Indian Interests

Sushupti · Post by **Sushupti** » 29 Jan 2013 09:09

IT’S ABOUT CHANGING MAPS, NOT GEOGRAPHY

Even Pakistan knows geography cannot be changed. But it has not forgotten that maps can be, and have been all through history. It’s own was, in 1971. It remains pathologically obsessed with changing India’s map — a thousand years’ war, a thousand cuts. A destructive, violent, even barbaric, energy is at work, ceaselessly. That is why you will never hear Pakistan say that a strong, stable India is in its interest. How, then, can the reverse be true?

http://centreright.in/2013/01/its-about ... Qc2rR0Tg47

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 30 Jan 2013 04:33

Brookings set to open its centre in India.

Brookings Institution, a non-profit public policy organisation based in Washington DC, announced it would open Brookings India as a platform for public policy research and analysis.

The Brookings’ India centre will analyse the opportunities and challenges facing India. The operational activities and the funding of Brookings India will be primarily by Indians.

Brookings decided to open a centre here because India is the largest democracy and one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Brookings Institution is one of the oldest independent think-tanks, and has been consistently ranked among the most influential ones for many decades. In the University of Pennsylvania’s Global Go-To Think Tank Rankings in 2012, Brookings was ranked the world’s best.

Urjit Patel, who was appointed a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India earlier this month, has been a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution since 2009.

Vikram Singh Mehta, former chairman of the Shell group of companies, will be the chairman of Brookings India. Mehta began his career with the IAS in 1978 and had earlier worked with Philips Petroleum and Oil India Limited.

“The India centre will look into Indian issues, drawing on Indian talent. The model of independent policy-relevant research that Brookings has developed over nearly 100 years will contribute to an informed Indian citizenry and provide useful analysis and recommendations to Indian policymakers as they deal with these challenges. The connection to Brookings in Washington will help increase the reach of Indian scholars to the US and elsewhere,” said Mehta.

Brookings India’s research will focus on domestic and global economics, foreign policy, and energy and infrastructure policy.

Nita and Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, Rahul Bajaj of Bajaj Auto, S Gopalakrishnan of Infosys, and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon are among the persons who support the Brookings’ India initiative.

Earlier, Aspen Institute had set up an Indian chapter. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is also expected to start an Indian centre.

Although the Chinese had a larger representation in global think-tanks, Indian scholars and businessmen are increasingly being affiliated with them.

Arav · Post by **Arav** » 30 Jan 2013 05:42

President to open The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy

President Pranab Mukherjee will on Thursday inaugurate The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, to be located in Chennai. The event will be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

“The founding spirit of The Hindu Centre is the firm conviction that the publishers of The Hindu, a major force for public good and which has had a stellar role in building India’s democratic life, can help revive ebbing public confidence in parliamentary democracy,” a statement said.

“Public confidence in India’s democratic institutions and political processes are at an all-time low and there is a rising danger of the Indian public becoming alienated from the electoral process, angered by the failure of politicians to deliver on basic expectations.”

The Centre will function as an independent platform to explore ideas and public policies. It will contribute to rebuilding public faith in India’s democratic process.

It will seek to establish stronger and credible roots for parliamentary democracy, pluralism and economic betterment, and seek to increase understanding of the challenges of the day. It will be involved in research that will revisit key constitutional concepts and examine the validity of the post-Independence set of political values to assess their relevance and utility in terms of the crisis of confidence besetting the system.

Malini Parthasarathy, the former Executive Editor of The Hindu, will be the Director of the Centre. Dr. Parthasarathy, along with N. Ram and N. Ravi, will comprise the Centre’s board of management. Mr. Ram is former Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of The Hindu, Frontline, Business Line, and Sportstar, all group publications. Mr. Ravi is a former Editor of The Hindu.

The advisory board will comprise scholars and public intellectuals: Zoya Hasan, Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Pratap Bhanu Mehta, President and CEO, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi; Sunil Khilnani, Director, King’s India Institute, London; and Martha Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, University of Chicago.

