Bande mein tha dum

Today's 2nd October - Gandhi's birthday. While I wouldn't have normally cared about Gandhi Jayanti enough to write about it because of various reasons, I do care enough about it now that I felt the need to write. After knowing about Indian Independence in detail, I learned about Gandhi, Nehru, Bhagat Singh etc. I really liked the efforts of Bhagat Singh, and after realizing how many people died in India's independence struggle, I didn't understand why Gandhi wanted to go the peaceful way for India's independence. Little bit of compromise is always ok, right? I guess, I never learned about Gandhi as a person and his teaching well enough to understand him and his teachings. You watch movies like Gandhi, and it's essentially the same thing they teach you in India's Independence thing. I always had respect for him and his teachings, but never understood how to apply it in real life and if it was practical. And this is not just me, this is how the young generation feels about him these days.

Lage Raho Munnabhai, the part 2 of Munnabhai MBBS brings the duo of Munna and Circuit back, but this time with Munna's strange encounter with Gandhi. I heard about it before the movie was released, and I thought, must be the same kinda stuff and boring movie. Then one fine day, finally got to watch the movie.

The movie is all about Gandhi's principles and how they can be applied in the real life. In the first few scenes of the movie, you see Circuit's "social work" by helping Lucky Singh, using of force, of course. You also see how they make professors answer quiz questions. So, this movie starts with their lies etc. Later in movie, Munna "meets" Gandhi. He learns about it, he applies the principles and you understand the application.

You see Munna slapping Circuit - which was probably the most shocking part of the movie. Then Munna remembers Gandhi and apologizes from Circuit. Though it sounds easy, but probably not easy thing to do. Munna and Circuit's reunion also happened to be one of the best scenes of the movie. Also, you realize after watching Victor D'Souza, the retired teacher's case, and the panwalla problem, that Gandhigiri worked very well. You realize that Gandhi's philosophy wasn't only for the independence, but for every aspect of life. Mahatma Gandhi is back thanks to this movie. What really helped is the timely release of this movie. It brings Gandhi back, and I, along with other people, realize that Gandhigiri really worked.

I think it's time we remember Gandhi and try following his philosophy. Lage Raho Munnabhai really made us more knowledgeable about Gandhi. This movie's and Gandhi's point was that even though you might get a result using violence, but that might not be the best solution. If you follow peace and justice, the end result will be good, but that might take some time. Even though you would think what can satyagraha do to that powerful Lucky Singh. But you soon realize what a pain it becomes for Lucky Singh. We see Gandhi everyday hopefully (where??? think think... think... think... well, on Indian currency :P). But as Gandhi-ji says, rather than having his statues all over the place and pictures on all currency notes, it's better to keep him in our heart and remember him like that.

As circuit said, Gandhi didn't have a body, but a lot of daring... it takes a lot to follow the path of peace and justice even after going to jail and other problems in life. Doesn't mean that Bhagat Singh and others did wrong by not following, but this was one important part too. Let's be united and stand together... that's what we need today.

Engine on Chip (EoC)

Researchers at MIT have come up with a unique solution to make mobile and laptop batteries last longer - engine on a chip - ENGINE!!!

BBC Reports:

Gas-turbine engines more normally power whole cities but MIT's Professor Alan Epstein was determined that miniscule versions could be used to "power a person".

Ten years on from having the brainwave, Professor Epstein believes the microengine could give batteries a run for their money, offering 10 times the power of a battery of the same weight at the same price point.

The engine isn't manufactured in conventional way with compressor, combustion chamber. Etched silicon was used to make a micro-engine (micro-engine is not a word in english as of today lol). The silicon wafers were piled on top of each other and then bounded together and produces 10 watts of power - 10 WATTS - that's quite a lot!

The crossover of conventional technology and new technology is interesting. This will save people a lot of money when they won't have to replace batteries every 2-3 years.

However, the question is, will this be commercially available in the future, or will it just be a pure research project with no industry buyers?

Funny ad (Naukri.com)

Hindi movies to watch this year

Oz wrote about movies coming up this year and listed them by month. While not all movies are worth watching, here's the list of movies that I will watch for sure:

• Shiva (Sept. 15 '06) : A Ram Gopal Verma about corrupt law and order and how a person wants to change all this himself and defeat the criminals. "When the police itself is infested with criminals / The very purpose of it is defeated / Is it right to be wrong? Or is it Wrong to be Right?"
  
• Pyar ke Side Effects : Reason to watch - Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat!!! What a combination... Beauty & brain combo - definitely watching this one
• Khosla ka Ghosla : Saw the trailer and looks good one - Boman Irani and Anupam Kher
• DON : Shahrukh Khan will be the Don in this remake by Farhan 'DCH' Akhtar of 1976 Don movie. Though I am not expecting great acting by Shahrukh Khan, but I really want to see how the remake is. Also the movie's starring Priyanka Chopra and Isha Koppikar :)
• Umrao Jaan : Again a remake, but this one won't be as exciting and there aren't a lot of reason to watch this movie except for Aishwarya Rai ;)
• Kabul Express : Another movie that looks really good in trailers - John Abraham and Arshad Warsi going to Kabul and Pakistan - should be good
• Eklavya : Earlier named Yagna, this movie's teaser really looks good and the story sounds interesting. It's starring Amitabh Bachhan, Sanjay Dutt and Saif Ali Khan and directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra (maker of Munnabhai movies)
• Dhoom 2 : Definitely watching this one : Sequel to movie Dhoom which was a decent Action/Thriller movie, and this one just continues from therewith Abhishek Bachhan and now there's Aishwarya Rai (that too with a Bikini scene!), Bipasha Basu and Hrithik Roshan. Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai are the thief/villains now and Abhishek Bachhan and Bipasha are the cops.

So, 8 movies that I am definitely going to watch. Definitely a good year for Bollywood.

WikiBribes?

Govindraj Ethiraj talks about how WikiMapia and other Wikie services (apart of Wikipedia ofcourse) have been so innovative and helpful, and encourages people to come up with other ideas. One idea he has is to have a WikiBribe where you would know how much bribe a department asks for what work and under what circumstances etc:

It strikes me that we should look to create more Wiki concepts like Wikimapia. Except that it could be dedicated to India or specific, information-starved areas within India. For instance, a Wiki project on government departments that accept or demand bribes with details of who, when and in what circumstances.

Now this is cool - you need a driving license - just check online how much bribe you will have to pay. This might help to put down on corruption a little bit theoretically. Really good idea though... I am off to think of more Wiki ideas

NRI scientist wins top US award

Times of India is reporting that an Indian American scientist whose research helped US Defence Contractor company Lockheed Martin has been named the Scientist of the Year:

An Indian American scientist, who led a breakthrough research that helped Lockheed Martin win a key role in the US Army's Future Combat System, has been named '2006 Scientist of the Year' by the Minorities in Research Science (MIRS) organization.

A quick googling of this NRI tells me that he is Principle Research Engineer at Lockheed Martin:

ABHIJIT MAHALANOBIS is a Principal Research Engineer at Lockheed Martin, Orlando, and is currently the technical lead for the Automatic Target Recognition programs in the Research and Technology Group. He is a fellow of the SPIE and is responsible for over 100 journal and conference publications.

This means, that he must be a US citizen having lived most of his life in USA. This leads me to my next conclusion that he is NRI, but not "Non Resident Indian" but "Nahin Raha Indian" or "Never Returning Indian". So why does Times of India care about some American winning some award who just happens to be of Indian origin - he's a US citizen now living in USA and working in USA and not working in Department of Defence or ISRO in India.

India trip - day by day

American Airlines AA 292 - 6th Aug
The Chicago (ORD) - Delhi (DEL) flight was supposed to depart at 7:05 PM CT but took off only at 7:42 pm. The flight was relaxing as I had an exit row seat :). I couldn't do anything but sleep for atleast 10 hours in the 14 hour flight. In the 4 hours that I was awake, I watched Inside Man, I had all my meals and thought about India - can't help it! What I really about AA non-stop flight is that it is non-stop and so I don't have to get off at some airport in Europe like Frankfurt, London etc and then wait until the next flight. Once you take off from Chicago, you will land only at Delhi, not somewhere in Europe! Also, they serve Indian food as a part of their vegetarian meals course... too bad they don't offer Indian non-vegetarian meals, like Butter Chicken or Tandoori Chicken :(
The flight landed at 8:30 PM IST (Indian Standard Time, not Indian Stretchable Time!). When I got out fo the airport, I didn't get the heat wave because it wasn't hot in Delhi! The IGI airport sucked as always and that made me feel like I was in India right away :). Immigration took less than 10 minutes and for the first time ever, I got my bags pretty quickly and was out of the airport in less than 1 hour :)

Arrived at home around 10:30 pm. I first checked my e-mails, had dinner (Butter Chicken :) ) , and then went to bed around 1 am. Got up at 5:30 am and the first thing I said to myself was "Damn train ko bhi abhi jaana tha" (Why did the train have to go now and wake me up), but the interesting thing is, there are no trains around here and I am back from US! It took me a second to realize that I got up because of jetlag and not the trains that didn't let me sleep for 10 weeks this summer...

