Holding no one accountable

Holding no one accountable

Rash driving,  poor order and poor infrastructure that we see everyday


There has been no dearth of reports on the pollution patience that the national capital is grappling with. Some would disagree that huge structures add to the mess. But it does. So does the creation of multiplexes when single screen theatres let people take most of the public transport.

We tend to believe that giving a fickle coverage here and there would serve the purpose. It is all to do with a lax law and order machinery. They say over 80,000 trucks enter/exit the national capital through night. That number would have been fairly less in the 80s.  A lax law and order machinery that lets rash driving, speed thrills and this has become more commonplace. An entire network of road construction that stands suspended; that stretch of road that would cover the outer fringe thereby not letting the trucks / machinery enter the inner courtyard/battleground of city should be the priority. No amount of graft in this completion of project should be tried. The poor law and order in delhi is more to do with state of affairs; you run these number of poorly maintained buses; you run these number of ill-tempered staff on public transport and trucks and any aberration would go unreported as all ob vans are under their patronage. Media and those singing praise of the administration despite knowing the facts is something a poor reflection on them.
In the media we tend to cover the massacre in the southern state for a while; forgetting the aftershocks that would be felt for a long time. Those in the call of duty and having taken part in excesses should be taken away from all responsibilities.A delay knowing pretty well that media would happily converge on other unimportant stories should be avoided. A police force that is on contract would bring dramatic results as far as maintaining good order is concerned.

Sarva Siksha Abhiyan
We tend to cover someone returning from exile and some going abroad to exchange file. These are not priorities. The vast army of unemployed youths and how they should be channelised should be the priority. Sarva siksha abhiyan and the loopholes it has and how it can be addressed should be a way forward. THe entire media should pick up 40 -odd districts across country; at least cover 70 per cent of schools; see the enrolment process, cover the number of students completing entire education and those dropping out and suggest measures where these dropouts could be discouraged. First randomly pick 40-odd districts across country; cover 70 per cent of schools and review the sarva siksha abhiyan project. Find the faultlines and suggest remedial measures. If students are not able to complete schools/colleges, then it is as good as being waylaid and this can become a big challenge to the order we seek to restore. Similarly the media as a contingent should cover the functioning of India's premier medical institution AIIMS and report the positive and not that positive picture. By announcing AIIMS in every state is nothing; more important is to see they function to their optimal level and more efforts engineered to see best doctors, nurses work for them.
Media behaves irrationally by covering this stock market and that cricket tourney that is ill-tempered. Bring the true face of the massacre in southern india, try to report the true happenings, try to report how railways can improve its infrastructure. Because in national capital when people come from far away place for treatment in AIIMS, at the very station/bus stop they come face to face with a dishonest administration and get swayed by middlemen. Middlemen that exist in plenty in law and order department, govt set up and in medical centres. More transparency is the need of the hour.   Similarly the media should report on A'pur subzi mandi because from here all exchanges take place leading to skyrocketing prices of essentials and other commodities.
In the US and in some places in China despite ban the media is doing pretty well. The paper of new york city covers stories with no bias. The channel of middle east and channel of west do their job with sincerity. As they have been covering airports across country, so too the media here has to cover the infrastructure in different govt areas and how they can be improved.

In nagar and tiru as well, you tend to go to extreme and despite being told to not to do so, you don't stay in order. A calm proceeding and a restraint conduct would itself ensure monitoring. Not offending someone or crossing the line of moderate conduct. Even the air that comes from these sacred theatres should make you show compassion and not try to indulge in acts that few can justify.      

