Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Need of more buses in Kharghar) that was published in Newsband

Need of more buses in KhargharKharghar is developing very fast. The residential areas over here are expanding rapidly. The population here is rising day by day. But the bus service here is not at all satisfactory. People in this region have to make use of suburban train services and the few buses that connect to Mumbai.
The growing rush in buses and trains has frustrated the residents over here. The trains are also crowded and it is becoming impossible for many to even board the train. People who have money can afford cabs or rickshaws. But what about those people who can't afford this luxury? Also the auto fares are continuously on the rise. Both Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) and Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) are not bothered about the transport problems faced by the residents here. Had they been even a little concerned, both by now would have introduced few more buses and thus provided relief to the commuters residing in this node.
As far as Kharghar is concerned, there is a need for more buses to ply from sector 15, 16 and 17 to Taloja. This is because the offices of most of the Kharghar residents are located along these routes. There should also be buses connecting to Dadar, Thane and Mulund for the benefit of those Kharghar residents who have their workplaces outside Navi Mumbai.
The question is why NMMT and BEST are not buying new buses to solve this major problem? They should somehow get the government to provide them the necessary funds so that they are in a position to provide enough buses to Kharghar residents particularly since the problems of these people are genuine and need urgent attention.
The plight of Kharghar residents becomes more pathetic when they have to rush to hospitals patients who need urgent medical treatment. There should be enough buses that ply between residential areas of Kharghar and the areas where standard hospitals are located. Consideration should be given especially to those cancer patients who have to travel to Tata Hospital in Parel for treatment.
Kharghar residents who are affected by the problems arising due to scarcity of buses should forward their request for more buses to NMMC's planning department which in turn should work out a perfect solution to this problem by coordinating with the traffic department. This is the only way to solve this major problem.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Super cops of Navi Mumbai) that was published in Newsband

Super Cops of Navi MumbaiTwo policemen of Navi Mumbai need to be congratulated. The first one is police commissioner of Navi Mumbai Ahmad Javed. Another one is Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Vijay Patil.
Ahmad Javed should be lauded for showing deep concern for senior citizens of Navi Mumbai. Just recently he interacted with members of Senior Citizens Welfare Association. This was an attempt by him to address their problems. He was kind enough to share with them helpline number and he assured them of prompt help when needed. He rightly asked the senior citizens to register themselves at the nearest police station. Ahmad Javed showed special concern for those senior citizens who are alone and are dependent on servants in the absence of children. They were told to register names of servants with their photographs so that policemen could provide them prompt help whenever they needed. Ahmad Javed has indeed proved that he is an ideal policeman.
Another policeman who needs to be applauded is DCP (Traffic) Vijay Patil who is personally taking stern steps to prevent accidents on Navi Mumbai roads. He took certain corrective measures in this direction which should be appreciated. He was the one who introduced the high masts of floodlights at certain points like the Nerul and CBD bridge. It was he who gave the idea of installing railings at Sanpada, Kamothe and Kharghar for safety of passengers. Vijay Patil also often pores over statistics to have a proper understanding of the pattern of road accidents. His office on the ground floor of Konkan Bhavan is always a beehive of activity with the staff busy calling out figures from a plethora of data files. Vijay Patil also pays surprise visits to take stock of the situation. This forces his staff to always remain alert. He has also worked out short distance routes for NMMT buses for the benefit of the commuters. Sometimes he spends hours in the control room and on other days he is found at traffic junction to check out the movement of vehicular traffic. Hat's off to this super cop too.
Navi Mumbai is in need of such super policemen like Ahmad Javed and Vijay Patil who by personally setting examples have shown all the other policemen as to what exactly the qualities of ideal policemen are.

Dinesh Kamath's column on 'Movie and TV World' that was published in Newsband

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Organ donation) that was published in Newsband

Organ donationThe 1994 Human Organ Transplantation Act clearly defines a protocol for handling 'brain-death' in hospitals and allowed cornea collection after home deaths. This was enough for any hospital to boost organ retrieval services for the entire range of transplantable human tissue like corneas, heart valves, kidney, livers, etc.
But yet we find that life-saving kidneys and livers are still in acute short supply. But in the past 17 years, some organ banks working in government hospitals have demonstrated record-setting successes in motivating donors' relatives to offer corneas and skin. NGOs like 'Sunday Friends' in Sion, Mumbai have also learnt to give critical post-death counselling support.
The Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika's Sion Hospital which operates India's largest trauma ward have shown that an annual collection of over 200 corneas, a hundred skin donations (for burns victims) and an encouraging number of kidneys and livers is possible
We need organ donation-minded citizen to help out organ-needy unfortunate. Many people who lost loved ones in wards of government hospitals have been increasingly generous in the matter of organ-donation since they understand the value of such type of donation.
But there are some hospitals which remain laggards in introducing organ retrieval procedures. For transplantable human tissue, they largely restrict themselves to collecting blood and using kidneys from live donors with the attendant opportunistic possibility for illegal sourcing/ Organ retrieval and transplant services for the public do not involve any frontier technologies or significant additional capital or labour costs/ All they need is good hospital management.
The new modified Act relating to organ donation has been passed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and awaits the president's signature/ It tries to nudge hospital managements into moving towards wider cadaver organ retrieval services and includes stricter punitive measures for illegal transactions. Skin and other 'tissue' are included in the Act.
Standards for dedicated 'Transplant Coordinators' and post-death counselling services in hospitals are on the way. And active government initiative and involvement is promised to replicate ethical transparent organ distribution networks. Let’s hope that this will be enough for a big leap in transplantable cadaver kidneys and livers over the next few years
If the government really means business, it should make policies to encourage organ donation in a big way. Changing the mindsets of doctors and hospital managers is needed. The attitude of the general public in this matter should be changed. The government should spend money to educate the public to donate organs. In fact, the Indian public is ready and has always been ready to donate organs after death in significant numbers.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (politics and spirituality) that was published in Newsband

