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Showing posts from September, 2020

New Farm Acts: Better Late than Never

 Politics in the name of farmers is a flourishing and beneficial trade for the politicians and dalalas. Otherwise, there is no reason why no drastic changes have been brought in the agricultural policy of India for decades. The number of small and marginal farmers is rising with every passing year and the load on the agriculture sector is increasing day by day. The need, therefore, is not only to modernise agriculture but also to offload it as much as possible. There should not be any doubt left in anybody's mind that the opposition to three new Farm Bills recently passed by both houses of Parliament is specious and it is being orchestrated and motivated, not by genuine farmers, but by those intermediaries whose interests are getting hurt.   These politicians and middlemen have been reaping earning huge profits by fleecing the farmers and consumers. That was why there have been no takers for their protest marches and demonstrations organised on 25th September.     The three Bil

Dear Harivansh, Never Deviate from the Principled Stand

  For the last few days, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Shri Harivansh is under flak from some people. I can only say that they are less than fair to him. Harivansh Narayan Singh, which he possibly shortened at the advice of his political mentor Chandrasekhar ji, is a man of high principles. Harivansh and I have been together in the Banaras Hindu University for five years. Hardly a day had passed during our stay in the hostel, when we had not gossiped, discussed, debated, and argued, sometimes even hotly on almost every subject we could think of under the sun. He has been the admirer of Jai Prakash Narayan from his university days and had told us many unknown stories about him. JP‘s education in America by doing even menial works and his absconding from Hazaribagh jail by jumping the walls of a prison is known to the whole world. However, the stories of JP’s visits and meetings with the villagers in Doab of the holy rivers Ganga and Ghaghara, inspiring them for pursuing educat

Ms Bachchan’s Speech Exemplifies her Reprobate Nature

   Ms Jaya Bachchan’s speech yesterday i.e on 14th of September 2020 on the floor of the Rajya Sabha was laughable, highly disappointing, thoroughly illogical, and supportive of the corruption that is prevailing in the film industry. It has been an open secret that Bollywood, which outwardly gleams, is rotten inside and stinks to the high heaven. It is controlled by Mafia dons, is a den of smugglers, tax evaders, drug addicts and criminals of different types. It does not mean that all those who are in the industry can be tarred with the same brush but the influential section of it certainly suffers from the vices of nepotism, drug addiction and casting couches. Ms Bachchan did not name anybody in her speech but her innuendo was unmistakably towards Kangna Ranaut, who has shown the extraordinary courage to speak about the gutter that has been flowing in the filmdom. This rot has, of late, overpowered most of the activities of the industry. The influence of ‘ Dongri to Dubai’ is visibl

Kesavanad Bharti Judgement Needs to be Set aside

     Kesavanand Bharti vs the State of Kerala, more known as the Fundamental Rights case, as decided by the Supreme Court of India, way back in 1973, has again come into focus, due to the death of Swami ji. I pay my respectful tribute to Swami ji. This case, without doubt, brought a paradigm change in judicial history. It is the longest judgement by the largest bench till date.  However, with the greatest of deference, it must be said that it is totally erroneous judgment and therefore, needs to be revisited and reconsidered. Firstly, this case was not decided by all 13 judges of the bench as it was signed only nine judges. Four judges outrightly refused to sign on the judgement.    Thus, the wafer-thin majority of 7:6 in this judgement was obtained by dubious means. Chief Justice S M Sikri wrote a summary on behalf of the judges to assert the principle of the basic structure, which was dealt at length by Justice H R Khanna. There is no concept of writing the summary of the judgement

Sita’s Sister Urmila was no less Important than Her

  She was an Epitome of Learning, Courage and straightforwardness      Think of Ramayana, the characters which immediately conjure up in our collective minds are Ram, Sita and Lakshman. Others, without whom the Ramayana cannot be thought of, are Ravana, Mandodari,  Meghdoot, Baali, Sugreev, Vibhishan, Hanuman,  and other supporters of Lord Rama in the jungle.   Raja Janak, Dashrath, his three consorts – Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra, Princes Bharat, Shatrughna and maid Manthara in Ayodhya are equally important for the Ramayana.  However, some like Urmila, Madavi and Shrutkirti have not found their proper place in the epic. Kavita Kane’s book ‘Sita’s Sister’ has, therefore, done huge justice to Urmila by bringing forth her indomitable and mesmerizing personality.     As is the legend Sita was an ethereal daughter of King Janak, who was also known as Videh, who had risen above worldly greed, pelf, or power. One of the names of Sita is Vaidehi, although Raja Janak was not her biolo