today

I most certainly cannot speak personally for the accuracy of the following and would not pretend to do so, but it did appear in the reputable MidDay Mumbai on August 30, 2007

IMO: Even if the details below are very true, I am pretty sure that if we knew more of the truth, we could find that there is a worse bunch of crooks in Westminster, UK and indeed Scotland, UK. I think of the recent "retirement" of John Prescott with a million pounds, his son's land dealings, Blair's covered up police investigation for corruption when he seems to be known as guilty, and so on. And that is only a start, for just one political party which is really not too bad by UK standards. There is far worse. And at least India and the UK are vaguely democracies where there is at least some chance of improving things, not virtual dictatorships like Zimbabwe or two-party semi-dictatorships like the USA, or even like not so bad countries like Canada which had the case where a former Prime Minister got drunk and vomited over a lot of voters- but they still voted for him as there was no one any better.


Arun Gawali Maharashtra Assembly since 2004;

Arun Gawli actively carried out kidnappings and extortions. Once a small-time chargesheeter in Byculla, Mahalaxmi, Agripada, Parel, Naigaum and the Chinchpokli areas, Gawli became don after the strikes in Mumbai’s textiles mills in 1970s.

He used the unemployed, hungry, poverty-stricken workers to fuel his crime syndicate. Gawli was originally aligned with the Dawood Ibrahim gang, but subsequently fell out over the division of spoils. He was in jail under judicial custody for more than 10 years, but never convicted.

Hitendra Thakur Maharashtra Assembly since 1990

Hitendra Thakur and his brother Jayendra alias Bhai Thakur operated a gang in Vasai-Virar. Police cases against them (mostly pending in court or under investigation) include extortion, criminal intimidation, attempt to murder, murder and land grabbing.

Pappu Kalani Maharashtra Assembly 1986-2001 and since 2004

Suresh alias Pappu Kalani led a gang in Ulhasnagar in the 1980s. He is currently on bail in 19 cases, including eight murders. In April 1990, a rickshaw union leader Maruti Jadhav was murdered and in his dying declaration Jadhav named Kalani. He was jailed under TADA and was also accused in the Inder Bhateja and J J Hospital shootout cases. Kalani spent nine years in jail under TADA before being released on bail in 2002.

Mohammad Shahabuddin Bihar Assembly 1990-96 and Lok Sabha since 1996

Shahabuddin is one of the most notorious criminal politicians. He came into the limelight while at college in the 1980s. He was nicknamed as Shaabu-AK47, after his skill in handling the machine gun. The first criminal case against him was filed in 1985 and several since then.

In 1996, he was named as a Minister of State for the Home Ministry (which oversees law and order) in the H D Deve Gowda government, but he had to be dropped after the media highlighted his criminal background. By early 2000, Shahabuddin was running a parallel administration in Siwan, holding ‘kangaroo courts’ to settle family and land disputes, fixing doctors consultancy fees and brokering marital problems.

Currently serving life sentence for kidnapping with intent to murder and on trial for more than 30 criminal cases including eight murders, 20 of attempted murder, kidnapping, extortion, etc.

Phoolan Devi Lok Sabha, 1996-98 and 1999-2001

Popularly known as the Bandit Queen, she was an active member of the Vikram Mallah gang and participated in the gang’s activities — ransacking upper caste villages and kidnapping landowners for ransom. After being raped by some high-caste men, she formed her own gang.

The gang carried out a series of violent robberies in North and Central India, mainly targeting upper-caste people. On February 14, 1981, her gang gunned down 21 Thakurs in Behmai village. Phoolan claimed she did not kill anybody in Behmai; all the killings were carried out by gang members.
She was killed by Sher Singh Rana on July 25, 2001 in New Delhi.


Raghuraj Pratap Singh Uttar Pradesh Assembly since 1993

Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya is under trial in 35 criminal cases including several of murder, assault, possession of illegal weapons like AK-56 rifles etc. He was jailed during 2002-04 on terrorism charges after a large cache of weapons were found with him."