Other members will be Yogendra Yadav, Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi; Navin Chawla, former Chief Election Commissioner and Gurcharan Das, management expert, author, and commentator.

Virupaksha · Post by **Virupaksha** » 30 Jan 2013 06:31

Wow!! the center is mostly the who's who of the sickular congress elite.

Very interesting is Sunil Khilnani's role in it. He and SVaradarajan seem to be the interfaces like Nehru was for the INC - Martha Nussbaum being the regent. Who is funding this peace between the inner families?

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 30 Jan 2013 06:53

Pratap Bhanu Mehta is the only one on that list with some IQ, and has written some pro-Modi articles

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 30 Jan 2013 06:59

"Life of Pi" is a very Hindu friendly movie, with many Hindu symbols and references. Certainly, it looks that way. The main protagonist is also Hindu, though delving into several religions. One can see this movie being disliked by a certain type of Christian, Moslem and Westerner, particularly Anglo-Saxon. East Asians, on the other hand, will take well to it, one of the reasons being that the director is an Asian American, Ang Lee. Mr Lee has taken to Indian themes and ethos very well.

There's a particular scene in the movie, which probably could take place in few countries outside of India. This is where Pi states that he is essentially following multiple religions, whereupon his father says something to the effect that adhering to many religions really means not truly believing in any one of them. Then the mother steps in and backs up the son. Could this happen in Saudi, Iran, Pakistan, Kuwait, Philippines, Malaysia, Eastern Europe et al? Where the idea of believing in several religons at once is strongly considered, and discussed calmly at the family( or any) level?

It's a very Indian theme, and good publicity for India and Hinduism.

Arav · Post by **Arav** » 30 Jan 2013 07:15

Zoya Hasan has written Affirmative Action in Higher Education in India, United States and South Africa with Co-editor as Martha Nussbaum.

Link to her articles here

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 30 Jan 2013 21:15

An organisation called "Reporters without borders" has given India a low "ranking" of 129 among countries, in degree of media freedom.

Is this sincere, or a tactic to place India on the defensive. India has a lively, free, print media, academic freedom, and considerable public space for free expression. The criticism is largely focussed on internet restrictions, ignoring all other media, including academia and television. Even on the internet, there are message boards where you can discuss and criticise just about anything. Also, the very fact that this comment is widely circulating, openly, virtually shows the opposite of what the organisation intended! India isn't perfect, but it is just about the best, and always has been, in the third or developing world. What's wrong with these characters.

member_23629 · Post by **member_23629** » 30 Jan 2013 21:22

^^^ These are self-appointed Gora organizations that give character certificates to all and sundry to create pressure on them. They are created specifically to serve the Gora's geo-political interests and have zero credibility. Amnesty, Doctors without Borders, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch Asia, etc. etc. all fall in this bracket. These people should be rebuffed, like China does.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 30 Jan 2013 21:23

Its psyops.
Now NGOs can peddle damn lies formerly known as statistics and to suit their agenda.

If you dig deep most of these NGos are fronts for the great propaganda apparatus headed by former govt officials.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 30 Jan 2013 22:57

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_ ... ghts_Watch
Criticism of Human Rights Watch

Hardly reliable NGO, considering its criticism is all over the place.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 31 Jan 2013 07:33

Views from the Right

RAJNATH RISING

Both Sangh Parivar weeklies carry prominent reports of Rajnath Singh's election as BJP president to preside over the next general elections. In their profiles, both the Organiser and Panchjanya highlight his association with the RSS. An article in the Organiser emphasises that he was a "'Bal Swayam Sevak' associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since 1964".

