Happy teachers' day

Happy Teacher's day

On this teacher’s day.

September 5 is celebrated as Teacher's Day as it is Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's birthday and he is regarded as one of the finest teachers.

Teacher is the quintessence of life and it is only through a teacher that we are what we are today. The first teacher in our life is our mother, and then comes the father. They teach us, take care of us and raise us to be good human beings prepared to face the world. The hands that raise the child a thousand times and the hands that rock the cradle  a thousand rules the world. Our parents teach us to follow discipline and to learn the importance of values and respect in life. Each parent has his or her role to play and ideas to contribute. We are students in every step of life. As children, we learn from parents and the parents are our very first teachers.

Then we go to school and there we  learn from our teachers. We learn the basics of every language from our teachers. They teach us science, mathematics, social studies and what else. In colleges too we are supplemented with our beloved teachers.   It is indeed a pleasure and privilege to be with such learned people who selflessly teach us the art of science, the beauty of the surroundings and the history of the world. Teachers are gems and we cherish them forever.

Our next stage is the world where we start a career. Our team manager is our teacher. There we realize the importance of all the values, and rules set down by our parents at that young age. Suddenly, the discipline of putting things back in place, of going to bed on time, of praying when we wake up, all begins to make sense. We realize that time is money and we stop wasting time.

As we move further on in life, we settle down to a happy family life. Our spouse becomes our teacher. We learn a lot from him or her. She or he comes from a different background and we learn the art of adjustment and compromise. We share, care and begin to learn to share our personality with another person gradually we become parents. Our learning does not end here. We begin to learn from children. Child is the father of man- this Wordsworth statement perhaps means that the qualities exhibited by a child will deepen and appear in a marked form when the child grows up into a man. By observing and studying the behaviour, the inclinations, the preferences, the prejudices and the tendencies of child we can form an idea as to what sort of man he will develop into. We begin to behave ourself, we stop swearing and we do not indulge in bad habits. We learn from children. They are our best teachers.

As we grow old, we look back rocking our experiences back and forth. We realize that Teachers are Gems, they are important and they are here to make us what we are today. We are all students of one common teacher – LIFE. Life is the biggest teacher.

So on this teacher’s day let us all salute our loved, respected and amazing teachers!

K A Solaman

Post-retirement job

The news about former Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam being listed to be the Kerala governor  has evoked mixed  responses from various corners. I value the one that is expressed  by KPCC Predident V M Sudheeran in this respect. The person who occupied a supreme post should not be demoted to a lower post. Of late the governor’s post is  tool for ruling parties to humiliate leaders who were once in other parties before becoming  governor.

It is the responsibility of Government to ensure the highest standards of judicial independence and to defend against even the faintest trace of governmental influence on the judiciary.  As judicial independence of Judges remains entirely on maintaining an incorruptible detachment from the government of the day it cannot be allowed t for lobbying for comfortable post-retirement postings. Sathasivam’s posting will create “post retirement job ” syndrome among judges and it could place judges potentially open to governmental influence leaving scope for biased pre-retirement  judgments.

The judges can be considered for governor post if this post has privileges akin to that of the President of India.

K A Solaman 

Absurd idea

 C. Rangarajan, the former chairman of the prime minister’s economic advisory council, should be castigated for his idea that those spending below Rs 47 a day in cities and Rs 32 in rural areas should be considered poor (“Debate over poverty estimates”, July 8). The Indian Coffee House in Kerala — popular with the masses — charges Rs 45 for a masala dosa and a tea without sugar. According to Rangarajan, those who can afford the luxury of such a meal should not be accommodated in the BPL category. Rangarajan’s proposition brings to mind Sheila Dikshit’s observation that Rs 600 is enough to feed a family of five for a month in Delhi.

Poverty classifications are absurd. No one can survive on such paltry sums. The actual purchasing power of citizens and several other technical aspects should be taken into consideration to strengthen research projects meant to draw the poverty line. Usually, such committees comprise the rich and the powerful. Without representation from the deprived sections, none can find out who India’s poor are.

Yours faithfully,
K.A. Solaman,  Kerala

The Telegraph, Calcutta published on July 12, 2014

Writing and reading!

Cine director Renjith has said that those were writing abuses on public latrine walls are now writing on Face Book to insult people like him. It might have have been more apt had he said those who were reading latrine walls are now reading Face Book. As a film director he has insulted many with his worst directed films like Spirit. The cine goers have not crossed that limit with their comments on FB

K A Solaman

Margdarshak Mandal.