Visiting Chennai

Visiting Chennai

Some weeks ago had the opportunity to visit Chennai. The ride to Nizamuddin station was accomplished with ease.At the entrance of the station as we reached they put up a barrier and one had to go all the way and then take a u turn where the entire premises is packed with vehicles on either side and to reach the entry point of the stairs that take you to platforms is quite tedious. The alley through which one vehicle can go at a time is both challenging and divulging a little about not that secured set up.
As i hailed a porter, he showed his willingness to carry the little load for 100rs. Inside the coach, the lower berth amidst not that loitering crowd made for a simple setting.   The train left delhi at 3.55 pm. It went past  Tughlaqabad 4.10, palwal 4.40, Hodal 4.59 and Mathura at 5.32. I was seated among three lads dedicated to work towards a company making towels and allied products. No sooner the train left the calls and the accompanying thunder began to register. One among them appeared so agitated that he banged the cell at a pitch that sounded as if ringing a bell. As narrated by them and not confirmed by others they had come from the state of punjab having taken a morning train and reaching national capital of delhi in the afternoon when weather was cold and there weren't any attempt to get bold. Some among them deprived of adequate sleep decided to take a break only to get up and go back to rest time and again; the chasm showing on what they desired to do and what actually they were going through. Some among them having graduated from a private college in the outskirts of national capital brought the debate back on plethora of private colleges and the vast army of students with professional qualifications from these private colleges and yet failing to get the requisite job.
As for train ride, Raja Ki Mandi Agra came at 6 , main Agra station 6.15, Gwalior 7.30, Jhansi 8.50, Bhopal 11.58, Nagpur around 6 the next morning. Agni station which comes a little later is fairly clean, Sewagram 7.05, some station with letter H comes at 7.30; between 7.30 and 8.30 comes chandrapur. In and around this area what one could make out is the need to apprise people about  hygiene. Balharshah came at  8.45, Sirupur Kazhak Nagar 9.53, Belampalli 10.18, Pedammpet 10.38, Ramagundam 10.41 (fairly clean), warangal around 12, mahubabad 1.10, Gundrati Matugai 1.18, Errupalem 2.40, Vijaywada 3.30, Surareddipalem 5.35, Bitragunta 6.23, Nellore 6.28, Gudur 7.30 and Chennai 9.20.
The meals on board was ok except for the night meals the second day and its after effects. The fruit salad should have been avoided. As i reach Chennai and stay there for a week, the stay in a lodge near chennai central station is a mixed one. Stay in virudhnagar nadar mansion.

AS for outings in the city they were neither limited nor liberating. On a Sunday left  chennai park station at 11.20 am on a local and reached tambaram at 11.45. After doing stories from a cyber cafe, left at  4.40 and reached at 5.24 in  chennai park. On a monday left chennai egmore at 8.40 am and reached trisulum at 9.20. From Trisulum leave at 10.35, minambakkam coming at 10.37, st thomas mount 10.42,  guindy 10.45, saidapet 10.49, kodambakkam 10.55, nungabakkam 10.57 and chetpet at. 11. There used to be a govinda temple in the airport premises. In the renovated airport surroundings i could not locate that.
The phone booth at the airport is a big farce. It does not operate.  Nothing spectacular about the renovated airport.Yes inside it carries a warmth of its own.  A word of praise solely for Trisulum station and the entry /exit point. There is an expansive flyover coupled with a fast moving traffic that does not engineer praise. AS for Tambaram there is an expansive market adjoining a huge flyover. Outside local station there are fewer ATMs and at nearby bus stand, i am told it takes two hours for a bus to reach periamet, egmore.

As for mambalam, it has a fairly cowded market, so congested is this that some people begin to lose their sanity. Two eating joints i visited was ok. One can fairly assume the market has fewer concerns about how to keep its surroundings safe. the book stall in mambalam station looks good and here i happen to meet soundarajan and s murthy. 

The stay for seven days had its share of pain and mixed tidings. One could feel the pollution in the air in the area around lodge near chennai central station; made more difficult by digging and construction work. The ride to Adyar saw me go past broadway market, high court, chief secretariat, university of madras and presidency college.

Worst massacre in Andhra Pradesh's history

Worst massacre in Andhra Pradesh's history

This point blank shooting of 20 labourers in Andhra Pradesh clearly shows the brutality of police and its accompanying force. You had a video of a black man being shot in South Carolina and that helped to prove culpability of a police officer. Here no such video existed. Police version was all about firing in self defence. All shots were fired by them in the chest or face. Second there were marks on their wrists. Third there were torture marks on other parts of body. One police personnel present there stated that labourers whom they found to be smugglers attacked them with sickle and stones. If being attacked with sickle and stones how could these police personnel shoot them and that too with so much of precision. The marks on wrists suggests they were tied, tortured in other parts of the body (burn marks) and then shot. Only shooting from a close range can explain the shots in chest and face. And they say firing in self defence for being attacked by sickle and stones. If they were attacked by sickle and stones they would have fired from some distance and in that case shots in the chest and face could not happen in all the cases. The reality is some labourers as one witness stated were picked  up by plainclothesmen from a bus, taken to these spots. The witness who fears for his life has gone into hiding as immeasurable pressure would be brought on him to retract his version or his relations/acquaintances would be pressurised to make him change his version. If this witness had a video, it would have been amply clear that these 20 labourers were shot from a close range (given the shots in the face and chest), before being shot they were tied as signs on wrists clearly suggest that and torture marks on parts of body suggest before being shot they were subjected to that. Even if there is no video the entire sequence of events clearly point towards the labourers being first arrested, subjected to torture on different body parts and being shot from a close range. Shooting with precision in self defence when it is pitch dark/ wee hours is something that does not carry conviction. And all these labourers have been described as smugglers, well in reality those picked up from the bus were going to get some work.

