China’s assertiveness to help Pakistan?

By O.J.George

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has admitted to the fact that China is a little more assertive than in the past about border matters and the intention is not decipherable.

Taking the close links China has with Pakistan into consideration, no doubt, it wants to put pressure on India in its dealings with Pakistan.

And Pakistan, where all forms of the worlds’ known and unknown terrorists find harbour, is in a churning process, particularly as it is coaxed by the US to deal with terrorists sternly. So far Pakistan has been thriving with the help of terrorists who were in turn given a free run.

It is apparent the US will deal a deadly blow to terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan as per the plans disclosed by President Obama.

There seems to be some intriguing things going on in Pakistan in the security set-up. The nuclear button has been handed over to Prime Minister Gilani by President Zardari.
India has already expressed its concern on the possibility of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons. With the likes of A.Q.Khan and other elements functioning in Pakistan, it would be from that country that terrorists can lay their hands on nukes.

Pakistan appears to be scared that India might attack the country, for there are reasons like not taking action against terrorists who brought about the 26/11 attack in Mumbai.

China, which does not want India gaining an upper hand anyway, is trying to bully India one way or the other to put pressure on us so that we may not act against Pakistan.

China is building a lot of air-strips and strengthening military build-up close to the border with India. It knows that India has grown considerably since 1962 war with it.

Actually, it was in the best interest of Pakistan to keep good-neighbourly relations with India, but that country in receiving help from others mismanaged everything, providing safe haven for worlds’ terrorists. It is precisely this act which will go to its undoing one way or the other.

China’s diversionary tactics should not deflect the attention of India in dealing with Pakistan which lets loose terrorists against India.

Whether it was insider job or otherwise, nuclear mischief at Kaiga is serious

By O.J.George

Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar has said it is an insider job and there is nothing wrong with the working of the Kaiga nuclear plant in North Karnataka, about 450 kms from Bangalore.

It was quick reaction on the part of the authorities to mitigate the situation. And to mollify the victims and the people at large, this was indeed plain relief,
As many as 55 workers who drank water were taken ill and hospitalised. Tritium levels in them were high and now they are normal.

The radioactive tritium contaminated in their body has gone out with urine and perspiration. Nature’s provision indeed!

Is it possible to simply wave it off as an act of mischief on the part of some workers to contaminate the water cooler with tritium? Where did they lay their hands on the radio active isotope of hydrogen? Is it that easy to fetch the dangerous substance as one secures stationery from the office?
It is better to identify the mischief monger and his/her accomplice/accomplices and root out the source of trouble.

In the nuclear age, unless the materials are safely kept, these tiny matters put in a reservoir or river or stream can make the lives of millions miserable.
We see workers wearing security gowns, caps and the like in such work places, but the fact that dangerous elements lurk among them is not conducive to maintaining the general health of the people.

No doubt the terrorist angle should also be probed and the authorities seem to have taken serious note of it following the decision to press into service intelligence agencies, local and national.

Terrorists issue warning like this when there is strong action against them. Now there has been an attempt to nab LeT operatives of Indian origin from Bangladesh. The country should be cautious about retaliation on such steps or otherwise like anniversary of attack in Mumbai.

Cows diseased, defy vaccination impact; where are the hi-tech cows from abroad?

By O.J.George

Macrobiotic system of food habits insists on not using animal milk by human beings, but milk consumption has been going up world wide.

In Kerala, the supply is not sufficient to meet the demands, for which we depend on Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The latest is that supplies from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are slow because of heavy intake by Amul company there itself.

The government has been speaking about new breeding policy and introduction of high-yielding variety of cows in Kerala.

In olden days we had Vechoor type of cows which yielded a litre of milk a day, but it was disease resistant and meagre grass consumer.

Later, for some years the Sunandini type ruled the roost and we had a lot of milk during the times. This variety also disappeared following a lot of problems, including low birth rate.

We tried, Jersy, Swiss Brown etc which yielded more milk, but the rearers were not able to take off very well.

Now there has been talk of bringing embryos from Israel, which had pioneered in cross breeding with its varieties with the Dutch Holstein Freisian.

Now these are Israeli Friesian which take on adverse conditions and still yield good amount of milk. This variety, if introduced here would yield 25 litres of milk a day, according to estimates.

But how are we going to manage the upkeep, medical attention and all?

Vechoor and nearby areas and many other places in Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Palakkad districts are hit by foot and mouth disease in cows.

Roughly 2,000 cows are affected in Kottayam district alone.

Authorities speak about providing vaccination of the cows against foot and mouth disease. The situation is far from satisfactory.

Either vaccination has not been done properly or the disease has become resistant. In that case, more powerful type of vaccination has to be found.

Introduction of cattle rearing as mere tool for poverty eradication would not provide an impetus for the sector to take off.

Those rearing cows and other cattle heads should be able to improve their standard of living with income from the farming.

The prevailing situation is far below the optimum standards required to popularise cattle rearing and achieve self-sufficiency in milk production.

How safe are we in Kochi and Kerala?

By O.J.George

We have solemnly observed the first anniversary of Mumbai attack by terrorists from Pakistan.

But by way of abundant caution, much needs to be done to ensure safety and security to the people.

Kerala has vast coastline and the latest threat of easy entry for terrorists is from the sea.

Take for example, Kochi. David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, arrested by the FBI in US, had visited Kochi before the Mumbai attack.

There is reason to disbelieve that they had alternative site plans for attack in various places of the country, including Kochi.

And mind you, anyone can barge into Kochi which has easy access to the port from the ocean.

Cochin Shipyard is of strategic importance to the country, for it is where INS Viraat, the air-craft carrier, is under reconstruction at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore.

It is expected to be on active service within two years as per the pace of refittings and renovations going on.

If the work is immobilized through an attack, its induction could be delayed by a decade.

Also Cochin Shipyard may build more aircraft carriers for the Navy, which calls for strengthening the security set-up.

Cochin Refinery stands strategic for our oil needs and an attack on the infrastructure could erupt into unmanageable explosions. Only CISF protection is available as of now.

What about Cochin international airport? It has the security blanket of CISF and private security, but can they take on the most modern weaponry of terrorists?

Kerala High Court is situated flanking the backwaters and the port.

Terrorists could attack Parliament, Mumbai’s institutions and the like. So far they have not been able to strike at any court. Attacking the courts would destabilise judiciary which is the strongest pillar of the constitutional entities.

Terrorist elements have issued a warning, they can burn bus, cause explosion at the collectorate in Kochi, nothing is beyond them. Did we take notice?

Satellite surveillance, commando service, strengthening of intelligence set –up and all are essentials that cannot be dispensed with.

As for terrorists, they lie low for some time, they have strong sleeping cells capable of rejuvenating at the beck of their dreaded masters. Eternal vigilance is the only way to ensure safety.

Dubai debacle would have cascading effect in Kerala, if not India

By O.J.George

Anand Sharma, the Commerce Minister, may be right in making a comment on the macro side of the fall-out of the Dubai debacle. On the whole, Indian economy, which is resilient, may withstand such pressures, but the economic recovery in full could be delayed.

It has been reported that 24 per cent of the remittances from abroad are from the UAE, Dubai being not the least unimportant.

Much of the remittances to Kerala are from the Gulf countries, no doubt, and the chaos in the construction sector in the UAE could have deleterious effect on the worker class of people from Kerala.Consequently, their remittances would come to a halt.

Already, the Dubai's financial health has come under scrutiny after Dubai World, a major, government-owned investment company asked for a six-month delay on repaying its debts.


Dubai World, which has total debts of $59bn (£35bn), is asking creditors for postponement of its forthcoming payments until May next year.

Dubai World has also appointed global accountancy group Deloitte to help with its financial restructuring.

The company has been hit hard by the global credit crunch and recession.
It was due to repay $3.5bn of its debts next month.

At one stroke, trading in the stock exchanges fell by over 500 points in India. Investors are scared of pumping in funds.

Incidentally, inimitable Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan has bluntly commented that Tecom, a Dubai company, which is dilly-dallying on setting up the Smart City project in Kochi, is short of funds and it is finding alibi to delay the work.

Tecom authorities do not agree with this view, but is there a grain of truth in the CM’s averment, now that the Dubai World has turned red?

The situation is not rosy, which makes it obligatory on the part of the government to implement supportive measures for the survival of the affected people.

Another attack like 26/11, India may not sit still

O.J.George

The dastardly attack in Mumbai on 26/11/2008 claiming the lives of 173 innocent people is remembered today on the occasion of the first anniversary.

Solemn and solid columns of Force One, other units, voluntary organizations, the people at large and people’s representatives have pledged to see that there would not be a repeat of 26/11/2008.

Both Houses of Parliament observed silence and commemorated the episode of cowardice.