While Singh's participation in the JP movement and election to the UP state assembly in 1977 are underscored as his first electoral grounding in politics, the fact that he undertook "rewriting history texts and incorporating Vedic Mathematics into the syllabus" during his stint as UP's education minister is dubbed as "major highlights". His famous "Anti-Copying Ordinance" as education minister has also been highlighted as a "turning point" for his political career because it proved that "he was 'the leader with a difference'". While his stints as UP chief minister, Union cabinet minister and BJP president (2006-09) have all been chronicled, the Organiser cover story stresses the challenge he faces to "retrieve lost ground, redeem the party". The report in Panchjanya underlines a motto for him, "sabke saath, sabka saath" (for everyone, with everyone), to carry out his job. Both weeklies, however, appear to have deemed it not fit to provide details of the last three years of Nitin Gadkari's work.

What SHINDE said

The row over Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's remarks accusing the RSS and the BJP of conducting terror training camps has made both weeklies attack Shinde in their editorials and reports. The editorial in the Organiser alleges that Shinde made this remark in an "eagerness to please Sonia Gandhi". The editorial seeks to substantiate its allegation claiming that Sonia Gandhi has filled "the party and the government with non-Hindus", and highlights the recent appointment of the "IB head" as the latest example of minorities "superseding" other members, creating a situation where of "the top thirty positions in the government, only a handful are held by Hindus in a nation where over eighty per cent of the population is Hindu".

While the editorial in Panchjanya laments that the Congress has not "budged" from its "habit" of pandering to the communal sentiments of minorities, both weeklies focus on Hafiz Saeed's welcoming of Shinde's remarks. The Organiser editorial asserts that Shinde must be tried for "treason": "Shinde deserves to be tried for treason and punished... Whether it is the law which is going to mete this out to him or the people of India is the question. While the law takes long to deliver justice, the anger of the people may not..."

RAHUL, so what?

Unlike the coverage on Rajnath Singh, both weeklies have reacted mutedly to the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as Congress vice-president. An article in Panchjanya describes it as a mere acknowledgement of his being heir apparent to the "Congress property". It says the Congress has no agenda but to pass on the mantle to Rahul, whose alleged failures in UP and Bihar are highlighted to claim that the younger leader brings no hope to the country.

Compiled by Ravish Tiwari

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 31 Jan 2013 08:43

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/oth ... =slideshow

Look at the slide on Kubh Mela, these BDY at (Malecch) Hindu have description of the celebrations on all except for the sons of soil carrying huge National flag.

nvishal · Post by **nvishal** » 31 Jan 2013 10:40

Telangana watch

In 2004 general elections, the congress promised that it would initiate the creation of telangana if it were voted in power. As a result, the congress won a majority in telangana. But at the same time, it won a majority in seemandhra also. This was enough for the congress leadership to stall the creation of telangana till at least the next general election.

The next general elections are scheduled for 2014. Preparations will intensify by mid 2013. But this time, congress cannot do what it did in 2004. It cannot expect to win in telangana on a mere promise. Nor can it win in telangana unless it initiates the process of creation of telangana BEFORE the 2014 general elections.

So now, the congress has a choice to make, it has to choose between telangana or seemandhra. The lok sabha share of AP is 42 where 17 come from telangana while 25 come from seemadhra.

My final verdict is that congress cannot make telangana. Only BJP can do that provided it comes to power in 2014. The TRS and BJP will most probably form an alliance by early 2014.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 31 Jan 2013 10:42

To be Franck, RG has had power for the last 9 years, only now he is being given some responsibility. Better to Treat that RG, SG, PG and childrean have been having power from Day 1.

INC might have a back up plan of PG projected in future if RG fails, RG should not be allowed to disown the UPA past. SO better not to react.

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 01 Feb 2013 08:22

Church Should Publish a White Paper on its Business Operations poor christian liberation movement- RL francis

Catholic and Protestant churches, across the country, is celebrating December 9, 2012 as ‘Dalit Liberation Sunday’. Catholic Bishop Conference of India (CBCI) and National Council for Churches in India (NCCI) have suddenly become worried for their Dalit brothers. Both of these churches work under Vatican and Geneva based ‘World Council of Churches’.

