Pongal the most popular festival of Tamil Nadu
Pongal, also known as the harvest festival, is celebrated by the people of Tamil Nadu every year on January 15. The idea of celebrating this festival is their gratification towards their god, the sun for bringing about the season of harvest for them.
A few days before the festival, Tamilians, particularly the women, clean and decorate the house with fresh flowers. They also use swastik and kumkum to embellish big earthen vessels. The pit is filled with water and rice by either the eldest or the youngest member of the family. Colourful designs known as rangoli are also made at the entrance of their houses. Rangoli is a popular folk art and is known by different names in different parts of the country. The design is made by using special kind of coloured powders that are available in the market.
As per the traditions, it is of paramount importance to add some milk to water in which rice is cooked which is to be offered to the sun god. People who get involved in cooking rice for the sun god have to take utmost care of cleanliness. They are not supposed to step over the rangoli design which has been designed.
Jubel D’Cruz
Improve air quality of Mumbai
The level of dangerous pollutant particles in the air is touching a new high and it is very difficult to achieve balance between rapid development and finding a way to keep its air safe and clean in a metro city like Mumbai. A balanced environment on earth is what makes the survival of species possible. Modern man has made great development in the fields of science and technology. Air is most polluted in the early morning hours and it is not good as the morning walkers face breathing problem. It is now or never situation to improve air in the city during the winter months.
Anandambal Jayanthy
Wheel of Karma comes full circle in the Nirbhaya case
Justice delayed is not always justice denied as the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case would finally be hanged in Tihar jail on January 22 this month. Legal procedure in our country may have moved at a snail’s pace but we have a vibrant democracy and all convicts were given ample opportunity to prove their innocence before the death sentence was pronounced which would now be executed for a final closure to one of the most deadliest sexual murder encounter ever witnessed in our country’s history.
Nirbhaya was brutally raped and killed by the culprits in an in-humanitarian act of madness and not sure if this sentence would bring a relief to the soul of the victim but the wheel of Karma has come a full circle and people who rape and murder fellow human beings have no right to live. Cases of rapes and murders gets lost in procedural hurdles and sentencing gets delayed which lessens fear among people committing such crimes. The hanging is a landmark judgement and we also need to make our legal system move at a faster pace in special court hearings to create fear in the minds of people committing such crimes in future.
S.N. Kabra
Necessary to impose restrictions on on-line sale
Multi-page super-costly advertisements are usually seen in leading newspapers offering extra-ordinary heavy discounts on popular-branded electrical and electronics items. Even extra heavy discount is added if items are purchased through credit-cards issued by some specific banks.
Discussion with dealers investing hugely for trade of these items revealed that companies sell all their obsolete models and returned items after claim lodged by consumers through such on-line sale. If it is really so, then all such media-publicity should be directed to compulsorily boldly mention about such bitter reality. Department of Consumer-Affairs should make proper study-report on aspect of extra-ordinary heavy discounts through on-line sale, and logic behind banks giving extra discounts if such on-line purchase is made through their credit-cards.
Main reason for economic recession is steep fall in wholesale and retail trade which contributes maximum 28-percent to Indian economy. Increasing trend of gimmick on-line sale has crushed wholesale and retail trade. In interest of economy and consumers, on-line sale should be restricted to promote wholesale and retail trade. It will also tackle high unemployment in private sector.
Madhu Agrawal
Bring all cricket-bodies under RTI Act
It refers to recent disturbances in Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) leading duly elected Chairperson to resign, then unruly Annual General Meeting (AGM) on December 12, 2019 and now signatories refusing to sign hefty bills of rupees one crore as legal-fees for just one month and of rupees 90 lakhs to spruce up marquee stands for a T-20 International against about one-third of the awarded tender.
Such hefty payments raise eye-brows in almost all sports-bodies including Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) where coach of cricket-team gets package of rupees ten crores per annum and cricketers get annual packages of rupees seven, five, three and one crores respectively in four categories A-plus, A, B and C respectively apart from hefty match-fees, huge awards money and life-time pensions.
BCCI and its state-affiliates qualify for being under RTI Act on various parameters including indirect government-funding and other aspects qualifying these to be public-authorities under section 2(h) of RTI Act. The then Chief Justice of India required government to study the matter where government required Law Commission to send recommendations. Now with Law Commission recommending BCCI to be covered under RTI Act, steps should be taken to declare BCCI and its state-affiliates including DDCA to be under purview of RTI Act.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
