Examine what is said, not her who speaks

Posts archive for: 21 December, 2006

Justice for Jessica- Indian Court finally wakes up.

by firelight @ 2006-12-21 – 09:07:34

Someone did kill Jessica Lall, after all. And it was, as all of us had suspected, Manu Sharma, the son of an influential politician, who almost got away by threatening or paying off witnesses, leaving the country in shocked outrage.

Exactly 300 days after Manu and his friends were allowed to walk free by the trial court of S L Bhayana, the Delhi High Court on Monday convicted Manu for murdering Jessica.
Two days after he was convicted for murdering model Jessica Lall, Manu Sharma, son of a senior Congress leader, was on Wednesday given life sentence by the Delhi High Court, rejecting prosecution demand for death penalty.

ustice and truth have finally prevailed. Conviction of the killer in this sensational case - which brought out thousands of people on the streets to protest against Manu's acquittal, with candlelight vigils and silent marches - has restored the faith in the people about the rule of law. Even people with awesome clout have to pay for their crime.

"My father died waiting to hear this verdict," said Jessica's sister Sabrina Lall. "His soul will now be able to rest in peace." Sabrina also thanked the media: "I thank you guys who started the campaign for justice for Jessica."
The outrage over Jessica also brought the spotlight on two other sensational murders - that of Priyadarshini Mattoo and Nitish Katara.

Coming to Monday's dramatic verdict, a bench comprising Justices R S Sodhi and P K Bhasin also convicted Vikas Yadav, son of "tainted" ex-MP D P Yadav, and former cola company executive Amardeep Singh Gill for conspiring with Manu to destroy evidence of his presence at the crime scene. The Bench also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Sharma, son of former Haryana Minister Vinod Sharma.

The other two convicts -- Vikas Yadav, son of controversial Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav, and Amardeep Singh Gill alias Tony, an executive with MNC, were sentenced to four years imprisonment with a fine of Rs 3000 each for conspiring to destroy the evidence.

Yadav and Gill were found to have returned to the restaurant after Jessica's murder on the night of April 29, 1999 to take away Manu's Tata Safari.
Here is the Chronology of Events which took place. Taken from The Times of India.
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Have Blogs Replaced The Secret Diary??

by firelight @ 2006-12-21 – 08:36:07

Was just going through the newspaper today and found this article. Thought I'd put it down here and get more views. These views are of people from Ahmedabad.

Has the blog replaced the good old 'secret diary' where you poured out your innermost feelings? Or is a blog too public a place to 'confess'... We find out.

Life's no longer a lazy Sunday, but everyday is more like a manic Monday. Yet even in this 'jet age' there are ways by which one tries to stay connected with oneself and with like minded people. And a blog is often the most popular way of doing things. But is this the 'real way' or just an attempt to run away from reality into a cyber world?

Umang Joshi, a young exec, says: "I have neither time nor the energy to pen my thoughts in a diary. Blogging, has come up in a big way, even though it can't ever be as 'honest' and candid as a diary. Every four months the number of bloggers is doubling."

"Online stuff is faster and easier to maintain. It's a great way to vent out your feelings and share them with strangers,"exclaims Akhil Kulkarni, another professional.

But not everyone agrees. "A lot of people associate blogging with an online diary. But a diary is something very personal.

It helps introspect and brings out clarity of thought. Blogging can never be that confessional,"says Mahananda Bohidar, a student.

Seconding her Priyanka Beharani, a psychology teacher says "Diaries are where emotions can flow. One can jot down things without any fear. The magic of pen and paper can't be replaced by a blog."

"Penning down thoughts is a kind of projection technique which suppresses anxiety. You can't reveal it to the world, as one has to do in blogs,"says Beharani.

However, Kulkarni says there is indeed a choice. "We have an option to secure our blogs, which means they are only visible to the owner."

The last word comes from Joshi: "Diaries are for my eyes only, whereas blogs are for others as well. They have different audiences; hence can never substitute each other."
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CUTE PICS WITH A MESSAGE

by firelight @ 2006-12-21 – 07:45:27
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The Green Light District of Amsterdam. What?

by firelight @ 2006-12-21 – 05:45:52

Well, with all this talk of "climate porn", some of our activists in Amsterdam have gone one better - they've set up a "Green Light District" in the heart of Amsterdam's Red Light District by replacing the red light bulbs with green, energy efficient ones, and taking over a few of the windows - dressed normally, of course!