In the October month of this year, Catholic Church has organized a congregation under Pope Benedict-XVI, which has advocated for faster evangelization considering the changing scenario of the world. It is under this theme that Indian arms of churches have thrown slogans like ‘Break the barriers – Build the world of equality’ for Dalit brothers.

But, reality is that church has just tried to put old wine in the new bottle. They have demanded to include dalit Christians in the scheduled caste on name of ‘ Dalit Liberation Sunday’ They have criticized Manmohan Singh government to break their promises in this regard.

The slogan looks pleasant from the hindsight, but reality lies in stark contrast to the ‘words’. When church has not been able to create equitable order for 2.5 to 3.0 crore dalit Christians, how can they do justice to non-Christian dalits?

The big question on the entire church organizations is- If after conversion hundreds of years, their situation is as good as Hindu dalits, then what church has done for them over this long period? Despite 70 percent of total converted Christians come from dalit framework of Indian society, but their role in the church establishment is almost non-existent. Discrimination is persistently increasing within the church system. Church is trying to shift the blame on Hindu system.

Vatican severely criticizes caste based discrimination and untouchability. But, dalit Christians face this at every step. Handful of clergy controls all the resources of church. Through this demand of including, dalit Christians in the scheduled caste’s category, church has played double game. They have successfully divereted the anger of dalit Christians towards government and secondly, they have time and money to spend on more conversions, which will help them to firm their roots.

Welfare of dalit Christians has never is an agenda for church. They have just been tool for the expansion of the church empire in India. This can be understood through an example. There are 168 Bishops and there are just four who come from dalit community. There are 13,000 diocese priests, one-lakh nuns and 5000 brothers in India. However, merely few hundred of them are from dalit community. Recently, only dalit priest from Delhi Catholic Archdiocese, Father William Premdas Chaudhry has described agony of dalit father in his autobiography, “An Unwanted Priest”.

In India, church has some constitutional rights. Regulation must be imposed to control church and their institutions. There are 480 colleges in only Catholic Church, 63 medical colleges, 9500 secondary schools, 4000 high schools, 14000 primary schools, 7500 nursery schools, 500 training schools, 900 technical schools, 263 Professional institutions, six engineering colleges and 3000 hostels, 787 hospitals, 2800 dispensaries and halth centres currently being run by Catholic Church. If institutes are, being run by Protestants is included then number reaches to 45 to 50 thousands.

Now, my question is how many deans, teachers, professors and doctors are from dalit Christian community in this huge empire of church? How many of them are doctors in medical hospitals? How many dalit Christians are director of social institutions of church, which gets crores of foreign funds for the welfare of converted Christians. Before celebrating ‘Dalit Liberation Sunday’ church should answer these questions. Church should tell that how many dlit Christian students gets education in their convent schools? Reality is that church has become business enterprise and now it is being driven by profit motive. If church has guts, they should bring a white paper on the issue.

It is a harsh truth that many people won’t believe, that condition of Hindu dalits has considerably improved and Christian dalits are now left in this race. Hindu dalits have started ‘Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’ to help entrepreneurship among dalits. But, I want to ask why any such model for development of Christian dalits has not come from church despite having ample resources? I demand instead of ridiculing dalits, they should first create a system which gives them proper rights and justice in the present system.

It is time to reconvert the lost souls back to its parent religion with pride.
Jesus has long been abandoned the vatican.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 01 Feb 2013 09:49

P.V. Narasimha Rao: Outsider in his party

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 01 Feb 2013 09:51

From the Urdu Press

CUT VISHWAROOPAM

Most Urdu papers appear to back the idea of Muslim groups exerting their right to advocate "cuts" in movies in order to help "amity". Rashtriya Sahara, in an editorial on January 30, says; "Muslims are often portrayed as villains in films... and if, like other filmmakers in the past who previewed their movies for Muslim groups and then made cuts and ensured that the film worked, Kamal Haasan too had made the desired cuts, it would have been a better solution."