All the three founding dignitaries of BJP  Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are now out from the top decision making bodies of the party. Atal is out because of his illness but Advani and Joshi, who were permanent fixtures on the party top panels, have been kicked out and accommodated in a newly created body called 'Margdarshak Mandal'. The nomenclature of this body is supercilious, but decision must be taken by Modi and his coterie.

It is damaging for the party to ignore Advani's contribution to the party in the 1990s and his ability to attract Hindu voters. Joshi was a prominent face of the Ayodhya movement and was known for his proximity to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the party’s ideological parent.  By placing them in Margdarshak Mandal BJP has belittled them and put them below the level of leaders like Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and JP Nadda. This is not good for the party as any disrespect to most revered elder leaders would turn party’s “ good days” into bad days.   It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age.

K A Solaman

Hussain’s fate

National animal of india-Tiger

Sheila Dikshit has resigned as Kerala Governor amid indications that she might be shunted out of the southern stat. This indicates BJP has decided that UPA appointed governors should go. BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain saying that, "Good that Sheila Dikshit resigned on her own, now she can work for her party" is an insult to person occupying a constitutional post. The fate in the making for persons like Hussain is nothing other than this sort.

Interesting it is to see that BJP is to decide what resigned governors should do after quitting the post and they will also decide what everyone in this country should do. They will change the national animal Tiger to Cow as the latter gives milk and dung!

It is now the turn of NDA government to humiliate the governors and remove them. And after 5 years it would be the turn of UPA to reciprocate.  Who said Governor's post is non-partisan.

K A Solaman

Total ban will not work

The Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy has stunned all by coming out with a unanimous decision for a liquor ban in the state to achieve total prohibition. All the bars and Bevco outlets will be closed and after 10 ten years Kerala will be a liquor free state.

Nevertheless, a period of 10 years is not a short span of time. A huge amount of water will flow through the Vembanadu Lake. Likewise a huge amount of illicit liquor will flow to Kerala from outside. The CM may go and the UDF coalition may change and what will happen then is far beyond one’s reckon.

Prohibition is good in the larger public interest. It will prevent the ruin of the uneducated. But will the government take necessary steps to prevent illegal flow. The bootlegging and corruption will increase. Tourism will get affected as many Keralites themselves will go to neighbouring states in large numbers, some people even on daily basis for recreation. It will be interesting to see how the government tackles these types of problems. A total ban will only encourage black market and mafia nexus and will worsen the situation. The rationale behind the present liquor ban doesn't look moral but more political.

History will get repeated. There was a time when AP, Haryana and Rajasthan were declared dry but that ban only gave a big rise to black marketing. If not controlled firmly there will be huge flow of illicit liquor from other states to Kerala, the beneficiaries of it will be some unscrupulous politicians belonging to what we call UDF, LDF or NDA.

K A Solaman

Invitation to Mani

There is of course some logic when K M Mani is invited by Marxist party to join their fold. Mani Congress with the LDF can form a ministry with Mani as the CM. But the invitation by BJP to Mani to join with them is quite inexplicable. There is not even a single seat for BJP in the Kerala Assembly. It is laughable to see that Mani ideas go with BJP ideology.

It may be K M Mani’s wish to become the CM of Kerala by hook or crook. He has paved the way for it by mishandling the State Exchequer. The State is on the verge of a financial breakdown. And it is too cruel on the part of the Finance Minister Mani and the State Transport Minister Thiruvanchoor  to deny the pension of KSRTC retired employees.

It may be Mani’s last wish to become the CM of Kerala. So it would be better for him to remember the second wish of Alexander the Great. He said: “My second wish is to tell people not to be like me in pursuing wealth. I spent my whole life pursuing wealth, but I was wasting my time, most of the time”

K A Solaman

Judicial jeopardy.

In a remarkable development to overturn the collegium system the Lok Sabha approved the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014. It is aimed at ensuring only meritorious people are selected as judges to the higher courts. Does it mean that the collegium system had appointed mediocre judges till this time? Will the sanctity of the judiciary be protected by this bill? One hopes that proposed law does not ensure the independence of the judiciary.

Unsighted clique would call this as a good move but in certainty politicians would try to restrain independence of judiciary. Under the new law the commission will decide appointment of judges to Supreme Court and High Courts after considering seniority along with merit and ability. The merit and ability are relative and will be speckled from time to time with the whims and fancies of the ruling front. Here in India everyone knows how  a candidate is appointed in the merit quota for assistant professor post. People close to politicians and other higher ups are appointed and meritorious ones are side lined. Even in appointment of CBI chief this could be seen.

