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| Edited By: |Source: DNA |Updated: Apr 16, 2016, 06:45 AM IST
In Maharashtra the politics of hate and discrimination may soon be a thing of the past. The state has passed a bill, the first of its kind in the country, which prohibits the extra-judicial institutions like community panchayats from issuing sanctions in the name of age-old traditions like caste and religion. The Prohibition of Social Boycott Act is hailed as a revolutionary move by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s government. The Act clearly states that social boycott is a crime and anybody practicing it would face stern action — the punishment includes seven-year jail term or Rs 5-lakh fine for the guilty or both. There are various reasons why people call for social boycott — inter-caste marriage, rituals of worship or for matters related to lifestyle, dress or vocation. The existing provisions to deal with the menace had proved to be insufficient. But with the new law coming in and provided its enforced in letter and spirit, Maharashtra can claim to be the harbinger of social change in the country. It’s amazing how the same party, the BJP, which rules both Maharashtra and Haryana, has radically different responses to caste and community panchayats. The resolve shown by Fadnavis is unfortunately missing in Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar who has failed to crack down on khap panchayats in his state.
The famous but reclusive Loch Ness monster has surfaced from the lake in the Scottish highlands. Before your eyes pop out in disbelief, it’s only a prop used in the 1970 film ,The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Christopher Lee. The model was found by Munin, a robot used by a survey team led by Norwegian company Kongsberg Maritime as part of a project organised by tourism body VisitScotland, says the CNN. The Loch Ness giant is part of the folk lore that has travelled much beyond the confines of Scotland. People from around the world visit the lake in the hope of sighting the creature that belongs to the plesiosaurs family. Of course, the Loch Ness creature doesn’t exist, but the myth is too strong to be ignored. It was brought to global attention in 1933. It has even got a name, Nessie. Scientists explain the sightings of the monster as outright hoaxes and wishful thinking.
The poachers have struck again at Kaziranga but this time it has made news primarily because of the visit of the royal British couple, Prince William and Kate Middleton. A rhino was killed with AK-47 and its horn sawed off from a site which is barely 30kms from where the couple was staying. The killing happened under the cover of darkness at night, exposing serious lapses in security. In the past few years the Assam government has repeatedly assured animal rights activists that security will be beefed up at the reserve forest, and that the government is even thinking of drone surveillance, but the situation on the ground shows no improvement. Six rhinos have already fallen victim to poachers this year. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made rhino poaching a poll campaign issue, but curiously that hasn’t deterred the killers. Since 2001 Assam has lost more than 200 rhinos. Sadly, the incumbent Tarun Gogoi government doesn’t realise how important it is to save these endangered one-horned rhinos.
