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Socialism is immoralProtest the quota systemEnd entitlement benefits for freeloaders Support the death penalty for terrorists and anti-nationals |
| FAKE STINGS AND SECULAR GAMES: | |
| The deep rooted conspiracy to subvert the political process [link] |
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Friday, August 31, 2007 |
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Losing faith | |
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 Business is losing faith in Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reports BusinessWeek in an article in its latest issue. [link]In May the Indian Prime Minister endured a hail of criticism from the business community after he urged corporate chieftains to "eschew conspicuous consumption" or risk a backlash—a warning that left his audience wondering whether the sage economist was turning his back on reforms he himself had pioneered as finance minister 15 years ago.
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Thursday, August 30, 2007 |
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An intellectual blow to the left | |
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 Reflecting the increasing isolation of the Left Front in the intelligentsia, West Bengal's eminent Leftist writer-activist Mahashweta Devi feels that it has achieved "very little" in its 30 years of rule in the State. [link]"I was deeply impressed to see how strong the work culture is in Gujarat. The city and village roads are well-built, even the remotest villages have electricity and drinking water. I was especially impressed with the medical facilities in the panchayats and local-level health centres. Not at all like West Bengal where, even now, villages and panchayat areas have hardly any electricity and where the Government's so-called swasthya pariseva (healthcare service) is totally non-existent," she said. "In West Bengal, which has been under a CPI(M)-led Left Government for 30 years, little has been achieved," the writer said. She also alleged that starvation deaths and child mortality are "rampant" in West Bengal. I think the leftists should go out more. In a panel discussion held in Europe, Arundhati Roy actually said that she had expected to get killed during one of her speeches in the US. It is quite clear that at least some of the communist ideologues today hold their wits together by means of strong self-deception. The rest are scums, their act is deliberate. It is heartening to see some of the influential oldtimers coming around.
posted by barbarindian at 9:47 PM Permalink
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Tuesday, August 28, 2007 |
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Autograph please | |
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 At least 1,200 resident doctors of the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) went on a flash strike on Tuesday evening expressing their displeasure with Union Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss.Meanwhile the standoff continues between AIIMS director Dr. Venugopal and Hon'ble Minister of Health Dr. Anubumani Ramadoss. According to Newsweek: The premier AIIMS has been described by Newsweek magazine as a medical "oasis of the poor" and treats at least 8,000 people every day. Patients from across the country avail treatment here for a nominal fee.Respect needs to be earned, quotas or life stories won't work in that area.
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Moral policing in Tamil Nadu | |
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 Tamil Nadu does not want women to have access to emergency contraceptive pills.Cipla's new emergency contraceptive, popularly known as the 'morning after pill', the i-pill is showing contra-indications in Tamil Nadu.Given that the state politicians claim themselves to be rationals, Tamil Nadu appears to have very retrograde ideas about what women should or should not do. Recently they hounded actress Khushboo for making certain remarks. Contrast this report with a recent CNN-IBN coverage of a similar Government intervention in MP (BJP ruled state).
posted by barbarindian at 8:31 AM Permalink
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Monday, August 27, 2007 |
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The narrative fits together nicely | |
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Rajdeep Sardesai being interviewed by his own channel.
posted by barbarindian at 11:25 PM Permalink
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Quiz [Answer] | |
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In May 1940, a well known Indian leader heaped lavish praises on Hitler. Who was this leader? Most commentators got the answer right. Indeed the great leader was no other than Gandhi. A. G. Noorani reviews a recently released book and comes up with the conclusion that the book is short on substance and full of sensational trivia. Gandhi praised Hitler. "I do not consider Herr Hitler to be as bad as he is depicted," he wrote in May 1940. "He is showing an ability that is amazing and he seems to be gaining his victories without much bloodshed." He regretted that Hitler had employed war rather than non-violence to achieve his aims, but nonetheless averred that the Germans of the future "will honour Herr Hitler as a genius, a brave man, matchless organiser and much more".Then in 1946: In 1946 he told Louis Fischer: "Hitler killed five million Jews. It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs... As it is they succumbed anyway in their millions." The author wrote: " Gandhi's ambivalence towards the Nazis was matched by his feelings about the Japanese."Now, contrast the tone of the Noorani article with the constant media campaign and hate mongering about how folks from a certain religion admire Hitler and how this is a foreshadow of looming fascism. Also note how annoyed Noorani is at the author. He had quite a different frame of mind when he severely criticized President Kalam in another recent article. In the latter article, Noorani concludes that Kalam had attempted to overstep his boundaries. So now we are down to reading people's minds and judging them by thoughts rather than actions. In another news, the latest Indian Institute of Management at Shillong will be called Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management. Why not just call it Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Management? Granted we need to honor our late Prime Minister, but don't we have enough symbols dedicated to him already?