7th Aug
So I got up at 5:30 am, and had nothing to do until around 1 pm. I went to Gurgaon to meet Abhijit around Metropolitan Mall area at 2 pm. We then went to his home, had lunch together, talked about studies, our boredom etc etc. Then we went to DT Mega Mall. It was kinda deserted because not many people come to this place, which is probably because it is not on the main "Mall Road". It was good structure, nicely built and overall a decent place to hangout. We just bought a frappe and sat in the food court just talking etc. We watched the movie Cars, the 5:25 PM show at DT Mega Mall cinema Audi #2. We had aisle seats in the 2nd row from the back, and tickets were Rs 175 ($3.8). The cinema was good, spacious etc (Compare this to $8 cinemas in US which are more like gaon ke cinema). We then went back to his place and did what we are expert at - nothing - just kill time doing random things ;) . Weather was good - not too hot, maybe lower 30s C (upper 80s F) and it rained for a while. That was basically the end of day. Had a good time.

8th Aug
Nothing special about today, just at home. No plans... just relax at home and talk to friends etc. Well, I watched V for Vendetta and that's about it. Bad time bad time

9th Aug
Had plans with a few friends to meet around PVR Anupam Saket or PVR Priya area. However, today's Rakhi and high traffic is expected... so we had to cancel our plans for today :( - Damn Rakhi or Damn Traffic? Not sure yet. So one more day of doing nothing. Not so good times.
Planned with a few friends to meet tomorrow sometime - not sure as of 11 pm what to do and when - tentative plan to meet at PVR Saket at 11 AM and then go to Palika, but Aman's not sure about it, so we don't know yet- that's how things are for us all the time.

10th Aug
9:30 AM and we still weren't sure if we were going to meet at PVR Saket at 11 am or not. I checked my mobile and had a SMS from Aman confirming that he's ok with 11 am. Called up Abhijit to tell him I was going to be at PVR at 11 AM. He was still not ready, so we planned on meeting at 11:30, and I called up aman to update him. I am out, not really on my way to Saket (first getting other things done, like meet Doctor etc), and Aman's at PVR at 11:25 am. I told him I was gonna be there in 10 minutes (Doctor's place to Saket = 15 mins actually, but it's ok). I got at PVR Saket at 11:45 am (I wasn't late, I was on IST - Indian Stretchable/Standard Time), and we still don't know where Ashi is. Called him up, and he claims to be stuck in traffic. We are just waiting and roaming around and talking. It was good to see aman again after almost 7 months. Ashi arrives at 12:30 pm, and we are trying to decide if we want to go to Palika Bazaar (Wikipedia description: Palika Bazaar is an underground, air-conditioned market located below the inner circle of Connaught Place, Delhi, India) or not. We did. We took DTC 500 from Saket to Palika. Took about 45 minutes, and it was fun - specially because we got a seat. DTC ride was fun - took one after 2-3 years. Got there and had fun in Palika and then once we got done there (in about 1 hour), we went to Inner Circle shops. It was very humid and we were sweating like never before. Temperatures were not that bad, being "only" 104 F (40 C) with about 70% relative humidity, so tried not wasting time etc. We planned on going to CCD but couldn't find one in Inner Circle - one of the most shocking things ever! When we couldn't find a CCD around, we decided to go back to PVR Saket as me and Aman were thinking of watching Pirates of the Carribean 2 - the 4:20 pm show. (Yes, we still haven't watched it) We took an auto at 3 pm from CP and got there at 3:30 PM. However, we being what we are, we weren't sure until 4:15 pm if we wanted to watch the movie or not, and at 4:16 PM decided to watch it tomorrow - maybe an excuse to meet up :D - Ashi left at 4:30 PM and then I went to Aman's house where we just killed time, playing games etc. FUN FUN FUN DAY - Had a good time.

11th Aug
Friday, but unlike in USA, it's just another day, after all life's interesting on other days too. Had plan to meet Aman at PVR Saket (basically now a central place for everyone in South Delhi) at 2 PM and then watch Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest at 4 PM. However, we are what we are, and at 12:30 or 1 PM decided to meet at 3 PM - unless by 2:59 PM we decide to post pone it even further. So we decided to meet at 3 PM IST and got there at 3:20 PM (IST!). Then nothing much, just talking and chilling until the movie started. We went to McD and Indian McD are definitely better compared to the US ones - efficiency and service! Watched the movie, and surprisingly it was almost house full - probably people who thought of watching KANK couldn't get tickets - we had plans for POTC, so didn't have to care about it - we don't watch crap movies like KANK, atleast not unless someone pays us to watch it ;) . (POTC2 = Good one). Then just chilling around in the scorchy and sticky weather and just doing nothing. We definitely had a good time.

12th Aug
Did nothing important... at home playing Max Payne for the most part.

13th Aug
Had plans to go to bookvallas in Darya Ganj with Aman, but realized that because of I-Day security, it would be closed, so didn't go. Instead went to family friend's place to have lunch etc.

14th Aug
There was some hope of doing something interesting, meeting Aman. But didn't do anything. Played Max Payne instead. Went out with family - good South Indian dinner.

15th Aug
Independence Day of India. Played Max Payne. Done with it :)

16th Aug
Met Siddharth, Aman and his friend at Mocha at 12:30 PM. More people were supposed to show up, but they didn't. Siddharth called up his friend and we had a good time together. Talked about good old days when we used to have fun in school and realized all 5 of us were in the same league - Singles with no luck. Aman and his friend had to leave at 3:15 or so and the rest of us decided to go out somewhere for lunch. We decided to go to Culinaire but that wasn't open yet so we ended up eating at Anupam. Came back at 5. Then went to Temple in the evening for Janmashtami. Good time.

17th Aug
At home, just chilling etc.

18th Aug
Same thing, went out for sometime - had to get some work done. Then went out with family for dinner.

19th Aug
Stayed at home for the most part. Not feeling too well - cough and cold, and some weakness. Went out to some family friend's place for dinner.

20th Aug
Went to Darya Ganj with Abhijit. He bought a lot of books. I didn't want to buy a novel and didn't find any other interesting book, so didn't buy anything. We got there at about 1:30 and left at 3:30 or so. I just wasn't feeling well - had fever as I realized later - 103 d.F. So the rest of day was just rest etc. Had some family friends at home for dinner. Still not sure why I get fever a few days before travelling.

21st Aug
At home - can't do much - resting as i gotta get well before going back...

22nd Aug, 23rd Aug
At home...

24th Aug
Went to Gurgaon to meet Ashi at Metropolitan Mall. We watched movie called Click. I bought the tickets and had to wait for him so we could go to watch the movie. It was a 2:05 PM show, and we got in at 2:10 or so, missing first 5 minutes or so - we were not late, we were by IST... the stupid PVR guy started the movie early ;) . We then went to Coco Palms in DT to eat lunch. It's a good and reasonably priced South Indian Restaurant. We then went back to his place and did nothing. Some time later I went back home. It was a great day...

25th Aug
Best day of the trip. Was in CP to meet a friend when the medical students and doctors were protesting the quota bill. Saw the protest and we both had a lot of fun seeing all that. This was the first time I actually saw a protest. There was curfew in place, but the medical students didn't care about it and protested. The quota bill was deferred until winter session of the Parliament, and the protest and strikes really did their work. It was amazing to see so many people protesting and all the news channels were there to cover the story. It was just amazing to see it live and not just from the TV - it is just too different on TV. That was the best day!

26th Aug
Last day... packing and all, and at airport. Airport was a chaos. Getting in took like 25 minutes and then checking, immigration, security and boarding lines - chaos at the airport.

27th Aug
The flight took off at 12:47 AM IST and landed in Chicago at 5:18 AM CT. The food quantity is getting worse...

