Indian Interests

[Aditya_V]

But the fact remains why does Rizwanur Rehman get 3 months of continuous Prime time news and these cases do not, why not similair we the people debates?. Why does a Pub attack similarly get news but other attacks is suppressed.

[Sagar G]

The Indian Express and India Today are not part of the Indian media? Did the Huffington Post break the story?

But why let facts and logic get in the way of an ideological rant...

He meant MSM and by the way it's not a state secret that whenever criminals are from the muslim community then the news is either suppressed or passes off as a footnote. So get your "facts" and "logic" right before delivering sermons to others.

[RamaY]

Upcoming parliament session - key issues

1. Budget 2013-14
2. Reservations in Promitions
3. Land acquisitions - compensation to farmers
4. Protection and empowerment of women bill
5. Janlokpal bill
6. JPC cleanchit to PM, HM and others on 2G scam
7. CBI cleanchit to PMO on coal scam

Watch video: http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/the-bi ... odi/272009

[krisna]

http://barbarindians.tumblr.com/post/48 ... utal-truth

This is a short rejoinder to Praveen Swami’s article as to why we are basically screwed, and will never get the level of Police service the city of Boston, for instance, gets.

Praveen illustrates 5 “brutal truths”, as he calls them. They are - low budget, low levels of staffing, poor quality recruitment, Government doesn’t give a damn and nothing is gonna change.

None of these are really fundamental problems. There is only one brutal, fundamental truth - a country with “socialism” enshrined in its constitution will never get the level of Governance a free market economy gets.

Let’s take it from the top.

Low budget is primarily due to resource constraints. A secondary reason flows from the fact that people at large don’t vote for effective policing, they vote for doles or other group directed benefits. Low levels of staffing and poor quality staffing is attributable to resource constraints as well. Socialist countries will never match free market economies in terms of resources, this is pretty much proven.

Why would Governments give a damn? There is no such thing as a Government. It is a collective of politicians and people bestowed with power. As long as there is not even the slightest threat to the power equation, “Government” is not going to bother. Of course a section of people (middle class?) appear to be mighty pissed at some of the glaring police failures but as we speak, the ruling party’s number crunchers are hard at work. For all we know, Sheila Dikshit heaved a huge sigh of relief and sipped her champagne when low level functionaries like Pawan Khera etc handed her a favorable report after the latest rounds of demos around the capital.

Go even further back to the basics. What does your school theory say? What is the job of the Government? Of course, if you went to school after the 90s I am not quite sure but even during my time they used to accept national defense and public security to be prime jobs of the Government. This is where the big/small Government thing comes in. A Government that tries to do everything will only fail. A nimble body that only tries to take out sick puppies from society will do it with agility and efficiency.

There is only one basic problem. If you do not acknowledge, accept and attempt to remedy it, you are indeed the problem.

[SSridhar]

Upcoming parliament session - key issues

Provided the Parliament functions.

[Lilo]

x-post

I hope it belongs here. From WikiLeaks
https://www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/ ... 380_a.html

Tytler's day in court is long overdue. In
the days after Indira Gandhi's assassination, he was among
the local Congress Party leaders competing with one another
to see which wards would shed more Sikh blood. In exhorting
his party cadres and goons to kill more Sikhs, he is reported
to have told them they shamed him in the eyes of the top
Congress leaders because there were fewer killings in his
wards. The killing by his henchmen apparently ensured his
success in establishing Congress Party bona fides and
demonstrating fealty to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty because he
has regularly been given the Congress Party ticket in
parliamentary elections since then and has served as a
federal Minister in Congress-led governments.

[RamaY]

Upcoming parliament session - key issues

Provided the Parliament functions.

That itself could be in Indian Interests.

P.S: Somehow these posts feel like deja-vu.

[Sanku]

I believe the only function the current parliament can do in Indian interests is to dissolve itself. Anything and everything else will go against us.

[arun]

X Posted.

We might as well roll over and die!

Remember the Italian marines? They seem to be having a nice time partying .
Also seen enjoying the party:
- Archbishop of Delhi
- Secretary to former president Pratibha Patil.

All in all a pretty disgusting spectacle to see the Christist Catholic Church hierarchy, both from the Vatican HQ and our own country, consorting with killers. Actions reeks of racism on the part of the Christist Catholic Church officials from their Vatican HQ and caste prejudice on the part our own country's Christist Catholic hierarchy as I am given to understand that the "Latin" Catholics, to which christist group one of the murdered fisherman belonged, are considered "Low Caste".

A link to go with the story:

Killer’ marines party with Mancini at Vatican Embassy

[abhishek_sharma]

Views from the Right

BOSTON BANGALORED

The IED explosion in front of the BJP's state headquarters in Bangalore has allowed the Sangh Parivar to hit back at the Congress. Both Sangh Parivar mouthpieces have carried editorials blaming the "dreaded Islamic ideology" and the Congress's "policy of appeasement" that allows terror to fester in the country. Citing the Boston Marathon attack and the Bangalore blasts as indicators of a fresh surge in terrorism, the Organiser's editorial seeks to belittle the Congress's apparent boldness in executing Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru. It argues that the government shouldn't think "it has done more than enough".

"The government of the day fails to understand that it has not done anything or rather it is still cultivating the politics of hatred and hate-mongering and the immediate tweet of the Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad following the Bangalore blast is a reminder as to how a party can stoop," says the editorial. Despite the fact that Karnataka has a BJP government, the Organiser tries to pass the buck to the Congress-led Union government for not being able to stop the attack: " The finger of accusation points to a callous and weak Central government which feels that everything will fall in place..." the editorial says. The editorial in Panchjanya also criticises Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad's post-blast remarks and reminds the government to act decisively against terror.

COAL-ITION

The Organiser uses the report of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar's attempt to interfere in the CBI's affidavit on the coal block scam to launch a fresh attack on the Congress, accusing it of turning the CBI into the "Congress Bureau of Intimidation". The cover story warns the Congress of the "storm ahead" and argues that "this shows that the Congress minister has scant regard for the top agency and wants the agency to dance according to its tune... If one goes through the present political situation of the country there are ample instances of the CBI being misused by the Congress party and the present regime".

The Organiser claims that not only have the prime minister and law minister been cornered on this issue but that also "the Congress and the UPA [are] finally seeing dark clouds over the horizon and the party will find it tough to survive". A report in Panchjanya seeks to highlight the instability of the UPA in the wake of the withdrawal of support by the DMK and TMC, as well as Mulayam Singh's veiled threats and Mayawati's desperation.

A two-page report in the Organiser hits back at Nitish Kumar, reminding him of the "coalition dharma" that he needs to honour the same way Vajpayee had honoured it. It tells Nitish to win elections for the NDA first, before worrying about the PM question that "comes after the election".

