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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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Thursday, February 28, 2008 |
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Have more kids | |
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Bihar is up for grabs in elections next year. Being a backward state and having been Lalooed for 15 years, if you were to believe economists like Robert Barro, the poor state will require several decades just to play catch up. In such a situation, pressures of anti-incumbency against CM Nitish Kumar is immense. It does not help that he is part of the wrong coalition. Right about now the poor soul is screaming at anyone who would listen (not many in the media) that he needs to be credited for the legendary railway turnaround story. More on that later. Secular media is doing its bit, with CNN-IBN taking the lead in special reports on Bihar. We reported earlier on the biased coverage on mob violence in Bihar. Meanwhile please take a look at this news item: 7-year old brutally beaten by a mob in West Bengal. Anyway. CNN-IBN just published a story about a family welfare scheme going horribly wrong in Bihar. Patna: The Government may be spending lakhs of rupees on population control, but some schemes are turning out to be counter-productive. CNN-IBN found that in rural Bihar, villagers are having more babies just to get money promised under welfare schemes.As usual CNN-IBN totally ignores the fine print. This scheme has nothing to do with Bihar Government per se. The UPA Government launched the National Rural Health Mission, of which the Bihar scheme is just an implementation. As a matter of fact, the original scheme provided coverage for up to two children. This cap was recently removed after a central Government directive. (Quick quiz: Why do you think the cap was removed? Did the Government have any particular demographic in mind?). Needless to say, for many poor and marginal families, the Rs. 1400/- odd per child up front creates a strong enough short-term incentive. The same thing must be going on in UP, MP etc. Arguably, the Gujarat Chiranjeevi scheme removes this moral hazard by introducing a public private- partnership model.
posted by barbarindian at 12:34 AM Permalink
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Saturday, February 23, 2008 |
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TalibaNadu | |
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 One would expect the rationalists who never miss out on an opportunity to lash out at religious fanatics (only a particular religion), would keep a healthy attitude towards gender related issues.Some time back we were shocked at a report which claimed that students living in a girls' hostel in Tamil Nadu were asked to keep a menstrual register! Then came the news of political parties hounding actress Khushboo for her remarks on chastity of women. More recently actress Shriya was chastised for wearing a risque dress at a DMK party function. Of course, a state where the most revered living political leader publicly practices polygamy, such things pale in comparison. Now for a rather funny report [video] on some colleges from TN: The outskirts of Chennai are home to scores of engineering colleges where discipline it appears is an obsession - sometimes even bordering on the ridiculous. Some rules even bar students from talking to the opposite sex. What we found was not only shocking, but disturbing: Metal barricades had been put up in buses to ensure that girls sat away from boys. While girls sat in the front rows, boys sat behind them. We also found exclusive dining areas for members of the two sexes. Interestingly the 'Non-Veg' section was synonymous with the 'Gents only' areas. [...] In yet another college it seemed things were getting from bad to worse - here we even found staircases clearly labelled 'Gents only', and 'Ladies only'. When we asked college authorities for an explanation, the Director said the rules were "only for for convenience".Think this is not so serious? Well, think again. [...] but for one teenager in an engineering college, who had to forgo a year for shaking hands with a girl, these are more than just an eccentric rule. He recalls the 'crime': "I just shook hands with a girl. It was her birthday and I wished her. A bus driver saw it and complained to the director. They harassed me by asking many questions. I got suspended for one and a half months. My attendance obviously suffered, and they dropped me for a year. They were harassing my parents. I have seen my mom cry only twice before. This was third time."These people are going too far to prevent "contamination". But for these college going boys and girls, they are being deprived of a very necessary part of the process of growing up, at a formative age, when interacting with the other sex helps build healthy attitude towards sex and gender related issues.