posted by barbarindian at 1:56 AM Permalink
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Sunday, August 26, 2007 |
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Farmer suicides down | |
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 Farmer suicides are down in six Vidarbha districts for the first seven months of the year, according to a report from Indian Express. Apparently the police and the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti have different ways to track suicides. The Samiti puts the figure at 605 for all eleven districts.General observations:
While searching for suicide statistics, we found this report: South India - world's suicide capital. Well, despair no more. Help is now available in the form of bomb blasts. No more messing around with amateurish rope knots, poisons etc. Just go out more on the weekends to popular venues. The only consolation to Chandrababu Naidu (suicides were a primary reason behind his ouster), ex-CM AP, is that his son got married today. Sadly he could not enjoy the ceremony fully as he had to attend emergency meetings in the wake of the tense situation in the city.
posted by barbarindian at 8:34 PM Permalink
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Tehelka gets a new sponsor and it's you | |
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 Can anyone explain why the Gas Authority of India Ltd. would need to advertise at all? A few corporate TV spots would make sense from recruitment etc. point of view. But of all places, why Tehelka?Tehelka proudly wears the logos of its sponsors, Air India and GAIL on its home page. Both are public sector undertakings. GAIL comes under Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Air India is under Ministry of Civil Aviation. Thus the tax payer indirectly ends up supporting a Congress mouthpiece. Keep in mind that there are other ways Tehelka could potentially channel monies into its newspaper. They run several NGOs and they are blessed by our top politicians who frequently show up in the functions. Someone should fully audit this whole thing. GAIL's mission statement is Gas and Beyond. You could say it fits Tehelka in way.
posted by barbarindian at 6:31 PM Permalink
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Saturday, August 25, 2007 |
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How's that for timing? | |
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* * * Updated * * *   Sensational journalism, meet irony. Yeah, it's hard and it hurts. Even as CNN-IBN prepares for a well coordinated political campaign for Congress in aniticipation for a chance snap poll ("Special: Mumbai riots a planned, perfected pogrom?", "Sonia's healing touch eases UPA-Left tension" etc.), blasts rocked Hyderabad yet again. HYDERABAD: At least five people were killed and over a dozen injured when two blasts in quick succession rocked a park and a popular eat-out in Hyderabad on Saturday evening, police sources said.Luckily for Shri Sardesai the blasts did not do quite as much damage. We expect CNN-IBN to resume its schduled programming as soon as possible, with their headline alternating between a Sonia related story and the Bombay riot "expose". Come to think of it, the P-word is being thrown around too casually. The word was introduced into the popular political lexicon post Gujarat riots. Now they have extended it to the Bombay riots as well. As we see it, the Bombay riots could neither have been planned, nor could it be called perfect. With that kind of casualty ratio (575:275), it looks much more like a random orgy of violence. [Update] More details are trickling in about the blasts.  The killing just doesn't stop. At least 40 people were killed and scores injured in two powerful blasts in Hyderabad, one at an amusement park packed with weekend holidayers and another at a landmark eatery in the heart of the city on Saturday evening..[link]One explosion happened at an amusement park where a laser show was underway. Another happened in a popular eatery thronging with weekend crowd. The blasts were intended to produce maximum number of casualties. Perhaps you could call it a "planned and perfected pogrom", not sure about this. As usual foreign hands have been blamed, red alert sounded in other cities (so confidence inspiring in a POTA less regime), words such as RDX, HuJI, LeT etc. occupy news reports.