Inquilab, in an editorial on January 31, says; "it is clear from this incident that Muslims are generally tainted in films regarding crime and terror... the controversy obviously has a business angle and a political angle." The political angle, claims the newspaper, is that Haasan had praised Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and therefore incurred Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's wrath. But, it says, "handi musalmaanon ke hi sar pe phodi jaa rahi hai (only the Muslims are being scapegoated)".

The colour of terror

The daily Rahnuma-e-Deccan, in its editorial on January 23, writes: "We salute the courage of [home minister Sushilkumar] Shinde who, for the first time... has accepted that forces trying to make India a Hindu rashtra are involved in terrorist activities. His courage has to be saluted, as his statement comes at a time when, following a riot in Dhule in Maharashtra, conspiracies are being hatched to wrongly implicate young Muslims in terrorist cases." The daily Siasat,in its editorial on January 21, writes: "This is not merely a verbal allegation... against other political parties or organisations. Shinde has given this statement in his capacity as the country's home minister and it expresses the view of the Indian government... The Central government's duty does not end with the revelation that terrorism is being promoted in training camps run by the RSS and the BJP. It must now impose restrictions on the RSS and the BJP and act against the illegal training camps."

Jamaat-e-Islami's bi-weekly, Daawat (January 28) points out: "This is not the first statement about Hindutva terrorism. The former chief of Maharashtra's ATS, Hemant Karkare, had, following the second bomb blast at Malegaon, gone deep into this network and unmasked it. If he were alive, the entire network of Hindutva (terror) network would have been exposed."

Rahul's New Role

The weekly Nai Duniya, edited by former SP leader Shahid Siddiqui, in its report from Jaipur (January 28), writes: "Rahul Gandhi has been designated the vice president of the Congress, but the fact is that the reins of the party have been handed over to him. Thus, there has been a change of generation in the Congress leadership. The party will now take the field with a new image and slogan. The Congress... could not have made any other move at this point... Its confrontation is with Modi, who is rapidly moving towards Delhi and the present leadership of the Congress does not seem to have the power to stop him."

Inquilab, in its editorial on January 29, writes: "The common perception about Rahul Gandhi is that he has not demonstrated his capabilities on any front and has not succeeded in giving the party any advantage worth mentioning... He needs to come out openly and let people make an assessment of his personality. The other important task is to put an end to the 'culture of sycophancy', bring about credibility with regard to promises made and establish a direct and sympathetic rapport with the people." The daily Hamara Samaj (January 21) writes: "Since the Congress started ignoring minorities, it lost power... If Rahul Gandhi wants to attain stable power, he has to pay special attention to the problems of minorities in the country, especially Muslims."

BJP vs BJP

In an editorial on January 24, Inquilab writes: "The BJP was caught in a catch-22 situation. If Nitin Gadkari had been made the party's president again, the party would not morally be able to utter a word against corruption. And if he was sacked, it would have meant accepting his alleged acts of corruption and eating its words, as the person for whom so much was done to retain as president for two consecutive terms was ultimately unfit for it."

Compiled by Seema Chishti

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 01 Feb 2013 10:23

http://ibnlive.in.com/cnnibnshow/Face-t ... 69877.html

Discussion on Shah Rukh Khan's recent remarks. One "Aakar Patel" starting at 20:17 says that in the US, this( Khan's remarks) would not be a controversy, and he wouldn't have to explain himself, whereas in India, he would, since india is essentially uncivilised on these matters.

Is this accurate? It doesn't sound right, nor is the comparison well conceived. Has the US experienced even one-tenth the terrorism India has. Would that perhaps explain India's supposed higher level of touchiness on these(Moslem) issues? It feels like a false transposition of a subject, without needing to glorify India on this.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 01 Feb 2013 10:27

Also its in US that SRK gets frisked repeatedly and yet goes there. His NYT article was a rant on US but couched in language against India.
Bekaar Patel clueless again.

krithivas · Post by **krithivas** » 02 Feb 2013 10:34

India's challenge: to show that freedom can outdo tyranny
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politi ... 2dq21.html

So I say: come on, India! Start beating China at politics. And by politics I mean not the petty competition for power and privilege, but realising the full potential of your people.

