Food shortage and how the Congress government manages to get away(still)

These days it has become front page news that food inflation is on the rise and that the government is not doing anything about it.This oft repeated news has become so common nowadays that the common man has started ignoring it though they are all feeling the pinch.And all of the government's assurances that the food inflation will drop are falling flat.It is time for a reality check.
There was a record procurement of 609 lakh tonnes of wheat and rice last month and still  40% of the nation goes hungry and 46% of the children are malnourished.61000 tonnes of grain in Punjab,Haryana and elsewhere are rotting because of government agencies who have left the grain in the open,Despite these reports,what did the government do?Absolutely nothing.It merely acknowledged the fact and did nothing to store the surplus food grains or distribute it.The result is food inflation and a hungry nation.
Recently the Union Food ministry and FCI had suggested that 50 lakh tonnes of grain be released to the poorest districts.But the government quashed the proposal saying it would add 5000 crores INR to the food subsidy bill.
To keep its food bill low the government is now planning to define which section of people are poor. On one hand the government is spending several thousand crores of rupees on the Commonwealth games preparation for which is well behind schedule resulting in increased costs and yet it cannot feed the poor and the hungry saying there will be increase in the food subsidy bill. Its time the government gets its priorities right.

All 7 convicts in Bhopal gas case get bail

Trust the Indian judicial system to let people to get away with criminal negligence. All the 7 convicts of the Bhopal gas case have been granted bail.For 26 years the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy have been waiting for    justice and it seems they have to keep waiting. Warren Anderson is still "absconding" in the United States of America.Nothing, absolutely nothing has been done by the Indian officials to extradite him for judicial purpose. Now comes this shocking announcement that the other 7 convicts- who in any case had been let off lightly with a 2 year jail term and a fine of around 1 lakh- have been let off on bail. 
These people are just making a mockery of the Indian judicial system.Common people sacrifice everything they have to get justice but the Indian judicial system is found wanting in all departments. Corruption is rampant. If  all this had happened in a zero tolerance judicial system these scumbags would have been given a life term and nothing less.And why is the media not reporting the news related to this tragedy???If this is the state of affairs of the Indian judicial system,then God help us.....

PM convenes crucial meet on Naxal menace

The Prime Minister,Dr Manmohan Singh,will convene an emergency meeting today(18th May,2010) at 5 PM to discuss the growing threat of Naxal terror in the states of Andhra Pradesh,Jharkand,West Bengal , Orissa, Chattisgarh,Bihar,Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. This meeting has been convened at the request of P.Chidambaram after naxals blew up a bus carrying 50 people in the Dantewada district of Chattisgarh.

I have only one question to ask to the government. Why is the meeting being convened now? Could it not have been convened earlier when 76 CRPF jawans were massacred in Dantewada? What will it require to make the Government realize that the army now needs to be brought in to counter the ever growing threat of naxals? Innocent lives are being lost everyday.And all that the government (or for that matter the Opposition) does is to condemn the attacks.

The government is doing nothing but testing the patience of the common man.The Indian common man has a lot of patience but not unlimited.The day it snaps could be the day the government falls. Naxals must not be shown any mercy.If they kill one of us or our jawans we should kill 10 of them.You cannot expect a peace process with these murderers. Just launch a counter offensive against them that is so strong that the naxals will be completely wiped out completely.

Some really funny visuals.....

Aamir Khan and Avatar director James Cameron may work together soon as both showed keen interest to work with each other after their meeting.

Mumbaikars flocked to theatres to watch MNIK inspite of Sena threat, while in Berlin people paid Rs.63,000 per ticket to watch MNIK!








Anti-valentine Hate-Guru Pramod Muthalik's face was blackened by Youth Congress activists in Bangalore!

Ram Gopal Verma has challenged to watch Phoonkh2 alone in a theatre and win Rs 5 lakh!

                      Swamy Nityananda, who was caught in bed with a Tamil actress says he was just experimenting in bed

Raj Thackeray's MNS attacked a film shooting in Mumbai demanding local item girls instead of foreigners. Good news for Marathi mulgi Rakhi Sawant?

From Dalit Ki Beti to Daulat Ki Beti - Mayawati has been receiving garlands of 1000-rupee notes from her followers in spite of opposition's criticism!

