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 Prime Minister’s speech from
ramparts of Red Fort (Delhi) on Independence Day failed to impress. There
was no mention about hot controversies like Office-of-Profit and
amendments to Right-to-Information Act for which every right thinking
person has reason to expect views of the Prime Minister. Dr Manmohan
Singh avoided mention about long pending issue of Women Reservation Bill
even though it was a tradition to assure passing of the Bill by all Prime
Ministers of different parties and alliances in their I-Day speeches.
Natwar’s Threat
 Natwar Singh’s threat to
disclose uncomfortable secrets of those on high posts if he is made to
bear burnt of Volcker-fire singularly should make intelligence-agencies
taking the former Union Minister into custody for making him reveal
misdeeds of those on high posts. Blackmailing for self-escape by hiding
guilt of others should not be allowed.
Demanding probe against Lalu
 A PIL filed in the Apex Court
demanding probe for cash-payment of Rs 21 lakhs towards discounted bill
raised by ITDC’s Ashoka Hotel (New Delhi) towards marriage-celebrations
of his daughter by Union Railway Minister Lalu Yadav. Central Board of
Direct Taxes (CBDT) should set up special celebration-cells in all IT
circles where prior intimation of any function with budget exceeding Rs
10 laks may be made compulsory. Complete expense-details of all
marriage-related or other functions with budgets exceeding Rs 10 lakhs
should be compulsorily filed in these cells. Gifts and cash spent by
relatives and friends should also be taken as part of marriage-expenses
to avoid unaccounted spent-money as having spent by others!
Union
Government should take other measures as well to ensure marriages to be
simple so that birth of girl may be taken as boon rather than bane. India
should follow Pakistan by allowing only soft drinks and beverages in
marriage-related functions. Political consensus should be developed so
that elected representatives may be compelled to boycott mega-budgeted
functions. Extra-rich persons like from families like Sahara or Laxmi
Mittal should be encouraged to commemorate family-functions by setting up
public-utility institutions like schools, colleges or hospitals rather
than racing for mega-expenses in private functions. Such
commemorative-institutions can be blessed and graced with benign presence
of VVIPs and celebrities.
Time zone
 Indian government should
change its clock to systematic and daylight energy-saving time-zone of
GMT+6 hours instead of present GMT+5.30 hours. Except India and few other
countries like Nepal, most global countries have their time-zones
separated from standard GMT time in multiples of one complete hour.
International authorities regulating ‘Time’ should rather make it
compulsory for all nations to adopt uniform practice of having their
time-zones deviating from standard GMT time in multiples of one complete
hour only. Even different time-zones for summer and winter in a country
should also not be allowed.
Metric
unit of time should be introduced globally with a complete day divided in
10 metric hours instead of present 24 hours. Each metric hour may have
100 metric minutes with a metric minute having 100 metric seconds thereby
making a complete day of 100000 metric seconds instead of present 86400
seconds.
Pesticides in Cola Drinks
The Centre of Science and Environment (CSE)
should also make detailed study on pesticides in municipal water and
other water-based drinks like milk and fruit juices instead of singularly
blaming cola-products. On the other side, cola-companies with mega  budgeted
adverti-sements, can and should afford sophisticated plant not only for
perfectly purified water for their drinks, but also to use same water for
cleaning bottles to avoid pestic-ides due to water traces left after
cleaning bottles.
However
cola-companies should compulsorily print names of ingredients on bottles.
When every packa-ged food commodity had to print ingredients on their
packs, how and why soft drinks are exempted from following the rules?
Earlier also soft-drink manufacturers were asked to remove an oil from
their products which was found to be harmful for health. Compulsory print
of ingredients on cola bottles will clear doubts about presence of any intoxicant
or addicting substance in cola-drinks.
Falke Award for Suchitra Sen
 Union Government should go
ahead with its welcome thought to honour marvelous actress of yesteryears
Suchitra Sen with country’s highest Dada Saheb Falke Award for eminent
film-personalities, without anticipating her to appear in public to
receive the award. She can be honoured with the Award in her abscentia if
the veteran actress feels like enjoying her lonely life away from
artificiality and tired ness of usual glamours life.
Taxing third Child!
 It refers to Orissa Finance Commission
recommending “family-welfare-cess” on couples having more than two
children. Though the objective is good, yet it could be really effective
if government would have decided to snatch all government-facilities
including government-jobs/ promotions, reservation-benefits, ration,
medical or even voting rights (and thus also right to contest elections)
from persons/families with more than two children.
Agrawal Couple
updates world-records
 Limca Book of Records has
certified updated world-records of a Delhi based couple Subhash Chandra
Agrawal and Madhu Agrawal for having written maximum letters to editors
of newspapers and magazines in India and abroad. While latest tally of
published letters till 30.06.2006 for Subhash Chandra Agrawal at 10629
makes him world-record holder in general category, his wife Madhu Agrawal
with 7775 published letters holds the world-record in women’s category.
The
couple is already listed in Guinness World Records where separate
category for women does not exist. However Madhu Agrawal is listed in
Guinness World Records for having maximum letters published in a
particular calendar year.
Subhash-Madhu duo is actively engaged in
social work by their vigorous writing of letters in newspapers on vast
range of topics concerning national and public interest. They have a
pride collection of letters from authorities including Presidents, Vice
Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers, Governors, Chief Ministers and
top bureaucrats. They are inspired in their writings by veteran
activists, known dignitaries, intellectuals and editors of newspapers.
They are bold RTI activists effectively utilizing powers of the Act to
expose corruption and misconduct even in fields which are taken to be immunized
till now!
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