K A Solaman

Testing times.

 The CSAT episode has cast the Central government in poor light. The manner in which the government has gone about addressing the problem is strange. Hindi or any other regional language can never be a substitute for English. The government should have noticed that the protesters mainly hail from the cow belt. The CSAT format was devised by specialists who knew what they were doing. The government appears to be bowing to the senseless demands on account of political considerations and giving concessions to the agitators.

K.A. Solaman, Alappuzha, Kerala

The Telegraph, Calcutta published on Aug 8, 2014

Let UPSC to do its business.

The Central Government emerges in poor light from the Civil Service Aptitude Test( CSAT) episode. The government is not able to even judge what the Hindi cow pee drinkers wanted. The manner in which the government has gone about addressing this question appears strange. The Hindi or any other regional language can never be a substitute for English.

 In the first pace the Government should have noticed that that the dissent is coming only from the students of the cow belt. Then, it should have stopped a section of those aspirants who would compete in a national contest from dictating as to what they should be tested on. After all the CSAT scheme was devised by eminent persons who knew what they were doing and it has got the approval of the people's representatives. The trouble makers can not have posing that they know things better than those who designed the scheme.
The Government appearing to be bowing down to the senseless demand and giving concessions to agitators is unwarranted. Even now it is not too late to withdraw the allowances and let the UPSC go with  its business unrestricted by the agitation of cow belt candidates.

K A Solaman

Imagine sex

Two women suspects namely Ruksana and Bindhya Thomas are seemingly the most sufferers in the 'blackmail sex scam' that recently rocked the Kerala civic mind. They are taken by the police from place to place and served as hot cake for channel gluers. The only crime against them is their involvement in the oldest trade. The black mailing and related matters are undoubtedly carried out by certain bigwigs from politics and business.

The poignant aspect of the whole episode is the suicide of a person stated to be victim of the gang which allegedly lured several persons into sex traps and used their videos to blackmail them for money. The gang is, of course, comprised of many pimps and hooligans, other than the two women. Then, where are these guys? Except one Jayachandran none is seen in Channels. Otherwise to say channels  have no interest in showing those nasty guys except showing the two women-one in dark  and other in white- allowing viewers to enjoy sex with their mind's eye.

The police version that two women have played a key role in the scam is unbelievable and is indented to protect someone from politics, cinema or other business.

It is a pity to see that even sex workers have not turned up to render a helping hand to these two women. Their association can, at least, ask to stop exhibiting these two women. The channel cameras that were running behind Saritha Nair a few weeks back are now restless before these two women. Kerala is sex workers’ own country. Some perform, some telecast and some others imagine  and enjoy!

K A Solaman

Idiocy has no limits

In today's troubled world, countries like North Korea provide much needed comic relief to the people. For instance, listen to the top-ranking North Korean military official. He has threatened the world with a nuclear strike on the White House and Pentagon. As it is not for the first time that North Korea made such a belligerent oratory there is no need to fear about any nuclear strike from N Korea. Though N Korea has conducted nuclear tests, their expertise in missile technique is insufficient to target a crow.

Dare they make any nuclear misadventure as threatened, the fall out would be catastrophic. To make N Korea a nuclear waste land S Korea alone is sufficient. Any attack to White House by N Korea would wipe out that country from the world map.
Heroism has limits but idiocy has not!

K A Solaman

No key role for UN

The United Nations Organizations is an integral part of the system of international relations and it is supposed to tackle global problems. However, of late, the United Nations does not play any key role in settling essential problems that occur in the world. The United Nations has no real influence in the world.  The latest events have given the United Nations the image as a toothless tiger. The appeal to Israel and Hamas by UN Security Council is unlikely to get a humanitarian resolve. The act of UNO waiting until the killing of thousands of  Palestinians and a few  Israeli soldiers reveals that it stands  for the interests of Israel.  

The people in Gaza strip are the sufferers and there is immediate need for provision of humanitarian assistance. More than 100,000 Gazans becoming refugee should become an eye-opener to all world countries.. The large-scale aggression by Israel on Gaza should be thoroughly condemned by the UN.

The United Nations is, in fact,  caught by the pressure from pro-war countries, mainly the United States. If UN is incapable of breaking war-mongers’  trap it would ultimately show to the world its ineffectiveness  to restore world peace.

K A Solaman 
The New Indian Express published on 6 Aug 2014

Disgraceful act.