An interesting write-up by an Indophile - The only obstacle in the way of India's eventual upward surge are the Indians.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 02 Feb 2013 11:04

Varoon Shekhar wrote:http://ibnlive.in.com/cnnibnshow/Face-t ... 69877.html

Discussion on Shah Rukh Khan's recent remarks. One "Aakar Patel" starting at 20:17 says that in the US, this( Khan's remarks) would not be a controversy, and he wouldn't have to explain himself, whereas in India, he would, since india is essentially uncivilised on these matters. Is this accurate? It doesn't sound right, nor is the comparison well conceived. Has the US experienced even one-tenth the terrorism India has. Would that perhaps explain India's supposed higher level of touchiness on these(Moslem) issues? It feels like a false transposition of a subject, without needing to glorify India on this.

All these BCs want India and Indians to compromise and dilute their own social -spiritual civilizational value sytem to accomodate alien dogmatic ingredients with no loyalty to soil . They dont even mind if the demand ( not request) of compromise is made in most brazen and disgusting/ Digvijay Way.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 02 Feb 2013 11:51

About the KH's Viswaproopam demand to be shown the movie pre release. I support the demand of the muslim groups. I also support the demand to show every group the movie. Not only every group, i support the demand of every individual to be shown the movie, pre release. After all no one should be hurt, no group, no individual. The problem here is 'hurting sentiment' is it not? So why stop at groups? Why not show the movie to every individual? But then it is not possible to show every group and individual the movie. That is why i recommend a small charge as per demand. Neither it is possible to construct special screening centers, so it is recommended to use existing screening centers in malls and cinema halls. At the back of the slip that is given after paying the token amount for watching the movie, including the amount for coke and popcorn, i strongly suggest the back part be marked " Do you want to BAN this movie?" "Yes" or "No"? And voila at the end of the month of pre release screening, if most people want banning then the movie should be banned..people power.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 02 Feb 2013 22:12

Pranab inaugurates The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy.

Chinese agents doing their bit to train the next generation of attention seekers aka Jaichands!!!!

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 03 Feb 2013 02:17

People in India have to decide ultimately how they define their interests. Value systems or Cultural. Which do you want to protect as a primary. If you were given one choice, which one would you fight for?

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 03 Feb 2013 02:22

harbans wrote:People in India have to decide ultimately how they define their interests. Value systems or Cultural. Which do you want to protect as a primary. If you were given one choice, which one would you fight for?

Bharatiya Identity and all that it entails - including cultural intelligence on how to apply and uphold values!

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 03 Feb 2013 03:16

India's dysfunctional parent-child relation with leaders
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/s ... 130202.htm

40 years separate the median ages of India's Cabinet and its population.
With every passing year, India gets younger and younger and so expectations will be voiced more loudly, writes Mihir S Sharma
As India gets a year older, it gets ever younger, too. Its median age is 25, 10 years behind China's and 15 behind the United States. In some ways, this is the defining fact about this country. It helps explain its often-abysmal institutional memory; its palpable sense of expectation; its impatience and aggression; its sense of being always on the brink of some dreadful turmoil, held at bay only by hopes of the future.
In the upsurge across India's cities and towns that was sparked off by the horrific rape of a 23-year-old student a fortnight ago, young people were the prime movers. The anti-corruption protests of last year had a clear leader in Kisan Baburao Hazare and the clique of activists around him. Yet those, too, overwhelmingly attracted the young, and the nature of the audience determined Mr Hazare's and Mr Kejriwal's methods and demands.
In particular, the impatience, the self-absorption and the inconsistencies that many people detect and worry about in both protests cannot but have something to do with their average age. When you're young, you don't like anything being postponed. You don't like being told that things take time -- you have no clear conception of what "time" is. You don't remember when things were very different from how they are now, and so don't believe that change can be gradual. When you're young, you don't like being told you're part of the problem. When you're young, you know it's somebody else's fault. When you're young, if something isn't done for you, you're displeased; when it is done, you're even more displeased. All these traits, and more, were visible in the protests of the past week.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 03 Feb 2013 03:27

