Foolish proposal by Kapil Sibal

Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal has decided to contribute his rubbish too to Indian school education. And for that he placed the views to make classX board examinations optional. He thinks that it would relieve the stress of students. Perhaps he might have sought lessons in this direction from Kerala Education Minister M A Baby. Baby has made Kerala School and Secondary Education into debris as the marks or grades in the certificate these students carry have no significance. For reducing stress evaluation system has been made simple and there would be a sure pass for a student who writes or tries to write the examination. Result percentages of Standard 10 and 12 in Kerala are near to 100. However, added stress will be given to these students at Medical/ Engineering Examinations. This year there was reports of deaths among candidates for not getting the desired rank in Entrance Examination. No competition up to the age of 17 brings a stiff competition after that. Out of the 56000 appeared in the examination only 1800 are eligible for MBBS course!

Actually, a little competition should be there for success in one’s life and without a firm desire to excel none will work hard. Competition will always exist among all human beings to prove themselves more worthy than others. Stress is a fundamental facet of survival, and abandoning examination is not an easy way to reduce stress. If the authorities need to put end to examination stress then all examinations are to be given up. Stress at the age of 15 is not higher than that at 17. The students in their school life should be trained to deal with the stress of sitting examinations.

It is to be understood that there is good stress and bad stress. Good stress keeps us alert to things we need to be concerned about, whereas bad stress undermines peace of mind. It is better on the part of the Government to reschedule TV cricket at the time of examination than abandoning the examination itself. If channels air live cricket at examination time the parents face a tough time put their children for study and both parents and children experience big stress. Dumping of examinations as proposed by Kail Sibal or slackening the examination as did by MA Baby in Kerala are ill-timed ways to remove the stress of children. Instead these children are succumbed to huge stress in their life for survival. Parents and teachers have a crucial role to play in managing the exam stress of their students whereas government’s main role is to conduct the examinations in a nobler way. Mark sheets possessed by the school final children should have a little value than mere piece of paper. As stress manifests itself both physically and mentally throughout one’s life removal of it by abandoning examination alone is a foolish act. No government could abandon all examinations in the life of a person.

KA Solaman

Mindless mission

Ms Mayawati’s mission to build memorials of Dalit leaders and install statues of herself and the late BSP leader, Kanshiram, throughout Uttar Pradesh is mindless. It is a double offence: She is using the tax-payers’ money to fund a personal mission and she is using land that could have been used for building new public hospitals and schools.

KA Solaman

The Pioneer daily Dated 26-6-09

Unsafe to move freely in Alappuzha

Alappuzha is a beautiful place in Kerala with full of lakes and lagoons. It is a tourist destination for people abroad to view the landscapes. Nevertheless it has now become an unsafe place for peace loving people. This I say because every day report from Alappuzha gives the atrocities done by quotation groups. The torture that the quotation group do every day is far beyond any reckon. These groups have agents in school-college campuses to sell drugs. They even recruit new entrants to their company with monthly payment to do all the heinous acts. These groups get blessings from a section of political outfits and even police officers are abused by these gangs.

The situation is quite indefensible and the offenders should be brought to book immediately. Alappuzha’s crime rate is on the rise and the people here are living under constant fright. The awful state of safety in Alappuzha tells the inefficacy of the District administration. It is high time for reforming the District administration to put in jail all the quotation groups in and around Alappuzha.

K A Solaman

Maya stands for statues.

It is right on the part of Mayawati to cancel the order of the so-called State Principals’ Council of aided colleges to ban girl students from wearing jeans on campus. The council of principals and academics often take autocratic decisions elsewhere in the country and hence UP Government’s decision is a welcome step. However, the decision of the UP CM to spend crores from State Exchequer to meet the expense of installing statues of her and her leader Kanshiram elsewhere in the State is out of the ordinary. Later these statues will turn out to be destinations of spoilsport for her political opponents as she could not remain in power all the time in UP to protect these statues.

