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.

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

INdisicipline in the city and beyond

As we begin to write, the amount of ruckus that gets raised by simple minivans/trucks is exemplary. some time back a green coloured mini van with last digits DL IL 5039 or 5539 came out with a series of abuse against a rickshawman. These green coloured mini vans are raised to create mayhem across cities and towns and most happen to be on payrolls of law and order department. THose who bother to follow discipline are made to disobey given the amount of graft that prevails in the police machinery. A law-abiding citizen or even following laws till 50 per cent is forced to change his or her way of approach to life given the unsurmountable pressure brought out by these men in khaki.

The amount of indiscipline this city has rarely finds mention in newspapers and channels and unless you put the law and order department under control they would continue to create mayhem across country. Hard to forget days when you used to go to a bathroom to take shower in the month of march last year in Ajmer a series of abuse used to greet you. THe amount of abuse and spit they welcomed you with here and there showed these khakimen's true colours in Ajmer.  All of a sudden if you entered a eating joint for the first ten minutes things would be in order followed by a series of abuse and spits. All across different streets of Ajmer they greeted you with abuse and spit. Just going past them they would spit followed by another layer of spit before or as you went past them. In Puri, they made life miserable on the street from temple to sea where no less than 30 to 40 spits greeted you as you went past men placed by police department. THen came parking attendants followed by a place where you took curd followed by a spot where you took cool drinks, each and every place they would spit before you or standing next to you. To make matters look exemplary good they would engage vendors here and there before you reached your lodge.

In Nagar near your lodge they would place three boys which you would spot after coming from your lodge and turned left (about 10 metres away) and they would spit as you would go past them. While coming back to lodge or going away from lodge they would spit at you as youas you as you  went past them. As you took another lodge all of a sudden things looked better for the first half an hour and as you descended from third floor to ground floor, the first thing the hotel manager did was to spit with a ferocity not known to mankind. Till the previous hour, the manager had not got the mandate to toe the line set by policewallah.

 In Uttaranchal on the ride from bus stand to railway bus stand, the man sitting opposite me kept spitting in the direction where i was sitting for the next 20-odd minutes before a new entrant got into the scooter. IN Mussoorie, they greeted me with a series of spits and abuse as i was going past the barrier. Till i was not away from his sight they kept passing filthy abuse and kept spitting. In the same town where there is a ropeway or something like that while going towards library point nothing happenned. While coming back from library stand one gentleman kept spitting before me and he continued to follow and spit for the next two minutes. If  you put a query to someone first thing he would do from his shop would be to spit before you and then answer. Abuse in Mussorrie was flowing as  if they were raised to do this deed. Mussorrie a very indisciplined town. There may be some good patches but it gets overshadowed by bad patches.  The amount of abuse and spit they splurged as i went past them may be 50 to 60 times in a space of six days. In Jaisalmer they spit before me in the fort, took a mouthful of water and spit before me outside the fort where i had gone for xerox. As long as i was sitting in the xerox shop, they did not indulge in anything. Once i went out to get a change and returned to give the change they spitted with mouthful of water.

IN Jaisalmer
IN Jaisalmer station on platform one as all of a suddden i went to seek cool drink from nowhere two railway staff members came and spat near me.Look at the vendor selling cool drinks next to waiting hall on platform one, he deliberately delayed giving cool drinks so these two railway class iv employees could come near the place where i was standing and when all have gone away they would repeatedly spit near you.  In the train from Ajmer to KOlkata they engaged in same acts while you tried to go to a bathroom, all of a sudden a man would come and spit before you. In Howrah station as you wash your hands, a boy would come and spit in the same wash basin knowing fully well you are washing your hands. THis they did on the floor where sleeper class waiting hall is there and on ground floor. All in all vendors of different scale like the one in ajmer platform two running a small shop who spitted before you before answering your query on which side the train would come. Vendors, some autowallahs, bus drivers, conductors, cleaners and all those staff members come handy for them who are on payroll of law and order department. Otherwise why in Nizamuddin station they would send boys on a bench where you are sitting and they would spit repeatedly and if you changed your seat, the same act they would follow. In Nizamuddin station as i went out to seek bananas, they send a boy and as he approached he spat next to me. Back to platform in the station they passed abuse or spitted. I sought a query from a railwayman meant to put chart on trains. While going towards police station he nodded his head and while coming back, he first looked at me came near me and from there spiited on railway tracks. This shows Nizamuddin station is in all sort of problems.

Staying in Nizamuddin station for over eight hours that day showed the prowess of these men and if they are not contained mayhem would rule, mayhem would rule   If that is not enough through a porter who would get into a train pulling in a station (Anandvihar station in July), he would stand next to you at the gate and as you would descend from train he too would descend at the same time and spit next to you and follow it with abuse. The porter was neither in search of passenger nor luggage, only he was sent to engage in these acts. Otherwise in a train if you wash your face in a washbasin and someone spits in the same basin at the same time why would anyone do if these men of notorious make do not ask them to do. In DElhi Near hairgrowthclinic, near 263, near 269, near dhobishelter and other places on occasions they have placed their men to pass abuse and spit repeatedly. They send their men on bikes and as they approach you they engage in same acts. Years have gone by the place near hairgrowth clinic which has been used by them to place spits of their choice and abuse and again repeated spits. On one day one set of gentlemen they use, on another day another set of gentlemen they use to carry out their acts of notoriety.  Earlier they used to stand in uniform to pass threats that any word on new construction by this man would be be met with a befitting response. Befitting response on spits, abuse they began from delhi and passed it on to other cities/towns. The amount of indiscipline this city has, the reckless driving the cluster buses do, the force they bring on other govt buses to do reckless driving shows their reach. The amount of indiscipline this city has never gets reported in newspapers, tv channels as it is all a process of give and take. Can they deny their acquaintances are not working in tv channels, newspapers and thus this milibhagat is serving both sides. What reporting you papermen are doing if you can't bring the truth.