http://www.space.com/19383-mars-saturn- ... photo.html

Mars, Saturn and the star Spica shine brightly over towering Sikh house of worship Gurdwara Bangla Sahib—originally the historic home of astronomer Raja Jai Singh located in downtown Delhi, India.Astrophotographer Ajay Talwar of the space photography group The World at Night took this photo in August 2012and shared it with SPACE.com this week. The trails in the image are the result of more than 200 exposures of five seconds each."Monsoon time in Delhi often brings very clear nights, but they come unannounced and you can rarely plan for them much in advance. This was one of those rare clear and transparent nights of Delhi," Talwar said.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 03 Feb 2013 03:36

Bharatiya Identity and all that it entails - including cultural intelligence on how to apply and uphold values!

Say you have within your 'Bharatiya' identity a particular cultural trait that say demeans women. What would you prefer to defend and fight for. That particular 'Bharatiya' trait or the women folk that are victim of that trait.

This is a single choice simple question. What would you fight to death to defend. Values or Culture?

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 03 Feb 2013 03:58

harbans ji,

please read my statement again. The answer is in the statement itself. There is a difference between a cultural trait at time-point x and cultural intelligence which keeps on evolving even as it remains rooted in all that came before. Cultural intelligence allows one to understand values in context.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 03 Feb 2013 04:06

No Rajesh Ji. This is not about traits or cultural intelligence to defend. Both are subjective to spin and conjecture. My question is simple. Give 1 answer. What will you fight to defend till the last?

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 03 Feb 2013 04:35

Your question presupposes that values are not subjective, as if they exist beyond the perspective of the human. If they do, then what have humans to do with them, and if they don't, then they need some intelligence to make head or foot about them. So your question is wrongly formulated.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 03 Feb 2013 04:38

harbans wrote:About the KH's Viswaproopam demand to be shown the movie pre release. I support the demand of the muslim groups. I also support the demand to show every group the movie. Not only every group, i support the demand of every individual to be shown the movie, pre release. After all no one should be hurt, no group, no individual. The problem here is 'hurting sentiment' is it not? So why stop at groups? Why not show the movie to every individual? But then it is not possible to show every group and individual the movie. That is why i recommend a small charge as per demand. Neither it is possible to construct special screening centers, so it is recommended to use existing screening centers in malls and cinema halls. At the back of the slip that is given after paying the token amount for watching the movie, including the amount for coke and popcorn, i strongly suggest the back part be marked " Do you want to BAN this movie?" "Yes" or "No"? And voila at the end of the month of pre release screening, if most people want banning then the movie should be banned..people power.

All you have to do is to collect 100 friends who can throw few stones at secular glass houses and melt away. And give it a political name. Please remember to have few lawyers as your members. Make sure that you take membership of some church/Muslim umbrella group even though you practice Hinduism at home.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 03 Feb 2013 04:45

Say you have within your 'Bharatiya' identity a particular cultural trait that say demeans women. What would you prefer to defend and fight for.. That particular 'Bharatiya' trait or the women folk that are victim of that trait. Would you defend the value system that defends the Women or would you defend the millenina old cultural trait? If you cannot answer this simply, you are confused about interest. NOthing subjective about this at all. It;s one way or the other.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 03 Feb 2013 04:54

harbans wrote:Say you have within your 'Bharatiya' identity a particular cultural trait that say demeans women. What would you prefer to defend and fight for.. That particular 'Bharatiya' trait or the women folk that are victim of that trait. Would you defend the value system that defends the Women or would you defend the millenina old cultural trait? If you cannot answer this simply, you are confused about interest. NOthing subjective about this at all. It;s one way or the other.