Mayawati: The 'Dalit ki Beti' rises to become 'Daulat ki Beti'

Couple of days back Mayawati's supporters gifted her a garland made entirely of Rs 1000 notes. The cost of the garland is estimated to be about 5 crores. This vulgar display of wealth left me speechless indeed. This money the Bahujan Samaj Party claims was collected through its supporters who gave some amount each to build this huge garland. This claim I say is bullshit. I would bet any day that this is the taxpayer's money which has been given to her as a "gift". 

Recently after many people were killed due to a stampede in an ashram, Mayawati said that the state government could not compensate the victims who were killed in the tragedy and asked the central government to compensate the victims due to acute shortage of funds. On one hand this woman says that her government cannot compensate the victims but on the other hand  her supporters give her a garland worth 5 crore (which would have been more than enough to compensate the victims). On one hand she says that she cannot compensate the victims but on the other she uses taxpayers' hard earned money for her own whims like building stupid parks and statues of dalit leaders including those who are alive or for organizing lavish rallies.

The I-T department has said it will probe the source of the money. Though considering the state of affairs in India how far will the I-T department be able to make headway in the case remains to be seen. Mayawati has manged to remain  CM despite charges of corruption after all. And what she and her party workers have done amount to nothing less than theft.

One reason why India is a safe haven for criminals........

According to home ministry figures more than 65000 foreigners were found overstaying in India in 2008. This includes 31200 Bangladeshis, 14500 Afghanis and 7500 Pakistanis. 13995 foreigners were deported. According to the minister of state for home affairs, these foreign nationals had entered India with valid travel documents. Whats more shocking is the fact that some of these illegal immigrants had even obtained voter identity cards, driving licenses and ration cards through fraudulent means. Apparently when such instances are detected government takes action to cancel the above mentioned documents.


This is the sad state of affairs in our country. There are over 65000 foreigners overstaying in India and some of them are from countries that are trying to bleed India. Others are from countries that are friendly to our nation but these people commit heinous crimes like sexually assaulting children. The government does not(and cannot) take any action against them because they are " foreign nationals " and try to leave the country when they are tried in court. 


Why is the government so ignorant about this situation? Why does it not come down hard on these illegal residents of the country? These people utilise the loopholes in our legal system and manage to eventually get away with little or no punishment. The government needs to make the laws pertaining to foreign people entering the country more strict even if it means foreign tourism getting affected.

Yousuf and Younis banned from cricket INDEFINITELY by PCB

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Wednesday handed out a very harsh punishment to Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan  for the triple whitewashing that Pakistan received at the hands of Australia in the series Down Under. Yousuf and Younis have been banned for an indefinite period with the reason that their infighting was responsible in Pakistan's abysmal performance. Other players to have been punished are:


1. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan ( 1year ban and Rs 20 lakh fine)
2. Shoib Malik ( 1year ban and Rs 20 lakh fine)
3. Shahid "hungry" Afridi ( Rs 30 lakh fine)
4. Kamran Akmal ( Rs 30 lakh fine) and
5. Omar Akmal( Rs 20 lakh fine)


This ruling by the PCB has left me in splits. I am in no way sympathetic to the Pakistani players. But this decision  made me laugh no end. It is no secret that Pakistanis practice extremism in everyday life blowing up things in their own country and outside as well. But they have now extended their extremism to sports as well. I mean come on. A life ban? That too to two of their frontline batsmen? I wonder who will play for Pakistan now? It certainly makes the job of other teams to defeat Pakistan. So this is what I will say to the PCB: THANK YOU

Sena attacks BNHS for 'Bombay' in its name

The Shiv Sena, it seems, is competing with MNS about who can destroy public and private property in Mumbai more. A few days ago MNS supporters attacked an Airtel outlet for not launching an IVR (interactive voice response) system in Marathi. Now the Shiv Sena has responded to its "competition" by attacking the Bombay Natural History Society ? The reason for the attack? The BNHS had Bombay written in its name. The Shiv Sainiks came and using hammers and chisel took off the 'B' from the Bombay in the name. They then put 'Mumbai' over 'Bombay' in the Devanagari part of the sign and erected a sign proclaiming the institution as Mumbai Natural History Society.


The BNHS is a 126 year old landmark institution that has undertaken pioneering wildlife conservation and research in the country. The funny thing about the attack (which strictly speaking is not funny) is that the BNHS is opposite the Headquarters of the Maharashtra Police and is a kilometre away from the Colaba police station. The inefficiency of the police once again has come to the fore as the Shiv Sainiks damaged the building of BNHS right under the nose of the Maharashtra Police.The way these attacks are going on the next target could well be IIT,Bombay.


