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Has BJP opened a Pandora’s box?
Every
body in the BJP high command is happy over the outcome of the confidence
vote in Patna. They did not want a situation in Bihar that would
undermine the party’s relationship with its partner JD(S) in view of the
impending Lok Sabha polls. Thus confidence in Sushil Modi’s leadership
has pre-empted any effort in that direction and has also sent a strong
message to other political parties about the democratic credentials of
the party. No other party, certainly not the Congress, takes decisions
in such a democratic manner in matters that relate to the State
politics. But keen observers of the political game say that this has not
been such a good idea after all as it has opened a flood gates for
similar democratic exercise in Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh. They
recall that Uma Bharati was expelled from the party because she had
demanded such an exercise to find out if Shivraj Singh Chauhan was
really more popular than him
When a channel gets it all wrong!
The
final of the IPL’s Twenty 20 championship had concluded when in the heat
and dust of Amethi the final of another T20 was taking place. Rahul
Gandhi had organized a rural T20 tournament that had generated
considerable interest among the rural youth. Understandably Priyanka,
her husband Robert Vadra and Kolkata Knight Riders fan, their son were
also there. The word was that Sachin Tendulkar was also slated to come.
Naturally there was lot of excitement. Amidst all this the DD Sports
decided to telecast the show and one of India’s leading Hindi news
channel decided to take the effort and the event on. It went on and on
about sycophancy of DD Sports and wastage of pubic money on a worthless
event. Confident that it had generated enough reaction among the viewers
it invited viewers to express themselves on telephone lines. It was
shocked to find all iewers castigating the channel for what it was doing
and focusing on lewd and sick serials and news! Hurriedly, the news was
yanked off!
Will the capital be ready?
Thanks
to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the national capital is once again
getting a facelift to present its modern face. The hectic pace at which
metro and other infrastructure is being constructed is testimony to
that. Experts say that just between October 7 and 10 of that year
1,52,780 spectators would be here. 80 per cent spectators will use
public transport of which 38 per cent will use buses meant for Games, 24
per cent will city buses, Light Rail Transit system and mono Rail, 15
per cent will use Metro, 2 per cent will use commuter rail and 1 per
cent will use BRTS. The rest of the 20 per cent will be using private
vehicles. The big question is that amidst the kind of chaos that we see
in the capital, will it be ready for the show? Old timers remind that
when Asian Games were held in 1982, the situation was no different and
yet it was spectacular show. Hope history is repeated! | 
