TADA Court sentences Sanjay Dutt

The TADA court today sentenced film actor Sanjay Dutt to 6 years of rigorous imprisonment. This has come as a huge shock to all his well wishers in the film fraternity as well as his family members. Just this morning, all his well wishers were pretty optimistic about his verdict and expected him to go free, as according to them he had already suffered enough, having served 16 months of jail term earlier. But, this verdict includes that jail time as well.The past 14 years of good behaviour of actor Sanjay Dutt, does not seem to have made any difference to the Judge presiding on his case. Judge Kode believes that he has not committed a minor offence and deserves to be punished severely. The public prosecuter in this case also is of the opinion that Sanjay Dutt was mature (31 years old) at the time of commiting the crime and that he would be very much aware of the fact that the AK56 rifle was a weapon of mass destruction!Sanjay Dutt has now requested Bail and also requested the court to give him time to surrender as he wished to meet his daughter! He said this to Judge Kode, " I owe you more than I owe my family".Court finds the Dutt's case was a grave one. Dutt's lawyers now likely to file petition for appeal in the Supreme Court!

Vaccination Can Prevent Monsoon Maladies!

Every year the monsoon brings with it a whole spate of viral, bacterial, parasitic and infectious diseases that cause havoc in the cities and the local hospitals are crowded with patients that are a burden to them! The most common diseases that affect the population with the onset of the monsoons are malaria, viral influenza, typhoid, chicken pox, conjunctivitis, gastroenteritis, hepatitis, diarrhoea, dysentery etc …..! To add to all this the monsoon, these days, also causes flooding in the cities and low lying areas causing a sudden rise in the flood related water borne diseases like Shigellosis, Cholera, Hepatitis A, Leptospirosis, Typhoid Fever, Malaria and Dengue fever.

Vaccination is a highly effective method of preventing certain infectious diseases.

For the individual, and for society in terms of public health, prevention is better and more cost-effective than cure. Vaccines are generally very safe and adverse reactions are uncommon. A number of combined vaccines are now available, providing protection against more than one disease, and new combinations are likely to become available in future years. The common vaccines available range from the seasonal flu to typhoid, hepatitis A, B , chicken Pox and even pneumonia.

There are many ways one can prevent getting infected with water borne diseases. Simple steps like safe and clean drinking water, maintaining hygiene, eating healthy Vitamin C rich foods (fruits and vegetables), and cooking meat, chicken, fish etc. properly can prevent the more common diseases like diarrhea, dysentery, flu, gastritis and even hepatitis. Getting yourself vaccinated properly before the monsoon hits your city, can prevent other diseases like pneumonia, chicken pox, dengue fever, typhoid etc..! A vaccine to prevent malaria is still in its nascent stages, but the moment it is fully developed and ready to use, it could save millions of people from this much dreaded and painful disease.

Indian Idol - 3, Do we Already have one?

The futility of the show which, unfortunately, must go on is quite evident. Ankita Mishra has proved to be the spoiler of the show - Indian Idol. Unlike average performances by the Idol contestants of the past two series, this girl has taken the stage by a storm. Ankit/Ankiteshwari/Anky baby was voted out by the other contestants quite obviously because of the, perceived then and real now, threat posed by her.

She was brought in back again through the wild card entry, as the judges' choice and has not looked back ever since. The other contestants are looking like amateurs in front of her. The judges themselves are quite confused now and are wondering whether the contest is about performance, singing or both. The other contestents have hardly performed on stage and if idol is about an overall package all nine of the remaining ones and two idols of the yore have failed miserably. Ankita on the other hand performs and that too with oodles of innovation and freshness. Her singing is also always equal to the challenge and it leaves me wondering what the hell we are continuing the contest for. 

Ankita, in the course of her quest for the idol "KHITAB" has made all the judges dance to her tunes and I am talking literally. It all started with Udit Narayan, followed by Anu Malik and Alisha. Javed Akhtar who succeeded in holding himself back couldn't resist anymore when the girl was leaving, after having been voted out by the contestants. He too went on stage, perhaps knowing in his heart that she deserved better, and shook a leg to her singing. Now the latest with her on stage was Govinda. 

What more qualification do you need on your resume to be the idol?

Public Votes? I don't think so. Ever since the electoral system was initiated in the country we have failed in selecting rather electing a leader who had it in him to do something for the people. If that is the response to selecting a government on whom depends the future of the country and the people, hoe many are really going to be serious about voting for Indian Idol.

I seriously feel that Ankita should be declared the Indian Idol - 3, The true Bharat Ki Shaan immediately and the girl deserves it.

The New Seven Wonders of the World

The New Seven Wonders of The World was declared in a ceremony in Lisbon. The List contains the names of the following in the top seven:

Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer,
Peru's Machu Picchu,
Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid
the Great Wall of China,
Jordan's Petra,
the Colosseum in Rome
India's Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal

The Taj mahal drawn by my son who is 9yrs old.