This barbaric shooting by policemen shows the least control the administration has on them Still the police chief of the state says is there a law to suggest that shots are to be fired below knee. Perhaps the supreme court guideline he is not aware of. Today this barbaric incident, tomorrow another barbaric incident would happen, the policemen would go scot free, and police chief would ask media to ask intelligent questions. Twenty labourers have been shot and the entire clamour for suspension of police personnel involved in the incident and sacking of police chief has been seen across different news channels/media. One writer suggested that had this incident taken place in the US where these number of people belonging to one race/community being shot, the govt's days in office would have been numbered. No one would like such incidents to have a repeat in any part of the world.

As for comments to this report of barbaric shooting in the net stated that police action is justified, the rationale can be traced to these comments being made by acquaintances of policemen. Otherwise if neutral opinion has to be sought, the clamour among responsible citizens would be to sack the police chief and sack the police personnel involved in this barbaric act. One black man being shot in South Carolina and the video surfacing of the same saw the policeman being  dismissed and put behind  bars. Here in national capital this sort of fake encounter in the 90s saw two businessperson being shot and the police chief being dismissed the very next day. Though he tendered his resignation, it almost amounted to being dismissed. When such fake encounters take place in national capital, quick action some govts take, in other cases 20 labourers being shot in one place and in other case five convicts being shot in telangana shows the arrogant style of police functioning and no action being taken against state police chief and police personnel involved. Such barbaric acts are taking place in a country where political class has least intention to set corrective measures and with such inaction only things are going to get bad. Already repercussions have been felt across border and take measures before things go out of hand.
The paper of new york city had the story of a black being shot as the lead story. Though media highlighted this incident, there were sections of media putting this as second or third lead or some carrying as single column and some even not bothering to carry the story. They are so fearful of police brutality that they carried just as single column or no mention of the same. Media has to rise, the police brutality has to be brought out in the open otherwise repercussions would be felt across different layers of society.   Had the video existed of this barbaric shooting then and only then a set of corrective measures would have been taken. The entire population of the country is over 1.2 billion and the number of those who are disgruntled/dissatisfied or could sway this way or that way outnumbers the population of north america as a continent.  There is no need to draw a parallel but
given the low net penetration and low circulation of news one could live with these barbaric shootings for a day. It won't take long before these barbaric incidents if not checked leads to a wider problem.       

Developments in Africa
Intelligence could help to contain the extreme elements; all have to join hands together from Nigeria to Kenya; madrasas have to dedicate towards teaching

North East people we cherish; the ride to Chennai

North East people staying in the national capital

Inclement weather and unseasonal rains

In Blacks we place trust, April Ryan book

April Ryan in conversation with Wolf spoke about race relations and how it has not gotten better. What she essentially meant was THere are disproportionate numbers of African-Americans who are at the lowest level. Disproportionate when we look  at unemployment, housing, education and criminal justice. Presidency in Black and White author April Ryan had been to Selma as revealed in the conversation where the likes of John Lewis and Prez set the right tone.
What happenned in Ferguson was highly unfortunate and in another episode a black boy was shot point blank by a police officer. The police officer had been called by boy's mother to prod the boy to mend his ways. The police officer spotting the boy holding a screwdriver asked him to do away with screwdriver. Rather the boy shouting the police officer started yelling and seeing the boy not dispense with a mere screwdriver the police officer shot him point blank range. Is this the kind of policing we need in the US. Here POlice officer is carrying a bodycamera. In another incident near campus a black boy is beaten blue and black by two to three police officers. Some would argue to desist them from taking extreme step, they first need to get themselves mentally strong. A rope, a baton (here in india we call lathis), perhaps a plastic baton would be the best way to handle issues like a boy holding a mere screwdriver.

Tennis giants Sere and Ve have to bring more from your fraternity to this sport. African-American leadership has to be encouraged so do the likes of John Lewis from Georgia. It is good Mi went to Siem Reap. Perhaps the entire family would go there later.  After a long time  TV MODE story on Kuterevo Sanctuary in Crotia evinced interest. So did the story on sale of salmon to russia coming in a middle east channel .

I wanna dance with somebody by Whitney Houston looks great. A prolific singer with a true heart.