"If we are ever in
doubt about what to do, it is a good rule to ask ourselves what we shall wish
on the morrow that we had done."
—John Lubbock (British,
1834-1913)
Word for the day
Amanuensis (n)
A person employed to write
what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another; secretary.
Malice towards none
Want to get into IIT -
preserve virginity and believe in God!
A survey finds that 95% new
entrant in IIT-B are virgins and only 18% are atheist.
First random thought this morning
Reports suggest that many residents of the State of Bihar are
crossing borders to Uttar Pradesh just to consume alcohol. A similar practice
is seen in Gujarat, where people cross borders to Maharashtra, Daman and Diu
just to drink.
I do not subscribe to the idea of legal prohibition at all. But
since some states have already implemented, I feel the prohibition should be on
people and not the place - all residents domiciled in that state should be
completely prohibited from consuming, producing, buying, selling or storing
liquor, irrespective of their present location.
State of Emergency
The response of the central government and many state governments
towards two natural disasters, viz., massive forest fire in northern India, and
acute water crisis in central India, is inadequate, in my view.
In particular, the economic ministries of the central government
have either been underestimating the colossal economic impact of these
disasters, or they have been misguiding the nation by claiming stable economic
conditions and projecting 8%+ GDP growth in the current year.
A visit to railway stations in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi and/or a
drive on NH-3 (Agra - Mumbai) is sufficient to assimilate large scale migration
of people from parched fields to large cities in search of employment and food.
A casual discussion with cement manufacturers and dealers is
sufficient to know that water shortages are hurting construction activities in
many parts of the country. There are therefore even lesser employment
opportunities for the migrant labor.
Besides construction, many other water intensive industries like
textile, paper, chemicals etc. are also fearing serious production disruption
should situation worsen further from the current level.
The hospitality sector in the hill stations of north India fears a
washout season if the forest fire is not doused soon.
It is common knowledge that stale water starts stinking. This
equally applies to ideologies, beliefs, traditions, conventions, relations and
everything else.
If there is any argument on this, I am willing to hear. But if it
goes uncontested, I will take a step further - why the Constitution of India
should be beyond this rule.
The founding father of the Constitution of India envisaged three
situations that may warrant declaration of a state of emergency, viz., under
Article 352 (National emergency due to external threat or war); Article 356
(State emergency due to failure of constitutional machinery); and Article 360
(National/State emergency due to financial crisis).
Major natural disasters (Tsunami, Earth Quake, Flood, Drought
etc.) are not specified as potential cause for declaring National/State
emergency.
Article 356 has arguably been misused on many occasions. Mrs.
Gandhi misused Article 352 once in 1975.
But the larger point is that mere potential for misuse, cannot be an
argument against the importance, need, rationality and utility of a legal or
constitutional provision.
Just because Article 352 was once misused 40yrs ago, we cannot
ignore the critical importance of this provision. And unless we accept its
critical importance, we cannot sit and consider amending the constitution to
provide for a national/state emergency due to major natural disaster.
In my strong view, the acute water crisis in the country calls for
declaration of National Emergency - making water a central subject, enforcing
strict norms for usage, and ensuring an equitable distribution amongst states.
Tomorrow - impact of water crisis on investment strategy and
markets.
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