It is high time the Government of Maharashtra stop ignoring these attacks. Innocent people are attacked by these fanatics and property worth quite a lot gets damaged as well. The Thackerays think they can never be touched. They really underestimate the power of the people and the power of the law. If the common man loses his cool it is over for the MNS and the Shiv Sena. Just like the employees of a news channel in Mumbai caught and thrashed Shiv Sena supporters for vandalizing their office a few months ago.


To read more about this news,follow this link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Sena-attacks-BNHS-for-Bombay-in-its-name/articleshow/5673692.cms

Raj raps Airtel for not using Marathi

Trust Raj Thackeray to return to the news with a bang. For quite a few days there was no sign of Raj Thackeray and his minions. As though to remind people that he still is very much alive and kicking, five members of MNS attacked an Airtel outlet in Mumbai after Raj had criticised Airtel for not launching customer helpline in Marathi. The five came on bikes and pelted stones at the outlet, smashing the glass at the entrance, in suburban Bandra before speeding away, according to senior inspector Prakash George.

http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/09/raj-raps-airtel-for-not-using-marathi.htm

http://in.news.yahoo.com/248/20100310/1582/tnl-raj-dares-sc-unleashes-violence.html

I am now getting really sick of the Thackeray family. Nowhere in India are people beaten up for not speaking a particular language. Yes people in the South are very proud of their language but that does not mean they beat up people who are not able to speak the same. The Thackeray family is under the impression that it is above the Indian Constitution. I just don't understand how can someone have so much hate inside them for the people of their own country. The government ought to take a firm decision and lock up the Thackerays for life. Then maybe non-Marathi people in Mumbai will feel safe.

Pakistan says its military doctrine is purely defensive

Describing India's massive militarisation as dangerous for peace in the region, Pakistan has said that its military doctrine was purely defensive.

"It is India's dangerous military doctrines and massive militarisation that are matters of huge concern for regional stability whereas Pakistan has always acted to protect its legitimate security interests.Our military doctrine is purely defensive in nature," Pakistan's foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told the News.

Basit was reacting to Indian Defence Minister AK Antony's statement that "United States decision to provide sophisticated weapons (to Pakistan) is a matter of serious concern to India."

He brushed aside Antony's criticism saying it is for the world to see that the country's military doctrine is purely defensive in nature.

Basit said the American explanation that the Pakistan Army has to be strengthened to fight terrorist outfits like the Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan was not convincing enough for India.

"Our past experience is bitter," he said, adding that the acquisition of equipment for its army had been doubled in the last five years.

Well, what Mr. Abdul Ba-s(h)it has been saying is complete bullshit. Time and time again the Pakistan Army and Rangers have violated the ceasefire agreement. And Ba-s(h)it says that they are purely defensive. He certainly needs to learn a lot more English. Pervez Musharraf had said that the weapons America had provided for fighting terror outfits were used for strengthening border posts against India.

Defensive???????? Bitter experiences in the past??? Don't make me laugh. Pakistan was the one that attacked Kargil in 1999 and it certainly was a bitter experience for them because they were kicked back into the other side of the LOC.

And the biggest profit making player in all this is the United States of America. Despite knowing that these sophisticated weapons can and will be used against India, it is still providing Pakistan with the same. And our Government will still be a loyal pup of the Americans.

Does Sachin deserve the Bharat Ratna?

Before I start this post,I will mention this:I AM NOT A SACHIN BASHER..He is the greatest batsman of his era( my view). And I, albeit a bit late, would like to congratulate him for his double ton against South Africa.

The voice among the people (especially politicians) is increasing that Sachin Tendulkar be conferred the Bharat Ratna. Well, on one hand if you consider the people who have been receiving the highest civilian awards of late( Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan-Padma Shri, Sant Singh Chatwal-Padma Bhushan), I think it would be fair to give Sachin Tendulkar nothing less than Bharat Ratna. But then again there have been many great players of this game before him from our country (Sunil Gavaskar for example). Also there have been many great sportsmen before Sachin. The greatest name I can think of is Dhyan Chand, considered by many as the best hockey player till date. Dhyan Chand received the third highest civilian honour (the Padma Bhushan) though if his exploits were taken into account like Sachin's, he would have been awarded Bharat Ratna (at least posthumously).