Starbucks coming to India

Good news for Starbucks' lovers, Starbucks has announced that it will be starting operations in India within the next 18 months :) :

Coffee connoisseurs can look forward to a new brew in their cups soon, with US-based coffee retail giant Starbucks Corporation set to open its outlets in India in 2007.

Starbucks is currently in talks with a number of potential joint venture partners and is in the process of finalising the locations for opening its retail outlets in the country.

I love CCD in India, but there should be a starbucks too:
1. Starbucks is also good
2. We need a revolution in Coffee retail market - Starbucks has been around for a while in the global markets, and they can really give CCD and Barista some competition... Good for everyone :)

Upcoming India trip

India trip coming up in two days... Gonna be fun again :)

Things I am excited about and what I plan on doing:

1. Spend time with Family
2. Meeting friends
   
3. Home cooked Desi food - OF COURSE!!!
4. No doing your own laundry etc HAHAHA :)
5. Chilling in Delhi's hot weather ;)
6. Excessive usage of Hinglish - Now mazaa aaying ;)
7. Movies at dirt cheap prices in good multiplexes - About Rs. 150 ($3)
   
8. Hopefully, Delhi Metro ride - something I always wanted to do, but never got time
   
9. Something interesting, like going around the city etc
10. Looking forward to some changes at the IGI Airport now that GMR-Fraport has taken over - OK, that's too much to expect
    
11. Will get to see random people more often in public places
    
12. .
13. .
14. .
    

And the list goes on....
This is probably my last post until I go back home, and I might not post while I am at home. But I do plan on writing about my trip, like what I did etc. once I am back - Ahh crap, even the thought of it makes me feel bad.

Some funny translations

Times of India has a list of funny English-Hindi translations:

Wall Street Crash : Deewar toot ke sadak pe gir gayee
Buddhist canon : Baudh dharma ka tope
Bridging the gap : Pul bana diya gaya

Even a name was Translated:
W W Hunter : W W Shikari

Funny, isn't it? :)

Some ABCD's summary of going to India

M wrote a very interesting blog about going back home (India). Now, seems like she is giong back home after a very long time, so she is not familiar about what goes on in India. One thing that really amused me, is that she was "surprised" on the way people drive there. She thought that her car would crash into some other car, but thanks to A+ drivers in India, that rarely happens:

The drive back home was traumatic. Cars zip past us without any regard for oncoming traffic. I couldn't bear to look out the window for fear of shrieking every second. By some miracle we reach home without crashing into another car, man or animal and without having anything crash into us.

Also the domestic flights in India, how they offer a choice of 3 breakfasts on 2 hour flights, compared to pretzels and a drink in the US:

The flight to Calcutta is wonderful. They offer us three choices for breakfast. Three choices! I mean, I am so used to having a miniscule pack of pretzels thrown at me on the domestic flights in the US, that having to choose between continental, South Indian sambhar and idli and North Indian paratha and sabzi has me all confused and worked up. It was just beautiful. We were home and it looked like it would be a beautiful day.

Also, the sounds, smell and everything of India:

May be it is the sheer strain of having to travel through such chaotic traffic, blaring horns, throngs of suicidal people who prefer to walk on the road than on the sidewalk, the heat and humidity and the constant exhaust from cars and buses that cling to the air and choke your insides. I suddenly become aware of a hundred different sounds that are around me at any given time. Sounds that I had started to forget. Almost. Like the cacophony of cars honking, as they honk on every corner before they make a turn just to let you know that they are approaching. Or the guy with the metal bucket who washes our car every morning and makes sure he lets everyone know that he is doing his job. Or the people selling their wares on the street "Didi ekdom joler dorey" (as cheap as water). People are everywhere. Yelling, shouting, making themselves heard. And the smells. Of rotting garbage. Of clogged waste-water drains. Of smoke and motor exhaust. And amidst that, of tempting street food. Of rolls and telebhaja (fritters). Of peanuts being dry roasted. Of deep fried shingara and spicy chowmein.

Man, this is so funny... sounds like an ABCD's view on India LMAO

PS: I will also write a summary on my travel to India after I come back. So you don't have to read such funny ones :)

Guy gon crzy, snt 5.5lac SMS in 1 mnth

Well, I always thought that Indians were addicted to SMS, thanks to various promotions like 1 paisa/SMS by Reliance among other communications. But this time, a guy from Gujarat set a new record of sending 5,54,000 SMSs from his cell phone in January:

Twenty-five-year-old software engineer, Nitin Thakor has set a new record of sending over five-and-a-half lakh SMSs in just 30 days in Gandhinagar.

IBN also says, that 5,54,000 SMSs in 30 days = 1 SMS every five seconds!!! That's obviously assuming that you are sending one SMS to one person at a time, which is definitely not the case:

This means on an average, Nitin sent one SMS every five seconds, 13 messages ever one minute, 718 messages ever hour and 18,705 messages every day.

Now noting he is a Gujarati, ofcourse money is important factor. Lucky him, wasn't charged a single penny as he was under a service plan where he could send as many as 1 crore (10 million) SMSs in a single month... I want that plan, not for sending 5,54,000 SMSs, but maybe a few thousands a month you know. After all, cheap telecom services in India got me addicted to SMS

US House passes Indo-US nuclear agreement

Yes! US House of Representatives today passed the India-USA Nuclear Agreement with 359 votes in favor, and 69 against. All the proposed amendments were rejected by the House. CNN-IBN gives some more details:

Wednesday's vote was 359 to 68.

Three amendments taken up for vote but were defeated. They included Rep Berman's amendment asking India to halt fissile material production, defeated 241-184; Rep Sherman's amendment asking India for annual report on usage of domestic uranium supplies, defeated 268-155 and Rep Markey's amendment asking India to co-operate with US on containing Iran's nuclear weapons program, defeated 235-192.

There are still many hurdles left, like the Senate vote:

The move is important but far from final step in making the agreement a reality.

The Senate has yet to vote on the plan, which must clear several more hurdles before nuclear trade between the two countries could begin.

Makes me happy that it is going through :)

A first for India : Memorials for Mumbai victims

Govindraj Ethiraj writes about how loss of public life is being mourned now. An article I really liked:

"The 2-minute silence did not bring the city to a grinding halt. But for a first attempt of this kind, it was notable. Citizens even complained they did not hear the sirens that were supposed to alert them to the moment. Now, there is talk of a wear-white day on July 26, the day floods and an incompetent local administration brought the city to its knees last year. Over 400 died in Mumbai that day and over a 1,000 in Maharashtra. "

As Govindraj says, this is something new for India, as there were no memorials for 1993 blast victims, or the August 2003 blast victims, or even last year's 26/7 floods in Mumbai in which many people died, but there are memorials and annual services held in Madrid and Bali:

There could be other reasons as well. But the fact is that you won’t find a memorial for the March 1993 blast victims or the August 2003 blast victims in Mumbai. Or for all those who died in last July’s floods. But contrast Mumbai’s fate to similar tragedies elsewhere in the world. From the Madrid train bombings and Bali’s bomb blasts, public memory is retained in the form of permanent memorials and annual services held there. Incidentally, the toll in Madrid and Bali was roughly the same as Mumbai.

This year, 20 NGOs appealed to the citizens to wear white on 26th July in memory of people who died last year from the Bombay floods. Times of India reports:

Perhaps, taking cue from the over pouring of public grief last Tuesday, when almost the entire city observed a two-minutes silence to pay respects to the victims of July 11 terrorist bombings in Mumbai trains, colleges of Mumbai and Peace Mumbai - compromises of around 20 NGOs - have appealed to the citizens to wear-white on July 26, in memory of over 1000 people in Maharashtra who lost their lives last year in the devastating floods that ravaged the state.

The question is, will this continue or not? Has it really made people more concerned and sympathetic? Or is it just one-time, after all we have too short-lived memory for things like that?

Well, I did my bit by wearing (almost) white t-shirt.

So, is Dawood in Pakistan?

Pakistan has always claimed that Dawood Ibrahim, the mastermind behind 1993 Bombay blasts, was not in Pakistan. CBI presented Pakistan with enough evidences to prove that he lived in Pakistan, but Pakistan never accepted the "fact" that Dawood was in Pakistan.

On 7th July, Times of India reported that CBI supplied enough proof to Interpol about his presence in Pakistan - Interpol is the International Criminal Police Organization:

"We have given complete proof about his entire network in Pakistan to Interpol and Interpol believes us," CBI chief Vijay Shanker told reporters after his 30-minute meeting with home minister Shivraj Patil on the matter.

