Expressions – Bhagwad Jal Park

It’s heartening to note, that while the Indian Govt. still has to lay it’s position before the Supreme Court, a preliminary panel of the three involved ministries (Home, Health, and Law) have said that the Delhi High Court’s judgment legalizing gay sex followed the Indian Constitution – specifically Articles 14, 15, and 21.

The law minister Moily also praised the court’s verdict calling it very well argued and well presented.

Image Credit: The Advocacy Project

Government's says gay sex ruling follows the Constitution

Hopefully this means that when the government gives its position to the Supreme Court for the hearing on the 14th of September 2009, it will support the decriminalization of Homosexuality. It took pains to point out that Article 377 was not abolished, but was “read down” to allow consensual gay sex between adults. This is so that the government can still have a law to deal with child molestation. Another reason no doubt, was to reassure the opponents of the verdict that it wasn’t doing away with the section completely – a good response overall.

Stay tuned on this blog for more on the progress of Article 377. How do you think the Supreme Court will rule on the issue? Take the poll!

Similar Posts:

• Hearing on Article 377 set for Tomorrow – September 29, 2009
• Cabinet to Indian Supreme Court – “We’ll leave Article 377 to you” – September 17, 2009
• SC hearing on Article 377 postponed from 14th September to 29th – September 14, 2009
• Why the Indian SC will uphold the Decriminalization of Gay Sex – Take the Poll – July 9, 2009
• SC once again refuses stay on gay sex – July 20, 2009

There have been a spate of news articles recently about how various Indian quasi legal and governmental bodies are trying to force children to learn a particular language at school. Such policies apart from being grossly illegal and in violation of the liberal Constitution of India smacks of extreme presumptuousness by the government. By making certain languages compulsory, governments are effectively saying that people don’t know what’s good for them.

Image Credit: brian glanz

The Indian Government wants to be a Nanny State

This attitude is reflected in the government’s decision to block Savita Bhabi, ban movies which can “hurt religious sentiments”, and now this. Fortunately, even though the public hadn’t really been up in arms regarding the first two points, it isn’t willing to shut up and let the government foist outdated policies on their children’s education. The government must learn its place. Treating your citizens as if they are little children and attempting to make decisions for them regarding personal choices isn’t the best way to survive. Sooner or later, people will get irritated.

Of course, when governments start to try and make the language compulsory to stay in the state, that crosses the line. I don’t want to settle down in Karnataka, but I must have the choice. Making it compulsory for firms to hire only Kannada speaking citizens is discriminatory and most certainly illegal. I’m waiting with glee for the courts to crush this one.

The Supreme Court, as always, has upheld the right of individuals and ruled that parents must retain the choice of which language their children must be instructed in. As a last resort, at least the courts understand. If it wasn’t for them, we would be long doomed by now.

Similar Posts:

• It’s started – UID used for tagging and tracking – October 4, 2009
• National ID cards – A threat to privacy – June 22, 2009
• How the UK Citizens Burnt their Identity Cards – July 16, 2009
• National ID cards in India – The financial cost – July 1, 2009
• Making India a Police State – Why isn’t there an outcry? – January 5, 2009

Now that Ubiquity 0.5 is out, Erik’s Character Count Command no longer works. So I have updated it and if you have Ubiquity Firefox, the command bar should have appeared on top for you. Here is the code:

CmdUtils.CreateCommand({
names: ['char-count'],
arguments: [ {role: 'object', nountype: noun_arb_text, label: 'text to count chars in'}],
preview: function( pblock, args ) {
//pblock.innerHTML = argText.object.length;
pblock.innerHTML = "The number of characters is: "+ args.object.text.length;
}
});

Hope you found it useful!

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For the second time, the SC refused to stay the High Court’s historic verdict decriminalizing gay sex. This is as it should be. The bench which had the Chief Justice of India on it, said that since there was no danger of any penal consequences, there was no reason to put a stay on the order.