posted by barbarindian at 11:21 AM Permalink
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Thursday, August 23, 2007 |
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Left out | |
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 Does anyone still believe the Government is going to collapse? In the past week, the left has moved from a total hardline stance to "we will wait till the IAEA meet" to "we will wait till the Government operationalizes the plan", whatever that means. Merely a couple of days ago the fall of the Government seemed inevitable. Today many people are singing different tunes.So what happened? The leftists simply do not have the belly to go to a snap poll when the wounds from Singur and Nandigram are still so fresh. Meanwhile Prakash Karat is scouting around for new bases. A convenient scapegoat in the form of Ambassador Ronen Sen has been found. There is no doubt in our minds that the left is in serious trouble. The next election might as well bury them forever. Let's try to understand what is happening. We love the phrase "narrowing of interests" which blogger RealityCheck uses so often. What would you rather do, subscribe to the communist folklore and settle for a life of mediocrity (albeit one that promises fictitous equity) or believe in group incentives which just might help you beat the odds? How would your views change if you see kids around you beating the odds? Not all of them will beat the odds using group incentives but you might still want to hedge your bets. Thus it is a no contest between the egalitarian premise and narrowing of interests. The left realizes this. It is not just about the OBC quotas in central institutes. Mayawati's rise means trouble for Congress which can only be averted by implementing private sector quotas for Dalits. Unfortunately Congress is in the OBC quota logjam at the moment, it is a big bite they can neither swallow nor spit out. Unless that one plays out fully, their hands are tied. Our reading is that Maya will beat Congress to making a strong proposal for private sector quotas. Her anti-retail moves are as much about hatred for the Ambanis (who are friends of SP) as they are about collecting future bargaining chips. She also realizes that in the era of narrowing interests people want their benefits here and now, not wait about half a decade for the success of a dubious Agro-reform plan (yeah, like we didn't have a zillion of them already!). So, why did the left throw the gauntlet all of a sudden? It is a clear diversionary tactics. This muscle flexing was only meant to assure whatever support base they have left that they still matter and they are still powerful. It appears that the West Bengal faction of the left is the first to blink. Apart from Singur and Nandigram fiascos, the state is long overdue for anti-incumbency. The Government may yet fall, which is contingent on an entirely different group which has maintained strange silence through the whole thing as it did during the Haneef case. Was there a secret arrangement? Only time will tell.
posted by barbarindian at 9:56 PM Permalink
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007 |
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Mayawati should exercise caution | |
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 Several days ago, we observed that Mayawati's UP win hadn't gone down well with the socialists.The attacks seem to be picking up pace. CNN-IBN is running an "expose", claiming alleged financial irregularities by Mayawati: Maya 'gifts' BSP office worth crores to brotherCompare and contrast this report with the Pratibha Patil related exposes. In those cases, the media strongly asserted: a) Nothing has been proven in a court of law yet (and never will be, as we now know) b) All Maharashtra politicans have a suger mill, a cooperative and a college - so what's the big deal? Also, note how the report starts with the legacy of Ambedkar. As we noted before, Mayawati is being held to an absurd benchmark, conveniently defined by the sec-soc lobby. The subtext is clear, Mayawati is not upholding Ambedkar's visions. Hence she is not the right choice for Dalits. Once this framework is properly laid out by the media and consumed by gullible public, all they need to do is cry foul! No need to examine the details. For instance, if Mayawati supports retail expansion in UP, it will be a foul. Ambedkar never said retail, did he? Another minor detail, the headline mentions that the office is worth "crores". Turns out the office is worth about 1.25 crores. The report also mentions that the office will now become "personal property" of Mayawati's brother. Well, the office will be given to a trust. Not quite the same thing, is it? Buried deep in the report is the factoid that the office was actually built from BSP funds, i.e. funds built up by political donations to the BSP party. This is not in the same ballpark as the Pratibha Patil and Co. scams. Heck, this ain't even the same game! Mayawati should be very careful. She is up against a very determined group of people who have been running a fascist regime for decades. She should learn a lesson from history too, when the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law duo of Indira Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi used nasty techniques to arrest Babu Jagjivan Ram's political ascent.
posted by barbarindian at 10:20 PM Permalink
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Wednesday, August 15, 2007 |
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Soldiers of fortune | |
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 Shiv Sainiks are at it again, they vandalized The Outlook's Bombay office to protest their leader's less than charitable portrayal in the said magazine's independence day special.This isn't the first time they reacted way over the top for real or imaginary insults to their leader. The previous time was perhaps that statue related issue. Make no mistake about it, we do believe that this attack was ugly and the perpetrators must be punished. However, we do think that running that story on the 60th anniversary edition was merely political opportunism. Were these people the only villains? If you add 2nd order effects such as poverty, starvation etc., we could have a completely different list. In a sense the cartoon was most appropriate for Thackeray. His ideology is a virulent blend of ethnic identity based politics, religious dogma and social justice. Shiv Sena has done many curious things in the past, riot involvement aside. They used to send fish sellers to apartment complexes to scandalize and harass vegetarian upper-class folks. They are the strongest proponent of Bhumiputra clauses - a move that is bound to poison India's already divided public in the days to come. Thackeray thundered, Bombay is for Marathis, only to recant a few days later. Bombay is still for Marathis, but as a footnote they add Gujaratis and Parsis for good measure. Bhojpuri people still unwelcome though. We are still confused about their recent decision not to support Shekhawat for President. Would they be in the Congress camp if Congress had a Marathi leader? This move showed the complete moral bankruptcy of Thackeray. Perhaps they aspire to be like another DMK. This could be a great opportunity for BJP to lose this ugly appendage although political reality may prevent them from doing so.