DRY HARVEST

Panchjanya has carried a cover story on the drought in Maharashtra where it paints the IPL's demands for water and the requirements of sugarcane growers and industry in a poor light. The Organiser has carried out a news report highlighting how the VHP is helping people in the drought-hit region. It highlights the VHP's fodder camps where many people have taken shelter along with their cattle. The Panchjanya story asserts that sugarcane, grapes and banana farming has led to the drop in the water table, leading to a precarious situation in times of crisis.

Compiled by Ravish Tiwari

[symontk]

If Indian fisherman are considered "low caste", then what is the consideration for St Peter? isn't he a low caste?

I am not a catholic but knowing few of them very close, as far as I know Latin catholics are the most influential christians in India leave alone between catholics

[brihaspati]

Partying is good. It exposes the real nature of imperialist religions and their role as handmaidens of foreign interests. Many people who are forced to witness this internal nakhra have a life long dilemma - I know this from my church contacts.

There is a great deal of disillusionment also at the middle level of the indigenous theocracy, not always expressed openly. Over time every opportunistic and sadistic religious system exposes itself, especially if they have become fronts for biz+political+criminal international networks. The question becomes of carefully providing an alternative and protecting it from similar penetration by these crooks.

[Prem]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kylesmith/2 ... orld-bank/
India's Economic Rise Is A Firm Rebuke Of Joseph Stiglitz, Brad DeLong, And The World Bank

The triumph of the great free-market liberalization that took place in India in 1991 is stunning, an advancement for human well-being that is one of the greatest stories ever told. Life expectancy has risen from less than 45 years to more than 60. The poverty ratio, still over 50 percent as recently as 1977-78, has fallen to 20 percent. There were only 5 million phones in India in 1990-91; today there are hundreds of millions, with more than 15 million phones being activated a month.Who could question this dizzying success? Lots of people, it turns out. Including Nobel laureates Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz, economist-blogger Brad DeLong and the World Bank. All of them and many other prominent theorists harboring suspicions about the marketplace have questioned aspects of the Indian boom, many of them counseling more centralization and less freedom. And all of them get briskly corrected in the new book Why Growth Matters: How Economic Growth in India Reduced Poverty and the Lessons for Other Developing Countries.
The book by Columbia University economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya is a point-by-point rebuke of India’s doubters. Brad DeLong, for instance, is a proponent of the myth that growth was not a result of the post-1991 reforms but instead can be traced back to the 1980s. In the ’80s some mild reforms were first introduced, but on a much smaller scale relative to the 1991 liberalization, when at a stroke India devalued its currency, eliminated most of its licenses and quotas, opened industries to foreign capital, cut taxes, privatized many industries and freed up foreign trade, quadrupling GDP in 20 years. In an introduction to the book containing DeLong’s essay, Harvard economist Dani Rodrik elaborated that “the change in official attitudes in the 1980s,” meaning encouragement of entrepreneurship and further engagement with the world, “may have had a bigger impact on growth than any specific policy reforms.”
ConBut growth in the 1980s was a lackluster 4.6 percent a year until it picked up to a much better 7.2 percent from 1988 to 1991. Bhagwati and Panagariya point out that this later growth was financed by fiscal expansion and external borrowing that were not sustainable and indeed led to the 1991 balance-of-payments crisis that precipitated the major reforms that year. From 2003 to 2012, growth roared along at 8.2 percent a year. “Attributing this latest acceleration to some vague ‘attitudinal’ change in the 1980s strains credulity,” write the authors. Auto production jumped from 180,000 in 1990-91 to two million in 2009-2010. Foreign investment exploded from $100 million in 1990-91 to more than $60 billion in 2007-08. Specific policy reforms caused these changes.But didn’t India’s worst-off classes – bureaucratically known as the scheduled tribes and scheduled castes — miss out on the boom? A World Bank brief made that case, saying, “It is widely acknowledged that…many groups are left behind amid improving living standards. Among them are tribal groups identified by the Constitution as Scheduled Tribes.” In fact, research shows poverty dropping steadily among these disadvantaged groups, which comprise nearly a quarter of India’s population. For the “scheduled castes,” poverty rates fell from 59 percent in 1983 to 29 percent in 2009-10. The “scheduled tribes” saw a similar improvement, from 64 percent in poverty in 1983 to 31 percent in 2009-10. Moreover, poverty rates are actually declining more quickly among these groups than in the population as a whole. India’s worst-off are seeing some of liberalization’s most amazing gains.The World Bank has also been pushing the metric that the absolute number of indigent people hasn’t changed much in India — from 323 million to 304 million between 1983 and 2004-2005. Bhagwati and Panagariya note the absurdity of this approach when they point out that India added 374 million souls in the same period, so if the rate of poverty hadn’t changed when market forces were freed there would today be half a billion poor people in India today. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, a longtime skeptic of free enterprise, was a leading World Bank official (vice president and chief economist) when the outfit made these tendentious and misleading assertions.
Another Nobel winner, Amartya Sen, took the equally alarming tack of saying a focus on economic growth somehow crowded out attention to social welfare, though Bhagwati and Panagariya comprehensively demonstrate that increasing social welfare was a direct result of the gigantic enlargement of the Indian economy. Sen wrote snidely in 1995, “Debates on such questions as the details of tax concessions to multinationals, or whether Indians should drink Coca Cola, or whether the private sector should be allowed to operate city buses, tend to ‘crowd out’ the time that it left to discuss the abysmal situation of basic education and elementary health care, or the persistence of debilitating social inequalities.”
The obsession with slicing up the economic pie rather than growing it is a malady that afflicts economists as well as politicians, and the former, like the latter, resort to rationalizations and number-fudging when confronted with the superiority of market-based policies over central planning. Bhagwati replied to Sen, “The put-down of attention to multinationals misses the point that India’s economic reforms require precisely that India join the Global Age.” Moreover, anyone who has had to ride a Delhi bus would be far less dismissive than Sen of the idea that new competition is needed.India’s economic fate is by no means sealed, and further reforms are needed. The country’s Asian neighbors provide much more flexible labor markets than the highly regulated one in India. Air India, which devoured $10 billion in subsidies in 2010-11, should be privatized. Infrastructure is hampered by slow movement on the part of the Planning Commission, which recently banned the highway authority from issuing new contracts for two years. Education remains woeful. And a recent slowdown in growth (to 5.5 percent in the first half of last year) has encouraged statists to speak up again. But no “third way” or “middle path” will lift up India the way economic freedom has.

[RamaY]

AP cancels land allotment to Brahmani Steels, terminates MoU

HYDERABAD, APRIL 25:  
Following directions by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, the allocation of 10,760 acres of Government land alienated in favour of Brahmani Industries Ltd was cancelled for its failure to implement the project.

The land was allocated to set up a greenfield steel plant in Vemaguntapalli, Kothaguntapalli, P. Bommepalli and Thugutlapalli villages of Jammalamadugu mandal of Kadapa district.

According to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office, the land allotment was cancelled for failure to establish the project to set up an integrated steel plant.

The State Industries and Commerce Department had entered into a memorandum of understanding with Brahmani Industries for facilitating the setting up of an integrated steel plant of 2 million tonnes capacity per annum and a full production capacity of 10 million tonnes by 2017.

