Sheer extravagance.

Who said India is a poor man’s country? When most of the layman in India lives with a dhoti worth Rs 100 the Indian PM Narendra Modi's suit while on 'chai pe charcha' with US President Barack Obama.comes with very expensive price tag. Reports say the suit may have price about Rs 10 lakh or  more. According to the report, the fabric to make the suit reportedly is of Savile Row made by Holland & Sherry, who make the finest cloth in the world. The seven metres of fabric alone has been estimated to be about Rs 2,50,000. The intricate golden colour embroidery could have costed around 10,000 pounds, i.e. Rs 9,30,000!

Everyone in India is now aware that it is the habit of Narendra Modi to exhibit his fashion sense every time he steps out in public. But the suit wearing his own name sewn repeatedly on his bandhgala suit is a mark of extravagance.

There's no fine print in the manuals how government heads of India should dress on formal occasions. Nevertheless Narendra Modi has crossed all limits with his extravagance. Simplicity with swadeshi dress is the accepted life style of Indians. The PM who speaks volumes in this tune has shattered all such concepts. It is unlikely to get anything from Modi for the poor lakhs in India.

K A Solaman

scooter

Hartal’s own country

In 2013 February the Supreme Court of India  in a letter to the Union Government and all the State Governments sought explanations about the extent to which  the action taken for implementing order of the Court banning all hartals and bandhs in the country. And it was in 2009 the SC banned all hartal and bandhs and issued some concrete directions asking compensation from parties indulging in hartals.
Whatever be the clarification by the government on this issue the hartal observance goes unabated. Today in Kerala normal life across was  disrupted by the hartal called by BJP demanding resignation of Finance Minister K M Mani in the wake of graft charges against him

The state government has declared a holiday for educational institutions.  Thus Kerala has become ‘Hartal’s own country’ once again. But the more surprising reality is: Justice P Sadasivam, who issued orders against hartal, is the governor of the Sate at present.
When will our court orders take a more redolent route?

K A Solaman 

Kangaroo Court

‘Technology-a boon or bane’ is a hot subject of debate. In the present day perspective the boon of technology outweighs its curse and hence we say we cannot begin to imagine a world without the benefits of technology. However, for motor vehicle owners in the state the technology would soon become a matter of exasperation.

This I say because the Motor Vehicle Department of Kerala is going to reward anyone who flags traffic rule violations complete with videos and images of them being committed and the number plate of the culprit vehicle. The technology gadgets like Whatsapp and facebook  can be used for this.

The MVD till date has painted a very poor image among public minds with their corrupt officials and this would worsen further by the new invention. The streets would become a battle field for gullible vehicle riders and the moral police deputed by the MVD. The MVD is in fact a Kangaroo court where rules and regulations are made and implemented notwithstanding the Motor Vehicle Act.

K A Solaman

Currency counting machine!

It is not an amazing reality that Kerala Finanace Minister owns a currency counting machine at his residence. But what is surprising is that his machine is error prone. Sometimes it counts one crore, and at other times it counts 3 crores, then 19 crores etc. The Finance Minister of Kerala deals with a huge sum and hence a counting machine is a must! 

The recent disclosure to media by Kerala Bar Owner Association Secretary Biju Ramesh and Mani’s erstwhile colleagues like R Balakrishna  Pillai reveals that Mani has amassed a huge sum paving tax evaders to do their job smoothly. The revenue of the State has been deflated by the shocking act of K M Mani. Mani’s gluttony has taken the State to financial bankruptcy.  

K A Solaman
Published by New Indian Express on 23-1-2015

Don’t be rabbits

Pope Francis has said that good Catholics do not have to breed “like rabbits” defending church’s stance on artificial contraception. Though not a rejoinder to Sakshi Maharaj of VHP it is an answer to Bishop Powathil of Kerala Church who asked Christian couple to procreate profusely. For poor Catholics residing in Kerala or elsewhere what is applicable to them are the words of Pontiff rather than the Bishop. With Pontiff’s comment the prevalence of honouring couples with a dozen children in some places of Kerala would come to an end.

When Government of India speaks about the norm of single child it is impudent on the part of catholic clergies or others to argue against that policy.The Christian concept of sexuality should not be for producing more children but for inculcating good manners and well behaviour among them. The Pontiff has stressed this concept vehemently with his latest comment. 

K A Solaman 

Poonjar Mao!

The Kerala Congress leader  K M Mani is in soup for quite long because of his alleged involvement in one crore bar bribery case. And that is why his close lieutenant P C George came with barb against the ministry in which he is the Chief Whip. George in a statement has openly praised the activities of Maoists and wanted the state to desist from hunting them down. He accused officials of misappropriating crores of rupees in the name of amassing weapons for this witch-hunt. According to him Maoists are fighting on the side of justice for the disadvantaged classes, like the Adivasis.

If George is that much concerned  about the Maoists he should soon resign from the ministry and join hands with them. Nevertheless his attire is not suited for a  job of the Maoists. George is insincere in his word and deed. In fact Maoists are wayward group and they have nothing to do with mainstream politics. George’s intention is something else, even a school boy can understand it. George is highly redundant in UDF Ministry.