Cricket is a game that is very popular(in fact a craze) in India. But the game is not a game that is played in every country of the world unlike soccer/football. Also it is foolhardy on the part of the people to call Sachin as the greatest batsman of the game ever because eras can never be compared. And to call for him to be given the honour after one innings of 200 in a one day international is even more foolhardy. Sachin is yet to score a triple century in Test cricket or score the highest score in it. And even if Sachin does accomplish those feats I would not recommend him to be given Bharat Ratna. Yes, if after retirement he can show some more accomplishments, I would raise my voice that he be given the highest Indian sporting achievement award ever, the Dhyan Chand Award. But Bharat Ratna,no. I don't think he has done anything for Indian Cricket that he deserves to be given the Country's highest civilian award.

I know most of Sachin's die hard fans will contradict me. But I stand by what I write.

Burqa not integral to Islam,says Election Commission

Recently a petition had been filed before the supreme court seeking ban on photographs of Muslim women on electoral rolls. The election commision in response had filed an affidavit that use of burqa could not be considered an integral part of Islam.The apex court bench agreed with the poll panel's concern and said that it was not possible to have electoral rolls without photographs since that would not make the elections free and fair.

Now the person (M. Ajmal Khan) who has filed such a petition is either extremely stupid or is trying to be exceedingly smart. I say stupid because he probably does not realize that doing such a thing will result in voter identity fraud. A photo identity would allow identification of voters and prevent bogus enrollment. And if there is  bogus enrollment then there will be a huge political hue and cry. And then there will be politically fueled riots and bandhs all of which will either result in death of innocent civilians or bringing the state machinery to a standstill.

Now I say the man is trying to be exceedingly smart because this sort of thing can lead to serious security loopholes. No offence to women,but women have been known to perform terrorist activities. If this petition is made into a law, then if there are terrorist attacks in the country the police would have a real tough time trying to find out the terrorists especially if they are Indian nationals.

So I am extremely happy that this petition has been denied by the Supreme Court.

Advani blames Nehru for 'festering sores' of Kashmir, terrorism

L K Advani has blamed the foreign policy of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for 'festering sores' of Kashmir and terrorism. He has squarely criticised him for the poor handling of the Kashmir issue and Chinese threats. For the full report click here.


Now, I am no fan of L K Advani ( in fact I can't tolerate him) but this is one area where I will agree with him. When Pakistan attacked India in 1947 (Indo-Pak  war of 1947) India had the potential to push the Pakistani soldiers out of Jammu and Kashmir. However, Mr. Nehru as an ambassador of peace took the matter to the United Nations. The United Nations passed Resolution 47 which meant people would vote whether they wanted to be in Pakistan or India. However this required Pakistan to pull back its troops ( which they never did) and India needed to have at least minimum military presence. As a result of this the Kashmir issue has not been solved till date. Just because of one man's stupidity.


The other issue is that of handling the Chinese. Despite several border disputes, Nehru thought that " one developing country will not attack the other." He asserted his "hindi chini bhai bhai " phrase and severely underestimated China's military capabilities. China attacked and our soldiers did not even have time to acclimatise. Why ? Because they were elsewhere and the border was lightly guarded. China came, saw and conquered.


Nehru flatly refused an offer that would have gotten India a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. This showed how unconcerned he was about the country's strategic interests(Click here to read about it). The fact is we have two very hostile neighbours today, one that is fighting using its army and the other using terrorists.


If only Nehru had not committed these blunders,India would not be in the state it is in and I would have always respected him. But as a matter of fact I have never respected him and I never will. His daughter Indira Gandhi showed nerves of steel at least in the matters related to Pakistan. And that is why she is the Prime Minister I will always respect the most.


For further reading click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._S._Thimayya .(I think this is one link you should not miss).

Babbar Khalsa joins 'Karachi Plot' against India

A month ago, Intelligence Bureau officials had sounded off a warning pertaining to a 'Karachi Plot' that was being hatched in Pakistan to target several Indian cities.The plot was initially being hatched by Lashkar-e-Toiba, Al Qaeda's '313' brigade and ISI. Now according to the information bureau (IB) a new co-conspirer has been revealed- the Babbar Khalsa.


