Sweet and sour
Closing the bakery is not an option. Kayani Bakery is Poona and Poona is Kayani (“Pune’s Kayani Bakery, two other restaurants asked to shut down: The Times of India”). Fine them if they have flouted the rules but do not close them down. Over the years, Pune has lost much of its charm. We cannot have its jewel taken away from us. Kayani is not going anywhere. – Jasmine Kochar
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What were the authorities doing all this while, if the bakery’s licence had expired 11 years ago? Weren’t there notices issued to these businesses the very next year their licences expired?
This inaction points to severe corruption. The authorities seem to have let the eateries operate without a licence, in exchange for a bribe.
As a citizen I, applaud the Pune Cantonment Board’s actions but I would ask them to identify the thousands of other unauthorised businesses that are thriving and selling substandard and unhygienic products even as they disrupt traffic because of their location.
I would also request the board to also identify the thousands of illegal encroachments. The board also needs to identify and eliminate the dumping of garbage by businesses.
I look forward to Pune becoming a city that we are proud to belong live in. – Dieter Weilson
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These three restaurants seem to have been singled out for action. What about the many others that have been operating without licences? Those should be shut down as well. – Sundar Raman
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Why don’t they pay the outstanding amount and the fine, if any, to get their licences renewed? Do they consider themselves above the law? – Shriram Bapat
Marital rape debate
Rape is sex without consent – and this consent is needed afresh every time, irrespective of the sexual history of the people involved (“Child marital rape is now illegal. It is time to criminalise adult marital rape too”). Rape is an act of violence which may or may not involve physical injury, for it violates the victim’s privacy, dignity and right to say “no”. These two factors hold for a married relationship as well and hence marital rape should be recognised. If a woman is consistently and without reason denying her husband his conjugal right, that can be a ground for divorce. The courts can then decide whether the denial of consent is for good reason or not, taking several factors into consideration. – Shekhar Gupta
In protest
I condemn this writer and the article (“University protests show Narendra Modi’s New India vision has failed to inspire many young citizens”). The only thing I can see here are the twisting of facts and selective information to make a point. The protests at the three universities were over completely different incidents and to draw a similarity between them, the author manipulated the Rohit Vemula and JNU cases. He raised only those things that supports his point. He conveniently dodged the speculation over Vemula’s caste and portrayed Kanhaiya Kumar as a great orator or freedom fighter. It is disappointing to see such a biased article on Scroll.in – Pruthvi Nagalia
Clearing the air
Pollution is affecting everyone’s health and the root cause is the increase in vehicular traffic (“Four Indian scientists’ solution to purify choking cities – ink made from air pollution”)
. Despite this, the government continues to give lincences to produce more and more vehicles. Motor car manufacturers have also thwarted attempts to bring in more eco-friendly modes like electrical vehicles. Industrial pollution is also a very big reason for bad air but we cannot put an end to industry. – KK Rao
Taj Mahal
Going by the Uttar Pradesh government’s logic, only religious places should become tourist attractions (“Taj Mahal was rightly left out of state’s tourist attractions, says Uttar Pradesh minister”). This means that the Eiffel Tower, Niagra Falls, Red Fort, the Great Wall of China etc should also not be tourist attractions. I wonder what such a thought process implies for the future of tourism in India.– Saleem Khan
Sleeping clock
I was really happy to read about the three American scientists who bagged this year’s Nobel Prize for Physiology, that too for their work pertaining to circadian rhythms (“American trio get Nobel Prize for Medicine for their research on biological rhythm”). Hats off to them for doing a great job. I teach physiology at a Kerala medical college and this news makes me particularly happy because I have also worked on the neurotransmitters of this clock. – V Reghunandanan