posted by barbarindian at 7:46 PM Permalink
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60 years of .... | |
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 Will she continue to tilt her head towards the right when she grows up?  We hope she makes the right choice. It will make a huge difference to the lives of almost half of her peers and the generations beyond.
posted by barbarindian at 12:19 AM Permalink
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Tuesday, August 14, 2007 |
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Vertical Limit | |
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(image from bharat-rakshak.com) Traditionally, Indian people have been apathetic to foreign policy matters for the most part. It could be due to any number of reasons. Strictly state controlled media could be one. Another could be the deep psychological impact etched on the minds of the people through centuries of foreign rule during which all they could do was turn inwards and brood.(Movie quote from Vertical Limit) We also talked about Kashmir, incessantly and obsessively. Kashmir was made into a national pride issue. Did we really want Kashmir? We didn't have it to begin with and there is no evidence we particularly aspired for it. In those days, we were not even sure we would get Hyderabad, which eventually we did, for a hefty sum of money. But we read in our history books how our brave leaders snatched all the princely states and distributed their wealth among poor people. All that has changed now, foreign policy related issues keep grabbing the headlines. The old Siachen debate is still on. They are now conducting opinion polls and reaching conclusions. The media has taken it upon themselves to fix the Kashmir problem. A recent survey conducted by several news organizations found that Kashmiris want freedom. There are also calls for a referendum. There is nothing wrong with all these citizen initiatives or track II diplomacies. The issue is that just because these initiatives are taken by the media and activist folks, they may not be free from the politics they set out to fix. As a simple example, a survey conducted by Pew Research Center on March '06 found that Indians overwhelmingly favor the US. Contrast this with what CNN-IBN found, according to a story (Titled: India, Pak: Two nations, same anti-US sentiment) that occupies their headlines at the time of writing: We will not speculate whether the survey results and interpretations had anything to do with the fact that CSDS conducted it or whether the news organization in question has an undenialble political slant. We just hope Indians do not get a rude awakening at the end.
posted by barbarindian at 1:05 AM Permalink
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Sunday, August 12, 2007 |
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Let's play | |
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 Wanna have some fun? Try playing the my fundamentalist is better than your fundamentalist game. You could also try the blame the victim game or shove it under the carpet while holding it in your hand game.We were a mute spectator to all these games all weekend long. Here are some general observations:
Should we be worried about such incidents and where it places Hindus in the global context? To put matters into perspective, despite Owaisi's claims that Tasleema is a foreigner and hence we should see the matter from that angle, we have seen heads roll (literally) in India in resonance to global caliphate related events. Starting from 9/11 to Danish cartoon controversy to Saddam hanging - we have seen an orgy of violence erupt in India in reaction to incidents that have no immediate bearing on India. The extent of the problem can be seen in a CNN-IBN TV show, where a riot broke out. You can't even have a discussion unless it is completely on their terms. It is almost certain that the Government will use the foreigner excuse to rid itself of the problem. Tasleema should seek asylum in a European country, like Holland (wait! remember Van Gogh?). Tasleema has no place to run to, no place to hide. Recently a Pakistani intellectual verbalized his wet dream of having a unified South Asia under Islamic rule (just like the Mughal times). Just today there was a news item, 60,000 Muslims in Jakarta rallied to revive the caliphate. The 1-2-3 agreement predictably sent a lot of Mullahs in a tizzy and Pakistan's trigger finger appears to be itching. Then there is Dawood Ibrahim. All this reminds us of the court scene in Shootout at Lokhandwala, where Bachchan plays the defense attorney for encounter killer cops. He makes a dramatic defense. He asks the judge, hypothetically, who would he rather leave his family with, the cop under trial or the dreaded thug? Secularism is a fine concept but clearly it matters how it is being administered and by who. Doesn't taste good when it is shoved down your throat, like the way it has been for the past 60 years. We know how we like our secularism. How would you like yours? Shaken or stirred?