The company promised to provide direct employment to 10,000 people and to create indirect employment for one lakh people.

The Government issued orders extending all eligible incentives in line with the 2005-2010 Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy.

According to the decision taken by the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Cabinet on June 6, 2007, orders were issued alienating the land in favour of the integrated steel plant for setting up the plant on payment of market value.

Under the MoU, in the first phase the company was to complete the project with a production capacity of 2 million tonnes of steel by 2009.

Since the company failed to fulfil its commitment to establish the project in line with the memorandum, the Industries and Commerce Department terminated the memorandum and cancelled the incentives.

Last year another land allocation was cancelled.
Andhra govt cancels Bayyaram mining lease

HYDERABAD: The Kiran Reddy government on Monday decided to cancel the lease of Bayyaram iron ore mines spread across three mandals in Khammam district. Around 1.4 lakh acres of land was leased to a joint venture of AP Minerals Development Corporation Ltd (APMDCL) and Rakshana Steels for iron ore mining. The TDP had linked Rakshana Steels to a member of the YSR family.

The land is situated in Bayyaram, Garla and Nelakondapally mandals in Khammam district. Incidentally, the huge tract bearing iron ore was given to Rakshana Steels on the lines of the bauxite agreement that APMDCL had signed with Anrak in Visakhapatanam district in 2007. The GO ratifying the joint venture of APMDCL and Rakshana Steels in 2009 explicitly mentioned the Anrak bauxite agreement. So, the cancellation of the Bayyaram joint venture should put a question mark on the bauxite project in Visakhapattanam as well, state government sources said.

YSR and his son YSJ are secular and inclusive politicians with good contacts with local communities.

[Philip]

A great Indian institution."Not fast food ,but real food"!

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... 86968.html

Fit for an emperor: Old Delhi's most enduring restaurant Karim's celebrates its centenary
Andrew Buncombe

It can be difficult for customers not to stop and gaze awhile at the action taking place in the open-sided kitchen of Karim's restaurant. Waiters hurry along with orders, cooks stir huge stainless-steel pots and others busy themselves grilling kebabs that sizzle on long skewers.

Perhaps most distracting of all is the two-man tag team making the fluffy, circular bread; one rolls the dough into a ball, the other flattens it into a disc then leans forward to press it inside the wall of the tandoor oven. After a few moments, he uses a long hook to prise loose the soft bread.

If there is a rhythm to the operation, they've had time to get it right. The restaurant in the heart of Old Delhi celebrates its 100th birthday this year – a testament to the enduring nature of the food it produces and the mesmerising walled city within which it is located. "The reason for its popularity is the formula of the cooking," says Zaeemuddin Ahmed, the restaurant's director and a representative of the fourth generation of the family to have worked here. "It's the same as during Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar's time."

The story of Karim's supposedly dates back to the middle of the 19th century and a man called Mohd Aziz, who is said to have been a cook in the royal court and plied his trade in Delhi's Red Fort, in what would turn out to be the last days of the Mughal empire. In 1857, the British authorities aggressively crushed a series of uprisings against their rule and broke up the court.

The emperor's sons were killed and the old, frail monarch was sent to exile in Rangoon. He died there in loneliness and grief in November 1862. A skilled Urdu poet, one of his final verses had declared: "How unlucky is Zafar! For burial, even two yards of land were not to be had, in the land of the beloved."

The break-up of the court meant that those associated with it rapidly had to look for alternative means of employment. Aziz ran off to the city of Meerut and later Ghaziabad, in Uttar Pradesh. Though stripped of his patronage, Aziz still taught his sons to cook the royal food he had created for the emperor, insisting that it was their heritage.

In 1911, the year the British authorities celebrated making Delhi the new capital of their empire, one of Aziz's sons, Haji Karimuddin, came up with the idea of cashing in on the people celebrating the visit of King George V and Queen Mary. Setting up a simple stall outside the gates of the towering 17th-century Jama Masjid mosque, he offered just two dishes – mutton with potatoes and lentil curry. Two years later, he was able to open a small eatery in a nearby alleyway that could cater for 20 people. He named it Karim, one of the 99 names of God in Islam. It means the bountiful and generous one.

Since those early days, Karim's has expanded and there are now 13 outlets across the city, operated by various family members. Yet it is the original – still just a step from the Jama Masjid but which nowadays seats up to 300 people – which most strongly lures visitors.

Seated at a clean marble table beneath a whirring fan, Zaeemuddin Ahmed says the spice mix, or masala, originally devised by Haji Karimuddin is the one still used today. It is, he says, a closely guarded secret. Every evening, his uncle takes a series of wooden boxes upstairs to an office where he fills them with a carefully measured mix of spices. In the morning, these boxes are taken downstairs and handed to the cooks to prepare the various dishes.

"The reason people like to come here is because the taste they get here, they cannot get anywhere else in Delhi," says Ahmed. "You cannot fool the current generation. They understand value for money."

There are more than 40 dishes available at Karim's, from the simple, such as seekh kebab – prepared with minced meat with spices – to the slightly more adventurous, such as fried brains. Those who give 24 hours' notice can order an entire roasted baby goat.

While in India, such cooking might typically be described as Muslim food, Ahmed says that 90 per cent of Karim's customers are non-Muslims. Many Hindus do not like to cook meat in their own homes, he adds, but relish the opportunity to eat it at a restaurant.

Several of the dishes on the menu – the marinated burrah (goat) kebab, the slowly cooked nihari (beef) stew and the seekh kebab – were among those offered in the early days of the establishment. "These are from the royal court," he says, highlighting the back-story that the restaurant has promoted to the world.

Pamela Timms, a Scottish writer based in Delhi who is writing a book about the food of the walled city, says Karim's has been highly successful in marketing both itself and the food of Old Delhi to a global audience. "That is their major achievement – they have put the food of Old Delhi on the map," she says. "If someone comes to India from abroad and visits Old Delhi, they will usually go to Karim's, even if they don't eat the street food."

Indeed, Karim's has prospered not by being the most affordable restaurant in Old Delhi – by Western prices it is cheap yet it is affordable only to middle-class Indians – but by having become the most established. By the standards of Old Delhi, it is also very clean.

The walled city of Old Delhi, founded as Shahjahanabad in the 17th century by the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan, is a place like no other. With a warren of narrow lanes and alleyways, it is easy to lose oneself amid the crush of people and shops. Bicycle rickshaws remain perhaps the easiest way to navigate.

Other parts of Delhi have been changed and modernised – shopping malls are scattered along the city's southern fringes – but inside the walled city, it can sometimes appear little has changed. Different areas of this world within a world are home to trades that have existed there for generations – one part specialising in printed paper, another in gold, another in textiles.

Ahmed says that for many of its customers, Karim's is an unshifting fixture. He tells of a customer who came several years ago and who recounted how he once, many decades before, lived nearby before moving to Pakistan in the aftermath of the partition of India, on the basis of religious demographics. "He said the morning after his marriage, he had brought his new bride to Karim's for their breakfast," says Ahmed. "He was very emotional. He said the food tasted exactly as he remembered."