The Karachi plot involves suicide attacks, assassinations and serial bombings and each outfit has been given a specific role to perform. The Babbar Khalsa it may be remembered is one of the Sikh organizations calling for an Independent state of Khalistan. It had become greatly weakened during crackdown on Sikh militancy during the early 1990 by the  death of its two greatest leaders, Sukhdev Singh Babbar and Talwinder Singh Parmar . The remaining leaders had fled the country. According to information ISI is sheltering the Babbar Khalsa. The ISI knows Babbar Khalsa is best in business when it comes to targeting leaders.


If security measures are not stepped up there will soon be more bombings and more civilian casualties. I still say that we don't care what the world says and attack terrorists camps in PoK. Yet every one of my friends will say that we should not attack them. America was attacked just once and the reply the Americans gave was so strong that the terrorists were afraid to even think of attacking them until a few months ago. Even our armed forces are not being strengthened. The 126 multi-role combat aircraft deal has been progressing at a snail's pace(to be precise, 9 years). As Brajesh Mishra said,"9% growth is irrelavant if you do not have the military strength to support it."


Our politicians say we will not tolerate terrorism. They will condemn terrorism. However they are the ones aiding terrorists by not taking action. Our politicians are in one word:SPINELESS. They do not have the courage to take bold decisions. And they never will. Our country will continue getting bombed by terrorists. If the politicians are tough the security system will become tough. And terrorists will think thousand times before planning an attack.


The strength of the military has to be increased to be feared. Stop the red tapism and corruption in the defense deals. The government needs to fulfill its first duty of protecting the citizens. Because the citizens are the ones involved in the growth of a country. We need to remove the tag of soft state and be ruthless against terror. 


JAI HIND.

Top Cop's Excuse:Maoist attack was not expected

The Maoist attack on Monday in Shilda(West Midnapore,West Bengal) that left 24 policemen and a college student dead was not expected said the director general of police Bhupinder Singh. He said that if people cannot warn them then the camp would be dismantled.


Shilda is a place that is in the heart of the Maoist territory and to consider the people to warn them is nothing short of ridiculous.Some of the glaring errors on the part of the police were as follows:


1. The camp was situated in the middle of the market which highly increases the chances of civilian casualty during crossfire between the two sides.
2. The police let their guard down.Come on now you cannot do this sort of thing on a field mission. There were only 2 sentries at the 2 gates( ONE at each gate) and the rest were relaxing far away from their guns. On a field mission in a hostile terrain it is mandatory for all personnel to carry guns.
3. There was a lack of preparedness. As an example there were no sandbags at either entrance.
4. Best of all the toilet inside the camp could be used by civilians.Apparently a couple of Maoist women had carried out reconnaissance missions. Imagine the breach of security.


Also there was intelligence that Maoists were gathering in the Shilda area. Despite all this the personnel were lax in their own security, forget the security of the people. 


It is high time the cops stop giving excuses for their own incompetence and lack of preparedness to handle this sort of situation. They are supposed to protect the people. And in hostile places like Shilda you cannot expect people to come warn you if they are scared of getting killed themselves. If this is the best the state police can come up with, then there is only one person who can help us: GOD.


To read more on this article:
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100217/jsp/frontpage/story_12116241.jsp


http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/west-bengal-says-it-knew-about-maoists-gathering-in-shilda_100321927.html

Now Pune is attacked by terrorists.

At least eight people were killed and 33 injured in a suspected bomb blast in a popular bakery in Koregaon Park, which also houses a Jewish prayer house and the Osho Ashram, in Pune today evening. Three foreigners were reportedly killed in the blast at the bakery, which is popular among tourists.


The blast took place at the German Bakery, an old business establishment, at approximately 6.30 pm. The site is reportedly located close to the local Chabad House as well as the hotel where terror suspect David Headley stayed during his visit to the city. An improvised explosive device had been used to trigger the blast. It was probably aimed at not just locals but also the foreigners in the bakery.


Now I know what will happen. The Indian Government will condemn these attacks and say this sort of attacks will not be tolerated.They will say Pakistan on its part should fight terror. That is all they will say. Last month over a flimsy reason(the IPL "controversy") the Pakistani parliament decided not to send its delegation to India. After that the Indian government decided to hold talks with Pakistan. The Pakistani Foreign Minister started saying that Pakistani pressure forced India to hold talks.Now after these blasts should India still hold talks with Pakistan??HELL NO.