posted by barbarindian at 9:27 PM Permalink
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Saturday, August 11, 2007 |
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Marooned | |
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Over 19 million people displaced, as many as 2 million marooned. The great flood no one talked about and never hit the headlines. [link]
posted by barbarindian at 1:02 PM Permalink
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Thursday, August 09, 2007 |
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Secularism collides with Reality, falls down, bleeds profusely | |
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 About 100 protesters, including three lawmakers, from the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party burst in, shouting that the author was "anti-Islam". Ms Nasreen backed into a corner as objects rained down and she was threatened with a chair, witnesses said. One witness said Ms Nasreen was slapped. She was protected by others at the meeting and was later taken to safety by police. Officers detained the three lawmakers and a number of other protesters. Ahmad Pasha Quadri, one of the lawmakers, said: "Our protest is against Taslima Nasreen because of her writings ridiculing Islam. We want the Indian government to send her back to Bangladesh." [link]This was actually far more serious than it reads. Tasleema later said "they [the Muslim mob] wanted to kill me". Only headlines from western news sources such as Reuters, Voice of America, Washington Post etc. (and surpsigingly some from Malaysia and Gulf too) had the word "Muslims" in them. Most Indian headlines read: Tasleema heckled, Tasleema roughed up etc. In the aftermath of the attack Tasleema was packed off back to Calcutta. She is not entirely safe over there, see this flashback from a while ago. It is not clear if the PM will be able to sleep tonight. Let us remind our readers that Tasleema's repeated appeals for an Indian citizenship are ignored by our Government (the same Government which was demanding an Australian visa for alleged terrorist Haneef merely a week ago). Tasleema also said that, "Such people [meaning the attackers] people are a minority in India." Think she was being facetious?
posted by barbarindian at 11:16 PM Permalink
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Historical Blindness | |
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 Cricket Historian turned real historian Ramachandra Guha has written a book on contemporary Indian history called India after Gandhi.Knowing what we did about Guha so far, we were not too keen on reading the book. He is an ardent admirer of Nehru and calls himself a liberal democrat. But we do feel curious about why the likes of Tehelka and The Hindu are giving Guha so much coverage. Well, we got a taste of what the book would be like from a CNN-IBN "freedom chat". For quite sometime now, Guha has tried to pass himself off as non-partisan. He has largely succeeded. As a matter of fact, some of our sec-soc friends actually attacked him because of his view points on the recent St. Stephen's quota increase. Guha has also attacked Arundhati Roy in the past. While it is also well known which side he bats for, the chat was a revelation. Guha blends some stale criticisms of Congress with feel-good socialistic catch phrases and the most vitriolic left of centre rhetorics. A few samples from the chat: The Gandhian ethos can still act as a brake on excessive consumerism, as a moderating influence which also will lead to an environmentally sustainable path of development.We reserve our judgment till we read the book and we sincerely hope the book doesn't read anything like the chat transcript. There is something fradulent about writing a book on very recent events and calling it history. The danger of influencing current political opinion aside, the events in the recent decade hasn't yet been seen through the impartial eyes of history. It is fascinating how strongly he believes in the fairness of NCERT books, he should read some of our blog posts (another big one coming) on this topic. At one point in the chat, he says, Film is a very dramatic but also superficial medium - it has to simplify. We hope that he realized the obvious pitfalls while writing the book.
