No we are NOT ok

One day after the blast. The media kept reminding us that Mumbaikars are great. They have great resilience, they have Reported to work! the trains are full again. They have taken the death of 200 of their kind in stride and they have "Reported to work" as a slap on the face of Terrorism!

Its is really a Shameful exercise of Denial. Whom are they trying to protect? are they trying to protect this impotent UPA government.

Who said we are Ok, if we report to work its because we are working for survival. If we donot work for a week, our children will have to sleep empty stomach next month. We risk our life by taking train as there is no other alternative means for transportation. We are too poor to effort a car. This is a ruthless city where Darwin's theory is proved everyday. Please donot hoist our "fight for survival" for your petty political scores.

LEAVE US ALONE! Let me atleast grieve.

Guys its back to Emergency Era

Under the grab of 7/11, The UPA govt. has issued orders to ban many Blog sites. The move resembles the promulgation of Emergency and Press Censorship on June 26, 1975 which constituted the darkest chapter in press history in free India.

The list of the banned sites makes us doubt the sincerity of the move. To me it seems to be a move to gag the political opponents and right of free expression.

It is hilarious that some of the sites banned are ExposingTheLeft.Blogspot.Com which makes only one reference to Mumbai, which is: ‘‘At least 131 killed in India train bombings: More humanitarian acts from the ‘Religion of Peace’.’ Seems speaking on Hypocrisy of Left parties is also an "Anti National" act.

The other blogspot sites that the Government ordered a ban on: CommonFolkCommonSense.blogspot.com and PajamaEditors.blogspot.com, which plays on the word Mujahadeen (Pajama-hadeen). After all, the UPA govt. has to take care of the sentiments of Mujahadeen

Curiously, a fourth blogspot site, PrincessKimberly.blogspot.com, is on the Government’s blacklist. It hosts only a woman’s rantings over how she ‘‘is bored.’’ Here I definitely agree with UPA Govt., A bored woman can be dangerous

Perhaps the lessons learn by communists on Press freedom in China, North Korea is coming handy for this government.

Its pathetic that instead of taking the terror head on (like Israel), UPA govt. is trying to fool people by such superficial moves.

Who is afraid of whom?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel after meeting with George Bush

Somebody please rescue me from him

And we said Bring it on..

Dear Terrorist Bhai,

Thanks for your message and firecrackers. We have received it. Unfortunately some of my brothers were not careful enough with the firecrackers and burnt themselves. We have admitted them in hospital. Please donot worry, we are taking good care of them. I am sure you would be pleased to know that inspite of all the risk all our neighbors were there to support us . Even Afsal Mia (with whom we quarreled few years back) was also there.

Have I told you about your uncles Babar, Ghazni and Ghori. They also used to visit us and send us occasional gifts.They looked very much like you but they were more stronger. They used to break all our household items like temple. Some times they would even tease our aunties. One aunty even committed suicide because of them. Unfortunately, they are no more. I heard they died very sad. Its gods grace that we are still here and are happier than ever. We have even managed to rebuild some of the Temples they broke.

Hope your uncles across the mountains are doing ok. Please tell them that we are overwhelmed by their generosity and gifts which they keep sending us. Please tell them that we will visit them soon and we would reciprocate in kind, if not more. After all we have to take care of our izzat also.

Bhai, As a reciprocal gesture to your gift we have decided to take care of some of your friends here. We have invited them for a feast. We will let you know the details of the event in next message.

Please be careful of the firecrackers. You have bad habit of playing with them, they might explode in your hand. I still remember the last April fool, when you were fooled by the promise of those 72 Dolls. We had a good laugh when you believed your uncles and burnt yourself to get those 72 Dolls. you are really naive.

Bhai, I have to run. Its getting late for work. We are not lucky like you, we donot have rich uncles ready to feed us.

So until next time.

Sd/-
you know who

A case in Contrast: Israel imposes Lebanon blockade

Israel is imposing an air and sea blockade on Lebanon as part of a major offensive after two soldiers were seized by the militant group Hezbollah.

Israeli warships have entered Lebanese water to block ports, and its only international airport was closed after Israeli missiles blew up its runways.

SIMI not a terrorist organisation: SP

SIMI is not a terrorist organisation. Some of its members may be involved in terrorist activities and action should be taken against them," Samajwadi Party state general secretary and state PWD minister Shivpal Singh Yadav told reporters here.

Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav also appeared to take a soft stand on the outfit, saying it had not been found to be involved in the Varanasi blasts and the terrorist attack in Ayodhya.

"SIMI was not found to be involved in the two main terrorist incidents in the state," Mulayam told reporters in an informal chat here.