In a very interesting reply by Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, Pakistan rejected India's demand for deportation of Dawood Ibrahim, as CNN-IBN reports:

Rejecting India's demand for deportation of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and Hizbul Muhajideen chief Syed Salahuddin, Pakistan on Friday claimed there was no evidence to link the two with the Mumbai bomb blasts.

Well, leaving the deportation matter for now, Pakistan is rejecting to deport Dawood, meaning that they acknowledge the fact that Dawood is in Pakistan. Now Pakistan is not deporting it, which means that Pakistan is not helping USA in its "war against terrorism", after all he was declared as a Global Terrorist by the United States Government. [Wiki link]

Now, deportation... Pakistan claims that there is no evidence to link Dawood Ibrahim with the recent Mumbai bomb blasts :

A strongly-worded statement by Pakistan Foreign Ministry said the fact that after 10 days of the blasts India had little to say other than mention Dawood and Salahuddin "demonstrates that there was nothing to warrant the irresponsible act of finger-pointing at Pakistan immediately after the Mumbai attack."

Maybe not responsible for 7/11, but wait, hasn't evidence shown that he is responsible for the 1993 bombings? So why is Pakistan trying to secure Dawood Ibrahim? Is it because (as The Tribune claims) ISI gets $1 billion a year from Dawood Ibrahim - 1 billion dollars - that's a whopping 4600 crores a year! Think of companies like Infosys, with revenues about 10-11,000 crores a year!

So is Pakistan doing anything about terrorism? USA is selling Pakistan a new batch of F-16 (multi role aircrafts) that they think Pakistan will use to help the USA in their "war against terror". But many US lawmakers also think that this will be used against India, not Al-Qaeda:

The new batch of F-16 multi-role aircraft that the US proposes to sell Pakistan will be used against India, not Al-Qaeda, many US lawmakers have said while accusing the Bush Administration of "rushing through" the deal.

"This material is not being used against Al-Qaeda. It isn't. The potential is that it would be used in a war against India," Democratic Representative Frank Pallone, a strong supporter of India, said of the jets.

No arguments there... What are Pak intentions anyways? Do they want to help India and USA find terrorist and crack terrorists or not? And if they do, then why are they helping Dawood Ibrahim?

India's reaction chart

A very funny reaction chart of India to terrorist attack on Cognitive Overload:

"This is the reaction chart India's leadership refers to whenever there is a terrorist attack:

10 Dead: 'It was a routine operation'

50 Dead: 'It is a sign of desperation from the terrorists'

100 Dead: 'We condemn the attack'

200 Dead: 'We will not bend against terrorism'

300 Dead: 'We will crush terrorism'

400 Dead: 'We urge the international community to support us in the fight (fight? LOL) against terror'

500 Dead: 'We will CRUSH terrorism (note the capitals)'

600 Dead: 'Those behind this dastardly attack will be punished'"

Sad, but true, and the list just goes on like that.

Hiring Season for TCS

CNN-IBN is reporting that TCS will be recruiting 30,000 techies this year all over the world:

Indian IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has said the company is on a hiring spree as it plans to employ 30,000 professionals this year alone.

The company would be hiring people in all their centers around the world and not just in the Indian market alone.

30,000 people! Rising wages, high employment... man! the short-term outlook for Indian IT professionals is great... but long-term is like a Bubble

Rang De Mombatti

If you were to associate this year with something for India, what would it be? Terrorist attacks? Anti-corruption (through RTI)? The Courts (they are really doing something!)? Strategic partnership with the USA? Or the failure of UPA Government and protests by people and Left parties?

Well, I will call it a year of candles... and of course, candle manufacturers. Confused? Here's why:

We all saw in Rang De Basanti what happens when Indian Air Force's Lt. Ajay Rathode (R. Madhvan) dies in the crash. People protest, but in a very different way. Everyone goes to India Gate in Delhi, India and lights up a candle in memory of the pilot, and to protest the government's inaction and declaring the pilot as unfit to fly in the first place.

It showed a way of protesting peacefully : get united and light candles to show your support for the cause.

Well, we always have had electricity problem, and I believe even in Mumbai now. But we always used candles as a source of light when there was no electricity, or darkness for some other reason. Also very important in villages of India. So, the sale of candles was basically dependent only on the power cuts. However, candle sales must have gone up lately, because of the use of candles to protest peacefully. Everyone's following RDB's model now.

Some recent cases:

• Jessica Lall murder case protest: Accused acquitted, court cited the lack of evidence and hostile witnesses. The result was a candle-light protest all over India, specially in Delhi - India Gate jo hai
• Reservations for OBC Protest: Arjun Singh proposes to introduce 27% quota for people belonging to Originally Backward Class (OBC) in addition to the 22.5% already given to the SC/ST backward classes. The result:

Now you see... Candles Candles everywhere

• More recently, people lit candles (picture) to commemorate the victims of the Mumbai blasts and also to condemn the terrorist attacks
• CNN-IBN also started a unique way to help the blast victims. You can go here and "light a candle" virtually, and for every "candle lit", they will donate Re. 1 to the victims.
  

So, I guess everyone's saying "Rang De Mombatti", or "Jala De Mombatti" (light the candle). Good for the candle companies, isn't it? Now they don't have to rely only on electricity. Rang De Basanti did the magic.

Now more candles ofcourse means better sales for the companies producing these, and more employment... Wait, did I just say employment? That means, it is an unseen effect of a movie, and the "bad" policies of the government too (reservations!). Had there been no reservations issue, no candle protest, and no increase in employment for the poor people. So atleast one good thing UPA did, which was (of-course) unintentional.

Well, don't be so excited, there's a problem too... Paraffin was is a by-product of crude oil, and increase in crude oil and petroleum prices mean the costs for candle industry going up. This would mean that not only you pay higher prices for your petrol (gas), but also your candles! And the high demand of candles also supplements that (Demand-Supply model). So they way it is now, it seems like the demand for candles will increase significantly, while supply won't (because of crude oil crisis), which will lead to high prices of candles. Now this could mean, either the government importing candles, just like they are importing wheat etc, or Indian people going back to the "ignorant stage of life" (a new one - this replaces the other four stages of life of Hinduism), where they don't light candles and don't protest - which, by the way, is definitely more likely. India has a shortage of electricity, so they definitely won't use bulbs there to protest, rather they won't protest at all. Well, how about a torchlight? Oh that would mean a bad diwali... expensive one :(

Slowly, the demand will decrease, and there will be equilibrium - the demand will depend only on electricity, and not on issues like reservation and Jessica Lall case. Now if people stop protesting and the UPA government again starts taking bad decisions like reservations, people won't protest, which would mean, it will go through easily. The state of the nation will be so bad, that people will start realizing they will have to do something before the government takes India back to 1800s. They will again! come out with candles because by then, the candles will again be affordable, and it will all start over - protests, candles etc... all of it...

Sounds interesting right? That's the real future of India ;-)

Conclusion: We just entered a vicious cycle - of candle protests and ignorant stage of people in India

Assumptions made:

1. Crude Oil prices will remain high ... Oh wait, that's not an assumption, that's a fact
2. Traditional ways to making candles will be followed, and no alternative fuel like Hydrogen etc will be invented to make candles more efficient in the near future
   

Supreme Court Zindabad

Supreme Court has declared the act that banned any demolitions in Delhi for a year as "invalid and void". The Hon'ble High Court of Delhi on December 19th, 2005 had directed MCD to start demolition drive under which actions were taken against 2642 properties. Well, atleast in theory.

Stopping short of staying the Parliament-enacted law to stop court-mandated demolitions and sealings of illegal buildings in the Capital, the Supreme Court on Monday said the Delhi Laws (Special Provision) Act, 2006, appeared to be 'wholly invalid and void'.

Sealing drive started on March 29 and till May 20, 2006 13,960 properties were sealed. However, see the guts and political strategy (more later) of the Central Government of India. The Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act 2006 was notified by the Urban Development Ministry on May 20 after the President assented to it. After that, all the "good work" of the MCD under court orders had to be suspended, for atleast 1 year.