Another former local resident was Zarin Musharraf, mother of the former president of Pakistan, who grew up in a house in the nearby Daryaganj area, where Pervez Musharraf was born and from where the family moved to Pakistan at the time of partition. In 2005, when Musharraf visited Delhi, his octogenarian mother accompanied him and visited several of her old haunts, including Karim's. "She was shivering. She was very emotional," says Ahmed, recalling the police and security guards who filled the restaurant that day.

On a recent Saturday evening, several of the restaurant's most popular dishes – the kofta lamb meatballs, the fried brains and the potato and lamb – were not available, having sold out earlier in the day. Instead, a waiter brought me a plate of burrah kebabs, a dish of minced lamb with green beans, a bowl of chicken curry, a rack of seekh kebabs and a plate of delicious bread. The kebabs were impeccable. The seekh kebabs were gently seasoned and juicy, while the marinated burrah kebabs were spicier and the exteriors slightly charred. The chicken curry was tasty, made sweet by onion and tomato.

At an adjoining table sat 24-year-old Mohammed Sameer, who works at a car-parts shop in the east of the city, and who had come with an Afghan friend. Sameer had visited Karim's every Saturday evening for the past five years. "It's the best place in Delhi. All the meat here is very good," he enthused as he tore into a bowl of lamb stew.

Outside in the courtyard, standing around the open kitchen and watching the chefs busy at their work, was another customer, Yusuf Kapadia. He and his wife, Insiya, live in Gurgaon, the modern satellite city south of India's capital, and had come to Old Delhi for a day of sight- seeing. They were ending their day with a dinner at Karim's, a place they had visited three or four times before. "McDonald's and KFC," said Insiya Kapadia, "are fast food. This is real food."

For more: karimhoteldelhi.com/restaurants.html

[kish]

Case filed against father of nine-year-old who drove Ferrari

A case has been registered against the father of a nine-year-old boy in Kerala who was seen driving a Ferrari in a YouTube video. Nisham, a bidi firm owner, has been booked under Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act for allowing his underage son to drive a car and the possible threat involved.

A bidi firm owner has a ferrari..!! Dubai money? His sources of income should be investigated.

Another new source has his pic.

Cops ask Nisham, owner of Ferrari, to surrender

The owner of the Ferrari, which was in the news for being driven by two young kids, has been traced. Muhammad Nisham resident of Sobha city was asked to surrender before the police by Tuesday for encouraging underage driving and endangering the lives of the kids as well as of the public at large.

Meanwhile, as many as 11 videos of the same car CH 04 K 8545, roaming free on the roads of Thrissur, were uploaded on You-Tube by one Nisham King on April 18. All the videos show the under-aged child driving the powerful Ferrari F 430 Scuderia (costing Rs 2.75crore) on his ninth birthday. The videos sparked outrage both across the country and
outside.

His facebook page is still up. He seemed to have a collection of such expensive cars.

Mohammed Nisham's facebook page

[kish]

Second partition is a reality and inevitable.

Mumbai gets its first Shariah court to settle civil, marital disputes

The city is set to get its first Darul Qaza or Shariah court to settle civil and marital disputes in the Muslim community. The court, set up by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, will be inaugurated on Monday at Anjuman-i-Islam, near CST, and will serve to fill a long-felt need of the community.

Shariah courts already function at many places in the country, such as Hyderabad, Patna and Malegaon. Here qazis appointed by the AIMPLB hear the community's various disputes

[nawabs]

India's 'Big Brother' : The Central Monitoring System (CMS)

http://cis-india.org/internet-governanc ... ing-system

[ramana]

Philip, I thought Moti Mahal of Daryaganj was what put Old Delhi on the world foodie map. It was patronized by PM Nehru to chota-mota Ambassadors.
Chester Bowles writes about the place in his memoirs.

[svinayak]

Top 5 myths about India
http://breathedreamgo.com/2010/11/top-5 ... out-india/

Top 5 myths about India

by Mariellen Ward on November 23, 2010 in India, Responsible Travel, Travel Tips

snake charmers in Jaipur, India
Myth #1: Traveling in India is dangerous

Before I went to India for the first time, I was warned to my teeth about how dirty and dangerous India is, especially by the doctor at the travel medical clinic. She really tried to put the fear of disease into me, and I went to India the first time loaded with precautionary supplies, pills and additional health insurance. Then I landed in Delhi at the very civilized home of my friend Ajay, who lives with his family in the Delhi equivalent of Forest Hill (one of the most upscale neighbourhoods in Toronto), and they laughed at all my stuff. When I did get sick I went to the local Max Medical Centre and after waiting about 10 or 15 minutes I got to see the British-trained head of internal medicine. The medical centre was spotlessly clean, modern and efficient, better than almost anything I’ve seen in Canada, and the visit cost 500 rupees or about $10.

At this point in my journey, about 10 days in, something began to dawn on me. I realized that many people in Canada, including me, were of the idea that India is a barbaric place. In fact, I found it to be very civilized. I no longer carry all those supplies and pills, I no longer buy extra health insurance. I practice caution, but I don’t assume the worst, I assume the best. And guess what?

This is what I have come to believe through my own experiences and those of many people I know: India will mirror back to you your own attitude, feelings, prejudices, barriers and limitations – and India will evoke your higher self, too. It can be very painful to see how impatient, judgmental, middle-class, naïve and unkind you can be! And very uplifting to discover your compassion, open-mindedness and spiritual awareness.

But I really do believe India knows best. India is like a guru who gives you the experiences you need to move you along your path. I often say that going to India is like that scene in Star Wars when Yoda sends Luke into the cave. Luke asks, “what will I find there?” and Yoda answers, “only what you bring in with you.” So if you are afraid, you will have scary experiences. And if you are open and trusting (within reason), you will find kind, helpful people who can really help smooth over the unavoidable challenges to travel in India.

Myth #2: India is a country


Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
India is often called the subcontinent, and there’s a reason. It is more like a continent or the European Union than a country like Canada, which is fairly homogenous from one end to the other, multiculturalism, natives and Newfies notwithstanding.

In fact, not so long ago – before and even during the Raj, the British colonial period – India was a nation of princely states, not unlike the city states of Italy; and before that, powerful rulers – who often attained that power through conquest and invasion – reigned over vast tracts of the country. The result is that India is an extremely diverse nation. As you travel from one part of the country to another, you meet people with very different linguistic, cultural and even ethnic backgrounds. In the south, the people are descended from the Dravidian culture. In the north, which was subject to many more waves of invaders and conquerors, the people are of Aryan descent. Rajputs from Rajasthan are about as similar to the Christians of Goa as an English peer is to a Greek fisherman.

There are 14 official languages – each state has its own official language – and just about every religion the world has to offer. Four of the world’s great religions were born in India – Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. Today, the vast majority – about 82% – are Hindus, but with a population of 1.2 billion, that still means that the other religions are well represented. Islam, with 12% of the population, has 144 million followers.

