Dis n dat

Pregnant pause

Haresh and Niketa Mehta have gone to court challenging the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, which bars abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. They have to await the verdict, though Niketa is now 24 weeks pregnant. She had been told by doctors that the foetus in her womb has a congenital complete heart block. The unborn child would require a pacemaker immediately after birth, and subsequently another four to five pacemaker replacement surgeries during its life-span. They also warn of intra-uterine death of the foetus.

I am assuming the reason for this Act is both medical and ethical. The mother’s life could be in danger and ethically you are killing a baby. In this instance, since the courts have got the hospital records and the parents have made the decision, they ought to be given the right to abort. Almost every village and small town and even big city has centres where illegal abortions take place; female foetuses are routinely killed and so are female babies. Where are the laws and the courts then?

Niketa and her husband are taking a risk. They will sign a form that says so. No one has the right to meddle here.

Amar Raho!

Amar Singh’s first demand from the Centre when the PM took the first step towards wooing the SP was a better security blanket. Within days of it being raised at the UPA anniversary dinner, he got Z- plus category security. The Congress just cannot thank the Samajwadi Party enough for ridding it of the Left and rescuing it from the nuclear standoff.

Does he need it? That was never the question. It was a power war with chief minister Mayawati. We all know that there is nothing like a free lunch, more so in politics. Now let us see what more demands Amar Singh makes and how much the Congress is willing to play along.

We have effectively sold out to the US in the nuclear deal and now political parties will demand their pound of flesh. Amar Singh has already started talking about what portfolio he would like. Incidentally, I still do not know what he has done in political terms in Uttar Pradesh.

All one has seen of him is accompanying the Bachchans, renaming his bungalow ‘Aishwariya’, trying to get sops for Anil Ambani or getting into brawls with some film stars, when not cozying up to others.

Rahul Mahajan’s Maha news?

“Rahul to be single again”.

This was the headline in the main section of The Times of India. This is of course Rahul Mahajan, who still has cases against him in the courts. His marriage with Shweta has ended in a divorce. This should be in the glossy segment, not the main paper. Unless it is to tell us that the criminal charges against him were back in the court.

How does his being single again matter to anyone except himself and his clique of socialites? Who is he? What has he done in terms of social/political contribution?

Here is what I had written then.

End note:

Since there is so much talk about bomb defusion, here is this bit of news:

A member of the bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS) is insured for Rs 1.25 lakh in the eventuality of death. The corresponding amount for his counterpart in the anti-terrorism squad is Rs 10 lakh. In addition, the ATS staffer gets a house rent allowance. There are only 43 BDDS personnel in all of Mumbai. They have to carry equipment like X-ray scanners, hook-and-line sets, bomb blankets and bomb suits (weighing around 36 kg).

My question is this: Are bombers different from terrorists? If not, then why are there two categories and hierarchies for those dealing with them?