Shiv Sena MP Rajan Vichare’s force-feeding of a chapatti into the mouth of a fasting Muslim employee in New Maharashtra Sadan is a heinous act as it hurt the religious sentiments of the employee. However if it is a reaction against the poor quality of food served, done unknowingly the religion of the employee, the wide spread agitation over this issue is unwarranted. Bringing religious sentiments to this subject has far reaching effect. The MPs should make provision for chapatis and sabji to the hungry millions below poverty line  elsewhere in the country and not force feed those ones who do not need it.  

As the NDA in power, there have been generated discussions on certain serious communal issues.  It is time to stop all arguments based on religious  matters and lets  us work towards the saving of our poor children. This country, in fact, does not want to see any more communal violence. Let us remember that we are not Hindus, Muslims, Christians or Sikhs but Indians. True Indians respect all religions

K A Solaman
The Hindu Business Line published on 25-7-20014

.

Tackle poverty

The common man’s eatery, the Indian Coffee House in Kerala, charge Rs45 for a masala dosa weighing roughly about 100g and a tea without sugar. According to the report, if one enjoys this luxury on one day, he is rich. This is like theformer Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit saying that Rs 600 a month was enough for a four-member family in Delhi to make ends meet

This sort of poverty classification is absurd. No one can live on Rs32 a day. There are better ways of drawing the poverty line These committees comprise only the rich and the influential and without representation from the poor, no committee can adequately decide on what constitute’s poverty.

K A Solaman

The Hindu Business Line published on 8 july 2014

Resistance to criminal rashness

Resistance to criminal rashness comes better late than never. That is what the Bar Council of Kerala has done by taking action  against Solar Scam Saritha Nair’s advocate Fenny Balakrishnan.  The counsel of the notorious criminal was performing like a body guard all the time and made innumerable media outbursts that are quite unbecoming of the profession of an advocate.
The act the Bar Council presents clear warning to those counsels indulging to whimsical practices in criminal jurisprudence.

K A Solaman
.

On destroying files

The Modi Ministry seems to be undertaking a whole lot of unnecessary jobs because of its brute majority. One such example is the destruction of 1.5 lakh files by the Home Ministry. This is a very questionable move. Taking just a minute or less to identify the historical importance of a file seems astounding. Why is there no process of digitisation? It is only after this that a decision on whether to destroy the original file or not can be taken. As far as the historical importance of a file is concerned, even the signature affixed on a set of papers could be of more importance than the text. The Modi government has to exercise caution before embarking on such actions. Any move to rewrite the history of India is detrimental.

K.A. Solaman, Alappuzha

The Hindu published on y 16, 2014

Need for day care centres for seniors

Senior citizens are at present a neglected lot and in most cases they are sent to old age homes. But the old age homes do not provide a safe and supportive environment for seniors who need care for the whole day. In day care centres seniors are attended well and day and programmes are arranged by a nurse, a geriatric recreation specialist and a  number of personal support workers. These centers provide relief to caregivers and family members who are caring for an elder in their home, as well as offering the senior a chance to get out of the house, socialize and participate in fun activities with others.

Generally men and women aged 65 and older are eligible to attend elderly day care. The average age of senior participating in day care programming is 72 and usually lives with a spouse, adult children or other friends or family members. It is found that approximately half of all participants in elderly day care have some type of cognitive impairment such as memory loss, and many of these seniors need support with activities of daily living such as personal hygiene and meal preparation.

Elder day care programs are to be located in nursing homes, community and senior centers, hospitals, schools and churches. Other locations include centers in shopping areas, rehabilitation centers and private homes. Day programs should operate Monday to Friday during the day. However, some  facilities may offer evening, holiday and weekend programming to accommodate caregiver schedules.

There are only limited day care centers currently operating across the state. In view of the growing demand public and private agencies can think of opening more day care centres or convert the present old age homes partly into day care centres. The government speaking volumes for the support of senior citizens can do something in this direction to lend a helping hand to them.

K A Solaman

Bold idea of self-attestation

In what may come as a major relief to citizens, the government of India has decided to do away with the necessity of filing affidavits from a gazetted officer or a notary for a big chunk of government-related work and instead to promote self-attestation of documents. The government may be congratulated for doing away with the necessity of filing affidavits from a gazetted officer.

In this regard I would like to be grateful to the Kerala  Public Service Commission for their clever  decision of doing away with attestation by gazetted officers years back. What is there in attestation when the appointment of a candidate is done only after verifying the certificates in originals?  The novel way of PSC, however, was not taken up by other public and private agencies causing immense hardship to applicants. And with the present decision the government has reduced the suffering of people especially from villages and remote areas.

