Wednesday, July 5, 2017

And they call it 'promotion'.

Yet another byte on the news of the day and without much ado, here I go.

  1. The shunting out of Sriram Venkitaraman.

       Finally, the state government has done it. The Devikulam Sub Collector, has now been shunted
       into the post of Director, Employment and Training. The government, then, has the temerity to
       call it a 'promotion'. Reminded me of an 'over keen' boxer kicking his opponent already lying in
       the ring under the impact of his earlier punch - an act that's taboo and unsportsmanlike!

       And what's Sriram's 'crime'? There are many:-

           (a) He has been on a relentless hunt to evict the encroachers of government land in Munnar.
           (b) Earlier, he'd identified and begun the process of reclaiming encroached land in and around
                 Munnar inviting the ire of the CPM.
           (c) He'd earned the admiration of the people by his stern action against illegal constructions
                and land encroachment.
           (d) He used to have frequent run ins with the resort mafia and the CPM leaders.
           (e) Towards safeguarding the revenue land, he took hard decisions and has issued about 110
                 'stop memos' against illegal constructions.
           (f) The removal of a huge cross on encroached land at Pappathichola invited the CM's ire.
           (g) In January, he'd submitted a landmark report to the Collector pointing out the
                 encroachment of over 30 acres of KSEB land by private resort owners.
           (h) His latest action was to reclaim 22 cents of land owned by Love Dale Homestay at Munnar.

       The unkindest cut is that the Revenue Minister belonging to the CPI - the party that supports the
       anti encroachment drive and who should have backed the youngster to the hilt - now terms his
       transfer as an administrative affair!

       A sad day for honest officials!!

  2. The aftermath of the introduction of GST.

      There seems to be a widespread confusion post-introduction of the GST. As a layman, I find
      it a bit perplexing and wonder why the dichotomy should come in the first place. In fact, my
      classmate and friend, Mohan who runs an outfit with a turnover of over Rs.600 crores, at
      Bangalore, had told me just the other day that the new system is simple and easy to follow.

      I believe the hoteliers have hiked the rates of their commodities, including chicken which is
      supposed to have no tax on it. Important medicines aren't available in the market. Movie tickets
      have been subjected to taxes over and above the GST, which is foul and no wonder, the entire
      Tamil film industry have shut down the cinemas and begun its protest.

      Why does this happen only in this country? Everyone wants to make a fast buck, the benefits
      for the common man be damned!



Tailpiece.

Saw Anita Moorjani's story on her book, "Dying to be me" on the YouTube. She had cancer, the doctors had written her off, she'd gone into coma for about 36 hrs and then, come back to life with no trace of the illness. Call it a miracle but this is the sort of miracle that I expect for Suresh in the coming weeks.

Sent my cousin, Reshmi the link insisting that she must view it along with Suresh who's currently at the RCC, Thuruvananthapuram for another round of chemo.




         

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