Citizen’s view on General Elections 2009
Hmmm… Long time no c.. I know that’s what you are asking to me and to my blog !!!
Well finally after 1 year here we go…..
Its general elections time and the whole country is waiting for the results on May 16. The entire election process was completed in 5 phases successfully. Elections in Tamilnadu were held on May 13 and of course I am also one of the many proud citizens who have exercised their franchise on that day.
It’s a well known fact that all politicians should improve, all political parties should also improve. The discussion in this blog is only about the process of general elections and not about the corrupted politicians and political parties. It would definitely take a bigger post if I had to write about them.
Although there are lots of good things to note about the general elections, I found that there are lots of other things which have to be improved !!!
Here are a few things to ponder upon…
1) Actually this time it was special as this was the first time I am casting my vote. It all started in 2004 lok sabha elections when my name was not found in the voters list. Then again in 2006 state assembly elections, I went to vote at around 4 PM and by that time my vote had already been registered by some one else. So this time I had to make sure that I was there in the polling booth early in the morning !!!!
Impersonation is one of the major problem which many would have experienced. There should be extra verification mechanisms such as signature verification or thumb impression verification of each and every voter apart from the voter identity card. This would by and large remove impersonation.
The database should be improved in such a manner that there are no duplicate insertions in the list of voters.
2) There should be a provision to reject all the candidates in an election if the voter finds them not suitable. Of course, there is rule 49 ‘O’ which provides an option for voter to refuse to vote after he has been identified and recorded in the register of electors. But where is the secrecy of vote in this case?? The polling officials and the polling agents would get to know about the decision of such a voter.
The election commission has to amend its rules so that there is an option like ‘None of the above’ or ‘No vote’ in the electronic voting machine itself so that the person who doesn’t want to vote for anyone can of course do so without anyone knowing about it.
3) Next is how user friendly is our elections? It was heartening to know that this election was the most disabled friendly election so far.
Read this…… http://www.thehindu.com/2009/05/10/stories/2009051059300700.htm
But still there are lots of other things to be improved. I was standing in a queue for 1.5 hours to cast my vote in a completely enclosed room with no proper ventilation. Many of the people who came to vote went back mainly because of this. One person who was standing behind me in the queue was about to faint due to lack of oxygen !!!!
There were three separate queues for men but there was only one queue for women in my polling booth. Although many of the women voters braved the hot sun and stood in the queue for 2 hours to cast their vote but a few of them went back seeing the queue size.
I think we should also spend some time to give thoughts on how to improve aesthetics in a polling station. This probably should be done by the election officer in charge for the polling station.
4) Next is the voter turnout. Main reason for many of them not voting is that they are staying far away from their home town. I know many of my office friends who actually took leave and went to their native place to vote in the general elections. If this is absolutely not possible (it must be possible in most of the cases!!!!), you can very well cast your votes through post. Read this …. http://www.deccanchronicle.com/cover/%E2%80%98postal-voting-works,-needs-advance-planning%E2%80%99-967
This also in many ways would avoid having lower voter turnout (less than 50% for a constituency) ![]()
There should be amendments in the law so that, if a candidate gets less than 40% of the total votes polled (Already voter turnout would have been 40% or so.. and 40 out of 40% is only around 16% of the total eligible voters), then there should be a re-election as a person getting the support of just 16% of the total voters should never be allowed to represent the constituency !!!!
Of course, if the number of votes cast through 49 ‘O’ is more than that received by the winning candidate, there should definitely be re-election with new sets of more eligible candidates.
5) You would have heard about deletion of names in few constituencies etc. All I want to say about this is it is the duty of an individual person to check before the elections if his/her name is in the voter list. They have also published the voter list online. So it must be double easy for anyone to verify that.
And finally for all of them, who stayed in their home town, having their name in the electoral rolls with valid identity proof and not voting because of laziness, Please vote next time!!!! It is your duty!!!
Every child is special.
There are many problems which i/you/anyone for that matter faced in their early life. It would be more hurting if that is related with learning disablility. People with learning disabilities have difficulty taking in, organizing, and/or acting on information their brains receive through the senses.