Within 25 minutes of Mulayam Singh Yadav coming to power in 2003, all POTA charges against Raja Bhaiya were dropped. However, the Supreme Court debarred the state government from dismissing the charges.

After Mayawati came to power this year, he was declared leader of a criminal gang with about 105 members and legal cases pending against him were reopened.

Shibu Soren Lok Sabha, 1980, 1989-91, 1996, 2004

Out on bail, Shibu Soren was found guilty of murdering his former personal secretary Shashinath Jha on November 28, 2006. He was Union minister for coal at that time. He is also an accused in mass killing cases in Jharkhand.

D P Yadav Uttar Pradesh Assembly, 1989, Rajya Sabha, since 2004

Has been charged in nine murder cases, three cases of attempted murder, two cases of dacoity, kidnapping, as well as various crimes under the Excise Act, Gangsters’ Act and TADA. By 1991, when Yadav had entered politics, he had some 25 criminal cases registered against him. His name also figures in the Jessica Lal murder case, in which his son Vikas is a co-accused.

Heavy Air Lift Seabasing Ship (HALSS) is proposed to have 35 knots speed, and is a nuclear powered trimaran. It will only weigh 64,000 tons and estimated cost is 1.8 billion dollars, not a lot now dollars are cheap in 'President Bush's depression' It has no protection gear, catapaults or arrestor gear and cost is kept down by removing extras. Details here..

The Asia Times seems to think so. Perhaps he will replace Gordon Brown in Blair's old dog kennel. Gordon Brown has not received enough doggy treats and he may act sensibly and move the UK forces to Afghanistan. In earlier blogs I mentioned the fact that many of the illicit drugs coming into the UK are in fact coming from Afghanistan so perhaps Brown can make genuine efforts to stop this. When very ordinary folk in London like house surveyors and rogue builders are taking to snorting coke as a way to spend their high fees, more should be done about this, and also Brown should be helping more Afghans, rather than simply killing then as Americans still seem to do. This could lead to genuinely better relations all round.

Anyway, Sarkozy, (sometimes referred to with dry humour as "King Sakozy the First") has coined a sound bite "The Iranian bomb, or the bombing of Iran."

This seems to be at the same time that the IAEA making steady (and, hopefully, useful) progress on ironing out misunderstandings on Iran's nuclear program, and signing an understanding to that effect. The new casus belli du jour for attacking Iran seems to be that is that it is helping Shi'ite guerrillas kill American soldiers in Iraq - says Asia Times.

Sarkozy vaguely suggested that a possible solution to breach the West/Islam abyss would be for France to "help Muslim countries to have access to nuclear energy". As far as I know Sarkozy is not himself a nuclear scientist and is probably incapable of dealing with the real, deep, and dangerous problems in such a position.

One plus point Sarkozy seems to have is that he recognises the real danger that an Islamic Turkey could offer to the EU, but his quoted ideas of overcoming this problem seem unsuitable.

A truck ran over 4 Muslims on their way to Shab-e-Baraaat. This is a disputed Muslim festival. Some say that those who observe this day as a special day are not following the Prophet but what they 'think' is correct.

Prima facie the cause of this violence was said to be that traffic was not regulated properly. Trucks were allowed into a no-entry zone meant for pedestrians who were going for the Shab-e-Baraat procession. Mobs have so far burnt down 14 trucks. Eight cars and 2 police vehicles were also set on fire. Schools and colleges have been closed indefinitely. Reports said the mob also attacked Nai ki mandi police station and tried to manhandle the police personnel.

''There were certain notorious elements under play who made the matters worse,'' said Raj Babbar, MP from Agra.

Anyway in this case Shab-e-Baraaat was used as an excuse for mob violence. Hopefully the Taj Mahal will not be damaged by a few thugs, because I am likely to go and look at it in a few months time.

In Huffington Post, John Cusack says "Can you imagine? We invade their country (Iraq), an invasion that has resulted in over 100,000 -- and maybe as many as 650,000 -- Iraqi civilians dead; 2 million Iraqis having fled the country, with 1.14 million displaced from their homes within Iraq; and tens of thousands of Iraqis detained -- with many of them tortured. After that 'enormous amount of support,' Iraqis have the temerity to complain?"