It's all part of a Dutch campaign for to get 1 million extra energy efficient lightbulbs installed in the Netherlands.
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Climate Change- We Still Have Time!!!

by firelight @ 2006-12-21 – 05:40:10

30-10-2006

In his review on climate change, economist and government advisor Sir Nicholas Stern says that "climate change represents the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen," but that there "is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we act now and act internationally." Which is exactly what we have been saying all along. The scientific and moral cases for acting against climate change have been known for some time - but it's taken an economist to spur the government into action.

Stern's Review - commissioned by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, says that "our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th Century."

According to Greenpeace climate campaigner Charlie Kronick, "this report says it's down to our generation to defeat climate change or the costs we pass on to our children will be unbearable. We always knew the scientific and moral case for action was overwhelming, but this report is the final piece in the jigsaw. There are no more excuses left, no more smokescreens to hide behind, now everybody has to back action to slash emissions, regardless of party or ideology."

"Stern says we need to spend one per cent of GDP on climate change. That's the same amount of money we spend on global advertising. Surely saving the planet is more important than billboards and TV adverts."

"The government has to be congratulated for commissioning this report, but emissions of CO2 have gone up under Labour, meaning valuable time has already been lost at huge financial expense to the country. So far the science hasn't made ministers act, but we hope the bottom line will. There are so many things the government could do today, like investing in efficient decentralised power stations or tackling the growth of aviation. Tony Blair's successor has to face this challenge and deliver the goods."

Key points from the Review:

- All countries will be affected by climate change - but poorer countries will suffer more, so the richer countries should take face up to their ress responsibilities

- If we do nothing, climate change will cost us around 20% of total gross domestic product (GDP) over the next half century. That's more than the cost of both world wars and the great depression put together. But if we act now to mitigate it, the cost would only be about one per cent of total economic growth.

- The cost of mitigation efforts would be in the vicinity of 1% of total GDP growth, based on a target of 450-550ppm CO2e (3 degrees Celsius - not enough!)

- Global emissions need to peak and start coming down within the next 10 years or so.

- By expanding and linking the various emissions trading schemes around the world, we could reduce our emissions and speed up action in developing countries.

Commenting on the proposal to develop emissions trading schemes, Charlie Kronick said "the only way a carbon market works is if there's a rigorous cap, otherwise it just makes money for carbon traders without addressing the problem. One test for Blair's successor will be what he or she pushes that cap to be."
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Silent Night- Windermere Winter Concert

by firelight @ 2006-12-21 – 05:22:31
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Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer....

by firelight @ 2006-12-21 – 05:20:08
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- christmas carol
Morning Mumble

by firelight @ 2006-12-21 – 05:11:52

Good morning Blogland!

This morning saw me sleeping in the night and waking up at 5:30 am. Not my normal routine but Xmas vacations going on in my business. All the clients are enjoying their vacations and so shall I be.

A lot to do today, what with cleaning up the rest of the house;the parts I couldnt get to yesterday, viz. the terrace of the house, where the party will be actually held today evening.

Yup, am giving a small Xmas party cum farewell dinner to Priyanka's friend tonight.... a chosen few friends invited and dinner to be cooked at home. I was going to cook until today morning but Priyanka has decided that she would be the one cooking so am going to be free to mingle around. Yayyy!! Of course, I shall help her with stuff but I would still be free to talk to people and enjoy my glass of wine.
I think, I shall get some ginger ale. What's Christmas without it, eh?

Plus, am going to buy a present for my sister. Its her birthday tomorrow. We(my brother, my brother-in-law and I) are planning to wake her up tomorrow with flowers and cake.
I kept on wondering what to gift her and finally I think, I shall buy her a nice leather purse. Another expense...Oh! Why is Decemeber so expensive!!

Will let y'all know tomorrow how the party goes tonight. Until then, have a great day ahead and enjoy the Xmas spirit.

Cheers!
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