1) Eid was celebrated with great fanfare all over India
Eid-ul-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, was celebrated with great joy and religious fervour across all the Indian States on June 16.
In Mumbai alone, over five lakhs Muslims came out early morning dressed in their finery to offer their special Eid congregational prayers as thanksgiving at the 800-plus mosques in Mumbai.
After the solemn prayers, people joyfully greeted each other with hugs of ‘Eid Mubarak’ in mosques, homes and public places.
The festival marked the culmination of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan during which Muslims observe a stringent dawn-to-dusk fast in which even water is not even permitted.
After offering the Eid ‘namaaz’ (prayers), it was time for the celebrations with family, friends, neighbours and community people, savouring and serving each other the festival special dish of ‘sheer-korma’, a sweet preparation of milk, vermicelli and dry fruits.
The community was not alone as they were joined in large numbers by Hindus, Christians, Jains and even Parsis to meet, greet and celebrate with their Muslim brethren.
– Jubel D’Cruz
2) Regular fires at high rise — a matter of grave concern!
Fire in Mumbai’s high rise at regular intervals is a matter of grave concern and Beau Monde Tower inferno should act as an eye-opener. Fire safety measures in most buildings in the city is compromised to keep costs down which is the reason why the fire accidents keep happening every now and than. Residents too are at fault as renovations for interiors too are being done in haphazard manner which ignite fire due to short circuits and over loads. Citizens should not be penny wise and pound foolish by looking at costs when it comes to fire safety which should be of top quality as precious lives are involved.
Govt too should come out with stringent laws when it comes to safety norms and those violating them should be heavily penalised as well as put behind bars. The fire department too should be equipped with modern technology as well as required safety gadgets for firemen who fight deadly fires at the risk of their lives which many times result into fatal casualties. Their family too should be guarded with adequate insurance policies which comes handy at times of unforeseen eventualities!
– S.N.Kabra
3) Abject surrender by Afghanistan
It was exaggeration on the part of Afghanistan captain that their spinners are better than Indian spinners. But this has been proved wrong as evident that the 4 days Test match ended in two days. They were having three spinners namely Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Mohd Nabi. Afghan team is good but only tested in shortest form of the game. In T-20, an above average bowler can give good results because batsmen are so eager to score quickly due to paucity of time and subjected to cheap dismissals.
In test matches patience pays and the batsman will have to play longer innings. In test matches bowlers excel only when the team is having penetrative bowling. Only Rashid Khan possesses bowling quality. The Cricket world yet to see the temperament of the Afghanistan bowlers. The present team should pack more batsmen and the three bowlers can share the bulk of the bowling. Only Rashid Khan has the temperament and ability to bowl around 30 overs or more consistently. Others are simply inexperienced.
Test Cricket is a different cup of tea and demands skill and technique. Temperament is another key factor. Adopting the format of playing five days from T-20 format is rather difficult. Whatever, the strength of Afghanistan team has been wasted at Bangalore! There is no doubt about as the match ended within two days. The team was exposed to test cricket rather early. It is to be noted that Afghanistan is the first non colonial and non Commonwealth country who gets test status from ICC. This shows how ICC has been conservative so far. Presently India is number one and Afghanistan had a tough time facing Indian team and taming the Tiger in his own den.
Shikhar Dhawan joined the elite club of scoring century before lunch on the first day. When India batted first after winning the toss the match was as good as over. If there was a semblance of a chance for the Afghan side, then there spin bowlers ought to have bowled in tandem with the new ball and the best pace bowler would have shared the attack till lunch on the first day. Dhawan snicked a ball and was caught by the wicket keeper but the team failed to refer to the third umpire and lost a golden chance of getting an early breakthrough. In all it was a pathetic display of batting. Thus, Afghanistan failed to break the ice in their first outing.
HR Gopala Krishna had the distinction of covering his 100th test match as a statistician. Afghanistan did not trouble him much. Indian Captain Rahane was good enough to call the Afghanistan side to share the group photo with the cup in their debut match. Afghanistan had to go a long way before being recognised as an above average side in the longest form of the game. It was indeed object surrender for the Afghanistan side.
– Anandambal Subbu
4) Penthouse fire a pin pointer
Current statistics of deaths and injuries, in relation to fires proves to be alarming and an increasing number of people affected by losses and fatal injuries are being reported and accounted for each year. Penthouse fire is one such incident causing concern. The authorities should check the penthouse norms and act in a stringent way if there are violations. Keep house corridors and stairways free from obstructions. It is also advisable to keep track of unused supplies like newspapers as these are known combustibles. Clearing out unnecessary items in closets and garages are preventive measures too. But the grill in windows and balconies need to have an outlet for escape.
Prevention is better than cure is very correct in case of fire in high rise buildings.
– Jayanthy S. Maniam
5) Fire tragedies needs utmost attention
It is indeed really sorry state of affairs in a Metropolitan City like Mumbai that people caught in fire tragedy and logged on flat’s penthouse to get much needed help. Mumbai high rise buildings are prone to fire accidents and it is up to BMC to have a disaster management team to press into service in such a eventuality to save the people from further disaster. Pent house fire in BeauMonde woke up the State Government from inefficient system and the outdated and out modelled equipment we carry to prevent such serious disaster. Eye witness account clearly revealed that the blaze in high rise cause disconnection of power and water supply. How long we manage with such an inefficient system and the lack of equipment to fight high rise buildings fire in the best way possible.
– Chitra Rugmini
6) Sad state
Ever since Delhi CM Kejriwal took charge of the state, the troublesome head of the state is getting involved in agitation, dharna and street show and nothing good is done for the state. Now he is going on a dharna at LG office for the fourth day. This is not looking good for a person holding the post of CM. He has taken oath of office and secrecy knowing fully well about the Constitution. Still he wanted to create problems and show that he is the only responsible Chief Minister. He had a tussle with the earlier LG also. This is not in good spirits. Now, four CMs are also backing Kejriwal as Delhi row goes national. The militant Chief Minister is not fit for the chair and the people mistakenly elected him with overwhelming majority. Now the hopes of the people of Delhi are dashed to the dust and now he wooing other CMs also back him without an agenda. PM will not end the impasse in single minute as mentioned by Delhi CM as prons and cons are to be studied before taking a decision on statehood. The CM, who manhandled his own MLA at his residence, is trying to bring parity to Union territory. It is indeed a sad state.
– Nickhil Krishnan
7) Change British legacy: Make Calendar Year as Financial Year
Expert-committee chaired by known economist LK Jha which was set up by Union Government to suggest new financial-year, had suggested systematic calendar-year of January-December to replace current system of April-March financial-year due to multiple advantageous, and also to be in tune with most other countries of the world. But as usual, recommendations of LK Jha committee set up at high cost were dumped by the then political rulers without being implemented. It is time that both financial and working year for the complete country may be unified as the systematic calendar year to replace present financial-year of April-March which is being in continuation as a British legacy even after seven long decades of the country having achieved independence.
– Madhu Agrawal