posted by barbarindian at 8:47 PM Permalink
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Wednesday, August 08, 2007 |
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Pratibha Tai's family values | |
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(First husband with the Shiv Sena supremo) After president Kalam departed the Rashtrapati Bhavan with two suitcases and a ton of books, Tai and her cabal of nine took possession of the palacial abode. We can only guess, but it stands to reason that the unhappiest lot at the moment are the Rashtrapati Bhavan staffers. President Kalam really pushed his simple life ideals, perhaps too far. Legend has it that Kalam often broke protocol and had his meals with the staff - in the regular pantry. Think of the reduced workload, no presidential silver, no setting up the lavish dining room. Environment friendly too, I guess.Well, it seems that Tai is gonna have none of that. Three AC cars, five officials, a VIP suite and preferably pohe for breakfast. [...] These and many more directives from Rashtrapati Bhavan to the Maharashtra government on the occasion of the visit of President Pratibha Patil's husband to the state have caused a flutter in political and bureaucratic circles. Rashtrapati Bhavan has asked the state to provide Shekhawat with at least five officials - a senior protocol officer, a public relations officer, a personal security officer, a photographer and an attendant - during his stay, besides reserving appropriate accommodation for him at the Sahyadri guesthouse in Mumbai and the circuit house at Amravati. In Sahyadri, it has been asked to reserve one suite for Shekhawat, with an STD telephone line and fax, and five more rooms with STD lines for his officials. The same arrangements have been asked for the Amravati circuit house and Ravi Bhavan, Nagpur. Other demands: a computer with internet and printer in the ADC's suite, one local photographer at all three places and three AC cars at Mumbai, Amravati and Nagpur. [link]Come to think of it, our national pride dictates that our first citizen and her family be accorded royal treatment. Generally speaking we have no problem with this, although we are yet to hear if we are officially shining yet. If not, we are supposed to be in a period of mourning and perhaps a little moderatation is advisable. Anyway. Tai has her work cut out for her. She has made a few public appearences. She has promised to be a political president, whatever that means. She has also said that women and Agriculture must get first priority. It is not clear whether the Aam Aadmi has as easy access to our new president, but she is giving the BJP leadership from Goa quite a run around. It is good net practice for her. She might have to repeat this for any number of states in the near future, including but not limited to Karnataka, Bihar (again!), Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan etc. Don't forget that she will also have deal with eight (the old one plus seven fresh ones) political hot potatoes. Reportedly Kalam claimed that the Afzal file had been sitting with the Home Ministry. Then there is the long process of appeals and counter-appeals, sec-soc indignation etc. I think a better strategy would be to keep the files in a safe place till the '09 blows over. We will find out soon enough.
posted by barbarindian at 8:13 PM Permalink
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OBC Quota: Government down to hard bargaining | |
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 Read more at: MSM, RealityCheck, Lex.
posted by barbarindian at 1:27 AM Permalink
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Tuesday, August 07, 2007 |
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Let's Party | |
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 Do you read the Verve Magazine? Bet you don't. Perhaps you should. In any case, the magazine offers some rare glimpses of the inner circle in the capital. See if you can find any familiar names in the image. The image is from a party thrown by socialite Devi Cherian and her husband, political lobbyist Dilip Cherian. Apparently this is an annual ritual for the couple.Please note that just because two people are in the same party does not mean they are sleeping together. Partying is not an offence. We encourage people to party and party real hard. They help feed poor people. [Post inspired partly by a comment by blogger RealityCheck]
posted by barbarindian at 10:08 PM Permalink
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Media Police Game | |
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 (Click on image for a larger version)Imagine yourself as a dreaded enforcer of media laws in a totalitarian state. How many offensive things do you see in this picture? Would you recommend a ban on the perpetrators?
posted by barbarindian at 9:06 PM Permalink
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Media gag in progress | |
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 Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi does not smile much. In fact he does not smile at all. He speaks in a monotonous yet forceful voice. He is a curious choice for a party whose major leaders cry themselves to sleep every night over the plight of people. Singhvi does not appear to have an ounce of compassion in him.Actually Singhvi does his job as the hatchetman quite well. There are not too many people who can claim with a straight face that the proposed Broadcasting Services Regulatory Bill and Draft Content Code is very similar to existing regulations in countries like the US and appear to be fully convinced about it at the same time. Singhvi comes from the same ideological stable which has provided us with our latest President. There is something chilling about the absolute loyalty they feel for their party and the Gandhi family. To get a feel for the Draconian nature of the bill, consider this: 1. TV channels and newspapers will have a Government appointed super editor (think of a zealous class monitor in middle school) who will ratify every piece of programming and news. 2. You need prior permission before launching sting operations and need to inform the target. 3. It is strongly suggested that media should not report matters related to political or industrial controversy. There will be steep fines for violations and even license cancellations. The implications of this bill is very serious. The likelihood of this bill making it into the law is quite high as well. This is a particularly vulnerable time for the left. They are likely to support the bill. Perhaps a moot point since the lefties are control freaks anyway. As journalist Nalini Singh pointed out, the channels may have to swallow the bill this time. The reason is simple, there is intense competition between the channels and all of them have made heavy capital investments. Even a temporary license cancellation may wreck their cashflows. This bill proves the desperation of Congress to win the 2009 elections. They are not leaving anything to chance. Since assuming power all they have done is try and reinforce their vote banks. Many of these moves have backfired. The party has also suffered a series of ill-timed politically inconvenient incidents. This bill is a harbinger of politically tumultuous times ahead.
