WEEKLY NEWS ROUNDUP

REGIONAL

Akkitham

Mahakavi (Great Poet) Akkitham celebrated his 84th birthday on March 20, 2010 at Kumaranalloor in the presence of his well-wishers in the Malayalam literary world like Jnanapith Award winner M.T.Vasudevan Nair, Artist Namboodiri, poet Alangode Leela Krishnan, P.T.Narendra Menon, Prof. M.Leelavathi to name a few. To the man who is blessed with the rare credit of witnessing one thousand full moons, the Kerala cultural scene were united in paying rich tributes. His masterpiece “Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam” (The Legend of Twentieth Century) won him laurels across the literary world. Akkitham’s works are a fountain of love and peace to the entire humanity. Let us offer him a long life of creativity which he has had in abundance throughout his life.

New Kerala Chief Justice takes charge

Soon after the retirement of Justice S.R.Banoormatt, the great man who helped in paving the way for dispensing justice without fear or favour Justice Justi Chelameswar was sworn in as Chief Justice of Kerala High Court who was serving at Guwahati High Court previously. The oath of office was served by Governor R.S.Gavai and a few dignitaries at Thiruvananthapuram Justice Justi Chelameswar hails from our neighbouring State of Andhra Pradesh.

Kodungalloor Meena-Bharani observed

The annual “Kavutheendal” ceremony was observed at Sri Kurumbakavu Bhagavathi temple, Kodungalloor with religious fervour and devotion by devotees this year also. The oracles (Velichapads) shaking the swords violently and menacingly performed the sacred ceremony before the presiding deity. Inebriated with Bhakthi, the devotees dressed in red-robes invoking the name of Devi reaching upto a crescendo, even go to the extent of bruising themselves with the swords in their hands to satisfy the all-powerful Goddess. A customary ritual mostly by the Dalits to celebrate the important day when the Dalits of yore got permission to enter the temple premises for the first time to perform their religious rites before the deity.

NATIONAL

BJP national leadership under the new President Nitin Gadkari is a new ‘avatar’ (incarnation) with prominence given to glamorous figures like Hema Malini, Smriti Irani, Kiran Kher, Vijay Raj Scindia, Varun Gandhi - almost 33 percent posts allotted to women- setting an example to other parties which also preach prominence be given to the opposite gender in all walks of life obviously to ‘empower’ them. Whether the new look Gadkari has given to his Party would result in change of heart among the masses remains to be seen. However the new team could create ripples across a small section of gentlemen in the Party for not giving positions of importance with the indomitable erstwhile Bollywood product Shatrugnan Sinha giving vent to his anger inviting Gadkari’s wrath who stands firm in his decision. The young President took the opportunity on learning about the outbursts of Mr.Sinha reminded the unhappy ones not to go to the media but to lodge their complaints to the top leadership ie; Mr.Gadkari himself.

Narendra Modi defies SIT summons

The SC (Supreme Court) appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) summons to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to appear before it on 21st March 2010 has met with no response from Mr.Modi. It is reported that Mr. Modi has not cared to appear before the team headed by R.K.Raghavan. It seems he is busy holding consultations with legal experts to move against the summons issued by the Investigation Team. Supreme Court constituted the team in response to an appeal filed by Zakia Jaffree, the widow of former MP Ehsan Jaffree in the Baroda Housing Colony massacre leading to the gruesome deaths of 59 inhabitants including Mr. Ehsan Jaffree in February 26, 2008.

No wheat export this year

Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar declared last week the Government has decided not to export wheat this year. The rise in prices of essential commodities and food items must have prompted his Ministry not to go for the wheat export.

In the meanwhile I happened to watch a shocking and painful news item in an English TV News Channel wheat getting rot weighing upto tens of thousands of tons while about half the population of India is within the grip of famine and death due to food scarcity. Imagine the plight of those teeming millions suffering from hunger, malnutrition and extreme poverty, at one end of the country the invaluable food items are going rot due to the criminal negligence of those in the halls of power. Our food Minister was seen lamenting before the media his ignorance of such pathetic state of affairs ie; that tons of wheat going rot in the go-downs.

Road Safety bill

At a time India is among the list of 10 nations on the matter of road accident deaths according to Global status report on Road Safety released by United Nations with the intention of bringing the casualty figures to the minimum, ‘Road Safety Bill 2010’ is set to be introduced in the current session of Parliament. A number of welcome suggestions have been included in the bill and in the course of discussions let us hope for more innovative suggestions by the MPs. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) report - out of the 1.3 million casualties from road accidents reported from across the world 60 percent of the casualties occur in India. Imagine the alarming plight of the lack of infrastructure facilities on the one side and steep rise in the number of new vehicles entering the dilapidated roads on the other side.

