Kiss of chaos.

Mark Twain said: “Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of humour itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humour in heaven”. Yes it is true in the case “kiss of love” protest in Kochi. The agitators have turned city into a hell of chaos with sorrow and humour. Some faces seen in kissing are not that much good for the act. In fact the kiss-chaos guys need some crude publicity. Next these people would argue that they would engage in more public nonsense. Their public kiss would move from cheek to lip to neck to where else and they tint that everyone opposing them as cavemen.

The kiss of love sponsors have close parallelism with Hippies of the 60s.  Hippies, by their dress, and lifestyle had seriously offended and outraged the society. They were dispensed with boring middle class customs such as bathing, neat dressing, and family discipline and outraged the conservative members of society. Nevertheless, the Hippism was finally wiped out from the globe.

If a person and his friend are in love and kissing, why should passersby is forced to witness personal act? The kiss-of-lovers are holding their rally without permission. It means they do believe in societal anarchy for negative publicity.

K A Solaman

Wise decision by Governor

Congress party of Kerala launching a political war against Governor P Sathasivam, over his intervention as Chancellor in the issues relating the universities in the State is unwarranted. Congress vice-president MM Hassan saying that Governor’s act is against law is surprising. Does it mean that Hassan knows laws and Governor doesn’t? Sathasivam’s intervention is never an infringement upon the powers of the Government instead it is a well-thought decision to save the universities. There should be some measures for the smooth functioning of the institutions and unperturbed conduct of examinations.

Hassan is known for his rhetoric against hartals but when one occurs with the sponsorship of Congress outfits Hassan leaves out. It is a curse that when someone tries to do good for the state the daft politicians place all sort of ruckus.

This discretion of the Governor as Chancellor to intervene in varsity affairs has always been there. Then what is wrong if a governor takes a wise decision?

K A Solaman

Dead rat has no place in Swacha Bharat

It was a hopeful act by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi to emulate all India sweepers to take up a scheme to clean the country. And with this the market has witnessed a huge price surge for broom! Nevertheless, one could not see any sincerity in the act of former minister and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor joining Modi by holding a dead rat at a cleaning program in Vishinjam. The ex-minister who opts to stay in luxury hotels and ridicules cattle-class flight travellers never will do such common man’s act honestly. Tharoor holding a dead rat in his hand can be viewed as his indirect protest against KPCC which has made a complaint against him for endorsing Modi's 'Swachh Bharat' campaign. 

Tharoor has some hitches with the mysterious death of his third wife and any help out from Modi would be advantageous to him. The Congress, by holding this UN returnee in their wagon for quite long, was doing a foolish act.

K A Solaman 

It is loot money in Swiss banks

It is welcome to see that the NDA government has started filing charges against individuals having illicit accounts in Swiss banks. The move has set off speculation that some prominent politicians may figure on the much-awaited list.  Nevertheless, no disclosure to the sort would likely to happen because black money holders are not belonging to a single party.

In fact the politicians, both ruling and opposition want to block the release of the names. It means our legal system is very poor and flawed. The country for quite long is a property for politicians to loot and keep the loot else where. The better place to keep the loot money  is Switzerland as they keep safely and it is the way of their income.

 The politicians looting the country are more treacherous than underworld dons. If the Modi government, sticking to its election promise, releases the names, it will be a great deed for the nation. All those black listed should be debarred from politics for ever and send to jail, like in the case of former Tamil Nadu CM J  Jayalalithaa. The loot money should be confiscated and declared as national treasure. The Parliament should propound strict laws where no politician could loot the nation any more.

K A Solaman
The New Indian Express published on 25-10-2014

Clean India campaign.

It is promising to see the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi taking up the scheme to clean the country. Modi has absolutely kept a tally over his predecessors by initiating this campaign and making many celebrities join his drive for a noble cause. Though politically in opposite pole, the CPM leaders in Kerala like T M Thomas Isaac MLA has followed the footprints of Modi by starting his clean campaign in a school toilet in Alappuzha.

We often are pleased about western countries for their hygiene and of course leaders returning after a visit to Singapore and similar places have mouthful to say about cleanliness, but often  they do not bother to realise the people to keep the streets clean . It is our primary duty to maintain a clean atmosphere not only in our homes but also in streets.

We should also have neat toilets on the road side and see that people are actually using them. Our children should also made to understand the value of a clean surroundings.

K A Solaman

Notable work by Thomas Isaac MLA

Whatever   be the kick-back  by his fellow comrade G Sudhakaran it was a noble work by  T M Thomas Isaac MLA to clean the toilets of a nearby school in Alappuzha.The MLA was inaugurating a cleanliness project, which was about to be undertaken by the Aryad Block Panchayath staff. The MLA’s initiative persuaded the onlookers to join in and all the toilets of both boys and girls of Kalavoor school were cleaned up.