The news

Simply Amazing!!!

Todays Article in Asian Age Titled " Fallout of city’s extreme politics?" by Olga Tellis

The mostly widely believed reason for Tuesday’s serial bomb blasts is the confrontation between two extremist political forces in Mumbai’s politics. The Shiv Sena on the one side and Muslim reactionary forces on the other. This is being widely seen as most explicable reason for the escalating violence that erupted into this unpardonable calamity of Tuesday’s serial blasts on the Western Railway.

Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray had on Sunday evening, after the six hours of Shiv Sainiks going on a rampage, said in a fit of bravado that "those who think that they can provoke us have now got their answer." He was referring to the fact that the Shiv Sena was a united force and could hit back at people who provoke them. The people he had in mind were the ones who created the confrontation between the police and the people in Bhiwandi. This led to the brutal killing of two policemen in civilian clothes.

The Shiv Sena’s rampage in the city on Sunday following the defacement of the statue of Meenatai, wife of Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, has been seen as a show of strength after the Bhiwandi rioting. The Shiv Sena has a growing presence in Bhiwandi and has been in confrontation with Samajwadi Party city unit chief Abu Azmi, who had lost in the last Assembly elections from Bhiwandi.

The reply to Uddhav’s statement, which was quite a challenge, came in the form of the 30 minutes that saw eight bombs rip through the Western Railway network killing over 200 people, injuring over 500 and left several scores missing. These unnamed forces Uddhav Thackeray mentioned (only he knew to whom he was referring) struck back to show that their power was more lethal than looting and going on a rampage.

This point-counterpoint, or action-reaction, according to some intelligence sources, has been going on ever since the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in December 1992 by Sangh Parivar elements. As an answer to this, underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is said to have masterminded the March 12, 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, which had left 275 people dead. RDX was used for the first time to deadly effect in this action.

Now Seculars are hard at work to prove beyond doubt that Poor Terrorists are unnecessarily blamed. They were just reacting(or protecting) to provocation!

Who will tell this Lady(i am restraining myself against abusing her) that it takes months of planning to carryout something like this. Who will educate her that RDX cannot be bought from any Kirana store or it do require training to carryout such a major operation.

Now it seems that all the root cause of Bomb Blasts is Sangh Parivar! I waiting for the day when 9/11 will also be blamed on Sangh Parivar!

The Sword of Damocles

Eureka Eureka! Today our Home Minister has let us into the big secret that SIMI is involved in Mumbai blasts. However, it might be anti climax for him when he realise that this is the same group which was suspected to be involved in July 28, 2005, Shramjeevi Express explosion near Jaunpur and the Varanasi serial blasts of March 7, 2006

To the unaware SIMI was first banned in 27 September 2001 for their Antinational and Terrorist activities.

I being a simpleton was relieved. I assumed that our government is taking all the steps to keep the SHAITAN called SIMI in leash. However, I was for a rude shock when I realised:-

That our SECULAR UP Governement supported by congress and assorted Seculars is Opposing ban of SIMI on grounds that it had not carried out any unlawful activities in the state after September 2005.
The state government is planning to withdraw criminal cases against the alleged masterminds of the 2001 Kanpur riots, including the state chief of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) Mohammad Amir and also the two accused of killing the then ADM (finance) CP Pathak.
Interesting to Note that it was soon after the Kanpur communal flare-up in 2001 that the Centre had declared SIMI an outlawed outfit.

In my shock I decided to find Solace with MOTHER OF SECULARS, the Holy CPM, the other major component in UPA Government. Here I was for bigger shock when I realised that in just concluded state elections, CPM was supported by none other than Coimbatore Bomb Blast Master Mind Abdul Madani’s PDP, ISI-backed jehadi outfit Jamaat-e- Islami. SIMI started as Student Wing of Jamaat-e- Islami. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP),ultra-radical National Development Front (NDF), Muslim Youth Cultural Forum, Karuna Foundation, Muslim Aikya Vedi, Sahridaya Vedi, Samskara Vedi, Solidarity Students Movement and the Movement for Protection of Islamic Symbols etc are under police scanner for SIMI presence ‘‘Yes, they(simi) went into other organisations after the ban came. We can’t do anything about it,’’ says the state DGP Raman Shrivastava. My shock was complete when I realsied that SIMI had organised a meeting of its top 25 leaders at Kozhikode last year, and a radical cleric from Lakshwadeep took classes for it in Malappuram.

Now I am confused How will our UPA Govt who owes its survival to Samajwadi Party, CPM etc who inturn owes their survival to Muslim Radical Organisations will take action against them.

More than Confused I guess I am scared!