Apparently Ayad Allawi, who came in third with 14% of the vote in the 2005 Iraq 'elections',. knows where his constituents are - a few people in Washington. So can this ever be the start of a fledgling democracy, or will the US put their new 'Saddam Hussein' in charge.

IMO: Regarding 123, India should beware of the ugly Americans, who may be Republicans or Democrats

Female rhesus monkeys speak baby talk according to a recent article in National Geographic. The sounds "don't have a meaning linked to a representation of an item or object, but they may perform a very important social function to bring individuals together."

Possibly as long ago as 80,000 years, very much in human prehistory, the Brahmins in Kerala, near what is now Madurai, apparently passed on chants in a language which cannot be understood today but has survived a very long time and seems earlier than Tamil. It seems to have patterns like those of bird songs.

IMO: If he had known, Julian Jaynes would really have something to think about.

Shiv Sena had earlier been opposing the India/US deal and had even spoken out against it in parliament as decided by the opposition coalition NDA but now it seems to be praising prime minister Manmohan Singh and supporting the deal. DNA seem to take the view that Sena's position is a function of internal Sena politics, basically, rather than wider issues.

According to DNA news, another NDA partner, Trinamool Congress, is playing a hide-and-seek game with the opposition coalition, always leaving an air of uncertainty on its future course.

According to the Statesman there is "Much More To The N-Deal Than (the Indian) Govt’s Prestige Or Survival" and they give a long article explaining why they think so.

IMO: I do not know enough facts yet to judge the issues. After the US invasion on Iraq, all such information from the US appears potentially suspect, backing to some extent "The Statesman"'s views. However China, whilst clearly fence-sitting, appears largely to support internal leftist views opposing the agreement, as expected. I would have thought on balance India has to look at the facts very carefully but that there could be a case for proceeding, given the importance of a mature and careful decision, made in the interests of the country and bearing in mind issues like global warming.

http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/

Some interesting results using this scanner as referred to in an earlier entry.

In a quite long article here, Paul Craig Roberts, a former Reagan employee, suggested on 19th July that the Republicans will be 'wiped out' unless they stimulate a new 'terror attack'. Dodgy news but he does try to give some detailed facts.

IMO: Lets bear his views in mind, but now Rove seems to be more or less gone, and because of other factors, I remain sceptical but nterested..

According to the online paper Cybernoon, more than 100 hutments in Bharat Nagar have already being sold to builders for more than Rs. 1 crore per hutment. Sources in the locality informed that the Dheeraj Builders have offered Rs. 1 crore per hutment in the locality.

IMO: There certainly seems to be a local property boom in the area, possibly due to local requirement for more commercial buildings.

Loneliness is not the same as solitude. Some people are just fine with being alone, and some use the opportunity for self and spiritual growth. But for many, social isolation and physical aging make for a toxic cocktail.Researchers found that lonely people had more of the hormone epinephrine flowing in their bodies. 2002 article by Louise Hawkley and John Cacioppo here. And there is a new article in the August issue of "Current Directions in Psychological Science".

The loneliness of old age seems somehow different, sadder and more painful? Louise Hawkley and John Cacioppo suspected that while the toll of loneliness may be mild and unremarkable in early life, it accumulates with time. If that’s so, they say, one would expect the cumulative effects of loneliness in old age to hasten disease by contributing to such things as stress, coping, rest and recuperation, and more. To test this idea, the scientists have been studying two large groups of people for many years, the first college-age and the second in their late 50s. This allowed them to compare the untoward health consequences of loneliness in youth and old age.

