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...