Two days back, I had visited the Kala Ghoda festival and I was impressed with the stalls erected there and arrangements made for crowd control. Several artisans had displayed the artwork made by them amicably at the venue. Copper chimney was the first place where I first ate “Rumali roti” in Mumbai few years back. Our handicrafts are of very superior quality and that shows the progress made by our artisans.
I watched the Auto Expo 2016 on television as Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor and Akshay Kumar had participated in the event. Anil Kapoor unveiled the new Maruti S-Cross Limited Edition at the expo. I have excelled in automobile engineering for many years now. During my engineering college days, I had undergone training for a month at Hindustan Motors, Uttarpada, Fiat at Kamanis and Maruti. I was onboard of the ship that loaded Maruti for export from Mundra, a couple of years back. Who can forget the iconic Yellow and black Fiat taxis which was appreciated by all.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated a refinery at Paradeep. It brings me back to couple of years when our ship of SCI, M.V. Vishva Vijay was the first one to berth at Paradeep. The port has developed significantly. In the evening, we used to go for long walk and order Chicken and Parathas at the local “ dhabas” and that food was very good and cheap. Now, of course plenty of big hotels have been established here.
President Pranab Mukherjee and PM Modi inspected international fleet review which displayed our naval capability. Our Navy is quite big and competent with excellent technical support from Mazgaon Dock Limited and Naval Dockyard. So, all this shows that we are making significant progress. Development needs to be backed by a harmonious atmosphere within the country. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh did well to call a meeting of religious heads for mutual confidence building and this effort must continue through three monthly review meetings.
We are suffering from an excess of democracy. Our politicians engage in too much machinations. President’s rule has been imposed in Arunachal Pradesh after President Pranab Mukherjee gave his nod for the same.
The Union Cabinet had recommended central rule following political instability in the state. Congress party criticized the stand taken by the centre and urged the President to not give his nod for imposing president’s rule in the state as the case was being heard by the Supreme Court. Other political parties too attacked the centre’s decision and termed the move as a murder of democracy. The article 356 has been used and misused by successive political parties irrespective of their political ideology. According to Article 356, President’s rule can be imposed in a state if a situation has arisen in which the government of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Once President’s rule is imposed, the assembly ceases to function and the state comes under the Central government’s direct control.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)