Rise and fall of Kumaraswamy
The fall of the Karnataka government was imminent. The collapse was expected at any time and it was proverbial hook and the impending fall made Kumaraswamy to weep in front of the people and the government was having wafer thin majority. Now the show came to an end in the floor of the house and Kumaraswamy had no option but to quit accepting defeat.
Nickhil Mani
Is the BMC alone responsible for building collapse incidents?
BMC and the government alone cannot be held responsible for building collapses in the city. Citizens too have to be careful and alert when they buy properties in illegal structures that are in depleted state. They are risking their own lives by staying in dilapidated buildings just to save money by buying such properties because they are cheap. You cannot clap with a single hand and both the government and citizens are equally responsible for illegal structures in the city as they are in place because there is demand for such buildings.
A stitch in time saves nine and old buildings should be regularly repaired to prevent such mishaps. Corruption rules roost and BMC too should take action against their people who allow such contraction by accepting bribes. Cluster development in Mumbai is the need of the hour and rules for redevelopment should be relaxed for very old depleted buildings that need urgent attention!
S.N. Kabra.
Silver-alloy commemorative-coins should be issued on face-value
Silver-alloy commemorative coins for first time after independence issued on October 2, 1969 to commemorate Gandhi Birth Centenary at face-value of rupees ten at a time when value of silver-content in the coin was much lower than face-value of rupees ten. Moreover these coins and their coin-sets were issued to general public right from date of issue on October 2, 1969. But system has now been changed when face-value of silver-alloy coins is much-much less than the silver-content of the coin, evidently doing away with system of providing commemorative coins at face-value to general public.
Now only coin-sets in plastic-packs in two different categories of Proof and Uncirculated categories are sold at much exorbitant price through a cumbersome booking-procedure making these reach to those having booked several months after advance-booking thus killing the very purpose of commemorating an occasion through issue of coins.
Face-value of silver-alloy coin should be kept at about double the then prevailing market-value of silver content, and these should be issued to general public right from date of issue from scattered distribution centres like all RBI offices, selected branches of public and private sector banks, and all philately-centres of Department of posts. There should be only one costlier Proof category of coin-sets with all denominations of coins issued on the occasion, and these should also be available at suggested distribution-centres right from date of issue.
Madhu Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