The amount of indiscipline this city has never been reported and would never continue to get reported.

Circle rates in Delhi, House glut in China

As i begin to write about circle rates in the national capital of delhi, the search of the same does not yield results. Seventies was the period when the rates would have been fairly low, not lessening the  speed at which the residents could gain fairly accessible options.  It should have been an ideal capital where prices of property to praise should have least required huge outlay of resources/mirroring of moods.

Reckless driving
The  city has grown in size so has grown the demand to raise price of land to deter the "outsider" to ever think of getting a piece of land. They talk about the urgent need to check the amount of unaccounted money that flows in this sector and thus the need to up the circle rate. It was the environment of 80s that set in motion the feast of black money and where does the high circle rate has a ring of justification. Here public transport, considering the number of govt buses/cluster buses that run on roads does not show a pattern, you have more buses than required, more running at reckless speed than ever an attempt being made to check the menace of reckless driving. Here background checks are not carried out before recruitment of those handling public transport. A woman should not be the last one to exit the bus. One would argue during Night shifts more steps are to be taken to see order in some form is maintained. Forces that served in public transport get easily absorbed in real estate and associate sectors and vice versa and here one can imagine the ruckus that could gain ground, years turning to decades.  There were two sets of buses, first red line followed by blue line. These buses plied in the 90s and till 2008-09 and the amount of freedom they secured to run over here and there saw the weak side of law enforcement.


Venezuela buses no spare parts; the scene here between 90s to 2008
Venezuela we come across stories where spare parts are not available for buses. It is better to have such buses than have cases of reckless driving. Before people are recruited in public transport, highlight them the benefits of driving with care, caution and not throwing abuse at womenfolk. They say half of the recruitment in public transport is with personnel having allegiance to police and cluster buses and other buses also have a fair share of them. Well the 90s and till 2008 when red line and blueline buses plied the share of those being owned by them was known.  For a better law and order what is more important is to keep the force productively employed. A force which is productively employed and not sitting idle would bring order to the proceedings.
Starting with a contract system and that too from a district is not a bad idea. Similarly when a dhaba, small eating joint, cineplex opens, care should be taken to see order is maintained, effectively meaning it does not set in a range of problems.  Similarly when a host of real estate projects get launched and realised, a share here and a share there gives ample room for people behind such projects to fiddle with laws and up the price. If law had been strong since 80s, at least real estate should have been a place not known for notoriety and law and order problems.

Red carpet laid in the 80s, newspaper supplements adding to the problems
That was 80s, triggering a push for real estate to readily erect a frontier  where newspaper supplements which were once in a month affair turned to a weekly exercise. Had control been exercised then and there itself, neither the rates would have hit the roof nor it would have kept a large segment out of house cover.  Real estate spawned a rally in other sectors that not only raised the arrogance, abuse with capital A and the feeling of I the owner of roads and colonies began to run unchecked. If a black in the US gets to face the rough side of law enforcers, it is not hard to figure out why this is happening. Scores of protesters, white, blacks and others demand justice and before this episode recedes in the background another episode of another black being meted out same treatment we come across. Speaking to a Nigerian national studying in the national capital the Ferguson episode one hoped would be an isolated one, recurring of the same here and there has hit hard the template of compassion and coexistence the country is known for. Mr Bloom, Mr Ross would agree with that.
The sunshine in Alabama was good and George sharing dias with Ba was a consolation. Though some would have found fault with the speech made but one has to understand the hands are tied and how much Ba can do. Here some would argue another AfricanAmerican, CaribbeanAmerican, CentralAmericanAmerican should get another opportunity. It may be distant but not impossible.  


House glut in China
China is facing a housing glut with developers finding it difficult to raise funds. Chinese manufacturers face weak demand from home and abroad. Olympics and the boom that one expected following the big event did not happen and as a result, the house glut, low demand and threats from different forces became more visible. For China, more important is to keep the Army productively employed and instill in them the virtues of discipline and not displacing others. More important is to inculcate in them the feeling of compassion. China faces a daunting task. One among them is Honk Kong where the tirade of the local residents is that those hailing from mainland have left no room for them to get a roof of their own. Some would argue that Mainland China should steer a drive where affordable housing involving local residents should be set in place for a long time. Similarly admissions to schools,colleges and employing the locals to companies stationed there is a way forward to break the impasse.

We had commonwealth games and the amount that went down the drain is known. At least the stadiums built then should be put to effective use as stories abound of such structures lying unused in Brazil (world Cup), China (olympics), London (olympics). In each of theses places, the budget went beyond expectations. As for DEbates in electronic media, it  should be towards measures required to be taken to reduce circle rate, bring transparency in real estate, the clamour to secure high salary/compensation after completing courses from private institutes is it justified?. Are Business graduates that are being churned out by private varsities getting effectively employed. One paper had a story on clutter of gutter mbas. Not meant to offend anyone, this tribe of gaining business outlook with no prospects in hands looks alarming.
High circle rates have kept the commoner out of home reach and any attempt to raise a skyscraper when Yamuna is not relatively clean looks priorities are misplaced. Here newspapers talk about skyscrapers.  A district court here and there, a stadia right in the city and outskirts, some of these places lie unattended. Though economy is not booming, it is not in pause mode either, not by any means engineering prospects for repo rate to be cut on two occasions.

M O Ibrahim Foundation established in 2006 to encourage African leadership is something on which Inside Story had a reasonable debate. One channel covers Africa in its entirety. Perhaps channels in Delhi should take a leaf from that.