The current Indian government is as stated in a magazine a few months ago "a lame duck government".And i agree with that comment.Why is our government so scared of attacking Pakistan? If it is worried about what other world leaders would say then I would say only one thing : Worry about the safety of your country's people first and worry about everybody else later. And stop treating Ajmal Kasab like a guest. He has been caught doing terrorist activity. He will not speak much.He will only waste the court's time and make a mockery of our judiciary. Just hang him and set an example.

Indians slam Oz top cop's advice to 'look poor' to avoid attack

Indian students living in Australia have slammed Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland's advice that they should not work as taxi drivers and should "'look as poor as you can" to avoid being assaulted.

Overland had made the comments at an international students' safety forum attended by about 150 people in the city on Saturday.

"Don't display your iPods, don't display your valuable watch, don't display your valuable jewellery. Try to look as poor as you can," Overland said before adding that foreign students should try to avoid living in Melbourne's poorer suburbs where crime rates are higher.

The Federation of Indian Students of Australia secretary Gautam Gupta blasted the advice, saying that Indians should not have to look "poor" to feel safe.

I agree with Mr.Gupta. Why should we Indians look poor to avoid being assaulted? Why are the Australians hell bent on disagreeing with the fact that the attacks are racist in nature. If a person is displaying his iPod or valuable watch he is more likely to get assaulted and mugged than just get assaulted.The cases of mugging in Australia of the Indians are much lesser than cases of assaults. 

Foreigners around the people have an impression that India is a very poor(and i mean poorest of the poor) country in the world(thanks to the way India is depicted in foreign movies). So any show of wealth makes them angry. Isn't that what you are saying Mr. Overland? Sorry Mr. Overland you have with this comment proved that you belong to this category of people.

As for asking the Indian students to not stay in poorer suburbs well only students who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth can afford the luxury of not staying in the poor suburbs.

Mr Overland,instead of trying to pretend that these attacks are not racially motivated you had better do your job properly and try to investigate the cases of murder and assaults on Indians.

JAI HIND.

Have our gallantry and civilian awards become a farce???

  

There are many Padma awards(6 Padma Vibhushans, 43 Padma Bhushans and 81 Padma Shris to be precise) being conferred this year.However it seems that with each passing year the value of the Padma awards are diminishing. Last year Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan surprisingly got a Padma Shri "for her contribution to Indian Cinema". As far as I know Aishwarya Rai does not have much of a contribution to Indian Cinema (unless of course you see her movies to learn how 'not to act'). If credentials are an important criteria for giving a Padma Shri award then Nandita Das' credentials far outstrip that of Mrs. Bachchan. This year there are some Padma awards that have left me bewildered. First is the Padma Bhushan for Sant Singh Chatwal. He is being given the award for public affairs. I don't know why a person who has criminal cases registered in his name is being given the award. A wikipedia entry of Mr. Chatwal says:

Chatwal has defaulted on massive loans obtained from Indian and US banks including Lincoln Savings, First New York Bank for Business, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and State Bank of India and filed bankruptcies on false grounds. He has repeatedly used political connections for personal gain.

What is more surprising is the way the government has defended its decision to confer him the award. See the following link to read the government's response :     


http://netindian.in/news/2010/01/27/0005046/govt-defends-padma-bhushan-sant-singh-chatwal.Well perhaps Mr. Chatwal used his connection to get this award as well.

Second is the award that is being given to Saif Ali Khan. Saif, it may be remembered had criminal case registered against him for poaching of blackbucks in 1998. He was later acquitted(possibly through connection or something else). Even if that is ignored he has done nothing for Indian Cinema that he has to be conferred a Padma Shri.

Similarly Aamir Khan who is being given the Padma Bhushan has not done much to be given a Padma Shri. Sure his film Lagaan made it to the final round of Oscars. But then if that is the case Mira Nair deserves as much if not more recognition.

The scene is not very different even in the gallantry awards.Last year 11 Ashok Chakras were handed out making it the single most number of awards in a single operation since 1950. As I said before in a previous post I do not doubt the courage of the men who were killed in Mumbai, but 11 Ashok Chakras?? Since 1950 only 40 Ashok Chakras were given till 2008.