In its latest study on SIMI, the South Asia Terrorism portal says, "In an age when 'zero-tolerance' is the declared policy towards any terrorist challenge to India's security, the official response has been marked by a typical mix of administrative lethargy, political opportunism and lack of a coherent policy."

Its only numbness now

Another Place, Another Serial Blast, Few Hundred more lost their life and became statistics in the list of sacrificial Lambs sacrificed at the altars of Islamic Terrorism. Who cares!

It was pain & sorrow when we first saw 1993 Mumbai bombings where a series of 13 bomb exploded killing more than 250 Innocent People. It turned to anger when we saw our Parliament - Temple of our Democracy being attacked. Now all the Attacks and Serial Bomb Blasts has just become statistics. It has become an monthly affair and just adds to our Numbness.

After Mumbai blasts we thought the terrorist would be hounded, dead would be vindicated but we saw to our dismay the chief architect - Dawood Ibrahim enjoying the hospitality of our neighbor and marrying of his daughter with usual pomp under full media glare. Our media fell over each other to cover the event. It was sickening when we saw our cricketers, Celebrities and politicians enjoying his hospitality! Then came the shock of attack on parliament, we were told that "Laxman Rekha was crossed". We were lucky that atleast in this case we pretended to react. However, to our dismay our Secularists friends formed All India defense Committee to protect one of the main accused. In the end Supreme court acquitted SAR Geelani But Asked some very uncomfortable questions

What more can we expect when rioters who are killed during police action also gets compensation (Bhiwandi rioters got Rs.1 Lakh ). While compensation is still elusive for parliament Attack widows. Atleast, I am convince that our Maharshtra Government considers everyone equal. Perhaps thats why Innocent Victim of Terrorist Attack get same compensation as rioter (Deshmukh has announced a compensation of Rs one lakh for the relatives of those killed in Mumbai Bomb Blast) .Where our Secular Politicians are falling over each other to Free Abdul Nasser Madhani Chief Architect of Coimbatore blasts which killed more than 50 people. Where a State Minister Haji Yaqoob Qureishi announces a cash reward of Rs 51 crore for anyone who beheads the Danish cartoonist who caricatured Prophet Mohammad and still gets away with it!

In the mayhem of course our ministers worked overtime to bring humor. to the situation.

When informed of Attacks our Home Minister said that Mrs Sonia Gandhi had been informed. It's good that even in this critical time the central government did not forget its priorities.

The Kashmir government spokesmen said that the terrorist blasts occurred to divert attention from the PoK elections. Was any great attention being paid to those elections?

I am waiting for Laloo to appoint another U. R Banerjee Commission, who after months of investigation will find out that it was not bombs which exploded it was cooking cylinders. He would add that it is common practice in Mumbai that people cook in first class compartments.

As always we are awaiting to hear the feeble reassuring words of our PM. I am sure he is working hard to get a go ahead from all the other PM's ("S"PM, "C"PM...)

All this while we were jealously watching other nations proactively protecting the citizens. US attacked 2 countries,Israell invaded Gaza to protect a single Army Person. Let them do what ever they want, We will not react after all we are SECULAR, NON ALIGNED REPUBLIC. We are second most populous nation, we can effort people getting killed

The TRAGIC IRONY:-

Compensation to Dead Rioter of Bhiwandi: Rs. 1 Lakh
Compensation to Dead Innocent Victim of Mumbai Train Blast: Rs 1 Lakh

Don’t call us Asian: British Hindus

Majority of Hindus in Britain do not like to be described as Asian, but want to be called British Indian, Hindu or even 'desi', according to a survey.

The survey, 'Connecting British Hindus', to be published in the British Parliament on Tuesday, showed that 80 per cent of the respondents prefer to be called British Indian or British Hindus

Britain's 700,000 Hindus are the country's third largest faith group after Cristians and Muslims.



News

North Korea's firing of Taepodong-2 missile ended in failure

Japan and the United States have confirmed that North Korea's test firing of a Taepodong-2 missile ended in failure after parts of it fell off near its launch site on Wednesday, officials said.

North Korea launched the Taepodong-2 at about 5 a.m. on Wednesday from a site in Musudanri. It was the third of the seven missiles North Korea test-fired that day.

[My comments: Pakistan may want to check the warranty of their Ghauri-1 and Ghauri-2 ]

Something to Laugh at...

Ideal Management Lesson

Suspected Bird Flue Victim. Filmed somewhere over South China Sea.

A National Tragedy Called Vidarbha

Once known as "white gold" cotton has become the NEW DEATH MACHINE in India.