Image Credit: nickjohnson

The Supreme Court's verdict on gay sex in India

However, when pro-gay activists said that those who didn’t take part in the earlier debate in the High Court shouldn’t be allowed to participate in the Supreme Court hearing, the judges said that “they have a right to object.” This of course is true – anyone can object.

The government wanted more time to finalize it’s stand on the issue and the Supreme Court gave it 8 weeks to do so. The matter will be taken up again on the 14th of September.

Similar Posts:

• Hearing on Article 377 set for Tomorrow – September 29, 2009
• Cabinet to Indian Supreme Court – “We’ll leave Article 377 to you” – September 17, 2009
• Article 377 case pushed to 9th December 2009 in Supreme Court – November 10, 2009
• Why the Indian SC will uphold the Decriminalization of Gay Sex – Take the Poll – July 9, 2009
• Govt. says High Court’s Judgement on gay sex is Constitutional – July 28, 2009

For those unable to believe how anyone could possibly not welcome Identity cards with open arms, here’s a story for you. After the war, fed up with the constant intrusions of privacy and government tracking, the British Housewives League burnt their compulsory ID cards in frying pans and dry cleaners.

In 1950 in London, when a common man refused to present his ID card to the police, he was taken to court. Lord Goddard who was the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales said that compulsory ID cards must be scrapped since they “tend to make people resentful of the acts of the police.”

Image Credit: http://www.no2id.net

Compulsory Identity Cars will be used to harass people

And now a final tidbit. These ID cards were introduced during the Second World War in order to enforce wartime regulations. However, intoxicated by the power that such Identity Cards gave it, the government did not revoke the ID cards. Police still had the power to detain anyone on the street and ask them for their card. Not surprising given that we saw earlier that we must not give the government too much power.

More proof that world over, compulsory Identity Cards have resulted in repression and police abuse. We must never forget history while making policies since such mistakes are expensive and ones that we can ill afford.

Similar Posts:

• Getting your fingerprints by hook or crook for the UID – October 16, 2009
• Trying to make the UID palatable to the common man – November 6, 2009
• Worldwide attention on National ID cards in India – June 29, 2009
• Why we shouldn’t give the Government too much Power – Savita Bhabi is Proof – July 15, 2009
• Universal ID cards. A threat to privacy – December 11, 2006

A previous blog post of mine had opined that giving the Government too much power was dangerous – even in the interests of “National Security”. This is because any such power which is meant to be used only in extreme circumstances ends up being used in frivolous ways leading to a serious impingement on the proper constitutional procedures of law.

Image Credit: LU5H.bunny

Government Abuse of Power

At that time, I was referring to giving the Government the power to track people via the “National ID card“. Many people had lambasted the post saying that we need this sort of security and that there was no danger of the Government abusing it. For all those people, here’s a recent example of what I’m talking about.

Last year, parliament passed an IT amendment giving the Government far reaching powers to block any website that it chooses in the Interests of “National Security” or if it “Damages the relationships of India with a Foreign Power”. This was seen as a necessary step in the background of the Mumbai Terror attacks and the Government used this opportunity to pass the bill through at a time when people were willing to let the Government have this power to “keep them safe”.

But once it was passed, what is the outcome? The first website to be blocked was…hold your breath, a cartoon site! In case you’re wondering what was on it, the site featured an imaginary woman called Savitha Bhabhi (or Savita Bhabi) engaging in highly promiscuous and explicit sexual behavior. Not the most palatable website for a lot of Indians it is true, but one that is hardly a threat to the security of the nation or damaging India’s diplomatic ventures. Yet the Government blocked the site on the complaints of people because it had the power to do so and no one was seriously going to challenge it since porn is still highly taboo in Indian Society.

Tomorrow the Government can use the same law to block anything – say your own blog for example. A classic case of the abuse of Power. It’s not just the Indian Government I’m worried about, so don’t get me wrong. No government on earth can resist the temptation to use power whenever it can. History (both distant and recent) has shown this to us time and again.