One of the common learning disability is Dyslexia. Well after watching Taare Zameen par you would surely know about Dsyslexia. What you may not know is that there are many more.
1) Dysgraphia : Developmental writing disorder -
Problems with handwriting. For example: Writing in such a way that it makes sense only to you or writing which makes sense to others but you cant understand your own handwriting.
2) Dyscalculia: Developmental arithmetic disorder
Problems with arithmetic calculations or abstract concepts. For example: Adding instead of subtracting etc.
Also there are other speech related disorders such as,
3) Articulation Disorder:
Problems producing speech sounds, pronouncing certain letters or letter combinations.
I actually had this problem in my childhood days. I had difficulty in pronouncing certain letters. I would spell tha(தா) for ka(கா). So கல்யாணம் became தல்யானம், காக்கா becomes தாத்தா, காலை becomes தாலை
4) Expressive language disorder:
Problems using spoken language to communicate, expressing yourself verbally.
Some of them may have obstacles in speaking freely.One of my friend had such a problem. He attended an interview for a job and the interviewers just bullied him about his way of speaking. They just failed to realize that it was his natural problem. My friend just left the interview with tears. (Incidentally, the interviewers were TCS employees and later apologized for their action !!) Even the grown ups cannot recognize this problem. Imagine a child being bullied for the same. It would totally affect the child’s confidence levels !!!
5) Receptive language disorder:
Problems in understanding what other people say; you hear the words but don’t process them as thoughts.
There are lots of other problems like non verbal learning disorder, visual processing disorder, motor skill disorder etc.
Learning disabled children may feel depressed, frustated, stressed when they are pressed to try harder by their parents. They would also feel down on themselves due to those failures and from taunting or humiliation from those who are impatient or intolerant.
Well, the parents and teachers would think that inspite of all their efforts, their child is not studying well or so !!! But, they just don’t investigate the root cause for the problem. Also there are other reasons like every parent wants his/her child to study well and come first in the class. They typically want their son/daughter to become an engineer or a doctor.All the above said problems can be easily corrected/treated if they are detected early and given adequate attention (from teachers or more so from parents). If not, it would just be the case like Ishaant and his father in the movie Taare Zameen Par. Of course every child in India is not lucky enough to get a teacher like Ram Shankar Nikum.
Parents should know that all these problems should not be treated as a disability but just as an inability which can be corrected in due course of time and attention.
Hope all the parents realize that their child is special or indeed “Every child is special”.
Well this is my blog after a long time on a worthy topic. As i know most of the readers of this blog wouldn’t be a parent right now. This blog is just for your future reference when you become one. And of course you can very well spread this awareness to other parents.
Green Life
Its been almost 4 months since i wrote the last post.
Life is moving at a hectic pace with no time to spend in useful activities other than
work. Finally found some time for updating my blog.
I thought of some useful topics to write and finally zeroed it on “healthy living in this modern world”.
Just researched in the internet to get something useful to write about the abovesaid topic. Amazingly i came across this ebook having everything i wanted to write. No
other go had to stop here with this topic and post……
Here is the ebook….
Do read it completely….
http://www.morganstanley.com/about/community/littlegreenebook/
Independence….
August 15 - Independence day.
30 States, 1618 languages, 6400 castes, 6 religions, 29 major festivals and one country. We always are proud to say that we are an Indian. It’s a great feeling to remember the sacrifices of our Armed forces, freedom fighters on this day.
Have you ever thought about this……..
Right from our school days we have been singing Jana Gana Mana or Vande Mataram but do we know the exact meaning of these two songs?
The Jana Gana Mana was composed by Shri Rabindranath Tagore and first sung at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress on December 27th, 1911. It was adopted as the National Anthem of India on 24th January, 1950 by the Constituent Assembly. The first stanza (out of five stanzas) of the song forms the National Anthem.
” Jana Gana Mana Adhinayaka Jaya He
Bharat Bhagya Vidhata
Punjab Sindh Gujarat Maratha
Dravida Utkala Banga
Vindhya Himachal Yamuna Ganga
Ucchala Jaladhi Taranga
Tubh Shubha Name Jage
Tubh Shubha Ashisha Mange
Gahe Tubh Jaya Gata
Jan Gan Mangaldayak Jay He
Bharat Bhagya Vidhata
Jaye He ! Jaye He ! Jaye He !
