NIRBHAYA'S RAPIST WALKS FREE

It had to happen. There is no law under which the juvenile criminal could have been kept in confinement any longer. The same TV anchors and activists, who had painted the country black, called all men potential rapists, cried crocodile tears at the deficiencies in the criminal justice system and at the treacherous social mindset are now crying themselves hoarse at the inadequacy of the law. They are acting in stupefied horror that the boy has been set at large. Didn't the other day Leslie Udwin videograph the boy, who showed no remorse. Didn't the Barkha Dutts and Rajdeep Sardesais bark at you from the idiot box how the boy represented half the country, namely all the males of India? Well, the criminal, who gave the country shivers is now out, set free by the same justice system that delivered judgements on Salman Khans and Tarun Tejpals, the cocktail-mates of these very anchors and activists. 

The only person, who appears as a symbol of sanity and calm in this cacophony of TRP chasing TV channels has been the mother of Nirbhaya. She has appeared in TV programmes as an image of immense fortitude and patient demeanour, demanding justice for her daughter in a calm and firm voice. She has been consistently composed, yet articulate in all her appearances in spite of the indescribable pain she suffers every day due the gory mutilation and death of her darling daughter. The grieving mother has handled provocative questions designed to incite angry response and to break her down with memories of her child. But, while the TRPs of the shows went up, the lady never gave in to emotional outbursts, remaining steadfast in voicing her demand for justice.

Even today, when she walked towards the courtroom, insolent and rude TV journalists blocked her path and indecorously thrust the microphones in her face. All she had for them was a frown as she pushed the mikes aside. She was disheartened with the judgement of the High Court, but disappointed the byte-hungry reporters by her stoic calm and display of restrained grief.

माँ, तुझे सलाम!

Let's Learn Some Mechanical Engineering (Or, A Lesson on What CausesPollution)

IC (Internal Combustion) Engines are the engine (pun intended) of growth and progress of human civilisation. We cannot live without them. All engines cause pollution. Even Petrol Engines cause pollution. The question is why, when and how much.

1. Large engines do not necessarily cause more pollution. On the contrary, it is the cheap, small engines of scooters and auto-rickshaws that pollute more. A single five year old scooter or a TSR (Three Wheeler Scooter Rickshaw) will, as a general rule, pollute more than three or four petrol cars of the same vintage. A poorly maintained TSR, even when running on CNG, can pollute more than ten cars.
2. Overloaded automobiles cause more pollution. So, a two-wheeler with two or three passengers will pollute far more than a car with four passengers.
3. An idling automobile, typically one standing at traffic signals, pollutes several time more than when it is moving.
4. An IC engine, whether of a car or of a scooter (2/3 wheeler) is best run at 60-70% of its maximum power. If you overload it, it spews toxic gases and particulates. You can easily understand that it is far easier to overload a two-wheeler or a three-wheeler because it is underpowered to start with. We are not all riding Harley Davidsons, are we? Ours are equipped with puny 100-200cc engines.
5. Carbon Dioxide is not a pollutant. It is merely a Green House Gas. It causes global warming as told by environmentalist. It does not cause pollution. Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and Suspended (Fine) Particulate Matter (SPM) are pollutants. Sulphurous gases are pollutants too. But, with Euro 3/4 diesel now being sold, there is virtually no sulphur in automobile exhaust. That leaves only NOx and SPM.
6. A typical farmer and his children are subject to far more SPM due to dust in the fields, burning of hay and other farming activities. So, Delhiites are not the worst hit citizens of India.
7. A poor woman inhales more carbon soot, carbon monoxide (a pollutant), sulphurous fumes and SPM in a day's cooking than an average Delhiite does in a year.
8. Pollution is a relatively local phenomenon. Pollutants of air do not travel far and wide. They settle down or get washed down in rains. They also disperse and become less harmful. Though these processes do not neutralise all the pollutants completely, most are taken care of nature in due course. Pollution overload does happen and that requires strong measures. Pollutants tend to linger longer in humid air as they from aerosols with water droplets. This typically causes the Delhi smog. In my view Delhi still does not have a pollution overload.
9. GHG is a global phenomenon. These gases ride on winds and affect global environment. That is why we have Kyoto and Paris like international conferences to handle them. We do not have international conferences on NOx and SPM since they are local phenomena.
10. Large cars, such as those 2+ litre SUVs now banned by the Supreme Court, produce more carbon dioxide since they burn more fuel. They do not necessarily pollute more. Again, carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. It does not cause asthma nor burn your eyes.
11. Diesel Engines have a reputation of being big polluters. This is not as true for new cars. If maintained well and run properly, they will not pollute significantly more than petrol cars. In any case the Pollution Under Check (PUC) certification is supposed to ensure that their pollution remains within limits.
12. If we need to have diesel cars that should pollute even less, we need to tighten the parameters of PUC certificate. This will compel the car owners to spend more to maintain them in fine fettle. That will be a bigger discouraging factor for potential diesel car buyers than the one-time green cess. This will also ensure that diesel cars registered in Gurgaon, NOIDA or Faridabad, but run in Delhi become less polluting. You cannot levy a cess on such cars which are registered outside, but you can subject them to the more stringent PUC certification if they enter the borders of Delhi.
13. A standing car does not pollute, a moving car does. Or more specifically, it is a car-trip (or a scooter-trip) that pollutes. If you keep odd or even numbered cars off the road, it does not reduce total car-trips by half. In lieu of private car trips we will have taxi-trips and TSR-trips. And, TSRs pollute more than cars. Even if some people use buses, it does not cut pollution by half. Buses are generally poorly maintained and pollute more than permissible. An overloaded bus is a smokestack.

#delhismog  #airpollution #pollution

Kamaal (Khan) Hai

The idea behind bringing the matter of Kamaal Khan is not seeking acquittal of Salman Khan. If Kamaal Khan was indeed a defence witness, the lawyers of Salman would have sought his presence during the trial. But, having already given a statement to the police and elsewhere, he was a known prosecution witness. By not calling him to the witness box and stating that other witnesses were enough to nail Salman, the prosecution, in a very calculated and clever manner, had already planned to help the accused in the long run.

Now, Kamaal Khan, is being mentioned by the convict and his lawyers as a key witness, who was never called. They know well that he had given a statement against Salman. They why does the accused want him interrogated now?

Actually, the intention is not to interrogate him at all. The scheme is to sow a seed of doubt in the minds of higher courts that a key witness, who was never called, could have brought about a major impact on the proceedings. The defence knew, and knows even today, that Kamaal Khan is a potentially damning witness in the case. The intention is to rake up this unexamined key witness to seek bail. And, we all know that bail once granted to a rich man lasts till his day of entering the grave.

The intention was never acquittal for that would be impossible. Intention was to facilitate bail. The seed of doubt in the judgement was sowed even before the hearings began. It was sowed by the prosecution under a clever plan of helping the accused when it really mattered - in his bail plea. The seed is now a tree and has just borne the first fruit.