posted by barbarindian at 1:18 AM Permalink
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Monday, August 06, 2007 |
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Don't compare Apples to Oranges | |
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 There is an online signature campaign going on which calls for equitable punishment for Hindu rioters and Muslim terrorists. The verbiage of the petition is disgusting and can be considered a contempt of the Sovereign state of India.For a fact based (as opposed to life stories based) analysis of the case under consideration, read this post by Offstumped. Among the many dreadful things I learned from the analysis was the sad fate of a family of five, including a a specially abled girl, charred to death by miscreants. Justice for all is a fine concept and we are all for it. What is puzzling is the apples to oranges comparison between rioters and terrorists. Riots are primitive, they happened plenty during the Mughal period as well. Terrorism is a very new invention, it is modern, it is far more dreadful in consequence. What we should really call for is equal punishment for Hindu rioters and Muslim rioters and for Hindu terrorists and Muslim terrorists. Given that about a third or slightly more of the victims of riots were Hindus (in specific cases in Kerala etc. there have been different casualty patterns), it is imperative that the law seeks out and punishes Muslim rioters as well. Now for the hard part. We had a dreadful attack on our own soil by Hindu terrorists, which resulted in the killing of a charming young Prime Minister. This eventually led to the capture of the culprits. Alas, their death sentence was commuted. Compare this to the death sentences being meted out to the Muslim terrorists. Gross perversion of justice if you ask me. Of course if you were really a sucker for justice, you would follow the trail of Murugan Nalini & Co. real hard and who knows where you would get to? Would the end of the trail lead to a man wearing dark glasses? We will never know.
posted by barbarindian at 7:11 PM Permalink
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Too much chhole causes flatulence | |
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 The alleged mastermind of the multi-crore land scam in the capital, Ashok Malhotra, was on Monday arrested by CBI after he surfaced in the studio of a private news channel. The chickens are coming home to roost (or should we say to feed on chhole) for the UPA Government. Where are the stingers when you need them? Let us remind our readers that Tehelka has been running a special on food vendors in New Delhi for sometime now. Is it possible that they were in on the scam? It just stinks.
posted by barbarindian at 3:41 AM Permalink
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Sunday, August 05, 2007 |
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Education Missionary Style | |
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 In a shocking incident, the principal of a school in Andhra Pradesh gave electric shocks to a 10-year-old student. Police in Tuni town on Saturday registered a case against the principal of a residential school run by a Christian mission. Police were on the lookout for the principal, who allegedly justified the punishment before escaping to evade arrest.Shocking, very shocking. A similar incident in a non-missionary school would first lead to huge outcries, then allegations of casteist oppression and finally TV programs which would conclude that the reason behind all this is the cultish nature of Hindu religion.
posted by barbarindian at 11:36 AM Permalink
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Saturday, August 04, 2007 |
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Roaches | |
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 Only the paranoid survive.- Andrew Grove The threat of major conflict between India and Pakistan will overshadow all other regional issues during the next 15 years. [...] The decisive shift in conventional military power in India's favor over the coming years potentially will make the region more volatile and unstable. - Global Trends 2015 (CIA Report) However, their asymmetrical conventional force capabilities and doctrines could create pressures for one side to launch nuclear weapons, even if they would prefer not to. - The Risk of Nuclear Use Between India and Pakistan (Center for Contemporary Conflict) There are only three ways to build lasting cooperation and friendship in the international arena. Culture, commitment and credibility. The US and the UK will never go to war against one another. Japan is a trusted nation because of its strong commitment, which they showed by building a no war doctrine into their constitution. The third option requires a lot more work. There are several ways to achieve it, consistency being a primary requirement. Arab nations will never heckle Israel, except for launching covert terrorist attacks against this tiny nation. Israel's doctrine has been very simple and derived directly from Newton's third law. Credible? You bet. In a manner of speaking, India's foreign policy has been pretty consistent so far, consistent in its continuous bungling and utter lack of direction. This must frustrate other countries no end. The objective of foreign policy is the well being of citizens, not earning brownie points (or awards) for being nice. There were some quotes in the beginning of this post. They are somewhat outdated, because they analyze the India-Pak situation within assumptions of rationality. After the Red Mosque fiasco, who will believe that Pakistan (as a sum total of its various fractious groups, powerful army and a dubious Government) will behave rationally? This brings us to an important question. How likely is a preemptive nuclear strike from Pakistan? A corollary to that is, if Pakistan is supposed to be X% irrational, why even bother? Both questions can be easily answered. Given how close Pakistan was to launching a preemptive attack recently, the probability remains very high. Now, irrationality takes many hues. One can be a complete basket case in which case all bets are off. But it is easy to see that the powers that be within Pakistan do care about their own well being. Therefore, it is safe to assume that a credible deterrant on India's part will necessarily involve: (a) A complete annihilation of Pakistan (b) A complete subjugation of Pakistan leading to a likely capture of its leadership The 1-2-3 agreement will act as a serious dampener against India's nuclear counter-strike credibility. Second, the agreement makes it look like we are a civilized nation or trying our best to look like one. The part of the problem for Pakistan was that it could never be completely sure that we didn't have one or two nuts in our country. Now they know, especially after watching our National Security Advisor on Devil's advocate. What a shame. The dude looks like the uncle next door who just retired and takes his toddler grandchild for a morning walk to the park every day and whose only guilty pleasure is an extra cup of filter coffee. Third, this agreement is a bilateral agreement with the US only. We are villains in the eyes of the international community (especially the militant anti-war European liberal lobby) simply for owning nukes. Ambition to own more nuclear stuff, peaceful or otherwise, makes us look even worse. Needless to say, it doesn't earn us any goodwill from the Arab nations (queue: recent announcement of hefty arms deal with Arab states by the US). We will analyze the economic part in another post. If you add the economic situation, it starts too look even sillier. We believe that this hastily signed agreement is a colossal blunder on India's part. However, we do wish for the best and hope that nothing unpleasant happens in the near future. Remember that after a nuclear winter, only roaches survive.