Jaye,Jaye,Jaye,Jaye He “
Translation of our national anthem in English:
Thou are the ruler of the minds of all people, dispenser of India’s destiny.The name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha. Of the Dravid and Orissa and Bengal. It Echoes in the hills of Vindhyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of Yamuna and Ganga and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea. They pray for your blessing and sing thy praise. The salvation of all peaople is thy hand, thou dispenser of India’s destiny. Victory, Victory, Victory to thee.
Next our National Song that is Vande Mataram…..
Vande Mataram was written by Bakimchandra Chatterjee in his novel Anandamath in 1882. This song became the mantra of the freedom struggle. Countless freedom fighters went to their gallows shouting Vande Mataram.
Vande Mataram
Sujalam, suphalam,
malayja shitalam,
Shasyashyamalam
Mataram!
Vande Mataram!
Shubhrajyotna
pulakitayaminim
Phullakusumita drumadala
shobhinim
Suhasinim sumadhura
bhashinim,
Sukhadam varadam,
Mataram!
Vande Matram!
English Translation of Vande Matram (By Aurobindo Ghosh)
Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
bright with orchard gleams,
Cool with thy winds of delight,
Dark fields waving Mother of might,
Mother free.
Glory of moonlight dreams,
Over thy branches and lordly streams,
Clad in thy blossoming trees,
Mother, giver of ease
Laughing low and sweet!
Mother I kiss thy feet,
Speaker sweet and low!
Mother, to thee I bow.
There are lots more to know …
http://www.indianchild.com/national_anthem.htm
JaiHind !!!!
Vehicle usage tips n tricks
Hi,
Nowadays almost everyone has a two wheeler. The world is changing so does the lifestyle and the way of living. A two wheeler which was once an option has now become an essential one in everyone’s life today. I also have a two wheeler…….
Here is a reality check about the vehicle usage and some tips n tricks….
Number 1:
Always go for Speed or Indian oil extra premium or HP Power instead of normal Petrol. This increases the vehicle efficiency considerably apart from giving more mileage…. Consider this case…. My vehicle gives a mileage of 48 kmpl when i use normal petrol. Petrol cost is Rs. 47.5 per litre. So operating cost is Rs. 1 per km. When i use Speed my mileage shoots up to 54 kmpl. Speed costs only Rs. 49 per litre. So my operating cost is reduced to Rs. 0.907 per km.
Number 2:
There is no use in driving rashly in order the reach the destination eariler. The reality is that a person who drives at a healthy speed will reach the destination at the same time as the person who drives rashly.
Number 3:
We usually try to peek through the signals. When we see that there is only 5 seconds left for the signal to switch to red we raise the speed and try to cross the signal. We dont realize that these few seconds may even cost our life. What is wrong in waiting for one more minute or so? There are wonders you can do in this minute…… Here are a few of those…….
1) Vehicle maintenance is directly proportional to the mileage given by a vehicle. It is neccessary to clean the vehicle frequently. But we seldom do it in this fast paced world. In that one minute why not we take a cloth and clean the mirrors, front lamps, vehicle body etc.
2) Suppose u are going to office or any other important meeting. Why not you think about what to do today in the office or meeting in that one minute.
3) We see lots of hoardings when we travel. Sometimes we get distracted by it also when we are driving. Lots of hoardings would have been erected near the signals. Why not look at the hoardings when u wait in the signal?
4) Why not we check the fuel level in the vehicle and plan accordingly in that one minute we wait?
5) In this summer heat, particularly when u r driving for a long distance, why not we stop the vehicle near shade and relax for few minutes till the signal is changed to green.
6) And this will be done only by few who are bold enough.. Why not we tell a person near you who has stopped the vehicle after the stop line about his violation and why not you ask him to stop before the line hereafter???
7) Why not we look around at other vehicles…. if u r crazy about knowing new vehicles its look and style….