posted by barbarindian at 5:57 PM Permalink
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CNN-IBN can beat Nazi propaganda machine hands down | |
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 CNN-IBN reports every case of mob violence from BJP or NDA ally ruled states diligently. The current lead story is about lawlessness in Bihar. Even all the linked stories and pictures relate to Bihar and occasionally UP.Meanwhile, mob violence in Congress or UPA ally ruled states are completely ignored. Even when they are reported, they are never bundled together into an investigative report. Missing from the report are cases from Andhra Pradesh (pregnant woman mercilessly thrashed, several sexual assault cases in Hyderabad on poor women, MIM goodas thrashing doctors and crippling hospitals and otherwise causing trouble), Assam (tribal girl stripped naked and chased through a market in broad daylight, tribal vs. Assamese rioting), Kerala (thief lynching), West Bengal (thief lynching in Jalpaigudi) ... and these are just reports off the top of the head. Forget about these states, how about our capital, New Delhi? One CNN-IBN journo herself wrote on her blog how difficult it has become for women to go about their lives in Delhi. Women are harassed and molested everywhere while the police looks on. Sometimes they join in the fun. The journalist mentioned earlier has stopped going out for dinner, she survives on instant noodles. It is worth recalling that two of Laloo Prasad Yadav's sons, Tarun and Tejpal, received a thrashing in New Delhi for eve teasing last New Year's eve. Curiously, whenever BJP ruled states (recently Mayawati too) try to enforce the rule of the law, the usual gang of Human Rights Activists descend on the scene like vultures. They won't allow tough laws, they will cry foul whenever suspicious elements are detained. Police firing? Forget about it, they went out of fashion after the language riots during Nehru era (when they were considered a fundamental instrument of law enforcement) and the rise of Bandh-Dharna-Activism politics of the leftist kind.
posted by barbarindian at 4:28 PM Permalink
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Friday, February 22, 2008 |
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Recovery of a "large quantity" of explosives | |
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So, as we reported earlier, CNN-IBN seems to have taken it upon itself to prove that terrorist threat to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi is as real as that to senior BJP leaders. The lead story on CNN-IBN site at the time of writing is about a possible terror attack on Mrs. Gandhi in Kashmir. Headlined "Terror averted ahead of Sonia's visit to J&K", the lead story reports: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) recovered 4 kg of RDX and large amounts of ammunition from a hideout at Chinnot village near Bhadarwah in Jammu and Kashmir late on Thursday night, hours before Congress President Sonia Gandhi was scheduled to visit the area on Friday. The UPA Chairperson will be addressing a rally about 1 km away from the spot from where the explosives were recovered. She is also scheduled to meet people in the snow-affected areas of the state along with Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. [...] The recovery of such a large quantity of explosives has thrown the security apparatus into a tizzy. Many security experts view it as serious lapse as Sonia's security arrangements are so stringent that her tour programme is not made public. [link]Okay, first a little note on "snow-affected". This is Kashmir, snow just happens. Most people like it. Sonia Gandhi was accompanied by Home Minister Shivraj Patil, whose only responsibility these days seems to be providing air-transport to the Congress leader who is not entitled to receive any state transportation. Now about the 1 km distance. Only a nuclear weapon can cause any amount of damage at such a distance. While we are at it, let's see if 4 kg is really a "large amount" in this context. Once again, google offers its invaluable service: Friday February 22, 2008: Six militants killed in India's northeastern state of Assam: 10 kg of RDXGiven the situation in Kashmir (thanks Chachaji), if you seriously conduct a raid, you are likely to find ammo and IEDs in every alternate house. By now they probably use the stuff in their fireplaces, especially given this year's heavy snow - "Beti, could you please put another kilo of RDX into the fireplace? My bones are freezing." Also compare and contrast this with the TOI coverage on the same news item: Explosives found near Sonia's rally venue in J&K.
posted by barbarindian at 3:26 AM Permalink
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Thursday, February 21, 2008 |
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Advice for women | |
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BANGALORE: Urging women to dress "modestly" for the "safety and security of the people," Cyriac Joseph, Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka, on Friday said: "Nowadays, women wear such kind of dresses even in temples and churches that when we go to places of worship, instead of meditating on God, we end up meditating on the person before us."For some reason this was reported sans the analysis and predictions of impending apocalypse which usually accompanies similar items when different people are involved.
posted by barbarindian at 10:41 PM Permalink
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Random news items | |
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BANGALORE: A software engineer and three others were arrested by JP Nagar police on Monday on charges of killing a woman from the city in October 2005. Jandyala Ravi (36) and his associates, Nainar Vishwanath (40), Sheik Siraj Basha (33) and Siddaiah (34) allegedly murdered Shilpa, daughter of a retired ITI engineer Munegowda. [..] The police said Ravi had given a supari (contract killing) of Rs 3.3 lakh to Siraj Basha, state secretary of backward class cell in Andhra Pradesh. The police added: "Of the six accused, we’ve nabbed four. A search is on to trace the other accused." [link] Any idea how many of these stories would make it to one of those special shows on CNN-IBN or NDTV depending on the parties involved?
