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... ;)