Common Wealth Games Corruption, CWG Scam

Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said on Tuesday that the incidence of foot over-bridge near the main Games venue of the Common Wealth Games is a ‘minor hiccup’ and Delhi has seen a lot of bigger problems than these. He then goes to say that the games will be very successful. 20 laborers who are injured, five of them critically looks like a minor issue to him; imagine what he would have said had the same bridge fallen on a political leader.

It is a national shame that Rs.70,000 crore of tax payer money has been spent in Common Wealth Games and the Olympic contingent from countries like Canada, New Zealand, Wales and Scotland have decided that the Common Wealth Village is just unlivable and deplorable. Rs. 70000 crore to build a filth, terrible infrastructure which consists of stray dogs loitering in the building, feces lying in places where they are not supposed to be, water leaking in the bathrooms and many such unmentionables.

OC secretary-general Lalit Bhanot even cracked a joke to ‘t’ease the situation “The standards of cleanliness and hygiene differ from person to person. What one thinks is clean may not appear that clean to others.”
On the other hand, New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie has suggested the Games might even have to be cancelled. He told New Zealand commercial radio on Tuesday: "If the village is not ready and athletes can't come, obviously the implications of that are that it's not going to happen."It's pretty grim really and certainly disappointing when you consider the amount of time they had to prepare."

One fails to understand why there is no competence and zero accountability, no one is willing to take responsibility for the sad state of affairs; everyone is bent on passing the buck. The games should have been the direct responsibility of the Indian cabinet ministry and not something that has been outsourced by the Delhi state to IOC. A prime minister of the caliber of Manmohan Singh seems to have take the matter lightly and did not bother chucking Kalmadi out, allowing the Indian horror show called ‘Common Wealth Games’ to continue.

No doubt, there is too much pressure on the government to make amendments but the fact is the Common Wealth Games that will be held in Glasgow 4 years from now will have ¼ th of the cost that is being savagely plundered in CWG. If India’s sporting infrastructure as well as Indian sporting face has to improve, we need to take politicians out and making sports-people administrators, only then we will be able to say that we are worthy of holding a game of this stature. For now, we are an international joke.

Tax Permits and Marathi

The Congress government first said taxi permits should be issued to people who speak Marathi and those who have been living Mumbai for 15 years. Marathi speaking can be made feasible for taxi drivers but not compulsory

1. There are passengers who speak Malayalam, Gujarati, English, Bengali who take the taxi. So does that mean the taxi driver should learn all their languages? It is not just Maharashtrians who take the taxi, do they?

2. People who take the taxi are least bothered about the language or Marathi. Their main concern is to reach a place and not about commanding the taxi driver to speak Marathi or any other language

Sach Ka Saamna: Reality TV makes television hotter than Bollywood

Samajwadi Party MP Kamal Akhtar is under the mistaken belief that reality TV promotes obscenity and family values. The typical beeped cuss words reality shows are something that is not totally new, we have all heard it sometime or the other. There is no Indian who has not heard colorful language. So the question of bad words used is totally uncalled for; it is a part of our culture too. Is. Akhtar unaware about bawdy, boisterous, 'naughty' songs sung in full public in north Indian weddings? That is also a part of our culture. Let’s face it; we are talking reality television, so you cannot have the participants being la-di-dah and using poetic language. That does not happen in reality, does it?

Moral policing is not required. If at all, you feel some content is objectionable, switch off the television; it is as simple as that. Do not care about how it will affect other people; they are smart enough to mind their own business. The youth is finally returning to television. Believe it or not, the youth bade bye to television long ago from the time Nukkad, Buniyaad and Hum Log went off the air. These were shows of real people that connected with everyone. With the deluge of saas-bahu serials, the youth went back to movies which had something to look forward too. Thankfully, for the first time in 20 years, television has made movies look regressive.

It is not the question of vulgarity; it is the question of quality content in your programs. Saas-bahu serials were plain stupid, with women wearing expensive sarees to bed, having their second husband resurrected thanks to dropping TRPs and melodrama that would put many to bed early. Okay, we credit them with the last bit; they did promote a good habit.

Smita Mathai a contestant in Sach Ka Saamna,whose reference is taken up by Kamal Akhtar, when citing about denigrating family values through reality shows; has herself said that her family had been fully aware of her emotions and have supported her. Since she said nothing wrong has happened between her husband and her, why are we so concerned? We are concerned because as a nation we are voyeuristic. Reality has always turned India on. Movies like Satya, A Wednesday, Shoot out at Lokhandwala and Mumbai Meri Jaan have clicked because we identify with reality.

Reality television has given people so much fame and recognition that many secretly vie for. People like Sambhavana Seth, Raja Chaudhary, Marc Robinson, Ishq Bector become so much popular after Big Boss and Iss Jungle se Mujhe Bachao. Guys like Nauman Sait, Ashutosh Kaushik and Alina Wadiwala are now household names. People like Ranvijay and Palak have come from nowhere and are now doing movies. Reality shows have made people carve their own niche and become popular. Rakhi ka Swayamvar, the show which everyone has something to comment, on has more than 5000 fans on Facebook.

It is sad that politicians target reality shows when a fact is that someone from their clan, a politician like Sanjay Nirupam received so much popularity, support and love after he appeared in Big Boss. Not many know that the concept of reality show was started by the sacred daddy of all channels, Doordarshan, when it would telecast live parliament proceeding 15 years ago in the morning from 8:30 to 9 every morning. That one had MPs behaving in the most uncouth manner, swearing and insulting mercilessly.