It turns out that as the natural resilience of youth declines, the cumulative toll of loneliness can turn a relatively benign vascular symptom into a life-threatening condition. Lonely people in their late 50s are much more likely to have high blood pressure, it appears.Also, epinephrine is one of the body’s “fight or flight” chemicals, and high levels indicate that lonely people go through life in a heightened state of arousal. As with blood pressure, this physiological toll became more apparent with aging. Since the body’s stress hormones are intricately involved in fighting inflammation and infection, it appears that loneliness contributes to the wear and tear of aging through this pathway as well. And it is worse. Lonely nights, even in younger people, were disturbed by many “micro awakenings.” That is, they appeared to sleep as much as the normal volunteers, but their sleep was of poorer quality. Not surprisingly, the lonelier people reported more daytime dysfunction. Since sleep tends to deteriorate with age anyway, the added hit from loneliness is probably compromising this natural restoration process even more.

IMO: Unless you are very enthusiastic about meditation etc., try to avoid loneliness at all ages. There's lots more in the literature also.

A new Wikipedia tool has apparently revealed the CIA and the Vatican are altering entries on the user-generated free online encyclopaedia.

The CIA has allegedly changed over 300 entries including entries about the Iranian President, the Argentine navy, and China's nuclear arsenal.

The Vatican has massaged entries on several Catholic Saints as well as Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams including removing “links to newspaper stories written in 2006 that alleged that Adams’s finger prints and hand prints were found on a car used during a double murder in 1971.”

US Republican and Democratic parties, Fox News and the British Labour party (under Tony B. Liar) have of course also clandestinely altered entries. And of course, the Diebold Comapny has altered the 'hanging chad' entries.

The CIA actually made a statement: "I cannot confirm that the traffic you cite came from agency computers......The CIA has a vital mission in protecting the United States, and the focus of this agency is there, on that decisive work."

The US Democrats have apparently altered an entry about Rush Limbaugh's audience which now reads: "Most of them are legally retarded."

An edit traced by Wikiscanner to the BBC changes causes of former prime minister Tony Blair's heart palpitations from strong coffee and vigorous gym workouts to vodka and exertion in a bedroom. A BBC computer changed U.S. President George W. Bush's middle name from "Walker" to "Wanker" at Wikipedia.

A computer belonging to Reuters news service is listed as adding "mass murderer" to a Wikipedia description of Bush.

All this had been discovered using a new Wikipedia scanner.

DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has claimed that some BJP leaders conducted havans to hasten his death, a sensational threat perception that is sure to rock the parliament when it opens next week. A Havan is a sacred purifying ritual (yajna) in Hinduism that involves a fire ceremony. It is a ritual of sacrifice made to the fire god Agni.

Singh’s claims have amused and angered the BJP in equal measure. On the one hand, they are making fun of his accusation and of his faith “in a higher force”. On the other, they are categorical in their assertion that they will demand an explanation from him before allowing the parliamentary business to be conducted.

“How can a Prime Minister talk in such a senseless manner? These are the signs of a man on shaky ground,” BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.

IMO: In the UK, major politicians of all parties make quite a feature of "faith schools", and these include Muslim and Hindu schools, as well as Christian schools, even if they do not offer fairness to all worshippers as, some say, they did not do in the recent 'Shambo' matter.. And in a sense, the 'Shambo' matter almost transcended religion in its moral significance, as an illustration of the moral superiority of Hinduism..It does seem that perhaps "senseless" is not quite the right word in an admittedly more historically sophisticated country like India.

On Tuesday, 10 people damaged property, shouted slogans and threatened to cause more damage before leaving. No one was injured.

On page 34 of the current issue of 'Outlook' there is a sketch of Mr. Thackeray, sporting a toothbrush moustache, in Hitler’s attire. He is the eighth in the list of 11 villains.

Apparently "Outlook recognises Shiv Sena’s right to protest but claims there should be more civilised and more democratic forms of protest.”

The Outlook list of villains includes Nathuram Godse, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Sanjay Gandhi, Narendra Modi, Mohammed Azharuddin, Bal Thackeray, H.K.L. Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler, Dawood Ibrahim and Indira Gandhi’ s killers Beant and Satwant Singh.

IMO: Bal Thackeray is a cartoonist as well as being a politician. His cartoons are excellent, and his record as a politican is of the highest. That being the case, it seems to me that to describe him as a 'villain' is almost political rhetoric. However 'Outlook' make a fair point that there could and should be better and less violent ways of political protest..That could only benefit India. Overall I expect that with some thought I could compile a better list of 'villains' than the choice made by 'Outlook', but that is another story.

