K.N. Bhat

Apr 15, 2011

Scarce funds hold up seawall project

Thiruvananthapuram: The sea eats up the beaches during each monsoon causing immense hardship to coastal folks.

And the only solution seems to be the seasonal mending of seawalls. Though the irriga

The catalysts and culprits of justice

Yes, I smoked (grass), but did not inhale,” was one of the two statements by the former President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, that had no takers; the other related to a certain Monika Lewinsky.

How Italy had a change of heart

We will honour whatever assurance (was) given to Italy,” was Union home secretary R.K. Singh’s public statement to reporters on April 8.

Judge, gadfly and newsmaker

Maverick, eccentric or unique? Which of these adjectives describe Justice Markandey Katju — the current chairman of the Press Council of India — adequately? Considering Justice Katju’s ability to shift from reality to fantasy without any forewarning, all of these epithets may fit on a given occasion, but none as aptly as I-centric.

Doctor? No!

Can honorific doctorates be used as “titles”? No. The Indian Constitution frowns upon this practice. In fact, the Constitution commands, “No title, not being a military or academic distinction, shall be conferred by the state”.

Not just the symbol of the nation

In the Constituent Assembly, after the articles relating to the office of the President took final shape, Dr B.R. Ambedkar said: “He is the head of the state, but not of the executive. He represents the nation, but does not rule the nation. He is the symbol of the nation.”

Friendly advice

As of 2008, nine cases arising out of the 2002 Gujarat riots were being monitored by the Supreme Court of India — all involving serious crimes of murder, arson and the like.

Why this show of fairness to Kasab?

A Pakistani judicial commission was in India, ostensibly to gather information about the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. At no time was there any doubt that the heinous plot, which left 166 innocent people dead, was conceived, scripted, directed and executed from Pakistani soil. The whole world knew it, and Pakistani administration ought to have known it well. However, Pakistan kept on denying any knowledge — leave aside involvement — and even shed some crocodile tears. Pakistan, in fact, refused to bury the bodies of its citizens — the dead terrorists — and denied outright that the sole surviving terrorist, Ajmal Kasab, was its citizen. Yet it did not take long for the lies to get exposed.

NCTC fears unfounded

Most of the chief ministers who have raised a chorus of alarm about the UPA government’s deliberate dilution of federalism since home minister P. Chidambaram introduced the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), perhaps, do realise that the cause that has united them is at best nebulous and imaginary at worst. But charging the Centre with being “anti-federal” does get attention, including that of the Prime Minister.

Too sensitive to handle

Vayalar Ravi, the Union minister for overseas Indian affairs, could have taken a little more time to understand how in the United States the freedom of speech and that of the press, guaranteed by the

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