Though there are sweepers and scavengers in schools, none is cared to keep toilets clean. The heads of the institution are often reluctant to ask the sweepers to keep the school clean because of the union might of the latter. The immediate visit and attempt to clean the school premises by MLAs place much responsibility on the l employees to keep the school clean. Along with this our politicians including Panchayat-Municipal members should take action to keep the streets  also clean. The useless E- toilets should be replaced by manually operated pay and use toilets. The fish venders polluting the entire street should be shifted to fish markets. The people working under RGWGP should be deputed to clean the streets instead of asking  them to do job in privately owned properties.  

 The MLA’s work was  notable and he should be congratulated for the same.

K A Solaman

Unnecessary remark

Cine  singer K J Yesudas’ remark that women should not cause trouble to others by wearing jeans is unwarranted . Yesudas is now at 74 and this jarring comment is an old age hue. Wearing jeans is  better than wearing a skirt, or sari.

In fact  the celebrity like Yesudas could speak more on subjects which boost the development of the state rather than  petty issues like wearing jeans by women or bermuda by men. Let the celebrities focus on matters which really need attention rather than ensnaring ourselves on hollow subjects and interfering in someone's personal life.

K A Solaman

In TN, leader’s popularity is a measure of deaths.

It is a further setback for the TN former CM Jayalaltihaa to stay in prison as the vacation bench of the Karnataka high court adjourned plea for bail to October 7. The counsels favoring Jayalaithaa staging dharna in front of the court is unwarranted. 

My concern is about the killing of people after the special court in Bangalore convicted Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case. It is reported that at least 16 people committed suicide or died of cardiac arrest across Tamil Nadu. Two people have been hospitalized with severe burns. A thorough enquiry should be conducted to find the exact reason for these deaths. There are stories of planned killings as self immolation. 
  
The people of TN, in fact, are emotionally charged by politicians and they are usually instigated by fellow citizens that prompt them to go for suicide. Moreover the leader’s popularity is measured by the number of deaths and the intensity of agitations over the arrest. Had the common people any sense, they should enquire any higher-ups have resorted to this kind of extreme step. The role of leaders and the media are also found responsible for not taking any defensive steps to prevent these stoppable deaths.
There should be a law to further penalize the convict in prison to compensate the loss of lives caused by the poignant electrification by the politicians.

K A Solaman  

Wrong move by the government

The Kerala Government move  for disinvestment of 26 per cent shares of State-owned public sector undertakings (PSUs)  for mobilising Rs.1,000 crore to rein in the revenue deficit,  is in the wrong direction. The proposal if implemented would have far-reaching consequences and set a mistaken example.
The Finance Department of Kerala is a poorly run one.  The very instance is, their deploying of police, excise, and sale tax staff on highways to extract money from passengers. In order to protect the government interests, there are better ways other than selling earnings made by our ancestors. If not checked, this government would sell land and other properties owned by government colleges and other public sector institutions.

The government could not sell loss making establishments as there are little takers for them, It can sell only profit making ones. Absence of a professional management in public sector establishments is the fault of the government. The unaccountability of the staff there may be another factor.
The ministry which is in power for a short span of time has no right to sell the public properties. The move should be out rightly opposed.

K A Solaman

New government college

It is a welcome step on the part of the Kerala Government to start a Government college at Elanthoor in Pathanamthitta district. The college will provide opportunity to poor students who are unable pay hefty sum as fee in the neighbouring self financing colleges.  Now there are only three courses B.Com, BSc (Zoology), and BA (Malayalam) courses with a strength of 132 student. Classes are handled by guest lecturers.
Guest lecturers are a handicap of all educational institutions where the students are denied better educational facilities. So the faculty should be furnished with permanent teachers and more courses.
The UDF government at the time of  inception has promised  a government college in each taluk and presumably the Elanthoor college is the first of its kind. It is, therefore, the accountability of the government to start government colleges in every taluk and that too with full pledged facilities.  What we need a complete college and not a namesake college.

K A Solaman

Total ban or abstinence?

In Kerala there is no liquor ban. Liquor is available in beverages outlets and in bars. Another intoxicant toddy is also available in every nook and corner of the Kerala What will be now in Kerala to happen is a bar ban and not liquor ban. The term ‘liquor ban’ is thus a misnomer.

A few political and communal leaders consider that total liquor ban is impractical in Kerala. According to them what we need is not a total ban but abstinence from alcohol which should be achieved through planned awareness programmes. This observation about abstinence is rather illogical because awareness programmes that started from the time of Sree Narayana Guru reached nowhere. The most laughing matter is, the Guru founded organisations are now headed by advocates of liquor.

I endorse the comment of KPCC President V M Sudheeran that “Sree Narayana Guru’s followers should work towards the success of the new liquor policy”.

It is the common people to understand the hazard of liquor consumption and to work for the success of the bar ban. The financial crisis now experienced in the State is not of liquor policy as it is yet to be implemented.