I came across this blog: http://theprudentindian.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/ashoka-chakra-2009-eleven-brave-hearts/ and like the author I also wondered,"Is it an attempt to shroud the ‘Guilt Pangs’ of the Man Mohan Singh’s government’s abject failure to contain terrorism?"  Why was there politicization of bravery of these martyrs? Terrorists attack take place in our country on an almost regular basis. Our ministers do nothing but condemn these attacks, thats all. But when men in other places are killed trying to fight off  terrorists they don't get the same recognition. Since the attack on Mumbai was on a much different scale, the government seems to have given these awards " to shroud their ‘Guilt Pangs’ for their inability to contain terrorism."

It seems thus that like everything in our country the civilian and gallantry awards have become a farce. Maybe I can get a Padma Bhushan too one day.

Rahul Gandhi v/s Uddhav Thackeray

Rahul Gandhi had recently said that Mumbai belongs to all Indians.He also said that the NSG commandos that had fought during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai included men from not just North India but Maharashtra as well. He said that at that time the MNS and Shiv Sena did not ask the commandos from North India to be thrown out. Uddhav Thackeray retaliated by saying that Rahul Gandhi has disrespected the sacrifice and bravery of police officers like Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte etc.

I, for one, support Rahul Gandhi. If MNS and Shiv Sena care about Mumbai so much why were they sitting at home doing nothing while terrorists were tearing Mumbai apart. Why did they let NSG commandos hailing from North India do the dirty work of saving Mumbai? I am not doubting the courage of Mr. Karkare and the others but they were killed because of the poor quality of the bulletproof vests they wore. When an investigation pertaining to the quality of the bulletproof vests was taking place, the bulletproof  vest of Mr. Karkare vanished mysteriously. What did the Shiv Sena and MNS do then? NOTHING.You say Rahul Gandhi has disrespected the sacrifice of these officers yet in your own city your own people do not respect their sacrifice. To prevent the corruption in the police force from coming to the fore they resort to such tactics.And by the way Rahul Gandhi did not disrespect the sacrifice of the brave police officers in any way. 

Stop regionalism Mr Uddhav Thackeray. If you really want to do some good for Mumbai and your "Marathi Manoos" then stop the violence and help with the development of the city. Otherwise Mumbai will be destroyed by you and your men.

Tigers: An important part of our heritage

These days there are a lot of advertisements on TV  of movie stars asking us to support the tiger. Well to me this is not just an advertisement but a movement to save the tiger. There are only 1411 tigers left in India. This is a 60% decline from the number of 3500 in the 1990s. The sad part is the poachers are ignorant about all these facts and figures( they ought to be for all that matters to them is M-O-N-E-Y). The tigers are poached not just for their skins but also for their bones which are used to make medicinal balms. Project Tiger which was set up in 1973 tripled the number of these feline beauties from 1273 to 3500 but a lot has changed since then. We need to save our national animal from total extinction. Harsh laws will have to be implemented against the poachers who try to or kill the tigers.


The government is doing its bit by injecting 153 million US dollars into Project Tiger, setting up a poacher combat force and taking up relocation of 2 lac villagers to minimize tiger-human interaction. However we as responsible citizens of the country should do our bit to save the tiger. For that you can visit this link : http://www.saveourtigers.com/WhatCanIDoLeadtheChange.php


You can also show your support for the tiger by joining the save the tiger movement. For that you need to visit the following link:http://www.saveourtigers.com/


I have joined the movement. Now its your turn. We all need to show our support otherwise the day is not far when an important part of our national heritage will be lost forever.

Phir Mile Sur or Phir Mile Bollywood??????

This morning I watched the new version of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, the national integration jingle launched in 1988. The new version was launched on 25^th January and frankly speaking it failed to impress me.

As if it were necessary to inform us that the Indian film industry is the largest in the world churning out the most number of films (most of which are flops) the song overdosed on movie stars especially from Bollywood. I began wondering:’ What the hell were the makers of this song thinking? Do these film stars show our national integration? Why not concentrate on people who had made breakthroughs in other fields as well? What about our sports stars? Sachin, Sourav, Dhoni(basically the Indian cricket team as a whole),Leander Paes(tennis), Dhanraj Pillay(Hockey), Karnam Malleshwari (Weightlifting) , Pankaj Advani( Billiards) and many more from different disciplines deserve equal recognition. People from field of science and technology also deserve similar recognition. Why not concentrate on people who protect our borders so that we may sleep easily?

Thankfully I am not the only one to share this sentiment. To understand what I mean please follow this link.

All in all a disappointing new version of a song we grew up hearing.

