might be uncovered along the probe. There must be some way to avoid this, the legislature and the judiciary should decide upon a set of protocols which would prevent harm to an investigation in such a situation.
If anybody has more information on this case, kindly comment.
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Thursday, January 26, 2006
constitution vs parliament
learnt an interesting thing today about the Indian Constitution.
The Indian Constitution closely follows the the British Parliamentary model, but differs from it in one important respect that is, the Constitution is supreme, not the Parliament. So the Indian courts are vested with the authority to adjudicate on the constitutionality of any law passed by the Indian Parliament.
source: http://finance.indiamart.com/government_india/constitution/
i always thought that the parliament was the supereme thing, they passed a law and nobody could question that, except, of course, another session of the parliament. It feels good to know that the court can interfere in this regard. Thank goodness..and thank Ambedkar and team for ensuring this.
The Indian Constitution closely follows the the British Parliamentary model, but differs from it in one important respect that is, the Constitution is supreme, not the Parliament. So the Indian courts are vested with the authority to adjudicate on the constitutionality of any law passed by the Indian Parliament.
source: http://finance.indiamart.com/government_india/constitution/
i always thought that the parliament was the supereme thing, they passed a law and nobody could question that, except, of course, another session of the parliament. It feels good to know that the court can interfere in this regard. Thank goodness..and thank Ambedkar and team for ensuring this.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Wrongful Imprisonment: Anatomy of a CIA Mistake
read the article first
I wonder what is the reason behind such mistakes by one of the most advanced security organisations of the world. There are two possibilities which come into my mind: one that such things are inherent in the system and the so called war against terrorism, and the other that the people running such operations are more worried about getting results to show to their boss than really curbing the problem of terrorism.
I think its a mix of both. Like one example in the article says, one person was arrested because an al Qaida operative named him out of vendetta(apparently he was the al Qaida guy's prof and didn't give him good grades). Naturally, initially the CIA would apprehend the prof guy. But it gets bad when u keep him under custody for long without any real evidence.
Its an established principle that no matter how many criminals go scotfree but law should never punish an innocent. Some trouble to the innocent is necessary - an evil necessity of today's world. But care must be taken to prevent this. The priority of catching terrorists and that of not catching innocent men should be similar.
And this can be insured only when the top level people of such an organisation took steps accordingly. We cannot expect field operatives to take care of this.
So ultimately it boils down to the decision of the policy makers. What they need to understand is that , apart from facing the immediate scenario with the correct amount of gunpower, we need to take care that the hatred which leads to terrorism is removed. We need to remove terrorism and not terrorists. After all, by troubling innocent people we are creating more negativity than any positive results we expect.
I wonder what is the reason behind such mistakes by one of the most advanced security organisations of the world. There are two possibilities which come into my mind: one that such things are inherent in the system and the so called war against terrorism, and the other that the people running such operations are more worried about getting results to show to their boss than really curbing the problem of terrorism.
I think its a mix of both. Like one example in the article says, one person was arrested because an al Qaida operative named him out of vendetta(apparently he was the al Qaida guy's prof and didn't give him good grades). Naturally, initially the CIA would apprehend the prof guy. But it gets bad when u keep him under custody for long without any real evidence.
Its an established principle that no matter how many criminals go scotfree but law should never punish an innocent. Some trouble to the innocent is necessary - an evil necessity of today's world. But care must be taken to prevent this. The priority of catching terrorists and that of not catching innocent men should be similar.
And this can be insured only when the top level people of such an organisation took steps accordingly. We cannot expect field operatives to take care of this.
So ultimately it boils down to the decision of the policy makers. What they need to understand is that , apart from facing the immediate scenario with the correct amount of gunpower, we need to take care that the hatred which leads to terrorism is removed. We need to remove terrorism and not terrorists. After all, by troubling innocent people we are creating more negativity than any positive results we expect.
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