This demolition was seen, by many including me, as THE ONLY way to get prepared for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The December 19 HC order meant that unauthorized constructions would be demolished, and shops be sealed. This would clear off Delhi, and would have made Delhi a "better place" to live, after all infrastructure would get better etc. And then, Mukesh Ambani has plans to develop new cities in outskirts of Delhi (and Bombay) which, as he claims, would be one of the top cities of India, if not the world. But alas, there were protests about these demolitions by the affected people, and the Congress government saw that it was losing its voters... so they just came with this (stupid) law which is more like a contempt of court.

Here's my analogy to this Act: Imagine there is a lot of crime - murders, narcotics etc. - the hot ones today in India - and it turns out that a very influential person is involved and is convicted. Now, the government makes a law (as if they could) to stop his trial in the court of justice... now wouldn't that be a contempt of court and also unfair to the victims? It is exactly what the government did with demolitions.

Well, I did expect some sort of action by the Supreme Court, and this is exactly what I wanted. I was shocked and disappointed by the "new law" of the government back in May, and also was disappointed to see that there was no "reflex reaction" to this by the court. However, it is good to learn about the decision now. Here's some more for you to digest:

"Pure and simple, this is a legislation to override the court orders," the Bench said and observed that on hindsight it appears as if the government had carefully chalked out a strategy — first to file an affidavit seeking suspension of the sealing drive for six months and then withdrawing the same to enact the new law.

Solicitor-general G E Vahanvati, appearing for the Centre, was at pains to explain to the court that there was no such strategy at play and that the government wanted to address the entire issue in a comprehensive manner for ustainable development of the Capital.

Now, Solicitor general on behalf of the Central government said that the government wanted to address the entire issue in an orderly manner. They just thought that maybe what they couldn't do in the last 60 years, they could get it done in 1 year without needing the courts to guide the MCD. However, for those who don't know about this, there is a political reason for bringing that law, and not a development-concern. Elections time for the MCD, and people will vote to elect the new operators of the MCD. Since Congress was the main contender, they just saw the HC attempts to get the city straightened up as a threat to their vote-bank. All they care about is their votes, and not the city or the government. Many people (specially die hard Congress supporters) might disagree with me, but if you know anything about India and its politics, and have an unbiased opinion, then you will definitely agree.

Is it all taken care of and will MCD be back on demolition drive and clear the city of unauthorized constructions? Will the government not be able to do anything? Well, unfortunately, theoretically government can still do a lot about it. The government can include the Act in Ninth Schedule - Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951 - which deprives the court to challenge the validity of laws. All they need is a constitutional amendment. Although it seems unlikely that this will happen, but hey, it's India...

Anyways, I am happy with the Supreme Court with that. Let's see what happens in the future, but for now:
Supreme Court Zindabad!

US, Germany endorse Tharoor's name

US, Germany endorse Tharoor's name : Race for the UN TOP JOB - HindustanTimes.com:

US President George W Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday agreed to 'consider' supporting Shashi Tharoor, India's candidate for the post of the UN Secretary General to succeed Kofi Annan.

Yay, this certainly means India's pretty strong now :)
Russia's support is ofcourse expected, but it's really USA opinion which matters, so if USA gives Tharoor a green card, there's a 99% chance he will be the next Sec Gen... Why 99%? Oh its our neighbors...

Bombay Blasts Investigations

Mumbai police detained about 350 people in connection with the 7/11 Mumbai blasts. Most of these people are believed to be connected to underworld. Times of India reports:

Police have detained about 350 people for questioning in connection with the Bombay train bombings, officials said on Thursday amid suspicion that Kashmiri militants could be linked to the attacks that killed at least 200 people in Mumbai.

Most of the detentions were made overnight in Malwani, a north-eastern suburb of Mumbai, said police Inspector S Goshal. He said none of them has been formally arrested or charged, and they were rounded up only for questioning to help with the investigations into Tuesday's serial bombings.

...those arrested include known thugs, gangsters and trouble makers, who might have information about the culprits.

The Mumbai police and Anti-Terror Squad of the police is really trying to find the culprits. Security has been increased all over the country. However, the question is will the victims of these blasts get justice?

In 1993 Bombay bombings, 250 people were killed, and there was enough evidence to point the involvement of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, with Abu Salem and many others. Many hundreds of people, predominantly Muslim, have been arrested and detained in Indian courts and are undergoing or awaiting trial. It's been 13 years now, but there has been no result. The cases are still going on in the Indian courts. Abu Salem was extradited to India in 2004, and it was only in March 2006 that charges were framed against him. However, it will probably take years until his case is decided in the court.

Is this going to happen in this case also? Will it take a couple of decades until we get somewhere with the investigations? Or will the police do something different and be really quick in getting the culprits and putting them to trial? Also, what I still don't understand is, why is Mumbai police handing this terrorist attack? In USA, such cases would automatically be investigated by federal investigation agencies, probably FBI and not city police considering the intensity of the attack, then why doesn't CBI, CID or some other investigation agency like that investigate? After all, they are more efficient at it and better equipped to handle such cases, right?

Mumbai in the past 3 weeks

June 27, 2006: Heavy rains lash Mumbai

June 30, 2006: Heavy rain continues for third day in Mumbai - Water logging up already

July 2, 2006: Heavy rains continue - The never-say-die Indian spirit seen, as people still going to office inspite of heavy rains and water logging etc. Transportation Services disrupted because of heavy rains.

July 4, 2006: Still raining... flights diverted due to heavy rains. Eight people dead because of heavy rains.

July 5, 2006: HC slams Mumbai civic body for flooding

July 6, 2006: Didn't rain the whole day! Normal life continues as people went to work etc. According to a survey: 97% attendance in offices! Now that's Mumbai, life just doesn't stop!
Even though it rained pretty hard, the dabbawallas or the tiffin box carriers didn't stop their work at all.

July 9, 2006: A statue of the late wife of right-wing Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray was found to have been vandalised. Shiv Sena followers started protesting and torched at least one bus and forced shops to shut in some areas.

July 11, 2006: Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai (and Srinagar also). A series of 7 blasts that took place in the local trains of Mumbai kill almost 200 people and injure about 450.


July 12, 2006: Mumbai life returns to normal. People go to office as always. Mumbai life is almost "unaffected"


Salute to mumbaikars... even after going through all this, people returned to normal life as if nothing happened at all... Only in India you can see such a thing!

India hardens its position against Pakistan

Mumbai blasts shocked the whole world in some way or other. After a series of attacks on India, India is finally taking a crucial step to eliminate terrorists from the world. As many previous terrorist attacks on India have been linked to terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba etc which are formally based in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, or Pakistan itself. Some recent blasts that were linked to LeT were the 29th October 2005 Delhi blasts, the 2006 Varanasi blasts etc.

While no one has claimed responsibility for the Mumbai blasts on 11th July 2006, these are being linked to LeT and SIMI. Ofcourse this is not the first time that India had a terrorist attack on its land, and every time something like this happened, India was quick in condemning the terrorist organizations and very diplomatically named these organizations, but peace process with Pakistan continued. However, probably for the first time ever, India has hardened its position against Pakistan. India has said that the peace process cannot be continued until Pakistan is serious about curbing terrorism. BBC News reports:

The mood against Pakistan is hardening in India

The statement by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the peace process between India and Pakistan cannot progress unless Islamabad cracks down on terrorism represents a hardening of Delhi's position.

For the first time since Tuesday's serial bombings in Mumbai, the Indian government has pointed a finger at its long-time rival.

...

But now Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has publicly suggested that the blasts were carried out by militant cells supported from within Pakistan.

No group has been as yet named as having carried out the coordinated attacks on Mumbai's commuter railway system last Tuesday.

But many believe that only a few groups have the expertise to execute them.

The key suspect is the Lashkar-e-Toiba, a Kashmiri militant group based in Pakistan and banned by both countries.

The group has been blamed for similar attacks in the past - in particular an attack on India's parliament in 2001 that brought both countries to the brink of war.

Economic Times reports about congratulatory calls made from Karachi to Dhaka right after the blasts:

Just after the Mumbai blasts, a call from Karachi to Dhaka said “mubarakan, mubarakan (congratulations)” in a mission-accomplished tone.

Around the same time, a call from a PCO near Juhu in Mumbai went to an anxious “mother” in Karachi. The caller assured his mother that he was alright (salamat) but could not disclose his location and, saying that he could not talk at length, hung up.

