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Sunday, April 9, 2017

Trump wall getting real ~ sedition - Zuma fires - SPB loses and more !!

In Politics  & Current affairs, things keep happening, sometimes taking others by storm, sometimes slowly, as reaction to some past occurrence !

After months of trying, South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma finally fired his finance minister, PravinGordhan. The move was met with huge disquiet within the ANC, and a predictably sharp drop in the value of the rand. Gordhan and his deputy were replaced by two Zuma loyalists, both from the president’s home province of KwaZulu Natal, and both without any deep financial experience. Other ministers were also replaced, none of them by people of exceptional merit, writes SA media.

Afar in USA, President Donald Trump continues to make waves.   One bidder wants to cover President Donald Trump's border wall with solar panels. Another suggests building a wall large enough for a deck that would offer tourists scenic views of the desert.In the competition to build the wall, traditional bids are interspersed with more whimsical ideas.As Tuesday's deadline for bids passed, U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined to identify bidders or say how many there were, which is standard practice in government contracting. The federal government expects to announce around June 1 which companies will be hired to build prototypes.Designs must be able to repel pickaxes and sledgehammers for at least an hour and be aesthetically pleasing from the north side.Trump's multibillion-dollar plan promises potentially big profits but also risks inviting a backlash from people who oppose the project.

Back home, MDMK General Secretary Vaiko was on Monday lodged at Central Prison, Puzhal, after a Metropolitan Magistrate remanded him to judicial custody in connection with a sedition case slapped on him by then DMK government in 2010.    In a bid to put pressure on the Chennai police and courts to start trial in a sedition case pending against him since 2009, MDMK general secretary Vaiko surrendered before the court on Monday and refused to apply for bail. This left the magistrate with no other option but to remand him in judicial custody for a fortnight.The matter relates to the release of Vaiko's book 'NaanKutramSattugiren' (I am accusing you), which is a compilation of the MDMK leader's letters to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2009.The book was released at a function in Rani Seethai Hall in Chennai in 2009 when DMK was in power. The Thousand Lights police slapped him with the case for his 'seditious' speech punishable under Section 124(A) of the IPC. The police completed investigation and filed a chargesheet in 2010. Since then there had been no sign of trial in the case.

With the crucial MCD elections less than a week away, Delhi Chief Minister has landed himself in yet another controversy. According to media reports, the Delhi CM has sent his lawyer Ram Jethmalani's bills amounting to Rs 3.42 crores for clearance to Lt Governor Anil Baijal's office, hinting at a probable burden on the taxpayers in Delhi. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley has filed a criminal defamation complaint against Kejriwal for allegedly defaming him in the Patiala House Court, while a civil defamation case was filed in the Delhi High Court.Coming out in support of his client, Jethmalani, however, told ANI on Tuesday, “I charge only the rich but for poor I work for free.  He further stated that even now if the Delhi govt doesn't pay or Kejriwal can't pay, he will appear for free and will treat him as one of his poor clients.Kejriwal had employed a string of lawyers, including Ram Jethmalani, who alone raised a bill of Rs 1 crore. According to a report in The Times Of India, the bill raised by Jethmalani on 1 December, 2016, quotes Rs 1 crore retainer for representing Kejriwal and an additional Rs 22 lakh per appearance. He has so far made 11 appearances, which totals to Rs 3.42 crore.

The storm in social media with people taking sides on reported notice sent by 'maestro Illayaraja to SPB appears to have died down; but not the woes of SPB. Singing maestro S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, who is currently in the United States, lost his bag containing important documents such as his passport, iPads with his song scripts, credit cards and cash. He posted on Facebook about the theft of his bag.The singer is in the US for his SPB50 concert taking place across several states like Seattle, Los Angeles, San Jose, Dallas, Kansas, etc. The exact place of theft was not made clear in the post.He  added that the Consul General of the Indian Embassy in Houston took immediate action and he got a duplicate passport within 24 hours.

The immediate thought that occurred is what would have been the reaction, if a high profile foreign tourist had a similar experience on Indian soil and how the country could have been painted ?

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

5th Apr 2o17.

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