A woman was seen on television channel espousing the idea as to why the countries in question sit together, ask questions face to face and settle the issues rather than shooting people to death.

She had lost her son and brother in the 26/11/2008.It was apparent she felt helpless.

But mind you, all terrorists everywhere on Planet Earth do not see reason. They don’t care if lives are lost, be these theirs or others'.

Eternal vigilance is the answer to the terrorists infiltrating into the country and wreaking havoc on innocent people just to show off that they would make normal lives miserable.

It is clear and no debate is needed to drive the point home that the country was not equipped to detect and deal with the terrorists at the nick of time.

In spite of all sorts of radars, eaves-dropping gadgets, intelligence units capable of intercepting messages and voices on mobiles, the terrorists, with support from agencies and personnel at an international level, barged into our metro city and just shot dead 173 people.

Thank God, the toll remained only this much, otherwise the cowards, armed with modern weapons and arms, would have gunned down more people.

We just thought people from other countries would not barge into the country like this for an act of attack in a metro city.

Perhaps the enemies were expected only on the borders. The lie has been exposed, terrorists can run riot anywhere.

Let the terrorists and those who fawn them be informed, another attack like this, they would have it whatever the consequences.

Home Minister P.Chidambaram has made it clear already. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh disclosed in Washington the other day that there was tremendous pressure on him to launch an attack in response to 26/11.

Can he withstand pressure next time? Definitely not, for he had said earlier Pakistan will have to pay a heavy price for the attack.

If miscreants among neighbours do not see reason, the consequences can be terrible.

Now it is clear there would be no rollback of the civil nuclear co-operation with the US

By O.J.George

US President Barack Obama has done the wonderful thing by declaring India as a nuclear power in his welcome address to Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh at the White House.

He has attached great importance to ties with India by hosting Dr Manmohan Singh as his first state guest during his Presidency and that has historical importance.

Critics both in India and the US have been silenced by Obama with the recognition accorded to India as a nuclear power, and now there can be no going back.

Countries like Australia and Canada which were reluctant to do business with India as a nuclear power would now see reason and toe the line set by the US, otherwise they would be the losers.

Recently, there has been criticism that Obama during his visit to China,super rated that country in the Asian region, to the chagrin of India.

Now the records have been made straight and there would be great going in strategic relations between the US and India.

India by becoming a responsible nuclear power with achievements in space explorations with much more in the offing cannot be ignored by the world at large. Its human resources could be used for the benefit of the world.

There would be increased co-operation in various areas like education, health, climate change steps, research, energy and so on, but the greater achievement is the enhanced level of perception for strategic relations.

Kerala Water ‘Authority’ should be changed as Water Service

By O.J.George

This may sound non-serious, but a name is a name and it denotes some characteristics.

The people working in the ‘Authority’ may think that there is no authority above them and that if they don’t show mercy, the common mortals would be denied of water that is the essential ingredient of life.

The other day, one ‘Authority’ man simply closed the water connection to the residence of T.J.Chandrachoodan in Thiruvananthapuram.

He is the national general secretary of the Revolutionary Socialist Party which is a partner of the LDF.

And RSP’s nominee, N.K.Premachandran, is the Water Resources Development Minister.

It was generous on the part of Premachandran, who is a well-meaning and affable person, to have called on the people at the residence of Chandrachoodan and pacified them.

This should be taken as an example to undertake reforms in the water resources service agency.

I was ignorant about the illegal protocol at the Water Authority offices until I had a problem.

Some work was undertaken by the panchayat on the road when the pipeline developed leak there. I promptly informed the ‘Authority’ about the leak and wastage of water. One person came and just closed the water connection to my residence.

I thought he was an employee of the ‘Authority’. After firing verbal expletives he took out a receipt book and ticked one entry. The slip was thrown into my residential compound.

The ticked item read the householder should do the work on the road to the satisfaction of the ‘Authority’.

The receipt has the printed designation of the engineer. The not-so-gentle man put ‘for’ and signed on behalf of the engineer and threw the slip into the compound.

Later it was known that the worker had nothing to do with Water Authority. He is a contractor engaged by the ‘Authority’. It was he who signed the order to the householder by way of the slip.

Areas are allotted to such contractors who go about extracting money from nearby householders if a leak develops on the public road.

A neighbour was forced to give Rs 3,000, a lady, for the work undertaken on the public road.

This is only one instance and there may be untold miseries suffered by the common man for getting water from the water ‘Authority’.

Such illegal practices should be summarily deleted from the service. The very name,’Authority’ is odious.

Convergence of heritage of two great nations as Manmohan Singh, Obama meet on Nov 24

By O.J.George

Whatever the long-past antipathy, the meeting between Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama on November 24 at the White House would reinforce the reckoning achieved by the two countries in the recent past.

India and the US are two great democracies and in spite of cultural differences, there are a lot of meeting points on fundamentals revolving round democratic governance.

The greatest asset of both the countries is that people enjoy democratic freedom, which is not that real in many other countries.

In spite of China making giant strides in development, industry, commerce and the like, that country cannot boast of democratic elections and enjoyment of freedom by the people.

Whatever the bonhomie the US and China have developed, there would always be the rider of absence of total freedom.

The US has the past sin of cosying up to Pakistan at the cost of relations with India. But it seems the US has learnt a lesson from the September 11 terror attack. Whether it admits publicly or not, the hide-out of various elements of terrorists is in Pakistan one way or other.

The governments in Pakistan from time to time failed to rein in the terror elements for fear of their being thrown out and so stability is lacking there. If some elements in Pakistan get hold of the nuclear weapons, they could terrify the world.

It is in the interest of US as well that terrorist elements in Pakistan are rooted out and Indian fears reckoned. The Afghanistan tangle also requires the participation of India.

India and the US by developing strategic relations, through the civil nuclear agreement and afterwards, there could be significant contributions in dealing with terrorism.

The US cannot expect India to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty as such, for it was to deal with this issue mostly that the civil nuclear agreement was executed.

Indirectly, it was reckoned as an accepted nuclear power. There can be no going back on it. No amount of pressure will move India sign on the dotted lines.

Mutual acceptance, strategic partnership and development together could mark the outcome of the Manmohan-Obama meeting.

Congress cannot keep off Muralidharan for long

By O.J.George

Now that a section of the Congress and some leaders of the party at the national level are keen to have K.Muralidharan, son of senior leader K.Karunakaran, back into the party-fold, it seems he cannot be kept at bay for a very long time.

Muralidharan has expressed his wish to be part of the Congress again and the party can put a lot of conditions to enable his entry. No one will object to a clear-cut rider being enforced for his entry to the effect that there can never be a return of the sort of mudslinging on leaders.

One should salute Karunakaran for the way he came back to the Congress. He apologized to Sonia Gandhi unconditionally. Muralidharan can also very well do that, simultaneously opening up some back channel communication.

Politics in Kerala is closely enjoined with social, cultural and even religious overtones. Karunakaran and his son had an active political life. Muralidharan cannot join any other party now. By closing the door to him, what is the Congress asking him to do? Should he take up some other profession? No, his life is in politics just as anyone else’s.

People may fear there would be return of the old style harangues. But that is too much of a fear, for politics is never a stagnant pool of activities. It goes on and on and evolves itself in one form or other.

A lot of developments are happening in the BJP, the CPM and other parties in tune with what is happening in their respective spheres.

The leaders of the Congress Party cannot hope to cling on like this, closing the door on Muralidharan, for the people at large would see the signs on the wall and call for inclusion.

And as far as Muralidharan is concerned, he should apologise to Sonia Gandhi for the wrong comments he had made in the past.

Bal Thackeray has become senile; Sachin should not have been touched

By O.J.George

Sachin Tendulkar is an international cricketer with unmistakable records in his kitty. Bal Thackeray, with his parochial views, is a puny figure before personalities like Sachin Tendulkar.

I can understand a lot of people expressing opinion that millions of people waste their time watching cricket on the television for hours together. Remember the Test cricket only days when people were forced to Wait for the Godot of results.

Now, of course, 50-overs ODI, and Twenty20 have come into being, and unending cricket melas have become something of immediate impact regarding results.

Well, a lot of people go head over heels enjoying the imperial game and there can be no objection even if one does not like it.

Does Bal Thackeray doubt the Marathi background of Sachin Tendulkar? Everyone knows that he is a Marathi. There is no doubt about it. But think about the national pride when Sachin said he belongs to 1.1 billion plus people of India. Mumbai, inhabited by all sorts of people, belongs to all of them.

Why should Bal Thackeray feel that Sachin was playing politics, for he was not, he was only projecting the One-Indian concept.

Hail Sachin Tendulkar for this comment.

Ban on private practice, weeding out ordinary patients from medical college would add to people’s woes

By O.J.George

If we think on a one-track dimension, ban on private practice of doctors, and driving out of ordinary patients from medical colleges would sound reformative.

