Jammu & Kashmir
Press Their Buttons
Eyebrows have been raised in the state over the EC’s decision to hold assembly polls in five phases in a state where the total electorate is less than 75 lakh. The EC’s direction to lift 20,000 EVMs from Gujarat has deepened the furrows.
Goa
Viva Portugal
Two MLAs (one of the ruling BJP), a police SP and some 48 lawyers are among the 50,000 Goans who are officially Portuguese citizens but also hold Indian passports. After CM Manohar Parikkar’s mea culpa, activists have questioned the fact of “Portuguese nationals serving the government”. Goans find dual citizenship a canny option (access the EU looking for work) while a strapped Portugal doesn’t mind doling it out for a fee as long as the newbies don’t flood it.
Assam
Catch Me If You can
He’s no longer India’s most wanted but the founder-head of the once- dreaded ULFA, Paresh Baruah, has not lost his touch with the media. The man who’s eluded arrest for over two-and-a-half decades says in his latest TV interview, to a Guwahati TV channel, that he’s publishing his autobiography. Juicy stories of his “many escapes from the cops” are said to be part of the racy plot.
Karnataka
Sri Sri Realty Ltd
He’s been described variously as the Guru of ‘Good Times’ and the ‘Guru of Joy’. But following TV9 Kannada’s discussion on allegations of land-grabbing by Sri Sri Ravishankar and The Art of Living, critics have started dubbing the movement the “art of encroachment”. In the past, the ashram’s been accused of grabbing both public and private land; ex-BJP CM B.S. Yediyurappa is said to have ‘bailed out’ Sri Sri on one occasion.
Karnataka
Civil Society Win
The 150-year-old Balabrooie guesthouse in the heart of Bangalore appears to have escaped demolition for now. Faced with popular outrage over reports that plans were afoot to demolish the building and build a club for legislators in its place, CM Siddaramaiah finally put rumours to rest, tweeting that no such scheme was in the works (the compound has a large number of trees over a century old, the house itself has hosted Tagore among others). Only 400 of the 4,000 heritage sites in the city survive, say activists, while a cenotaph in memory of the soldiers who died defending the city in 1791, eight fort gates and a house said to have once been occupied by Winston Churchill have given way to banks, malls and such.
Maharashtra
Songs From The Lair
Released a year ago, the Marathi edition of the “untold story” of music maestro Bhimsen Joshi, written by elder son Raghavendra, is into its fifth edition. A Kannada translation is on while all other translation rights have been lapped up by Oxford University Press. Raghavendra said in an interview that he still gets tens of letters and calls every day with some fans crying over the phone, others even inviting him home.
Tamil Nadu
Court Dramas
Tamil news channel Thanthi TV has caused a furore by video-recording SC proceedings in the bail application of ex-CM Jayalalitha. (Curiously, the apex court has been cold to a petition filed way back in ’08 for allowing videography of proceedings to end opacity. At a cost of just `100 per litigant, petitioners pointed out that greater transparency could be ensured.) If precedent matters, the UK allows supreme court proceedings to be televised, so do Australia, New Zealand. The US supreme court allows only audio recordings.