So the smart thing to do is to not give it much. The government of a country must be kept on a tight leash. In India, the courts have traditionally been this leash, and predictably, the Government is not happy about it, but there’s not much it can do though it’s trying. Recently the Indian Law minister said that Parliament should have a say in the appointment of Judges – just one instance of the Government trying to reign in the Judiciary. But the Indian Courts are fiercely independent. I’m betting they’ll ensure that things don’t go wrong.

I hope this example of Savita Bhabi shows people in India the dangers of letting the Government control too much of other people’s lives – ultimately a time will come when it will want to control…everything.

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• It’s started – UID used for tagging and tracking – October 4, 2009
• Privacy Laws in India – June 15, 2009
• National ID cards in India – The financial cost – July 1, 2009
• Nilekani admits that UID will be used for tracking people – December 9, 2009
• Indian National ID Voluntary – No card at all! – August 26, 2009

Over the years, an idea seems to have ingrained itself into the Indian mindset – that Democracy is all about doing what the majority of the people want. To exemplify this, just recently the BJP said that it was not apologetic about the demolition of the Babri Masjid since it “was the outburst of sentiments of the masses.” The implication being that nothing can be wrong if the “masses” desire it.

Image Credit: Al Jazeera English

The BJP and Mob mentality

But this goes contrary to the rule of law. If 99% of the population wants to kill me, it’s still illegal. Because that’s what democracy is about. We recently heard this argument from our dear politicians and religious leaders regarding the decriminalization of homosexuality. Their logic was like this: “So few people are homosexuals, that it doesn’t make sense to anger the majority of the country for their sake.” Note the absence of any reference to “right and wrong” or to the Constitution!

Another pal of ours Murli Manohar Joshi said that “one or two judges cannot decide everything” – he forgot that those judges interpret the Constitution of India. And that decides everything!

However, the BJP has managed to turn the rule of law into an insult – they call it “Minority appeasement.” They feel that giving rights to homosexuals and to other minority groups amounts to ignoring the “masses.” Well, just for the record, India is a Democracy where the rule of law prevails. It’s time to shed this thinking that the rights of minority groups can be ridden roughshod over merely because the “majority of the people want it.” Because India is not a mobocracy – those who disagree should read the Constitution – especially Article 14 pertaining to “Equality before the law”

Similar Posts:

• Hearing on Article 377 set for Tomorrow – September 29, 2009
• Section 377 – Mess in the SC. Hearing for 29th Oct. 2009 – October 1, 2009
• Why the Indian SC will uphold the Decriminalization of Gay Sex – Take the Poll – July 9, 2009
• SC once again refuses stay on gay sex – July 20, 2009
• Homosexuality finally Legal in India – The law comes of age – July 2, 2009

Back in India, Global Warming (or shall we say human induced climate change? Nah – Global Warming is easier) is a big concern. Just about everyone accepts that it’s happening and that we need to do something about it – even to the extent of cutting down on lifestyle excesses. This understanding of how man is affecting the planet’s ecosystem is widespread. From students, to all teachers, housewives, laypersons, and even politicians (hard to believe but it’s true that they agree on something!).

So it was a shock to me when I came to the United States to learn that it was not a given here – after all, it’s a developed country. But large percentages of people (more than 50%) do not believe that man is causing an important change in the temperatures of the earth. My wife and I were ill prepared for this since it was akin to suddenly trying to talk to someone who didn’t believe the earth was round. Several arguments ranging from “Climate change isn’t happening”, “The earth is too big for man to affect it”, “Are you crazy? It’s getting colder!” and even “There is no scientific consensus on the matter.” And the worst response – “So what?”

Image Credit: sepponet

Americans and Global Warming

Well, just for the record, 84% of all scientists believe that significant human induced climate change is taking place. That’s a huge majority. The influence of humans on climate change has not been disputed by any national or international scientific organization (including American ones!) for the past 2 years. And yet more than half of all Americans don’t believe it’s happening. Why?