Some may even think that these are revolutionary measures which would bring in an egalitarian society.

No doubt, all the ordinary mortals would be on the same wave length of untold misery. Mind you, this is tinkering with the healthcare sphere. After all, any human being has only one life. He or she would like to fetch the best medical attention from the doctors of their choice.

Availability of service is the most crucial aspect with regard to medicare. Till the other day, the medical prescription of a medical college doctor was available to the ordinary mortal.

Payment of Rs 100, or Rs 250 for a call was not that unaffordable considering the fact that the best possible solution to the life problem was being secured by any common man or woman.

The situation in district/taluk hospitals and primary health centres has been dismal considering the non-availability of specialized amenities.

At one go, all those who were getting treatment in medical colleges are being thrown out and left to the mercy of nothingness in district/taluk hospitals and primary health centres.

No doubt, when people find it impossible to get services in these entities they would be forced to go to private hospitals, risking the prospect of making huge payments.

And the private medical colleges in the state can have their way. There is no restriction on them.

Some so-called ideologues are misguiding the government and distancing the people from the LDF government.

The very same government is not extending salary revision allowed by the UGC to university and college teachers.

The UGC is giving the full additional amount initially, and there would be many avenues to fetch further assistance from it or the Central Government if the same is extended to the teachers.

Of course, the retirement age of teachers has to be extended.

Now the government is not sanctioning posts in colleges. Only guest teachers are appointed by the management. Since payment to them is not given by the government, there is no continuity. Quality of teaching will thus go down further.

Things are going from bad to worse in the health and education sectors.

What has gone wrong with the Left, particularly the CPM?

By O.J.George

It is high time the Left, particularly the Left, found out the real reason behind the debacle everywhere in the ballot battle.

There is no room for justification of the rout the Left has been facing these days. The Left means essentially the CPM and that party, which has a clear role to play in Kerala and West Bengal politics, should not fritter away the goodwill inbuilt in the minds of sizable sections of people.

Perhaps, a little change in the mindset could correct the degeneration, for which there should be the will to do it.

In Kerala, the CPM used to win by-elections, whereas the C ongress was able to win a by-election only rarely and that too in special political situations.
Now it has lost all the three bypolls in Kannur, Ernakulam and Alappuzha. Did the party err by going overboard in campaign tactics?

No party in Kerala can win an election with its own members and immediate kin. Kerala has a peculiar section of the electorate, which is not that vocal but is clear-headed and decisive about what should be done. It is this section that has been distanced by the party.

The situation in West Bengal is worse, for the CPM could not win a single of the five seats it contested. The Left Front was largely routed, except for a single win of a minuscule party. Trinamul-Congress combine won nine seats of the total 10.

Already there is clamour for a snap election in West Bengal by elements within the Left Front. Fisheries Minister Kiranmoy Nanda of the Socialist Party has called for fresh elections without waiting for the schedule in 2011. RSP says there should be discussion about it. Forward Bloc may not want to cling on if the CPM takes the decision for a snap poll.

But Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who betrays courage, says the by-election results are temporary phenomena. People had permanently decided to offer a five-year term for his government which should lead them till 2011. There can be any argument for clinging on.

No doubt, something is drastically wrong with the approach of the party, which should be offered a course correction, if need be.

The CPM has all along been discussing at various fora the need for corrective measures; no doubt it should not lose time in implementing the measures.

UDF registers convincing victory in by-polls, LDF has a long way to go

By O.J.George

The CPM-led LDF wanted to snatch one seat at least from the Congress-led UDF in the three by-elections of Kannur, Ernakulam and Alappuzha. Particularly, Kannur it had wanted badly, for the Congress candidate was former CPM whiz kid A.P.Adbulla Kutty.

The LDF and the CPM did not get what it wanted, for the Congress retained all the three seats. The LDF can have a minor consolation that its votebank has not shrunk compared to its performance in the Lok Sabha elections. True, Lok Sabha elections and Assembly election issues are vetted by the electorate differently.

Nobody expects V.S.Achuthanandan to fold up his business on account of the LDF debacle. Of course, he had contributed significantly to the campaign, badly hoping for a foray into the UDF fold.

Abdulla Kutty got a margin of 12,043 votes in Kannur, Dominic Presentation 8,620 votes in Ernakulam and A.A. Shukur 4,745 votes in Alappuzha.

Whether the margins have come down or not, a win is a win in the democratic set-up.The by-election results would definitely be a pointer to what is in the crucible for the Assembly elections in 2011.
There is nothing to speak against the conventional alternation of a UDF, LDF regime in the state.

CPM’s debacle is more pronounced in West Bengal. Trinamul-Congress combine has fetched eight seats out of 10 by-elections in West Bengal. The CPM has nothing to feel relieved, on the contrary, things appear to be very bad for the party. Mamata magic is working in favour of the Trinamul-Congress combine.

In spite of several constraints, democracy is deep-rooted in the politicalscape and we should be happy about it.

Will L.K.Advani simply fade away?

O J George

Those who want rejuvenation of the flagging BJP want the senior leadership to give way for younger blood to take up the reins to lead the party to greater glory.

BJP president Rajnath Singh and Parliamentary Party Leader L.K.Advani should step down and second rung leadership should come in, according to this argument.
Peeved at the dismal show in the Lok Sabha elections, the RSS is also keen to have new leadership for the BJP.

All this is easier said than done, for Advani is not that a throw-away. Perhaps, Rajnath Singh can be given some role and appeased.

After A.B.Vajpayee, who is keeping ill-health, Advani is the tallest leader, even though he had erred in his judgement to provide a softer side to his fundamentalism.

Sudheendra Kulkarni might have misled him into saying that Mohamed Ali Jinnah was a secularist. Now Jaswant Singh has gone a little beyond that, glorifying Jinnah and blaming leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru for partition.

The rout of the party in the Lok Sabha elections, causing disappointment for not forming a government of its own at the Centre, had spurred sections of the party and the RSS itself to take steps to streamline the party.

There was a call for the immediate replacement of Rajnath Singh, but he refused to cave in. He wanted to live out his tenure as the BJP president which ends in December this year.

Advani said on and off that he would give up the post of Parliamentary Party Leader. But that was not immediately implemented, but Sushma Swaraj was appointed deputy leader.

Now the RSS has made its plea louder, meaning Advani should also go. He may be given time till February to wind up business and fade away into oblivion.

Having said all this, with the second rung leadership at loggerheads with each other, exit of Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and the immobilization of Arun Shourie, it is a moot question whether people like Arun Jaitely, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu, could lead the party to greater glory.

Incidentally, RSS chief Mohan Bhagavat has observed the successors would not be from Delhi. That means all these people would be out of the fray. Maybe Nitin Gadkari, leader from Maharashtra or Manohar Parikar from Goa could be RSS’ pick. But then Parikar had called Advani spoiled pickles.

All the same will all the Delhiwallahs line up behind a junior leader? Most of all, will Advani who celebrated his 83rd birthday on Sunday walk into the sunset? Will there be a larger-than-thou image for him afterwards?

How easy it is to bridge gap by removing subsidies and increasing administrative prices!

By O.J.George

Let us be amused by the reports that appeared recently that IMF sold 200 tonnes of gold to RBI at $ 6.7 billion and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee intends to remove subsidies on fertiliser and oil.

On the one hand, the forex reserves are booming and the country can afford to buy about half of the IMF’s gold stocks. It is the same country which had sold its gold to the UK during the regime of Chandrashekhar to make payment of international bills. Surely, we have grown and that too substantially.

On the other hand, we are taking away the subsidy component of farming inputs like fertiliser and everyman’s requirement of oil. Of course, there is no harm in maintaining some sort of a balance, but without unsettling the kitty of poor people.

And the reckoning of poverty line itself is not sacrosanct to distinguish it from non-poor chaps. The purchasing power to have the essential amount of calories to sustain life is the determining factor for distinguishing between poverty and the absence of it. And there is something called rural poverty and urban poverty. The benchmarks for both are a little different. All the same, if the lifeline of calories is removed, such Homo sapiens would breathe their last.

All provisions of welfare are meant for the below the poverty line. And mind you, those above the poverty line are not that cosy. If Rs 100 is required to maintain essential amount of calories and if one has it, he is above the poverty line. We know it for a fact that there is not much difference between a person earning Rs 99 and another with Rs 100.And the 100-wallah is above the poverty line!!

Now we are selling off 10 per cent of profit making public sector units for sourcing funds for the national rural employment guarantee scheme. Fair enough, a lot of people would be benefited by the scheme. But that is not enough. The windfall gains, that too irregular, made by vested interests by the sale of 3 G spectrum amounting to thousands of crores of rupees, the unethical earnings of people like the Jharkhand man, Madhu Koda, crores of crores of money stashed by Indians, particularly politicians, in God-forsaken countries, Oh, what gargantuan amounts would be available for undertaking welfare measures for the ordinary mortals, had they been secured here. These are national assets pilfered by
Ek Din Ka Sultans.