K A Solaman

By-election results

It might be no exaggeration to say that after the Lok Sabha election, most BJP leaders have become intoxicated with power. Right-wing elements seem to be calling the shots. The Lok Sabha result was for Mr. Modi as Prime Minister as India wanted a strong leader. The issues that formed the core of past BJP governments at the Centre should not be brought up again. India has changed.

K.A. Solaman, Alappuzha

The Hindu Published on 19-9-2014

Bleak financial management

The Kerala government hiking taxes on liquor and tobacco products, water charges, land registration and stamp duty in a bid to tide over a financial crunch is deadly against the interest of common people of Kerala. Any hike in tax would definitely affect all people and not alone the rich as the CM  claimed. A company chairman staying in a  VIP suit of a luxury hotel or travelling in VIP class, meets the expense by selling the company product mostly to common people. This means a learned minister saying that ‘hiking plane ticket will not affect common man’ is absurd 

The new tax burden of over Rs.2,000 crore now placed on Kerala people has no justification as it is outside the budgetary provisions. The many time Finance Minister K M Mani has proved once again that his financial management is utterly hopeless.

It is learnt that the CPM planned launch a massive protest against the present tax hike. This would mean that Mani’s last wish to become the CM of Kerala has met with an abrupt end.

K A Solaman

Bypoll reverse

Bypoll reverse is a warning signal to BJP Government. After Lok Sabha Elections most of the BJP leaders have gone into snooze and some have became power intoxicated. Many of them have become tools under the communal dictates of RSS. Being in power at Centre, the BJP workers have changed their attitude towards voters. They rather started to think as masters than servants of people.

It is a fact that the Lok Sabha election was for Modi as PM because India needed a strong PM, who is able to air views on various world problems. Modi has proved his ability by his style of governance. The financial inflow from Japan and China is truly the hand pick of Modi. People need a brawny centre and in any case Ram Temple at Ayodhya should not be the pressing issue.

K A Solaman

Ground-breaking soubriquet!

Kerala Governor Justice P Sathasivam suggesting that there is no need to use epithets like 'His Excellency' while addressing him is not a revolutionary idea. He suggests that the soubriquet ‘Honourable’ can be used instead of ‘His Excellency'. And when the demarcation between the two is very narrow one could not comprehend the need for such a 'radical'change.

Further, the successor of Justice Sathasivam need not adhere to this new ground-breaking brand! 

K A Solaman

Kerala Liquor prohibition, an absurd drama.

The CM of Kerala Oommen Chandy has ordered a ban on the sale of alcohol in all non-5 star outlets in the state and a liquor prohibition in stages completing after ten years. On hearing this there on the go fierce discussion drill in channels about a total ban. Is there any total ban? Nothing of the sort.

This episode somewhat resembles the story of yet another Chandy of Cherthala suburb. Much before Christian clergies started to preach laity to procreate more Chandy of Cherthala recognised the importance of more children. He and his wife Sosamma have 12 children. When all the children were studying in school and colleges on every morning there was a big quarrel among children to get the only iron in the house to press their uniform. On seeing this Chandy would come forward and throw the iron to their pond to keep it safe. The quarrel of the children would thus come to an end. Here the liquor ban is the iron and all ministers and leaders are the children. The CM by imposing a total liquor ban has stopped the quarrel among ministers.  

I don’t think that there would be any loss of revenue due to liquor ban. If only 20 percent of the revenue is obtained from bars this could be compensated from the additional sale of liquor in Beverages outlets. And if 7500 bar tenders lose their job another 15000 thousand would get job as bystander before Beverages outlet queue. Many clients of the closed bars would employ people on daily wages to get their quota from outlets. The tourists coming to Kerala are for seeing lakes and lagoons and not to remain inebriated all the time.

The claim of government that a strict ban will reduce crime rates and make the streets safer for women is wrong as there is no liquor ban in the state. What the government should do is to come down heavily on the drug and illicit liquor mafia that are exploiting the younger generation. Implementation of complete liquor ban, as many vociferously converse, is never could be seen in any part of Kerala in immediate future. A period of 10 years is not a short span of time.

K A Solaman

PM’s speech on Teachers day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s live television address on the occasion of Teachers’ Day was impressive. However, students and teachers in many schools in Kerala lost the opportunity to watch the speech because it was not telecast in the official ViCTERS channel of IT@School. Victers channel is in fact is a poorly viewed channel and it lost an opportunity to reach a wider section of the society.

It was an accusation by some political parties in Kerala against Modi to use Teachers day to play politics to air saffron ideology, but in fact, by denying telecast through Victers, the Kerala UDF played tricky politics.  Actually Modi inspired students and teachers by effectively mixing interesting anecdotes from his childhood and issues such as environment protection and teachers’ responsibility.

Once a person becomes a Prime Minister, he is the PM of all and not of a section of the people and this fact has been forgotten by the Kerala rulers.

K A Solaman

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

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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
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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