The fuss about global warming is grossly exaggerated," writes Dyson in his new book "Many Colored Glass".

Well, we know that Freeman Dyson is a smart chap who has always propounded extreme views, the most disturbing probably being the Orion project, first sponsonered by a right wing US Govt (who presumably felt safe with the view that even if it didn't work as intended, Republican voters would still all go to heaven). Orion was an utterly crazy project to attempt to build a spaceship the size of an ocean liner and send it to Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, propelled by thousands of miniature nuclear bombs. Arthur C. Clarke had said "Orion isn't crazy. It would work. The question isn't whether we could do it, but whether we should do it". The advisability of nuclear tests and bombs aside, most sensible people thought not.

IMO: On global warming, I have recently been in Greenland, quite near the North Pole, and global warming certainly looked real to me. Other information readily available to the general public does strongly seem to support that view also. Much more should be done about global warming now. Global warming now makes, for example, needless increases in airline traffic seem ridiculous.

IMO: However Dyson's general contention, that the models aren't really science when they're programmed to produce the expected results, involves an attitude of mind that should always be properly and clearly considered by all who construct such models.

Eberhard and co-founder Marc Tarpenning launched Tesla in 2003 with the idea of making a high-performance electric vehicle and then branching out to more affordable cars later on. Since then, Tesla has secured $105 million in funding, with PayPal founder and space industrialist Elon Musk leading the way and venture capital firms joining in recent funding rounds. Eberhard said that if they just limited production to the Roadster, Tesla would be making a profit in 2008.

But the next car will be the White Star, a five-passenger sedan with a price point of $50,000 to $65,000, to be manufactured in New Mexico. "We are in the very early stages of it," said Eberhard, noting that he "would not place any bets" on a target of a 2010 model year.

That same year, General Motors Corp is supposed to launch the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in electric vehicle with a small combustion "range extender" engine and a relatively low price. Eberhard said he is skeptical of GM's second attempt for an electric car will come to fruition, at least at that price point, mostly because of battery challenges.

Now Tesla has replaced Martin Eberhard, its chief executive officer, with Michael Marks, an investor. No reason has been given AFAIK.

There had been a Californian law to help reduce smog. GM thus developed the EM1, a rather basic vehicle. Then 'someone' had the smog law changed. Then GM demanded the leased vehicles be returned. Almost all of them were crushed. The car companies blamed the technology and lack of interest. Critics said they wanted to kill it off to protect profits from petrol.

IMO: If one reads the great book "My Days with General Motors" by Alfred P. Sloan, in particularly the section on the 'copper-cooled' car, one can certainly see management ghosts from the past. Will the GM car (and the Tesla) again head for the junkpile ? Global warming is a horrendous prospect and the end of the world looms, seriously. Nonetheless, the large companies may see big profits in rising oil prices. So will the Chevrolet push the Tesla out of the market and then fold up ? It sounds typical of US big business. But USA is not alone in the world, certainly not in autos .

Sheikh Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, also known as Dawood Ibrahim is allegedly a don of the organised crime syndicate and allegedly heads the D-Company.

Dawood is accused of having a vast illegal empire, which has made him a byword in law enforcement circles, somewhat similar to that of Osama Bin Laden. He is believed to have masterminded the Mumbai serial blasts in 1993, resulting in the death of over 250 civilians and another 700 sustained injuries. Dawood is also believed to be controlling the ‘Hawala System’,
In 2003, the Government of United States declared him a global terrorist, after which Dawood is believed to have moved to Pakistan. US and Indian intelligence agencies have allegedly many times provided adequate evidences of Dawood getting support from the Government of Pakistan and his linkups with the Pashtun Mafia. However the Government of Pakistan has always shown its ignorance over the matter. The Interpol has even provided a list of Dawood’s secret hideouts in Pakistan.. Indeed I even mentioned some actual addresses in an earlier blog here, so clearly alleged addresses are well known.