Politics and spiritualityPolitics and spirituality must go together. But is it possible? Spirituality and politics are both full-fledged disciplines, both need total involvement. So, each can become involved in the other`s discipline only at the cost of the erosion of his own. The spiritual person will lose his dedication in the realm of politics, while the politician will lose his political interest if he involves himself in spiritual matters.
However, both disciplines are needed to build a better society. If spirituality is inner science, politics is external discipline. We need both. Each must complement the other, while maintaining its own identity.
Spirituality is inner beauty without having external strength, while politics is external strength having little inner beauty. They need each other. The spiritual person must serve as counsellor to the politician, and the politician must serve as booster to the spiritual person. This sharing will benefit both.
The spiritual person is Self-centred; the politician can help him by taking him out of his individual cell, so that he may acquire more experience of human life. The same is true of the politician. Politicians are by nature over-ambitious and this sometimes leads to disaster. It is at this juncture that a spiritual person can give them practical advice which will enable them to curb the over-ambitious side of their nature, making them more realistic.
In the past, the religious gurus used to be advisers to the kings and kings were their supporters. In our present society, in terms of number, we have enough spiritual persons and we have politicians in abundance as well. But, we are not able to benefit from the two because of a lack of sharing process between them.
We need to develop a dual system of education - formal and informal. Formal education can produce educated politicians but we also need all members of society to be spiritualized. This goal cannot be achieved through formal education. There should be an informal type of education whose teachers are spiritual gurus. These gurus can teach our present-day generation through interaction, discourses and dissemination of literature.
Thus politicians and religious leaders can be helpful to one another without interfering in each other’s systems. Thus we need spiritualized politicians and politicized spiritual persons. This will improve our society.

Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, recovers from illness, resumes duty

Hi,
I've recovered from my illness. I recovered sooner than I had expected, thanks to the strong medicines that doctor had prescribed for me. I am feeling very fresh and okay now. I am happy to be once again in front of my computer and communicating with my readers as usual. It is the good wishes of many of my readers that led to my speedy recovery. Thanks a lot! Bye!

Dinesh Kamath's Editorials (Put an end to noise pollution) hat were published in Newsband

Put an end to noise pollution
Noise pollution is unwanted sound. It is a form of environmental disturbance. Noise pollution is very dangerous for human life as it affects the brains and prolonged exposure to noise may cause blood vessels to contract, sometimes resulting in hypertension. In fact pollution of any kind can cause serious damage to man, animals, birds, aquatic life, crops and vegetation. Noise pollution can affect the brain and make people lose composure and this can lead to heart attacks and strokes in the affected people.
Noise pollution in Navi Mumbai is high especially during festival times. But, however, the city police did a wonderful job in controlling noise pollution during Ganesh Chaturthi. But during Navratri, pandals were berserk with DJs and speaker systems that rattled windowpanes of adjoining building, with not a care for the elderly and sick. In fact, before closing time at 10 pm and 12 midnight, the noise levels were at their peak.
Diwali witnesses unprecedented levels of air and noise pollution. Noise pollution, on account of ever jarring speakers and the over abuse of fire crackers, has become the cause of concern for many, as it is the root cause of various health ailments and unrest. Navi Mumbai especially witnesses high level of noise pollution.
The noise level in some parts of Navi Mumbai is already high due to heavy vehicular traffic, industrial operations and commercial activities. This increases during Diwal. It is important that noise pollution is controlled during Diwali season as due to bursting of fire crackers, the pollution levels go up all time high.
Voluntary organizations should come forward and spread awareness about the noise pollution during Diwali. Children should be taught in school to limit the use of crackers that cause noise pollution. There is a law made by Central government for control of noise pollution but it has been found that the law is rarely enforced. So it is high time this law is applied. Police of Navi Mumbai should stop selling of fire crackers that has sound levels beyond certain specified decibel levels. Also there should be helpline number made available to report high level of noise pollution. Noise pollution can be controlled if the concerned authorities have the will to do so.

