"Commend a fool for his wit, or a rogue for his honesty and he
will receive you into his favor."
—Henry Fielding (English,
1707-1754)
Word for the day
Janus-faced (adj)
Having two contrasting
aspects.
Having two faces, one
looking forward, one looking backward, as the Roman deity Janus.
Malice towards none
The Rebellious TV news
anchor wants a full-fledged direct war with Pakistan. He would not mind a war
with China too.
What da ya say?
First random thought this morning
At a time when the country is
facing serious economic challenges, internal security threats and external
threats - we are working with part-time (and not so healthy) finance and defence
ministers, a home minister with fractured foot, and an external affairs
minister who is also not keeping very good health.
What could be the reason? Is it
the dearth of capable people? Is it the trust deficit on part of BJP
leadership? Is it the desire of top leadership to totally centralize the
command of the nation? or is it all of these?
Set the priorities right
A large part of the population in Eastern and North Eastern parts
of India suffers from floods almost every year. Millions of people suffer
tremendous hardship every year due to inundation of their houses and fields.
For many of these people life begins afresh every year, as they
lose their shelters, belongings, old parents, infants, and jobs to floods or to
the disease and starvation that invariably follows the flood.
This cycle has been going on since past many decades. States like
Assam and Bihar have a regular flood control department. Every year they go
through the same routine. The most unfortunate part is that this misery of
people has been accepted by the administration and the politicians as fait
accompli. So much so that political parties even do not consider it
important to promise effective measures for flood control in their manifestos.
For example, consider the following:
1. In Assam, where
millions of people suffer from floods almost every year, the Vision Document
2016-2025 issued by the ruling BJP, mentions the word flood only twice, once
under the heading "Housing" and the second time under the heading
"Guwahati Development":
Housing
"Designing and developing world class infrastructure with due
consideration to natural disasters like floods and earthquakes."
Guwahati Development
"Using state-of-the-art technologies to prevent flash
floods."
2. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's
agenda for Bihar did not mention the word flood even once.
3. The largest party in
Bihar assembly, RJD, also did not consider flood to be a problem worth
according any priority.
Now consider the following basic data points to comprehend the
extent of the problem:
(a) In Assam about 87% rural households live in a
Katcha or semi-pucca structure. (NSSO 70th round survey report –
Dec’14)
(b) 40% area of the state of Assam is flood
prone.
(c) Between
1-3million Assamese are affected by floods every year
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