TELANGANA CM TARGET

THE BJP government seems to specialize in targeting chief ministers of the Opposition states. After targeting Delhi chief minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, the Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy has been accused of posting a fake video of Amit Shah. The video shows Amit Shah claiming that he is against reservations. This would be disaster to the BJP as scheduled castes and tribes and other backward classes represent 70% of the population.

The BJP and Narendra Modi are only against reservations based on religion. Telangana is the only state in the country which tried to introduce reservations for the Muslim minority community. The Telangana CM has been given four weeks to respond. It must be clarified that Revanth, the Telangana chief minister, has no links with Prajwal Revenna who is the main accused in the Karnataka rape and video sex scam which come like a bolt out of the blue to expose BJP’s “small matter” attitude towards the sexual use and abuse of women in the country.

Interestingly, Prajwal has agreed to a return to India and Bengaluru on May 15, 2024 and will surrender to the Karnataka SIT.  

HINDU MARRIAGE

THE Supreme Court has ruled that Hindu marriage is not only about song and dance and wining and dining. This is in the context of two commercial pilots who sought a divorce on the grounds that no “sath phera” had been gone through in their marriage ceremonies.

The SC has ruled that a Hindu marriage is invalid if there is no “saath phera”, “kanyadaan” and “mangalsutra” in a Hindu marriage. In the Arya Samaj marriage there are only four phera. These are a number of times the  couple go around the sacred fire which is the witness to Hindu marriages.

The SC has held that religious ceremonies of a Hindu marriage have to be conducted if the marriage is to be complete and binding in the eyes of law and society. It is not enough to just have the mehendi, sangeet and other side highlights of the Hindu marriage ceremony.

MUSLIM INHERITANCE

SAFIYA PM, a resident of Puzha in Kerala  and general secretary of Ex-Muslims of Keralal,’ has applied to the Supreme Court to declare her as a  non-believer. The Muslim lady is concerned that her daughter should inherit all her assets. Under the Shariat only one-third of the property goes to the daughter and  remaining to the son. This Muslim woman has sought to be declared a non-believer because in the case of  non-believers, the Indian Succession Act 1925 will apply. 

SALMAN FIRING CASE

THE accused in the April 14, 2024 Salman Khan firing case has died in police lock-up. Anil Thapan, age 32, was arrested in Punjab for supplying arms to Vikas Gupta and Sagar Pal for a shooting assignment outside Salman Khan’s residence. Khan is reportedly the target of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang of Uttar Pradesh. Death in police custody is always suspicious. The victim’s family has asked for an enquiry into the death.

BOMB HOAX IN DELHI SCHOOLS

OVER 200 schools in the national capital Delhi region have been victims of a bomb hoax. Schools are now becoming targets for terrorists. This time the bomb hoax has been attributed to an e-mail sent from China by the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence Wing. There was panic in Delhi as parents rushed to pick up their children from school. The theory is that anti-national elements are trying to create maximum panic during the ongoing election.

AUTO-IMMUNE DISEASES

AN increasing number of middle-class people are being stricken by auto–immune diseases. In these auto-immune diseases some cells of the body go on strike. Auto-immune diseases can also be caused by blood clots. This blood clot can take place not only in the brain but in any part of the body including the feet. A symptom of auto-immune diseases is that muscles collapse. This affects the hands and the legs initially but spreads in the whole body. The major problem is that it takes a while to diagnose these autoimmune diseases. Everything depends on the first doctor you refer the patient to.

Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, steroids are prescribed and these only aggravate the patient’s condition. In medical understanding auto-immune diseases are primarily caused by neurological factors. Inevitably, auto-immune diseases are fatal, unless diagnosed early and treated right on time.  

GODREJ GROUP SPLITS

THE Godrej Group which built its reputation for locks and steel cupboards in the country, has finally split amicably. The two branches of the Godrej family have decided to choose different paths. The Godrej group now has a huge presence in a wide range of consumer areas such as soaps, fertilizers, real estate.

The company has vast lands in Vikhroli in Mumbai. The Adi & Nadir Godrej Group is involved in fast moving consumer goods chemicals and even in retail marketing. The most famous brand is a green basket which markets organic products. The other branch of  Jamshed Godrej is into aerospace defense furniture and heavy engineering. We think the Godrej family is the last of the traditional business houses splitting up in India.  

SUNDAR PICHAI SALARY

THE CEO of Alphabet which owns Google will get a billion dollars as his total package. Sundar Pichai, originally from Tamil Nadu, has increased the turnover of Alphabet by over 400%. Alphabet stock has touched new records driven by artificial intelligence. The increase in salary of Pichai includes dividends from stock allotment. Tim Cook, the Apple CEO, gets a salary of two billion. Lary Page and Ergey Brin  has a combine net worth of  $300 billion. Sundar Pichai, who is a graduate of the IIT Madras, is married to his classmate, an IITian. He has admitted to having over 30 smart phones in his house.

US CAMPUS STRIKES

STUDENTS violence in the USA is back, on the lines of the anti-Vietnam protests in the late 1960s. If you remember there was huge opposition in the United States over American attacks in north Vietnam which was controlled by the Communist party. Now campuses across the United States are witnessing protests against Israel’s bombing of Palestine and the genocide of Palestinians. The protests are spreading to all the top universities including Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, etc.

Recently, 300 hundred students were held on a New York campus. The students want the United States to block funds, particularly military aid to Israel. Israel has been accused of savage attacks on the Palestinians. The war which was limited to Israel and Hamas has now spread to Iran.

Iran, which is the largest Islamic country, twice the size of India, launched an attack against Israel. There are counter attacks in the US in support of Israel. The Jews control most of the banks and industrial houses in the US. They are considered the richest religious community in the world and have been supporting Israel. Israel is now headed by the hardliner Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is determined to take over whatever is left of Palestinian land for Israel.  

HEATWAVE THREAT

THANKS to the vast cutting down of forested land for our so called progress and development climate change is here with soaring temperatures even in green Goa. The temperature has gone up by as much as 34%. The Indian Metrological Department has warned people about heat waves and how to stay and cool and dehydrated indoors in Goa.

In many parts of the country and in the national capital Delhi, also Rajasthan, the temperature crosses 40 degrees C. People are suffering and dying because of these heat waves in northern India. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has attributed the decline in polling percentage to heat waves.  

CHALLENGE TO MODI

A CONGRESS party candidate Alka Lamba pulled up Muslim and Hindu women out of the audience. Alka asked a Hindu woman if she was afraid her mangalsutra would be taken and given to the Muslim women. The Muslim women surprised Lamba. She reportedly commented that Lamba was more scared of Modi’s words than either Muslim or Hindu women.