According to Meri News, there is strong evidence to suggest that the group has the backing of ISI, the Government of Pakistan as well as the authorities in the United Arab Emirates. It is one of the major reasons why Dawood manages to roam freely in these countries despite being the most wanted person for Indian intelligence agencies (as well as for the US up to a certain extent).

There are reports of a clash between ISI and D Company which could mean Dawood may at last be arrested and taken out of circulation.

IMO: If I were a US taxpayer I would try to stop these continued US subsidies to Pakistan which seeming backs one of the world's top criminals. It is like US Senators paying bribes to Al Capone. I wonder if Dawood will talk when arrested. 'President' G.W.Bush should apparently be in Lompoc prison anyway after the Valerie Plame and Scooter Libby matters.

The suspected new outbreak came as a scientist called in to investigate whether the virus had escaped from an animal health research plant said yesterday that sabotage was fast becoming the only explanation. Andrew King, who was brought in by the Institute of Animal Health (IAH), in Pirbright, Surrey, suggested that it was time to call in the police.

King said "It’s very, very unlikely that it could be spread by accident. People do not spread the disease easily". King apparently went on to say "To pass the virus from human to cow you would have to hug a cow and breathe down its nose”. I hope he is right, but clearly 'experts' have made mistakes on the matter somewhere along the line already.

Without being alarmist, this sounds like a form of germ warfare on the general public which could presumably carry an immediate death sentence if appropriate.

Let us hope that the authorities can keep any suspects alive long enough to ensure that the authorities have caught the right person or persons, and are not simply trying to cover for their own inadequacies. We already seem to have had cases of this in Northern Ireland over the religious and other disagreements (many clearly based not on religion but on ignorance, greed, etc.), and these covering attempts in the long run did worsen problems, rather than providing a quick fix.

Two freelance photographers have already been charged under the Animal Health Act after allegedly breaching a cordon on Saturday close to land where FMD had been identified. So it could be fringe elements in the Press, or something along those lines.

IMO: Obviously the whole matter could have been avoided if people would use the healthier vegetarian options readily available. Also farmers could save themselves problems by merchandising vegetarian options, which really do taste as good or better if prepared properly.

Allstate, others not liable in levee breaks

Plaintiffs had contended that the water damage was the result of negligent design, construction and maintenance of the levees and that the policies' flood exclusions are therefore ambiguous because they don't exclude coverage for water caused by negligence. Because the policies are ambiguous, the plaintiffs argued, their losses should be covered. But the appeals court said "Even if the plaintiffs can prove that the levees were negligently designed, constructed or maintained and that the breaches were due to this negligence, the flood exclusions in the plaintiffs' policies unambiguously preclude their recovery."

IMO: This sounds pretty strange, as the damage was seemingly not caused by an excluded "Act of God" but by incompetence of engineers and the like. It seems like saying that garages bear no responsibility for, say, checking the brakes on a car. It looks like kowtowing to big business's incompetence and saying big business can be as incompetent as it likes, and that its incompetence can't be covered by insurance.

According to the Guardian, about 77,000 bridges across the US share the same "structurally deficient" rating as the one that collapsed over the Mississippi in Minnesota, it emerged yesterday. Transport specialists said billions of dollars would be needed to replace the bridges, many of which were built 40 to 50 years ago and were coming to the end of their life.

Bad? It gets worse. Not reported in the Guardian, but what I understand to be correct: According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, about 30 percent of the more than 76,000 dams in the United States are older than 50 years--and by 2020, that number will increase to more than 80 percent. Most of the small and medium-sized dams in the USA were built to last just 50 years.

That's a lot of old dams, some of which hold back not just water but toxic sediments from early industrial operations. Is there worse still ? Undoubtedly, but I have said enough for now.

IMO: America is falling down and does not have the cash to mend itself, partly due to profligacy and needless wars.It does not even have enough money to safeguard the health of its citizens.. Anyway global warming will probably finish it off. Don't rely on China to take its place, as roughly speaking, China is in a worse position.The way forward may work, with intelligent robots, nanotechology and the like, but I would not be relying on that.