Speaking in cellphone while driving is a traffic violation. Why not we use our cellphone during the time we wait near the signal ???
And of course there are lot more things to explore………
Number 4:
Try to avoid using a bike for everything. Try using alternative ways like walking or going by a cycle……. What if we are not driving our bike for a day…..
1) Lesser amount of CO2 and CO was emitted into the atmosphere.
2) U have saved the money which u would have otherwise spent for the fuel
3) Your health is improved that is you get lots of exercise when u walk or travel by a bicycle.
4) Lesser amount of traffic in the roads…. and so on….
These are few points to keep in your mind.
And of course the bottom line is
“Always follow road rules and Drive safely “
Geniuses are born on April 1…. Is it?
Hi to everyone….
April 1… Whats so special about the day?? Its April fools day and its my birthday too…
Birthdays are special occasion for anyone but its most funny when it is on April 1. Everyone when they ask me of my birthdate, they would instantly laugh when they hear that its on April 1. Their instant reactions would be :
- Don’t joke…
- Wow really or u making me fool
- What???
- Nice day to have your birthday!!!!
- Hey yaar.. Stop Kidding….
- Very Funny
- oh of course… Fool’s b’day on Fool’s day
Your birthday is a moment of such happy and joyous occasion. Instead of arranging big parties and treats involving huge expenses, it would be better if we are spending that amount for some other useful expense. You could just distribute some goodies to the less priviledged children. Their wishes for you would give you utmost satisfaction and true happiness.
Think of it… With just a little planning we can have a great and meaningful birthday.
There is yet another point to think of… What will you want to have accomplished by your next birthday?
Traffic violations and fines
- Divagaran T
We hear of road accidents, traffic rule violations pretty frequently nowadays. Recently, when I was traveling in my vehicle near the Gemini Flyover, I was caught by a rude Traffic Police for violating the stop line. The signal was there immediately after taking a ‘U’ turn near the flyover. So, it was difficult to notice the signal and stop the vehicle accordingly.
I tried to explain the situation for the violation but he started to scold me like anything and never heard my part of the story. The traffic police made me wait for 30 minutes saying nothing and not listening to my words. Finally he asked me to pay a fine of 200 Rs for violating the stop line. He also asked me to wait till the Sub-Inspector comes. It was getting late for my office. That was the first day of my new job. I just didn’t have a second thought and paid him Rs. 200 without getting any receipt for payment and left the place.
After narrating this incident to my father that night, he told me that the fine for stop line violation is only Rs. 50!!!!! I was shocked hearing this. The Traffic Police thoroughly cheated me that day. The next day I went to the Traffic Inspector and asked him about this. He just replied that I was over speeding dangerously (I have only a TVS XL Super which doesn’t go above 40 Kmph and also as it was a ‘U’ turn, there is no chance for over speeding). He also added that my fine should have been Rs. 1000. I couldn’t speak anything more.
Then I learnt the lesson “Always pay the exact fine for traffic violations and that too with a receipt”. Here are some of the common violations and the maximum fine for that:
If anyone is involved in disrespectful accident suspend license for 6 Months or fine of Max Rs. 1000.
If Anyone Breaks Marked Lanes Spot/Mail Fine Of Max Rs. 500
If Anyone Crosses The Stop Line Spot Fine Of Max Rs. 50
If Anyone Is Found To Increase Road Jams Spot Fine Of Max Rs. 100
If Anyone Is Found Speeding Above Limits Spot/Mail Fine Of Max Rs. 500
If Anyone Is Responsible For Road Fatalities Leads To Automatic Permanent Cancellation Of License & Spot/Mail Fine Of Max Rs. 5000
For Any Kind Of Road Accident/Incident Min Fine Will Be Rs. 25
The Government has made helmet wearing compulsory for the driver and the pillion rider. We don’t care about our head as much as we care about other things. It’s a proven fact that helmet wearing reduces the damage to the brain when involved in accidents. Wearing of helmets is a good move in the right direction. And remember the fine for this violation is Rs. 100 for first time violation and Rs. 300 for second offence (As given in “The Hindu”).
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