You posed the same question earlier. You still did not reformulate it appropriately.

harbans wrote:Say you have within your 'Bharatiya' identity a particular cultural trait that say demeans women. What would you prefer to defend and fight for. That particular 'Bharatiya' trait or the women folk that are victim of that trait.

You are supposing, that the cultural trait of demeaning women could come from my 'Bharatiya identity'. Fair enough. What about the "value system which defends the women"? You are not specific as to whether beside the cultural trait, if that "value system" can also come from my "Bharatiya identity"?

That is wrong with your question! You're presupposing that it can't.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 03 Feb 2013 05:02

You just write a new dharma sastra that removes that abnormality, which became so because of changing time or context. I presume that trait is in fact demeaning woman in all aspects of varna-Asrama phases.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 03 Feb 2013 05:39

No there is nothing wrong with the question. However even a more starker example:

Case 1: Say you are in medieval India. A powerful neighborhood mlecha cheftain says : "i want 3 pretty young women from your villages each year. Else i will ransack and smash the millenia old XYZ temple and it's sacred idol just across'. What are you going to do? The choice is a fight where you have sort of a chance but not much. You can save the villages and the sacred temple though by compromise.

Answer Choices:

(A) Give 3 girls and keep intact the local temple and idol.
(B) Fight even though it might mean destruction of the temple and idol.

Case 2: You get irrevocable proof that oh man..the AIT is true. That Veda's came from central siberia. Snskrit too came from elsewhere and not Bharat. But with that finding you also have a choice. Bury it and no one will know the Truth. What will you prefer to do..bury the Truth or put the Truth forward as it is..that Sanskrit and the Veda's came from elsewhere..

Answer Choices:

(A) Bury the Truth, no one will know.
(B) Expose the Truth about Veda's and Sanskrit, even though it implies the basics of our culture lie outside India.

Case 1 and Case 2..what are your answers going to be?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 03 Feb 2013 08:52

The Hindu has started a new liberal forum, 'The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy', which was inaugurated by the President a couple of days back. The objectives are stated as follows:

The Centre aspires to be an agent of change at a time when there is strong disenchantment with politics and institutions. The role of the Centre is to take forward a re-examination of the country’s fundamental constitutional principles which have become points of contestation such as nationalism, secularism and social justice.

While it is true that there is s strong disenchantment among the masses with public politics and institutions, the attempt may be to hijack such a resentment for The Hindu's biased objectives. Obviously, this forum can be expected to propagate a narrow view of nationalism, secularism and social justice based on The Hindu's narrow, prejudiced and biased interpretation influenced as it is by certain ideologies alien and inimical to India. This forum will most certainly not be in Indian interests, going by the recent history of The Hindu.

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 03 Feb 2013 09:51

SSridhar wrote:The Hindu has started a new liberal forum, 'The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy', which was inaugurated by the President a couple of days back. The objectives are stated as follows:
The Centre aspires to be an agent of change at a time when there is strong disenchantment with politics and institutions. The role of the Centre is to take forward a re-examination of the country’s fundamental constitutional principles which have become points of contestation such as nationalism, secularism and social justice.

'Liberal' forums are certainly welcome in India - as long as they're populated by folks with enough IQ to work out its real meanings and implications. The 'Hindu' hardly inspires confidence on that front.

Would be interesting to see if they have the gumption to take a strong stance on Dynasty in Indian politics, or on the spread of illiberal exclusivist dogmas in India. This is not even to speak of the Hindu's stance on economic policies - which has always been suspicious of liberalism.

Seems to be just another attempt at hijacking of the term to suit leftist agendas.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 03 Feb 2013 14:24

harbans wrote:No there is nothing wrong with the question. However even a more starker example:

harbans ji,

I pointed out exactly what is wrong with the question. There is a logical fallacy in your hypothetical. Instead of addressing the logical challenge head on, you always try to skirt it. As is obvious from your subsequent hypotheticals "what if", you will continue to suffer from these logical fallacies and the hypotheticals would end up being mere childish games rather than logical challenges.