Nirupama Subramaniam’s successful completion of assignment in Pak

Nirupama Subramaniam after successful completion of her 4 year assignment as Correspondent of National daily ‘The Hindu’ has returned to India with mixed feelings. Braving all dangers and obstacles in the course of her assignment like assassinations, (she was very much present at a few feet away from the venue Former PM Benazir Bhutto was gunned down by terrorists in the run-up to the previous elections) constant verbal altercations among the various political parties, protest demonstrations, frequent bomb blasts leading to deaths of innocents and damage of property, various power centres, terror outfits, a nation called the world over as the epicenter of terrorism, she was sad to leave her friends who were sincere, loving and helpful in her performance of her professional obligations. She even recalls the touching words of Pak President Asif Ali Zardari: “There is an Indian in every Pakistani and there is a Pakistani in every Indian” and to her delight and excitement she could very well fathom the depths of those words while interacting with the fellow Pakistanis. To her sorrow and grief she came to a touching conclusion that the enmity prevails between the political leaders of the respective nations and that the citizens of both nations always hope for friendly relations, constant contacts and reunion. To fulfill this long-cherished dream the common citizens will have to come to the fore thereby heralding a happy dawn. It is worthwhile to mention here that she was awarded several times for the best correspondent for in-depth reporting from across the border.

Sustainable Ecological resolutions

While inaugurating the first Lawrence Picking Memorial at Chennai, Robert Jenson, Professor, School of Journalism, Texas dwelt on the need for Sustainable Ecological Resolutions instead of going mad after technology for the range of the moment progress in the development of a country. Such unwarranted obsession with technological development without taking care of sustainable ecology will ultimately lead to disastrous consequences.

Lawrence Picking who was a Faculty at the Asian College of Journalism for a short span passed away recently and the occasion was exclusively devoted to commemorate him thus offering homage to a distinguished Journalist and Teacher who imparted innovative ideas among the ACJ students. N.Ram, Editor-in-Chief- ‘The Hindu’-, Sasi Kumar, Media Foundation Chairman and other distinguished persons took part in the memorial inauguration.

In the course of his speech Robert Jenson took umbrage at “Paid News Syndrome” and stressed in no uncertain terms that it was not in anyway connected with Professional Journalism. He exhorted the audience who listened to him in rapt attention the importance of upholding values and ethics in Professional Journalism.

Anna- Life and times of C.N.Annadurai

Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs released a biography authored by R.Kannan titled “Anna- The life and times of C.N.Annadurai” by handing over to K.Madhavan , the then Minister in Annadurai’s cabinet. N.Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, was also present on the occasion. Anna’s contribution to Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu and his relentless fight for the Dravidian movement could put an end to decades of Congress rule even outshining the former congress icon K.Kamaraj.

INTERNATIONAL

In a few weeks from now, Britain will go to polls. For Gordon Brown, Prime Minister and leader of Labour Party it will surely be an uphill task in the face of increasing discontent among the electorate to reach 10 Downing Street this time. The Iraq blunder unnecessarily committed by his predecessor Tony Blair and Mr.Brown’s collusion with the Blair decision, pushed both of them into a tight corner. Blair facing the ire of his New Labour Party comrades had to bow out, paving the way for his bete noire Gordon Brown, then Chancellor of Exchequer also is not popular with the masses. Blair’s deposition before the Chilcot Inquiry committee displaying no remorse for his decision to fight against Iraq, and the subsequent appearance of Mr.Brown before the committee and his not-so-sincere apology for the lapses have not gone down well with the electorate. The Conservative Party under David Cameroon is nursing hopes of a come-back this time around after long period in hibernation the confidence with which he moved on earlier is not in sight now. A hung Parliament might be a possibility this time.

Turmoil in Thailand

Thailand is still simmering. Abhisit Vejjaviva the incumbent Prime Minister despite massive protests unleashed by the supporters of the deposed Prime Minister who was shown the door by the Monarch years back is adamant. Thakshin Shinawatra alleged to have been a corrupt head of State however enjoys massive support in Thailand. The man with a remote in hand seems like controlling the destiny of a country.

Court-Martial of Sarath Foneska

Retired General Sarath Fonseka who unsuccessfully contested against Mahinda Rajpaksa later charged with conspiring against the government and subsequently imprisoned was sentenced to undergo Court-Martial. The Court-Martial proceedings began on Tuesday.

Girija Prasad Koirala no more

Girija Prasad Koirala, the four time Prime Minister of Nepal is dead at the age of 85. He was suffering from respiratory troubles and was under treatment for the last few years. He fought against autocracy, weathered challenges, feuding political parties, which ultimately led the formation of Nepali Communisty Party (Maoist) causing anarchy for decades and tirelessly tried to bring them into the mainstream. A good friend of India throughout his life, his death is a great loss to India.

Quartet call to Israel

U.N. Secretary General, Ban-Ki-Moon, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, European Commission Envoy and Russian leaders urged Israel to stop building settlements in East Jerusalem and West Bank to bring about a “lasting solution” to the enmity between Israel and Palestine. Israel in no mood to oblige the Quartet call and continues with its resettlement plans.

SPORTS

IPL
Of late, bringing cheers to the cricket lovers of Kerala and Pune, two more teams have been included among the list of IPL 2011. Sahara group purchased for US $ 370 million and Rendzevous group came up with US $ 333.3 million.
In today’s match held at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, Mumbai Indians defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 wickets.