Kamothe urgently needs CIDCO's attention
A visit to Kamothe will make you aware of the plight of the residents over here. Kamothe is full of neglected open spots. At one particular spot in Kamothe you will find a large open plot of land surrounded by posh buildings on all sides. This space was once an undeveloped part which later became a dumping ground and now it is a stinking lake with large volume of garbage floating. This lake is now used to throw debris and household waste.
The existence of such a place not only endangers the health of the residents living around it but also it affects the business of the developers who find Kamothe a place where many outsiders want to come and reside or settle down because the residences over there are sold at affordable prices. Many have already come and resided over there. There are residents who have taken big loans and purchased flats over here. These people have no choice but to quietly face the dangers posed by such dirty open spaces.
Kamothe is considered as paradise for builders who are developing multi-crore projects over here. These builders even approached CIDCO's authorities and pleaded to them to do something drastic about these severe problems existing in Kamothe. These builders even pay infrastructure development funds to CIDCO at the time of sanction of any project. What are CIDCO's authorities doing with all these funds? Why don't they utilize these funds to provide all the necessary facilities and amenities to Kamothe region? They are not even bothered about the fact that many parts of Kamothe have become a hell that gives birth to infectious diseases.
As far as Kamothe is concerned, it is high time CIDCO made use of its waste management and health department to get rid of garbage menace and gave relief to the residents over there. At some places in Kamothe the stink is unbearable. The residents keep their windows closed and don't allow their children to play outside lest they fall sick owing to unhygienic surroundings. During monsoon, the situation over here is horrible since the level of accumulated water rises to an extent where it becomes dangerous for residents residing on the ground floors of their buildings. Kamothe also needs proper transport facilities and also medical centers since at present the chances of residents catching malaria or dengue are very high owing to the existence of many open filthy spots over there.
So the residents of Kamothe can do nothing but hope that very soon CIDCO's authorities will feel pity for them and come to their rescue like Gods.



Form a strong auto-passengers' unionThere is no authority or force to control auto-men who refuse to ply according to meters. Why are meter-readers installed in all autorickshaws? They are installed to ensure that passengers are not cheated. Installing of meter-reader was a brainy move on the part of whoever invented it. Meter system was the best thing to happen for auto-passengers.
But auto-men in Navi Mumbai seem to have taken law into their own hands. Many of them don't charge passengers as per meter. They make the passengers pay whatever amount they demand. They are not afraid of Law. That's because they have strong unions which protect and support them. This gives rise to the question as to whether these unions are meant to encourage their members to do whatever they like even criminal things?
RTO officials have launched a crackdown on errant auto-drivers many times. But these actions have failed to bring under control these auto-drivers whose unions are so strong that even political parties have to bow down before them.
In Navi Mumbai many auto-drivers don't care to refer to the meters. They demand any amount they want. Despite several meetings and representations with the authorities no effective steps have been taken to force the driver to use meters. As a result the commuters are forced to travel paying higher fares. Some drivers don't even care to install meters meters in their autos. They settle the fare according to their will. If the passengers question them they use their organizational strength to intimidate passengers. Neither RTO nor policemen seem to have the courage to prevent them from being so high-handed.
What is the solution to this problem relating to these auto-drivers? There is only one solution. It is high-time all the auto-passengers united and formed a union which is much stronger than all the autorickshaw drivers' unions put together. This is the only way to teach these autocratic auto-men a lesson.

Two sides of our world
On one side, the world is a rather nice place to live in - and only becoming better. Despite current economic woes, the world has never been a sunnier place. Rewind 100 years; newspapers were few and far between, accessed largely by privileged men, TV and the internet nowhere in sight, electricity and running water matters of marvel, travel from India to Britain taking months, populations threatened by starvation, epidemics or wars, the world beset with divisions of race, caste, gender and creed - it can't have been too nice. Today, wars have waned, colonialism is firmly contained within the pages of history books, global wealth is far more equitably shared, major diseases stand eradicated, mobiles and social networking sites enable people to communicate thoroughly, international travel takes some hours - and we're all living many years longer to enjoy these developments. Today people harbour a powerful belief in what's possible; leaving behind the dark ages of superstition, myth and discrimination, millions now enjoy a 'can-do' spirit science, rationality and philosophy have bestowed. We live in vibrantly liberal times; Scientists, states and citizens alike are countering global warming with innovation. We live in times where there is freedom and equality, creativity excelled at, the human spirit better-fed and more driven to share resources and solve problems than ever before.
But on the other side life is still nasty and brutish. Just look around you. All you find is a surfeit of urban squalor, traffic chaos, air pollution, raging conflicts over land, water, and so on. For many rural and urban people, life is still an inescapable daily grind. Dwindling farmlands and reduced yields are driving more farmers to cities, themselves bursting at the seams. Behind their glitzy veneer lie sprawling urban slums. The expanding urban poor, living in cheek-by-jowl slums, next to open drains, do not even have proper sanitation facilities. True, they may have mobile phones. But they still can't access decent healthcare. Children and adults continue to fall prey to preventable killer diseases like malaria, diarrhoea, tuberculosis.
Morality and ethics have become passe in a world ruled by profits rather than any lofty credo. We hear about protesting farmers, driven off their lands by powerful political and corporate lobbies; or sweatshop workers agitating for decent wages and work conditions. The world can't be a better place when nations are scrambling for more sophisticated weaponry to kill with greater precision. The threat of terrorism, civilian deaths in war-torn countries have made human lives more dispensable.
Thus these are the two sides of modern world.