So don’t expect the food, language or customs to remain static as you travel. In the north, wheat is commonly eaten as bread (naan, poori, roti, parantha, chapati, etc.); in the south it’s all about rice. In the north many people speak Hindi – but in the south, very few.

[svinayak]

Top 5 myths about India
http://breathedreamgo.com/2010/11/top-5 ... out-india/

Top 5 myths about India

by Mariellen Ward on November 23, 2010 in India, Responsible Travel, Travel Tips

snake charmers in Jaipur, India
Myth #1: Traveling in India is dangerous

Before I went to India for the first time, I was warned to my teeth about how dirty and dangerous India is, especially by the doctor at the travel medical clinic. She really tried to put the fear of disease into me, and I went to India the first time loaded with precautionary supplies, pills and additional health insurance. Then I landed in Delhi at the very civilized home of my friend Ajay, who lives with his family in the Delhi equivalent of Forest Hill (one of the most upscale neighbourhoods in Toronto), and they laughed at all my stuff. When I did get sick I went to the local Max Medical Centre and after waiting about 10 or 15 minutes I got to see the British-trained head of internal medicine. The medical centre was spotlessly clean, modern and efficient, better than almost anything I’ve seen in Canada, and the visit cost 500 rupees or about $10.

At this point in my journey, about 10 days in, something began to dawn on me. I realized that many people in Canada, including me, were of the idea that India is a barbaric place. In fact, I found it to be very civilized. I no longer carry all those supplies and pills, I no longer buy extra health insurance. I practice caution, but I don’t assume the worst, I assume the best. And guess what?

This is what I have come to believe through my own experiences and those of many people I know: India will mirror back to you your own attitude, feelings, prejudices, barriers and limitations – and India will evoke your higher self, too. It can be very painful to see how impatient, judgmental, middle-class, naïve and unkind you can be! And very uplifting to discover your compassion, open-mindedness and spiritual awareness.

But I really do believe India knows best. India is like a guru who gives you the experiences you need to move you along your path. I often say that going to India is like that scene in Star Wars when Yoda sends Luke into the cave. Luke asks, “what will I find there?” and Yoda answers, “only what you bring in with you.” So if you are afraid, you will have scary experiences. And if you are open and trusting (within reason), you will find kind, helpful people who can really help smooth over the unavoidable challenges to travel in India.

Myth #2: India is a country


Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
India is often called the subcontinent, and there’s a reason. It is more like a continent or the European Union than a country like Canada, which is fairly homogenous from one end to the other, multiculturalism, natives and Newfies notwithstanding.

In fact, not so long ago – before and even during the Raj, the British colonial period – India was a nation of princely states, not unlike the city states of Italy; and before that, powerful rulers – who often attained that power through conquest and invasion – reigned over vast tracts of the country. The result is that India is an extremely diverse nation. As you travel from one part of the country to another, you meet people with very different linguistic, cultural and even ethnic backgrounds. In the south, the people are descended from the Dravidian culture. In the north, which was subject to many more waves of invaders and conquerors, the people are of Aryan descent. Rajputs from Rajasthan are about as similar to the Christians of Goa as an English peer is to a Greek fisherman.

There are 14 official languages – each state has its own official language – and just about every religion the world has to offer. Four of the world’s great religions were born in India – Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. Today, the vast majority – about 82% – are Hindus, but with a population of 1.2 billion, that still means that the other religions are well represented. Islam, with 12% of the population, has 144 million followers.

So don’t expect the food, language or customs to remain static as you travel. In the north, wheat is commonly eaten as bread (naan, poori, roti, parantha, chapati, etc.); in the south it’s all about rice. In the north many people speak Hindi – but in the south, very few.

[ramana]

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130430/j ... 843414.jsp

New Delhi, April 29: Narendra Modi’s scheduled address at a Gujarat foundation day event on May 1 is giving the jitters to the Union culture ministry.

The meeting will be held at Navsari, a town 59km from the village of Dandi, where Mahatma Gandhi violated colonial salt laws in a landmark event in India’s independence movement.

The reason the ministry is nervous is that eight years after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a memorial at the site, not even the funds have been sanctioned though the design has been agreed on in principle. Ministry officials fear that Modi will highlight this to tear into the Centre.

....
The estimated cost of the Dandi Memorial is Rs 65 crore. Another Rs 141 crore is to be spent on turning a part of Gandhi’s Sabarmati-to-Dandi route into a “heritage walk”, with plaques put up along the road and in the 21 houses on the route where Gandhi stayed overnight.

Only discontinuous fragments of the original road exist now, totalling 122km, which the government had initially decided to cover under the heritage walk project. Officials said the coverage might be pruned further.

When the Prime Minister made the announcement in 2005, he was handling the culture portfolio. Since then the ministry has had two ministers: Kumari Selja taking charge in January 2011 and Chandresh Kumari Katoch in November 2012.

Modi wrote to the ministry in January this year complaining about the Centre’s failure to sanction funds despite his government sending a detailed proposal for the Dandi Heritage Walk.

Last week, the vice-chairperson of the culture ministry’s Dandi memorial committee, Sudarshan Iyengar, wrote to culture secretary Sangeeta Gairola that he feared the government might come under fire from the Gujarat chief minister because of the delay in starting the project.

At a meeting this year, the Prime Minister’s Office had instructed the culture ministry to make sure that all sanctions were in place by March.

The ministry’s excuse is that Gujarat is yet to issue the environment clearance required by any construction on the coasts. “Had we received the clearances, we could have sanctioned and released the money for the memorial,” a senior ministry official said.

However, he failed to explain why the memorial committee was formed only in 2010, five years after the Prime Minister’s announcement, which came during the 75-year celebrations of the Dandi March.

Former Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi headed the committee, which chose the design after extensive search that included a trip to the Rajiv Gandhi memorial at Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.

But Gopalkrishna Gandhi resigned in March 2011, two months after Kumari Selja took charge of the ministry, on the ground that the new minister had the right to reconstitute committees under her charge. Since then the committee has been headless, with vice-chairperson Iyengar — vice-chancellor of the Gujarat Vidyapeeth, founded by the Mahatma — managing its affairs.

At the committee’s first meeting on September 21, 2010, it was decided that the 81 satyagrahis who participated in the march would be represented by 81 rock pieces. The initial design had a 61-foot-tall statue of the Mahatma.

But the Gandhians on the panel cited Gandhi’s insistence on frugality to reject the idea of a Rs 100-crore memorial. The final design includes a cluster of full-size sculptures of the marchers in glazed stoneware.

......

face-palm

[RamaY]

^ Typical Congress mode of work. If Modi were to name that project Rajiv/Sonia/Rahul Gandhi memorial for Gandhi Dandi Yatra then Moorkh Minority Slave would have woken up from his slumber.

[kish]

If the same C-system manages to head the central govt. for another decade. Republic of India become Islamic Republic of India.

