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Showing posts from October, 2019

Tales Of Courage & Capitulation In A Lawless Fiefdom !

BY R.K.MISRA Seventeen years after the incident and six months after the apex court ordered relief for the victim, the BJP government in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat figured in a callous disregard for compliance. Successive BJP governments in Gujarat have dragged their feet, particularly in matters relating to the minority community, even when the highest court of the land has unequivocally ruled it’s mind. This  was once again brought into sharp focus on September 30,2019 when the Supreme Court directed the Gujarat government to implement within two weeks an order which it had given almost six months ago in the case of Bilkis Bano, a gangrape victim of the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. On April 23,2019,  a bench headed by Chief justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising judges Deepak Gupta and Sanjeev Khanna had ordered the Gujarat government to pay Rs 50 lakhs as payment to Bilkis Bano, provide  government job and adequate accommodation. Five m

Parking Perils And The Insignificant Indian !

BY R.K.MISRA It just takes an ant to bring down an elephant. The insignificant Indian, coerced to cough up cash at every point, has cause for some cheer. This is because a small issue which touches a myriad lives has now reached the Supreme Court after exhausting itself in the courtrooms of Gujarat. Malls, multiplexes and commercial establishments India-wide have been charging for vehicle parking every day over the last few years, turning it into a virtual scam. The lack of a clear-cut policy on this has caused large-scale consumer exploitation. But no longer. On July 10, 2019, the Gujarat High Court put a stop to these charges but the owners of these establishments were not ready to take this lying down and approached the Supreme Court. The apex court has issued a notice to the Gujarat government to file its reply within   this month. The story unfolded in July 2018 when the Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat police commissioners imposed a ban on malls, multipl

The Model Between Mahatma And Modi

BY R.K.MISRA Mahatma Gandhi’s Gujarat   is now Narendra Modi’s home state and his ‘model’ for countrywide replication. The   symbolism of this transition was not lost when just   days   before Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the Sabarmati ashram in Ahmedabad for the official celebration of the 150 th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi this October 2, 2019 his government unveiled plans for the takeover of the ashram. The plan is to take-over all trusts, institutions, land and property, painstakingly built over the last 70 years ,with or without government grants. The Sabarmati ashram was served a notice informing the trustees and the 200 and odd inmates that the government was preparing to give them’ handsome compensation’ and apartments for ceding control of the institutions and the land. The government, the notice assured, planned to transform the Ashram into a fitting ’world class’ memorial to the Mahatma. Stupified Gandhians wonder   at the contradiction

MV Act Amendment : Playing Political Poker On Pot - holed Roads !

BY R.K.MISRA “If you are gonna be two-faced at least make one of them pretty”, said Marilyn Monroe. Sure Madamoiselle !   would go an imaginary conversation for there is no other way to explain the contradictions in the implementation of the amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act which came into effect from September 1, 2019 and stirred up a hornets nest countrywide.    Narendra Modi is a powerful Prime Minister who rules with an iron hand. He has a steamroller majority   which ensured easy piloting of the Motor Vehicles(Amendment)Bill, 2019 through Parliament until it became a law on August 9, 2019. The amendments were made in consultation with transport ministers from 18 states along with discussions with other standing committees. And yet mere days before it was slated to be implemented, Gujarat- the Prime Minister’s home state as well as that of his powerful party chief as well as Home Minister, Amit Shah- stalled and watered down it’s penal provisions. Soon oth