The people who are annoyed of this decision may be notary babus, nevertheless, a person attesting his certificate is now himself responsible for any kind of fake information is a brazen idea.

K A Solaman

A poor catch for faithful

In any community one can find that only twenty percent of the people are trustworthy and all others are either careless or funny. These twenty percent people run a college,  a factory or a ministry. For clergies too this concept is applicable. For instance look at clergy run Christian weekly newspaper ‘Sunday Shalom’ carrying an editorial praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that Modi is God’s answer for Christians who prayed for the benefit of the country and for a good administration. The editorial stated that god will save the country and the Sabha through Modi. Till Modi’s incarnation they were praying for someone of Italian origin for country’s rule.

There are clergies who do even more funny things. For example, one clergy in Alappuzha who openly claims his direct connection with Jesus, had gone to bless the Arabian sea for a good catch for the faithful. Unfortunately the followers got little catch as all the HIndu fishes ran to the west and the sea became ferocious.  CBCI president Cardinal Cleemus Catholica Bava,  the patron of Sunday Shalom, however, is not that much imprudent.

-K A Solaman

On destroying files.

The Modi Ministry is doing all the unnecessary jobs because of its brute majority. One such job is the destruction of 1.5 Lakh files by the Home ministry. It is highly questionable. Taking just 45 seconds or less  to identify the historical importance of a file seems astounding.

It is important that all the files should be xeroxed and be made along with micro filming too. Then only decision to be taken to destroy the original or not. No one has time to see even the subject. As far as historic importance is concerned, for some people even the signature could be of more important than the text.

It would be better if the Modi Government to exercise caution before doing such actions. Any action to rewrite history of India would become detrimental to them too.

-K A Solaman

Poor educational practices in Kerala private colleges.

Academic activities in colleges across Kerala have been badly hit by large-scale vacancies in various faculties. Many colleges have been facing an acute shortage of teachers with several vacancies.

Though permission to various colleges to fill up vacancies has been given, they make it as good opportunity to collect money by way application money from innumerable job seekers. It is the practice of some private college managements to post none after conducting interview. The five member interview board with one government nominee and a subject expert is a farce as these members dance in tune with other three of the management in the board after getting a five star hospitality.  After the interview, posts are held vacant for always with no permanent faculty. The classes are then run by guest faculty with meager salary and hence managements can often notify the vacancy for collecting application money. The fee for single application for appointment in private colleges in Kerala about Rs 800 and if a college receives 100 applications for a single post it makes Rs 80000 per subject. If there are ten subjects the sum collected is Rs 8 lakh and that too without filling a single post. This ordeal is repeated and the losers are those candidates with NET qualification and Ph D.

The colleges engaging lecturers on contractual basis should be abandoned. Teaching is a noble profession that needs total dedication and  for which the guest faculty and retired teachers are unfit. It is high time for higher education department in Kerala to investigate the bad practices taken up by the private college managements.

A candidate from a different community appeared for an interview in a private college had to answer only questions of the sort: “Why did you waste money? Don’t you know our practice? Could you find any one in our colleges outside our community? So, take tea and leave the place. This job is not for people like you”.

All in the education sector know this but who cares?

K A Solaman

Poor man’s luxury!

The PMEAC Chairman C Rangarajan may be greeted with folded hands for his report that individuals spending below Rs 47 a day in cities and Rs 32 in rural areas would be considered poor. The common man’s eatery the Indian Coffee Houses in Kerala charge Rs 45 for a Masala Dosa weighing roughly about 100gram and a tea without sugar. As per the report if one enjoys this luxury in a whole day he is rich. This report is somewhat akin to the the finding of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit  that Rs 600 in a month is enough for a four member family in Delhi to meet their both ends.

In this context I would like to say that this sort of poverty classification is absurd. No one could live in this country with Rs 32 in a day. The actuality of purchasing power of citizen and other technical aspects should be applied to finalize such reports. There are better ways of drawing poverty line nevertheless, the Rangarajan Committee is not able to recognise the exact idea of poverty line.
The committees of the above sort comprise only the rich and the influential. And without poor man’s representation, no committee in India could demarcate  the rich and the poor with a sharp line.


K A Solaman

Weakness of Indian democracy

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari is never going to contest any election from Kerala and even if he decides so he will not get back the election deposit amount. That is why he says Centre will not extend any assistance under national highways programme if the Kerala government decides to develop NH stretches in the state at 30metre width instead of 45 metres.