We are going in for absolute capitalism, which has gains and pitfalls. All right let the rulers decide themselves for policies. But let them not turn a Nelson’s eye on the inbuilt welfare measures available in copy book capitalistic countries. We have not made a clarion call for implementing such measures here. NREGP cannot replace such welfare measures like sustenance allowance for the jobless and the jobs-lost, health schemes and the like.

Without implementing these, if the country goes in for removal of subsidies and increase in administrative prices, the situation would be callous for am admi.

No ill-will meant, only the musically-oriented should sing in films

By O.J.George

At the outset, it should be emphasised that there is no ill-will meant in the suggestion that only the musically-minded should sing in films.

Otherwise, the great mass medium would be hijacked by people of other resources with their music numbers, which would be revolting, when talented singers are available in plenty.

The latest info is that Meera Jasmine is going to sing in a film in which she is acting. Maybe, as demanded by situations, the actors can recite like Dr Ayyappa Panikker, Kadammanitta and the like.

A priest, who is a good church singer, made an anecdote about his visit to a church in America. He was visiting his relatives there and grabbed an opportunity to visit the nearby church on a Sunday hoping that he could join the congregation with his melodious singing. The church remained open on the dot. There were only very few members present for the church service. A very old priest presented himself at the altar, looked at the congregation and announced.”Let us start the service by saying Hymn Number…”.

Considering the poor attendance and dearth of people capable of singing a hymn, the priest most deservedly chose to say a song, rather than indulge in the farce of singing.

When people think about songs, their minds are attuned to Jesudas, Latha Mangeshkar, and the like. Replacing their role with others who are best suited to acting would vitiate creativity.

Music, singing and soporific strains are God-given. Others should not transgress their limits and make their foray into sacred space.

Some may say Mohanlal, Mammootty, Jayaram, Jagadish, Siddique, Innocent, Mala Aravindan, KPAC Lalitha, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Manju Warrier, Prithviraj have all made their presence felt as singers in films.

But anyone can say they cannot be compared with those who are blessed with music and singing professionally.

Recitation is okay, but let us not burden the audience with cacophony.

There is a season for everything; and times look bad for the BJP

By O.J.George

The BJP at the national level is not thriving, and the only BJP government in the South, led by B.S.Yeddyurappa, is in the doldrums with infighting.

The party is yet to mollify Vasundhara Raje Scindia, the Opposition Leader in Rajasthan, who had been asked to quit following grievous rout in the Lok Sabha elections, and she demitted office belatedly seeking reinstatement at the Centre. The rapprochement is yet to come into being.

There are strong views within certain quarters of the party opposing continuance of L.K.Advani as Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha as well as Rajnath Singh as BJP president. The present situation, appearing to be a solution, is that they will live out their respective terms and then burn themselves out.

RSS sarsanghchalak (supremo) Mohan Bhagawat has been of the firm view that there should be change of guard and younger blood should take over. However, he has not been game for imposing a leader for the BJP by the RSS. That stance is, in fact, noble, something not usually prevalent in outfits which have deep roots in the national social milieu.

Fair enough, but the party has not been able to revive itself by any means. Lately, Sushma Swaraj, Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, who had sworn to shave off her head as a widow if Sonia Gandhi became Prime Minister even as she had secured people’s mandate, has now caved in and admitted to the fact that it is bad times for her party.

Elevation of Arun Jaitley as BJP parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha has shattered some others like Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and the like. Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha are out of the party and Shourie is on the brink of falling off, unless he is offered something plum.

It is a sorry state of affairs that a party which had not any grips of governance in the South all these years, is letting go the opportunity provided by the people to govern them in Karnataka. Of course, B.S.Yeddyurappa had won the hearts of the people because he was let down by Deve Gowda by not supporting him as promised earlier for the second stint of governance last time. Gowda’s party enjoyed powers for the first half and then shunted him. The people did not forgive him for that and governance was offered on a platter to Yeddyurappa.

Now infighting has bedevilled the party and there is a clarion call for replacement of Yeddyurappa at the behest of Bellary brothers- Janardhana Reddy and Karunakara Reddy, who are mining magnates. Many of Yeddy’s rivals want Speaker Jagadish Shettar to be made the Chief Minister.

Talks by Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj, Anantkumar with various sections of the party leaders in Karnataka have not borne fruit. It seems the Bellary Brothers want the scalpel of Yeddy.

Curbs on the media would not work out

By O.J.George

Kerala, iconising Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai, cannot have Pravda (Truth-Russian), Izvestiya (News-Russian), Granma (Cuban) type newspapers and their way of reporting, controlled by the Big Brother.

Kerala is a place where anyone can talk and walk for any number of hours on all conceivable subjects. The writers know the extent of liberalism available to them, and they don’t cross the borderline. A few Smart Alecs break the golden rule once in a while, and they are outrightly condemned.

The latest missive from the government is to its own departments to size up the dimensions of divulging information to the media. The persons responsible for the respective departments should secure prior approval for divulging information. Perhaps the departmental heads and information officers can give out the programme details of ministers and party functionaries!

In actual practice, curbs on the media would only boomerang on the authorities, for diktats are double-edged weapons.

When official sources refuse to divulge pure information, there would be speculation bordering on hearsay and untruths.

Would it be enough if the newspapers and media report information supplied by so-called worthies like N.Madhavankutty? He had said on television channel something like this. ‘Neither me nor the party was convinced by the explanation of Sebastian Paul regarding media syndicate’. His professional background and practices are not worthy of emulation, and if someone follows the advice, coming from them galore, the atmosphere would be vitiated.

There is something more than meets the eye with regard to their motives. A party or the government, guided by similar elements would be hollow.

The world would be a poor place to live in, if people have to savour only the information supplied by such elements with vested interests. They have a mind-block, limited by the me-only attitude. Nobody worth the salt can be made an obedient servant in the media echelons.

The people enjoy uncontrolled dissemination of information. Deviations from moral, ethical, legal issues in reporting should be dealt with in the regular way of the society.

Various authorities in India have tried to gag the Press one way or other, but they have on and off backed off in the face of public outcry.

And when there are officials like K.Sureshkumar who could take on the office of the Chief Minister, there would be no shortage of views opposed to the stymied information being given out by censored sources.

Of course, government sources who divulge information in an official way should be responsible for the take.

To gag them in toto would be meaningless and the offshoot would be chaotic.

DMK putting pressure, Congress not willing to toe the line

O.J.George

For the benefit of local politics or otherwise, the DMK has been driving the Congress to the wall after the UPA II government took over. It is common knowledge that the Congress Party, particularly Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, has not been happy with the performance of many DMK Ministers during the UPA I regime. But the political expediency enmeshed in front regimes had helped the DMK go scot-free.

However, after the last Lok Sabha elections, when the Congress Party rejuvenated itself by good performance at the hustings, the DMK could not claim many things on a platter.

The Lok Sabha election results had proved that many of the partners of the UPA I are not that indispensable. In fact, the Congress Party has a better reckoning indirectly as many parties, now outside the UPA bandwagon, would be only too willing to associate themselves with governance. DMK is not that powerful now. But some of the leaders arrogate to themselves the thinking that they can have their way about every thing.

A.Raja was not a minister held dearly by the Prime Minister during UPA I regime. He would have jettisoned Raja in the UPA II ministry. But Karunanidhi had insisted on Raja being sworn in . That does not mean that Raja can have his way about everything.
The Central Vigilance Commission has found several irregularities in the Telecom department headed by Raja. The CBI had launched widespread raids in many of the offices of Telecom, regarding irregularities and corruption in the allotment of spectrum.

There were reports that a Madras High Court judge was asked by a Union Minister to save a person involved in the marks scam.

Union Minister Azhagiri, Karunanidhi’s eldest son, has not been ruling well at the Centre, which the Congress leaders know it very well.
Under the circumstances, it is clear that all is not well with the DMK-Congress tie-up.


By this time, the DMK has been zeroing in on Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh for his sanctioning a survey for a new dam in place of the 114-year-old mud and lime Mullapperiyar dam.

Karunanidhi wrote to Jairam Ramesh and Prime Minister to cancel the sanction, which no sensible administrator can do. Now DM has called for a special convention of the party to denounce Jairam Ramesh.

It seems DMK is taking Congress Party for granted, but the Congress leaders seem to be not amused. Earlier Rahul Gandhi visited Tamil Nadu, but he did not care to call on Karunanidhi. Now Kanimozhi wanted to call on Sonia Gandhi, who has not been willing to receive her , it seems in the vitiated circumstances.

