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Morbi Bridge Collapse: The Questions Gujarat Govt Needs to Answer

THE Morbi pedestrian suspension bridge over the Machchhu River collapsed on October 30, leading to the confirmed death of 141 persons and injuries to more than 100. In this column, I will not repeat what is widely known regarding one of the worst bridge disasters in India. The question that needs to be raised is whose responsibility is such a bridge in India and whether the authorities carried out their responsibilities.

Prime Minister and a Statue

AS a child, I remember hearing a story about a naughty bird, an ugly, naughty bird that wanted to produce beautiful chicks. This bird would sneak into the nest of a beautiful bird that had just laid some eggs and steal one of them, take it back to its own nest and then proceed to keep it warm until it hatched and the beautiful little chick pushed itself out. 

The Case on Ethical Code for Marketing Medicines

A TWO-JUDGE bench of the Supreme Court, on August 18 afternoon, issued an order on the legal code for the marketing of medicines.

The Federation of Medical and sales Representatives’ Associations of India (FMRAI), had filed a petition in the court urging the government to enforce a legal code for marketing of medicines.

The Indian media, however, has distorted facts and misreported the issue by selectively highlighting the issue of perks given to doctors to improve the sales of one product, Dolo-650, an antipyretic drug.

BJP’s Freebie Campaign: Yet another Assault on the States’ Rights

THE freebie debate has raised a hornet’s nest regarding its definition, implications for the poor, impact on fiscal consolidation, propriety of judicial system usurping the domain of the legislature and political process and so on. But a dimension that has not received adequate attention has been the consequences for the federal structure.

Why Lok Ayukta Amendment?

THE Kerala Assembly has passed the Lok Ayukta Amendment Bill after detailed discussions. The assembly came to the general point of view that the bill has constitutional and legal validity. This bill has been formulated as per the provisions of the Central Lokpal Act and the State Lok Ayukta Model Bill by upholding the provisions of the constitution. As per the Lok Ayukta Act, this system will be responsible for investigations and inspections. This has been clearly stated in the preamble of the bill.

‘Operation Lotus’: Anatomy of a Sinister Destruction of Democracy

WHO used this code-name is not important.  But, this has been widely used by the media as a euphemism for the expansion of the BJP.  As is now the practice, the obnoxious manner in which this expansion was being planned has been sanitized by the media.  This was only to be expected with the transformation of the regime with Narendra Modi’s assumption of power. 

If Only We Had Wings…

R KELLY, the now disgraced pop star, had famously sung, ‘I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky…spread my wings and fly away…’ That song, with the beautiful video of Michael Jordan dunking the ball in the basket was really fascinating. That was then, it was only a fascination. A fantasy. But these are the days when fantasies turn into realities and myths. From there, it is not a long flight to become part of our history syllabus. Let us see how it is done.

Is this the End of Justice?

THE Amrit Mahotsav celebrations of 75 years of Indian independence were indelibly marred by the shocking remission granted on that day by the government of Gujarat to 11 persons who had been convicted of multiple rape and murder committed by them during the horrific carnage of Muslims that took place in the state in 2002.  When news of this remission became public, Bilkis Bano, the only survivor of the crimes, could only say ‘Is this the end of Justice’?

MEMORIES HAUNT ONCE AGAIN

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