Sunday 8 September 2013

[www.keralites.net] Khatte-mitten khabhrain from around the world for 8/9/13

 

Think it over…
 
Without labour nothing prospers.
 
(Me: This is of course THE commonsensical wisdom, but our political leaders think and act that doles will bring about prosperity to people – e.g. Food Security, Right to Education with a no-fail policy where the pupils are automatically promoted up to 9th standard without working hard to study anything, employee guarantee scheme by which people are paid 100 days' minimum regardless of whether they actually work not)
 
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Tongue very much in cheek…
I'm a post-modern vegetarian: I eat meat – ironically
 
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Believe it a lot!
 
Man loses nose during a trip to the dentist
 
An 83-year-old man lost his nose after it fell off during a trip to the dentist.  Cyril Osment has a prosthetic hooter held on by magnets after his was removed due to skin cancer, but he is now appealing to the public to help reunite him with his Pounds sterling 1,500 (Rs.1.5 lakhs) nose after getting back from the dentist.
 
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Monkey tears off, eats tot's testicle..
 
Guiyang: An eight month old baby is recovering is hospital after a monkey tore off one of his testicles before running away and eating it.  The distressing attack took place at the Guiyang Qianling Wildlife Park in Guiyang, the capital of Gulzhou province in China.  The mother was changing her son's nappy when the animal attacked, ripping off the testicle before dropping it onto the ground.
 
(Me: mothers with infant kids be careful when visiting monkeys-infested areas)
 
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From the world of science…
 
Cheaper than dogs, so Dutch police use sniffer rats!
 
Ten brown rats have been recruited by Dutch police to help forensic firearms experts sniff out gunshot residue.  The rats have a highly developed sense of smell, and are easier and cheaper to train than dogs.  Rats are already used in some countries to sniff for landmines.
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Chewing cardamom helps prevent halitosis.  Chew it after meals for fresh breath.
 
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Green tea contains antioxidants and caffeine that help up metabolic generation of heat.  Drink a cup 10 minutes before exercising.
 
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A quote for apna deshvasis…
 
"The claim that the Right to Education would actually ensure decent education for all is today a sick joke.  The NGO Pratham reports that, for all the ballyhoo, educational outcomes are going from bad to worse" – Swaminathan Aiyar in ToI
 
An HT news report on Saturday proves him right…
 
Will not let state SCRAP no-fail policy: parent-teacher bodies.
 
Deputy CM mooted idea after baseline tests showed poor learning levels among students.
 
Mumbai: Parent-teacher associations in the city have opposed the state government's bid to scrap the 'no-fail' policy, a clause in the RTE Act that guarantees yearly promotion up to Class 8.
 
And the minister says: "Following the assembly discussions, the state will submit a proposal to the Centre recommending that the policy be discontinued".  Sources in the school education dept say the decision was spurred by the results of the baseline tests conducted across the state recently, which raised concerns about the learning levels of students.  In the tests, 64% of Class 9 students failed in maths, 33% in English and 30% in Marathi.  These students were in Class 6 when the policy was introduced.
 
(Me: With no fear of examinations at the end of the year until the 8th standard/class, pupils are no longer keen to put in extra efforts to study.  And the teachers have it easy, too: whether they teach anything in the class or not, the students are going to be promoted anyway, and their get their pay and perks!  Naturally therefore the teachers and students/their parents are opposing the government's move to scrap the no-fail policy.  As with everything else in this country, our political leaders couldn't foresee the shape of things to come, given the general lethargy and lackadaisical attitude that prevail in the country)
 
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Karan Thapar's take in HT on the country economic mess and the rupee tumble…
 
Has the tumbling rupee sent a more worrying message than we are prepared to hear or, least, listen to…?  The falling rupee also reflects the world's response to the present state of India.  There are at least 3 issues that have caused dismay…
 
The first is the repeated payalysis of Parliament.  Day after day the image we show the world is of howling, screaming, quarrelling MPs who persist with partisan and, even, petty protests despites the daunting challenges facing the country.  They seem unconcerned about the key reforms that will determine India's economic future.  They care more for their personal prospects in Andhra, Supreme Court judgments about their eligibility, missing files and fixing the PM's accountability and, of course, ventilating easily manufactured anger against Pakistan. (Me: The discerning Indians can't but agree with him here.  Our neighbor also makes the same accusations against us.  This bellicosity doesn't help either).  In contrast, Nero only fiddled.
 
The second is what I call the Vodafone tax amendment.  The government's decision to overturn a Supreme Court judgment, upheld on review, sent a dismaying message to investors that India doesn't have a well-defined and stable tax regime.  Instead, it can be manipulated by government caprice.  Even court verdicts can be cast aside.  So beware before you invest in India – the govt will change the rules of the game not just after play has started but even after the referee has blown the whistle and the match is over!
 
The third, the controversial Food Security Bill, at a time when concern about India's deficit has peaked and when everyone knows the finance minister's commitment to 4,8% can only be honoured by savage and, possibly, damaging expenditure cuts.  At the height of a crisis, it looks populist and suggests the government cant's handle the downturn.
 
At issue are not just the economy but our government, Parliament and democracy.  It's the way we function as a country.   India, itself, is in the spotlight and what the world sees it doesn't really like.
 
 
 
 


Posted by:
cris iyer
www.keralites.net

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