Old fashioned Opposition is no more relevant, Congress on a winning streak

By O.J.George

Assembly election results in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh have proved the point that old fashioned functioning of the Opposition is no more relevant to fight the Congress Party, which is definitely on a winning streak.

In Arunachal Pradesh, Congress is the only party of reckoning, in Maharashtra Congress-NCP combine has no rival claimants for a government and in Haryana, Congress is the largest single party, although it has not secured simple majority on its own. Still, it can form a government with the help of independents or Kuldip Singh Bishnoi’s Haryana Janhit Congress.

The BJP-Shiv Sena combine has not proved to be the roaring lions as breakaway MNS of nephew Raj Thackeray has put a spanner into the hopes of the Bal-Udhav Thackeray father-son duo to be in the saddle of governance in Maharashtra.

As for the Congress, Ashok Chavan in Maharashtra, B S Hooda in Haryana and Dorjee Khandu in Arunachal are likely to be renominated by the party leadership as Chief Ministers in the respective states.

Congress can enjoy a hassle-free polity in several ways as irritants like BSP, NCP etc have been made to sit on the backfoot, apart from dealing a deathly blow to BJP in electoral politics. The BJP has already been driven back to fourth or fifth position in UP and the continued decline of the BJP-Shiv Sena combine in Maharashtra should teach them political lessons to give up old fashioned rhetorics and gain the confidence of the people by positive ideas and action.

The best bet for the Congress has been its cohesion at the highest levels, for party president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are able to pull together without irritants. Earlier, on several occasions, the dichotomy betweent the party and its government had weakened both, hitting the overall functioning.

The main opposition should convince itself that throwing gaffes at Sonia Gandhi and Rahul and deprecating Manmohan Singh as being weak, without itself projecting cogent alternatives, would not gel well with the electorate.

All the same, it should be the duty of the opposition to regain some relevance as democracy calls for multi tasking at political levels.

Salutation, intonation rude, the very language is impolite

By O.J.George

At least at times one has to ponder over the peremptory manner in which we articulate messages, convey ideas and interact with each other or the public.

A lot of people do not show poise when they disseminate information, address issues and react to situations, even when they are happy.

Some linguists had observed that Malayalam is probably the rudest language in terms of intonation, saluation and addressing.

People who have travelled to other parts of the country where different tongues stand out would come to notice the humble languages of Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and the like. Even Hindiwalahs add “Sirji”, “Bhai Sab”, “Behenji” etc when they address others.When it comes to Telugu, it is “Emandi”, Prabhakara Garu” etc and that “Garu” is an affectionate form of addressing.

Even when Malayalis address people like “Sahodaree Sahodaranmare” (Sisters and Brothers), it is not like Swami Vivekananda addressed the same words in the US at the parliament of religions. His address had captivated the hardest cynics among the audience.

However, our “Sahodaree Sahodaranmare”in its ambience of pronunciation, salutation, and intonation does not smack of any amount of humility. It is commanded like “Parade, Saavadhaan” ( I was in the NCC during college days).

“Gruhani pidicha payyan”( boy with worm infection) reference about Rahul Gandhi was a little too much. No doubt, I have heard some political leaders speaking about Mahatma Gandhi as which Kaanthi What Kaanthi like that when they waxed eloquent on the futility of his peaceful means, through the public address system, erupting goose pimples for the rugged.

These days, when the by-elections are round the corner, the people of Kerala should be prepared to listen to unhygienic verbiage, foul and filthy.

The question is, would there be any necessity for such onslaughts when the people, even the lowest of the lowly, are aware of the melody of salubrious salutations, except drunkards, drug addicts and the deviants?

Address the issues, argue out the points, vet the goings-on, but remain poised.

I believe the national capital is full of political leaders who are aware of blemishless conduct in addressing rivals. Vajpayee, Advani( he faltered once when he called Manmohan Singh a weak PM), Sonia Gandhi, Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechuri and the like remain towering personalities because of their poise. Nobody can prick Manmohan Singh, who is low profile while speaking(once he had crossed the lines when he spoke his mind out to Asif Ali Zardari in the presence of the Press).Mind you, Advani and Manmohan Singh had apologised on both instances.

Let our Malayali leaders also learn to be humble even when they “speak daggers but use none”.

It is a shame on Kerala that by-election in Kannur cannot be held smoothly

By O.J.George

The Election Commission of India is a phenomenally gigantic apparatus which can conduct elections for the people of over 110 crore people smoothly.

On several occasions, the commission was able to find solution to vexing problems popping up in electoral times.

Alas, there are reports appearing daily that the by-election to Kerala Asssembly from Kannur constituency cannot be held in a free and fair manner. At least rival parties hurl abuses and indulge in machinations.

Are the officials free and can they discharge their functions fearlessly to uphold democratic principles?

If not, the election commission should take appropriate steps to dispense justice to all. There is no room for partisanship for an umpire who oversees the political match. And this should be convincing to the people.

The beauty of Indian democracy is that there is space for every kind of political opinion.

Sometimes, the space is overabundant that extremist elements also thrive. That is what we witness in about half of the areas of the Indian nation in the form of Naxalites or Maoists.

When there is no ideology for physical extermination of human beings, any outfit is okay. But the Maoists are on a killing spree, which cannot be justified on any count. Like that, undesirable tendencies in the election arena should be nipped in the bud.

Kannur is the most politically volatile district in the state, where the by-election would be, naturally, on a high voltage transmission of emotions. But venting of emotions should not be aimed at achieving ambitions at the cost of justice and fair play.

The CPM and the Congress are the major players there and they should cease activities to outwit the other at the cost of democratic exercise.

The district collector gives in writing that worksheets of electoral rolls should be given. The tahsildar provides in black and white that this cannot be done. Something is wrong somewhere.

The point is the CPM, Congress and BJP should have a feeling that good governance prevails in the electoral exercise.

If there is any breach, the election commission should plop down and save the murky situation from going out of hand.

The war cries will be shrill this time for the by-election seats

By O.J.George

The three by-elections to Kerala Assembly, which should have been a low-key affair, are turning out to be fiery. For sure, by-election to Kannur Assembly constituency, will see more fire works than anywhere else in the state.

Assembly seats of Kannur, Ernakulam and Alappuzha have been the sitting bastions of the Congress Party. K.Sudhakaran in Kannur, K.V.Thomas in Ernakulam and K.C.Venugopal in Alappuzha were elected to the Lok Sabh and hence the by-elections to the Assembly seats. The new incumbents would not have even two years to go in the Assembly. Still it is a question of prestige.

For the CPM the most prestigious seat is Kannur where the Congress Party has drafted its ex-whiz kid A.P.Abdulla Kutty as its own candidate.
In the normal circumstances, the CPM would not tolerate someone who had left its fold. That way Abdulla Kutty is persona non grata. By hooks or crooks he has to be taught a lesson. All the three Jayarajans, E.P, P. and M.V, are collectively mopping up their tactics to beat Abdulla Kutty. M.V.Jayarajan himself is the candidate taking on Abdulla Kutty.
Now a tussle is going on regarding alleged hanky-panky in inclusion of additional voters. Kannur’s stormy petrel K.Sudhakaran has demanded worksheets from the officials regarding addition of new voters. The deputy tahsildar is not amenable to giving away the details.
Union Minister Vayalar Ravi has advised the District Collector to give up election duties himself in the wake of allegations of irregularities.

In Ernakulam the CPM candidate appears to be a low-key person compared to M.V.Jayarajan in Kannur. CPI has its candidate in Alappuzha who is the owner of three elephants. These are all only players in the democratic exercise.

The CPM has some solace these days that it could successfully muster enough people to stage a human chain across the state. That has proved to be a morale-booster for the party which has been a victim of groupism. Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan is also contributing to the success of the LDF candidates.

In fact, the CPM has nothing to lose even if it loses all the three seats, for these were held by the Congress Party. Conversely, if it wins one seat, it will be a world of victory for it.

And if that winning seat happens to be Kannur, the CPM would have a hell of a celebration.

That does not mean, the Congress Party will leave its seats to anyone. The Congress and the UDF are doing everything possible to retain the seats. The war cries will be shrill this time.

Terrorist attacks in India or Pakistan is a grave threat to the world

By O.J.George

Repeated terrorist attacks in Pakistan should be an eye-opener to that country and peace lovers all over the world about the futility of either supporting blood thirsty groups or ignoring their tentacles.

No doubt, terrorist attack in Mumbai was done with the blessings of Pakistan. Now terrorists, be they Laskhar-e-Toyiba, Pak Taliban or other entities, are turning against Pakistan itself.