Now the question is, how has it changed India. India which has always been affected by terrorism, has for the first time directly named some elements of Pakistan in these attacks. This is a bold step by India because never before India did something like this keeping the world peace in mind. However, it looks like these blasts have so far made India respond in the same way as America did to 9/11 attacks. America launched "War against terrorism" after 9/11, and freed Afghanistan from the Taliban power. Result: Afghanistan is no longer a terrorists controlled country. India detained about 350 people for questioning about the Mumbai attacks, which shows India is REALLY serious this time. India's Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, gave a statement just like American president, saying that India will win war against terror:

Saluting the people of Mumbai and Srinagar for the speed with which they have returned to normal life, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday night said the war against terror will be won and "no one can make India kneel".

"This is not the first time that the enemies of our nation have tried to undermine our peace and prosperity. These elements have not yet understood that we Indians can stand united. That we will stand united. They have not yet understood that we will never let them win," he said in an address to the nation over television.

That and India naming Pakistan, it looks like India is ready for some hard action, as in not really attacking Pakistan, but pressurizing Pakistan to start cooperating with the world. Right after the blasts, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Kasuri linked the blasts in Mumbai to the "lack of resolution" of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute. Now one may ask what do India-Pakistan relations have to do with blasts in Mumbai. Varnam reports:

Last September Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip and Gaza became the first completely independent Palestinian territory. The Palestinians fired rockets from Gaza, and then later dug a tunnel from there and kidnapped an Israeli soldier. Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. United Nations verified the withdrawal and was satisfied with it. Now from Lebanon, Hezbollah entered Israel and kidnapped two soldiers. Now Israel is fighting a war on two fronts.

What is the guarantee that Gaza and Lebanon will not happen to India. How can you trust a nation which does not want to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and which was planning Kargil, while yet another peace process was going on?

Right, what's the guarantee that even if we continue with the peace process, this won't happen to India? Kargil was one example of it, and we don't know what's going to happen in the future. Just what if India continues with the peace process with Pakistan while Pakistan is planning an attack against India to occupy more parts of Jammu and Kashmir As such, Indian intelligence hasn't really done any wonders in the past either. So, the only way India had was to stop the peace process until Pakistan makes some progress. I think India took a very important step in its war against terror.

Who said Mumbai people were rude?

Today is one of the worst days in the history of Mumbai, after being hit by 7 blasts in a span of just 25 minutes. About 170 people were kileed in these blasts, and many more injured. These serials blasts were similar to the 1993 blasts, since 1993 also saw deadly serial bombings, in which 250 people were killed. However, at that time, the financial district was the target. Today, it was the aam janta that represents the whole country - the middle class which is why the blasts happened in the trains, and not corporate offices etc.

Even though the whole nation was shocked by this terrorist attack on the financial capital of India, Mumbaites, instead of being scared and staying in their home etc, came out and helped the victims.

I just saw a few pictures and an article in Times of India about how Mumbaites are helping each other in the hour of crisis:

Slum dwellers were the first to run towards the local trains ripped apart in the blasts. Tearing through burning debris, people pulled out survivors, fashioned makeshift stretchers out of bedsheets and carted off the injured to the nearest hospital in autorickshaws and taxis.

On the choked roads, strangers were giving lifts to stranded commuters. One of our journalists on his way from the Bandra-Kurla Complex to Andheri saw heartening scenes of car owners, truck and bus drivers offering people a ride.

Some links for pictures from TOI:
An old woman helping a guy
Mumbaities serving water, vada pav's, biscuits to people who were struggling to reach home. (No they are not selling those)

Good to see some pictures of people helping each other, I am sure more will be up on the internet soon, or maybe I just haven't found more such pictures yet.

BBCNews is reporting about a Mumbai resident named Somnath Julka, who helped the victims of the Mumbai blasts in all possible ways. Even though none of his relatives or friends were affected, he still went to Sion Hospital in Mumbai, where most of the victims were admitted, and helped the patients financially. BBC Reports:

Mr Julka said that while he was at the hospital, he heard about a certain expensive injection that needed to be administered to the people injured in the blasts to prevent them from going deaf.

"Each injection cost 400 rupees [$9] and I told the doctors, don't worry about the costs, do what needs to be done and whatever the expense, I'll take care of it.

"I immediately arranged for 160,000 rupees that was required to buy them as well as some other medicines they needed to treat the wounded."

He has already spent Rs. 260,000 (US$) assisting people. He said:

"Even now I don't think our duty or work is over. I just heard a patient lost his spectacles in the blast and can't see without them so I have asked someone to get them fixed.

"Another person lost both his legs in the blast, so I plan to give him a job in my cargo company once he has been released from the hospital."

Mr Julka said he was only doing his bit for society.

"What will I do with all the money I have earned? I have just one daughter who got married last year. I run a profitable business and have earned enough to live comfortably for the rest of my life.

"Now I'd rather use my money to help those in need and give back a little to society that has given me so much."

Now this is an example of good social work!

So, who said that Mumbai is the rudest city in the world and that people don't care about each other? Infact, India is one place where people really care about others in the society (a lot of them do so), otherwise who would help these people out? Somnath Julka is not rude, infact he, and people like him are examples of the most helpful people you can ever hear about. Had it not been for these, I guess the casualties would have been much more.

God Bless India!

---

12th July 2006

Update 1 : Just reading a Times of India article which says the same thing basically, which reader's views. Salaam Mumbai: The spirit lives on - The Times of India

Terrorist Attacks in India : July 11th 2006

Once again, India has been attacked by terrorists. Today, a series of blasts rocked Srinagar and Mumbai. While there were 5 blasts in Srinagar, first one being at 11:50 am, killing atleast 5 people and injuring 12 others as per initial reports, Mumbai had a series of 7 synchronized blasts. Unconfirmed reports said that atleast a dozen people were killed in the explosions. The Bombay explosions happened in a span of 30 minutes, around 6-6:30 pm.

Hindustan Times reports about Bombay attacks:

At Matunga station, the blast was so powerful that it not only ripped through
the first class coach but also blew off a portion of the platform shed. Bodies
were seen scattered on the tracks while many injured, some of them profusely
bleeding, were attended to by fellow travelers on the platform before being
rushed to nearby hospitals.
Police suspect that it is a pre-planned
subversive plot similar to the explosions that had rocked Mumbai in 1993 and
2002 and 2003.

And about Srinagar:

Terrorists hurled a grenade at a vehicle carrying tourists near Sultan Bakery at
Dal Gate around 11.50 am, killing five persons, including three women, and
injuring 12 others, they said.
All the dead were from Kolkata while nine of the injured were also from West Bengal. Two injured were residents of Dal Gate while another person wounded was from Udhampur, the officials said.
This was the sixth attack on tourists in the Kashmir valley since the beginning of the
tourist season this year.

Here's the link for some pictures of the blast from BBC.

This is such a shameful act by the terrorist organizations. A lot of people were injured and died in these bomb blasts. I believe that the number of casualties reported is far less than the actual numbers.

For the people who died today in the blasts: May their soul rest in peace

---

Update 1 : CNN IBN is reporting that more than 139 people feared dead in Mumbai blasts

---

Update 2 : Indian Intelligence believes that the attacks were carried out by Al-Qaeda and Dawood Ibrahim
MSNBC Reports:

Indian intelligence believes the attacks on Mumbai’s commuter train network on Tuesday, killing scores during the evening rush hour, might be the work of Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian Muslim with ties to al-Qaida.

Ibrahim is believed to have been responsible for the 1993 attacks that killed 260 in Mumbai, India’s commercial hub formerly known as Bombay.

---

Update 3 : CNN-IBN puts the figures at 174 dead and 403 injured.

Right to Information Act, India

One of the newest legislations giving some hope to people fed up of corruption is the Right to Information Act 2005. This Act was enacted with a view to enable Indians to have access to the information under the control of authorities defined to be public authorities under the Act. The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions states on its site:

Information means any material in any form including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force but does not include "file notings" [S.2(f)].
It includes the right to:

1. inspect works, documents, records.
2. take notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records.
3. take certified samples of material.
4. obtain information in form of printouts, diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts.[S.2(j)]

This is the first time I believe that India has a law that will make the officer directly responsibe for non-performance. Under the law, if an information is requested by anyone, then the information has to be given out, provided it doesn't interfere with national security, ofcourse. So strategic military plans etc. won't be given out.

Infact, a nationwide awareness-cum-assistance campaign has been launched where people are enouraged not to pay bribes. As Hindustan Times reported:

More than 700 organisations across the country have come together as part of the campaign during which the public will be advised on how to get their work done in the government without paying bribes.

