Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from November, 2016

When did Union ministers queue up to deposit money in banks?

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers will recollect the headlines in several newspapers today — the Hon’ble Prime Minister has directed MPs of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to declare their bank transactions to the President of the Party in a bid to lead by example to come clean on their actions ‘after’ the decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 denomination. The leader of a prominent political party has demanded transparency regarding the alleged financial dealings of the top leaders of the BJP. Meanwhile the print and the electronic media have covered the travails of citizens across the country who have rushed to banks to deposit their old currency notes and exchange some for the newly printed Rs. 2000 and Rs. 500 bank notes. With the exception of the Vice President of the Indian National Congress (INC) who queued up before a bank branch in Delhi to exchange a small sum of the demonetised notes for new ones, people did not see any other political leader from any

Lifting of moratorium on polluted industrial clusters to cause irreversible eco-damage

By Rohit Prajapati* Lifting of the moratorium from Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva is a setback to environment protection and for those affected by industrial pollution in the area. It appears that the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change is now merged with the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. Our struggle on ground and in the court against polluting industries & their government will continue. Mr. Anil Dave, the Union Environment Minister, accompanied with Mr. Vijay Rupani, the Chief Minister of Gujarat and industrialists announced the lifting of the moratorium from Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva. Significantly, this announcement happened in the absence of pollution affected people, while their representatives Mr. Salimbhai Patel, Jayeshbhai Patel and others fighting for environment protection were being detained. The Union environment Minister guarantees two things: the appeasement of polluting industries and irreversible damage to the environment. The imposition of Moratorium d

Severe pollution in Vapi, Ankaleshwar, Vatva: No time to consult affected people?

By Rohit Prajapati* It is unfortunate that the Environment Department of the Government of Gujarat and the Government of India, which had taken a decision long back to put moratorium on Vapi, Ankaleshwar and Vatva are now taking steps to announce lifting of the moratorium from all three. Both at the state and national level, government authorities are busy to cite the manipulated figures of the CEPI (Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index) so that if not on ground at least on paper they can show that there is substantial improvement in CEPI and thus justify their decision to lift the Moratorium from Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva. This move is being discussed since the year 2010 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Gujarat’s chief minister (CM). The Government officials continue to hold number of meetings with the industrial associations of the area to be able to lift the moratorium from Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva. But in spite of the severe pollution in the area the Government has n

J&K ‘extra-judicial’ killings: Will army disclose court martial records?

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers will remember the incident of extra-judicial killing of 3 persons in Machil in the State of Jammu and Kashmir on 30 April, 2010 by army personnel. The Indian Army instituted a court of inquiry in June 2010. Based on the findings of this process, the Indian Army constituted a General Court Martial in 2013 to try the accused. Later, the Court Martial handed life imprisonment to the six accused one of whom was of Colonel rank. The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed that all records relating to these proceedings be disclosed. In another alleged incident of extra-judicial killing that occurred in 2000 five persons are reported to have been killed in Pathribal, also in Jammu and Kashmir. Media reports indicated that the Court of Inquiry instituted by the Army did not find any evidence against its personnel to proceed further. The Indian Army argued before the CIC that a Court of Inquiry was never held regarding this incident. In January 2015, I file

Why are we allowing hate and violence to govern our lives?

By Fr. Cedric Prakash sj* It is not always that one has the opportunity to gaze at a Supermoon. One was warned not to miss this spectacle – the first one after 68 years, and apparently the next one will be only in 2034.An amazing phenomenon indeed- to see the moon so close, so bright, so radiant. One can only give thanks to the Creator of this Universe, to praise Him and to thank Him at this moment- for the many graces and blessings which he showers down upon us constantly. At the same time, we need to question ourselves on the way we destroy his creation; the way we allow hate and violence to govern our lives- not bothered at all, about the generations to come after us! “Those who have loved are those who have found God”, says Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, whose birth anniversary we celebrate today. His followers do all they can to serve others in tangible ways. Several Sikhs who live in Lebanon, have come together to open a welcome centre for Syrian refugees coming into Lebanon