I firmly believe that The US should have tackled the terrorist elements camping in Pakistan first before it had turned its attention on Iraq, Afghanistan etc.
US attitude is crucial to the decimation of terrorist elements. One evident example is the extermination of LTTE, which earlier had the tacit approval of agencies in the US. After September 11, 2001, the US reformulated its priorities and declared many organizations as terrorist. LTTE also formed part of the list of terrorist organizations. Gradually, the influence of LTTE waned and that is a thing of the past for now.

Likewise, whether Pakistan was in the bosom of US in the past or not, the Americans should understand that almost all the terrorist elements in the world are deeply enmeshed in Pakistan whose rulers from time to time co-operated with it or ignored their evil activities.

Now the very same elements are turning against the nation, like the Frankinstein monster.
The US should come to understand that its intentions in Afghanistan cannot be achieved in toto with the co-operation of Pakistan, for it is not totally loyal to the commitments made to the US regarding action against terrorists.
Or one can say that the Pak administration had deep-rooted role in the continuance of terrorist activities there that it cannot whole-heartedly turn against the evil forces.


Sooner or later, the US would be forced to deal with the terrorists in Pakistan in other ways. But by then the terrorists would be able to deal deathly blows to peace-loving people, even in the US.

God knows what would happen to the nuclear arsenal in Pakistan, for terrorist organizations have already accessed means of procuring nukes or are capable of getting their hands at it.

Nukes in Pakistan, Iran, North Korea etc could be diverted indirectly to evil minds determined to decimate the world.


China may be thinking that they would be safe as it has close association with Pakistan. Facts would speak otherwise, for terrorists are heartless and would not acquiesce to sentimentalities. If they can attack Pakistani establishments, they can go against others as well.

It is in the interest of the US and others to bridle Pakistan at any cost so that terrorist elements do not find safe haven in that country.

Do we not need leaders in various political persuasions, why this intolerance?

By O.J.George

These days we have been witnessing episodes, maybe minor in nature but have deeper meaning, which speak of the degeneration in political conduct and co-existence.

Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Gandhi family, and one of the strongest contenders for power in the country, made a visit to a few colleges in the state where students accorded him a warm welcome.

No doubt, the general public also appreciated his tour as well as his remarks. Of course, there may be political differences and rivals may not have taken kindly to his making inroads into their bastions.

All the same, those who launched vitriolics against Rahul Gandhi’s visit, forget for a moment that the country needs leaders who should have a feel of the pulse of the people. The more they get acquainted with people of all sorts, the better for the society as these would have an impact in their minds when laws, schemes and missions are thought of.

Not only Rahul Gandhi, but also all leaders should be let in so that they would get richer experience and the people would come to know them in close quarters.

But people like A.K.Balan made remarks of intolerance about the visit of Rahul Gandhi. Not to lose time, the CPM activists acted against a hotel owner for his feeding Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi enjoyed the good coffee served to him by Abdul Azeez, owner of the Olive Hotel at Palazhi junction in Olavanna panchayat in Kozhikode district. The hotel people were taken aback when Rahul Gandhi’s entourage stopped at the joint and had coffee and bites. He also gave them an autograph, writing ‘good coffee’.

Sadly someone broke the glass in which coffee was served to Rahul. Now the hotel owner is charged by the CPM-ruled panchayat and the health centre facility for using muddled water in the hotel, which is denied by the owner.

It seems some people have been flabbergasted by the affection bestowed on a leader. The attitude that no one else should come in is nothing but intolerance. Even RSS has made it clear that there is nothing wrong in Rahul Gandhi visiting rural areas.

Let charistmatic leaders of all political parties visit our state and learn about its rich culture, traditions and way of life.

Obama is a special person for the world
By O.J.George
The news was stunning that Barack Obama, the fledgling President of the US, has won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

No doubt, he has fetched international acclaim for his ethical, intellectual and egalitarian views on world issues.

The prize is for ``his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,'' the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.

Obama's name had been mentioned in speculation before the award but many Nobel watchers believed it was too early to award the president. ”Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future,'' the committee said.

"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population.''

Theodore Roosevelt won the award in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson won in 1919. Former President Jimmy Carter won the award in 2002, while former Vice President Al Gore shared the 2007 prize with the UN panel on climate change.

Our own Mother Teresa had won the prize in 1979.

That Obama was for inclusion of variegated sections, ideas, resources etc in his world view have fetched him rich dividends. Even though the al-Qaeda and similar movements do not approve of his ways, Obama has genuinely tried to reach out to the Muslim world, which has been at loggerheads with the US and allies for a long time now.

Let us hope Obama will not trip in his efforts to make the world a livable place.

Goings-on in Thekkady and elsewhere not conducive for safe travel

By O.J.George

Reports coming out about the hanky-panky in boating arrangements at Thekkady reservoir point to prevailing undesirable activities not fit for security.

Tourists who are anaware of the risk to which they fall, in the deep waters, pay any amount to have a view of the wildlife at close quarters.

Elephants, deer etc are aplenty in the Periyar wildlife sanctuary and when they reach the waters’ edge from the forests, tourists can have a clear view and a feeling of proximity to the run-wild, run-free denizens of the animal kingdom.

For this adventurous trip, they would pay whatever is demanded by the boat operators. Kerala Tourism Development Corporation and the Forest Department run boat services within the reservoir.

Now it is coming clear, when tourists are aplenty, they are loaded on to the boat without taking recourse to the carrying capacity.

On the day of the Jalakanyaka tragedy, there were 12 excess passengers on the upper deck. The boat driver cannot deny space for them as they are sent by either the KTDC or Forest Department people.

Additional chairs were put on the upper deck for accommodating the excess tourists.

Sometimes exorbitant charges are levied from the tourists who come late and who want to have a journey anyway, for they would want to go away from Thekkady that day itself.

Other boats like Jalaraja, Jalamohini, Jalasundari etc also charge extra like this, people say.

Meanwhile, the technical stability requirement of Jalakanyaka is also under question. Experts have suggested that if 12 additional tourists board the boat, it should have an incline of only 14 degrees.

In the present case, when the boat reached 14 degrees incline, it overturned. Usually the boats should have an incline of up to 60 degrees without overturning, experts say.

Therefore, it could be surmised that there was serious flaw in the structural mould of the boat.

Apart from that, there was no system of insisting on wearing life jackets, presence of life guards, security personnel.

The tourists are just thrown into a confused situation. They think that everything is okay, but in reality, everything has been wrong.

The government has now decided all tourists would have life jackets from now on. In fact, all boat passengers everywhere should be provided with life jackets. Think of the passengers in Vembanad lake and Kochi backwaters traveling in insecure conditions.

Safety should be provided everywhere.

Land and house for 1,432 families not a bad deal

By O.J.George

The settlement of Chengara land grab stir today at the behest of the state government, the Opposition and the agitating families is a sign of the peaceful means of finding solution to a vexed problem.

The agitation by Sadhujana Samyuktha Samithi ( Joint Council of the Poor) led by Laha Gopalan has completed more than two years at the Chengara estate of the Harrison company.

The original demand of the strikers was to provide them five acres of land each and the essence of the argument was that they should be able to find livelihood from the plot of land.

The government has made it clear that it would not be possible as it was not holding much of vacant land.

There were 1,738 families on the Chengara venue, of whom the government identified 1,432 families as landless. As many as 306 families had a little bit of land of their own.

The government would give one acre of land to the Scheduled Tribes each, for that is the land distribution policy. For the Scheduled Castes, the allotment would be 50 cents each and others up to 25 cents each.

Housing assistance of Rs 1.25 lakh to the STs, Rs one lakh to the SCs and Rs 75,000 to others would also be provided.

The package would be implemented within three months, according to Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan.

Opposition Leader Oommen Chandy has pointed out that government should give compensation to the families of 13 persons who had died on the agitation venue at Chengara.

Of late, there has been signs of discord among those settled in the agitational venue. Very many interested parties had crept into the crowds of the poor people.

As usual vested interests had put ballooning hopes among the poor agitationists, knowing fully well that it would not be possible to fetch so much.

Laha Gopalan, expectedly, pointed out that he was accepting the package without satisfaction. He was calling off the stir on account of great pressure exerted on him.

If he did not accept the package now, the venue would end up like Nandigram.

Suffice it to say, it would be impossible to give them five acres of land. That would have been self-income generating. But no government can give so much.

People not aware of the complex problems involved in land provision would argue that the estate lands should be divided and given over to the landless. Taking a cent of the estates would have resulted in a century of delay due to court proceedings and otherwise.

There should be give and take in all forms of agitations, pressure to the contrary notwithstanding. Let all of us be relieved that it has not created an infamous Nandigram.

Presence of one trained guide would have averted Thekkady boat tragedy

By O.J.George

Kottayam: The boat tragedy in Thekkady in which 36 deaths have been confirmed and increased toll suspected is, no doubt, man-made.