K A Solaman

VS is scapegoat

It would be wrong to single out Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan for the CPI(M)’s electoral drubbing in this year’s Lok Sabha election in the State. The truth is that the party has lost touch with the ground reality in Kerala. Its poor showing in the polls was largely due to the SNC Lavalin scam and CPI(M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan’s decision to ally with the People’s Democratic Party of Abdul Naser Madani. Also, the shortcomings of the State Education Minister and the Health Minister, the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities and the abusive ways of the Co-operation Minister contributed to the party’s rout in the election.

KA Solaman

The Pioneer Daily, 24 June 2009

Biggest Handicap of Achuthanandan government

The CPM targeting its leader V.S. Achuthanandan for the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections is erroneous. The poor show of the party in the elections is largely due to SNC Lavalin multi-million rupees scam and Pinrayi’s decision to ally with the People’s Democratic Party led by Abdul Naser Madani. The other reasons comprise of the failure of the Education Minister and the Health Minister, no control over the ever increasing price of essential commodities by the Food minister and the abusive nature of the Co-operation minister. High way picketing by police to assault two and four wheeler owners for not using helmet or seat belt also augmented the debacle.

It seems that all the 15 members of the CPM secretariat are sycophants and fear that the 88 year old man , the CM, will not protect them in the long run. Or else what is the reason for deserting this honest man who stood always firmly against corruption? Achuthanandan always standing at the receiving end, of late, will not save the party in Kerala.

It is to be doubted that the Politburo have not yet evolved an idea to end the rivalry between Vijayan and Achuthanandan and the biggest handicap of the factional feud is the malfunctioning of the Achuthanandan government. A minister questioning his Chief Minister inside or outside the party forum is out of the ordinary.

K A Solaman

For effective damage control.

The tribal people are not safe under Marxist rule. The leaders like Yetchuri will go else where outside India to discuss with tribal or rather Maoist leaders about the formation of ministry in that country. Yetchuri’s talk with Prachanda of Nepal was an example in that line. . However, in India these leaders find little time to heed the demands of tribal people. For instance look at the strike by tribal people at Chengara in Kerala. Even if one year has been elapsed there were no concrete steps by the left leaders to sort out an agreeable solution to the Chengara enmesh. .

The West Bengal Government too is in the front of a predicament of shocking level. Budhadev has lost his smile and if he fails to handle the worsened situation with wisdom the State has to witness further carnage. The religious minorities and tribes are disheartened with the Governments of Bengal and Kerala. The damage control exercise by the Marxist leaders in both the States has not yet yielded any good result.

The tribals and religious minorities feel that they are a suffering lot under Marxist rule. If the left parties are sincere in their damage control exercise they should invite the affected ones for adiscussion and settle their problems at the earliest.

K A Solaman

Accept the inevitable, dear soap artists.

It is pointless to cry over the work loss of about 5000 independent artistes and technicians involved in the production of Malayalam television serials and family soaps because their fate is inevitable. Like wise the persons behind reality shows will become jobless when these shows to lose their popularity. It is wise, of course, not as punishment for spoiling the society with their soap operas, these people should think of other jobs. Here in the state there are govt-sponsored jobs such as lottery ticket vending and these soap artists too can do it. Why there was none to cry when thousands of printing press owners and their composers went jobless with the advent of desk top printing. Had any one thought of those cinema operators who went jobless when majority of the B and C class theatres closed?

These are all part of world change similar to climate change and the soap artists too have to become accustomed to it.

K A Solaman

Do Christians need more children?

This question started to haunt me for last several weeks as the clergies of my religion began commanding their faithful to procreate profusely. Frequently they quote from Holy Bible: "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth..." (Genesis 1:28).
“The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” Corinthians 7:3-5. They say children are a blessing, not a burden. More children mean more blessing. Of course this is quoted by priests who never had a marital relation in their whole life.

