Cows, Hiroshima and more.

Because I am still in Delhi, I read the local news with some interest. Most of the City pages are filled withstories of how Residents Welfare Associations are ganging up to ensure that Anil Ambani's BSES (or should I call it Reliance Energy?) doesn't rip off consumers. I thought that manyof these stories of overcharging were bunkum, but then Friendgirl got a Rs 4000 bill for her place. The girl stays alone, OK, so I'm there sometimes, but four grand for two months? For a person who uses her Aircon a max of six hours a night? Rather ridiculous. Now BSES claims that this is all due to a software error. After BSES cut off power in Mumbai during the floods (understandable on safety grounds, but after you've spent six hours wading through nexk-deep water you want to use the geyser) and in Delhi this. Ambani junior has pissed off the citizenry of Delhi and Bombay and sucking up to CNBC reporters won't help him. Especially if he also continues to assault NDTV reporters.
The New York Times on the Mumbai floods (registration required).
But, now in Delhi Electricity problems have been forgotten thanks to rather interesting ruling by the Delhi HC. The court has ruled that because the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are a bunch of idiots (they only want to find new ways of lining their own pockets), they will have to pay the citizens of Delhi Rs 2000 for every cow/bull/calf they bring in. Ordinarily I would be aghast at such a ruling, but these cows are traffic hazards. I know of two people who have had their cars damaged by hitting cows. This 'holy cow' crap that has carried on for years must stop. The sad thing is that Indian cows are awful to eat, so you can't make them into T-Bone steaks, but that doesn't mean that they should be allowed to roam the streets of Delhi free. Anyway, following this ruling, there has been a sudden rise in the number of amatuer 'cowboys' in Delhi all looking to make a fast buck, because Rs 2000 isn't peanuts.
One thing you have to admire about the Indian media is local coverage, and as far as that goes I think ToI and HT are both very good reads. As is Express Newsline. You can fault the media on a lot of things but not local coverage, and local coverage is what makes the papers fun and what gives them a huge heads up over telly channels. However, following Sahara Samay's lead it is believed that a lot of telly news outfits are starting local channels to cater to the NCR - Aaj Tak and NDTV among them.
Today is the sixtieth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. In school, the History and Civics textbooks mentioned how the Americans were wrong to drop the A-Bomb on two Japanese cities. In College we learnt that had the bomb not been dropped, the Americans would have been forced to mount an invasion of the Japanese mainland, and after a bruising battle on the island of Okinawa, the Americans dreaded an attack on the island of Hokkaido.
So the bomb was on dropped on Hiroshima on the sixth of August 1945 and the Nuclear Age began. A second bomb followed over the city of Nagasaki on the ninth. We all know where it has brought us. There are some very interesting sites looking at pictures and movies from sixty years ago when the bombs devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki, check out the last issue of Time magazine.
You can see the entire collection of Hiromi Tsuchida pictures in this online archive. (via BoingBoing)
And a great Documentary about the impact of the bombing! (via BoingBoing)
The men who bombed Hiroshima.
Anyway, today is my last day at work in Delhi (again), but hopefully it should be third time lucky. I've lost the place I was planning to move into, but my friends (and maybe relatives) will have to put up with me for a bit longer than expected. Anyway, I have one last story to write, so I better get down to it!
EDIT : I found these images on Adlova. This is Kingfisher Beer's Campaign in the UK. All I have to say is WTF? And I drink Cobra Beer whenever possible, it is a better, crisper beer, and worth the extra cash. And in a country where you can get good Ale, Guinness and Czech Pilsner, why would want to buy Kingfisher? Mutton Tikka tastes very nice with Guinness.