Narmada

Narmada project: clearing the confusion From The Hindu

Q: Why does the Narmada Bachao Andolan not confine itself to talking about rehabilitation? Why is it asking for stoppage of construction?

A: The answer is that in terms of the Narmada Tribunal's Award, the conditions of clearance of the Project, and the Supreme Court's judgments of October 2000 and March 2005, construction is not allowed to outpace rehabilitation work. That is the meaning of the pari passu principle. There is no question of proceeding beyond the height of 110 metres already reached until the failures and deficiencies in rehabilitation work with reference to that height have been remedied, and the prescribed advance steps have been completed with reference to the proposed further increase in height. The NBA is not asking for something new. It is merely asking for compliance with prescribed conditions, not imposing its own.

Q: Is the NBA anti-project, anti-development, as alleged by the Chief Minister of Gujarat?

A: Medha Patkar may have certain views about big dams and `destructive development,' and not everyone may agree with those views, but that is not the point at issue in the present case. The current protest is about failures in rehabilitation, non-compliance with conditions, denial of human rights, and infliction of injustice and suffering.

All things said and done what outrages me the most is that BJP workers destroyed the NBA office. Mr. Modi should have some sense of responsibility and try to prevent that after all he is the part of the govt. Just because there are some people who do not agree with him does not mean that he has the right to beat them up or threaten them in any way. Also I am surprised by lack of media coverage this is getting. Most TV channels are showing them destroying/burning Amir Khan's pictures... What good does that do. And happily Congress is letting BJP do the dirty work of bashing Amir where as their Govt in MP is responsible for major rehabilitation. My advise to Mr. Modi will be get after the people who haven't taken care of the rehabilitation and get the project moving. The way he is going maybe will keep him in the news but do people no good.
Also some of the comments from Narander Modi and even Arundathi Rai seem to be suggesting that the common man has no right to support the cause that he/she wants. Mr. Modi is asking why was Amir not there for people living on the streets of Kashmir and Ms. Arundathi is asking about his coke add.

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Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty - they merely move it from their faces into their hearts.
-- Martin Buxbaum

thodu phodu

It looks like it is thod phod season here...

When the match was abadoned in Guwahati... what resulted?
When the mandal II came in the news... waht resulted?
When the govt didn't do it right in meerut... what resulted?
When Mr. Rajumar died... what resulted?
When India lost the 6th ODI... what resulted?

and there are many more such incidents..... I wonder if the public is taking the Thodu phodu add with Saif n Rani too seriously :)

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A single question can be more influential than a thousand statements.
-- Bo Bennett

Hmmm ... read it and make up ur own mind

Christ Among the Partisans from NYTimes

The Jesus of the Gospels is not a great ethical teacher like Socrates, our leading humanitarian. He is an apocalyptic figure who steps outside the boundaries of normal morality to signal that the Father's judgment is breaking into history. His miracles were not acts of charity but eschatological signs — accepting the unclean, promising heavenly rewards, making last things first.

He is more a higher Nietzsche, beyond good and evil, than a higher Socrates. No politician is going to tell the lustful that they must pluck out their right eye. We cannot do what Jesus would do because we are not divine.

It was blasphemous to say, as the deputy under secretary of defense, Lt. Gen. William Boykin, repeatedly did, that God made George Bush president in 2000, when a majority of Americans did not vote for him. It would not remove the blasphemy for Democrats to imply that God wants Bush not to be president. Jesus should not be recruited as a campaign aide. To trivialize the mystery of Jesus is not to serve the Gospels.

Surfing without connecting... Intresting

Surf the web without logging on to Internet from Indian Express

Ever thought of surfing the web when you are not connected? Well, that is the latest offering from Rakesh Mathur. Mathur, who co-founded Junglee — that was later taken over by Amazon — has developed a software ‘Webaroo’ that will make this possible.

Webaroo servers scour the web, analyse web pages and automatically select the subset of pages with the most content value in the least storage size. These pages are then assembled into topic specified ‘web packs’.

These webpacks can be downloaded on a laptop or a mobile phone. Once downloaded, the webpacks or web sites can be accessed anytime.

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Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand.
--Emily Kimbrough