But I think if one has more children than he can emotionally and financially care for, he is not doing the right thing. Further only rich people could keep up so many children and they are not able share their love equally to all their children. If one had more he couldn't spend enough time with any one of them. If one has fewer kids then he has more money for their stuff. He can live more comfortably and can spend more time on each of them. When it comes to their upbringing one can put more effort into each one to try and have them turn out better.

Moreover, the country like India is nurturing a population check as most of the people are poor. Then how could Christians in India to stand against it? Are the Christians in India rich enough to care a dozen children in their family? Do the christian women need no rest from labour rooms? Today in the world the largest growing population is Muslims. Do the clergies then need Christians to overtake the Muslims? I hope there will be a rethink by Christian clergies.

K A Solaman

Worth of body massage.

Seemingly Union Minister Prof K V Thomas has now only recognized the ineffectiveness of Musli Power Extra-a herbal therapeutic drug that supposedly create aggressive attraction towards opposite sex. The drug is being manufactured in his constituency for the last several years. Prof Thomas’ ministry has resolved to book all alternative medicine makers who hoodwink large section of the distraught with their product-marketing advertisements in print and visual media. However Prof Thomas could not ignore the magnitude of ayurvedic body massage as it was his ‘body massage’ slot that won his ten thousand plus margin in the election. If his opposite candidate was successful in airing a similar scene, Thomas Master might not have found an opportunity to supervise Madam’s Italian cuisine.

K A Solaman

Superior adviser spits venom

Literary critic and culturist Sukumar Azhikode certifying Kerala Chief Minister Achuthanandan as “an animal that excretes in its own house,” is the latest outcome of his hate practice in the Kerala psyche. The ‘superior adviser’ of Marxist party by his statement has stooped his head once again to filthy drain

For quite long Azhikode takes every opportunity to blemish Achuthanandan with his grubby oratory sponsored by ambassadors of non-corruption in the Marxist party. Achuthanandan’s reaction that his culture did not allow him to react to Azhikode’s low tease is only a mild dose. He needs some thing new and for that the person more suited is Vellappally Natesan. Azhikode has done a crafty act to make the people known that he reads Henry Thoreau while the Chief Minister not. Doesn’t make clear the superior adviser’s superiority to belittle others? Possibly Azhikode has got assurance from party official bigwigs that he will be spared even if he insult the Chief Minister. Or else Azhikode should not have said “He(Achuthanandan) is an insult to his party and the state”

After attacking Achuthanandan like a wile animal Azhikode cunningly adds that the Chief Minister has the habit of attacking his critics like a wild animal. Azhikode should realize that people of the State know the person who started spitting venom first. Strictly it is not Achuthanandan.

K A Solaman

CFL revolution in Kerala

The State of Kerala is to witness a new revolution called CFL revolution. The State Power Minister A K Balan has decided to issue four CFLs to every household at a throw-away price of Rs.15 and thereby to earn 500MW of power every year. However his company has not considered the drawback of CFL usage.

Online sources say that there are disadvantages to CFL bulbs. Some people don’t like the light that they give off. They can make some colors look slightly different than when the same colors are viewed under incandescent lights. The throw pattern isn’t always the same as an incandescent bulb either. Their wattage ratings don’t match up one to one with traditional bulbs because the wattage refers to energy used, not the amount of light it gives off. Also, all fluorescent bulbs contain mercury which is toxic. They can’t be tossed in most landfills and these things can really do some damage to the environment if they are broken open. The CFL contained mercury, with prolonged exposure, can cause problems in brain function and development. Like lead, we need to handle mercury carefully and limit our and our children’s exposure to it. It has been experimentally proved that repeated CFL breakages and repeated mercury exposure can indeed cause serious problems. Broken CFL is a toxic waste and the local authorities are to be checked with on how we should dispose of hazardous materials and damaged compact fluorescent bulbs. The toxic materials should be removed from our regular living area as soon as possible.

So, the power minister’s CFL revolution without any initial home work would bring adverse effect in the long run.

K A Solaman