Rescue operations in Beas River. Photo Courtesy-Indian Express

హిమాచల్ ప్రమాదం –కారణాలు-విశ్లేషణ

హిమాచల్ ప్రదేశ్  లో June 9న బియాస్ నదిలో  జరిగిన ఘటన అత్యంత దారుణం , శోచనీయం . అప్పటి వరకు కేరింతలు ఆట పాటలతో  సరదాగా గడుపుతున్న V.N.R. Vigyanajyothi Engineering College,Bachupally,Hyderabad కి చెందిన 24 మంది యువతీ-యువకులు ,వారు ఏ నదీ ప్రవాహన్నైతే ఫోటో తీసి  మరుపు రాని మధుర స్మృతిగా మార్చుకున్దాము అనుకున్నారో ,అదే ప్రవాహం వారిని ముంచి విషాద ఛాయలు మిగిల్చింది .ఏది ఏమైనా జరగాల్సిన నష్టం జరిగిపోయింది. మంచి భవిష్యత్తు ఉన్న యువతి-యువకులు తిరుగురాని లోకాలకి వెళ్ళిపోయారు.ఇక వారి తల్లి-తండ్రుల పరిస్థిది చెప్పనఖ్ఖర్లేదు,ఇప్పటి వరకు నలుగురి మృతదేహాలను వెలికితీశారు ,ఇంకా మిగిలిన వారి గురించి గాలింపు చేపడుతున్నారు.ఈ ప్రమాదంలో చనిపోయిన పిల్లల తల్లి-తండ్రుల బాధ వారికే తెలుస్తుంది ,ఆ బాధ వర్ణనాతీతం,ఎవ్వరు ఎంత ఓదార్చిన ,ప్రభుత్వం ఎంత సహాయం చేసినా  వారి నష్టం పూడ్చలేనిది.మనం చేయగలిగేది కేవలం దేవుడు వారికి ఈ విపత్కర పరిణామాన్ని ఎదుర్కొనే శక్తిని ఇవ్వాలని ప్రార్ధించడం మాత్రమే.

Terrorists Strike Again at Mumbai

Terrorists have struck once again on the financial capital of India, Mumbai yesterday , making three successive bomb blasts in the crowded areas of Zaveri bazaar, Opera house and Dadar areas of Mumbai. The three bomb blasts occurred successively between 6.50 p.m. and 7.04 p.m. Atleast 141 people have been  injured and 21 people are feared dead. The first bomb blast occurred at 6.50 p.m. in Zaveri bazaar area, a crowded  jewellery market , next one at Opera house area famous for its  diamond business, around 6.51 p.m. and the third at Dadar around 7.04p.m.

Who is more powerful a Dog or a Lion?

             The fast unto death undertaken by the noted social activist Anna Hazare ,to persuade the Indian government  to introduce  Jan Lokpal Bill instead of powerless Lokpal Bill drafted by group of Ministers (GoM),has entered 4^th day.He has received a tremendous support  of  the common people from all walks of life ,with people staging  protests and taking out rallies in support of  his demand for introduction of Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by a panel of judicial experts , social activists,like Lokayukta of Karnataka Mr. Santosh Hegde and well known legal expert Mr. Prashant Bhushan and india’s first woman IPS Mrs. Kiran Bedi.  Anna Hazare and his supporters notably the RTI activist Arun Kejrival and Swami Agnivesh have been insisting  to set up a committee consisting of fifty percent of members from  civil society consisting of experts from various fields and NGO’s, so that common man can have an active role in drafting of the Lokpal Bill.

The  Lokpal Bill in its present form drafted by Group of Ministers (GoM) on corruption is a toothless tiger with no real powers to either control corruption  nor  curb corruption. Some of the main proposals of the Lokpal bill as drafted by the GoM are:

Transparency International Global Corruption Index 2010

The Transparency International Report on corruption has been released. The Transparency International is a global civil society organization which leads the fight against corruption, and publishes its much acclaimed annual report on Corruption in various countries and corruption perception index which measures the perceived levels  of  public sector corruption in 178 countries around the world. For detailed report of Transparency International Report on  public sector corruption please visit http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010.

 While Denmark,New Zealand and Singapore are voetd to be the cleanest, Somalia is classified as the most corrupt.

Transparency International has placed India at 87^th place out of  178 countries, with China at 78^th place.

Please see the map of Global Corruption Index for relative Ranks of various Countries.

Global Corruption Index Map

Note: The images shown are copyright of Transparency International.

SUPPORT WIKI LEAKS, SUPPORT FREE SPEECH!

Is the resignation by Union Telecom Minister A.Raja enough.... ?

Now as the Union Telecom Minister A.Raja has resigned from his chair, following the outrage from opposition as well as the CAG report clearly pointing to his involvement in the multi-crore Telecom Scam, the question that arises in the mind of common people is that, Is it enough on the part of a person who is involved in one of the biggest scams that happened in post-independent India, just to submit his resignation and get away. Is it not the responsibility of Government of India , to punish the guilty and send clear signal that the law of land is the same for everyone.

Please, Post your comments about the scam and the action that should be taken against the guilty.

Bhopal Gas Disaster-25 Years of Government Incompetence.

It was on December 3,1984 that lethal methyl isocyanate  gas, leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited’s(UCIL) pesticide factory, killing over 15000 people and affecting more than five lakh people due to exposure to this gas and contamination of drinking water in a five sq.km area by large amounts of chemical waste dumped in and around the factory grounds. The chemical waste is still there after 25 years of disaster, and the company which bought UCC ,Dow chemical Company, refuses to clean up the mess and in turn has landed lawsuits on protestors. Although the unofficial figures of the death toll are even higher, as the people who were exposed to this gas developed complications after some time and the children born to them were born with birth defects.

Its been 25 years since this tragedy, and the main accused in this case Mr. Warren Anderson, who was the chairman and CEO of the U.S. headquartered Union Carbide Corporation(UCC), (whose Indian subsidiary is Union Carbide India Ltd), is still living a luxurious life

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