Wednesday 6 January 2016

Random Ramblings

Why is it that Aravind Kejariwal, who has not lifted a finger against Corruption, and who has adopted the shoot and scoot approach to malign people and who has got anyone convicted (remember his claim of having 370 pages of evidence against Sheila Dikshith?) being hailed as an anti corruption crusader while Subramayam Swamy, who painstakingly gathers evidence, uses the legal system to bring the corrupt to justice (he is responsible for the Jayalalitha verdict and now taking Sonia and Rahul head on in the NH case) being touted as a loose cannon and maverick?
 
When will our Academic system ever give the students the freedom to choose course combinations of their liking? Why should our student's choice be limited to a few rigid streams? Why cant we have the credit system which facilitates the above? I am a little disappointed with the Modi Government. Our education system requires a total revamp, and not some cosmetic changes like introducing yoga or rewriting history books (though both are welcome). Almost two years  have passed by, and there isn't even a murmur that any initiative is taken in that direction. So much the pity.
 
Two days ago I was planning to write a blog on how we don't seem to have young sporting heroes in the current times. True we still have Federer or Messi, but both of them are not that young. Sporting heroes are required to create enthusiasm for the sport. I was inspired by Gavaskar, Borg, Fischer, Mohammed Ali, Maradonna, Jack Nicklaus etc. Later generation revered Michael Schumacher, Sachin Tendulkar, Garry Kasparov, Vishy Anand, Tiger Woods, Federer, Messi and of course Usain Bolt. Though a few of them are still active, they are clearly over the hill. So where is the next lot? None in tennis. None in Golf. None in Athletics. None in Cricket and definitely None in Football. And then we got the news of Pranav scoring 1009 not out in an Inter School Competition and Bavuma becoming the first black cricketer to score a century for South Afica. Both significant achievements. Forget the level of cricket. To score 1009, even in backyard cricket is mind boggling. We really don't know how talented he is and what he will achieve in the future, but this is one  innings that will make many kids dream in the years to come, just as Bavuma's century will provide hope for lot of Black Cricketers in South Africa.
 
Though BCCI is in a mess, Supreme Court has no business telling it how to run its operations. All it can do is to see whether BCCI has violated any laws under which it was set up, and that too if someone files a complaint. If BCCI has indeed violated any law, then they should be punished as per the provisions in the law. Nothing more, nothing less. Of late we are seeing SC interfering in the domains of the Executive, and this is not acceptable. It is like Auditors of a Company trying to manage the Company. Frankly, Supreme Court and its subordinate Courts are in a mess. No one can aspire to get a legal remedy in India in reasonable time. Instead of focusing on reducing the delays and ensuring speedy disposal of cases, we have the SC deciding whether betting is to be allowed in sports, whether diesel cars above 2000 cc should be registered, and monitoring Ganga cleaning! Absurd.
 
By the way, why are these pseudo liberals, who shout from the roof top about freedom of the individual at the drop of a hat, quiet about the silly odd -even rule or banning of diesel cars above 2000cc in Delhi? These also infringe an individuals freedom, right? There is no quick fix to reduce Delhi's pollution. Satellite cities have to be planned within 100 kms of Delhi and they should be connected to Delhi with a high speed public transport system. This distance can be covered by a fast train in 40 minutes. People should be encouraged to move out of Delhi to live in these towns. Those who wish to stay back should be taxed heavily. All Industries will have to be shifted outside the city. Vehicles carrying goods to be allowed only between 10 pm and 4 am. This is the direction to be taken and not the hare brained schemes like odd-even vehicles rule.

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