Sep 02
We keep on reading about incidents like this. Maybe our law and order system has so broken down that people no longer believe that a thief will actually get sentenced, or maybe they will confident that they can administer quick justice, even if it leads to the death of a human being outside the judicial system. What makes it even more bad in this case is the fact that a policeman was there, but did not take a step to stop them. The case is simple, a thief was caught, and beaten up so badly that he died; and apparently a policeman was there who did not stop them. How long can this system go on with people being able to administer vigilante kind of justice:
MOGA: About one dozen persons, including some workers at a local gaushala, lynched a suspected thief on Friday evening in Moga. The suspected thief Mohinder Singh was allegedly beaten to death even as a policeman looked on.
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Sep 02
Andhra Pradesh led the public perception in trying to ensure that citizens got quick access to information through greater availability of such information through the internet and through public networks. These included records such as land records, farm information, weather information, all information that helps citizens and which was available with great difficult; such information was prized by the bureaucracy and meant a great source of money to the babudom. With more such information being available easily and another useful weapon in the shape of the RTI Act, maybe things can change for the better. Read on more about what Uttar Pradesh can do:
LUCKNOW: Moving a step forward in the direction of implementation of e-governance for discharging government related works, 33 websites of different departments were formally inaugurated on Saturday by chief secretary PK Mishra. Principal secretary information technology VN Garg told reporters that the main objective of launching websites of all government departments was to ensure transparency in functioning of the government.
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Sep 02
We have seen in the past as to how the various state and national authorities in the past have always under-performed in terms of transport planning. So, we have the scene where the roads between big cities and their suburbs are extremely congested at most times, where any big plans to improve roads such as the Golden Quadrilateral project are seen as major improvement projects (instead of a normal expectation of having good raods), where the amount of money and time lost in inter-state commerce / transport of goods is a major economic drag (the cost in terms of fuel, tyres and general wear and tear on vehicles itself is a major cost), and where large sections of the rural population are cut off because of bad roads and poor connections.
So, it is very surprising when one sees news of such projects such as the plan to have a mono-rail connection between Mumbai and its suburbs; it is difficult to credit our planners with such foresight. However, if this is genuine and a part to have an integrated transport plan for the region, then it would be great:
The monorail, a light mass transit medium earlier considered for short routes within the city, including between the two airports, is now being proposed for an integrated transport system to link satellite townships around the city. The monorail proposal was discussed when commissioners and mayors of Navi Mumbai, Bhiwandi, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Mira-Bhayander and Thane held a meeting with Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad on Saturday.
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