posted by barbarindian at 1:03 AM Permalink
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Tuesday, February 19, 2008 |
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Photo of the week | |
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 Notice anything?
posted by barbarindian at 9:42 PM Permalink
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Monday, February 18, 2008 |
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The Rage Boy is back! | |
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 More here.
posted by barbarindian at 1:36 AM Permalink
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Saturday, February 16, 2008 |
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Stoking fears | |
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So, the New Delhi Government is contemplating a massive development project near the Jama Masjid area. The plan involves spending around Rs. 1200 crores to build a swanky mall that will house 600 showrooms and a three tier parking lot with a capacity of 9000 vehicles."I am happy to know about the plan. I support it fully and would want the work to begin fast," the Shahi Imam of the mosque, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, says. [link]This plan should be embraced by all the Sachar-wallahs as it will stimulate economy in the old Delhi area. Don't bet on it though. Secular media is stoking fears that the develoment will put the Masjid at risk. Unnamed experts believe that the plan will certainly damage the Masjid, the "vibrations from the digging itself will be enough to pull down the mosque". Of course, even good intentions about minorities only create bad vibrations. After a few alarmist articles and blog posts, CNN-IBN is now triumphantly back with an impact report. Impact: UNESCO to Jama Masjid's rescueNotice the spin on the last line above. The UNESCO is merely planning to ask questions, even though the matter doesn't fall under their jurisdiction. This is twisted to imply that the UNESCO believes that the MCD plan is seriously threatening. Compare and contrast this with the secular media response to the Ram Setu destruction plan. You may also want to read: SandeepWeb: Does only violence work?
posted by barbarindian at 7:27 PM Permalink
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Friday, February 15, 2008 |
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St. Anger | |
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posted by barbarindian at 11:26 PM Permalink
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Thursday, February 07, 2008 |
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Farmers and Numbers: Part IV | |
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 Let's start with some good news. First: a luxury train option is soon to be available for all those socialist journos who wish to travel to Vidarbha for stories. They are calling it the Vidarbha Queen but Suicide Express would be a more apt name. Second: the BCCI, under the able leadership of Shri Sharad Pawar, Hon'ble Minister for Agriculture, made a cool billion dollar plus from the auction of IPL leagues and selling the exclusive broadcast rights of the matches to a media group led by Sony. You could say the farmers can now watch lots of local cricketing action during their pesticide sipping sessions while pondering over deep philosophical questions such as whether Harbhajan Singh made a simian or a maternal reference.To recap our farmer suicide related coverage so far, the salient takeaway points are: Anyway. The story of the Indian farmer is indeed a tragic one. It takes gargantuan policy mistakes to create a situation like this. More on this later but as a hint, almost every Nehruvian policy that is hailed as a success (such as land reforms) has contributed to this. Of course you have to add protectionism to that. So, the land laborers are elated to get a piece of land the size of a table cloth. In any case they have no alternate sources of livelihood (license-quota-permit Raj). Add some subsidies, over population, corruption, crony socialism - voila! You get the current logjam that India is in today. Previous: Farmers and Numbers: Part I
posted by barbarindian at 9:59 PM Permalink
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008 |
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No kidding! | |
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While LK Advani had to opt out his nation-wide yatra because of the fear of a suicide attack, he is not the only one under terror threat. CNN-IBN has exclusive details of Intelligence Bureau reports which suggest that terrorists are making strategic plans to target many other VIPs, including the Gandhi family. The Gandhi family has been put on the hit list by the combined might of Al Badr, Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad. [CNN-IBN Lead Story]So, there is some sort of report of a possible terrorist attack on BJP leadership. This was widely publicized. Sensing that this may actually create a sympathy wave for BJP, CNN-IBN has responded with all the vigor of a news channel whose editor-in-chief got a Padma* award very recently. Apparently the dynasty is also under attack. Note the clever coverage which leaves ample room for later denial. Only CNN-IBN has this exclusive scoop. Also note the list of terrorist groups who have the Gandhi family under their radar. Seems like a random pick, almost like a senior editor instructing a junior copy writer, just pick two three names yaar, bheja mat kha.
posted by barbarindian at 9:38 PM Permalink
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