Won't allow Australian players in IPL, says Uddhav Thackeray

The Shiv Sena on Saturday night threatened not to allow Australian cricketers to play in matches in Mumbai, of the third edition of Indian Premier League.” The IPL should be patriotic. We would not allow Australian players to play here in the wake of racist attacks on Indians there,” said Uddhav Thackeray.

Well Uddhav, you had better get your own house in order first before you accuse the Australians of being racists. For the past few years you and your party have been among the most racist political parties in India with you slogan of Mumbai is for Marathis only. You have till date continued your attacks on North Indians residing there saying that they take away job opportunities for the Marathis. You and your party think they are above the constitution of India directly violating the fundamental rights (equality and freedom) of Indian citizens. You have only been trying to promote your Marathi Manoos agenda which has found few takers. You couldn't care less about the Marathi Manoos. For people like you your vote bank is more important than anything else.

So my suggestion to you is: either stop your own racist bias towards North Indians or SHUT UP.

p.s.: for details of this topic follow the following link:

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/jan/23/wont-allow-aussies-in-ipl-uddhav-thackeray.htm

USA: The ultimate hypocrite

A few days ago the US Secretary of defence, Robert Gates said that India would not have unlimited patience if there was another 26/11 style attack on the country.Today the US has decided to supply 12 Shadow Drones( UAVs or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) to Pakistan. These UAVs will be supplied as unarmed vehicles to Pakistan.


A UAV is specifically used for reconnaissance missions and it can considerably improve a country's surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.Gates did not respond to a question whether the US would impose a condition that the drones could not be used along the Indo-Pak Border.


The US has in the past supplied weapons and weapon technology to Pakistan in the name of fighting terror. However as Pervez Musharraf revealed last year, these weapons were used mostly for the Pakistani army posted on the Indo-Pak Border.


The US should now make its stand clear. While it is supporting India by saying we will not tolerate another 26/11 style attack, it is supporting Pakistan by supplying it technology which will most likely be used to spy on India. The Shadow drones have a range of about 110 Km which means defence establishments can be spied on in the border region very easily.And add to that we have a leader who is like a puppet of the Americans.

'India won't have unlimited patience if 26/11 is repeated' says US

The US made it clear on Wednesday that India's patience would be "limited" if it faces a Mumbai-type attack again, as it warned that Lashkar-e-Toiba was working in league with the Al Qaeda to destabilise the region and provoke an Indo-Pak military confrontation.Defence Secretary Robert Gates emphasised the need for "high level of cooperation" from all countries to defeat the "syndicate" of terror, including the LeT, the Taliban and the Tehreek-e-Taliban under the command of the Al Qaeda.

Mr Secretary of Defence, don't worry about patience of the Indian leaders. Even after so many terrorist attacks on our country we have been patient and we will continue to be patient. The reason is simple: our leaders do not have the courage to make bold decisions. When the 9/11 attacks took place what did America do? They bombed Afghanistan to weed out the Taliban. And what did our leaders do after the 26/11 attacks? They warned Pakistan that this would be the last time they would tolerate this sort of incident. We could have attacked Pakistan and destroyed their terror camps. But to keep some other countries happy we did not do any such thing.

That is not all we are continuing to be patient as terrorists across the border keep on attempting to infiltrate into India.India won't have unlimited patience to tolerate another 26/11 attack if and only if we have a leader who does not cower from taking bold decisions. Someone like our late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

PCB to take up IPL snub with BCCI

The Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) accused IPL commissioner Lalit Modi of betraying the PCB after nine of its players were bought in the auction of IPL 3 and is planning to take up the issue with the BCCI. Apparently the reason the franchisees had given for not buying the Pakistani players was that there would be problems for getting visas for them.

Eijaz Butt,the PCB chairman said that Lalit Modi had assured him that all the Pakistani players would be given chance to play in the tournament. Well,they would have been given chance to play in the tournament if they had got any buyers. Now tell me Mr.Butt how is it Lalit Modi's fault if your players are not purchased in the IPL auction????

And also after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks you had deemed it unsafe for your players to play in India. Well none of the other players from other countries had that problem. The IPL was shifted to South Africa because its timing coincided with the 2009 General Elections. So why did you even bother to enter your players for the IPL this time round??Your players are much safer in India than in your own country.

So Mr.Butt, I tell you this:All the best for next time.