The Brave Pedestrian

Mumbai, 27 th January, 2017: Justice Chinnasamy Swaminathan Karnan of Culcutta High Court and formerly of Madras High Court, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to take action against "high corruption at the judiciary". In his letter dated 23 rd January, 2017, Justice CS Karnan furnished the prime minister with "an initial list of corrupt judges", and in addition, three other officers of Madras High Court, who he implied had detailed knowledge and proof of the corrupt acts of the 20 judges. Justice Karnan asked for all these persons to be "interrogated by the officers of the Central Agencies" – probably referring to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Justice CS Karnan's recent writings and actions have confronted India with huge questions and challenges, namely: a) Is Justice CS Karnan a judge a nutcase – a man with impaired mental functioning? If so, what constitutional safeguards does the nation have to remove him, to ...

If World War II hadn't happened, you & I wouldn't have been born. Because you and I are a one-in-a-trillion-trillion egg-sperm combinations that got incredibly lucky. Our dads produced 250 million sperms everytime they ejaculated, and 99 times out of 100, they ejaculated in their hands. So you and I and everyone else on this planet are the product of astronomical odds. Your maternal grandma had to meet your grandpa and conceive your mom, and ditto your paternal grandparents, and then your mom and dad had to do it at precisely that moment, and therefore here you are, reading this blasphemous post. Think about that for a moment. Why is this relevant? Because people casually say things like, "If Sardar Patel instead of Nehru had been the Prime Minister, things would have been very different today". Yes, true, but you and I would not be there to experience it. If anything had gone even slightly different -- if your mom had so much as sneezed when your...

India, 26th January, 2017: I am proud and privileged to live in India. I love and embrace this crazy, chaotic nation of ours, and I cherish all its people and systems. I treasure the freedoms that we enjoy, and I don't take it for granted. Our freedom fighters have suffered and died so that we could govern ourselves, and yes, we are governing ourselves in our own crazy, chaotic way. It's a fact that I am proud of. It's a privilege that I hold very dear. Yes, I criticize India's people, systems, traditions etc., but nothing takes away from my love for my beautiful India and all the 1.3 billion people who make it what it is -- a flawed but functioning democracy. If I were to be born again, I would want to be born here. Again and again and again. And when I die, I will be proud and privileged to be part of its dust and its people. I love India and all Indians unconditionally. Absolutely. Without reserve. Warts and all. Jai Hind. ...

Mumbai, 25th January, 2017: Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) was caught with its hands in the proverbial cookie jar, and that too by the Supreme Court! R-ADAG tried to twist the terms of its Power Purchase Agreement with seven states, and make a profit of well over Rs 1,000/- crore by making the states count one day as one year (31st March 2013 is the previous financial year, and 1st April 2013 is the next financial year. Get it?) And moreover, when All Indian Power Engineers' Federation (AIPEF) blew the whistle and prevented it, R-ADAG tried to sue AIPEF's office-bearers for damages of Rs 1,000 crore! Ulta chor kotwal ko dante! The true significance of Supreme Court’s 8th December 2016 judgment on Reliance's Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) Commercial Operation Date (COD) has gone unreported. Mainstream media has avoided reporting important things about this case, namely: 1) By exploiting a loophole in the Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) signed with...

Mumbai, 13th January, 2017: K Raheja Constructions got away with lots of violations in their Horizon Green project in Borivali East . They succeeded in procuring Drainage Completion Certificate (DCC) and Occupation Certificate (OC) in early 2015 without actually constructing drainage. T o hoodwink potential flat-buyers and early-bird occupants , the Rahejas tried to secretly dig a soak-pit in December 2015. T he plan was to cover up the lack of a sewage connection by channeling the sludge into a soak pit and pumping it out every month . But this plan backfired when residents of the neighbouring building alerted BMC , who slapped a stop-work notice . But the Rahejas defied the stop work orders, continued the work and complet ed the soak-pit. So MCGM lodged a police complaint and got an FIR registered against the Rahejas . Illegal soak pit of Horizon Green building under construction in December 2015 Click here for PHOTOS of Horizon Green’s soak pit. Clic...