Gadgiri does not know about the dense population in Kerala. Any move to widen the high stretch would certainly affect innumerable dwellers near the highway side. The Kerala government’s decision for four-lane of 30metre highways is to avoid the massive land acquisition that was needed if the width is 45m. Gadgiri saying that NHAI funds would not be available for NHs less than 45 m wide, is to discard the genuine requisite of the state and thereby to divert fund to his state.

Gadgiri like ministers not seeing the country as a whole is certainly a weakness of Indian democracy.

K A Solaman

Law Minister is wrong.

Regarding SC Judge appointment row too there is no difference between the last UPA Government and the present NDA government. Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s comment that the government has the right to be consulted on the appointment of judges is unwarranted. No one agree with this minister. And in this respect Chief Justice of India RM Lodha's remark that the government had acted unilaterally in segregating the name of former solicitor general Gopal Subramanium from the panel of four names recommended by the collegium for appointment as apex court judges, stands acceptable.

It is a fact that any ruling party at centre or state always wants to recommend officials in favour of them. This criterion if applied to judges it would become detrimental to Indian Judicial system. Therefore, the collegium and not the ministry should decide on selection of Judges whether it is for SC/HC judges. This would enable the judges to remain fully independent.

The law abiding citizens of the country are with the views of Chief Justice and not with the Law Minister. It is thoughtless on the part of NDA to take unwise decisions as done by the erstwhile UPA government.

K A Solaman

Cotton Hill School transfer row

The transfer row relating the Cotton Hill School, Thiruvananthapuram is quite unwarranted.  Seeking to settle the controversy emerged by the transfer of the Head Mistress Urmila Devi  of Cotton Hill  school  for criticising Education Minister, Government has revoked the orders and posted her in Model High School  in the city itself. Is it then just to punish the head of Model School by transferring him or her for a fault committed by someone else? Is there anyone, I mean a political party or communal outfit to hear the grievance to Model School HM?

Transfer of HM Urmila Devi  to a school near Attingal town, about 35 km from the city is not a big mistake. There are many employees in the State travelling every day more than 200km by train or bus to attend their duty. The controversy relating the transfer was politically motivated. The situation that there is none to speak for HM of Ayilam School, Attingal and Model School, Thiruvananthapuram is curious. Barring seniority all HMs are equal under government service. Nevertheless, it now appears that Urmila Devi is a super HM, having powers to downsize even  the Education minister of the State..

.Undoubtedly the CM and the Education Minister have made all the effort to settle the row. Had been this episode in LDF regime, Urmila Devi has to appeal the CM from Kasargod for the furor she created.

K A Solaman

Move to remove governors is bad

The BJP-led government’s move to remove governors of some states is autocratic and is against the democratic mores of the country. By doing so, the BJP government has put the first spade to dig its own grave.

If one looks back to the benefits the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi received by the  Shah Commission instated by then Janatha Party Government against her, no one would hastily act now to remove the governors in various states. The hurried action of Modi Government is an act of political revenge rather than fulfilling its election assurances.

Removing governors after change of government brings a bad precedence even if UPA government had in 2004 replaced some governors appointed by the previous NDA government. Governors’ post being a non-political one it is imprudent to remove them after a change of government.

K A Solaman

Imperceptive participatory effort.

Bizarre are the ways of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to check the ever increasing power consumption in the state. One is their advice to all its consumers to switch off unwanted lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to participate in the Earth–Hour campaign in the month of March. None, including the ministers observed it. Ministers’ residences registered an extra consumption on that day- an RTI query replies.

Other one is the arrangement of KSEB to distribute energy-efficient Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL). As such, the CF lamps thus distributed have become a toxic waste creating health hazards. The KSEB keeps no data on power savings on that way with CFLs except the commission the board has accrued by way of purchasing sub-standard gadgets for consumers.

And now with football fans planning to stay stuck to TV sets to catch the FIFA show, KSEB officials demand for a ‘participatory effort’ from consumers. The consumers have to save power in advance to get uninterrupted power supply from 9.30pm for watching the World Soccer. Grippingly, no one one is going to heed the KSEB as the consumers have had bitter experience from the board by way of meter charge, un-informed power cuts, poor service, and poor consumer redressal. The KSEB should learn first to exert a pull on the heart of consumers and then ask for a participatory effort.  

K A Solaman 

KSEB offices in danger!

