• I agree with Suman
  when he says that we will have to toe US line as it is the only
  remaining hyperpower. But in the future, there may come some issues
  before UN where the US is not terribly interested but has direct
  relation to Indian security, like Kashmir. Our position could be an
  advantage in influencing world opinion to our favor. It is only US and
  France which ignores UN. Even in UK, people are asking
  Tony Blair to get UN approval. Our issues in the near future are not
  going to be with the major powers, but with the tiny ones in our
  neighborhood, where the voice of United Nations still has some effect.

• We are currently caught up in the stupid “South Asian” tag,
  losing our identity. As Opinionated
  Indian says, the view of the world is that of India and Pakistan
  as two equals involved in ‘medieval religious warfare’. We need to get
  involved in global issues and get out of trying to be a leader of a
  bunch of loser nations (SAARC)

The UN may even become extinct by the
time the next Lord of the Rings is released. But if it is around, then
we should be a part of it.

When the elected representatives fail to perform their duty, people do
it. Lot of good things have happened in India because of PILs filed by
normal people. One example is the banning of smoking in public places
in Kerala. Now based on another PIL, the supreme court says that candidates have to declare lot more information about themselves.

BJP
unhappy, Cong hails SC verdict

BJP on Thursday expressed serious concern over the
Supreme Court decison making it mandatory for candidates to declare
their criminal antecedents, assets and liabilities and educational
qualification at the time of filing of nomination papers, and favoured
an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

The supreme court does not say that it not illegal to be rich, but you
just have to declare it. But there are ways thought out by politicians
to bypass this. For example, when Lallo Yadav was convicted, he made
his wife the Chief Minister of Bihar (the same place where Buddha got
enlightenment). There is nothing which prevents ruling by proxy. But
still I think this step goes a long way in cleaning up the Indian
elections.

For once I am impressed with the Communist Party. They don’t have
money, they have nothing to hide.

CPI(M)
hails SC verdict on electoral reform

The Communist Party of India (CPI) today hailed the
Supreme Court verdict setting aside an amendment to the Representation
of Peoples (Amendment) Act, 2002 and asked all parties to ”gracefully
accept” the decision that seeks to bring about far-reaching electoral
reforms. ”Voters have the right to know the antecedents of their
candidates, their assets, liabilities and educational
qualifications,” CPI Genral Secretary A B Bardhan said at a press
conference here.

In a significant boost to India’s space programme, scientists have successfully developed an indigenous cryogenic engine, which can power heavy communication satellites into orbit.

This was a technology which United States refused to transfer to us. We may have been delayed, but we have now mastered the technology

(link via sameer)

• ban on plastic bags
• single window to pay all your bills

(link via vs babu)

I was scanning the blogs from Bombay to see if there is anymore
information about the bomb blasts. Most of them have the same info as
the newspapers. Some even have ignored it. This is the third bomb that
has exploded in recent times.

Easy Guru has some
thoughts on the bomb blasts 10 years back. I was there too. I had just
moved to Bombay, a month back and what a shock it was for me. But
Bombay is an amazing city. The next working day, the stock exchange,
which was bombed, started functioning.

Update: B Raman on Lessons from the Mumbai blasts

Links: How safe?

Explosives destroyed a passenger train compartment Thursday in central Bombay, killing seven passengers and injured 22 others, witnesses said Thursday.

Link: Bombing kills 7 in Bombay

After Indian IT professionals were mistreated in Malaysia by Malaysian police, here are some actions by the Indian Govt.

• Outraged over the ill-treatment of 270 Indian IT professionals in Malaysia, New Delhi has decided to re-examine some of the decisions pending under its civil aviation bilateral treaty with Kuala Lumpur.
  The first casualty could well be the extension of landing facility to Malaysian Airlines at Kolkata and the seat-sharing arrangement with Air India.

• As 32 Indian IT professionals prepared to leave Malaysia Friday after a humiliating week- -end police detention, New Delhi was considering issuing a travel advisory to its citizens planning to visit the country.

This is the first time I am seeing the Indian Govt. standing up for its citizens in crisis.

Related Links: Furious, Delhi may clip Malaysian wings|Indians get ready to leave, India may issue Travel Advisory

(link via the third eye>

And the world seems to behave as if nothing has happened. 400,000+ people have been ethnically cleansed from their places of birth. 700,000+ people have been made homeless. A whole community has been forced to live like refugees in their own country. And when this community asks for its rightful rights, nobody cares. I guess, in the bigger scheme of things, 700,000 people in a world population of more than 6 billion people does not deserve enough attention.

The reason why this incident is not mentioned anywhere is because these refugees are Hindus who have been ethnically cleansed by Pakistani Islamic Terrorists. When about a hundred muslims were killed in Gujarat along with Hindus, the so called secularists and communists in India went around the world creating an impression as if India kills minorities. When it comes to the issue of Kashmiri Hindus, none of these secularists have anything to say.

The professor is one of the many residents in Ganoda village who are confident that they can carry on an entire conversation in Sanskrit without a problem. The grocery shop owner claims he can rattle off shlokas in Sanskrit while in the adjoining utensil store, the owner informs that he helps his children with their language homework.

When Israel became a nation, they revived their language Hebrew. When India became a nation, we killed Sanskrit.
Continue reading “Speaking in Sanskrit” →