Marbaniang, Domenic

According to Wikipedia , "The frequency of traffic collisions in India is amongst the highest in the world. A National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report revealed that every year, more than 135,000 traffic collision-related deaths occur in India." ( Wikipedia ) Further, the Wikipedians stated: Tamil Nadu records the highest road accidents for a decade and its capital Chennai has more accidents then any other city in India. In New Delhi, the capital of India, the frequency of traffic collisions is 40 times higher than the rate in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. Traffic collision-related deaths increased from 13 per hour in 2008 to 14 per hour in 2009. More than 40 per cent of these casualties are associated with motorcycles and trucks. The most accident-prone time on Indian roads is during the peak hour at afternoon and evening. According to road traffic safety experts, the actual number of casualties may be higher than what is documented, as many traffic accidents ...

Denmark ranks as the 1st among the world's least corrupt countries. Singapore ranks 8th. India ranks 65th. North Korea and Somalia rank 149th. A study of these systems reveal the following facts. 1. An Anti-corruption agency, independent of the police and executive is crucial to check corruption. Countries having multiple anti-corruption agencies don't seem to have much success. One cannot remove dirt with dirt; one has to use an agent that is intrinsically anti-dirt (soap-water). Singapore's "anti-corruption agency, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), is well resourced and independent. It is empowered to investigate any person, even police officers and ministers, and conducts public outreach to raise public awareness and shape social norms." (Lee Hsien Loong) 2. In countries like Singapore, the high-level officials are paid well and corruption is kept at bay at that level. The idea is that anti-corruption begins from top to bottom. "There is a...

Globalization compels linguistic unity as it competes for the easing of international barriers. It is the reversal of the Babel phenomena that effused nations through confusion of languages. It may portend an age similar to the antediluvian. The positive side of it is that it facilitates faster communication which could mean jet propulsion of information, provided the media of education is more prospective than just cultural. Certainly, one cannot hold new wine in old wineskins. This explains the massive support for private institutions despite the immense costs involved. Sadly, there are those who have exploited this situation to turn their institutions into a mad money-making machinery; a system of monetary discrimination. What if Government schools provided the same education in English medium? Why not? Wouldn't there be more equal opportunity for all? Certainly, it is not acultural to seek the progress of the nation. There are government English medium schools run by the Centra...

Atheism is disbelief in a personal God. It is not very popular in India, despite the various ploys of inroad it has attempted throughout history. There are various kinds of atheisms in India. Some of these are dead, as far as systems are concerned; others live in compliant modes. For instance, charvaka atheism died away as a system, but yoga, samkhya , and Vedanta took accommodative modes. The six heterodox schools (Charvaka, Jainism, and 4 schools of Buddhism) were labelled nastik or non-believing because they rejected the Vedas. However, these also have no place for the Supreme Personal God in their systems. Jainism considers a plurality of spirits to be eternal, and matter to be evil. Buddhism considers the human spirit as an aggregate of the 5 skandhas ; in fact, it disbelieves the spirit as being real according to the doctrine of anatta. Samkhya looks at Purusha and Prakriti as the eternal principles in a form of dualism. Vedanta regards the spirit as all that is and the one w...

India today celebrates its 68th Independence Day. Many of us weren't there when tears of joy streamed through the eyes of our fathers who witnessed the first flag hoisting of Independent India. It was a freedom they fought for and obtained with a price. Freedom became possible because a few stepped forward to voluntary sacrifice their lives so that the others will enjoy the fruits of their struggle. The Independence Struggle was not about kings fighting for their kingdoms. Those were ordinary Indians, like you and I, that fought in ways that took the world by surprise. The world of political struggle perhaps had never heard of the possibility of non-violent resistance; but, our fathers saw it spiritually and overcame evil with good (cf. Rom.12:21). Evil can never overcome evil. Mahatma Gandhi understood that "an eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind." But, light dispels darkness; that is the absolute quality of light. Our fathers also knew that freedom wit...

Like a storm that grows fiercely strong, then calms down into a modest breeze, has been the advent of the BJP into the present political scene. But what can be predicted ahead of all this? Let's use the following three tools to analyse that: 1. The Modus Operandi Tool. (The Empirical a posteriori Tool) The markets have already responded in prospect of predictions based on Modi's previous modus operandi and expressed commitment to economic empowerment of the nation. There are estimated statistics of the number of jobs that'll be created and economic surges to come. One needs to wait and see if the predicted market efficiency will be real. 2. The Essentialist Tool. (The a priori Tool) Will the BJP be patient to address its central and essential motives for choosing to become a political party? Issues like Article 370 on the Kashmir issue, a Uniform Civil Code, Anti-Horizontal Conversions, and the Ram Mandir can only be ignored given the zeitgeist of the Party has trans...

Raja-niti refers to the politics of party and power ("raja" means king and "raj" means rule). It is the common word used for "politics" in India. In contrast to it, the Sarvodaya philosophers, especially Vinoba Bhave, in the Gandhian line promoted what they called as "Loka-niti", i.e. the politics of people. For the Gandhians, centralization of power in any form (dictatorial or "democratical") is a threat to swaraj (self-rule). "...any state, with separated and strongly developed organs of legislation, execution, and judiciary in well organised large societies, cripples the free-play of individual's faculties and curbs his initiative by enlarging the regions of state control. Progressively it attains the position only next to air in its all-pervading nature. No matter whether such government is an elected representative of its people or a dictatorially established one against the will of the people, it unfailingly produces the ...