In the Vidarbha cotton belt, 451 cotton farmers have killed themselves since the beginning of this harvest; about 2,300 have committed suicide since 2000.

Debt Seems to be the primary Reason for most of the suicides. As per Statistics, the region's cotton growers have borrowed more than $880 million from banks and 90% of farmers seems to have defaulted.

How the debt noose tightens: Many farmers had saved up a little money to buy seeds. When the first sowing failed, they were forced to go to the local moneylender because banks had refused them loans unless they cleared their previous dues.

A second failure meant more debt from the sahukar (moneylender) whose deal usually requires the farmer to repay double of what he borrows. Successive crop failure drove many a farmer to desperate measures.

The Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) Factor — that is, the difference between the prices actually obtained by the farmers and the price they would have obtained in a hypothetical free market — is the worst in the case of cotton (-258.51 per cent in 1996-97). Clearly, the negative AMS or the negative subsidy is the another major cause of farmer suicides in India.

In response to growing media attention, the Indian government appointed the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research in Mumbai to investigate the rural crisis. Its report,

“Suicides of Farmers in Maharashtra”, submitted in January, found that the Suicide Mortality Rate (SMR) for male farmers had trebled from 17 per 100,000 in 1995 to 53 in 2004 in Maharashtra—nearly four times the national average. In the crisis-ridden Amravati district, the figure was 140 in 2004—ten times the national average and seven times the state average.

More than two thirds of the cases examined in the study were farmers less than 50 years old. Close to 60 percent had been farming for more than ten years. Four in every five suicides involved poisons or pesticides used in cotton growing. The report noted that the lack of proper hospital facilities contributed to the high death toll. On average, a hospital capable of treating poisoning cases was more than 20 kilometres away.

The surviving family members were eligible for compensation of just 100,000 rupees ($US2, 200), and subject to tough conditions, which in most cases could not be met.

The report pointed out that those who committed suicide were heavily reliant on private moneylenders who often charge extortionate interest rates. “The total outstanding debt from suicide cases is 3.7 times more than the total outstanding debt from non-suicide [cases],” it stated. Most of the deceased farmers had an average debt of just 160,000 rupees ($US3,570), but could see no way of paying it.

Interesting Fact:

Though nearly 3,000 cotton farmers across the country have committed suicides because of bankruptcy, their counterparts in Gujarat feel untouched by the tragedy.

There has been no report of any farmer committing suicide in the state due to crop failure or debts. Many feel there are reasons for entrepreneurial skills of farmers. Gujarat---the largest producer of cotton in the country---has skilfully adopted a newer technology to its benefit.
Maharashtra has the maximum 35 lakh hectares of land under cotton cultivation and Gujarat has only 17 lakh hectares. However, when it comes to productivity, Gujarat leads with 35 lakh bales (one bale is 175 kg) which is highest in the country," says Umed Patel, research scientist at Surat Cotton Research Centre.

"One of the factors influencing the production is that nearly 30 per cent cotton fields in the state are not dependent on rains. Cotton fields in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are dependent on rains,"

Here also, The Blood Sucking Parasites Feeds on Weak:

Suicide belt’s key moneylender is Cong MLA. That one of the biggest sahukars of the Vidarbha region is Congress MLA Dilip Sananda and his family based in Buldhana district. That the Sanandas are still plying their trade when police records show over 40 cases registered against them for illegal money-lending, land-grabbing to kidnapping, manhandling to torture.

MAHARASHTRA Table of Deaths
2001	50
2002	122
2003	170
2004	620
2005	572
2006	745

So Much for Aam Aadmi Govt

Meera Jasmine sparks new row by entering temple

After the controversy surrounding Kannada actress Jaimala'es entry into Sabarimala temple, a new row has been kicked up by Malayalam actress Meera Jasmine, a Christian, offering prayers at Raja Rajeshwara temple at Taliparamba near Kannur.

Jasmine made votive offerings at the famous temple, where the entry of non-Hindus is prohibited, and paid obeisance to Lord Raja Rajeshwara, the presiding deity, on Thursday night, sparking off a protest by Hindu devotees.

I think this was really uncalled for. I personally feel that Everyone who respect Hindu Tradition and Culture should be allowed entry to the Temple. No Temple will get "Unpure" by entry of a Human Being!

Information on the Temple:

In the local region, it constitutes one of the trinity of temples held in high regard, one being the Vaidyanatha Shiva temple and the other the Krishna temple at Trichambaram.

Legend has it that Rama during his victorious return to Ayodhya from Lanka, stopped here to offer worship to Shiva (as in Rameswaram). In honor of his presence, devotees are not allowed into the namaskara mandapam even today.