The BMJ study results indicate that adherence to a clear and explicit policy on duration of each deployment may have beneficial effects on mental health. Overstretch in the UK armed forces may have consequences on problems at home, and deterioration of psychological health may be more apparent in those directly exposed to combat.

Such a policy may conflict with strategy requirements. But any war is a pity and a badly conceived and inappropriately and dishonestly planned war may be far harder to rectify. There is no denying that Saddam Hussein, who seems to have had US approval much of the time, could be glibly said to be America's answer to the UK's Idi Amin.

IMO: Maybe the ol' "cut and run" policy may again be the answer eventually chosen, like it was in Vietnam. I could doubtless think of half a dozen better answers, but would any of them be satisfactory to the self-serving military supremos or to the politicians ? That is the really difficult problem, and often a reason why a change of administration helps.

Virar Hospital is one of the nearest Hospitals to my home in Mumbai, but doctors, patients rue the awful state of Virar hospital With outdated medicines, flooded wards and insects for company, patients are sometimes even treated by candle-light at Rural Hospital Shweta Desai.

With waterlogged wards, insects swarming around and candle-light treatments during the almost 24 hour power cuts, this ‘hospital’ can make even the toughest patient run for his life, if he has any legs left to run with. The 18-bed hospital’s wards—male and female—get perennially flooded during heavy rains, and the patients are forced to wade through knee-deep water. This is very risky, specially for patients suffering from fever or skin diseases. Doctors here admit that the hospital neither has the infrastructure nor the medicines to treat patients - and with NICE at the helm, the UK will soon be the same.

IMO: I was in a UK NHS ward some years ago and whilst it admittedly was perhaps not this bad, a bit more uncontrolled flooding, more PFI leading to more dirty wards, more none English speaking doctors etc. etc. and Virar Rural looks like the future for the UK. I even had someone defecating immediately in front of me when I was eating, plus the drug peddlers, armed with submachine guns, were on the go. Also, nurses, sometimes almost prostitutes or worse, were begging money from sick and almost dead patients with the offer of 'a nice time'. Maybe Virar is already 'the better hole'. [someone said: when PFI really gets under way in the UK, doubtless the state paid doctors will appear in their brand new Beamers and Mercs to operate by candle light on patients, waist deep in water]

Fahad Nazer suggests : "Officials must reevaluate their ban on clergy entering the kingdom of Saudie Arabia. The notion that lifting such restrictions would somehow lead Muslims to leave their faith in droves is preposterous and patently offensive to Muslims everywhere. After all, Saudis and other Muslims are allowed to worship freely and publicly in Western countries, and many fill local mosques on a daily basis.

The argument that the kingdom is the equivalent of the Muslim Vatican is not convincing. The Vatican isn’t home to millions of Muslims, while millions of non-Muslims do live in Saudi Arabia.

Secondly, although the kingdom has made progress in recognizing some religious minorities – such as the Shia of the eastern province, the Ismailis of the south and the Sufis of western Hijaz – it should take more concrete steps toward including them in the political system by increasing their representation in governmental bodies and opening professions largely closed to them, such as education.

Thirdly, Saudi officials should continue their efforts to perpetuate the idea that no single school of interpretation or sect has a monopoly on "true" Islam. By embracing this sectarian pluralism, Saudi youth will become less likely to adhere to radical clerics, who consider all who disagree with them heretics. If religious minorities in the kingdom are to feel like full citizens, the government must treat them as such, allowing them to worship freely and observe religious rituals without threat of harassment and intimidation. "

IMO: Briefly, Islam is more likely to survive in a recognisable form if such measures were to be adopted. Otherwise, with the continued spread of secularism, Islam is unlikely to survive. Sending a message that Islam is indeed a religion of peace, moderation and tolerance may help, but actions speak louder than words. The Christians say "By their works shall we know them" and "Faith without works is dead" (Jas 2:26). One difficulty is that the Christians do not take these words seriously enough either, so a lot of improvements are needed all round, but why should Saudi Arabia fear to be in the van of improvement ?