"Assistance centres would function in 48 cities spread across 16 states in the country during 1st to 15th July. 1500 trained volunteers will help people in making and filing RTI applications in these centres," said Arvind Kejriwal of NGO 'Parivartan', one of the organisers of the campaign.

An NDTV article reported that Volunteers are educating villagers to use RTI. It claimed that 16,000 people have already "pledged" to never bribe again.

If you are thinking that it's just another law and nothing will happen, then ... wake up dude! People have already used it to their benefit. You just have to use the law. The same NDTV article stated that a villager used the RTI against "influential people" who were misusing the government scheme under which poor people are supposed get their grains at low cost. He got his reply within 8 days (without bribing ofcourse), which is just pretty fast for India. Not only that, Hindustan Times states in one article how VISHNU Narain Shivpuri used RTI to get the family pension within 2 hours of filling the RTI application, which he had been waiting for the last 5 years!

NDTV has an article which claims that a retired government employee got Rs. 5000 as pension instead of Rs. 7000 that he should have got. Even after filing 16 applications to the Pune Municipal Corporation in the last 4 years, and numerous letters to the Government of India, he never got a reply. NDTV states:
Just when he was going to give into the systems inefficiencies he learnt about the Right to Information Act.

Phongde decided to make one last attempt and made use of the RTI Act to access all the papers related to his pension from the PMC.

He also asked for the status of his grievance applications made to the PMC in relation to his pension.

In three months Phongde's papers were revaluated and his pension was upgraded to Rs 8000 per month. He also received a cheque of Rs 1,78,000 as payment due to him for the last four years.

That's pretty good for the new law, and good to see people are actually responding to the RTI applications.

However, I want to hear more about people who didn't get a good or worse, any response to their RTI application. I hope it's rare, but I won't be surprised. Ofcourse, the media covers only the good case scenario.

Well, let's not bribe anyone, and beat the corruption with the new RTI act...

Are Brahmins the Dalits of today??

Is india rising???? » Are Brahmins the Dalits of today??:

There are 50 Sulabh Shauchalayas (public toilets) in Delhi; all of them are cleaned and looked after by Brahmins (this very welcome public institution was started by a Brahmin). A far cry from the elitist image that Brahmins have!

That's pretty bad... More below:

According to the Andhra Pradesh study, the largest percentage of Brahmins today are employed as domestic servants. The unemployment rate among them is as high as 75 per cent. Seventy percent of Brahmins are still relying on their hereditary vocation. There are hundreds of families that are surviving on just Rs 500 per month as priests in various temples (Department of Endowments statistics).

And, this:

The Indian government gives Rs 1,000 crores (Rs 10 billion) for salaries of imams in mosques and Rs 200 crores (Rs 2 billion) as Haj subsidies. But no such help is available to Brahmins and upper castes. As a result, not only the Brahmins, but also some of the other upper castes in the lower middle class are suffering in silence today, seeing the minorities slowly taking control of their majority.

Oh these corrupt politicians are just dividing India on the basis of religion. It just sucks...

India gifts AIIMS like healthcare institutes to Bhutan

India gifts healthcare institutes to Bhutan: South Asia : Hindustan Times.com:

In a goodwill gesture, India has gifted an AIIMS-level hospital to Bhutan with a promise to develop two more healthcare institutes that will be linked to referral hospitals in Thimphu and Mongar respectively.

Wow... India's really shining isn't it? They are being generous. Let's see what they have to offer:

They said the national referral centre at Thimphu, is being developed on the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and comprises a 350-bed hospital, filter clinic, lab, doctors and nurses quarter and internal road.

Well, that's pretty good list, but not complete. They didn't talk about stupid management and government interference in the operations of AIIMS which, ideally, shouldn't affect the operations of AIIMS, but when you have the head of AIIMS and the Health Minister clashing in India, what else to expect.

Also, they didn't mention about the doctors, interns and students who in the last couple of weeks have achieved enlightenment stage by going on strike at AIIMS (informally also known as: All India Institute of Medical Strikes). Well, it is definitely the RDB effect, and the fact is, if that's what they need to do, then do it! We need something like this... Let the government realize that they just can't take decisions and misuse their power.

Well, what else are they missing... bad infrastructure etc, uncaring doctors (don't look at fake rankings)
There's probably no need to mention all this, as it is already expected. Good luck Bhutanis!

Key Indian satellite launch fails

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Key Indian satellite launch fails

The launch of India's heaviest communication satellite has failed after the rocket carrying it veered off course and exploded.
The Insat-4C satellite weighed more than 2,000kg and was expected to significantly enhance India's telephone and business communications.

Just bad days for India. I know the reason everything is failing... it's just a unique way to protest against the reservations I guess. Who knows, maybe the launch vehicle was designed by some quota-beneficiary, who got his/her engineering degree because of quota and not merit basis?

India tests new ballistic missile

BBC NEWS | South Asia | India tests new ballistic missile:

"India has carried out a first test of its longest-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile, officials say.

The Agni-III surface-to-surface missile was test-fired off the coast of Orissa state. Reports say it can reach targets as far away as Beijing and Shanghai.

India says the test is routine and not aimed at unnerving arch-rival Pakistan. Both nations regularly test missiles."

India is technically capable to do so now... good for India

UPDATE : It actually failed to hit the target

First cut-off 6% for SC/ST

First cut-off: 6% : HindustanTimes.com: "While there have been recent cases of students scoring 90 per cent and not getting into colleges of their choice, two All India Engineering Entrance Examination 2006 candidates who scored six on 100 have been selected for admission in the engineering course of Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra."

WTF!!! This is just not fair, someone getting 6% gets admission in BIT (which is a great institution BTW) just because he belongs to OBC or SC/ST group, but other talented and intelligent students from General category are denied admissions because they couldn't get 94% or even higher percentage...
I bet 100 billion bucks that these SC/ST guys will drop out in the very first year...

Against Corruption in India

I hope you guys know about Sting operations in India, where Members of Parliaments etc are exposed taking bribes. In one of the biggest sting operations recently, about a dozen Member of Parliaments were caught on camera taking bribes in a sting operations. Ofcourse they were suspended, but that doesn't mean that others wouldn't have taken bribes. It's just that these MPs were a little unlucky.

Corruption exists in India at all levels and in all departments, whether you want to get a huge contract or just a birth certificate (whether to speed the process, or just to get a fake one). Although I haven't read news lately about this stuff lately, but I know it exists in India. You just get to hear it everyday, and the worst part is people are OK with it :(

So, all who know about Rang De Basanti, you know how DJ, Karan and others dealt with the problem of corrupt politicians etc. Just like people remember God when something bad happens, like they say "Jesus" (Christians) or "Om Namah Shivai" or something like that (for Hindus), I remembered about Rang De Basanti when talking about corruption in India after reading about the Government introducing the "Anti-Sting Operations" law and said to myself "Rang De Basanti" instead of my normal words "Kya Hoga India kya" (What will happen to India) or "Yahin to dhokha kha gaya India" (That's just where India failed). So, whenever you think of corruption, think of Rang De Basanti... I am not telling you to do what DJ and group did, but just to realize that we can change it all. The RDB effect can be seen - From Protests about Jessica Lall murder case trial to Reservation Quotas proposed by the Government.

Remember the quote by Ajay Rathode (R. Madhvan) - "Koi bhi desh perfect nahin hota, use perfect banana padta hai" (No nation is perfect, it has to be made perfect) and "We will join Politics, IAS, police... We will make this nation better". Just think of the message that Rang De Basanti delivered... It's just something not a lot of people had realized until watching this movie... I hadn't realized this either, but now I think I can make a difference. Just thinking of Rang De Basanti when thinking of corruption, made me feel like that one day the world will be a better place to live, with very low corruption (No corruption at all is just to idealistic - Can't happen) Ofcourse going out and executing ministers would not be a legal way to do it, but we can follow law and order and still make a difference. The problem : It requires a lot of people - much more than just a few thousands. Younger generation in cities have already joined hands to oppose anything that is unlawful or undemocratic, but we can only be successful if everyone can support this, just like Indian Independence wars... Afterall, we are now just a country being ruled by some filthy and corrupt politicians. Pre-independence era was similar, with the only difference being that we didn't elect them.

IITians, medicos protest against Ramadoss

IITians, medicos protest against Ramadoss: "Students of Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and Ganesh Shanker Vidyarathi Medical College on Friday took out a candlelight procession protesting the dismissal of P Venugopal as Director of the premier All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. "

Haha! It's the year of IIT and Medical students who are opposing all the undemocratic policies of the government! This is great... It's good to see that the younger generation is waking up to the needs of the country.