Taliparamba is regarded as one of the ancient Shakti Peethams. Legend has it that the head of Sati - fell here after Shiva's tandavam following Sati's self immolation (see legend of Daksha yagna).

This temple is regarded as one of the 108 ancient Shiva temples of Kerala.

Dewe Gowda Caught Sleeping once again

Moving swiftly for the kill and catching a complacent Congress & Dewe Gowda napping both in Bangalore and New Delhi, a majority faction of the Janata Dal (Secular), led by party president and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s son, H D Kumaraswamy, broke away to sew up a coalition with the Opposition BJP and stake claim to replace the 20-month-old Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka.

Indians in demand for regional roles- The Economic Times

Indians in demand for regional roles- The Economic Times

Relevant portions:

The Indian MNC executives are the new regional ‘rajahs’. Move over Japanese and Koreans, senior Indian executives are increasingly staking their claim in bigger regional roles at the CXO level, a space that was till now a reserved sanctuary for executives from the far east or
expats.

Indians are now being perceived as better leaders. Its s a growing popular perception that they can handle complexities of business and issues like multi ethnicity

In the last ten years, the pool of managers who can handle complexity, adversity and also regulatory aspects has grown exponentially.

It is true that for last few years increasing number of Indians are taking up Regional Role especially in Asia Pacific Region and as India Starts to open up this is expected to continue

I also have a regional role and it was not easy reaching here. During this process, I had to fight some very entrenched Interests . For long time, the AP Role was domain of Expats and Chinese. There is reason for it. Initially, multinationalationals posted their experienced managers from USA/Europe to manage the business in AP. In last few decades, as the business in Asia (mostly in China and South East Asia) grew, the need for local managers also grew. First choice was obiviously People from Chinese Race as Chinese had sizable population and were better placed in all these countries.

During all these times, Indians were restriTechnicalTechical Role. However, for past few years, these Tech. Guru's rose in ranks and started to take up management position. They were able to prove their mettle.

In my opinion, It is difficult to Judge who would be a better manager. Chinese by culture are not Extroverts. They tend to be more methodical and process driven, so they would be good in running an existing business. In an army they would make an excellent soldier. But they would find it difficult where data is not available to support decision making process. Indians by nature are more "Thinking". Indian Managers have better leadership qualities and they are unconventional. They would make better candidate to develop and grow a business.

If I were to own a company I would put an Indian responsible to Develop the business and Put an Chinese as operations manager

Lessons in Logic

1. I was born intelligent - Education ruined me.

2. "Hard work never killed anybody" But why take the risk

3. If it's true that we are here to help others, Then what exactly are the others here for?

4. Since light travels faster than sound, People appear bright until you hear them speak.

5. How come "abbreviated" is such a long word?

6. Money is not everything, There's PayPal, Mastercard & Visa.

7. Behind every successful man, there is a woman And behind every unsuccessful man, there are Many.

8. Success is a relative term - It brings so many relatives.

9. Never put off the work till tomorrow - What you can put off today.

10. "Your future depends on your dreams" So go to sleep

11. There should be a better way to start a day, Than waking up every morning

12. Practice makes perfect - But nobody's perfect...... So why practice?

13. "Work fascinates me" - I can look at it for hours

14. The more you learn, the more you know, The more you know, the more you forget. The more you forget, the less you know. So... why learn.

15. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.... What more can I say.............!! my favourite

Rabri, Laloo and 200 Cows gets 2 days - Deccan Herald - Internet Edition

House: Rabri gets 2 days - Deccan Herald - Internet Edition

The couple, however, said Saturday that they will shift to the allotted residence after consulting astrologer. Sources close to Rabri Devi said that a substantial part of her belongings had already been shifted to her new residence. Also, their 200 cows too were shifted to a big cattle-shed constructed in Danapur.

Atlast our beloved Rabri Devi and Laloo Prasad have finally decided to move out of CM's residence. It seems that they were unwilling to vacate house as as the period is considered inauspicious.

Now Mrs. and Mr. Laoo with their Herd of 200 Cows would be moving to new residence. Yep you heard it right, they had 200 cows in their official residence of CM of Bihar.

What do we want from Life?

Let me start with my favourate quote by Henry Ford:

" Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. "

I am not sure why but this quote always inspires me. Whenever I am down and demoralised, I read this quote. It keeps reminding me that the problems are like small humps on road which try to created roadblock in your smooth travel towards Goal. As we are taught in Driving School Look Far towards the destination, if you look near you will miss the turn

However, of late I have come to the realisation that

"Goals are like annual sales targets which keeps moving , of course Only Upwards".

Aspirations from life at different times are different.