State Of Affairs

Three big news dominating the newspapers today.

Modi formally got annointed as the BJP PM candidate for 2014, sidelining the original lohapurush and 85 year old patriarch of the party, LK Advani, and ensuring he will always be remembered as the wrong person at the wrong time. Will the senior leaders of the Modi-fied BJP now rally around him, or will folks like Sushma Swaraj continue the bickering and harm their party's prospects at the elections? Time will tell! But one thing is sure. Not in my lifetime has there been such a groundswell of support for one man - from the common man, to the industry honchos, everyone hopes and wants to see a strong administrator at the helm, and for that, they are willing to forgive him for the 2002 riots, which undoubtedly, have been a big blot on his career.

The Nirbhaya rapists and murderers were handed death sentences yesterday by the Saket fast-track court, to cheers and impromptu dances by the crowds gathered. With one accused dead in jail, and the juvenile sentenced to 3 years in detention, one hopes this swift trial and the justice handed out proves to be some deterrent in the escalating crimes against women in India. One should also praise the police and the judiciary for showing that when they want to, they can be really good and effective. From arresting the accused quickly to building a water tight case and then ensuring conviction, Delhi Police did an admirable job, when under pressure to deliver. A similar awesome performance also by Mumbai Police, who arrested the accused in the Shakti Mills case in a matter of hours. In a city like Mumbai with its teeming millions, with none of the hi tech infrastructure and crime fighting equipment that westerm police forces are flush with, hving to rely only on human intel and some smart policing, they definitely deserve an applause.

And finally, the BCCI handed out life bans and long sentences to the tainted RR cricketers. With the IOC also gunning for the corrupt officials of the IOA, one hopes a round of clean up of sports is just around the corner.

Truly, every cloud has a silver lining! Or is it the other way around?