Next thing that should happen: IIM students protesting against DMK's opposition to disinvestment... ;)

Cell talkers as bad as drunken drivers

An interesting article on CNET that claims that Cell takers as bad as drunken drivers.
The article says:

People who talk on cell phones while driving, even using "hands-free" devices, are as impaired as drunken drivers, researchers said Thursday.

Interesting to see that even hands-free devices do not help, as one might not be able to give full attention to the traffic (or conversation, however you see it LOL)

Motorists who talked on either handheld or hands-free cell phones drove slightly more slowly, were 9 percent slower to hit the brakes, and varied their speed more than undistracted drivers.

Drivers with a 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level drove a bit more slowly than both undistracted drivers and telephone users, yet more aggressively.

"Driving while talking on a cell phone is as bad as or maybe worse than driving drunk," said Drews, who said alcohol was involved in 40 percent of the 42,000 annual U.S. traffic fatalities.

Interesting isn't it? I think that's problem for people like me who don't drink, but really like talking on their phones because their phones are too cool. An assistant professor at University of Utah says that cell-phone usage should be banned while driving:

"If legislators really want to address driver distraction, then they should consider outlawing cell phone use while driving," said Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Utah who worked on the study.

Now, does that imply that USA is learning something from India? Delhi (capital of India) already has this traffic law. I am not too sure about other states and UTs. Although, the only thing is people don't really follow it as long as there is no cop in sight (ofcourse... It's India!)
Have fun driving, and remember don't drink and drive, and don't talk on phone and drive - you won't enjoy the conversation ;)

'Arrested' donkey in cruelty row

'Arrested' donkey in cruelty row :

The donkey spent the night in police custody

"Campaigners in India's Tamil Nadu state say the law is literally an ass after a judge ordered the arrest of a donkey.

The animal was kept overnight in a police station after being seized at a rally in which it was used to highlight alleged failings of local officials.
Police said the donkey was evidence from the "scene of a crime". They have been accused of animal cruelty."

Driving in New Delhi - Don't complain about standing in line at the DMV

An article by Joel Waldfogel (Driving in New Delhi - Don't complain about standing in line at the DMV. By Joel Waldfogel) says that in some countries, Corruption does have an economic benefit. They used the example of India, where they had young people get license in different ways, one being the traditional way of going through the test, and the other being the bribery way. He writes:

"To study the process of getting a driver's license in New Delhi, the authors of the new study—economists from the World Bank, the University of Chicago, New York University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—recruited 822 Indians who wanted a driver's license, randomly assigning them to three groups.

India is a good place to study corruption. On a 10-point corruption scale devised by Transparency International, where 10 is squeaky clean and 0 is completely corrupt, in 2005 India came in about 90th among 159 countries, with a score of 2.9. By comparison, Iceland was least corrupt (9.7), while Chad and Bangladesh tied (at 1.7) for most corrupt. (The United States was 17th-least corrupt, coming in between Germany and France with a score of 7.6.)

One of the groups in the Indian study was offered a cash bonus for getting a license within 30 days. These subjects had an incentive do whatever was necessary (offer bribes) to get a license quickly. If bribes work, these applicants would get their licenses faster. A second group was given driving lessons. If the licensing process accurately screens out unprepared—and therefore more likely unsafe—drivers, then these applicants should be more likely to succeed in getting a license. Both of these applicant groups were compared to a third con"

But Joel came to a conclusion (obvious one, atleast for me) that "the benefits of corruption are not worth the costs".

In response to this article, Amit Varma in his article Corruption: A License to Kill says that corruption has only crippled India. He gave a very interesting solution to this problem, which unfortunately, won't be implemented. He says:

"Let every driving license bear the name of the officer who approved it. And in every accident case, let penalty points accrue against that officer’s name. After a threshold of points to account for bad luck, let fines be levied on the officer himself, with increments and promotions halted. With something concrete at stake, the licensing officers will thus be careful while giving out licenses."

The problem being, that wherever there's government monopoly, there's corruption. MTNL, the state telephone company providing telecom services to Delhi and Bombay is an example of that. A few years ago, before private sectors were allowed to enter the telecom sector for landline phones, the only way you could get a phone was by bribing everyone, top-to-bottom. The interesting fact is that everyone knows this, but we just live with it (Not me, but everyone else I mean - I don't bribe). However after Bharti Teleservices started their landline services, known as Airtel Landline, earlier Touchtel, things changed dramatically. Bharti got a good response because people were happy with their service. Apply today, and you get your connection within 7 days. No need to bribe. This also served as a wake-up call for MTNL, and slowly they got better and competitive. That is the reason we have so many telephone connections in India at so cheap, and the companies are profitable even if they earn $2 per customer per month.

A few things that are coming to my mind as I am writing this - Both are Rang De Basanti Dialogues :
1. Sue : Is that a bribe
Karan: Welcome to India, Sue
2. Ab bhi jiska khoon na khoula, khoon nahin voh pani hai
Jo desh ke kaam na aaye, voh bekaar jawaani hai
(ENGLISH Translation:
That which does not boil now, that blood is but a pitiful sham,
That which does not serve one’s nation, that is indeed a wasteful youth.)
- Because Indian people just live the life the way it is... they just don't want to change themselves for the betterment of their and everyone else's life...

Senate panel backs nuclear deal

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Senate panel backs nuclear deal:

"A US Senate committee has backed a controversial plan to share civilian nuclear technology with India.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee took an hour to endorse the legislation by 16-2. It was cleared by a House of Representatives panel on Tuesday."

Yes, I am happy because the US Senate Committe cleared the deal. Ofcourse this doesn't mean that it's in place yet, but atleast this hurdle has been cleared. Before Congress can give Final approval, USA needs to compile both versions of the bill, from the House of Representatives and the Senate and then the Congress will vote on it, sometime in July hopefully, or August. The Nuclear Suppliers Group, a group of 45 nations, also needs to approve the deal.

Gzb rated in world's 10 most dynamic cities- The Times of India

Gzb rated in world's 10 most dynamic cities- The Times of India: "Believe it or not — and many inhabitants who have to battle pathetic infrastructure, chaotic traffic and soaring crime probably won't — Ghaziabad is in Newsweek's list of 10 most dynamic cities in the world. "

Who can live in that city with almost no infrastructure... Were newsweek people crazy at the time of writing or what? You just can't compare Gzb to London, Moscow or Las Vegas...

2x3x7: Roti-ing in Hell

2x3x7: Roti-ing in Hell:

And speaking of topical feminist issues, will someone please explain to me why we, as a society, continue to indulge in the intensely masochistic activity of making chappatis? I mean seriously, if you took all the time that is spent in the average North Indian household making these damn things and put it all together back to back, you'd get a workforce the size of Taiwan. Why can't we mass produce the stuff? Or switch to eating bread? Or cake?

And after unsuccessful attempts, here's what Falstaff had to say :

I actually think subzi tastes so much better with toast, don't you?

And that's the reason I don't cook... LOL LMAO

Amar Akbar Anthony: i wonder....

Amar Akbar Anthony: i wonder....
Sare jahaan se achha, hindustan hamaara
(Above all [else] in the world, is our India )

- first line of the patriotic song sare jahan se achha, written by Mohammad Iqbal around 19O5.

Deutschland, Deutschland über alles,
Über alles in der Welt,
(Germany, Germany above all,
Above all [else] in the world,)

- first line of the patriotic song Das Lied der Deutschen, written by Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1841.

Paanchdrunk

Paanchdrunk: "Yet another in the everything comes from India (etymology) series. Have you ever noticed how desi college students all congregate around the punch bowl in the corner? It’s not because they’re alcoholics too cheap to buy their own brew and too goody-goody to get a fake ID (well, maybe it is), it’s really because punch comes from India. In fact, it’s not really punch, it’s paanch [Thanks Sameer]:

Originally, the word punch was a loanword from Hindi. The original drink was made from five different ingredients, namely arrack, sugar, lemon, water, and tea. Because of this it was named panch which is the Hindi for five. This name was adopted by the sailors of the British East India Company and brought back to England, from where it was introduced into other European countries. [Link]

In Germany, they call it ‘Punsch’ and it (of course) includes wine or liquor. And in Scandanavia the meaning has morphed yet further, losing the other ingredients to the point where it is just an arrack based "

!!!