K A Solaman

Unfortunate action

“The law takes its own course”.  This is the motto of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, though, at present, he retracts from questions relating this as it is a  subject for mimicry artists in channels. Now he found himself with egg on his face with his move to withdraw a case against Kerala Students’ Union (KSU) activists for pouring black oil on Keshavendra Kumar IAS in 2012. This move is a matter of surprise for all peace loving citizens of the state.

In my opinion it is not a case to be withdrawn as it would affect the confidence of the bureaucracy. Petty politics should not become a subject for harming and humiliating sincere officers. The Government should stick on the law to take its own course.

K A Solaman

Thuglak state

For many reasons ours is a Thuglak State, one among them is the punishment by police in making offenders write imposition like `I wont ride bike without wearing helmet'. Who permitted the police to make such punishment when their prime duty is to keep law and order intact? They have no right to beat on the back, impose imposition on offenders or put down them before public for not bearing helmet. The nature and quantum of punishment can be decided only by the court.

If earlier in any verdict the court has said there is no mistake in making offenders write imposition, it gives no direction to the police to implement the same. Helmet offence is an easy pick for the police while they deliberately ignore other offences  For instance the use of public address system above permissible decibel level has been banned by several courts but the police take least interest in enforcing the order. There is no single instance the police asking sound pollution offenders to write a single line as imposition.

The police fining people or asking them to write imposition a hundred or thousand times without trial is unacceptable for a civilised country. Instead the police can charge case and send for trail in judicial forum.

K A Solaman

Autonomous certificates

The autonomous colleges in Kochi have announced that from next June onwards they would offer a re-designed curriculum focusing on student attributes and ensuring their holistic development. The colleges would go for an approximate 20 per cent change in the existing curriculum from the academic year 2015-16 for its undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

It seems that what is going in these colleges are superior to that in affiliated colleges. But in fact Board of Studies in these colleges is constituted with lesser experts and their decision in re-structuring syllabus would become disastrous. Teaching in these colleges is only a side business and the main work is clerical. The claim of the governing council chairman of these colleges that re-structured programmes should address the needs of the society besides having relevance to the regional and national developmental needs is mere rhetoric.

Actually nothing of the serious sort would take place in these colleges. The degree certificates issued to students of these colleges lack acceptance in other universities and abroad as these colleges are little known outside.

K A Solaman

Taking students to the bottom.

Is it CBSE or State Higher Secondary Boards that contribute more to degrade the school education system? An exact answer is not possible; nevertheless, both have hand-outs to take the standard of school education to the bottom. The CBSE planning to introduce online evaluation of class X answer sheets from the upcoming board examinations in the State is in this direction. The CBSE has introduced the digital marking system of answer sheets of class X and class XII.

For digital evaluation, answer sheets would be in objective type where the student need only know a, b c, and d. The students blacken the bubble opposite to their choice and these markings are read by the optical mark reader attached to a computer. The whole process is automatic and there is no need for a student to know to write even his name correctly. The writing ability and intellectual capability of students are not tested in such OMR evaluation. A student having skill to do the job of marking OMR sheet often come in the pass list. And there is no need of trained teachers too.

If CBSE or any other agency wishes to have some standard among students they should ask them to write examinations conducted with question papers containing essay, descriptive, and problem solving questions. If everything is in OMR mode, the standard of students will be under threat.

K A Solaman

Kiss against Fascism

The term ‘fascism’ has more acceptance than ‘love’ at least in places like Alappuzha. That is why the Alappuzha edition of the ‘Kiss of love’ event has been rechristened as ‘ Kiss against fascism’. As  CPM Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan abandoned the Kiss of love protest, the DYFI unit of Alappuzha, who supported the protest in the beginning, could not directly enter into action. However their involvement is evident from the term fascism as it is the historical attack against communism, conservatism and parliamentary liberalism. They think an open kiss is a direct action against fascism and sponsors communism.

As  Alappuzha beach would  become the venue of ‘Kiss against Fascism’ the police should take candle vigil to avoid untoward circumstance. The Kiss programme organisers of Alappuzha are less known people who till now have not contributed anything to the society. Their aim is to get notoriety. Of late some people keep the notion that  notoriety is valuable than fame.

K A Solaman

Inorganic farming!

What is now heard a lot in Kerala is the Organic farming, a term that gathered momentum after a Manju Warrier   flick ‘How old are you?’ The government has made Ms Warrier as its brand ambassador and initiated efforts to promote organic farming in  number of  places in Kerala.

In fact term ‘organic farming’ is a misnomer as there is no dearth for pesticides in every nook and corner of the state. The agriculturists use pesticides in profuse and sell their products under the label organic farming. Film star Mammootty and Sreenivasan spending highly for organic farming is obviously a shrewd method to turn black money into white. The initiative taken by film stars to encourage farmers to switch over to organic methods of cultivation, is thus a  method to hoodwink the poor farmers. A local farmer could not spend Rs 25000 just for 250 kg of local vegetable.

If the government is strict with organic farming what should it do first is to stop all pesticide production and sale in the state.

K A Solaman