Dinesh Kamath's Editorials (Do bookshops have a future?) that was published in Newsband

Do bookshops have a future?
When you open a school, said a French Enlightenment philosopher, you shut down a prison. In the same vein, some could argue that when you shut down a good bookshop you leave the field wide open for Philistines to run riot. Book publishing thrives in India - more than 19,000 publishers produce more than 90,000 titles a year in all the major languages. Literary festivals, held in many parts of the country, including several small towns, draw unprecedented crowds. Book fairs too attract vast numbers of bibliophiles. So do annual discount sales held by bookshops such as Strand in Mumbai. Do footfalls match the sales? The jury is still out on this one. Some book sellers swear that business has been brisk. But others are not happy with the way their business is progressing.
This brings us to the crux of the issue. Do bookshops have a future? Do books, as we have known them since Gutenberg some 600 years ago, have a future? The only really necessary people in the publishing process now are the writer and reader. Everyone who stands between the two has both risk and opportunity.
What are these opportunities? Let's begin with the obvious. Time and again we have been told that ours is a culture dominated by images. Then arrives the computer. Much of what you find on it has to be read, not just seen. The computer establishes the sovereignty of the act of reading. So, much like the advent of photography, cinema and television did not kill painting, can one assume that electronic publishing will kill the printed book?
There are book lovers who argue that books in their printed form will survive because no amount of technological innovations can deprive them of their quintessential qualities. The book, they say, is like the spoon, scissors, the hammer, the wheel. Once invented, they cannot be improved. Much in the same spirit, we can assert: Bookshops can't go under. They allow you to do things which no one else can: an opportunity to browse, chat with the knowledgeable owner, meet fellow bibliophiles. Some book shops will shut down; but the spirit that sustained its vast reputation will survive.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Make this New Year a happy one) that was published in Newsband

Make this New Year a happy one
New Year has arrived. The old year has gone. Navi Mumbaikars need to learn from their experiences of the old year and see to it that during this New Year the problems are eliminated or minimized considerably.
Last year witnessed a spate of crimes taking place in the city. All types of crimes were detected. There were incidents relating to chain-snatching, house-breaks, looting, smuggling, human trafficking etc. Many culprits, who committed these crimes were arrested but many are yet to be caught. It is high time the police department made maximum use of technology to prevent such crimes or solve criminal cases. Use of CCTV scanners and softwares should be made in big way. Investigating techniques need to be improved considerably. Policemen should dwell into the roots of these crimes. This way they will be in a position to prevent such crimes from occurring again. After all, prevention is better than cure. Also, It is better to cure than to endure. So the first attempt should be to prevent crimes. But if in spite of this attempt crimes occur then it is very necessary to somehow or the other solve these crimes. Crimes unsolved will only give a boost to the confidence of criminals who will then go on to commit more and more crimes.
It became evident from the incidents that took place last year that traffic police in Navi Mumbai have real tough time controlling drunken driving, talking on mobile phone while driving, speed driving etc. The punishment for erring drivers should be made more stringent to set examples to the other drivers. This is the only way in which drivers of vehicles can be controlled and in the process road accidents can be averted completely or minimized considerably. Another thing that was noticed last year was people going on protest march for various reasons. One feels relieved to see people resorting to democratic method of expressing their grievances. The fact that residents of the city take resort to protesting rather than rioting, like it would happen in olden days, has provided tremendous relief to the residents of the city. The authorities concerned should also cooperate and solve the protestors' problems promptly so that such protests do not take violent forms. It is not only the duty of the protestors to resort to peaceful expressing of their grievance, but it is also the responsibility of the concerned authorities to whom these complaints are made to take quick, immediate actions against the problems and thus leave no room for any more protest march to take place again. Thus we should learn from our bitter experiences of last year and see to it that during this New Year the past mistakes are not repeated.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials that was published in Newsband

NMMC and illicit mobile towers
New developments in the technological world prove to be a boon to us. But at the same time with the introduction of new technologies, new hazards are also born owing to which our lives can be in danger. Law-makers should be absolutely alert in such a situation. The moment there is a birth of a new technology, these law-makers should immediately and without wasting time come up with new laws that will eliminate all the hazards posed by the introduction of this new technology.
Invention of mobile phone was the best thing that happened to man. But side by side with the invention of mobile phone, there also arose a severe problem posed by unauthorized mobile towers. The high radiation emanating from these towers posed health risk to those staying close to it.
These tower owners should be given certain guidelines by NMMC. The tower owners should be told as to exactly where it is safe to erect a tower, what should be its distance from residential areas, schools, hospitals, educational institutes etc. There should also be guidelines relating to direction of transmitters of towers and the radiation-levels.
The tower owners in Navi Mumbai should compulsorily seek permission from NMMC before erecting the towers. NMMC in turn should see to it that the tower owners construct the towers according to the norms laid down by Department of Telecommunication (DoT). It is not enough for NMMC to come up with policies related to granting permission for erecting a tower to a company. It should also execute those policies. If the policies are just made and not executed, then of what use are these policies?
While granting permission to install a mobile tower NMMC should see to it that antenna is erected in open or public space located away from residential areas, prior consent is taken from the people staying surrounding it, the tower is within a radius of 100 meters from schools and hospitals so that children and patients are not affected by the exposure to electromagnetic field radiations, the tower is not erected in narrow lanes to prevent risks caused by earthquake and other calamities and the transmitters of an antenna is not facing a residential building and also the lower end of antenna is at least three meters above ground.
There are plenty of illicit towers in Navi Mumbai and these towers are just not following the norms laid down by Department of Telecommunication. The question is what is NMMC doing about it?