Monday, January 18, 2016

News snippets and observations.

1. Ignorance about Parliamentary etiquette. 

When asked by the media as to why the Congress party was not letting the GST Bill, which would bring about a common tax regime throughout the country and be beneficial overall, pass in the Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi's reply was, "Let them incorporate all our suggestions and we'll pass the bill in 15' flat."

In other words, what he's trying to put across is:-

      (a) Any bill that has to be passed will require the Congress party's - read, his - clearance. The
           overall good that it will bring to the country be damned!
      (b) Yet another obstacle for the Modi government so that it doesn't succeed and can be shown in 
            poor light at not having complied with the poll promise of 'achche din'!!
      (c) In Parliamentary democracy, differing viewpoints would exist which are then discussed to
            narrow down differences so that an amicable resolution is achieved.  

Note. His latest advice to the Prime Minister that he must visit 'Dharavi' just because he'd done a 'padayatra' to that place smacks of immaturity and a lack of understanding of politics and is a joke!

2. Iran's freedom from global Isolation. 

Thanks to some smart diplomatic moves on the part of Iran and after protracted negotiations, the country has been saved from the sanctions imposed by the US and the European community. The resulting economic boom that's gonna take place should make it a strong player in the west Asian affairs in the coming days.

Perhaps, with Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria coming to terms with the present situation in the region, a strong and vibrant Iran should be able to withstand the ISIS onslaught though a not-so-happy Saudi Arabia might not likely to warm up to the idea!

3. Lasting marriages.

According to an interesting survey on the subject, lasting marriages are prevalent in north India like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra just to name the ones on top of the list. The reasons:-

     (a) The survey covered those who're married for 40 years and above.
     (b) It has less to do with fidelity and love and more with customs and health, meaning:-
           (i) The age at which the couple get married and
          (ii) How long they live.
           In other words, early marriage and longer life means long lasting marriages! And in Haryana
           there's another interesting twist viz. a good percentage of men tie the knot before attaining
           21 years of age and similarly, girls before attaining 18 years!

And on the other side of the spectrum, the shortest span in married life is that of the people of the north east!  

Well, things are set to change because of demographic migrations necessitated by job requirements and the relaxation in the custom of marrying from the same caste/creed and even, religion!


Tailpiece.

The latest game to be tainted with the 'match fixing' scandal is tennis. The purity of sports and games where one played one's heart out with the least concern for monetary gratification seems to have gone forever. Sad!

PS.
Lekha'd returned from Kottarakkara by a half past 5.


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