The tragedy could have been averted if sensible measures were taken.First of all, someone should have told the tourists that they should not collect together on one side of the boat on seeing wildlife on the banks of the Periyar Tiger Reserve.

Then, the question is: Who should tell the tourists who have come from various states speaking different languages and even foreigners? There was only the boat driver and a so-called aide.Apparently, there was no training for them, even as the loquacious KTDC chairman Cherian Philip can speak about political ideology and other topics.

Incidentally, it was Jalakanyaka, a boat belonging to KTDC (Kerala Tourism Development Corporation) which overturned and caused the deaths.The tourists belonged to Delhi, Punjab, Kolkata, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra etc.

And there are reports that foreigners could also be among the victims.One can immediately say there were no life jackets, but latest reports suggest the life jackets were kept packed in some corner of the boat.There was no means for the victims in the capsized boat to catch hold of the same.

Actually, what should be done was life jackets should be provided to each passenger on boarding the boat.In the present case, for those passengers trapped in the lower portion of the boat and under water, such devices might not be of much help, for they had no opening to move out.The lower deck had glass covered windows. And as the boat turned turtle, they were deep within the waters with no means to move out.

The same was the case with the Thattekkat boat tragedy. When the boat overturned, the children were trapped in the inside portion which had no leeway for them to move out.When the windows of the boat are completely covered, there should be at least an emergency door.The most crucial aspect is the need for a trained guide on each tourist boat who should give directions to the tourists about their conduct while being in the deep reservoir.

Boat tragedies have not made us wiser to ensure fool-proof safety

By O.J.George
This evening a tourist boat of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation capsized in Thekkady reservoir killing over 30 people. A few tourists were rescued. However more people have to be accounted for. It is believed that there were 80 passengers in the boat, Jalakanyaka, which was on its maiden voyage in the reservoir flanking the wildlife sanctuary.

Initial reports say there were two foreigners among the dead.

No doubt, there were not many lifebuoys on the boat, whose capacity was 74. That the tragedy occurred in the evening and darkness has set in made rescue operations difficult.

The venue of the tragedy was about five kms away from the boat landing berth. And it was a hazardous task to reach the venue in the reservoir which is filled to the brink on account of plenty of rains received these days.

To take those rescued to the hospital also was not easy as any hospital was not available within five kms.

Remember, two years ago there was a boat tragedy in Thattekkard bird sanctuary. And that was also an evening affair. The victims were 15 students and three teachers of Elavoor St Antony’s School.

There were 60 passengers in that boat which had travel capacity for only six persons.

The passengers had collected themselves on one side which caused the overturn.

Today’s Thekkady tragedy also has the same condition. The tourists had collected themselves on one side of the boat on their seeing wild animals on the banks.

Thekkady reservoir waters contain remains of standing dead trees in the water. Usually no boat would be allowed to ply in the darkness. Rescue operations in the dead of night would have bleak chances.

The area does not have range for mobile phones. Neither is electricity available in the region.

All these facilities should have been provided at a world-famous tourist spot.

We must not only grieve when a tragedy occurs, but we must provide all security measures for tourists.

What Dalit human right was protected by killing morning walker Sivaprasad at Varkala?

By O.J.George

That DGP Jacob Punnoose himself descended down Varkala to take stock of the extremist attack on morning walker Sivaprasad seemed to be worthy of attracting importance.

People of ordinary living should introspect what Dalit human rights could be enforced by doing away with the life of a commoner, Sivaprasad of Varkala, who was strolling along the road early morning, apparently because he had to do some exercise for a diabetic condition.

There has been no reason attached to the cold-blooded murder of this ordinary being. Reports say his umbrella and watch were snatched away by some hooligans two years ago as he was having his morning walk.

According to initial reports, the cowardly act was done by activists of Dalit Human Rights Movement.

We have heard about sensible agitations launched by various Dalit organizations for securing various rights, including temple entry rights. Forward caste leaders had also joined hands with Dalits in securing such rights.

There can be demand for job reservation, right to life and property, dispensing with discrimination and the like.

But what is this dastardly act? This was nothing but a goonda act to scare away people from the mainstream of life. They chose a hapless family for attracting attention on their God-forsaken ideology. But then is it an ideology?

The Chief Minister and the Home Minister should have visited the family of Sivaprasad to console them. Compensation should be paid to the family in good measure so that the next of kin do not suffer misery on account of the loss of the head of the family.

Opposition Leader Oommen Chandy has visited the place and comforted the family. The Government need not stand on ceremony but readily oblige to offer succour to the family.

Two activists have been rounded up and remanded to custody for two weeks. It has to be probed whether they have direct involvement or whether they had any role in commissioning this job.

Society is permeated with perverted ideas and politics that have no relevance in a civilized society. The condition of the Dalits should definitely improve, but their condition in Kerala is far better than in places ruled by their own leaders like Mayawati.

Improvement should be worked out not like this, but with sensible projections by far-sighted leaders.

Tamil Nadu should build an ARK for Kerala, in case Mullapperiyar dam……

By O.J.George

Tamil Nadu politicians appear to be aghast at the sanction given by the Union Government to conduct a survey for a new dam at the Mullapperiyar.

No one questions Tamil Nadu’s requirements of water from Mullapperiyar. But it should be at what cost? Should it be at the cost of roughly 50 lakh people of Kerala in four or five districts?

Those who oppose the decommissioning of the 114-year-old Mullapperiyar dam built of earthen materials must be inhuman. For they don’t care in case the dam bursts.Better let Tamil Nadu build an ARK for Kerala people in case the unthinkable happens.

But then will Noah’s ARK suffice to accommodate 50 lakh people? And there can be no provision for animals either.

Or one should build an ARK as in Evan Almighty, who took cudgels against the inappropriate way a dam was built.Other Congressmen pooh-poohed him. But God Almighty appears before him and asks him to build an ARK.

People humiliated him. Evan Almighty continued to say rains would lash and there would be a deluge from which the people can be saved if they come inside the ARK.

At last the unthinkable happened, as the dam burst and the people swiftly boarded the ARK which was taken to the Capitol building in the swirling waters.

God Almighty appears to Evan Almighty and tells him one can save the world by the ARK, which is nothing but an Act of Random Kindness.Let people exhibit an Act of Random Kindness and save the people of Kerala.

Shashi Tharoor scrapes through, but let him be careful

O J George
It is pass for Shashi Tharoor this time for his ‘holy cows’ and ‘cattle class’ comments after he met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and other leaders. It is a closed chapter by now.He and many others had attempted to wish away the bad referencing. All attempts had boomeranged on those who tried to camouflage the verbiage. In fact, the problem was more with the ‘holy cows’ reference than the ‘cattle class’ comment. Shashi Tharoor and some others had said holy cow is not an individual but any institution or idea. That may not be fully correct. Go to Editing by Bruce Westley. He has included persons also in the category of sacred cows, which is nothing different from holy cows.In Websters, a sacred cow is a person, institution, custom etc unreasonably held to be beyond criticism, something that cannot be violated.In the Congress scheme of things, no one can survive by joking about the high command. K.Karunakaran and son Muraleedharan had said something like ‘Madamma’ which can be translated as madam, but ‘Madamma’ has a sort of bad connotation. Karunakaran somehow scraped through. Muraleedharan is yet to be rehabilitated.Something should be learnt from P.Chidambaram who was with the team of Tamil Nadu leaders who met the Prime Minister on Tuesday. They wanted to highlight the plight of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. It was expected that they would make mention about the Mullapperiyar dam issue as well. We don’t know whether they, in fact, made a mention.But Chidambaram, in public, completely ruled out any reference to the Mullapperiyar issue. Afterall, it was a decision taken by a Cabinet colleague which cannot be questioned by another.Shashi Tharoor was wallowing in wilderness after losing his moorings in the UN echelons. It was the Congress which went out of the way to rehabilitate him.He has to follow the precepts so that he basks in the glory of his accomplishments otherwise.

The Democles’s sword of price rise for rice

By O.J.George
Short supply of rice is looming large before the people of Kerala, according to reports. Traders are waiting savagely to make a fast buck during shortage.

Black marketing, hoarding and profiteering are criminal acts, according to the law. But that is precisely what would ensue, if eatables are not plentily available.

Lemons are not available as per demand now. Traders charge more than Rs 100 per kilogramme of lemon. The rate was Rs 20 for a kilogramme when it was available lavishly.

In the case of rice, there will be black sheep who would channel ration rice in black maket and fetch disproportionate profits.

For a state like Kerala which cannot feed its people with the produce any time in human history, it would be dependent on other rice-producing states.

The assurance of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, about ensuring supply through the public distribution system is waning during modern times.

Last year Food Minister Sharad Pawar had commented that the state should procure rice from the open market as the Centre cannot ensure procurement in full.