BSE launches broad-based Islamic index comprising 500 cos

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has launched an Islamic equity index based on the wide-measure S&P BSE 500 index, providing a new benchmark for Islamic investors in one of the world’s largest stock exchanges.

[Rony]

Why do we need a Urdu version for everything ? How many Indians and even Muslims speak Urdu ? If Urdu, why not Telugu or Tamil or Marathi or Bengali ?

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/mainpage.aspx

[RamaY]

Urdu is pushed forward not just by Islamists. It is mainly pushed by the Hindus who did well under Islamic rule. There are many reddis, Velma's and even Brahmins who behaved more mughalyi than Nizam during his rule.

There is a urgent need to identify and call out all such elements.

[chaanakya]

Supreme Court questions Centre over providing security to Mukesh Ambani
PTI | May 1, 2013, 07.41 PM IST

NEW DELHI: Centre's decision to provide 'Z' category security to the richest Indian Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday drew flak from the Supreme Court which asked why such people are given security cover by the government when the common man is feeling unsafe.

The apex court ticked off the government for giving protection to such people when the common man in the country is unsafe because of lack of security and said that a five-year-old girl would not have been raped if there was proper security in the capital.

The bench reasoned that the rich can afford to hire private security personnel.

"We read in newspapers that ministry of home has directed providing for CISF security to an individual. Why is state providing security to such person?" a bench headed by Justice GS Singhvi said without taking the name of Ambani.

"If there is threat perception then he must engage private security personnel," the bench said adding, "Private businessmen getting security is prevalent in Punjab but that culture has gone to Mumbai."

The bench, however, said that "We are not concerned about the security of X,Y,Z persons but about the security of common man".

The bench was hearing a petition filed by a Uttar Pradesh resident on misuse security cover and red beacon provided by the government to people.

Government's decision to provide Z category security for Ambani had evoked sharp criticism from Left parties following which it was clarified that he will foot the expenses for this estimated to be Rs 15-16 lakh per month.

The business tycoon is the new entrant to the 'Z' category VIP security club after the Union home ministry had recently approved an armed commando squad following threat perceptions.

[ramana]

I think the Z class security to Mukesh Ambani is an inducement for him to not support NaMo.

I mean this guy took out a CM for a percieved threat and he doesn't need any govt security.

[RamaY]

First of all Mukhesh Ambani is paying for all his security detail, unlike the political leaders. Secondly I do not know if Indian Law allows one to have private security with all those exotic weapons and most importantly access to Govt intel (like SPG would do I presume).

[Sanku]

First of all Mukhesh Ambani is paying for all his security detail, unlike the political leaders. Secondly I do not know if Indian Law allows one to have private security with all those exotic weapons and most importantly access to Govt intel (like SPG would do I presume).

India law does not allow for pvt security.

Indian law allows for Indians to ask for security cover from the state as long as they pay for it, and the state accepts that the security cover is needed.

IMVHO bada bhai needs the Z cover more than 90% of the congress free loaders.

However that said, the reasons could be different from what they appear simply (that Bada bhai needs security) -- any way he is on record that congress is his dukaan. So is he diversifying?

[Anantha]

Top 5 myths about India
http://breathedreamgo.com/2010/11/top-5 ... out-india/

Top 5 myths about India

by Mariellen Ward on November 23, 2010 in India, Responsible Travel, Travel Tips


In fact, not so long ago – before and even during the Raj, the British colonial period – India was a nation of princely states, not unlike the city states of Italy; and before that, powerful rulers – who often attained that power through conquest and invasion – reigned over vast tracts of the country. The result is that India is an extremely diverse nation. As you travel from one part of the country to another, you meet people with very different linguistic, cultural and even ethnic backgrounds. In the south, the people are descended from the Dravidian culture. In the north, which was subject to many more waves of invaders and conquerors, the people are of Aryan descent. Rajputs from Rajasthan are about as similar to the Christians of Goa as an English peer is to a Greek fisherman.


So don’t expect the food, language or customs to remain static as you travel. In the north, wheat is commonly eaten as bread (naan, poori, roti, parantha, chapati, etc.); in the south it’s all about rice. In the north many people speak Hindi – but in the south, very few.

Otherwise a good article, except for parroting the Western article of faith on Aryan invasion

[RamaY]

An informative discussion on independence of CBI

Watch video: http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/left-r ... one/273112

[abhishek_sharma]

Views from the Right

Chinese incursion

The Chinese incursion in eastern Ladakh has prompted the Sangh Parivar to peddle the encircled India theory. RSS journals Organiser and Panchjanya have cover stories on the developments at the India-China border and the differing perceptions of the Line of Actual Control. An article in Organiser slams the government for downplaying these incursions.

The article notes that Indian military experts have repeatedly stressed the need for China to send a military map to India agreeable to both countries for an early demarcation of the LAC. "But the Indian government has not given priority to it", it alleges. This comes at a time when the new Chinese leadership promises to engage with India. "There is an urgent need to understand the strategic value of these incursions and to establish India's own grand strategy to counter-balance the Chinese. China has played its cards well. It has, firstly, created many 'non-negotiable' pressure-points such as Aksai Chin... Secondly, it has countered Indian core concerns with its own individually... leaving India with almost no significant strategic pressure points over China."

ENCLAVE AGREEMENT

An article by RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav discusses the proposed constitutional amendment bill to ratify the 1974 Indira-Mujib Pact on India-Bangladesh border demarcation. He calls it a flawed deal that involves Indian territory being transferred to Bangladesh without compensation. "There are two major contentious issues in this... The statement 'without claim to compensation for the additional area going to Bangladesh' is the first. How can any government agree to a clause that is a gross violation of the principle of sovereignty? Is the prime minister authorised to simply give away territory in that manner? Internationally, when exchange of territory is mandated, it is ensured that both sides are equally compensated." He terms as ridiculous the government's argument for pushing through the amendment. "They claim there is a friendly government in power in Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina and that it is the right time to settle all outstanding border issues and that a good gesture by India would yield better results in bilateral issues in future. Fair enough. But does that mean India should acquiesce to an unequal agreement?... if the government of the day in Bangladesh is a friendly one, then this is the right time to go for the best deal, not a flawed one," he adds.

Arms and drugs

Panchjanya's editorial on the threats to India's internal security from the smuggling of drugs across borders argues that money raised from such smuggling is being used to buy arms and ammunition, which, in turn, is being used by terrorists and jihadi elements to wage a war against India. It points out that Pakistan on India's northwest and Myanmar on the northeast are two of the biggest producers of illegal drugs. "It is because of this link between smuggling of drugs and arms that many parts of the country, including the Northeast, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, are today facing problems of extremism, and internal disturbances have started," it says.

Compiled by Manoj C.G.

[RamaY]

Throughout the history armies were meant to be loyal to the ruling dispensation. This worked well as long as (a) the ruling dispensation's power and fortunes are tightly linked with national territorial integrity and (b) the ruling dispensation put national interests above its interests.

