Delhi has decided to ban gutkha, khaini and other products known as smokeless tobacco. It is 12th state to take the step; Madhya Pradesh was the first (where the ban has not been very effective, according to media reports). Now, medically speaking, there’s not much difference between the two ways of consuming tobacco: with or without smoke. Extending the logic behind banning gutkh
Kanpur-based cartoonist Aseem Trivedi has been charged with sedition for making cartoons which depict corruption. His work is in question because a Mumbai-based lawyer felt he insulted our national flag, where wolves replace the national emblem and the slogan reads Bhrashtameva Jayate in place of Satyamev Jayate. Trivedi is being treated like a criminal for raising voice against corruption. One
When the entire opposition tore into PM Manmohan Singh’s claims of innocence in coal block allocations, all he had to say was: Hazaaron Jawabon Se Acchi Hai Meri Khamoshi, Na Jaane Kitne Sawaalon Ki Aabru Rakhe. However, the PMO was prompt in shooting off an angry letter to the US newspaper after it carried a front page article titled “India’s ‘silent&rsq
Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray has called for a "permit-system" for checking the influx of migrants from Bihar into Mumbai. The Sena`s parochial politics has been on since the times of Uddhav`s father, Balasaheb. Political analysts believe it is a push at outshouting Raj Thackeray`s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena`s `Marathi manoos` jingo. Mumbai is already strained by its population &m
Prime minister Manmohan Singh has ruled out immediate cancellation of 142 coal block allocations. Refusing to give in to the BJP’s demand, Singh said he was ready for a fight with the opposition on the issue. The coal block allocation issue was being probed by the CBI and an Inter-Ministerial Group. The IMG which met on Monday has so far sent notices to 58 owners of coal bloc
Rural positing for six months will soon become compulsory for undergraduate medical students before they get their MBBS degrees with the Medical Council of India (MCI) recently presenting the proposal to the health ministry. According to MCI, current medical education is urban and big town-centric. So, when doctors pass out, they aren`t confident in dealing with public health needs. By ser
Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju in a `unilateral` move has sought powers over the electronic and social media, in addition to print media. This was opposed by Indian Newspaper Society and News Broadcasters Association. The INS believes that the press in India is time-tested and self-regulated with enough maturity to continue to play responsibly. It says print and electronic medi
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has attributed his state`s high rates of malnutrition to vegetarianism and figure consciousness among Gujarati girls. Modi was responding to The Wall Street Journal question that "about half of Gujarati children under five were stunted, or too short for their age" during an interview. One is left wondering if children below 5 years can actually thi
The union cabinet on Tuesday cleared a proposal to amend the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, to ban all work for children under the age of 14 and restrict non-hazardous work to adolescents between the age of 14 and 18. While the proposal is welcome, it is also a reality that there is no dearth of good laws in the country. Implementing them has been our Achilles&rsqu
Besides serving as a major tourist destination, India Gate is also part of the city’s vivacious public life. Its monumental status apart, it has also forged a strong bond with all generations. Lit up in nights, the spot comes to life with motley crowds of locals as well as outsiders with a few vendors hawking ice-creams and other eatables. A family nightout here is part of city’s co
The public response to Anna Hazare’s second sit-in at Jantar Mantar in July was just lukewarm when compared to the huge support his April 2011 fast had generated. However, it was certainly more noticeable than the one flop show at Azad Maidan, Mumbai, in December 2011. Critics blamed the lack of energy in India Against Corruption’s movement on a lack of clear strategy among its lead
Keeping up heat on the UPA-II government by paralysing parliament for the second day on Wednesday demanding the prime minister`s resignation over the “coalgate”, the Bhartiya Janata Party stormed out of a meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probing the 2G scam later in the day. The BJP rejected the government’s offer to talk out the alleged corruption in the all
Food inflation is at its all-time high. Rising prices of food items have burned holes in the common man’s pocket. While the economist prime minister Manmohan Singh and his sincerest student the deputy chairman of plan panel, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, are at their wits’ end after they failed to control inflation in the last four years, union steel minister Beni Prasad Verma seem to be
Even after six years of the promulgation of the Forest Rights Act which listed bamboo as a minor forest produce and gave tribals the right over it, the tree, or err, grass, is still stuck in the official rigmarole and repartee. In 2011, the union environment and forests ministry had classified bamboo as ‘grass’ to remove the legal hurdle and confusion. So far, only one triba
Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia has cautioned the government against tinkering with the independence of judiciary. "The government may make law for making judges accountable. We are not afraid of that. But it should not tinker with the very constitutional principle of judicial independence," he said. A controversial clause in the Bill states: "No judge shall make unwarranted c
Ramdev’s protest against black money and corruption elicited good response from the people and the political parties in the capital. Baba`s antics threw the city out of gear and cops were busy all through the day in controlling his supporters. This on one hand threatens to weaken the entire movement against graft. On the other hand, the NDA leaders addressing the crowd from the stage at R
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee sent a farmer to jail alleging that he was a Maoist. The farmer had put an uncomfortable poser before the CM and that was what irked Mamata. The CPM said the arrest amounted to autocracy while the BJP said political parties shouldn’t run away from answering questions. Press Council of India chairman Markandeya Katju drew parallels between Banerje
Just as Gandhian Anna Hazare called off a fast at Jantar Mantar, yoga guru Baba Ramdev has begun one at Ramila Maidan. A section of intelligentsia says that while Hazare’s movement though on the downside of popularity is still characterised by an engagement of keen minds on the debate on corruption, Ramdev’s is a movement driven by popularity and emotions. The yoga guru also severel
The UPA government has decided to gift mobile phone to every BPL family. The Har Hath Mein Phone scheme will be announced by the prime minister on August 15. Is this just a poll gimmick of the UPA to win the 2014 general elections or does it really want to empower the BPL families as it claims? All said does our country have the required infrastructure like roads and electricity? Networ
Gandhian Anna Hazare’s sudden decision to make the movement against corruption political has created confusion among his followers and critics alike. To make the matters more confounded, he disbanded Team Anna on Monday, saying it was no longer needed. The move even took prominent members Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia by surprise. Santosh Hegde said he felt sorry about it. Do you
