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Sunday, 17 August 2008

Brother kills brother over money dispute

Brother kills brother over money dispute

Another sorry news item which disturbed me recently:"

Two brothers had a fight over sharing of the insurance policy amount received on the death of their father. The fight lead to one brother killing the other!

  • Couldn't they BOTH understand that they ought not to be fighting for stuff like money, especially considering the fact that they are likely to have been in the period of mourning after their father's demise?
  • What kind of values and belief systems are being taught in our schools, families, etc. to allow such incidents to take place?
  • What were the other members of the family doing while these two brothers were fighting? That too till the point of killing one of them! 
  • Did the fighting brothers think about the impact that their dispute will have on their near and dear ones?

Guess that we all should re-start inculcating the right values in the minds of all our children like the proverbial "good old days".

Regards,

N


Saturday, 16 August 2008

"Safety" Pin Proves Unsafe

"Safety" Pin Proves Unsafe

I came across an article about how an open "Safety" Pin was surgically operated & removed from the stomach of an eight-month old baby. Apparently, the pin had remained in the child's body (stuck into some part of the stomach, "safely") for over a month before it was discovered and removed surgically.

The cause:

The pin, which was attached by the mother to her chain / mangalsootra, must have been swallowed by the child inadvertantly when it was being hugged/carried by the mother.

Can't mothers be more careful - at least till their children grow up a bit more?

Regards,

N


Thursday, 7 August 2008

Lights Out Campaign against Global Warming!

Lights Out Campaign against Global Warming!

Hi folks! You must be aware of the "Lights Out Campaign against Global Warming" that is being splashed around in every media vehicle that one comes across!

I have a different take on this matter. Perhaps a bit controversial, but with a certain logic to it:

  1. Who are the folks who start this initiative? Haves or Have-nots?
  2. My guess: It is the bunch of "Haves" who organise such initiatives (including, most probably, in this instance as well)
  3. What kind of environment-consciousness do the typical "Have-nots" have?
    • Usually, they are extremely environment-consciousness - because, it is in alignment with their economic self interest - They end up re-cycling everything that they can, ranging from old clothes, old plastics, old paper, old anything and old everything. And, they hardly ever use too much of environment-unfriendly products, simply because they can't afford it.
  4. What kind of environment-consciousness do the typical "Haves" have?
    • Just the opposite of Point 3 above - Typically, they are the ones who splurge on a dozen different electric, electronic, petro-product guzzling equipment virtually every day. To top it off, they end up trying to preach to the "Have-nots" from the top of their ivory towers and indulge in tokenism of this kind.
  5. In fact, this kind of tokenism usually results in enormous energy consumption by way of
    • an increased traffic of emails, SMS, Phone calls, etc. on this subject
    • a flurry of "candle-burning" symbolism, for which a whole host of them will come to the venue of "candle-burning" in their "petro-product-guzzling" private vehicles - not by public transport, not by human effort-driven modes of transport such as walking, bycycles, etc.
    • an explosion of media coverage of the entire gamut of activities that would have been "planned" for the "occasion" by everyone who is a who's who of every town and city around the world - be it politicians, artists, sportspersons, corporate czars, etc.

Considering all the above, I seriously doubt as to whether such campaigns result in any meaningful result against the campaign objectives.

Instead, the campaigners can choose the following alternatives:

  1. Use public transport instead of their private vehicles once a week / fortnight / month
  2. Avoid using airconditioners (at least at home) once a week / fortnight / month
  3. Avoid using electronic gadgets like TV, ipods, laptops, grinders, mixies, radios, etc. (at least at home) once a week / fortnight / month
  4. Avoid sending unnecessary mails (or marking copies of mails to unnecessary persons) - Apparently, even this has an impact on global warming
  5. Skip non-vegetarian food once a week / fortnight / month - it is highly energy inefficient
  6. Stop subscribing to all those "junk" mails, newspapers, magazines, etc. which one never reads
  7. Choose the "email" option to receive stuff like bank statements, mutual fund statements, etc.
  8. Try disconnecting one's personal mobile connection unless it is mandatory to have one according to the employer (after all we did live without mobiles for a very long while)
  9. Explore the possibility of practising the above 8 points instead of just talking and yapping about global warming.

Regards,

N


Wednesday, 16 July 2008

Accident kills unknown software engineer - Does this deserve a Page 1 mention???

"Accident kills unknown software engineer"
Does this deserve a Page 1 mention???

Times of India, Chennai, dated July 16, 2008, carries an article titled "Engineer killed by Corporation lorry driven by cleaner" on Page 1.

Read this link:

At the outset, my heartfelt condolences for the family of poor Agnes. May her soul rest in peace. Also, I certainly hope that the police authorities take appropriate action against the people responsible for this accident - directly and indirectly.

But, ... ... ... ... ...

I was under the impression that TOI is supposedly a national newspaper. Since when did an accident killing an otherwise "unknown" person become worthy of a Page 1 coverage of a major newspaper.

It is soooooooo odd that I don't have words to express - Most certainly, this news item at best deserves a brief mention in the inside pages of the newspaper.

Will someone tell the Editor, TOI, that she/he should not goo of on a holiday to Antartica when the newspaper is being printed???

Regards,

N


Tuesday, 15 July 2008

Overload of Cricket

Overload of Cricket

Overload of cricket - We've always had this right form my student days (at least).

However, I never really realised that even the cricketers will start cribbing about it, especially when the cribbing is done by folks who are fairly successful and in good form.

To top it off, I certainly didn't expect someone who's obviously in the "good books of the selectors" otherwise like Dhoni to crib about an Overload of Cricket and about the packed schedules - and, most importantly, didn't expect him to make himself unavailable for a full series against a serious team like Sri Lanka.

My only doubt: Would any of these folks have the courage of conviction to make themselves unavailable for the next IPL season for the same reason - after all, this is likely to be more "stressful" and "tightly-packed schedules" than any Test series!

Regards,

N


Wednesday, 25 June 2008

Bumbling Cops, Convict Escapes - For a second time!

Bumbling Cops, Convict Escapes - For a second time!

One more about cops: This time, they allow a convict (who was supposedly being taken to court) to escape - Interestingly, for a second time!

Wonder what will come next???

Regards,

N


Cop gets into a shooting frenzy!

Cop gets into a shooting frenzy!

Things often don't get crazier than this - a story of how a cop gets into a shooting frenzy, that too at his wife's home ... ... ... Read on:

And we thought that cops were supposed to be taking care to ensure that other citizens obey the laws of the land!

Regards,

N