The nation suffered immense losses when the armed forces became more loyal to the king than nation. In Bharatiya history we see two scenarios of this situation. In one scenario the armed forces joined hands with foreign invaders at the behest of their king facilitating the path for colonization of Bharat. In second scenario the armed forces gave up their fight and surrendered to the enemy as soon as the king died. In both cases the armed forces failed their duty to the nation.

With the advent of nation state and democratic setup the national armies are once again falling into the trap of being more loyal to the rulers than the nation. They go to wars to avenge the ruler's prejudices or they compromise on territorial integrity when the political leaders make concessions to the enemy in order to keep their fortunes safe or for internatnal laurels.

Perhaps the time has come to change the constitution to make it a treason to compromise on Bharatiya territorial integrity. This is the only way the armed forces can be made responsible for the nation instead of the ruler without taking them out of elected civilian government's control.

Indian Armed forces not only saddened the nation but also brought shame to entire nation when they put themselves in a situation where the PM of India has to intervene and negotiate for days and weeks when a simple border incursion happened in Pakistani borders. I wonder how difficult it is to prepare the infrastructure, process and manpower to respond to such border incursions within an hour or two and bring the enemy to justice. The civilian govt is always there to step in and solve the problem if it crosses a threshold, one hopes.

The current crisis in Aksai-chin is even bizzare. Apparently the armed forces do not patrol the disputed borders with china and they are fine with that setup for at least 50 years. What is the use of Armed forces if they sit in their contonments in Bharatiya heartland, leaving the borders open for the enemy to make all the moves they want and then throw valuable human lives in prolonged battles to recapture our own territories?

[abhishek_sharma]

From the Urdu Press

Attack on Sarabjit

Sarabjit Singh's death, as it happened late at night, has not been reported in the Urdu press on Thursday, but there were editorials about the attack on him earlier.
Qaumi Salamati, edited by Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi, accused in the case of the bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat's car last year, in an editorial on April 29 writes: "There are theories that behind the attack on Sarabjit are the same elements who want revenge for the hanging of Afzal Guru... The attack has raised the question of why two jail inmates awaiting a death sentence would attack Sarabjit. It is probably not wrong to think that even if the Pakistani government was not directly involved, it was directed by elements with access to jails and other arms of the government's machinery. There is weight in this allegation..."

Inquilab editor Shakeel Shamsi, in his signed column on April 29, writes: "Restlessness [in India] about the attack is natural as Sarabjit is an Indian citizen. But this restlessness seems to be artificial and there is a political tinge to it. Because if an attack on an Indian citizen in a jail was so regrettable, a similar protest would have been made at the killing of Qateel Siddiqui in the Pune jail last June. Family members of Qateel would have received the same type of sympathy... In Sarabjit's case, his lawyers were not able to prove his innocence, whereas Qateel's crime had not been proved and he had not confessed about his crime. No court in this country had sentenced him."

Coal Blues

Sahafat, in an editorial on May 2, writes: "wisdom demanded that the government accepted the irregularities in the allotment of coal blocks and conducted an impartial inquiry. What has happened instead is against all procedures and norms..."

Inquilab (May 2) is of the view that "it would be incorrect to blame just the Congress for the misuse of the CBI. In our view, the CBI should be autonomous but it can't be left without any accountability... [Parliament should allow] a jury selected by the Supreme Court to oversee the agency to ensure independent and just functioning". Rashtriya Sahara, on the same day, cast doubt on the way the BJP has approached the matter.

General's Gamble

Siasat, in an editorial comm-ent on April 22, expressed its agreement with the views of veteran Pakistani journalists that former Pakistan president, General Pervez Musharraf's return to Pakistan was based on a delusional optimism and a "military mindset". Jadeed Khabar (April 29) writes: "The greatest damage in the Pakistan election was to former president Pervez Musharraf, who has been prevented from participating in the election... he is paying for the crimes and mistakes committed by him during his rule". Jamaat-e-Islami's bi-weekly, Daawat, in a commentary on April 25, writes: "Musharraf has been caught in the net woven by himself. The treatment he gave to the judges is now being returned to him".

Chinese Incursions

Reacting to the incursion by China in Ladakh, Rashtriya Sahara, in its editorial on April 30, writes: "Many Indians may not know that at the time of the ceasefire agreement between China and India in 1962, no clear demarcation of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was made. Ladakh is a part of an Indian state, Jammu and Kashmir. The area where the incursions have been made is seen to be in Ladakh traditionally. Therefore, the Indian claim on the area is legitimate. But border demarcations are not made on the basis of tradition alone. They are made after proper written agreements, something that, unfortunately, has not been done so far in this case and should now be done without any delay. In fact, the patience and perseverance shown by India in the face of Chinese provocation, has been praised by everyone because this is what wisdom demands". Sahafat, is its editorial on April 26, writes that "a hardline against China is necessary... Even if the vagueness on the [border] is accepted, there is no justification for incursions so deep [into our territory]... This is not the time for a war, but India has to be prepared".

Inquilab, in its comment on April 26 writes: "The feeble expression of anxiety by political parties is not of the type one sees in cases connected with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan... Why are tongues tied with regard to China?"

[email protected]

[RamaY]

rohitvats and RamaY ji
,
can you both sort of accept a middle-ground position that the "army" is not entirely free to do or react in the best possible strategic (which is now perhaps indistinguishable from the tactical) military/security sense to what the Chinese mount?

I am quite aware of the position of the Indian Army vis-a-vis the Government and Republic of India. They do as as they are told to do. Even if it means that it is IA which ultimately pays with blood and lives for the follies of the political leadership.

What no one understands is that Services are like Bhishma-Pitamaha of Mahabharata - they are sworn to protect the nation and work under the existing political dispensation. Irrespective of the debate and finer points, our Constitution equates GOI with Republic of India and Services are duty bound to follow instructions of the GOI. And that is how it should be. Services cannot (and should not) go out of line of the GOI in select cases and revert to being politically neutral in others. That is a recipe for disaster.

Power corrupts and it would be foolish to believe that it will not corrupt the IA leadership and Services in general.

In a hypothetical scenario, an honest and dedicated GOI may well choose a path of non-confrontation for larger good of the nation. However, more often than not, the penalty for such an action not achieving its result(s) is the high price paid by Services in blood. In my opinion, even in such a case, the GOI is with-in its right to exercise such an option. Services are an arm of the nation and are sworn to protect the integrity of the nation - even at tremendous sacrifice to themselves.

What role the army leadership plays in this can only remain a matter of speculation- who might have their own dilemmas like well-meaning CBI officers. We cannot and should not discuss this at this stage.

The Service Chiefs have know their displeasure and opinions know in public over matters of national security which they think are being compromised. So that the people should know. But just because the entire spectrum of their thought in not heard in the public about something should not mean that one can pass non-sensical comments on them and question their integrity.

<SNIP>

In 20 years time the IA will have much better support from the rashtra and from completely different mindsets altogether (I do not necessarily mean the current opposition party/parties). I do not think it is fair to blame the IA without giving them the means and opportunity to prove otherwise or lacking.

