9th May 09 - News Items and my comments

1. Gimmicks of leading English dailies: Both Times of India and Hindustan Times have claimed that each one of them is No.1 in Delhi. Both have broken the convention followed so far of going by the figures of circulation determined by the Audit Bureau of Circulation ( ABC). Neither of the newspapers have quoted ABC The claims made by these two papers are akin to fourth class students fighting for / claiming to be No. I in the class or athletics. These two newspapers have, vying with each other in publishing scandals, page 3 news items/gossip as matters of national interest, competing with each other in exhibiting Obama-love, reading too much in numbo-jumbo uttered by two bit politicians, etc., have been continuously going down in the esteem of readers. There is increasing yellow journalism in both the papers. And now the blatant claim of being No. in Delhi. Either there is fudging the numbers or the methodology adopted by one of them to determine the circulation position is circumspect.

2. Ragging bullies in colleges should see a shrink - that is the advice of the Supreme Court: The Court desired that colleges should take de-addiction measures for students hooked to alcohol and drugs. The directions of the Court were based on the recommendations of a panel of experts appointed by the Supreme Court to look into the matter. According to the Panel, alcoholism in the campus was the main reason behind serious ragging and violence. Yes, ragging is becoming a menace in campuses. Yet one wonders whether the recommendation made by the Panel/Court is practical. There has to be consent of the student, if he is major, and that of both the student and parents, if the student is minor, before the student is asked to under go de-addictional treatment or go to a shrink. Will the student and parents agree to the same. Then again the causes of ragging are varied, such as, fun, macho behaviour, one-upmanship among the other students, provocation of girls not properly attired, improper upbringing in the home, etc., Many of those who indulge in ragging may not be taking alcohol or drugs. From this perspective, the cure suggested does not take into account the totality of the problem.

3. British Hindus loses fight for open –air funeral pyre: The demand/request was considered by court. European Convention of Human rights was quoted. The petitioner stated that for a Hindu a pyre was essential to ‘ a good death and release of his spirit into the afterlife.’ Further, he felt that ‘natural cremation grounds would not offend public decency – as long as they were discreet, designated sites far from urban and residential areas.’ Justice Secretary of the UK Government took the position that ‘ people might get upset and offended by pyres and find it abhorrent that human remains were being burned in this way. It was a difficult and sensitive issue and the court must respect the conclusion of elected representatives.’

Occasionally one hears of such incidents, i.e., Indians who had gone and settled in other countries demanding that they perform religious rites or dress as if they were back in their homeland. Such an approach cannot be supported. For one thing, it alienates the people of the foreign country. More such incidents, then there would be demand to restrict inflow of such people. And lastly, how would Indians in the home land feel if nationals of another country settled/working in India want to conduct some rites according to the system they were following in their countries, which are not acceptable to Indians. And dress in the public as they please. Will we not make a hue and cry. The point is that since we are entering into a period of globalization with more and more people from this or that country living in other countries for long periods of time, none should try to upset the apple-cart of the host country, since we all want to follow the credo of ‘ live and let live.’

4. In China, pictures of executions of corrupt officials, leads to public call for more such executions : The pictures showed a corrupt official ( a woman ) is dragged from a lorry to the execution ground, made to kneel in the snow and then shot in the head. However, rather than eliciting sympathy, the 30 year old pictures have prompted calls for more executions of corrupt officials in modern China. The fact is that be it India or USA or China, the affected public would like to have the blood of corrupt officials spilled in the streets. Would the corrupt officials in India take note.

5. Germany bans very long names: Frieda Rosemarie Thalheim, the bride wanted to take the last name of her groom, Hans Peter Kunz-Hallstein, making her name probably one of the longest in the modern world. This happened in Germany. Germany takes a highly regimented approach to naming. Children’s names must be approved by local authorities, and there is a reference work, the International Handbook of Forenames, to guide them. Since names of many Germans and are long and with addition of the last name of the husbands make the names of ladies still long, in 1993 a rule was promulgated limiting the names of married people to a single hyphen and two last names. In the instant case the couple appealed to the higher court but lost in a split verdict.

The full names of people of some countries in this blessed world are very difficult for people of other countries to remember or pronounce. In India this is the case with some of the South Indian names. The position in North is quite O.K. Kamal Sharma or Kartar Singh is not difficult to remember or pronounce. But think of a Kerala name like Bhoothathan Kettil Thashevittil Kunhirama Panicker. To make the matters complicated, Government of India had long back stipulated that in certain documents pertaining to individual, full name should be mentioned. Let us copy Germany.