The uninformed informer

I am now beginning to understand why the Indo-US Nuclear deal signed more than a year ago was touted as being "Historic". It is very much in line with India's Colonially oppressed history. Much like the British East-India company,the Portugese,The Dutch and The French agencies which came to do business in the country it aims to give the 'locals' as little as possible while protecting their own national interests or companies whose balance sheets contribute to the coffers of their country. The motive behind the bill is to legally and financially bind the operator and the government to provide relief to the affected population in case of a nuclear accident.Sounds convincing? Yes it does until you discover that the operator will be a government run entity called NPCIL with 26% foreign stakeholding and the rest with the government and moreover the cap on liability of the  foreign company is 500 crores which needs to be claimed by the operator in case of a nuclear di...

Indian politicians, one thought, had the expertise to convert any non-issue into an issue of national importance.But a recent development in France got me thinking on what is an issue and what is a non-issue and i realised that this conforms to the alignment of one's thinking.Before we get to that, first the issue in France. There is strong opposition against the decision by a chain of fast food restaurants to drop it's bacon burger and pork dishes from its menu and serve only halal meat in 8 of it's outlets located in muslim-centric areas.The bacon-burger loving population of  those areas are up in arms against the restaurant chain citing a discrimination against their habits and an inconvenience caused to them since they need to travel an extra-distance to find a bacon burger.This discrimination cry has stirred up a debate even among political circles in France.Simply looking at it ,it's a great opportunity for a competitor to lap up the business.But the perspective...

Naveen Jindal fought a long battle for the right to fly the national flag freely with respect and dignity as a fundamental right of every citizen and the Supreme Court of India upheld that right for every citizen.It is certainly a decision cheered by every proud Indian who would love to show his affection to his nation with the small symbolism of flying a flag atop his building. This year on Republic Day however, the Indian Flag was not hoisted at Lal Chowk in Srinagar.Reports suggested that this was done not to antagonise separatists.The same day papers also carried reports of the national flag being burnt down and calls for a bandh issued by separatists in Srinagar.If indeed the flag was not hoisted ( and there is no reason as to why it should not have been hoisted ) in order to  appease the madheads in Kashmir, it is a ridiculous state of affairs.It shows the strength of Indian sovereignty in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is almost 60 years since Article 370 was imposed...

That is the message that the Shiv Sena,Mr.Ashok Chavan and Mr.Sharad Pawar seem to be giving the world.Put forth into action by Mr.Shah Rukh Khan's faux pas, it's amazing how the issue of a movie release has even sidelined the nationwide protests over price-rise and other trivial matters of national importance such as the number of people on the streets continuing to freeze to death in the winter, our drastic drop in farm produce and the growing impudence of our neighbouring nations. In his interview Mr.Shah Rukh Khan has stated that you don't choose players to prove a point, but for their utility in your team.In fact this is the first thing he should have said instead of saying that Pakistani players should have been picked and not treated the way they were.In justifying his own team's selection policies was he implying that the other teams should have picked someone.I'm sure the other teams also chose the player they wanted.But in airing all his views he has cre...

The IPL was a response to the threat of the ICL which was started by the sidelined Subhash Chandra of Zee TV, who upset at being denied television rights to his channel almost emulated Kerry Packer’s contribution to cricket. Lalit Modi managed to put in place the IPL quickly because the BCCI is to the ICC what Congress is to the UPA government and the best cricketers in the world were made available to the IPL by their respective boards because of the huge amounts of money flowing in. Today the third auction Tamasha was unfolded where people were bidding for other people and splurging crores of Rupees to have someone on their team.All the team bosses spoke of why they bought someone and Mr.Lalit Modi gave his views on the future of the IPL and how to popularize the game across the globe. Roger Federer is the king of tennis today. The prize money he has won will feed the next 10 Federer generations. When the earthquake happened in Haiti he was far away on the other side of the world an...

This is a picture of the 1936 Indian Hockey team that beat the Nazi Germany team 8-1 in the finals to clinch the Olympic Gold, a feat which the achieved an unprecedented 8 times.A feat which once every four years enabled every Indian Pre-Independence and post-independence to feel on top of the world.The wizardy and mastery over hockey was legendary and many stories about the Indian prowess floated in rival teams.The arrival of astro-turf and later on KPS Gill seems to have taken off all sheen and adoration that the Indian Public had for Indian hockey. In fact no other sport has promoted patriotism as much as Hockey has.An India-Pakistan hockey match was the closest the Indian Public could get for  a feel of war between the two nations.Our heads would hang in shame and it was almost a nation in mourning if we ended on the wrong side of the result.Some would argue that cricket has the same effect, but i will say that people were fans of certain Paki cricketers but i don't kn...

Not often does a man with a good command over the English Language find himself the favourite whipping boy of the media.It is common unsaid knowledge as to which news channel supports which political party in India , but the height of their loyalties is now gauged at they way in which none of them have actually lauded Mr.Tharoor as the voice of a Congress emerging out of the clutches of the "Gandhi" Brand.I think i can safely say that none of the news editors possess the depth of reading that Mr.Tharoor does nor do they profess the quality of Mr.Tharoor's English speaking and writing ability. To me it is evident that over the many years of Congress rule in India or many of it's states one of it's strategies for survival is to slowly but surely push eminent leaders of India associated with the freedom movement or other turning points in our Independent history into a fading oblivion while promoting it's own Brand Ambassadors by naming every project,flyover or...