We have Computer, Internet, Facebook, Twitter, Mobile phone and what else.  And what for these gadgets without electric power- a Kerala  facebookian laments.   This bewail would soon turn into an outburst or even clash  because of power failure that disappoint football aficionado in the State as they would miss the FIFA World Cup matches.

According to the scheduled load shedding, power cuts of duration of 45 minutes to one hour daily take place between 6.30 p.m. and 11.15 p.m. in different parts of the state. In all, 24 matches of the FIFA World Cup are being played at 9.30 p.m. (Indian time), which includes two quarter final matches. Given the load shedding schedule, many may not be able to watch the matches unless back up power supply or generator is available.

In most cases people watch TV only when there is no power cut. Though the load shedding schedule is informed in advance, consumers are annoyed with uninformed power cuts. And any such occurrence during the live telecast of World Football would take fans to nearby KSEB offices which would, no doubt, turn into unprecedented incidents this time.

K A Solaman
The New Indian Express published on 14-6-2014

Good decision, but...

I welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance to improve agriculture productivity through modern farm techniques and thereby to check price rise. To bring food prices under control price stabilisation fund, setting up of special courts to deal with hoarding and black marketing, unbundling of the Food Corporation of India and establishment of national agriculture market, are good decisions.

However, unless we abandon Oil & Gas Companies regime in India all the wise decisions visualized would become futile. The price of oil and inflation are often seen as being connected in a cause and effect relationship. As oil prices move up inflation follows in the same direction. That is, if the price of oil rises, it raises price of essential commodities and thus inflation.

Oil and gas producers in India are now asking the government to allow the market to set prices. If permission is given in that direction all efforts of the government to contain price rise go in vain.

K A Solaman

Touching gesture

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a noble gesture by discouraging anyone from touching the feet — whether his or of other senior leaders of the party. In doing so, he took a dig at the Congress. He has also advised the newly-appointed MPs belonging to the ruling party to stay humble and work hard. Modi has ordered the MPs to spend as much time as possible in their constituencies and not waste their time in Delhi when Parliament is not in session.

Modi had said that it pains him if someone touches his feet. The idea, according to the BJP, is to end the culture of sycophancy that has been a part of Indian politics for decades. In his 20-minute address, Modi, who is also the BJP leader, reminded his partymen that they are no longer in the Opposition, and, as elected representatives of the ruling party, they need to remain grounded and be alert at all times.

Modi’s speech centred around what the party lawmakers should do, in light of the fact that the new Lok Sabha has the maximum number of first-time MPs, including Modi himself. He asked the party MPs to attend Parliament sessions regularly and be well-prepared to participate in debates. It remains to be seen whether the BJP MPs will pay heed to Modi’s advice or follow in the footsteps of the outgoing members.

K.A. Solaman,  Kerala

The Telegraph, Calcutta published on 10-6-14

OBNOXIOUS ATTITUDE

Mulayam Singh Yadav’s comment that “boys will be boys” and that they “make mistakes” is quite obnoxious. He stooped to new lows by saying “Rape accused should not be hanged. Men make mistakes”. In the context of such comments, what Indian women need is self-defence training and what men need is sex education.

The girl behind closed doors is equally at risk as the girl on the street. Rape has nothing to do with culture. It is an odious crime. It is high time we punished rapists and also those who plead for them.

KA Solaman

The Hindu Business Line Published on 10-6-14

Boys should not be rapists.

The SP supremo Mualayam Singh Yadav’s comment that "boys will be boys" and that they "make mistakes" is quite obnoxious. He stooped to the floor by saying. "Rape accused should not be hanged. Men make mistakes”. Stupid comments of this sort would come from politicians if their daughters, wives and sisters are not get raped. These politicians are unsighted with the power they cleave to.

And in the backdrop of such senseless comments by politicians, what Indian women need is some self-defense training and what men need is sex education. The girl behind the closed doors and curtains is equally at risk like the one walking in the street. Rape has nothing to do with culture. It is an odious crime done by men who are uneducated, inebriated, and self-centered.

So it is high time to punish the rapists and also the politicians who plead for the guilty. Nonsensical politicians should be restricted from insulting the whole womenfolk which includes their women kin.

K A Solaman

Modi’s noble gesture.

That is a noble gesture from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  He advised BJP MPs to remain humble and visit their constituencies regularly and not touch his feet. Asking MPS not to touch his feet is an act of humility. And it is also an indirect corrective step shown to all Amma Chief Ministers(present and ex) elsewhere in the country.
Once elected to law making bodies the MPs and MLAs forget to contact people in grass root level and often ignore their responsibility. If PM’s gesture makes the MPs more humble and responsive it would become an added advantage to the country.

Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues-Confucius

K A Solaman

Prostitute should not rule the roost

Woman prostitutes should not be allowed rule the roost. There is no political situation now in Kerala that requires Congress MLA Abdullakutty to step down in the wake of solar accused Saritha Nair’s allegations against him. A person facing accusations is not an accused. He becomes indicted only when all the accusations are proved in a court of justice.
It is to be noted that all the laws are ostensibly meant for protection of the hypothetical weak sections and they are blatantly abused by pretenders to the title of 'weaker section'.  The victims have scarcely any defence or remedy. The laws should not create bias and prejudice. They should not reduce the chances of justice being delivered in genuine cases. A humanitarian approach is, therefore, needed in the case of A P Abdullakutty MLA.

 "All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!", the Bible says.

K A Solaman

Hallmark of Modi Government.

Rashmi Thackeray, wife of Uddhav Thackeray, with (right) Nita Ambani at Narendra Modi’s swearing-in

Corporate conciliation of Modi Government will not be different from that Manmohan Singh Government. The indication in this direction is not alone the money spent by Modi Inc for election propaganda but the representation from Corporates, which was like never before, at the swearing-in of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.

Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita were seated in the third row with a ringside view of the proceedings. And the couple’s sons, Akash and Anant, were seated next in the same enclosure. The other Ambani offspring, Anil drew attention to him by accompanying with wife and mother Kokilaben. Representatives of organizations speaking for businesses, both big and small, were represented prominently. They too had ringside views of the formation of a new central government.  Gautam Adani, who had allegedly enjoyed Modi’s patronage when he was Gujarat chief minister, was a notable figure. Adani Company shares were sky rocketed with Modi’s win. Adani was accompanied by his wife. Other prominent industrialists who attended the event were Kumar Mangalam Birla, telecom czar Sunil Mittal, Jet Airways owner Naresh Goyal, and Essar group chairman Shashi Ruia.

The sign is; like Manmohan Singh Government, Corporate governess will be the hall mark of Modi Government too.

K A Solaman

May Greetings!

Pillai’s gimmicks

The CM Ommen Chandy may be congratulated for saying: “Pillai can do whatever he wants. If he has the letter of statement of Saritha, let him release it. Let’s wait for the reshuffle till then”.

 It is of late the habit of Poojappura returnee and the dim-witted Pillai to come with all abuses against the government in which he is also a part as chairman of the State Forward Communities Welfare Corporation.  This superfluous chairman post was created to satisfy Pillai when there was an unceremonious exit of his son Ganesh Kumar from the cabinet because of  some issue relating women trafficking.  Ganesh divorced his wife with a price and now Pilli argues that his son is fit as fiddle for the post of minister. If Pillai’s party with single MLA is given a minister ship along with the chairman post of the State Forward Communities Corporation, it would turn out as an injustice to all other coalition parties. Then it would create further turmoil.

Pillai has a bad notion that there is none in Kerala politics to outshine him and he is even prepared to blackmail the government with what is called a letter from Solar  scam accused Saritha. And with the statement of the sort given by Oommen Chandy the gimmicks of the Pillai would come to a halt.

K A Solaman  

Are they talking less, working more?

That was in June 2012 the Kerala government asked its employees to restrict personal calls during working hours and for that the government had been congratulated from various corners.  State government has issued this order when its employees were mostly seen glued to their cell phones. Office computers were used for listening to music, for playing games and occasionally for searching pornographic sites. This spoiled the public’s impression of the government and hence the government imposed a ban on personal calls at work for its employees.

However, if one wishes to check  the situation in public offices he would be bewildered to see that no change has been taken place . On the other hand the employees are now equipped with smart phones, the application of which is far from that in 2012. The employees are busier with their cell phones at working hours.

 It is the practice of the government to issue well-meaning directives to their employees. But most of these instructions are ignored. Only a very few employees would take the order of this sort  seriously and end their private conversations during office hours.

It is true that the extensive use of cell phones at work creates a major distraction for the employees and causes utmost inconvenience to people visiting government offices to avail themselves of some service. But no order from the authorities would be able to solve this unless a follow up action is undertaken by the government. The staff will not voluntarily switch off their gadgets while on duty unless a random surprise check is made in offices. Other wise, directives of the above sort would turn out as meaningless gestures.

K.A. Solaman