It is not even about the means...it is about the political direction. That is what governs the situation on the ground. And how the Services react. IA has already given enough options to the political leadership - which in its own wisdom has not implemented the same.

rohitvats ji, can we play a game? If I propose broad objectives on the entire northern land border, can you give me the resource/time-frame requirement to achieve them (HR/int/logistics/tech)? Let us pretend we are playing a fantasy warcraft scene - in the GDF? If you agree, please put up a post letting me know on the GDF strat-scenario thread. I can assure you that it will not be entirely a futile exercise.

Sir, I will be more than happy to do this.

Please give me a couple of days time. I will pen a detailed series of posts on the above points.

The comparison with Bhishma is very interesting. I hope it is not made to "support" the inaction and failures of Indian Armed Forces.

Bhishma's greatness is ONLY of personal nature. He made a oath to make his father happy and stood by it. Interestingly none of his oaths (Bhishma Pratijna) had to do with "protecting or serving" the rulers of Kaurava kingdom. His Pratijna was limited to not marrying and having children so no one from his blood line will claim the Kaurava kingdom.

However there is nothing great of Bhishma when his personal choice interacted with the interests of the state/nation. Let us see how/what his actions impacted in the social/national interests realm.

- When he went out to get suitable brides for his step-brothers (Vichitravirya and Chitrangada) he resorted to more or less "Rakshasa" vivaha method. He fought with other kings, supposedly destroyed Kashi kingdom and got the brides by force. One of the brides had to be sent back for she refused to marry his brothers. There is no valor, dharma in this episode except for display of arrogance and brute force.

- By standing as a silent spectator to Duryodhana's plans and Dhritarashtra's silent support to them to kill Pandavas, Bhishma demonstrated his loyalty to only the person currently on the throne and not any potential and future princes.

- When he preferred Dhritarashtra, a blind, selfish and greedy king to Pandavas (please note Duryodhana was never the king, he was just a prince till his death) who are equally belong to the same family. If Bhishma's loyalty was to the nation or even the Kaurava throne he should have preferred Pandavas (who are same as Dhritarashtra as far as Bhishma's oath is concerned). By supporting Dhritarashtra Bhishma proved that his loyalty is not towards the kingdom but whoever is on the throne.

- This loyalty of Bhishma to the ruler made him a silent spectator to disrobing of Draupadi. This incident proves that Bhishma's loyalty goes beyond basic moral and ethical values as well.

- An interesting question one should ponder is, is Bhishma's loyalty to Hastina throne non-negotiable? What if someone were to defeat Hastina army (including Bhishma) and claim the kingdom and throne? Would Bhishma (if alive) continue to serve Hastina's throne?

- The MB war is the final test to Bhishma's failure in protecting the national or kaurava-clan interests. This war wiped almost of all of Kaurava clan, destroyed entire Bharata varsha and resulted in great social suffering.

So whose interests Bhishma served? Is he the right model to follow for Indian Armed forces, especially having the hindsight of consequences of Bhishma-model? It is also important to note that Bhishma did never have the respect of multiple kingdoms of Bharatavarsha.

He received respect only for his personal klinness (similar current PM who claims to klinness while sitting on a pile of congress-sh1t), his father's boon for him of Icchaamarana and his military prowess.

Thus Bhishma model is a failure-case scenario for any national institution. It would be a suicidal national disaster for the armed forces of the nation to take inspiration from this model.

[RamaY]

I would like to highlight few of Narendra Modi's initiatives that will contribute to women empowerment in the long-term. I hope this model is implemented all over India.

1. Reducing female infanticide by offering primary health services and financial benefits
2. Making mother's name mandatory in school records
3. Encouraging families to plant 5-6 teak/sandal-wood trees when a female child is born. By the time the child grows these trees can support higher-education/marriage expenses.
4. Stamp duty waiver if property was registered in women's name.

All these initiatives combined with 100% education and improved job opportunities will empower the long ignored better half of Bharat.

The stamp duty waiver for women itself can act (compared to 6-10% stamp duty for men) as a great long-term facilitator to empower women in both rural and urban sectors. This itself will act as a deterrent to female harassment and mistreatment in divorce cases.

Sources:
1. http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/g ... 93912.html

[RajeshA]

Retweet if possible!

[ramana]

Bji, If we apply the Quigley model of seven stages of civilization to the idea of India we see that we are in the Age of Conflict of the model having passed through 1) Mixture: the idea of modern India was formed from the ashes of the Mughal paramountcy (advent of Turks to fall of Mughals ~450 years) 2) Gestation: the period that it took from fall of Mughals to Independence (rm 1750-1947 ie 200 years) 3) Expansion: Absorption of the princely states etc and unfortunate loss of periphery on West and East and South. Due to Vallabh bhai Patel this was very short.

We are in Age of Conflict. It started immediately with J&K invasion in 1947 and continues to date due to indecisiveness of the ruling dispensation.

It is marked by four
chief characteristics: (a) it is a period of declining rate of
expansion; (b) it is a period of growing tension of evolu-
tion and increasing class conflicts, especially in the core
area; (c) it is a period of increasingly frequent and in-
creasingly violent imperialist wars; and (d) it is a period of
growing irrationality, pessimism, superstitions, and other-
worldliness.

Invariably the periphery conquers the core in this stage and leads to Universal Empire(Stage 5). Followed by Age of Decay(6) and age of Invasion (7).

Our hope should be to increase the duration of the Stage Five and keep the others at bay.

[svinayak]

Bji, If we apply the Quigley model of seven stages of civilization to the idea of India we see that we are in the Age of Conflict of the model having passed through 1) Mixture: the idea of modern India was formed from the ashes of the Mughal paramountcy (advent of Turks to fall of Mughals ~450 years) 2) Gestation: the period that it took from fall of Mughals to Independence (rm 1750-1947 ie 200 years) 3) Expansion: Absorption of the princely states etc and unfortunate loss of periphery on West and East and South. Due to Vallabh bhai Patel this was very short.

We are in Age of Conflict. It started immediately with J&K invasion in 1947 and continues to date due to indecisiveness of the ruling dispensation.

It is marked by four
chief characteristics: (a) it is a period of declining rate of
expansion; (b) it is a period of growing tension of evolu-
tion and increasing class conflicts, especially in the core
area; (c) it is a period of increasingly frequent and in-
creasingly violent imperialist wars; and (d) it is a period of
growing irrationality, pessimism, superstitions, and other-
worldliness.

Invariably the periphery conquers the core in this stage and leads to Universal Empire(Stage 5). Followed by Age of Decay(6) and age of Invasion (7).

Our hope should be to increase the duration of the Stage Five and keep the others at bay.

Quigley does not consider demographics into account. India is in a demographic explosion relative to other continents except for China.
This will have a profound effect on the global balance of power. Other countries going thru other stages will be cut short.

But the threat to India will increase since other countries will look at India as hegemonistic.