For one, there have been records of interested groups such as oil companies actively trying to debunk Global Warming since that would lead to a negative image about fossil fuels in the country and therefore against them. Also, when public opinion is divided, the government doesn’t feel enough pressure to seriously think of switching to non polluting energy sources – thus keeping their business models safe. Lobbying in America is bribery of the Government and the public on a colossal scale. For example, the Tobacco industry in the United States once spent billions of dollars on projects funding “research” to demonstrate that smoking didn’t cause lung cancer.

We in India have a huge interest in the American public waking up to the reality of Climate Change since the United States is the largest emitter of Carbon dioxide (though it seems that China is fast catching up.) It has the resources to really make a difference to the world – and themselves of course since Climate Change affects everyone. What is needed is the will.

So that is why the attitudes of people in a developed country like America lag behind those of countries like China and India. In Europe of course, there is a high awareness of Global warming. In the United States, people depend on cars much more than anywhere else in the world. Cars that run on fossil fuels. And this might be the driving force behind the American public’s apathy towards Climate Change.

Similar Posts:

• The Environment? It’s not just us! – September 23, 2009
• Giving away Green technologies – way to go! – November 14, 2009
• Manually Removing Carbon Dioxide from the air – July 10, 2009
• Climate Change – I’ve given up and lost hope – January 8, 2010
• US Businesses Challenge Global Warming in Court! – August 28, 2009

My three commands for Ubiquity were broken with the latest Ubiquity 0.5 update. So I modified them to be compatible. Here are the links to the three updated commands:

1. To find the PageRank of a URL
2. To find the number of Google Search Results for a given term
3. To open torrent pages with the search term

I hope there are no more major syntax changes since it’s such a pain to rewrite the commands…

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• Ubiquity Torrent Search – MiniNova, IsoHunt, PirateBay, btjunkie – April 5, 2009
• Check PageRank with Ubiquity Extension: page-rank – April 3, 2009

Some of the latest efforts in finding out how to reduce Climate Change focus on how to manually take Carbon Dioxide out of the air instead of how to avoid releasing it. While there’s no reason not to try and do both, there’s good reason for this approach. We release CO2 from millions of little sources all over (like from cars) and it’s impractical to control emissions for each little source – unlike controlling it at a thermal plant which is one big source. Such efforts are called Geoengineering because we try and manipulate the constituents of the earth itself.

The latest in this field is the development of synthetic trees to remove Carbon Dioxide from the air. These ultra efficient and cheap devices take carbon out of the air and turn it into another form where it can’t trap heat unlike gaseous CO2. Each unit costs the same as one car and takes out CO2 equivalent to 20 cars. Meaning that a 5% tax on each car would serve to build enough “trees” to completely negate their CO2 emissions. Sounds good?

Removing Carbon from the Atmosphere - What the "tree may look like"

The biggest problem in my opinion is what to do with the “modified (in this case liquid) carbon dioxide” that is collected. We need a safe way to dispose of it. Before we used fuel, all this carbon was locked into fossil fuels deep inside the earth. We need to find a similarly efficient way of getting rid of it. Putting it in the oceans would turn the water acidic, kill off marine life and make the water even less efficient at doing it’s job of absorbing CO2.

It’s a bit like putting the Genie back in the bottle. Once the carbon is out of the ground via drilling for oil, how on earth do we get rid of it once it’s satisfied our energy needs? That’s the big question.

Similar Posts:

• The Environment? It’s not just us! – September 23, 2009
• Patents standing in the way of Combating Climate Change – September 16, 2009
• Inserting HTML tags using Firefox Ubiquity – October 5, 2009
• Americans don’t believe in Global Warming! – July 13, 2009
• Climate Change – I’ve given up and lost hope – January 8, 2010