Here in Kerala, we have been depending on the Centre, more or less, for our rice, wheat and kerosene requirements.As time lapses, we have to keen an eye open and think about procurement either from within the country or through import with the Centre’s sanction to keep the people properly fed.

Meanwhile, there have been complaints about the inadequacy of the proposed food security scheme.

There is truth in the argument as the Centre is imposing a certain quota of BPL list (Below the Poverty Line) on the state.

The Centre fixes a quota and asks the state to accept it. That is far from logical. It is the state government which can finalise a list of the BPL list.

First of all the BPL list of the Centre is far smaller than that prepared by the state. Then there is another lacuna.

The APL (Above the Poverty Line) people are kept out.The government should be beyond shame if it considers the APL people are comfortable.

What is this APL paradigm? Those having an equivalent of a dollar income per day are apparently above the poverty line.

The comfort zone is when the government would be able to discharge its duty to feed all kinds of people. Those who can afford luxury can dispense with government largesse. But those who need support should be taken care of.

Now when the permits issued to the farmers of Andhra Pradesh for export of rice outside AP lapse soon, Keralites would be down in the dumps and rice would be costlier. State Government, better take notice of the impending problem.

Ahmadinejad on the course of destruction

By O.J.George
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not want to be credible in the general public of the world. That is why he has said there was nothing like Holocaust. Jews were not murdered in gas chambers and concentration camps. All such stories are figment of imagination.

Ahmadinejad knows it very well that his version may not be accepted by the outside world. But he is only concerned with the captive audience within sections opposed to Jews and Judaism.

So-called democracies thrive like this in many realms. Herr Hitler had undisputed support from the National Socialists. He could also be considered as an elected leader, for doing what, exterminating a whole race. Heydays of such extremists last for some time and they fade away after polluting the pastures of humankind.

Ahmadinejad wants to build a nuclear bomb and threaten the world with that. Probably he wants to keep the bomb and with its security, attack Jews. Think about the plight of the Jews. Just for imposing the German superiority theory, Jews who were considered superior intellects, were being decimated.Six million Jews of occupied Europe were killed by the Nazis during World War II.

Now Ahmadinejad’s variety of Islamists want to demonstrate their superiority. Even if Israel butts out, this hatred would remain with the types of Ahmadinejad. Ultimatley, this attitude would not contribute to help the Palestinian people. Firing rockets against Jews from the places vacated by the Israeli people has been the cause for the counter-attack by the Tel Aviv administration. You are provoking an attack.

Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States have condemned the statement of Ahmadinejad that holocaust was myth.

The destiny of nations of the world is determined by the leaders ruling them. Sometimes, there appear evil ones who would endanger their own nations. Ahmadinejad could be one.

Shashi Tharoor’s peccadilloes

By O.J.George
Shashi Tharoor is a tragic hero these days for his off the cuff comments, some of which have irked the Congress high command.

That Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan categorically repudiated Tharoor’s remarks underscores the alacrity with which the party high command reacts against undesirable practices.

For the Congress high command, personalities do not matter when it comes to it being hit below the belt. Raja Natwar Singh was its poster boy on matters of external affairs. Now he is languishing in obscurity, after being dumped by the high command.

And look at the way a new cabinet minister for external affairs was chosen this time. S M Krishna himself might not have thought that he would become a minister for external affairs.

The ease with which coronation and condemnation come to the high command should be observed by Shashi Tharoor in right earnest.

There are a lot of practising politicians around who were not happy with Shashi Tharoor’s candidature in Thiruvananthapuram. They are lying low for an opportune moment to strike back.

Shashi Tharoor has apologized for his goof-up about the cattle class. He says actually meant airlines and not low-class people. At the same time, his secretary has published a lot of Twitter comments supporting Shashi Tharoor.

Some people think that Shashi Tharoor is a stooge of the US, planted on Indian soil to do their bidding. But the same US had exercised its veto against his becoming the UN Secretary-General. When it comes to matters of grandeur, they have their own formula, and people like Shashi Tharoor would be down in the dumps.

India has come to his help, and rather mollycoddled him, for not making swipes at its coolie class of people who propel him at the hustings.

His connection with diplomatic people like Shahryar Khan in writing common cricket book or Niaz Naik in propagating backdoor diplomacy would not help him retain his seat here.

Recently, Niaz Naik, a bachelor, was done to death allegedly by terrorists for his hobnobbing with Indians. His stinking body was found only after a few days of his death. Pakistan does not take kindly to its definition of wayward behaviour.

Let Shashi Tharoor dispense with flamboyance and restrict himself to quiet diplomacy, functioning from his official residence, even if renovation is not completed, and not from five-star hotels which are vulnerable in many ways for an external affairs minister.

Muthoot Paul M George murder case cannot be wished away

By O J George

Whoever thinks that the Muthoot Paul M George murder case would vanish into thin air by fixing someone is in a world of unreality. No amount of artifice would satisfy the people at large as they are convinced that dreaded goons were involved in the killing act.

There can be any number of arguments like Muthoot Paul M George had been hobnobbing with the dreaded goons for achieving his nefarious ends.

Such arguments do not provide justification as the people would like to know everything including the wrong-doings of Muthoot Paul M George, if any.

Now Vilasini, the mother of Kaari Satheesh, who has admitted to the murder in an act of provocation, has approached Kerala High Court for a CBI inquiry into the whole affairs.

The High Court is hearing the plea for CBI inquiry on Tuesday.

On Monday, another news item appeared.The Andhra Pradesh Government led by chief Minister Rosaiah requested the Union Government to cause a CBI inquiry into the helicopter crash involving the death of Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, his private secretary, chief security officer and two pilots.

The inquiry by the Andhra Pradesh Government would continue even as the CBI takes over investigation into all aspects of the case.

Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram has readily agreed to have a probe done by the CBI.

It should be the same spirit with which the Kerala Government should proceed with the request for a CBI probe into the murder of Muthoot Paul M George.

It would be easier for the CBI to nab dreaded criminals involved in the Muthoot Paul M George murder, who are at large.

A CBI probe would satisfy the opposition in the state as well, for UDF convener P.P.Thankachen had called for an inquiry by the central agency.

Dreaded criminals at large, after 17 days of the Muthoot murder

By O J George

Thiruvananthapuram: Dreaded criminals Om Prakash and Rajesh Puthenpalam are still elusive even as the murder of Muthoot Paul M George was murdered on Friday, August 21.

Though the police have nabbed Kaari Satheesh and a few of the Changanasserry gang, the murder of Muthoot Paul M George can be unravelled only if the two dreaded criminals who were with the scion of the Muthoot family on the fateful day are nabbed.

The conspiracy angle involving them has to be found out with conclusive evidence. Even otherwise, they are wanted by the police in connection with many other crimes.

But the suspicion in the minds of the people is increasing day by day about the futile exercise to nab the criminals, as a lot of cops are hands-in-glove with their activities.

More so, there are allegations that they are close to ruling political leaders, particularly the CPM. The charge was that the Home Department’s hands are tied on account of the criminals’ nexus with top political bosses.

UDF convener P.P.Thankachen has already issued a call to hand over the investigation to the CBI.

Congress Party is holding dharna in all district headquarters today in protest against the goonda raj in the state.

Resourceful persons often get tied down with travails

By O J George

Fate automatically bestows on resourceful persons a lot of travails. For each according to his/her ability, that is the ratio of the blessings of Agony Goddess on human beings.

Anguish, torment come to the intellectual almighty too soon than to easy beings.
That is the levelling factor Fate has conferred on all of us.

Vayalar Ravi and Mercy Ravi were a mighty couple, endowed with a lot of blessings. Their union itself was unthinkable in the days of 1969, a Catholic girl, overcoming all the social pressures, becoming the wife of an Ezhava. That was unthinkable in the societal mores of those days.

Still she chose what she thought was the fit person in Vayalar Ravi. They together ploughed a political furrow together. Vayalar Ravi was blessed with the intellectual company he wanted most in Mercy Ravi.

They had many a travail and they faced all of it bravely. Mercy Ravi, even as she was suffering from kidney failure and connected problems, fought on courageously.

And as far as Vayalar Ravi is concerned, he provided her with the best of care anyone can fetch in this world.

For Mercy Ravi it was a rendezvous with the inevitable. She might have been waiting to meet Destiny, for she might be arguing with the Being about the travails besetting human beings.

She won an Assembly election only once and then she made history. She is the only woman MLA from Kottayam Assembly constituency. She would have fetched greater political glories, but by then she was crippled by ailments.

She has established a kidney research foundation which should provide succour to the patients suffering from kidney ailments.

Y S Rajasekhar Reddy was soaring like anything in the political graph, but then destiny gave him a violent death. No one knows the way we meet with our end.

For Mercy Ravi there was a long time for her to reflect on the aspects of life. May her soul rest in peace.