posted by barbarindian at 12:46 AM Permalink
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Friday, August 03, 2007 |
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1-2-3 | |
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 One of the stalwart American film directors during the heydays of studio era, Billy Wilder is perhaps best known for his classic noir Double Indemnity, which would see several remakes in both Hollywood (Double Jeopardy) and Bollywood (Jism).He made a string of well known films including Sunset Boulevard, Ace in the hole (out of print and recently out on Criterion), Apartment (the theme of which was used in a segment of Life in a Metro). One, two three is a rare gem from the veteran director. Set in 1960s Germany, this is a scathing satire of the communists which pulls few punches. It also makes fun of American corporate types though in a much more benign way. An ambitious Coca Cola executive is deputed to West Berlin. His wife and two young children are not very happy about this but he works diligently, so that someday he can be head of entire Europe. All is well until the Coca Cola president sends his wayward teenage daughter to West Berlin so she could be prevented from making trouble back home in Atlanta. The daughter is gingerly accepted within the family. But she has several things on her mind. Finding West Berlin dull, she starts sneaking into East Berlin, unbeknownst to her hosts. Hilarity ensues. Highly enjoyable film with crisp dialog and tight screenplay. Wilder shows how comedy is done without compromising character development or story. Meanwhile, the entire agreement of the famous India-US 123 agreement has been made public. We are somewhat disappointed. You can see a copy from the Ministry of External Affairs website [pdf]. Our analysis will shortly follow.
posted by barbarindian at 9:55 PM Permalink
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A bridge too old | |
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 Strange.
posted by barbarindian at 6:19 PM Permalink
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Global Warming: Part I | |
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 Japanese scientists have concluded that beef production typically contributes more to global warming than cars do. A study commissioned by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba, Japan, and published in the Animal Science Journal, found that producing 2.2 pounds of beef generates more carbon dioxide than an average car does every 160 miles.Don't eat a cow, man.
posted by barbarindian at 12:26 AM Permalink
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Wednesday, August 01, 2007 |
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Freedom of Speech vs. Secular Socialist Democratic Republic | |
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 Police have found prima facie evidence against J Prashanti, political science lecturer of the St. Ann's College for Women, Mehdipatnam.It is not clear exactly what did the lecturer say that had her students' panties in tiny knots. According to merinews: She is reported to have said, "Islam is nothing...Quran is written by Satan...Prophet (SAW) P.B.U.H. is nothing, not to believe him. Whatever is happening in the world it’s because of Muslims...and there is no religion as Islam and Hinduism…there is only one religion and that is Christianity."To this her students replied: "Prashanti mam ko aaj pata chala Friday the 13th kya hai!!!!"According to arabnews: In the political science class for Bachelor of Arts (BA) final year, she asked the students to discuss Salman Rushdie and his writings.According to andhracafe: One of our correspondents tried to privately reach out to several intellectuals who had written passionate essays following the Vadodara MS University Art fiasco. Unfortunately none were available.
posted by barbarindian at 9:52 PM Permalink
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Ouch! | |
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 This is how all the trouble started.
posted by barbarindian at 7:24 PM Permalink
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Al Dilbert | |
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 From: The Exile.
posted by barbarindian at 8:48 AM Permalink
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