Basically, there are two kinds of government or rules: the rule of people and the rule of law. The rule of people is manifest in democracy (mobocracy) where majority rule or in dictatorship where the whim of a single man pilots the state. Obviously, the rule of law is preferred above the rule of the mob. - The Rule of Law Vs The Rule of People Today, women protested against the Delhi Law Minister, Somnath Bharti's "raid" in the night hours against women being accused of running a drug and prostitution racket. The police didn't want to cooperate with Bharti since they stated that this was an illegal move. However, the idea of a "people's government" was hot on fire, and it seems Bharti was zealous to be sensitive to the complaints. The AAP justify Bharti's move by stating that since the police weren't responding to the local people's complaint, and usually crime flourishes under the patronage of the police, the Law Minister had to take a move....

Kejriwal is a bit theological when He brings his faith in God to issues of personal security. But, what about the police concerns? Obviously, there is no atheistic prong of approach taken. Nobody seems to have hurled a skeptical or agnostic concern arguing that we don't know if God exists and if He does whether He is interested enough in the affairs of mortal men. Not that India is not ripe for atheism; but, I think it has tried and abandoned atheism in the far distant past. We are a people, despite the various religious traditions, who believe in the Supreme God. In the past few decades we have also learnt to not mix organized religion with politics. When religion is politicized, religion is polluted, instantly. History stands as witness to this fact that where politics became custodian of a particular strand of religion, the religious spirit was violated. However, this doesn't disallow politicians from being religious. It is better for a politician to be a believer in the God...

To provide simple, speedy and inexpensive redressal of consumer disputes  Department of Consumer Affairs  offers several services. If you have any grievance against any Brand, Product or Service Provider please refer the following options to raise your voice and exercise your rights: File a complaint online with Consumer Online Resource & Empowerment Centre (CORE) File an online complaint with National Consumer Helpline (NCH) You can call at the  CORE  toll free number 1800-180-4566 National Consumer Helpline (NCH) also provides a National  Toll Free No-1800-11-4000  (for BSNL/MTNL Users); Other users can dial-  011-27006500  (normal call charges applicable) SMS  to  8800939717  can also be sent mentioning the name and city You can also call on the  State Consumer helpline numbers Consumers can also  lodge complaints  with the  District Consumer Forums ,  State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions ...

Lady: What time did you sleep? Maid: Didn't sleep! Feeling very tired and sleepy now. Lady: Why? Any problem? Maid: No, the pandit (priest) told us that if we sleep in the night in this festival season, we'll become a crocodile in the next birth. Lady: What!? Maid: Yes, he also told us that if we drink milk, we'll become a cat; if we eat meat, we'll become a tiger; and, if we drink water,... umm can't remember what he said... But, we are to keep awake through the night and keep listening to the katha (tales in songs).... Lady: Gee!!

THE YOUNG WARRIOR stood motionless On the bloodied ground where battle Had raged yesterday with vehemence Of heat and sound; of flashing metal Clashing, slicing, piercing, battering, Flying, falling, striking, slaughtering Men and women in the battle of pride, Filling the air with blood curdling cries As bodies fell one after the other with sighs – All now calmed; the violence, stilled; the battle, won. “But, what did I win here?” the Prince thought, As his eyes gazed around the tormenting scene Of strewn bodies that had once valiantly fought A battle of dignity and the right to be rightly free; “What have I gained now?” the Prince sighed, “An open grave, a banquet to worms and vultures, A treat to hyenas.” “It’s not so,” the devil lied “They deserved this for being against your culture!” A little child came walking with tears in his eyes; “My remorse shall equal all my sin,” the Prince began… “For every act of violence that I have done, Ten thousand acts of non-violence shall I return...

There doesn't need to be a commentary on the problem of corruption in India. It is widespread and infecting every nerve and cell of the governmental administrative system. It's important to ax the tree at the root in order to destroy it. ROOTS The problem is systemic. One who gets into it usually ends up practicing it not just because others are practicing it, but because he might have got into the system through a corrupt mechanism of bribery on one hand. On the other, it may also mean that there are people out there who are willing to keep the mechanism going for their own benefit, meting injustice to the poor, and, perhaps, avoiding it would mean a loss of job or favor. CHALLENGES The challenge is not to uproot the wheat with the weed. There are many still in the system who are right, while the judicial system that relies mainly on evidences would fail to find some to condemn the corrupt. There is also the danger that the just ones are falsely condemned in place of or with t...

In around 260 BC , King Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire invaded the Republic of Kalinga, now in modern day Orissa, engaging in a bloody battle that within a short period of time caused such massive destruction that it appalled the chronicles of time. It was the first and the only battle that Ashoka is said to have fought, following which he encountered a profound change of heart and gave up violence. The conquest did make Ashoka an absolute monarch over a great part of the Indian sub-continent ; the change of heart, however, stripped him of any desire for further military conquests. The massive loss of life and suffering caused by this war weighed heavily on the mind of the King and plunged him into deep remorse. On the 13th of his 14 Major Rock Edicts , he inscribes: On conquering Kalinga the Beloved of the Gods felt remorse, for, when an independent country is conquered, the slaughter, death and deportation of the people is extremely grievous to the Beloved of the Gods and weighs heav...

The country has certainly come a great way from 1947. We have seen roads, bridges, schools, colleges, communication, technology, and several multi- dimensional developments . The internet is a boon as ticket bookings (rail, airways, etc) can be done from home - avoiding queues and counter tensions. Also, children are exposed to a brave new world of difference. However, a few things still strike concern. 1. Population. It's estimated that the population will hit 1.4 billion by 2021. That's hot multiplication. This gives rise to several problems in governance. The main one is economic. There needs to be proper production and distribution of resources to meet the basic needs. With more people in the land, there are more individuals with rights that correlate duties by the government. Educational and employment opportunities must also be provided. Then, there are health concerns that the government must address. 2. Pollution, Scenic, and  Culture Problems. This is a grave problem ...